Sasha's Chile Rubbed Tacos with Peach Salsa and Pico De Gallo

Peaches are one of the best fruits of the summer - that I simply can't live without. A juicy, fresh, local farmers' market peach is just about almost always too good to pass up. And they are not just for pies either. You can make some delicious savory creations with peaches, like my peach salsa, which was a perfect pairing for these simple chile rubbed flank steak tacos. I had received some of ShopRite's salsas for free to try out as part of the ShopRite Potluck Blog Panel, so I added the pico de gallo style salsa. Yum! This recipe is perfect for a busy week night when you still want to eat well. Neither ancho chile or pasilla chile are spicy - but they make the steak plenty smoky and flavorful.

Sasha's Chile Rubbed Tacos with Peach Salsa
1.5 lb (approximate) lean flank steak
1.5 T ancho chile powder
1.5 T pasilla chile powder
salt and pepper to taste
4 white peaches, chopped into chunky bits
4 T red onion, diced
2 T lemon juice
1 T diced cilantro
1/3 diced jalapeno pepper (or less or more to taste)

To prepare the steak, cover with the chile powder mixture and add some pepper and salt to season. The steak should be really well covered with the chile powders. Grill outside or in a grill pan as desired - I like it about medium well. Slice thin using an electric meat knife. To prepare the salsa, combine the sliced peaches, red onion, lemon juice, jalapeno and cilanto and allow to chill for 30 minutes before using to absorb the flavors. Serve the tacos in a corn or flour tortilla, with ShopRite's pico de gallo style salsa, fat free sour cream, lowfat cheddar cheese and a bit of lettuce flavored with lemon juice.

Sasha's Chile Rubbed Tacos with Peach Salsa and Pico De Gallo

Sasha's Kitchen: Creamed Sweet Potato Grits with Veal

I love southern grits, and last night for dinner, I decided that the new Anson Mills Carolina grits that I had picked up the last time I was at the Brooklyn Kitchen would be a good complement to a veal dish that I was making. I decided to incorporate some sweet potato into the grits, and pretty much came up with the rest as I prepared the grits. The end result was a creamy accompaniment to the veal, with a bit of texture and sweetness from the sweet potatoes. I also used ancho chile powder and paprika to give the grits some flavor, and just a hint of smokiness. These grits make for a perfect side dish with almost anything, and they are not that difficult to make - similar to making risotto. If you choose to make this recipe, do not substitute instant grits! Anson Mills grits are the best grits out there - they are the one that all the fancy restaurants use. I suggest Carolina, but they make a variety of different types of grits with slightly different textures, so feel free to experiment. 


Sasha's Creamed Sweet Potato Grits
1-2 small sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and chopped
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup heavy cream (or you can continue using milk, if you prefer)
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 scallion, diced
pepper to taste


To prepare the grits, dice the sweet potato after peeling and saute in olive oil for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, add the salt and the water to the grits and bring to a boil, and continue to boil for about 5 minutes or so until the grits absorb a large amount of the water. Then add the milk, and continue cooking on medium heat (lower than a boil) until the milk reduces. Then add the cream, and continue doing the same. Towards the end of the process, add in the sweet potato and the scallions, about 10 minutes before the cooking is done. I wasn't initially sure how long it was going to take me to cook the grits to the right consistency, since I had not looked that up online prior to starting. My husband mentioned that according to the movie My Cousin Vinny, it takes 20 minutes to make grits, and these are "regular" creamy grits, as "no self-respecting southerner would make instant grits. " At any rate, it probably took me in the range of 20-25 minutes, and they were terrific. 


I served the grits with a veal prepared piccata style - with lemon and white wine.

Veal with Lemon and White Wine1/2 cup flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 veal scallops (about 1 lb)
1 1/2 T canola oil
1 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup low sodium chicken stock
2 cloves garlic (diced)
3 T of lemon juice


Combine the flour, 1 1/2 tsp of salt and the pepper in a bowl.  Quickly dredge the veal scallops in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the pan and add 1 1/2 T of the butter to the skillet.  Sear the veal until golden brown on all sides, about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Set aside.

Add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil.  When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock, diced garlic and lemon juice.  Cook for 3-5 minutes before returning the veal to the pan. The flour from the veal will thicken the sauce.  Cook as desired for another minute or two until the veal is done. Serve the veal with the grits, a bit of sliced roasted red pepper and a bit of lemon.

