Cinco de Mayo

TS:
Quite unexpectedly, JS and I have a number of Mexican (and other Latin) dishes on our blog. Who would've thunk it.

So, since today is the fifth of May, here is a list of some of our favorite Mexican dishes on eatingclub.


Tacos of Carnitas with Pineapple, with Roasted Salsa and Sweet Potato



Enchiladas Verdes



Mexican Ancho Guajillo Chicken



Blueberry Tres Leches Cake



Torta (Mexican Sandwich)



Tacos al Pastor with Chipotle Peanut Salsa



Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese with Pipían Verde



Quickie Turkey Tortilla Soup



Cilantro Horchata



Homemade Mexican Chorizo Sausage



Shredded Beef and Tripe Tacos



Last, but not least, this first taco night was probably what opened the floodgates, in terms of us cooking Mexican food. Read all about how we converted people to Mexican cuisine.
Tacos... then


All eatingclub vancouver Mexican posts
Tacos... then
Tacos... now
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Semi-Lime-cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese with Pipían Verde
Quickie Turkey Tortilla Soup
Tacos of Carnitas with Pineapple, with Roasted Salsa and Sweet Potato
Shrimp a la Mexicana (Camarones a la Plancha)
Enchiladas Verdes
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Mexican Ancho Guajillo Chicken
Chipotle Ground Turkey on Flour Tortilla
Tacos... again (July 2009)
Tacos al Pastor with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Tacos with Beer-braised Carnitas Filling
Shredded Beef and Tripe Tacos
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Blueberry Tres Leches Cake
Crab Tostada
Homemade Mexican Chorizo Sausage
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)

Loosemeat Sandwich (from Sioux City, Iowa)

JS:
I first heard of loosemeat sandwiches from Roseanne, the sitcom. Yes, I did watch that show. It was quite good, quite funny. Then, Roseanne's face suddenly changed, which is when the show jumped the shark, in my opinion.

Which is why I remember the loosemeat sandwiches. It might have been the only good thing that came out of the show post-plastic surgery.

TS:
The loosemeat sandwich was introduced to Roseanne by Jackie, who was, at that time on the show, a truck driver. She told Roseanne that truckers would line up at a little diner to have one of these loosemeat sandwiches.

When they finally opened The Lunch Box (that was a pretty good name for the restaurant), I noticed that they had the meat in a steam table pan set-up, with the meat being very loose indeed.

To make a sandwich, they would scoop out some meat, letting the juices drain, before putting the loosemeat on a bun. Of course, this is all according to my memory (sketchy, I admit), plus a TV show's portrayal of the sandwich.

However, since I have never heard the loosemeat sandwich mentioned ever again in any other context besides in Roseanne, this loosemeat sandwich memory of mine has become the platonic ideal for me.



TS:
Then, not too long ago, I saw a loosemeat sandwich post on More Than Burnt Toast. My heart went pitter-patter. Apparently, there is some background story about the loosemeat sandwich. Upon further googling, we came upon this forum with a post on the "original loosemeat sandwich".

On the forum, "NebGuy" urges everybody to try making the recipe as is at least once. So, here it is!



TS:
As per the recipe, I even used lard! Good thing I had pork fat lying around from making White Pork with Garlic Sauce.



TS:
When the fat was hot, I sprinkled a layer of kosher salt onto the bottom of the pan. Then, I started browning ground beef, making sure to squish the meat so they crumble into little pieces. I also added onions at this time.

After cooking the mixture for a bit, I added yellow mustard, vinegar and sugar.



TS:
Some water went into the pan as well, barely covering the meat. I let the mixture cook over low heat until the liquid evaporated.

We even bought some hamburger buns for just this occasion! Wow, I didn't realize hamburger buns were so small! They're cute.

We microwaved ours for that "steamed" effect, then plopped some loosemeat on them.



JS:
In my fantasies, which of course are also influenced by Roseanne's representation of the loosemeat sandwich, I had imagined the loosemeat sandwiches to be a tad more "juicy." I had thought that the meat mixture would be stewed in some kind of broth and these juices would run down my arm when I bit into my sandwich.

In this version, the meat was "thicker."

TS:
I had the same thoughts. The meat held together too well. I wanted them to tumble all over the place in their looseness.

Could it be because I didn't drain the fat/liquid after cooking the ground beef-onion mixture? In my defense, there really wasn't much liquid in the pan when the beef was browned.

Since we have now made the recipe as is, I feel we are free to tinker with it as much as we want from now on! =)

JS:
I found the meat filling to be too sweet for my taste. We would probably omit the sugar altogether were we to make this again.

TS:
My priority is to make the meat loose! I will try to have the loosemeat swimming inside some liquid, just like in Roseanne.

JS:
Yes, I think we will make this again with our modifications. It was quite satisfying to eat, especially when you bite into the squished bun. Because you do have to squish the bun to eat.

TS:
One of these days you may find "Loosemeat Sandwich (from Vancouver, BC)" on eatingclub, made according to my platonic ideal. That is, if we're not too lazy to post about our modifications. =)


I forgot to squish the bun and take a picture!

On the same day, we made Sloppy Joes.


To read all about the loosemeat sandwich story, visit this forum. I have reprinted the recipe below for ease of reference.
Roadfood.com: Loosemeat, etc.

