Kitchen Chick

A Plug for Tammy at eGullet

My friend Tammy is doing a week long foodblog at eGullet. She is blogging about her adventures in cooking for her co-housing community and making babyfood (as opposed to buying pre-processed stuff) for her son Liam. So if you're curious about community meals for some 40+ people, she includes dinner menus and photos of their community kitchen.

La Gloria Bakery: Churros and the Best Flour Tortillas

La Gloria sits at the edge of Mexicantown in Detroit with the Ambassador Bridge just jump, skip and hop away.  We used to avoid that area of Mexicantown, as it has the most touristy restaurants, but curiosity brought us to La Gloria's doors some few years ago and we have been returning faithfully ever since.  They have the usual assortment of Mexican sweets, but what brings me to them is their flour tortillas and churros.

They have the most delicious flour tortillas I have ever had.  Hands down, the best.  (You all are welcome to offer your nominations for best flour tortillas available in the Metro Detroit area, and I'll happily try them.  I try to keep an open mind.)  If you get tortillas at La Gloria, make sure to get theirs as sometimes they also stock other companies tortillas, too.

La Gloria's beautiful cases of baked goods

Like all Mexican bakeries I've visited, they also offer an assortment of American and European-style pastries like cakes and napoleons. On Easter Sunday, La Gloria had chocolate cupcakes decorated chocolate frosting and a squiggle of white frosting, looking so much like a giant version of a Hostess Cupcake, and these delightful bunnies...

La Gloria Bakery
3345 Bagley Ave.
Detroit, MI
(313) 842-5722

Sweet Treats from Detroit's Mexicantown Bakery

A trip to Detroit usually means a trip to Mexican Town for a meal at El Comal and a bag full of Mexican baked goods. Mexicantown Bakery, located at 4300 West Vernor in the heart of Mexican Town, combines a fabulous selection of sweets and breads with a corner store grocery. When I step inside I feel six years old again with a store full of magical delights to choose from. I dash from display to display, and eventually, with regret, I make my selections. Regret because I know I can't, realistically, buy one of each treat, but I try to get at least one of my favorites and one new item each time.

Cases of Mexican baked goods line a wall of the popular Mexicantown Bakery in Detroit, while large colorful pinatas look down from above.

Grab a tray and a pair of tongs and load up. When you're ready, take your tray to the check-out counter and the cashier will ring you up.

Chilled items like flans and cakes are in chilled cases, and you'll have to ask one of the staff to help you with those. There isn't nearly enough space to display all of their goods, so make sure to peer over the counters to the breads and sweets hiding the cashiers.

Custard-topped breads.

Mexicantown Bakery also stocks many basic Mexican grocery items, which cost far less in the supermercados of Mexican town than they do in Ann Arbor grocery stores. Stock up on dried chilies and Mexican canned goods, japones enchilado, and your favorite Mexican sodas. And before the cashier finishes ringing everything up, grab a slice or two of Mexican flan to go.

Mexicantown Bakery
4300 West Vernor Highway
Detroit MI 48216
(313) 554-0001

Arirang — Fresh Korean Cuisine in Ann Arbor

Arirang, is Ann Arbor's newest Korean restaurant, located on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd, in the former Original 60s location just a few doors down from the Godaiko Japanese restaurant.  The restaurant is named after a Korean folk song. We stopped in on their second day.  Clearly we were not the only ones keeping an eye on them.  A few large family and several smaller groups were already there, and new people arrived regularly.  The interior was neat and clean, and the shogi screens arrayed along the plate glass windows transformed the diner-like interior into a pleasant space. The manager (we think) quickly brought us water and tea and menus, and the traditional Korean salads arrived soon afterward. They featured three chili-based salads, a cucumber salad, Korean potato salad, and fish cake salad.  Their kim chee had a nice clean sharp flavor. The appetizers featured the expected dumpling and fried tofu, but was caught our attention was the chili rice cakes.  And rightly so.  They were fabulous...

For dinner we stuck with basic dishes that would offer a good comparison to the Korean restaurants we've tried. Both entrees came with a light miso soup. (I suspect it's shiro miso, but I'm no expert.) Joe got the Bi Bim Bop in hot stone bowl.   To my delight, it came with the egg still soft.  At so many of the Korean diners around town (and Arirang is NOT a diner), when I order bi bim bop, the fried egg comes nearly hard — even when I ask for it soft.

