Showing posts with label tamale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tamale. Show all posts

Monday, February 15, 2016

Picnic LA: Fast Casual with a Fine Dining Flair (Culver City, CA)

Culver City residents and workers have a great new lunch spot. Picnic LA is a fast casual, produce-driven spot that's perfect for a quick lunch, takeaway orders, and now even deliveries. Opened by trio Brad Zions, Noah Ellis (who formerly worked in the Red Medicine kitchen), and Eliot Silver, Picnic LA is slinging healthy, vegetable-heavy menu that features produce and proteins from local farms and ranches.

Walking in, you'll see today's selections of entrees, salads, and more displayed on the counter

DSC00290

Each item can be purchased individually, or you can get a combo. A combination of any entree with any 2 salads will be $14.50, $17.50 for entree and 3 salads, or get 3 salads with no entree for $12.
Picnic LA
The bread they use come from Lodge Bread Co, a new darling in the LA bread world, which is also made in the Culver City area.

Picnic LA

As I mentioned, the items here are produce-driven so there are a lot of vegetable items featuring local farm products like in this Citrus and fennel salad
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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Hands On Tamale Making Class at Ortega 120 (Redondo Beach)

I LOVE tamales but I have a hard time to find ones that are just right for me. I want them filled with things I like, for example I'm always looking for a blue corn tamale but the ones here are usually only filled with cheese. So, when Ortega 120 offered me to attend one of their tamale making class, I thought it sounded fun. The tamale class is only held in December since tamales are apparently a holiday tradition. The chef said that his family would always say that way you will always have something to unwrap for Christmas!

The hands-on tamale class was completely full (and they were all women, which was kind of expected)
The $40 class also includes a glass of their house margarita and food 
Ortega has their own masa, made with Canola oil so it's healthier but still moist. You can buy their masa to go at the restaurant, or you can also buy traditional masa at Mexican bakeries. They had prepared the masa for us and the filling which included chicken and beef tinga, chili and cheese. They provided the recipes for these fillings, but during the class all we had to do was assemble them.
Spreading the masa on the corn husk was harder than I expected at first, since you don't want it to be too thick, though eventually I got used to it.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

February: Tamal Festival at La Sandia (Santa Monica)

"Tamal." It's a Mayan word meaning ‘wrapped’. This traditional Latin American dish is also one of my favorites, made of masa (usually stuffed with chicken, pork, or cheese) then wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and steamed.

Tamales
Apparently, Mexican tradition states that on Dia de Reyes (Day of the Kings), people partake on special bread which may contain a hidden doll. Just like King Cakes in New Orleans tradition, the person who gets the doll hosts a party! In the Mexican tradition, this party is a Tamal Party in February. Well, seems like Richard Sandoval found the doll, since he is holding a Tamal Festival throughout February at La Sandia.

During this Tamal Festival, Sandoval explores the diverse regional varieties of tamales throughout Mexico. I was invited to a media tasting recently and, as it turns out, there are way more tamale variations that I had anticipated, and they go way beyond the stuffing and the salsa!

Kumquat Cocktail
While waiting for the others to arrive, we were served a refreshing (and strong) welcome cocktail made with kumquats and prosecco.

Chips were served with a freshly made guacamole served in a moljacete. I enjoyed the guacamole so much I didn't want them to take it away. But I suppose I should save room for the dinner.
Guacamole
Our first course is good indication just how creatively they have used tamal in Mexico (just a note, we got tasting size portions during this dinner, not the full size you will get when you order):
Torta de Tamal Mexico City
Mexico City style sandwich, chicken tamale, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle aioli, salsa verde
Tamal Torta
Yep, carbs sandwiched in carbs! I liked the buns which were almost like biscuits, but lighter. I had thought this might be bland with both buns and corn masa tamal, but there was enough shredded chicken inside the tamal and it was pretty flavorful with the chipotle aioli.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Recipe: Chicken Tamale in Green Sauce from Mama Hot Tamales

Being a graduate student has its perks. Sometimes it's pretty random, like the time Mama from Mama Hot Tamales came to Caltech show us how to make tamales.

Chicken Tamales with Green Sauce (Salsa Verde)

Chicken Tamale



IMG_4503Masa Recipe:
1 - 5lb bag of Maseca
1 ltr of corn oil
1 tbsp baking soda
3 tsp of salt
Enough chicken broth to bring the masa to the consistency of cookie dough

To prepare the masa/dough: combine the maseca, baking powder, and salt. Add chicken broth, knead well with your hands to form dough. In a separate bowl pour cooking oil and add dough, 1/2 cup at a time, to the cooking oil, and mix until thoroughly combined.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

La Casita Mexicana: Authentic Mexican Food 102

La Casita Mexicana was an eye opener. Thanks to Teenage Glutster, I was included in the dinner that the two chefs of La Casita, Jaime and Ramiro, had planned for a number of bloggers. We were joined by Pepsi Monster, Food Marathon, Food GPS, Pleasure Palate and other members of her dining group, Oishii Eats, Eat Drink & Be Merry, Professor Salt and Will from FoodDigger.

