The Gorsuch Gang

I Have No Excuse

// June 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub

For being such a bad blogger lately. Actually, I can claim I’ve been tired and lazy, but that doesn’t really help my case. May was a busy month, so much so that I neglected to do my Around the World series. In my defense, I had planned on doing a French meal and while I didn’t quite make one, I did enjoy two French restaurants this past month. I’ve promised Michael I’d make this up to him by cooking one of his favorites, Steak Au Poivre. And now that I’ve announced this decision publicly, I’ll have to go through with it.

I even managed to forget to post my recent experience with homemade Tex Mex. I attempted to make mole from a recipe from my lovely new cookbook, “The Tex-Mex Cookbook” by Robb Walsh. Of course, I say I attempted to make mole because I decided to do this on Memorial Day and as usual, didn’t quite have all the proper ingredients I needed. In anticipation of my cookbook arriving, I had ordered a bunch of stuff for my pantry to use for all the Tex Mex cooking I was sure to be doing as soon as I got my hands on that book. What I didn’t realize is that the fancy to cook Tex Mex would hit me on Monday, when the stores were closed and I was forced to make substitutions and rely on the 24-hour pharmacy for missing ingredients. You see one key ingredient of the recipe calls for chocolate, something I didn’t have on hand. So off to the pharmacy I sent Michael and he returned with a Hershey’s dark chocolate bar. I wasn’t deterred though. I made the mole using chipotle peppers and my Hershey’s bar and the too-small-for-enchiladas corn tortillas. What came out was a slightly messing, but strangely tasty concoction of Tex Mex flavors. I wasn’t impressed, but wasn’t ashamed either.

On a plus note, I did find an interesting blog by a former Texan now living in New York City who roams the big apple for all things Tex Mex. I’m hoping I’ll learn about a few hot spots from her.

So now that I’ve reflected on my lack luster month, I’ve decided that I have to really bring my A-Game in June. Along with my make-up French meal and further adventures in Tex Mex (tamale pie is next on my list), I’ve got a big Around the World event. This month Michael has a birthday and he requested that I make a German meal for my monthly series. I’ve made some German dishes before, but now that he’s requested it and I know my dear mother-in-law of German decent reads this blog – I really have to pull this one off.

It is the first Monday morning of June and I’m off to finish my grocery list!

Tex Mex by Way of Asia in Brooklyn

// May 4th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Grub

I didn’t have any great plans for tonight’s dinner like I usually do. Michael had decided to go to a lecture so there really wasn’t a need for me to cook a big fancy Sunday dinner. Instead, we thought we’d try a new “authentic” Tex Mex place that I had found in our neighborhood. (I really just saw an extra copy of a take-out menu at my gym and snagged it.) Since tomorrow is Cinco De Mayo as well, this seemed like a perfect idea. Fresh Tortillas Grill was the place, but what we got was anything but fresh.

Much to my dismay when I called in the order, I realized the lady who answered the phone was of Asian descent, not usually a good sign for a Tex Mex joint. But we were hungry and eager to try some tacos on the off chance they were actually good. All of our hoping to find a suitable and close place for a quick Mexican fix kept us focused. I ordered the beef tacos with guacamole and Michael wanted the chicken tacos with a side of plain nachos. Well, I’m sorry to say that the plain nachos were the only decent item. My beef tacos were greasy and the beef mixture was questionable. Actually it looked more like Alpo than ground beef and the guacamole was suspiciously thin as if it had water added to it. Michael’s tacos weren’t any better. Needless to say we were extremely disapointed.

What can we do? We live in the north yet crave the flavor of food found only in the south. I’m certain there are some more authentic places here, but what we want really isn’t authentic. Tex Mex is a hybrid that is either loved or loathed and we definitely fall into the love category. Until we win the lottery and have enough money to open up our own franchise of On the Border or El Chicos here in Brooklyn, I’ll just have to learn to cook this beloved cuisine myself. I just purchased a Tex Mex cookbook off Amazon. Within a week, we are (hopefully) going to have so many good tacos, burritos, guacamole and nachos we won’t know what to do with ourselves.