Made From Scratch: Fettuccine with Meat Sauce

Fettuccine made with parmesan, chives, and ground turkey with spices

Condiment of the Week: Guacamole

Condiment. Dip. The reason god created tortilla chips. Classifying guacamole is a pretty tough task. Is it something to be used with Mexican food and put on top of burritos? Is it a dip or a condiment? Do you put it on sandwiches like a spread? Perhaps we will never truly know. The important thing, however, is that it exists, and for that I am forever thankful. Good guacamole usually has two important elements going for it, creating it fresh and delicious avocados. The ingredients and texture of guacamole always seem to vary slightly depending on where you buy it or who makes it. One item that should never ever ever be used (I can't stress this enough) is sour cream. It gives guacamole the wrong type of texture and makes it too creamy and mutes the overall flavors that should be bold and jump out at you in harmony. Cilantro, jalapeno, avocado and tomatoes are almost always found in guacamole. After that most recipes tend to differ slightly. Some people add onions and garlic. Others add in lemon and/or lime juice. I've had some that even add small pieces of citrus zest and parsley. The one thing that no guacamole should ever be without is salt. More so than any other food, avocados need salt to really bring out their flavor and sweetness, and it cannot be overlooked when making guacamole. I find restaurant made guacamole's biggest faux pas is the extreme lack of salt and always keep an eye out to see if it's added when made in front of you.

The best texture usually comes from hand mashing the ingredients with a fork (or masher if you want to get technical) although there is something to be said for the "fancy" way of doing it table side in a big stone bowl. Tomatoes don't really add much flavor, but if diced add a nice texture. Personally, I like my other ingredients like garlic, onions, jalapenos and cilantro to be very finally chopped and to keep the avocado chunky. The best guacamole always has that balance of chunky and smooth, allowing you to dip a chip and actually see a piece of avocado within the rest of the dip.

While some may claim they make better guacamole (and to each their own in terms of composition of flavor) I personally, of course, think mine is the best, despite using a lot of ingredients. Although the exact measurements vary, I make my recipe with avocado, cilantro, tomato, garlic, red onion, jalapeno, lime juice, salt & pepper, and Franks Red Hot. Recipes and tastes may vary, but one thing we can all agree on is that you can never have enough guacamole!

Start your own Guac Off

Condiment of the Week: Walkerswood Fire Stick Pepper Sauce

I was lucky enough to have a number of different hot sauces, curries and marinades brought back for me from Jamaica, and of the bunch, one of the biggest standouts was the Walkerswood Fire Stick Pepper Sauce. As far as hot sauces go I have always had a fondness for the pepper sauce because it combines multiple types of heat, like peppers, garlic and onions, but also uses some sweetness like brown sugar. This version of the pepper sauce is actually mild, as far as Jamaican hot sauces go, but actually really packs a punch. It is a thick, almost pourable hot sauce, whose heat and flavor spreads slowly through your mouth and over your tongue so you get hit with a slow burn of flavor. The texture is not quite as thick as Srircha, but it's close. I tend to use it mainly for Mexican food, and add only a few carefully placed drops for both heat and texture. It balances nicely with a more liquid standard hot sauce like Frank's.

So good it's sold out!

Condiment of the Week: Salsa

Salsa over the last decade and a half has gained such popular national acceptance that people tend to forget how novel of a condiment it was once considered. Plus, as Seinfeld would point out, it's a lot of fun to say. What is great about salsa is that it can vary so much, and be used for so many different things that it is one of the few things that can act as a sauce, a dip, and an ingredient.

I look at salsa as existing in three basic types, the kind you buy in the store that is from a big giant manufacturer, the kind you buy that is freshly made and considered “gourmet”, and the kind you get in restaurants or make yourself that can consist of just about anything and still be loosely defined as salsa.

Among the basic salsa’s, such as Pace, Tostitos, Old El Paso, Newman's Own, and Chi-Chi's, I always gravitate towards the Tostitos. Newman's Own could be considered borderline basic because it has some interesting versions, but I like it for it’s depth of flavor, it’s chunky texture, and a consistently subtle heat. Tostitos tends to be more of a tomato liquid, with big chunks of vegetables, but they get the heat levels right better than any other store bought salsa. Pace, Old El Paso and Chi-Chi's all make me add hot sauce to the medium or hot, and often their “mild” is so bland that it’s like eating an oddly flavored tomato sauce.

It is hard to determine the "best" gourmet salsa, since it is made differently almost everywhere that you find it on sale. Dean & Deluca sells some great gourmet brands, and I’ve found some amazing salsa at farmer stands that make it fresh from their own ingredients. Gourmet salsa usually uses the same ingredients as your basic salsa, except the vegetables are fresh, the cilantro, and other elements are distinct flavors that you could almost pick out with every bite, and the container is never sitting out for days. Gourmet salsa also tends to be much chunkier and like a container of finely chopped ingredients, than the sauce like consistency of the kind you find in your supermarket Mexican section. These types of salsa’s go best with the higher quality tortilla chips. Most people have had these, but rarely buy them. They usually come in some odd looking bag, some grease may have made the front a little see through, and they are very thick, and usually made with corn. You need these strong chips to hold up a big scoop of chunky salsa.

