Crystallized Cactus

Last night, my husband and I decided to go out for dinner, so I took the pile of vouchers I've accumulated off the fridge, and thumbed through which ones might be expiring soon. I came upon Acitron, a new Mexican bistro in Arlington, that we've been interested in trying for some time now. I put the voucher in my purse, and we hopped into the car for the 3-minute drive to Arlington Center. Upon walking into the new bistro, we were immediately aware that we should have made a reservation weeks ago! The place was hoppin'! Hoping for something to open up, we approached the hostess and asked for a table. To our chagrin, there was just nothing for us due to upcoming reservations, but the three elderly women at the bar were paying their bill...albeit, slowly...and we could sit at the bar if we so chose!

We've never been known to turn down a seat at the bar so we patiently waited for the women to gather their belongings. It was like watching an episode of the Golden Girls, acted out in front of us. Goodness! After about 10 minutes, they were finally bundled up and ready to go, so we took our seats at the bar, where the bartender, who later introduced himself as Mo, was shaking margaritas like it was his job...haha, wait a minute. :) We placed our order for margaritas into the queue, for my husband, a Jalapeno margarita, and for me, a Blue Sky Margarita. It contained tequila (of course), blue curacao and a splash of Amaretto DiSarono. It was delicious...but stay tuned for the best drink of the night...it's coming up soon.

While we enjoyed our cocktails, we glanced over the menu and immediately realized that this was going to be a tough decision! Everything looked SO good! There were plates being brought from the kitchen that made both of our mouths water! While perusing the options, we received a bowl of what I can only imagine was homemade salsa, as well as some tortilla chips which were still warm!

We decided on sharing the Queso Fundido Con Chorizo as our appetizer. This sizzling skillet of chorizo, poblano pepper strips and sauteed onions mixed with four different kinds of melted cheeses was to die for! It was ooey, gooey, and delicious! It came with some fresh from the oven tortillas which really complemented the dip, as well!

By the time we were almost finished with our appetizer, it was definitely time for round 2 of the cocktails. When we sit at the bar, we like to ask the bartender questions, and tonight was no different. My husband asked for something different, keeping with the bold flavors that he already experienced in the Jalapeno Margarita. Well, Mo really delivered on this request...and I got one of the same! Instead of tequila, he used Mezcal, something neither of us had much experience with. The smokiness of Mezcal is bold and delicious, and paired with his own version of a dark and stormy, this was probably one of the best drinks I've ever had! It was like...a summer's night, in a glass! Refreshing, savory and bold...only three of the MANY words I could use to describe this cocktail!

Yes, that's a lime half, turned inside out! Now it's a little cup!

When our entrees arrived, we were excited to dig in! I ordered Camarones En Mole De Tamarindo, a shrimp dish with a tamarind-based mole sauce. The shrimp were cooked to perfection, and drenched in the sweet and savory tamarind mole, served over a piece of cornbread. Since all of the entrees come with two sides, I opted for a vegetable medley which consisted of mushrooms, cauliflower, peppers and a delicious sauce, as well as a Poblano Pepper rice which was fluffy and spiced to perfection!

My husband decided to go with Conchinita Pibil, an axiote seed, spices and fresh orange marinated pork dish, served roasted and shredded, and garnished with pickled onions and scallions. For his sides, he chose the refried pinto beans, and Elote, which is grilled corn on the cob with chipotle aioli, cotija cheese and spices on top. 

We were full, but we had to order a serving of Tres Leches for when we arrived home. This dessert was rich, delectable, and definitely fresh! The perfect ending to a delicious meal!

The plates were aesthetically pleasing, the food was delicious, the staff were extremely friendly, and I don't think I've had such good Mexican cuisine since the last time I was in Mexico, and that was a long time ago! Everything about this meal was awesome, and I can't believe it took us this long to give it a try! If you want authentic, fresh Mexican cuisine, definitely give Acitron a try...but don't forget to make a reservation! You can find all the information about Acitron if you click here.

Acitron is candied nopales, which are the fleshy, oval leaves of a prickly pear cactus.

Welcome to Thailand!

Let me first say that Thailand is number one on my list of places to visit. With that being said, let's take an imaginative journey to this intriguing country, and have some dinner! From The Essential Asian Cookbook, I took two Thai recipes and paired them together for this mini-feast. The book's chapter on Thai food briefly introduces the cuisine, and I couldn't word it better myself: "Every Thai meal is a delicate balancing act of bold flavours. The soups and curries are both tart and creamy sweet, flavoured with sour tamarind, scarlet-hot chillies, tangy lime leaves and handfuls of aromatic basil, coriander [cilantro] and mint. While the cooking of Thailand has borrowed from other countries - stir-fries and steamed dishes from China, spices from India - these influences have been shaped into a cuisine whose tastes and fragrances are uniquely Thai." That's putting it perfectly, I'd say!