Jaime and Ramiro's mission is to educate Americans about Mexican food. Authentic Mexican food. And no, it's not just tacos and burritos and quesadillas. This city has at least seen some mole, but there are so much that we have not really been exposed to, as this meal will attest to!

Jaime and Ramiro set up a table filled with the various ingredients they will be using that night, including numerous varieties of beans and chiles!

The night started with some refreshing drinks: Aguas Frescas of Alfalfa and lemonade with chia seeds
I really loved the alfalfa agua fresca. I thought that it might be too herby at first, but after tasting it, it really wasn't and it was nicely refreshing. The Mexican alfalfa sprouts are different than the ones we normally see here as the leaves are bigger and the stems green. Not sure how it would taste if I try to make it with regular alfalfa ...

White fish soup with hoja santa.
It's been a while since I've encountered hoja santa in the US. Nicely spiced soup (some said it is reminiscent of tom yum soup) and the fish is moist and tender.

Chile Relleno (Pickled jalapenos with tuna filling)
Although I've had stuffed peppers before I've never had one filled with tuna.

Queso Azteca: a blend of 4 cheeses, mushrooms and cactus strips.
Definitely my favorite, and perhaps also most interesting dish, of the night. Full of flavors, especially with the mushrooms and slightly spicy cactus strips, and had a very interesting texture.

Enchiladas in 3 moles(a la bandera)in the colors of the Mexican (the menu said chicken but I was pretty sure they were filled with tuna ... anyway, not the point. The point is the mole sauce!)
The 3 different mole sauces: poblano, pepiano verde, and pepiano rojo. My favorite: The pepiano verde. I think. Hmm. They were all so good.

Tamalitos de huitlacoche (Corn Fungus Tamales)
Corn fungus eh? As Michael Pollan pointed out, we Americans loove our corn (too much even!). And apparently corn fungus is a delicacy and quite expensive in Mexico. This gave the tamales a nice earthy flavor.

Cotija cheese enchiladas from Michoacan in the recipe of Ramiro’s grandmother
This simple dish was delightfully delicious. Apparently they lightly dip the tortillas in hot oil and then chile. The chile flavor was perfect for the dry, crumbly Cotija cheese. Be careful, this is like one of those addicting snacks ... If 15 or so more courses weren't on the way and I wasn't sharing with 4 other people, might've kept eating this.

Cochinita pibil with cebollas escabeche(Pork roasted in plantain leaves with pickled onions)
I tried the seemingly harmless "pickled onions" and man these onions are packed with heat!!! I downed my agua fresca + FoodMarathon's glass of water + another glass of water and was still dying! (I have looow tolerance to spicy foods)

Pollo en mole blanco: white mole sauce with dried fruits and white chocolate over chicken
The first time I've had white mole! I didn't know they use white chocolate also.

Pork almendrado (Pork in almond sauce)

Cecina with chile japonese : thinly sliced beef cookd with a very hot chile.
Reminiscent of a beef jerky, this is full of flavor and slightly spicy.

Bacalao with tamarind sauce


Puerco adobado(pork in a spicy red sauce)


Chile en Nogada (Chiles in Walnut sauce) - a specialty of Puebla.
According to Cecilia Fabulich, this dish is apparently typically served around Christmas time(?). The colors are again those of the Mexican flag, but also rather Christmas-y, aren't they? An interesting and almost dessert-y dish due to the creamy walnut sauce.


Churros with sweet cajeta (caramel) filling
Nice crunchy churros, and the caramel filling was not overly sweet. This blows any of those Disneyland churros out of the water.

Mexican chocolate paste with crystallized grapefruit.
Chunky, rich, and slightly spiced mexican chocolate paste. Perfect with the candied grapefruits.

Flan de castilla
To end the night was this giant sheet of flan, too much for 20 people, especially at the end of the 17/18- course meal! Apparently they also had the zucchini flan floating around. I guess I was too full to catch and grab it.

Thank you Teenage Glutster for including me in this amazing meal, and especially to chefs Jaime and Ramiro who had put so much care into everything. The best Mexican meal I've had, by far.

La Casita Mexicana
4030 Gage Ave
Bell, CA 90201
(323) 773-1898
www.casitamex.com/home.html

Read OishiiEats' review here and Teenage Glutster's here.

La Casita Mexicana on Urbanspoon

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Upcoming Foodie Events!

Foodie events are starting to get lined up again this year, whoohoo!!

