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