Category: Ingredient Spotlight

I have no idea why, but I decided to buy canned crab at Trader Joe’s. It was in the refrigerated section in a can that looked like a double-sized can of tuna. It was $8. I’m hoping no one writes in telling me it’s terrible for the environment because it wasn’t bad! It won’t replace fresh crab in season but mixed with mayonnaise, it was pretty swell.

Well, it was mayonaisse and our new Felicidad Chipotle hot sauce. I know chipotle is overdone these days but I’m really proud of this sauce and have been using it everyday.

Anyway, opening the can, adding a spoonful of mayo and a few squirts of hot sauce was very easy. I went all out and added lettuce and ta-da: crab tacos.

 

Every once in a while we get a customer who tries to get the beans to be beautiful once they’ve been cooked. I’ve always said it’s nature’s joke. They’re pretty when they’re raw and once you cook them, the the looks go but the payoff is the flavor.

Black Calypsos are really interesting-looking beans when raw and there is a short window when they retain their markings as they go from black to tan to ecru. It’s not much but it’s something. The real reason to cook them is the flavor. Black Calypso beans have a mild potato flavor so so they go great with pancetta and sage, or maybe strong olive oil and rosemary.

They look lilke our old friend, the Vaquero bean, but unfortunately they’re not a good substitute.

 

There’s no one as obnoxious as the repenting sinner, but I’m just nuts about quinoa. It’s healthy, filling, delicious and relatively inexpensive.

Imagine the nutrional powerhouse of chicken stock, beans, quinoa, tomatoes and some potatoes. And it tastes great. You don’t get too many deals like that in this life.

As a grain, it’s fine but I think quinoa really shines when you use it in a soup like this.

OK- I’ll shut up about it, for a while anyway.

Quinoa is such a funny grain. The first time I ate it I just couldn’t understand what the big deal was. It tasted like Lite Couscous to me. Many pots later, I can’t get enough of it. It’s not as hearty as rice but it’s much more delicious and it’s quick to make. The only problem is the cream-colored grain is not very exciting on a plate.

I can be as superficial as the next person so what I do is mix our black and white quinoa together to make a much more attractive ingredient. And it still tastes great. The secret is to cook it in lots of boiling, salted water. I start with half a bag of black, as it takes about five minutes longer to cook, and then I add the white and strain the whole thing when the quinoa is finished.

You can use it as a simple grain but more and more I find myself adding it to chicken broth with vegetables. I wouldn’t serve it to company but I like it a lot.

 

A lot of recipes for green salsa have you boil the tomatillos (tomate verde) but I find this a bother. The outer husks are sticky and cling to the fruit.

For an easier salsa and better flavor, pan roast the tomatillos right on a hot, dry grill. A metal comal, easily found in any Mexican market, is ideal. A clay one is better but almost impossible to find ouotside of Mexico.

I put a bunch of tomatillos on a medium heat and keep rolling them around until they are getting soft and start to hiss, like an angry cat. A few slices of onion and cloves of garlic all benefit from dry comal as well.

The husks easily peel off but save them and add them to the cooking water when you make nopales (cactus paddles) to help cut the goo effect.