Last, but not least, is the type of salsa that is not sold, but is actually used in a dish and very rarely resembles the typical Mexican salsa us Americans know and love. Adding a citrus or avocado salsa on a dish in 2008 seems practically clichéd since it has become such a standard, but it still needs to be pointed out that this has really only become the norm in the last 10 years or so. I can’t remember growing up ever seeing a mango salsa, or an avocado white bean salsa on top of fish. Heck, my mom now makes a cranberry mango salsa at thanksgiving. The only thing that seems to keep these delicious sauces in the salsa category is they usually have onions, cilantro and some heat, like a jalapeno. And you know what? I love it. Keep up the good work inventive chefs, and come up with another crazy salsa for me to try!

Salsa not Seltzer

Restaurant: Barrio Chino

Nestled in the cozy and somewhat deserted streets of Orchard and Broome is Barrio Chino, a tightly packed, dimly lit Mexican restaurant that does three things extremely well; tequila and it’s accompanying drinks, LES coolness, and mole sauce. Just the first one alone is worth the trip, but put the three together and you have a place that is always packed, with waits for a table as long as an hour or more during peak times. I have had some good and bad luck getting a table. Once, we scored a table for 6 at 8 on a Wednesday, but other times we had to wait 45 minutes on a Friday night at 8:30, and this most recent trip had to wait 25 minutes at 10:30 at night on a Friday. Needless to say, it’s worth the wait, but expect to do as they tell you and go down the block to the terrible French restaurant and get a glass of wine and wait for your cell to ring.

I almost always order the shot of patron or one of their margaritas. The margs are strong and a little fruity, just the way they should be. The shots of patron come with a delicious spicy tomato juice, almost like a bloody mary, but not as thick as normal tomato juice. It tastes great either sipping a little tequila and sipping the tomato drink, or shooting the tequila, and then the tomato juice. You can't really go wrong, as long as both end up going into your mouth.

The starters vary quite a bit, from your standard, yet delicious Mexican Chicken Soup, to mini tacos made from a variety of different fillings. While I got the achiote and citrus rubbed grilled tilapia taco, the calamari as well as the steak ones also looked amazing. Most are served with a very fresh and juicy avocado salsa and pico de gallo. They are one really big bite, or about 2 or three small bites, and come three to an order, so they make a nice dish to share amongst a group if you get a few different types. I've had "real" fish tacos before in San Diego, and I much prefer this type, since they fish is grilled and relies on strong flavors that add to the basic tilapia taste, rather than deep-frying cod. We also shared an order of guacamole that had a really nice kick to it, and came with thick, crunchy homemade tortilla chips. Like most Mexican places, the guacamole order was small, and we were left with extra chips, but it was nevertheless delicious.


As far as entrees go you can't really go wrong with the steak, enchiladas verdes, the stuffed poblano pepper or the excellent tequila and garlic shrimp. The real standout, however, is the enchiladas mole. As the menu describes (and who am I to question?) the enchiladas are stuffed with chicken and topped with queso fresco (a type of crumbly mild Mexican cheese) and cremo mexicano drizzled over the top of what is probably the best mole in the city. Supposedly the chef's mother passed down this recipe and it is extremely rich and creamy, with the perfect dark chocolate hue. With each bite you get a taste of the dark bittersweet chocolate, spices, and heat that makes a perfect mole sauce. Paired with black beans, the cheese the refreshing cremo mexicano, it makes for one of the best single Mexican dishes you may ever have.

I personally never have any room left for dessert at a Mexican restaurant, and maybe because I'm not a big fan of flan (try saying that aloud), I would much rather prefer to top off the meal with another shot of patron and a margarita. Every time I've walked out of Barrio Chino I've been a good full, not rolling home, but happy, a little drunk, and feeling like I just walked out of a place wondering why the line isn't around the corner for dinner.

Go Out of Your Way for Good Mexican

Condiment of the Week: Franks Red Hot

Ok, so I promised myself I wouldn't write about another hot sauce for a while, but it's hard to think of condiments I like when my favorite is hot sauce. Franks Red Hot original flavor is probably the next closest in brand name hot sauces to Tabasco. By the way, Tabasco is maybe the worst hot sauce you could ever use. You might as well just light your tongue on fire and remove all your tastebuds. But I digress. Franks is my "go to" hot sauce for literally anything, from mexican, to chinese, to noodle dishes, eggs, tuna salad, sauces, marinades. It has a nice distinct flavor to it, and has a good amount of heat, but never seems to overwhelm what you put it on, probably because it does not have too much vinegar. Many common sauces served in restaurants start from base sauces, or mother sauces, and then have ingredients added to them, and for me Franks serves a similar purpose. It's like a base hot sauce, and you build flavors on top of it. Without it, the flavors don't marry together as well, and you feel like there is something missing. Is it good enough to have on it's own? Sure. Would anyone who likes spicy flavorful food want that? Probably not.

