From the Archives

Roasting chicken.

Longneck Bottle, Let Go of My Hand

Oskar Blues: Dale's Pale Ale

It's famous because it's a microbrew that comes in a can.   It's not the best pale ale I've ever had, but it is probably the best canned beer I've ever had.  [One possible exception, the cans of Fat Tire I chugged while floating down the Yampa river, have an unfair advantage on account of the setting in which I consumed them.]  It's interesting, it's floral, and the can does keep it clean and fresh.  Oskar calls it an "everyday" beer, and that sounds about right.  It didn't make me go "wow!" and it could be a little sharper or crisper, but it might grow on me.

Turkey tacos and mexican coleslaw

I had ground turkey in the freezer and a desire for some comfort food, so I turned to my old standby (adapted from Casey Pitts and Mark Bittman).

Ingredients for coleslaw:

Half head of cabbage (red is much much better, but you can use green if you must)
One green pepper
One bunch scallions
One bunch cilantro
Six cloves garlic
Olive oil
Approx. three limes
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for tacos:

1-2 pounds ground turkey
One onion
One jalepeno pepper (optional)
1-2 tbsp cumin
1-2 tbsp oil
One can chipotles adobado
Tortillas
Fage greek yogurt (spoonful)

Recipe:

First the coleslaw:  Thinly slice cabbage.  (I do this by slicing the head into quarters and then making paper thin cuts crosswise across the wedge.  You've probably seen coleslaw, so you have a sense of what we're going for.)  Throw out the very tough core at the brainstem of the cabbage.  Place in a bowl.

Thinly slice scallions, garlic cloves, and green pepper too.  (I also cut the green pepper into quarters and use the same technique.)  I suppose if you have a mandoline or a cuisinart it might do a decent job of this, but I do the slicing by hand because I think it's fun, and simpler.  Add to bowl.

Dress cabbage salad mixture with large quantity of salt (2-4 tbsp, more or less), olive oil to coat (maybe 2 tbsp) and juice of three limes, plus some grindings of pepper.  Toss and let sit-- for several hours if possible.  When you're ready to eat it, add one bunch of chopped cilantro, taste, and adjust seasoning.

This makes a large quantity (you could do the whole head of cabbage but I rarely have a bowl big enough), and it keeps very well, growing a little softer and mellower the longer it sits in the fridge.  I make this almost every week during the winter, so that we always have a raw vegetable dish that we can take to work.

[You can also make this in "spicy coleslaw" variation by adding cayenne pepper or, better yet, 3 seeded thinly sliced jalapeno peppers.  I think it's better that way, especially in the winter when bright crunchy flavors are hard to find, but I've learned from experience that spicy meat topped with spicy coleslaw makes for a really overwhelming taco.]

Now the filling:  Finely chop onion and jalapeno (seeding it if you can) and saute in oil until they soften and just start to brown.  Add meat, breaking up and stirring occasionally.  After meat is no longer pink, add cumin, stir again.  When meat is somewhat browned, add can of chipotles.  Stir and add a little water if you need to get it to coat the mixture.  Let simmer on low for a few minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make a taco (or burrito, depending on the size of your tortillas):  Warm tortilla in microwave or skillet or (my preference) by holding in the flame of a gas stove.  Place spoonful of yogurt in tortilla.  Place meat in tortilla.  Add coleslaw on top.  Roll or fold, and eat!  (You will probably be inclined to overstuff them.  Be careful.)

Assorted Links, Gourmet Edition

1. Gourmet is closing! 
2. While lots of people on Twitter are sad about this, I bet most of them weren't subscribers.
3. In the meantime, here is Gourmet on Miami street food (I have not tried 7/8 of the list),
4. and here is a new R.W. Apple anthology.

Amusingly, when you click away from the Gourmet website, a pop-up window offers you a subscription to Gourmet and Bon Apetit for "one low price."  I should hope so!

From the Archives

 The overratedness of American pancakes.