Thursday, August 27, 2009

I Say Ceviche!

I want to start by saying, I LOVE Ceviche. (or cebiche, or seviche... whatever you prefer)
If I'm forced to eat outside of Beni's kitchen, hands down, the best place in town to get ceviche is El Camino Real on South School Ave. They're actually the best Mexican food in town period, but their ceviche happens to be my favorite thing on the menu.
Ceviche is a pretty general term for any citrus marinated seafood. Typically if you use shellfish, like shrimp, you cook the fish, but finfish is used raw. The citric acid in the lime juice (most common citrus used) causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured; basically it pickles the fish, or "cooks" it without heat.
Peru is typically credited as the birthplace of ceviche, but that fact is disputed among Latin American countries. They all have variations on a "traditional" ceviche.
Beni's ceviche is closest to the Cuban style, using mahi-mahi prepared with lime juice, salt, pepper, onion, bell peppers, cilantro, and habanero peppers. It's fantastic on it's own, over a salad, with chips... Or as shown here, we topped a tostada and garnished with avacado and sour cream.

I know some of you are going to be skeptical of this dish... I was too, at first. "Pickled fish?" But trust me, if you like seafood at all, you will love this as much as I do.
And if you're looking for a good place to get Mexican food in Fayetteville, and you haven't been to El Camino Real yet, go there now!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Foodie Smack-down in Chi-town: Part III

This post will wrap up our Chicago foodie adventure, then I'll be back to singing Beni's praises in the kitchen!

But first, I'll sing our hosts' praises. Jason and Sarah!

Saturday night we were treated to a home cooked meal of beef tenderloin and some simple farmer's market tomatoes. You know how much Helfs love their summer tomatoes. Paired with a fabulously tender steak drizzled with a rich port reduction, they were extra fantastic.
Here are the fruits of our hard working hosts' labors:


Milo knows what's up...
Our last day in town, we had lunch at Piece Brewery and Pizzeria. We got a great table slightly elevated and next to some nice big windows that were open to the street, perfect for people-watching. It's a huge former roofing garage that was converted to a restaurant with lounge area seating, plasma tv's, a long bar, and a skylite ceiling. They had several micro-brews to choose from, and we settled on a pitcher of Worry'n'Ale, a rye beer that was able to satisfy a table full of diverse beer tastes.


Last time we were in Chicago, we had Pequod's, which is the super deep pan crust you expect to find in Chicago. Piece was a very different kind of pizza; definitely unique and very tasty. The menu said it was "New Haven-style" thin crust... Whatever it was, it was YUMMY. And it was the largest medium pizza I've ever seen. For toppings, we chose pepperoni, sausage, tomatoes, peppers, and jalepenos.


After lunch, we walked off those calories and headed to Retro on Roscoe, a neighborhood street festival, to meet up with friends for a while before we went to see Paolo Nutini at the Vic.

It was definitely a 5 star weekend all around!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Foodie Smack-down in Chi-town: Part II

Hot Doug's:
"The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium"

Sounds tantalizing, doesn't it?
Folks line up around the block and wait for hours to sample Doug's encased meats, and they do it for a reason. It freakin' rocks. Hot Doug's sits on the corner of N California and W Roscoe in an unassuming little brick building. The "patio dining" consists of 2 old-school cafeteria style booths out in the alley, and inside the place is decked out in bright reds, yellows, and black and white checkers. The walls are of course covered in encased meat paraphernalia including one whole wall devoted to the menus along with instructions on how to order (if you don't know your sausage etiquette). Even the bathroom celebrated the dogs...


After waiting outside in the drizzling rain for two hours, it was a pleasure to reach the heart of the beast and witness the folks that had come before us sitting down to enjoy their meals. It was a well oiled machine. As soon as each party finished ordering, a single table would come open, every single time. Some folks opted to order modestly, one dog and some duck-fat-fries, while others wanted to be sure and get a taste of all their favorites; for example a young couple who couldn't have weighed more than 175 lbs combined were served 6 gourmet dogs and 2 baskets of duck-fat-fries.

As we approached the counter to place our orders,
we were greeted by Doug himself, wearing a friendly smile and horn-rimmed glasses.

Beni and I opted for one dog each and to split a basket of the fries. Beni ordered the holy grail of hot dog's, the Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Sel Gris. Holy-cow (or duck), it was extremely decadent...


















I asked Doug to help me choose between the Celebrity Special of the day and the Mushroom and Swiss, becauase I just couldn't decide. He steered me toward the Mushroom, "The shitake's are sauteed in duck fat... because we can."
I was not sorry. Doug really delivered the pork sausage with 'ducky' mushrooms, chili mustard, and Baby Edam cheese. It was a spicy and savory taste explosion...


We all left happy and full, and I'm sure gave the folks still waiting in line a look that convinced them the wait would be totally worth it.

Come back later to read about Chicago pizza, Chicago beer, and a Chicago home cooked meal!