Sasha's Kitchen: Creamed Sweet Potato Grits with Veal

Sasha's Kitchen: Steamed Lamb Dumplings With Ponzu Sauce

Last night, Brad and I prepared lamb dumplings.  We were inspired my Molly D.'s delicious looking recipe on this site for pork hash dumplings, but we do not cook with pork.  Thus, I decided that I would do a dumpling experiment using lamb, and I was not disappointed.  For me, lamb goes beautifully with Indian spices, so these dumplings are less of the typical Hawaiian or Asian style dumplings, and more of an Indian-inspired fusion, based on the spices I selected to flavor the lamb.  However, I also wound up using some ancho chile powder, as well.  In the end, Brad and I were very happy with the way the dumplings were flavored, and we enjoyed our home-cooked Friday night dinner.

Sasha's Steamed Lamb Dumplings
1 lb ground lamb
1 tsp curry
2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
dash of pepper
2 medium sized shallots, diced
3 cloves of garlic
wonton wrappers
Ponzu sauce (for serving)
Cilantro (for garnish)

To prepare the filling, I sauteed the meat in the spice mixture with 1 T of canola oil and 2 T of water, until the meat was fully cooked.  I strained the meat when I was done to get rid of any excess Canola Oil.  Then, in a small pan, I sauteed the shallots and the garlic and mixed in with the meat filling mixture.

To prepare (fill) and steam the dumplings, I carefully followed Molly D.'s instructions from her earlier post on filling and steaming.  We used small (about 4 inch) Nasoya wonton wrappers as our dumpling wrappers, which I purchased in the Asian section of Whole Foods.  To fill the dumplings, I added about 1 to 1 and a half teaspoons of filling to the center of each dumpling wrapper.  I closed the dumpling by pinching the top into a circle shape with my hands, and used some warm water on my fingers to pinch the dumpling shut at the top.

 Next, we oiled the dumplings with Canola Oil for the steaming process.  As Molly D. points out in her post, the dumplings will stick to the steamer if they are not properly oiled.  After I made each of the dumplings, in true assembly line manner, Brad used a pastry brush to coat each dumpling in Canola Oil. As our steamer, I used the same device that we had used for my Mongolian Hot Pot, the Presto Kitchen Kettle Multi-Cooker / Steamer.  This device was an inexpensive (thirty dollar) investment, but has come in handy on numerous occasions from hot pot to steaming to deep frying.  We followed the manufacturer's instructions for steaming the dumplings, but were sure to coat the surface of the steamer with Canola Oil before adding the dumplings.  The steaming process took about five minutes.

After the dumplings were steamed, we did not pan fry them.  We simply served the steamed dumplings with Ponzu Sauce and Cilantro and enjoyed them right out of the steamer.  This was actually not all that difficult to make and was quite an enjoyable meal.  I plan to make them again in March for a dinner party.

Click here for Molly D.'s Pork Hash Dumplings and here for Eric's Sauteed Chinese Dumplings

Dumplings

Sasha's Kitchen: Steamed Lamb Dumplings With Ponzu Sauce

Sasha's Kitchen: Spicy Ancho Chile Mac & Cheese

I was inspired to create a good spicy macaroni & cheese dish after my husband and I tasted a delicious macaroni & cheese, served with a spicy duck rilette on Valentine's Day at a local Brooklyn restaurant called the Jakewalk.  Initially, I was going to do mine with a duck rilette also (even though duck rilette could perhaps be the one thing less healthy than mac & cheese!).  However, that is going to have to wait for another day.  For tonight's recipe, I decided to use primarily pepperjack cheese to add some heat and pepper-flavor.  I also added heat with cayenne pepper, while using tomato mainly for texture and color.  The ancho chile powder adds a smokiness to the overall flavor, as well as color to the dish.

This dish is surprisingly easy to make.  I made enough for two nights at least, mainly because I seem to think I am cooking for an army of people, rather just for two.  Also, the duck wasn't missed at all - this dish had enough kick and spice to steal its own spot in the limelight.


Sasha's Spicy Ancho Chile Mac & Cheese
1 lb box fusilli pasta
4 T butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
3 cups skim milk
1 tsp cayenne pepper
8 oz pepper jack cheese, grated
3 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup panko bread crumbs, plus extra on top
2 diced tomatoes
2 tsp ancho chile powder
2 sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper to taste

First, cook the pasta.  Then, combine the flour and skim milk in a pot and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it thickens.  Stir in the grated cheese, spices and thyme leaves (removing from the sprigs).  Add the tomatoes and the panko.  Toss with the pasta and place in a casserole dish.  Top with additional panko and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes until the macaroni & cheese is crunchy on top.  The end result has some heat, but is not on fire, which was just perfect for me.  I would have used regular macaroni but my husband requested that I do the dish with fusilli instead, which wound up looking really  beautiful.

I had enough to fill my heart-shaped Emile Henry casserole dish, but also some extra which I used to fill my set of ramekins.  I guess I'll be eating macaroni & cheese for lunch tomorrow . . . and the day after that . . .

Sasha's Kitchen: Spicy Ancho Chile Mac & Cheese