ow that I live here, although there are plenty of visits to the local taqueria, I can get all the ingredients to make fabulous tacos at home. The really good kind of corn tortillas. Cilantro for 25 cents a bunch, and limes for a dollar a dozen. The sweet white onions necessary to real Mexican food. And the meat. Any carniceria worth its salt will sell you carne asada — seasoned beef, ready for the grill. But I’d never attempted to make it myself, until I saw the recipe in the LA Times, in an article about the combining of Mexican and Armenian food traditions in one Angeleno family. It seemed almost laughably easy, so I picked up the ingredients at my local Mexican Armenian market — beef flap meat (though any very thin and flavorful cut of beef will do), cilantro, onions, and the ultimate authentic ingredient: Worcestershire sauce. (LA always has been, and always will be, a melting pot). A few whirls in the food processor, some quality time with the grill, and I had my tacos. No need for a taqueria run.
Entries Tagged as 'beef'
Your Mama’s Pot Roast
May 28th, 2009 · 13 Comments · Beef, Pork, Lamb, Main Dishes, Make Ahead, Quick, weeknight dinners
It’s the week after Memorial Day. Which means you can wear white without subjecting yourself to sartorial ridicule. And you’ve broken that long stretch after President’s Day with no 3 day weekends. And reasonable people start thinking summer! Grilling! Beach Volleyball! (apologies to my Australian readers. I have an admittedly northernhemispheric outlook here). The weather [...]
Borderline Bánh Mì – Vietnamese Style Steak Sandwiches with Pickled Carrots and Cilantro
April 3rd, 2009 · 5 Comments · Beef, Pork, Lamb, Main Dishes, Make Ahead, Quick, Recipes, weeknight dinners
I really love sandwiches. What’s not to love about them? Bread – good, condiments – good, and a filling to tickle your fancy. Portable, packable, all around satisfying. Sandwiches are good food.
Although there are many different sandwiches upon which I bestow my affection – a good BLT on toasted whole wheat, leftover Thanksgiving food on a sturdy white, meatloaf with ketchup on rye – I think the best sandwich may just be that Indochine fusion classic known as bánh mì.
Bánh mì are Vietnamese sandwiches, and there are as many variations as the day is long, but the unifying factor is good French bread and pickled vegetables. I first heard of bánh mì from John Thorne’s Pot on the Fire, where he chronicled his discovery of bánh mì – Vietnamese cold cuts, liver pate (another thing borrowed from the French), pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, chilies. This piqued my curiosity enough to drive me to NYC’s Chinatown, where I had my first ever bánh mì, and it was revelatory. The sweetness of the carrots, the brightness of herbs, the heat of the chilies, the chew of the meat and the richness of the pate, all bundled together in that pinnacle of human achievement known as a baguette – let’s just say I was hooked.
I’m lucky to live in a city with a large Vietnamese population where bánh mì are available, though these days I have to get my bánh mì fix in the San Gabriel Valley, which is an hour drive from my house. It’s worth it more often than you may think, but some days I really want a bánh mì NOW and I don’t have time to drive to Rosemead. Luckily, bánh mì, like most sandwiches, are wildly adaptable and easy to prepare at home.
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