Quick Bite @ Home (Smoked Chicharrón Wrap with Chipotle Mayo)

E-Mail me for information on smoking the Chicharrón.

Quick Bite @ Home (Sesame Chicken)

Prep Time:  30

Min Cook Time: 15

Min Ready In: 45 Min

Ingredients

Batter:

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornstarch

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup light soy sauce

2 tablespoon sherry

¼ cup water

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed

Sauce:

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups white sugar

¼ cup distilled white vinegar

¼ cup dark soy sauce

¼ cup sesame oil

2 teaspoons Chile paste

2 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup water

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Batter:

Sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in light soy sauce, sherry, water, vegetable oil, and sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Sauce:

Bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, Chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve cornstarch into water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce over top. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish.

Charlotte Restaurant Week

http://www.charlotterestaurantweek.com

Restaurant Week runs from Friday, July 15, through Sunday, July 24. Please take this time to explore what Charlotte’s food scene has to offer. At just $30.00 for at least a three (3) course meal per person, you won’t find any better deals during the summer. If you wanted to try something new, this is the time to do it. The restaurants are out to impress you and want you to come back in the future. Click the link above to see all participating restaurants and menus.

Happy eating,

Chef Tony

Bentley's on 27

Located on the 27^th floor of the Charlotte Plaza Building, Bentley’s on 27 is one of the best dining experiences the Queen City has to offer. With a good mix of American and French inspired fare, you are sure to find a number of dishes that will delight your taste buds and gastric system alike. From the Veal Chop prepared perfectly in a Marsala Sauce to the Chateaubriand Bouquetiere for two finished tableside with a simple yet tasteful red wine reduction, Bentley’s has become a must visit location for local and traveling foodies alike. Every table offers an impeccable and otherwise unseen view of our Queen City skyline through floor to ceiling windows; giving you the illusion of the restaurant floating high above the city and making the experience that much better. If you are looking for an intimate dinner, family outing, business meeting, wedding reception, or just want to stop in for a cocktail and hour devours, Bentley’s is the place for you. Prices are comparable with some of the steak and seafood restaurants in the area but the atmosphere is unparalleled. With complementary Valet service, parking is never a problem and if you want to indulge in a couple of the signature cocktail “The Bentley”, the Lynx train line is available as well.

Ingredient of the Week

Veal Bones

At first glance these useless looking bones stripped of it delicate highly prized meat look ready for the trash bin or as a snack the family dog would feast on; stop! Roast these bones off and add mirepoix. You now have in your possession the starting point of liquid love; Veal stock. Add some espagnole sauce, reduce it by half and you have liquid lust; Demi-glace. Maintain a good relationship with your local butcher and they will give these bones to you for practically nothing.

I know what you ate (or didn’t eat) last summer!

As spring and summer quickly approach, many of our families are planning backyard cookouts and other events where the central point of interest is food. Whether it is a smoky rack of ribs, a juicy burger, or a nice slice of watermelon; do we ever ask ourselves “where did this come from”? The next time you stop into your friendly neighborhood super food center; look at the country of origin of all the items you purchase. It might surprise you to learn that very few of these items come from the US and even fewer are produced locally. With so many local farmers needing and wanting our business, maybe we should look to more local sources for our food items. A quick internet search will reveal a great amount of local choices with prices that are comparable or in most cases better than larger chain stores. What will never compare is the taste a fresh local product has. With less travel time and less processing, you are giving your taste buds the flavors that were once common and that we now long for. Let’s all do ourselves a flavor and give local food a chance; you just might not ever return to your old way of eating.

Ingredient of the Week

Brussels Sprouts

They are in season and available at your local famers market. Just remember to not treat these beauties like cabbage; overcooking will ruin the flavor.

The Truth about The Clown, The King, Wendy and our Kids.

Meat product, chicken product, potato product, a cup of sugar water, and a toy; this has become the standard meals of choice for far too many of our children and for that matter, us parents. What the hell happened to us? As a child, going to a fast food restaurant was considered a treat. A treat is defined as “an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure”. That sweet, salty, chewy, and colourful combination is there to hit all of our pleasure points at once. With catchy jingles, catch phrases, lovable characters, and enough salt, sugar, and calories to keep our doctors office smiling more than those characters; is this food we crave a treat or now a full blown addiction? Addiction is a continued involvement with a substance or activity despite the negative consequences associated with it. Is fast food good for us? Do we know this? Do we even care? I had a conversation with my 6 year old son about The Clown. I asked him to choose his favorite thing from a standard kid’s meal. Do you like the burger, fries, nuggets, drink or toy the best? Without a slight hesitation, he told me the toy. I then asked him which burger he liked better; The Clown or his dad’s? Without any hesitation he said “yours dad”. To the untrained ear, one might say he didn’t want to let his father down by telling him he likes the clown more. The truth is far different. My son is my Sous Chef at home. Whenever I am cooking he says “can I help?” Standing on a chair by my side, my little Chef is quietly becoming skilled in the kitchen. The satisfaction of having his hands in the process makes for a better tasting burger and a better overall experience for my child. We are very busy during the week and even busier on the weekend as a family; it may indeed be easier to not have to cook anything. My family is worth the preparation time for a fresh and healthier meal. We are raising a generation set to have a lower life expectancy then we do, have far more health problems than we do, and are lazier than we could ever imagine being. Let’s get off of our butts and get a better handle on our family’s diet. Let’s get our kids involved in the kitchen. Let’s stop letting the pushers with smiling faces and cute characters control our meals and our lives. Let’s get from in front of the Play Box Wii all have fallen in love with and get our families eating and living better. If your child still wants that toy to make him or her feel complete, take them to your local dollar store; that is more than what those fast food toys are worth anyway.