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Recipe
Loosemeat Sandwich
printed as is, without revisions;
by "NebGuy" on the Roadfood.com forum


1 lb of real good ground chuck or ground beef round or ground sirloin

1 tablespoon fat like lard or Crisco (if meat is round or sirloin)

2 teaspoons salt, just enough to lightly cover bottom of your skillet(this seems like a lot of salt but trust me on this)

1 onion, chopped fine

1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

water, to cover
salt and pepper, to taste

1) Get out a cast iron skillet-they are the best for loosemeats-or other kind if you have no iron skillet.

2) Melt fat over medium heat and lightly salt bottom of skillet.

3) Break ground beef up in skillet and start crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon-this is very important-the meat must end up being cooked up into small crumbles.

4) Add chopped onion while browning meat.

5) Keep working with the back of spoon to break up meat.

6) When meat is browned, drain off any fat and return meat to skillet.

7) Add mustard, vinegar, sugar, and just enough water to barely cover meat in the pan.

8) Cook, at a simmer, till water is all cooked out-between 15-20 minutes.

9) Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

10) Heat your hamburger buns-they're traditionally steamed for loosemeats-I like mine toasted lightly-do it the way you like it.

11) When buns are warm, put yellow mustard on them and add some dill pickle slices-I put on lots!

12) If you start changing this recipe and using things like olive oil for the fat and dijon or honey mustard for the yellow mustard, you will not get the traditional yummy taste of a loosemeat sandwich.

13) Likewise, don't add any liquid smoke or worcestershire sauce.

14) Make them just like this the first time so you can sample the simplicity of this famous Midwestern treat.

15) If you want to start making changes after that by all means do so but I'd like you to taste the original recipe at least once.

Steamed Fish and Tofu with Chinese Black Beans

TS:
We weren't even going to post about this dish at all, as it was something JS threw together very quickly to feed the household. However, we made this twice in two weeks, so perhaps there's something to this dish after all.

It seems that we are skewing very home-style for our recent Weekend Wokking entries.

JS:
There's a pattern going on with our household meals, a pattern I find a bit weird myself. If a dish goes over well in our household, I tend to repeat it within the next two weeks. Maybe I'm subconsciously checking if the first time was a fluke or not? After repeating the dish, it then falls into the black hole of my memory, who knows when to be resurrected again.

I wanted to get some fish onto our table last week, seeing we had gone fish-less at home for a couple of weeks now. The lucky fish of the week is sole, conveniently already in fillets. I didn't want to muck around with flour and butter and do some sort of batch-cookery, so sole meunière was out of the question.



JS:
Besides, given my usual hurry and impatience to get dinner done, a delicate fish like sole will usually be manhandled to pieces.

So, I thought, why not just steam the fillets the Chinese way, with some ginger, scallions, Shaoxing wine, and black beans? It's easy and the sole fillets gets to the table unscathed.

Black Beans


TS:
These are actually soy beans that have been dried/fermented/salted. These are the beans that are used to make black bean sauce (usually available prepared in jars), like in Stir-fried Pork with Black Bean Sauce, or in Clams in Black Bean Sauce.

About.com: Chinese Food - Fermented Black Beans

Tofu, Two Kinds

sole with soft tofu

TS:
The first time JS made the dish, we had soft tofu on hand. We layered the soft tofu and the sole fillets. When the dish finished cooking, the tofu and fish have become one: each piece consisted layers of fish and tofu.


sole with firm Northern-style tofu

TS:
The second time, we used Northern-style tofu (as seen here). In this case, JS simply added the tofu cubes into the dish without the fancy layering.

For this dish, I'm thinking most any kind of tofu would work -- and there are a lot of different kinds available.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu

JS:
I didn't even have to get the steamer out, as I just put the ingredients in a big enough platter, covered the whole thing with Saran-wrap, and microwaved until done.

Serve with white rice and some green vegetables and it's quite a healthy, hassle-free weeknight meal.



Recipe
Steamed Fish and Tofu with Chinese Black Beans

8 sole fillets
1 2" piece of ginger, cut into slivers
2 stalks green onions, cut into slivers
cilantro (optional)
1 tbsp black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 bird's eye chili
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 blocks tofu, in thick slices or in big cubes

Quantities serve as a guide. Feel free to adjust the amount of ingredients according to your taste.

Place all ingredients onto a platter. Steam until fish is done. Alternatively, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until fish is cooked through.

Serve with white rice and green vegetables.

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eatingclub vancouver Weekend Wokking posts:
Ravioli "Caprese": Tomato, Basil, Bocconcini
Eggplant "Clafouti"
Bibingka
Pumpkin Congee w/ Pumpkin "Beignets" & Sesame-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese w/ Pipián Verde
Adobo Mushroom Tart
Duck and Orange Crêpes with Orange-White Wine Sauce
Almond Eggplant "Bisteeya" (Bastilla)
"Mashed Potato Beef Burger" (Red-skinned Potato Salad in Taiwanese Sacha Cheeseburger)
Korean Soybean Sprouts Pancake (Kongnamul Jeon)
Lemon Chamomile Tiramisu
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Clear Oxtail Soup with Corn, Cabbage and Potatoes
Beijing Pickled Cabbage
Salsa Romesco ("Queen of the Catalan Sauces!")
Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Chicken Soup)
Bangus Belly à la Bistek (Milkfish Belly with Onions, Calamansi and Soy Sauce)
White Pork with Garlic Sauce, Two Ways (蒜泥白肉)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu (蕃茄雞蛋跟豆腐)
Steamed Fish and Tofu with Chinese Black Beans
Spinach and Cheese with Puff Pastry, Three Ways

We're submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient.

The host this month is Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf.

If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who's hosting next month.

Check out all Weekend Wokking Roundups.