Pollo a la Plancha

Last month, I wrote about trying a Cuban dish called pollo a la plancha during our San Diego trip. It's a simple dish consisting of chicken cutlets grilled on a griddle and topped with onions. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. A few weeks ago, I threw together my own version for a quick Passover-friendly lunch. Ariel later told me how much she liked it, which is usually a one-way ticket to a blog post. As I'm not too experienced with Cuban cuisine, I won't claim this is particularly authentic, but I can guarantee it is delicious.

My original version used a boneless, skinless chicken breast butterflied and separated into two cutlets. This time, I had some thighs on hand instead. I think either cut works equally well, so go with whatever you have. This recipe ends up using only half an orange and about 3/4 of a lime, so I encourage you to use the leftovers to make yourself a drink. I served with rice, but a salad works, too.

Pesach in the Pandemic

Celebrating Passover in the depths of a pandemic was always going to be a challenge, but as the Passover story tells us, the Jews are a resilient people. Our Zoom seder went off with surprisingly few glitches, with people joining in from such far-flung locations as Boston, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and even London. 

With classes moved online, I've been as busy as ever with work. Finding a creative outlet and taking some time doing something else has been very welcome. Passover, while throwing its usual culinary curveball, always presents an interesting challenge. As I've written before, wheat and barley (other than matzo) are prohibited during Passover. Additionally, Ashkenazim also avoid other grains and legumes. It's actually this second part I find more difficult, since both rice and beans (two very important components of Chinese cooking) are eliminated. In this article, I'll briefly discuss the highlights of this year's Passover cooking. 

For the seder, I made a brisket, based on Daniel Gritzer's recipe. It's not too far off from my existing recipe. I cooked half of the 9 pound brisket that was part of our Sam's Club run about a month ago. This was, in my opinion, my best brisket yet. As usual, I made it in my extra-large saute pan instead of a roasting pan. It's definitely a specialized piece of equipment, but it's become a real workhorse in my kitchen for braising. Being able to sear a 4 1/2 pound slab of meat and braise all in the same pan is definitely a plus. We also had matzo ball soup and gefilte fish. 

Passover standbys from the last few years made return appearances throughout the week, including scotch eggs and probably too many Brazilian cheese breads. Chopped liver was the only Passover staple missing from the menu, since all the local stores were out of chicken liver, for some reason. We are truly living in unprecedented times.

I added to the repertoire with some new chicken breast dishes, including a Kosher for Passover schnitzel. Later on, I marinated chicken cutlets in lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, cumin, and paprika, pan fried them in olive oil, and served with sauteed onions and garlic. Rice would have been a welcome addition, but I had to do without. Another simple meal involved skin-on salmon fillets with quinoa. Since it is not technically a cereal grain, quinoa is generally considered Kosher for Passover. 

We also experimented with making matzo pizza. This consisted of pieces of matzo with some jarred tomato sauce, mozzarella, and sauteed sausage (left over from the scotch eggs). With a few tweaks, I think this could be really good. Even as it stands, the effort to result ratio was just fine. The main issue for me was that the matzo softened too much, and I ended up eating it folded like one of those "New York slices" that some people like to go on about. It did make me think about trying a "matzo nachos" experiment next year. 

I've never written about matzo brei on the blog before. Matzo is soaked in water and fried in a pan with eggs. It's not quite like anything else I've eaten, but always hits the spot. We made two batches this Passover. Ariel did her usual sweet one with cinnamon and sugar. I made my first attempt at it using Molly Yeh's savory recipe. I added some Chinese chili crisp to mine. 

By Wednesday night, we were hungry and running out of ideas and Ariel even proposed ending Passover early. I was pretty close to frying up a pan of potstickers, but managed to save Passover with a sausage hash, following Kenji's general advice. The baked eggs are a great addition that tie the whole thing together. To make mine, boiled the potatoes and sauteed the sausage. Then, I diced the potatoes and cooked them with some lard on high heat. Finally, I sauteed some diced onion and garlic, combined everything back in the pan, and baked for about 15 minutes with the eggs on top.

Seder Staples: Maror and Charoset

This year was the first time we made our own horseradish and charoset for Passover. These are both essential parts of the traditional seder plate. The seder plate contains several items symbolic of elements of the Passover story. Horseradish, known as maror (bitter herb), represents the bitterness of slavery. Charoset, a fruit and nut mixture, represents the mortar used in bricklaying. As part of the seder, maror and charoset are eaten as a sandwich with matzo. 

