Friday, February 28, 2014

first entry. four months later.

4 months ago I moved to the Town of Jupiter, Florida.
I never thought I would end up here.

I am here because of my love for Hispanic culture and the Spanish language. When I was 13 I decided that I wanted to be a Mexican. So even though I learned that I will never be a Mexican, here I am in South Florida working with day laborers and their families. And what I gain from them is so much more than I could ever give.

In attempt not to bore the reader, I am going to keep this short and simple. I'm in love with my life here, in love with my boyfriend, my new friends, and the warm winter that South Florida provides.

My passion for food is all consuming. Some days I wake up with a craving so strong that it takes control of my day, sending me on a complex treasure hunt of sorts to create the taste that my mind is so fixated on. Some days the instant gratification of dining out reminds me to slow down and enjoy the simple things. Last night it was a liver pate garnished with raspberry preserves and gherkins.

My relationship with my boyfriend is also worth writing about, not because I want to bore you with the intimate details of our lives together, but because his identical twin and their good friend just moved into our one bedroom apartment. I am living with 3 men in a one bedroom apartment. This must be recorded.

There are moments that I grapple with such big questions about poverty, justice, Latin American and Indigenous culture, American imperialism, white guilt, women's issues, universal human rights, and building community and strengthening family. It is my hope to capture these questions and form a record of my thoughts, not a diary of the day to day mundane, rather, a diary of ideas and questions, news articles and recipes.

Bourbon Chicken Liver Pate- Easy and Delicious Recipe

Smoked Chicken Banh Mi Tacos

Last weekend I made these tacos, it was a 5 hour endeavor. So worth it.

Grocery List:
1 whole chicken, bag of whole carrots, a few bulbs of garlic, fresh ginger, 2 Cucumbers,  Tamari, Sesame Oil, Lemon, Onions, Chives, Cilantro, White Distilled Vinager, Sugar, bag of dried Chilis (Chile de Arbol.) Tortillas

If you don't want to make the chili paste, you can buy some, I recommend the sriracha brand chili garlic paste. But I do recommend making the sautee sauce, it's so good.

Chili paste Marinade:
12 or so chile de arbol dried chiles 
6-7 cloves of garlic
Dash of Salt 
2 Tbsp Vinegar (or to taste)
1/4 c Sugar  (or to taste)
1/4 c Water
SauteĆ© dried chiles until they are aromatic and changed color, but too dark. 
Add garlic cloves
Add water, sugar and vinegar. simmer until chilis are soft, about 5 minutes. 
Blend. 

Marinate 1 whole chicken in chili garlic paste for 1-4 hours.
Cut the chicken in half, thank the chicken for sacrificing his/her life for your eating pleasure. 
If I was a chicken, I would be thankful that I was going to be transformed into something so delicious postmortem. 

Smoke the Chicken
While the chicken is marinating soak the wood chips and get your coals hot. After the coals are hot set your soaked wood chips on the coals, then place the rack back on the grill. Let the grill rack heat up. Dry off your chicken so that you don't loose all of your sauce, then salt and pepper the bird and place it meat side down on the rack. Allow grill marks to form and then flip it over, allowing the chicken to slow cook with the bones facing down. Rub left over marinade on the chicken every 10-15 minutes, so that the chili garlic sauce is sufficiently saturated into the skin. If you have a meat thermometer, it should read 165-175 degrees when it is finished. It took me an hour, but I think I put the bird on before my coals were really hot, because I read that it should only take a half hour to 45 minutes. 

De-bone and shred your chicken. I saved the skins and fried them in olive oil and thinly sliced them to add texture and that delicious fatty flavor to the meat. 

Saute your chicken in this:
Chicken Delicious Sauce- Also my pot sticker dipping sauce - 
Blend together a 1/4 cup of tamari, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic and an equal amount of fresh ginger, a few splashes of toasted sesame oil. two scallions and the juice of one half of a lemon. 

For the slaw:
Use a peeler or grater to grate 4 or 5 carrots and 2 cucumbers. I also added a few handfuls of cole slaw mix, because I was lazy and it tasted goood.  
Dressing is just 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar. 1/4 cup sugar. 1/4 cup warm water. Salt and pepper. 

Heat up your tortillas in a hot skillet with olive or grapeseed oil and construct your tacos! 
Chicken, slaw and then garnish the tacos with lots of cilantro and a few dainty thinly sliced Julianne cut onions and chili garlic paste or siracha mayo. 

I will have a camera soon, to share photos.