Text 4643, 139 rader
Skriven 2006-08-20 22:56:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: picnic day 109
======================
 ML> last month or two) called G&M near the Baltim
 ore airport that
 DS> Gail said that she heard it is open for business again.   Their web
 DS> page is active http://www.gandmcrabcakes.com/ -- which doesn't
 DS> really mean much.   I took a look, and was surprised at the number
 DS> of things that they have on the menu.

I'm glad they're back up, not that I'm likely to go back in
the near future (Hellas is quite similar, run by the same clan,
and is 1/3 the distance) - it has honest food and fair prices.

 DS> It is a small Mexican lunch counter type of place that only opened
 DS> this past spring.  Name is El Nayar --- no web page that I could
 DS> find.  When you walk in, you immediately realize that English is not
 DS> the major language of more than half the customers.

With a name like that, one might have thought that Egyptian
was ...

 DS> "fried rice" (which was really pretty normal rice with slight yellow
 DS> color), refried beans (small portion, 1/4 cup, very soupy), salad
 DS> (decent amount of iceberg lettuce, sliced cucumber and other vegies
 DS> -- your choice of three Paul Newman dressings in a foil packet), and
 DS> then a meat.  Everything except the meat was average -- good but not

Good but not special for $6 a meal is worthwhile.

 DS> special.  The meat was quite good.  Gail had carne asada -- which
 DS> seemed to be a saucy shredded pork.  I had barbacoa, which was a
 DS> thinly sliced beef -- marinated and then grilled.

Carne asada just means roast meat - every version I've had
has been different, some grilled, some roasted with sauce,
some almost stewed. As far as barbacoa, I am most familiar
with lamb barbacoa, but any meat is possible. You're lucky,
see below.

 DS> The menu lists tacos at $1.50 for carne asada, chicken, barbacoa and
 DS> beef tongue.  Not sure what portion size would have been.   Next was

Sounds kind of like Serape's or Sarape's, the Mexican place
near Clean Dave's house (probably walking distance from the
new house). Only here, barbacoa turned out to be beef lips!
which are like tongue only a bunch more gelatinous.

 DS> Tortas (no idea what that is) -- $3.50, same selection of meats.

These can be anything with a crust and filled, from a pie
to a latke-like thing to a turnover-type thing. Manny once
long ago took me to a taco stand in southern California
where he ordered a torta that turned out to be a submarine
sandwich!

 DS> Other entries at various prices and meat selections were tamales,
 DS> tostadas, sopes (what are they?)

I didn't know either, but Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen came
to the rescue (from p. 185) -
  Sopes are probably the most well-known antojito after tacos,
  enchiladas and tostadas (I'm leaving out the mostly American
  burritos). They're generally small fat tortillas with a
  pinched border, crisped a little on an oily griddle, then
  splashed with biting salsa and sprinkled with crumbled cheese
  and onion. Finding them hard to turn out well in large
  quantities for a party, I developed my own baked version that
  I call cazuelitas. - Rick Bayless

Cazuelitas de queso y rajas
cat: main, starter
servings: 4 or 8

h - roasted poblano rajas
3 md to lg fresh poblanos (8 oz)
1 Tb oil
1 sm white onion, sliced 1/4"
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 ts dried Mexican oregano
1/8 ts dried thyme
1/4 ts salt
h - the boats
1 c fresh masa for tortillas
- or 1 c masa harina mixed with 5 fl hot water
2 Tb lard
1/2 c shredded Chihuahua cheese
1/4 c crumbled queso anejo or Parmesan
1 egg yolk
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
h - the filling
the roasted poblano rajas, see above
1 c shredded Chihuahua cheese
2/3 c chorizo sausage meat
- or 1/2 c salsa
1 ts dried Mexican oregano
h - salad bed
4 c sliced romaine lettuce
4 radishes
2 Tb cider vinegar
salt

Crusty baked masa boats with roast poblanos and
melted cheese

For the poblanos: roast the chiles over a gas flame or
4" below a broiler until blackened on all sides, about
5 min for gas flame or 10 min for broiler. Cover with
a kitchen towel and let stand 5 min. Peel, remove stem
and seed pod, then rinse lightly to remove bits of skin
and seeds. Slice into 1/4" strips.

Brown the onions in oil, keeping them a bit crisp, 5 min.
Add garlic, oregano, thyme, and stir-cook 1 min. Stir
in the chiles and salt. Let cool.

For the cazuelitas: Oven at 350F. Combine the masa with
lard, cheeses, egg yolk, baking powder, and salt. Work
to a smooth, soft, but not sticky dough. Add a bit of
water if needed. Divide into 8 balls; flatten each with
your fingers to a 3" disk, taking care to make the edges
neat. Bake on a greased sheet for 15 min or until barely
set. Cool slightly, then using your fingers, pinch up a
1/2" border around each boat. Press down the centers to
even. Cover with plastic if not finishing immediately.

Filling: Combine the chile mixture with the cheese.
Portion among the boats. Return to oven and bake 10 min
until cheese melts. Meanwhile, saute the chorizo (if
using) for 10 min, breaking up lumps. Drain.

Serving: Toss the salad ingredients and divide among
plates. Nestle the cazuelitas into the lettuce; top
each with a portion of chorizo or salsa and 1/8 ts
oregano. Serve hot.

Paraphrased from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen

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