Teriyaki Shop

This week we are offering Teriyaki bowls at the street station. You have a choice of sticky rice, brown rice, or rice noodles with steamed veggies, beef, chicken, or baked tofu.

Carne Asada Tortas

Carne asada tortas will be available Wednesday at the grill. Get in early, they sold quickly last time.

Fresh Breads

I just got in some French roll samples to check out today. I'm running a Sub Shop station next week that will have three different subs. The station will be open from Tuesday to Thursday.

Pita Station

We are running a Pita Station this week from Tuesday to Thursday. We have gyros, citrus chicken, and falafel. Each pita comes with choice of white or wheat pita, hummus, cucumber, tomato, sliced onion, shredded lettuce, feta cheese, tazatziki sauce, and a choice of saffron rice or herbed couscous.

Saigon Beef Lettuce Wraps

The beef for these Saigon beef lettuce wraps was cooked with coconut milk, chili paste, sesame oil, mirin, habanero, and some ginger. We set up some chopped peanuts, lime wedges, and chili sauce for condiments. Served with steamed white or brown rice and bibb lettuce cups.

Taco Stand

We had a soft launch today of our new "street foods" station. We did a taco stand featuring street tacos. You could get a carnitas, carne asada, or a crunchy chicken taco. We had a variety of salsas to pair up with each taco.

Cranberry Mustard Pork

The stone ground mustard and sweetness of the cranberry lend themselves perfectly with the natural sweetness of the roasted pork loin. This is a perfect light lunch for these warmer days.

Pork Carnitas Recipe

I've had several requests for the pork carnitas recipe. Here it is.

recipe:
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder (butt)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
4 tbsp roasted garlic paste
1 orange, well washed
About 3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the pork into 6 or 8 pieces. Heat the oil in a heavy roasting pan just large enough to hold the meat in one layer. Brown the meat on all sides and season with salt.
3. Squeeze the orange over the meat and toss the rind into the pan. Add enough water to almost cover the meat. Rub with the garlic and salt. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for about 2 hours, until the meat is fork-tender and pulls apart easily.
4. To finish, uncover the meat and break into into largish pieces. Remove the orange rind and discard. Roast, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes, or until the meat is brown and crisp on the edges.

Gala Apples

Gala apples are just one type of over 7,000 varieties of apples. They have a mild sweetness, and a thin skin. Galas are grown from May to September. Look for these Gala Apples and some pears in our fruit area.

Coffee Prices Soaring

Here's some insight into coffee prices everywhere rising.

Carne Asada Torta

The carne asada tortas yesterday came out great. Hopefully you got a chance to try one. We will definitley have to run those again.

Buffalo Chicken Calzones

Prepping some buffalo chicken calzones for lunch today. Roasted chicken is tossed with a buffalo sauce, then layered with mozzarella cheese, herbed ricotta, blue cheese, and a little tomato sauce.

Salsas

So we just finished up making our salsas for tomorrow. We will be having 5 flavors available.
-Roasted tomato (medium) 2.50
-Salsa roja (hot) 2.50
-Salsa verde (medium) 2.50
-Salsa fresca (mild) 2.50
-Mango Jalapeno (medium) 3.00
-Tortilla Chips 1.50

We will be starting at 11am and will go until we run out or 1pm, whichever comes first.

Here's a little footage of us making salsa today.

Cocina from cmckna on Vimeo.

Salsa sampling on Wednesday 5/4

In anticipation for Cinco de Mayo, we will be sampling a variety of salsas that are available to be purchased. We will also be selling tortilla chips to go with your salsas. Come down and see us. Be prepared this Cinco.

Rigatoni w/ Bolognese Sauce & Italian Sausages

This is a great comfort food dish. The Italian sausages have a bit of spice to them which lends itself nicely to the sweet tomato sauce.

Chicken Pozole

We had some chicken pozole today. This soup is one of our favorites. Hominy, chicken, chicken stock, chile puree, shredded cabbage, chopped onion, and a squeeze of lemon.

Fresh Asparagus

We got some fresh asparagus in from Calexico, California. Asparagus is a great spring time treat that is a good source for dietary fiber and vitamin B6.

Salsas and sauces to go......

Here's the first round of to-go salsas. We will be offering various salsas and sauces to be available to purchase. They come in an 8 oz. glass mason jar with a screw top lid. These sauces are perishable and need to be refrigerated. They have a shelf life of 7 days.