A month or so ago, reader Laurie had asked me to do a post on making Pad Thai, so I decided to incorporate it into tonight's post. I paired this Pad Thai, a traditional fried noodle dish, with some Steamed Fish in Bamboo Leaves (the recipe called for banana leaves - but I couldn't find those!) I put together my bamboo leaf baskets for the steamed fish and assembled that part of the meal, setting it aside until the Pad Thai was done, since the fish only took 7 minutes to steam. I gathered some chopped prawns, thinly sliced pork, chopped garlic cloves, rice stick noodles, chopped garlic chives, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, beaten eggs, bean sprouts and some chopped peanuts. I left off the coriander [cilantro] because Matt has an aversion to it. I can only trick him into eating it if it's really cooked right into the dish...but a garnish isn't going to fly!

Brown sugar, Fish Sauce, Pork and Shrimp not pictured

The rice stick noodles are totally easy to prepare - just soak them in warm water for 10 minutes. It doesn't even need to be boiling! Does it get any easier than that? Once you've prepped everything, this dish comes together very quickly. Heat some oil in a wok and once it's hot, add the minced garlic, chopped chillies and the thinly sliced pork. Stirring constantly, allow this to cook for 3 minutes and then add the prawns, cooking for another 3 minutes. At this point, throw in the chopped garlic chives and the drained rice stick noodles. Allow the mixture to simmer, covered for about a minute. Using some tongs, toss the mixture with the 2 beaten eggs, fish sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar until everything is coated evenly and the egg has had a minute or two to thicken up. At this point you can throw in the bean sprouts and the chopped peanuts. See how quickly that came together!!

I was going to put pictures of each step, but everything went so quickly, and the images weren't the greatest quality so hopefully this works well as a finished product! It's very simple to throw all these things together, toss 'em in the wok and serve it. It's a great, quick, weeknight meal. 

Now, the steamed fish was also really simple! It's just coconut cream, red curry paste, and thinly sliced cod (I used cod, but you could use another sturdy white fish if you so chose). There's some sliced cabbage thrown on top, and then some fish sauce, lime sauce and sweet chili sauce as toppings right before serving. Steamed in bamboo (or banana) leaves, it is a sweet, but savory dish with a hint of heat from the curry paste. The dishes paired really nicely together too, so for that I say, GO ME! :)

It was a nice little jaunt to the balmy climate of Bangkok, but it's time to hop back on the plane and continue our trip around the world. But don't worry Thailand, I'll be back! 

ราตรีสวัสดิ์ (ra-tee-sa-was) which means Good Night! in Thai

Radhika's Kebab Sausage with Tomato Jam

Tonight, I'm making sausages! Well, it's a loosely based version of a sausage, as there's nothing being stuffed into any sort of skin, but still...Quickfire Challenge here I come! (For all you Top Chef fans, you know exactly what I'm talking about, but for everyone else - it's from the Quickfire Cookbook, which includes recipes created during challenges on the show, Top Chef.)

This specific challenge was to create a signature hot dog. Radhika, from Season 5, made these great Kebab Sausages, and here we are, making them ourselves! You can find the recipe here. This recipe also calls for a bunch of accoutrements for the sausages. I'm sure these sausages would be wonderful on a roll, like the recipe describes, but I decided to serve them over a delicious, parsnip puree instead! A little heartier, and more ... dinner-like! :)

The first thing I did was make the sausage mixture. For this, I mixed 1 pound of ground lamb, 1/2 a pound of ground pork, and 1/2 a pound of ground beef with a tablespoon of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of Tandoori Masala, kosher salt and ground black pepper. Once the mixture was blended, I put half of it into a food processor until it was finely ground. Then I mixed the finely ground portion back into the rest of bowl, and mixed some more. I then formed the mixture into the shape of logs, sort of like bratwurst.

Once that was done, I turned the oven to 350 degrees to preheat while I made the sides. I chopped a red onion into slices, and put them in a pan with a little canola oil to cook down for about 20 minutes. These browned onions sweeten as they cook and make a lovely topping for the sausages. In another bowl, I put a cucumber (peeled, seeded and diced), cilantro, white wine vinegar, capers and a little salt and pepper to taste. I set this aside to macerate for 20 minutes. In a third bowl, I made a tomato jam, which consists of mayonnaise, tomato paste, cumin and a little bit of heavy cream. I only used enough cream to thin the concoction, rather than the amount that the recipe depicts.

I browned the sausages on all sides in a skillet and then added them to a baking sheet I had waiting in the preheated oven, and then cooked them for another 10 minutes.

Once they were done, I plated the parsnip puree and piled two of the kebab sausages on each plate. I served the sides separately, allowing us each to choose our toppings appropriately. Once I added my toppings, I took a picture so you could see the finished product!

Voila! And this just goes to show, you don't even need a special tool to make your own sausages. They tasted a bit meat-loafy when cooked, and the sides were the perfect accompaniment to the flavors in the sausage. I really liked my pairing of the parsnip puree. I think it added something that a sandwich roll couldn't have contributed to the dish!