Beef Cheek Ricetilla Tacos

The rice-tillas:

Make sticky rice (this was coconut sticky rice) and put it in a round container, like a yogurt container, and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Cut off rounds the next day and roll them into rice cakes using sticky rice flour. You need lots of flour because the rice is so sticky!

Fry them in coconut oil, or something without much flavor if you prefer.

They cohere amazingly well! And they look like tortillas.

The meat:
Braise some beef cheeks in beef stock with some red wine or beer, garlic and onions, dates, and spices.
Let it cool in the liquid.
Slice off strips of cheek and fry it in beef fat or duck fat or something tasty!

The garnishes:
Caramelize some pineapple.
Finely chop some beef (this was rib that I also braised with the cheek) and fry it to be super crispy. This is always a good idea after you've braised some meat. Doesn't matter if its dry or what.
Cilantro and jalepenos chopped.
Strips of cucumber.
Knock off 'Red Eye' Mayo: mayo, sriracha, coffee extract to taste.

Plate it real nice.

"Mmmm the mouth feel" says Ike, "I can't believe its not tortilla".

Tortilla/Bun Alternative Teaser

What could it be?!

Dominos Seeni Sambal

Ike's mom let me take the seeni sambal tupperware out of the fridge to top off the last slice of Domino's pizza. Its spicy sweet fried onions with tiny Maldive fish. The meeting of two authentic national cuisines: American fast food and Sri Lankan beer snacks.

Here is a recipe from another blog - I haven't made this so I cannot vouch for its quality or thoroughness. The cardamom is there though, which is the best part in my mind.

CA Fun Tlayudas

I acknowledge the poor/sparse documentary quality of these photos - everyone's hands were covered in beans and bacon fat and we hadn't yet thought to put a plastic bag over the camera to make it finger food photo friendly.

Tlayuda receta:

Overview
A Oaxacan pizza made with a masa crust, refried black beans, and other fun toppings, cooked on the grill.

Masa (I bought some premade, but you can also use maseca)
Roll a midsized handful of it out on some parchment paper - plastic wrap on top of the masa can make this easy.
Get it down to less than a quarter inch thickness and the size of a dinner plate or slightly larger.
Grease a sheet of Al foil and transfer the masa onto the foil.

Beans
I cannot recommend El Ducal refried black beans enough. They are the same as Oaxacan style (neighbors!) refried black beans - far creamier than the Northern versions of refrying.
I jazzed them up with some guanciale fat.

Roast Veggies
Butternut squash
Apple
Leeks
w/ cumin, jalepeno powder, oregano, olive oil
finished w/ maple vinegar

Other Toppings
Queso Oaxaca
sliced cabbage
'guanciale bits' (=bacon bits made from guanciale instead)

Crucially Important!!!
It looks pretty straightforward in the first photo: a sort of Oaxacan pizza with black beans as base and other toppings arranged on top, but....
The key to a tlayuda is the liberal amount of lard, or guanciale fat, that you spread on top of the masa before the layer of black beans. Vegetarians can do olive oil.

So
Lard, then beans, then veggies an cheese and bacon, then...
Grill it over some very hot coals for 10 minutes until melty and hot

You can have the oven on low and throw them in to wait after grilling, or you can just do one at a time, toss it on the table, and see how people do with their hands, keeping the others lined up by the grill.

'Mmmm,' says Victoria, 'Its so rich and crunchy, but I just keep going for some reason, maybe cause its so smooth too.'

V-Day Loot

Valentine's Day is an awsome day to be a teacher.

Camping Drama: Mama Ape's Mushrooms

I count 26 mushrooms in this image. I leave it up to the reader to guess how many sticks of butter went into this dish... but suffice it to say that the ratio is 13 mushrooms : 1 stick of butter .

I ate 5, everyone else had 1 or 2.

Recipe:
26 mushrooms
2 sticks of butter

Heat pan on campstove
Add mushrooms and one stick of butter (see above)
Allow butter to cook in
While spouse is not looking, add second stick of butter
Allow to cook in
Serve warm

Photo Contest: Head in a Hunny Pot

Send in a photo of your head stuck in a honey pot to thefooddrama@gmail.com.

Things we are looking for:
a) your head inside a pot
b) honey

Winner will:
*** be pictured on The Food Drama
*** be the guest of honor at a Winnie the Pooh Party (real party will be somewhat more 'adult' and/or 'cool'   than party pictured)
*** be invited to suggest a Food Drama concept, no matter how crazy, that we will carry out