Salsa Roja

We are producing a batch of salsa roja that we will be jarring up for sale tomorrow. Grab a jar to take home and enjoy over the weekend.

Morning Prep

Morning prep time, squashes ready to slice and then blanch, the curry is simmering, the mango citrus chutney is about to be cooked down, and fresh rolls are about to go in the ovens.

yellow squashes

curry sauce simmering



mango chutney

fresh rolls ready to be baked off



Thai Basil

Thai basil has a distinctive licorice flavor and holds up better when cooking at high and extended cooking temperatures. Thai basil has narrow green leaves and purple stems. This is one of a few ingredients that go into our curry.

Quinoa

Quinoa is a plant food that is a complete protein because it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids. Quinoa is also gluten free, high in fiber and iron. You cook it just as you would rice. The flavor combinations are endless. For this one, we added some sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Quinoa is available at most markets since it is gaining in popularity.

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

Tons of broccoli with a bit of cheddar cheese and a pinch of tobasco.

Shiitake Mushroom & Spinach Enchiladas w/ Roasted Poblano Cream

Vegetarian enchiladas never tasted so good.......

Rolling the enchiladas.



Roasting Poblano Chiles

Roasting some poblano chiles for the poblano- cilantro sauce that goes with the Vegetarian spinach-shiitake enchiladas. We roast them over an open flame to char the skins, then peel them. This gives the chile a deeper flavor.

Salmon w/ Orange Jicama Slaw

Salmon with Jicama Orange Slaw.



Orange Jicama Slaw

1/2 cup shredded jicama

1/2 cup mandarin orange segments

1 jalapeno diced small

2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons of honey

Kosher or Sea salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and let sit in the fridge for a half hour to allow the flavors to blend. Serve chilled.

Black Bean & Potato Enchiladas

These black bean & potato enchiladas are vegetarian and filling at the same time. The filling is simple, it's just black beans, potatoes, cilantro, a little bit of jalapeno, cheddar, and jack cheeses.

Cobb Salad

We are running a Cobb salad at the salad station until Thursday. Blue cheese, hard boiled eggs, avocado, tomato, bacon, grilled chicken, romaine, and your choice of dressing.

Pastrami & Swiss on Rye

We are doing a Pastrami & Swiss on Rye today at the grill.

Chayote Squash

We got some Chayote squash in today. Chayote is also sometimes called a pear squash, Veracruz, Mexico is a main supplier for Chayote to the United States. Chayote has a crisp flavor that can be eaten raw or cooked. The outside of a Chayote looks like a pear and the inside flesh is similiar to a pear or apple as well. We like to gently saute it with a little grapeseed oil, garlic, and salt.

Crispy Orange Chicken

We have a Crispy Orange Chicken today, there is also a great Caprese Melt at the grill.

The Caprese melt has fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, and a pesto aioli. Pesto aioli is very easy to make, just take some pesto and mix it with a little bit of mayonnaise. Aioli is just a fancy word for garlic mayonnaise.

Chicken Mole`

Makeing mole` sauce is a very laborous process. I usually start it the day before by frying and then soaking the chiles. The next day I start getting everything ready for the purees and then combining them and cooking them down. Yeah, I guess we could just use a paste to start with, but I prefer to make mole` from scratch. I think the end results are well worth it.

Comfort Foods

A classic meatloaf with our spin put on it. We put a chipotle bbq over the top of it, then wrap bacon over it and bake it.

Sauteed Shrimp

I've had a few requests from people asking how we cook the shrimp. The way we do it is very simple. We just marinate them in a little olive oil and Montreal Chicken Seasoning, then we get a saute pan hot, and saute them until just cooked through, then we cool them done immediately to stop the carry over cooking.

Chimichurri Flank Steak

Chimichurri is originally from Argentina and Uruguay, it's a sauce made from parsley and garlic that traditionally accompanies grilled meats. It is also great for marinating meats. For our flank steak, we make up a batch of chimichurri, set a little aside and add more oil to it to make a marinade. We then marinade the flanks for a couple hours before cooking them.

Seared Tuna w/ Sriracha Aioli and Micro Cilantro

The sriracha aioli is a sauce that I would come across every now and then at sushi spots. It would usually be served with a tempura type of maki roll. Here's my version served with a seared tuna and micro cilantro.

Sriracha Aioli makes 1 ½ cups

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sriracha hot sauce

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon mirin

Sea salt to taste

Whisk together the first 4 ingredients. Season to taste w/ sea salt.