The horseradish recipe is a simple mixture of chopped horseradish root and vinegar. Usually, distilled white vinegar is used, but I started wondering if this would really be kosher for Passover. A little internet research revealed white vinegar is usually derived from some kind of grain alcohol, so is not kosher for Passover. As such, we used apple cider vinegar instead. Fresh horseradish is pretty strong stuff, but seems to mellow a bit in the refrigerator. It's a nice condiment to have with gefilte fish and brisket. Many variants of charoset exist all over the world, with different locally available ingredients. Ours is a classic Ashkenazi style. It's also left fairly chunky compared to some pictures I've seen of a more paste-like consistency. The toasted walnuts add a nice textural contrast.

Kosher for Passover Chicken Schnitzel

We're living in a strange time. It's been interesting noticing how people have responded to our new reality of social distancing. Since people are going grocery shopping far less frequently, buying habits have changed. We made a large Sam's Club run a few weeks ago, and they were completely out of dark meat chicken. Our local Hy-Vee and Walmart were also out of dark meat. Perhaps this is a reaction to the relatively low prices of these cuts. As is well-known on this blog, the thigh is my favorite part of the chicken, so I've had to deal with boneless, skinless chicken breast for basically the first time ever. 

Continuing on the theme started with my kosher for Passover scotch eggs, I wanted to do another easy variation of a classic dish that can be done for Passover. Pounded thin and fried as a schnitzel, the potential dryness of chicken breast is less of a problem, though I do still prefer thighs for chicken cutlets (see Cotoletta alla Palermitana). To substitute thighs in this recipe, use two boneless thighs instead of one butterflied breast. 

I use the basic flour-egg-breadcrumb breading technique here, substituting matzo cake meal (finely ground matzo) for flour and regular matzo meal (coarsely ground matzo) for breadcrumbs. The result mimics the traditional schnitzel, but with that distinctive matzo flavor in the background. As a final note, I used canola oil for frying, which is kitniyot, a broad category of foods avoided by some, but not all Jews during Passover. Ariel typically doesn't eat kitniyot, but usually makes an exception for cooking oils. If you want to avoid this, an alternative oil or schmaltz could be used.

The Duane Purvis All American

As of writing this post, we are a few weeks into the COVID-19 crisis. For me, this has included moving my classes online, which has left me as busy as ever without leaving the house. Even as cabin fever sets in, cooking and blogging are pleasures still available to us in these strange times. I have a few more posts planned as Passover arrives next week, so stay tuned!

We recently found ourselves reminiscing about the West Lafayette days. The Triple XXX restaurant, located a short walk down the hill from my old office in the Krannert Building, has been a Purdue icon for nearly 100 years. The restaurant came to wider attention from an early appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. 

The Duane Purvis All American (like many menu items, named for a Purdue football star) is arguably the most famous offering at Triple XXX. It's a classic diner cheeseburger with one unusual addition: peanut butter. It sounds strange, but for some reason, it just works. The hot hamburger on top the peanut butter turns it into a bit of a mess, but a delightful one. I've done my best to recreate the burger based on my recollection and the restaurant's online menu. Although Guy Fieri didn't enjoy his Duane Purvis All American, I certainly do. As they say in West Lafayette, "don't be nervous, try the Purvis!"

San Diego Part 4: Mission Bay

On the fifth day of our San Diego honeymoon, we headed north for the day to the San Diego Safari Park. We walked the entire park and saw lots of animals, but getting close up to lions and kangaroos were two highlights.

As far as food offerings go, it was standard theme park fare. I did appreciate the coffee options and I'll never turn down a churro. It was a hot day, and the plentiful food stands and carts all offer free water bottle refills, which was great.

After spending the day at the Safari Park, we checked into our hotel for the rest of the trip, on Mission Bay. It was a perfect place to relax for a few days.

We dined nearby at Dan Diegos Pub. They serve all the Irish pub classics, along with an extensive beer list. The fish and chips really hit the spot, and I enjoyed a nice oatmeal stout.

To top it all off, some nice people at a nearby table decided to pay our bill!

We spent most of day six relaxing at the pool. This included lunch from the bar. 

For dinner, we went to Andrés Restaurant, a Cuban and Puerto Rican restaurant located close to our hotel. I'm not sure I had ever had Cuban food before, and I greatly enjoyed it.

We started off with a plate of appetizers, which included fried plantains, empanadas, and fried yuca (cassava). I had definitely never had yuca before, which is amazing given that it is a common staple food in the Caribbean, South America, West Africa, and other places. The fried yuca was a bit like a french fry, crispy on the outside, but creamier on the inside. 

For the main dishes, we went for variety. The photo above shows, from left to right, macitas de puerco (crispy pork), rice and beans, plantains, pernil de puerco (roast pork), and yuca. The photo below shows, from left to right, pollo alla plancha (grilled chicken with onions), rice, plantains, and ropa vieja (shredded beef stew). 

The chicken was a bit of dark horse here. Given a choice of meats, chicken breast tends to be pretty low on my list, but this was done fantastically. I also learned about mojo de ajo in this meal -- a condiment made from olive oil, citrus, and garlic that was served with most of the dishes. The version at Andrés also includes bacon. I was hooked from the start, and I've started making it at home.

