Image from Flatlander Fund

I’m really excited about this event, in part because I’m in charge of the food!  In collaboration with the Dine in My Back Yard group (which Dan helped to start), we’ll be preparing a number of delicious Spanish & Latina dishes from fresh, local ingredients.  I hope this is a gateway to more tasty events held not only to raise money for a good cause (in this case, the Flatlander Fund), but to offer great food from the best ingredients.

Here are all the details on the upcoming event.

On Sunday, August 29 from 6-9PM the Corkscrew Wine Emporium will host a fundraising dinner in their new Buvons Wine Bar to support Dan Schreiber’s dream of a community kitchen for Champaign-Urbana. The event will feature a 3-course gourmet dinner with wine pairing. Tickets are $100/person and seating is limited. For reservations, contact Laura at 217-778-1687 or donate@flatlanderfund.org. Dinner payments can be made online here (put “dinner” in the memo line, please) or by mailing a check to Prairie Table/Flatlander Fund, 201 W. Green, Urbana, IL 61801. Click here for more details, the menu, and to read more about the Flatlander Fund.

I like our local University meat salesroom.  You may have read about them on ChambanaMoms, where I was quoted lamenting letting the reader in on the UI meat salesroom because “you’ll all grab the good stuff before I get there.”  It’s true, this place has gotten very popular–for good reason!

The boss, Chuck, usually sends out the “meat mail” every Tuesday and Thursday to let everyone know what they have and what’s new.  Today he mentioned that they made some fresh chorizo.  If you know me, you know I love Mexican food, so I had to run down and try it.  Good thing I did, because there wasn’t much left (I forgot to ask if they had more in the back).

As you can see, it’s not the typical red chorizo that you’ll find vacuum-packed in the grocery store, nor is it the bland, over-salted store-brand crap.  This is a slightly different style, using fresh jalapeños and cilantro.  I took a link, removed the casing, and browned it up in a pan.  Once it was pretty much cooked, I tasted it.  It had a great fresh taste, and the cilantro really came through.  It’s not spicy-hot, but it’s miles ahead of any grocery store chorizo you could buy.  For chorizo, it’s quite lean, but it’s tender and not too finely ground.  Chuck knows how to make some good sausages.

It was good, but I realized what I really wanted a more paprika-laden chorizo, so after I tossed in a quarter of an onion, diced, I added some hot smoked paprika and some regular sweet paprika.  After the onions were cooked and the chorizo well-browned, I added two beaten eggs.  Heat up a few tortillas, sprinkle with a little cheese, and that was dinner.  I spooned it straight from the pan onto warm tortillas with a little salsa on top to add a bright kick to my tastebuds.

pork mole taco, quesadilla, rice, beans

Today over on Chambanamoms, I’ve got some delicious Mexican side dishes for you to try.  Now, you have a favorite taco filling you can make, but different salsas are a great way for everyone at the table to customize their meal.  Sometimes I like something really fiery, and one of my favorite flamingly flavorful salsas is Zarela Martinez’s Salsa Macha.

In Zarela’s Veracruz, she playfully translates this recipe title as “she-man sauce”, and it really does pack a punch that could make any man suffer.  In more careful doses however, the fruitiness of the chiles and the nuttiness of the peanuts really come out and play nicely with a wide range of foods.

She encourages the reader to experiment with the recipe, as this is only a general formula for this type of salsa.  You could try adding different dried chiles, or adjust how long you process it, so it could be as smooth as peanut butter.  You could use different roasted nuts, or roast the garlic before blending it in.

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I mentioned in my previous post reviewing Xoco that I really wanted to have the torta ahogada.  Since I’m in Chicago quite infrequently, I had to take matters into my own hands.

First I made some crusty bread.  This is a pretty standard Ratio (5:3) bread, formed into a baguette shape, baked with steam until very crusty.

The centerpiece of the sandwich are the delicious little meats, carnitas, made from a big hunk of pork shoulder.  I used the simpler-than-you’d-expect “Slow Roasted Pork Carnitas” recipe from Rick Bayless himself.  You get tender shreds (or chunks if you prefer) of pork with crunchy surfaces, and all that without the mess of stove-top frying.

I also made some black beans, a blended chipotle salsa, and some pickled onions.  Slice the bread, top with meat and all the fixings, then slide it all into the oven to melt the cheese a bit.  Here it is pre-bake.

So, I wasn’t 100% accurate, but the spirit was there.  My bread was a little too crusty, but the components come together in a symphony of rich, sweet, salty, tart, spicy Mexican flavor.  The pickled onions are vital to balancing the richness of the carnitas, so you should make plenty.  I usually go with a really simple preparation and wish I made twice as much.

Pickled Onions

These things are great on sandwiches, tacos, toss them in salads or eat with a fork–anywhere you want that acidic zing.  Keep them refrigerated and they will stay nice and crunchy.  I like to use cider vinegar, but feel free to use whatever you like or is most appropriate for your dish.  I like them to be crunchy and bold, still offering the heat of the onion.  If you’d like to tame them a little, combine all ingredients and cook anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the texture you’d like.

• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 c vinegar (cider vinegar, or whatever you like)
• sugar, to taste (optional)

1. Sprinkle sliced onions with salt, and toss to distribute.
2. Add vinegar and toss to coat the onions.
3. Allow to sit 10-30 minutes, tossing occasionally.
4. Taste and add sugar to balance the vinegar, if desired.

In blog business, the winner (chosen by random draw) of the contest was Stuart, who writes the excellent food blog kitchenhacker.net.  A couple disks of Mexican chocolate (and a little something extra) from Taza Chocolate will be its way to him very soon.  He used to live in the Champaign-Urbana area, and I was fortunate enough to meet him a few times.  When he was in his last-minute moving preparations, he offered me some of his frozen stash that he just couldn’t take with him.  It’s still in my freezer, but it will be featured soon.

Taza is supporting the efforts to aid people devastated by the earthquake in Haiti by donating half of each retail sale on their website through January 22nd.  You can read more about the organization they are donating to in their blog post.  Go buy some chocolate and help a good cause.  I get nothing for telling you this, but there are plenty of people whose lives will be changed.