Cilantro Weekend!

[Clutch Munny]

Apologies to liv, who hates the stuff. But I like it, especially when it's fresh. Having bought some on Friday I proceeded to make two favourite recipes Sat and Sun nights. For any other FoC (Friends of Coriander) here's the past weekend's dinner menu.

Cuban Steak Salad

1 kg (around 2.5 lbs) top round steak or sirloin, cut fairly thick
1 red onion
1 red pepper, seeded
1 green pepper, seeded
5-10 radishes, depending on your fondness for radishes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp Tobasco sauce
1 clove minced garlic
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
4-6 tbsp lime juice (2 or 3 limes)
Salt and cracked black peppercorn


1. Season the meat all over with salt and peppercorn. Grill it over a hot fire You want it ideally to turn out dark brown and crusty. 4-6 min per side ought to do it. Remove the meat from the grill and let it stand a few more minutes.

2. Cut the meat into dice-sized pieces. That’d be Monopoly dice, not the big fuzzy kind.

3. Put the diced meat into a large mixing bowl. Dice the red and green peppers, and the onion; slice the radishes very thin; mix all of this with the meat.

4. Add all the remaining ingredients except the lime juice and toss well.

5. Just before serving add the lime juice and toss again. Serve with rice, beans, and fried plantain if you got any. Yum. This is piquant without really burning your face off.


Ping Gai Chicken

2 kg (5 lbs) boneless chicken thighs or breast

Marinade:
1 bunch fresh coriander, roots attached, washed (obviously)
4-6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp whole black peppercorn
3 tbsp oyster sauce (if you or your digestive tract don’t like the fishy stuff, just use an extra tbsp or so of each of the next two ingredients)
2 tbsp each of soy sauce (I use the extra dark stuff for marinade but any will work) and vegetable oil

Dipping Sauce:
1 cup water
1/4-1/2 cup white sugar
3 sprigs fresh coriander, roots removed
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp each of lime or lemon juice and Asian chili-garlic sauce

1. Make marinade. Put coriander into food processor with garlic and peppercorn and finely chop it all up. (Or by hand, if you’re into that.) Add liquid marinade ingredients and process again until smooth. Wash your food processor.

2. Cut thighs into thirds, or breasts into finger-width slices, and place in a glass dish. Cover in the marinade for at least an hour, longer if possible. Basically you want large bite-sized pieces.

3. Make dipping sauce. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Keep at a simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the sugar water is reduced a bunch and gets syrupy. When cool, add to food processor with coriander, garlic, vinegar, lime, and chili-garlic sauce. Then whip it. Whip it good.

4. Grill or broil chicken at med-high heat for 12-15 minutes, turning the pieces once if you can be bothered. (It’ll cook fine anyhow, though; the pieces should be fairly small.)

5. Serve with rice and dipping sauce.

6. Yum. Spicy, but in that black-peppery way.

[livius drusus]

Man, both of those would be delicious if it weren't for the you know what. Oh well, I'm glad you had such a successful culinary weekend.

[Ensign Steve]

liv, what the hell is the matter with you?

[Clutch Munny]

Thanks for the kind thoughts, liv. I expect you could run the first recipe without the coriander -- be curious to see what that was like. For the second recipe the Vitamin C is probably essential.

[livius drusus]

liv, what the hell is the matter with you?

It's not my fault it tastes like lemon dishwashing detergent. But enough about me. Go tell Clutch how delicious his cooking is. Shoo.

[Ensign Steve]

You know I don't cook. Why don't you rub it in?

You shoo and go find something else under the kitchen sink to guzzle.

Looks delicious, though, Clutch. I love a steak salad.

[Ronin]

:bleh:

Carry on...

[Further comments overwhelmed my redundancy limit]

[livius drusus]

Thanks for the kind thoughts, liv. I expect you could run the first recipe without the coriander -- be curious to see what that was like. For the second recipe the Vitamin C is probably essential.

You know, I was just thinking that the first one would turn out better than the second without the cilantro, but I'm not really sure why I thought that. You don't think the lime and lemon juice in the chicken would provide sufficient Vitamin C goodness?

[Skep]

It's not my fault it tastes like lemon dishwashing detergent.
If it even tasted that good to me, I'd probably eat it on occasion. To me, it tastes like diesel fuel or heating oil. There is no recipe calling for cilantro that cannot be improved by leaving it out. :wink:

[Clutch Munny]

Thanks for the kind thoughts, liv. I expect you could run the first recipe without the coriander -- be curious to see what that was like. For the second recipe the Vitamin C is probably essential.

You know, I was just thinking that the first one would turn out better than the second without the cilantro, but I'm not really sure why I thought that. You don't think the lime and [or] lemon juice in the chicken would provide sufficient Vitamin C goodness?

The problem is that the Vitamin Coriander is much more the dominant flavour in the second dish. There's a bagful of other flavours going on in the first one. The second dish without coriander is mostly garlic and black pepper. Which might be a little lean.

[Clutch Munny]

Not that anyone is necessarily empowered to reconize me as well regarding this "topic"...but...