Monday, August 10, 2009

Foodie Smack-down in Chi-town

Last weekend Beni and I took a total foodie trip to Chicago and visited with some of our fantastic friends. We spent approximately 4 hours combined waiting in line for a hamburger and a hot dog... and it was TOTALLY worth it.
I don't know about you guys, but I am a huge Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives fan, so I was really excited to stand in line at two of the show's featured joints; Kuma's Corner and Hot Doug's.
We also had a taste of some Chicago style THIN crust pizza at Piece along with some of their brewery's Worry'n'ale.
And last but not least, we had very fine slice of beef tenderloin prepared with love by our close personal friends at Casa de Smacks.
Here's the juicy details:

First, we'll talk burgers.
We arrived at Kuma's Corner a little after 7:00pm on a Friday night. Sarah, Beni, and I waiting outside while Jason went in to get us on the list. The clientele we waited with were as diverse as Chicago itself, and our hostess was tatted out with tight jeans and a black tank top that had one of the Kuma slogan's on the back "die emo die". From the sidewalk, I could see the t.v. over the bar playing kung-fu movies and tons of people packed like sardines looking like they were REALLY enjoying their food. I loved it already, and hadn't even been inside yet.
The tiny yet fearsome hostess finally called Jason's name and we floated in the door. We were greeted by heavy metal, black and red, divine smells, and a very friendly waitress.
She got us started with some Pabst Blue Ribbon in a bottle and some not too shabby calamari. I've had better, but the rosemary and what I think was red pepper in the batter was definitely unique and flavorful.
All the burgers on the menu were appropriately named after metal bands. Beni ordered the Bongzilla; I requested Neurosis; and Sarah & Jason modestly opted to split Lair of the Minotaur.
While we waited I admired the atmosphere and artwork; especially the painting over the bar of a cutsie-bear and the word "MEAT" written in dripping blood over it. The ladies bathroom was also covered in pinup girl artwork and big city graffitti. My favorite bit said "My mouth tastes like bad choices."
After a reasonable wait, the burgers arrived.
The Smacks' burger, Lair of the Minotaur, was a 1/2 pound patty topped with caramelized onions, pancetta, brie, and bourbon soaked pears (Sorry, I didn't get a pic. I was too mezmerized by my own plate).
My burger, Neurosis, was a 1/2 pound patty with cheddar (the good stuff), swiss, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and horseraddish mayo... It was DIVINE.

Beni's burger was almost painful to look at, but the champ actually ate THE WHOLE thing.
Bongzilla was a 1/2 pound beef patty topped with 1/4 pound Sheboygan bratwurst, smoked gouda, caramelized onions, Dusseldorf mustard, jalepeno chutney, and bourbon soaked pears.
I didn't get a picture of that one either, sadly. Beni inhaled it before I could get the camera on.
Overall, big thumbs up for Kuma's Corner.
Next up, lunch Saturday at Hot Doug's... Stay tuned for details.

I "Heart" Tuna

I've got TWO fabulous tuna dishes to blog about today. Tonight's dinner and a backlogged dinner from about 10 days ago.
First, a little secret. We get our Ahi Tuna from Sam's in the frozen fish section. No fancy secret tuna source here. While it's not as good as REALLY FRESH tuna, obviously, I can attest it's quite tasty, and safe to cook rare.
"Treasures from the Sea" brand Ahi Tuna is wild catch and a product of Indonesia. The only ingredient other than skinless tuna is filtered wood smoke to preserve the natural coloring. None of those pesky "solutions" Wal-mart is notorius for putting in their meats.
That said, how about little blackened tuna with a baked sweet potato and spinach salad?

I think the sweet potato is highly under-rated. I like them just as much, if not more than regular baked potatoes. They are not only good whipped up with brown sugar and broiled marshmallows at Thanksgiving, but also baked and topped with funky cheeses, or pan fried with curried vegetables.
With the blackened tuna, we topped these sweet potatoes with sour cream and chives.

Tonight Beni put a twist on the blackened tuna seasoning by adding cumin, white pepper and lime. The tangy salad and seasoned black beans complimented the spices very nicely. No dressing was needed on the salad, as it was tossed in olive oil, lime juice, chili and garlic powder. Some super-ripe stripey green tomatoes really made the salad taste like summer.
The plain old canned black beans were livened up with cilantro, red onions, fresh garlic, and of course, a little lime juice.

Tip from Beni: To get a good sear on your tuna, and leave the center perfectly rare, pre-heat an iron skillet in the oven until it's smokin' hot and then use a high temperature oil like vegetable shortening or lard to sear it on your stove top.
Check out this Wikipedia link to learn about oils and smoke points.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

What the Helf?

I've been on hiatus the last few weeks. We had a lot going on with 4 days in Chicago last weekend and a trip down to southern Arkansas to visit family this weekend. I definitely plan to update soon. I've got some backlogged Beni meals as well as some pics of our Chi-town meals of interest.
We've got a trip to the beach planned for September, so hopefully I'll have some bathing suit friendly meals from Beni posted here the next couple of weeks!!

Stay tuned.