Favorite Use: Splashed liberally on top of a three egg omlette
Most Unusual Use: Coating one side of a Grilled Cheese prior to grilling

The Better Tabasco

Restaurant: La Taqueria

A good friend of mine is trying to get me to explore Brooklyn more, and thanks to my innate fear of the outer boroughs, and the denizens that lie within, I have been taking her up on it. Luckily, she's starting me off slowly with this great little Mexican place on 7th ave in Park Slope. La Taqueria when we went by on a Friday night had a line for take out (always a good sign) and a fun funky dining room with murals and and bright lively colors. The waitress was very friendly, and the free chips and salsa were on the table so quick I didn't even open my menu. The salsa actually caught me off guard, with a little more kick and flavor than your average run of the mill salsa that most Mexican places put out for you to fill up on while you decide if you want cerveza or margaritas. Despite the free chips, I had to try the nachos and wasn't disappointed. The chips, despite some reviews, were not soggy, and actually were nice and crisp. I mean, honestly who eats nachos slow enough to actually let them get soggy? The only thing I would have like was some jalapeno slices on top with the guac, sour cream, pico de gallo and cheese.

For a main course we both got enchilada's, mine a carnita's with a roasted tomato sauce, hers your standard green tomatillo chicken enchilada. My love of carnitas goes back to the really bad Desperado sequel, and this didn't disappoint. They were well cooked and tasty, and the sauce had a nice flavor too it. After a little hot sauce addition (it is Mexican after all) I of course cleaned the plate. The chicken enchilada's were also tasty. The only real issue I had with both was the tortilla's seemed awfully thick and felt like it was a bit much bread. But hey, after a few pacifico's and margarita's, your suddenly a lot less critical.

Overall it was a fun, funky little joint, and my one regret is that we didn't try the table side guacamole. Then again, we noticed on the way out that they don't use garlic in it, which always bothers me. It's not necessarily traditional, but I like the flavor that it adds. I will just have to save that for next time, when I also get one of their giant burritos.

Condiment of the Week: Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

Among the thousands of hot sauces Sriracha is king, and anyone who even remotely likes a little heat with their food will agree with you. Personally, I buy this stuff by the giant squeeze bottle because I go through it so quickly. Usually many people don't even know the name of this sauce they just refer to it as the squeeze bottle hot sauce, or the hot sauce bottle with a rooster. Sriracha goes best with Asian foods, like chinese, thai, and vietnamese. Personally I also use it with mexican food and in a lot of marinades. Heck in college we use to just squeeze it onto crackers like it was a dipping sauce. Plus, with it's bright red color, thick consistency, and distinct chili flavor it makes for a nice finish on top of many dishes. While most hot sauces are thin and liquidy, usually with a lot of vinegar and burn your mouth like someone lit a match inside of it, Sriracha bursts with flavor and just enough heat to keep you honest.

Favorite Use: Generous squirts poured over Chicken with Broccoli
Strangest Use: Casey on Top Chef used it to make ice cream. Oh yeah, and also used poblano's, dried apricot and potato chips. I love Sriracha, but come on, did she really think this would actually taste good?

Condiment of the Week: Salsa Lizano

This "salsa" is really more of a versatile sauce that I have fallen in love with from the moment I've tasted it. Lizano is the ketchup of Costa Rica, and you can find it almost everywhere over there, but hardly anywhere in the U.S. of A. In fact, I have yet to find a place in NYC or nearby that sells it, and have had to order it by the case from a Costa Rican mail order company.

Lizano has a very unique flavor, and describing it will not do it justice. Greenish brown and a smooth thick liquid, it has a very earthy and somewhat salty taste to it, most likely attributed to a variety of vegetables in it ranging from cauliflower to cucumber. Not spicy at all, as most people expect from a salsa, it is rich, and a very bold flavor that stands on it's own in almost anything.

Personally, I like to tell people once you use Lizano with Mexican food like a burrito you won't be able to eat it without it. I use it with any Mexican food or other latin food, particularly with rice and beans. I've also used it as a marinade for meats like chicken, turkey and beef, or for a sauce for meat. Vegetables and more starchy food don't go well with it, but I have mixed it in with chicken salad and tuna salad as a way to give it a different flavor.

Favorite Use: Poured generously on top of a chicken burrito.
Strangest Use: Chicken Salad sandwich, instead of oil and vinegar