CILANTRO is NASTY SHIT!!!!

PS...FyI...IMHO...Btw...and...my 2cents...etc...'Fuck all recipes that contain that stinky (heave) crap'...


Carry on...

:bleh:
It's not my fault it tastes like lemon dishwashing detergent.
If it even tasted that good to me, I'd probably eat it on occasion. To me, it tastes like diesel fuel or heating oil. There is no recipe calling for cilantro that cannot be improved by leaving it out. :wink:

Speaking of leaving out... you left out livius' words of wisdom:
But enough about me... Shoo.

:wink:

[Clutch Munny]

Looks delicious, though, Clutch. I love a steak salad.

Next weekend I'll do it again. Come over around eight.

[Ensign Steve]

:hungry: yum yum! You bet I will! :)

[livius drusus]

The problem is that the Vitamin Coriander is much more the dominant flavour in the second dish. There's a bagful of other flavours going on in the first one. The second dish without coriander is mostly garlic and black pepper. Which might be a little lean.

Oh. Duh. That Vitamin C. Thank you for graciously holding up a veil to mask my not getting of it.

Good point about the flavor bonanza in the steak salad recipe. Would you mind terribly if I toasted that cumin before pestling it?

[viscousmemories]

I love cilantro. I'll try at least the top recipe this week, maybe both. :yup:

[Ronin]

[edited for consistency]

Next time I get like that, someone please take a moment and just...

:potty:

[RevDahlia]

Yay, cilantro! (Please do not poop on me, Ronin, I just had this dress dry-cleaned.)

I have grown much more temperate in my use of the demon weed, but I do love it. I hated it for a long time, and then I had a craving for it and bam, I was addicted. I no longer put it in everything, but the following recipe truly needs cilantro. It would be muddy and unctuous without that grassy, citrusy, biting top note.

Southwest-y Bean and Corn Soup

Olive oil
Onion, celery, garlic, chopped
Chipotle chili(es) in adobo, minced
Cumin
Chili powder
A bay leaf

Low-salt chicken broth
A potato or two, chopped into small chunks
Canned black beans, rinsed (otherwise they will make everything a filthy color)
Frozen corn, or fresh corn off the cob
S&P
A big, fat fistful of minced cilantro

All amounts are variable, depending on taste and the number of people you're feeding.

Heat oil in a pot. Sweat first block of ingredients over low heat in oil, covered, until vegetables have gone limp. Put in the chicken broth and heat to a simmer. Add potato and simmer until tender. Mash everything vigorously with a potato masher. Add beans and corn and simmer for a little while. Correct seasoning. Add cilantro at the last minute. Serve with grated cheese, tortilla chips, and a lump of sour cream or lowfat plain yogurt on top.

Okay, if you must make this without cilantro you can substitute the juice of one lime. But it will not be nearly as exciting.

[MsTirius]

I love cilantro, I cook with it quite often, here's one of my favorite recipes

Mango Salad
1/2 head of cabbage shredded
2 carrots shredded
2 ripe mangoes peeled and cubed
1/2cup cilantro chopped
1/4cup rice wine vinegar
2TBS sesame oil
1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
salt and pepper to taste

Toss it all together and serve.

[livius drusus]

That looks like a veritable riot of flavors, MsTirius. It's not for me, I'm afraid, but even just as observer I can see how your Mango Salad would be scrumptious.

Welcome to FF! :welcome2:

[Clutch Munny]

Thanks Rev and MsTirius. I see both these recipes in my near future.

[viscousmemories]

So I read through the ingredients to figure out what to shop for, and I get to the part about fresh coriander and think, "Fresh coriander? Hmm... I wonder where I can find fresh coriander. What is it and what does it even look like? Will I find it with the spices or near the vegetables? ..."

Yeah. Then a few minutes later I think, "Wait a minute! This whole thread has been about cilantro, and there's no cilantro in the recipe! Have I missed the underlying joke throughout this entire thread? Do I look like a complete idiot?"

I suppose I do now.

[Clutch Munny]

So I read through the ingredients to figure out what to shop for, and I get to the part about fresh coriander and think, "Fresh coriander? Hmm... I wonder where I can find fresh coriander. What is it and what does it even look like? Will I find it with the spices or near the vegetables? ..."

Yeah. Then a few minutes later I think, "Wait a minute! This whole thread has been about cilantro, and there's no cilantro in the recipe! Have I missed the underlying joke throughout this entire thread? Do I look like a complete idiot?"

Nope. I do, for mixing the terms like that.

As a grand cosmic punishment for my thoughtlessness, I see that the powers of the universe have transformed all my chickpeas into garbanzo beans, and my aubergine into eggplant.

[viscousmemories]

Just be grateful your anise hasn't turned into fennel...

[Clutch Munny]

Just be grateful your anise hasn't turned into fennel...

:rofl:

Y'know, there's a lot of possible replies to that.

This being a Food thread, though, I'll restrain myself.