There are some really impressive ones coming up very soon:

Tomorrow, Friday Feb 27, Locali is having their official launch party. Between 5-8 pm get free samples of organic tamales from La Guera Tamalera and grass-fed hot dogs from Let's Be Frank. 5825 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028.

Sunday, March 9. Jonathan Gold has lined up 30 of his favorite restaurants for the LA Weekly Gold Standard. Restaurant lineup includes Animal, Sona, the two Mozzas, Providence, Loteria Grill and Jitlada, among many other great ones. Tickets are $60 and include all food and drinks (wine/beer). 3-7 pm.
http://ow.ly/gvg

On the more "educational" side, on March 11, Zocalo is holding a discussion on "Can Food Really be Authentic?" Featuring Mozza's Nancy Silverton, Jazz from Jitlada, and Roy Choi from Kogi BBQ truck, the event is moderated by Jonathan Gold. 7:30 PM, Skirball Cultural Center.

Thursday, March 12. The Planned Parenthood L.A. Guild is holding a fundraising Food Fare, featuring an array of restaurants such as A.O.C, Anisette Brasserie, Clementine's, Joe's Restaurant, Pink's Hot Dogs, Pitfire Pizza, and XIV. Chefs Suzanne Goin (Lucques), Nancy Silverton (Osteria/Pizzeria Mozza), and Jon & Vinny (Animal) will also be there signing their cookbooks! Tickets are $125 for the afternoon and $175 for the night, but everything above $60 is tax-deductible.
http://www.pplafoodfare.com/tkts.asp

Also, as part of ongoing deals and steals, The Park in Echo Park is offering $15 3-course meal every Tuesday. This upcoming Tuesday they are featuring gumbo, jambalaya, and banana bread pudding. 1400 Sunset Blvd.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

I Want Me Tamales

This past weekend was the 4th Annual International Tamale Festival, held right by MacArthur Park/Mama's Hot Tamales in LA. The event was free and street parking wasn't too bad around the park.

The festival offered, besides tamales of course, various Mexican eats like Tortas, Platanos, and drinks like horchata and aguas frescas. I was obviously there for the tamales though. I had hopes for a blue corn tamale, but that didn't happen so I just got what I could.
Mama's International Tamales had some of the most interesting and varied offerings there. Pictured below are the beef adobo and the chicken mole tamales.Both were great! I really liked the beef adobo a lot, although it was pretty spicy. Drank 1/2 bottle of water but it was worth it. The chicken mole was not spicy at all but was also very good. I thought it was really messy as a tamale, but the taste of the corn tamale + mole sauce definitely worked.

Another interesting vendor was the White Girl Tamale Maker (aka La Guera Tamalera), which boasts authentic VeraCruz style (I don't know what that would be like, so I can't attest to that). Sounds weird? It also happens to be the only organic offering and also had very interesting sweet tamales creation.

Pictured below we had the chicken with green chile (left), and on the right was the fig-nana and also the ginger peach tamales.
The chicken w/ green chile was delicious and it might actually be my favorite of the day. Maybe. With a tastier corn, the tamale was also not that spicy, which suits me just fine since it was still very flavorful. The fig-nana and peach tamales were very sweet. They were tasty, but funny thing is that eating the peach tamale reminds me basically of peach cobbler of sorts.
These organic tamales were $5 each, compared to $3 tamales from everywhere else.

Overall a great lunch on a Saturday evening, followed by a short walk through the park (to the car). Will definitely return next year!

http://www.eastlosangeles.net/tamalefestival/

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Recipe Collection

Chicken Pot Pie with Duck-Butter Dough (Evan Kleiman)

Chicken Tamales in Green Sauce (Mama Hot Tamales, Los Angeles)

Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon - Chef Darrin Finkel (Jazz Kitchen, Anaheim)

Duck Rillette - Chef Joe Vasiloff (Cafe Pinot, Los Angeles)

Maine Lobster in Its Own Butter - Chef Brian Redzikowski (BondSt Restaurant, Beverly Hills)

Okonomiyaki - Yoko Issasi (Japanese Foodstory)

Scallops Arabesque (with Eggplant Puree & Ras El Hanout) - Chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant, downtown LA)


Sautéed Day Boat Scallops/ Risotto, midnight moon, English peas - Chef Neal Fraser (Grace, BLD)

Slow Roasted Salmon with Green Rice - Chef Suzanne Goin (Lucques)

Steamed Black Mussels in Red Curry Coconut Broth - Chef Andrew Kirschner (Wilshire Restaurant, Santa Monica)

Red Beet Risotto - Chef Ray Garcia (FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica)


DESSERTS
Chocolate Torte with Caramel Lime Sauce - Chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant, downtown LA)
Chocolate Pot de Creme - Chef Ray Garcia (FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica)
Rustic Chocolate Truffles - Valerie Gordon (Valerie Confections)

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