I ordered the bulgogi on a hot plate.  It came with chili bean paste, rice, and lettuce for wrapping.  I enjoyed its slightly sweet, grilled flavor. We were very pleased with our first experience at this family-run restaurant.  I was impressed with both the freshness and flavors of their dishes, the friendly service, and clean pleasant atmosphere of their dining room. (And, bonus, their prices are more reasonable than Seoul Garden.)  The only thing they could have possibly improved was to re-fill my tea cup more frequently.  But it was only their second day, so they deserve kudos for handling the service and food preparation as well as they did with steady business coming in.

Mmmm... Harissa

Way long ago when I posted about Carrot and Chickpea Stew, I mentioned that I'd post a recipe for harissa. I really love this stuff. It's great on the stew, on bread, with hummus and pita... even plain. Back when North African foods were only just becoming trendy here in the US, I even toyed with the idea of selling harissa in a sort of one or two-(wo)men way like Ann Arbor's Clancy's Fancy hot sauce.

This recipe from Kitty Morse's (one of the goddesses of North African cooking) The Vegetarian Table: North Africa isn't particularily hot, but you can make it that way by using hotter chilies.

Harissa
6 to 8 dried New Mexico Chilies
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt (or kosher salt)
1 tsp Tabil (see below) or 1 tsp cumin
1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil

Seed chilies, cut into pices, and put them in a bowl. Pour hot water over them and saod until they turn quite soft. 15 minutes to 1 hour. (I've generally found 15-30 minutes to be enough.) Drain them and squeeze out the excess water. Place the chilies and all other ingredients in a food processor. Process to a paste.

To store: place in a small glass jar with a thin layer of olive oil over the top and seal tightly.

Tabil
Full version:
1/4 C ground coriander
1 Tbs ground caraway
1 1/2 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs New Mexico chili powder

One Teaspoon approximation:
1/2 tsp plus a good dash of coriander
1/8 tsp plus a dash ground caraway
between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp plus a dash chili powder

Mix all spices and use immediately or store in air tight container.

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

I love fresh spring rolls.  When at a Vietnamese restaurant, I find it almost impossible to not order them.

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

Rice paper rolls (banh trang)
Green or red leaf lettuce, sliced or shredded.  Hard ribs removed.
Fresh Mint or cilantro sprigs
Shredded or julienned carrots
Rice vermicelli noodles
Cooked shrimp, halved lengthwise

Put noodles in a large, heat-proof bowl.  Boil water.  Pour boiling over the noodles and leave to soak.  Shred or slice lettuce.  Shred or julienne carrots. When the noodles are soft, drain and set aside. 

Fill a shallow pan large enough to hold a rice paper sheet with very warm water.  Slide a rice paper sheet into the water.  Let it soak until almost soft.  I like to have parts of the sheet still feel very slightly stiff.  These parts will soften even after they've been removed from the water.  Otherwise, if the rice sheet is completely soft before I remove it from the water, I can be fairly certain I'll tear the sheets.

Lay the sheet out on a clean work surface.  Put some noodles (1/4 cup or so) across the bottom third of the sheet.  Layer it with lettuce, carrots, mint or cilantro, and three or four shrimp halves.  Roll the bottom edge over the fillings. 

Tuck one or both sides up — whichever you like.  Then tightly, but don't pull too tightly, roll it up.  You'll figure out how much filling to use and how much tension to put on the rice sheet with practice.

Other ingredients to try in fresh spring rolls:  basil, shredded cucumber, scallions, garlic chives. Serve with straight hoisin sauce or with peanut-hoisin sauce (post edited May 4, 2008 to add this recipe):

Peanut-Hoisin Sauce
(adapted from Foods of Vietnam, by Nicole Routhier):

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, ground, for garnish
1 tbsp peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chili paste (I use Lan Chi)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
3/4  tsp sugar
1.5-2 tbsp peanut butter (I use a bit more)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce

Heat the oil and add the garlic, chili paste, and tomato paste. Fry until garlic is golden brown. Add the broth, sugar, peanut butter, and hoisin sauce, and whisk to dissolve the peanut butter. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

Garnish with the ground peanuts.