[viscousmemories]

Okay I bought all the ingredients for the first recipe today (except radishes. I'm pretty sure I hate radishes). I'll make it tomorrow night and report back here. :yup:

[xorbie]

I'm not sure if I like cilantro, but I know for a fact that I hate parsely. And radishes.

[Clutch Munny]

Could we just take it as read that anybody who hates any important subset of the ingredients in these recipes will not wish to cook them?

:glare:

Perhaps Ingredients I Hate And Oh How I Also Hate The People Who Like Them would be a good -- different -- thread.

[RevDahlia]

Time to mollify Clutch!

I've got a flank steak, a few limes, some red peppers and some Kudzu in the fridge, and I think we're having your steak salad for dinner tonight. I do suspect that I will grill the peppers alongside the steak, instead of leaving them raw.

I am a sucker for steak salads. It really is almost the whole point of grilling -- I'm always a little irate when there is no leftover steak.

Here is my favorite steak salad. Of course the recipe calls for cilantro.

Steak and Glass Noodle Salad

Soften the dried glass noodles (also called mung bean or cellophane noodles) in a bowl with boiling water, covered with plastic wrap. Drain. Set aside.

Mix up a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce (nam pla -- this recipe requires a trip to the ethnic-foods aisle,) hot sauce (sriracha) to taste, a teaspoon of sugar, and salt.

Chop an extremely beautiful cucumber, a red bell pepper and a radish or two into teeny julienne. Mix them in with the noodles. Add a goodly quantity of thinly sliced leftover grilled steak (I have used flank and tri-tip; both are good. You could also use roast beef.) Dress and allow to chill for awhile; this is best either cold or at room temperature, and it gets more interesting the longer it sits around. Within reason.

Before serving, toss in minced scallions, a handful of cilantro, a smaller handful of minced basil (Thai basil if you can get it,) and a smidgen of chopped fresh mint. It is usual to garnish this with bean sprouts and shredded carrot.

There you have it. My favorite lunch ever. It's pretty easy to do, too, if you have the leftover meat hanging around.

[Clutch Munny]

Woo-hoo!

<checks dictionary under "mollify">

Oh. Okay. That's still pretty good.

Hope it turns out tasty for you. I liked the peppers crunchy in this one, but then, grilled peppers are ... mmm... sweet candy.

[viscousmemories]

The deed was done!

Tonight I made Clutch's fabulous Cuban Steak Salad, pretty much as described.

The parsley I had was kinda slimey and smelly, so I tossed it. I also didn't buy any radishes because I don't like them, and by some freak of nature I was out of fresh garlic! Also the "Tabasco" sauce I had was really Schlotsky's Deli brand "Lousiana Hot Sauce" (left by the last tenant, and apparently not very hot). And lastly I had to broil the steak 'cause I ain't got no grill.

Clutch suggested beans and rice on the side, and when asked livius suggested I dice some onions and sautee them in olive oil and fresh garlic, then add the beans (kidney) until they heated through, then cover with fresh parmesan and broil until the cheese turned golden brown then serve over rice.

Unfortunately as mentioned above I was out of garlic, I forgot the beans on the fire until they were pretty dry, and apparently didn't put enough parmesan on them. The end result was some very dry (but very tasty) beans on top of rice.

All told a great meal and sure to be more perfect next time. :)

I'll try another recipe from this thread soon, since I still have a lot of leftover cilantro...

Thanks, Clutch!

[RevDahlia]

My version of Clutch's salad was also very successful. I did grill the peppers, but left the onions raw for snap. (Grilling the peppers makes this kinda fajitas-like.) I figured that I didn't need both cilantro and parsley, so I left the parsley out and doubled the Kudzu. Served with black beans and rice and it's all gone now.

BTW, a Mexican friend taught me a ridiculously easy trick for making yummy black beans. You just put them in a saucepan with about a quarter-cup of good-quality prepared salsa and simmer for awhile, then bake with cheese on top a'la livius' tip. I used cotija instead of parmesan.

vm, have you considered acquiring a grill pan? (http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com/cat/pip.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C15%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cgrill%20pan&gids=c084&cmsrc=sch) They do a mighty convincing grilling job on the stovetop, though you have to disable all smoke alarms before use. Obviously the Le Creuset model is dear, but I found a similar one at a discount kitchenware emporium for twenty bucks. It's a good thing to have.

[AspenMama]

Salsa for your chips

1 big can of diced tomatoes
1/4-- 1/2 cup finely diced white or yellow onion if you like onion
Juice from freshly squeezed limes
Couple of small cans of diced green chilies
A bit of spicier dried chilies of your choice and to taste-- be careful!
Freshly washed and de-stemmed cilantro to taste

Dump can of diced tomatoes, juice and all into bowl. Mix in the remainder of ingredients. For fun, you can also add chopped bits of avocado or salad shrimp too. Make this directly prior to consumption. It's no good later.

[viscousmemories]

Thanks for the grill pan tip, Rev. I suspect we'll end up getting a regular charcoal grill soon, but if we don't I'll definitely look for one of those.