It so happened that it was free flan night, which I'm always happy to partake in. There are only two days left to cover, but lots more great food coming up!

Birthday Special 2020 (and Chinese Year Year)

 Happy Birthday to Ariel and a happy Chinese New Year! With last year's cake being such a success, I made the same recipe again. Ariel came through with Mark Bittman's chocolate frosting as I was working on dinner. During dinner, Ariel said that 31 sounds old, but she feels young. I tried writing this on the cake, with some success, though I'm still working on my technique. 

With Ariel's birthday falling on Chinese New Year, we decided to have a few friends over for a Chinese dinner. This featured a few different dishes that have appeared on No Free Lunch. We started with chive pancakes, made with Chinese garlic chives. I rolled them out ahead of time, and stored them in a gallon bag with parchment paper between them.

The main dinner consisted of four dishes, shown in the photo above. First, eggplant Sichuan style, which is one of Ariel's favorites, and one I don't make often enough. Second, stir-fried rice cakes ("tongue depressors"), a Shanghainese classic for Chinese New Year. I made them with Chinese black mushrooms instead of pork. Third, stir-fried Shanghai bok choy with garlic, one of my favorite Chinese vegetables. Finally, we had hongshao ("red cooked") pork belly. This is a braised pork belly dish which Ariel and I both love. This particular recipe, from the Woks of Life, was supposedly Chairman Mao's favorite. I have been experimenting with different pork belly recipes recently, and I think this was my best yet. This will be a work in progress, but will surely show up on the blog eventually.

It was quite an undertaking to bring this all together, but it was a big success. While I was preparing the meal, I couldn't help but think about all the wonderful Chinese lunches and dinners we had around this table while it sat in my grandparents' house. We even used a few of their serving pieces. I hope this will be the first of many.

I usually take the birthday special as an opportunity to review the last year. In terms of the blog, I didn't post very many recipes this year, but the ones I did really reflect the way I am cooking these days amid a busy schedule. There's something to be said about simple braises that don't require actively watching the pot. Of course, 2019 was a very big year for us, with the wedding in July and our honeymoon in San Diego. I have a few more posts planned on that, which should be out soon. This year, I hope to get back to more frequent blog posts. Last night's dinner has gotten me thinking about diving back into Peimei's recipes, and getting back to the Chinese roots of No Free Lunch. Cheers to a great 2020. Gan bei!

San Diego Part 3: USS Midway

On our fourth day in San Diego, we visited the USS Midway Museum. USS Midway entered service just after the end of World War II, and had a distinguished career spanning nearly five decades. The carrier saw significant action during the Vietnam War and later during the Gulf War. Midway became a museum after being decommissioned in 1992. 

We ended up spending most of the day there, exploring the ship and its exhibits. Nearly every aircraft to serve on U.S. Navy carriers can be seen on the ship, ranging from the World War II-era propeller planes on into the modern era, including an extensive collection of helicopters. What I wasn't expecting was an incredibly wide-ranging self-guided tour of the lower decks. We got to see where the sailors slept, lived, and ate. Midway's galleys were well-known for having some of the best food in the navy.

Buffet line at the enlisted mess

One of the more interesting aspects we learned about life on a navy ship was the strictly enforced class system between the ranks. We toured several different dining areas for enlisted men, chief petty officers, junior officers, and senior officers. Certain doors and hatches were labeled "officers country," indicating areas restricted to commissioned officers. There was also a special dining area where pilots were allowed to eat before changing out of their dirty flight suits.

Senior officers' wardroom

The various dining areas also had example menus posted. The officers' menu included:

• Creole soup
• Jamaican jerk chicken
• Salisbury steak
• Steamed rice
• Au gratin potatoes
• Mushroom gravy
• Simmered peas and onions
• Hot dinner rolls
• Salad bar
• Dessert bar





Junior officers' wardroom, with silver service on the left

The chief petty officers' menu included:

• Surf and turf
• Baked potato
• Green beans
• Salad
• Pie and ice cream

The kitchen on the ship was truly immense. We saw enormous stew pots, pressure cooker, meat slicers, and more. 

Giant stew pots

We ended up spending most of the day on the Midway, and it was a great experience I would heartily recommend. In the evening, we walked around in San Diego's Old Town dined at Cafe Coyote, a venerable Mexican restaurant known for its freshly made tortillas and extensive tequila menu. 

We both enjoyed some sizable margaritas. 

Shrimp and fish tacos

Ariel ordered shrimp and fish tacos and I had chile verde (pork and tomatillo stew). 

Chile verde with housemade tortillas

This would be our last night staying in Little Italy before moving on to the next part of the trip. Next time, we get out of town for the day before settling in on Mission Bay. Stay tuned!