Asian Invasion

I opened up a box of Honey Teddy Grahams, super excited, because I haven't had them since I was a child and I love, love, loved them. Gag me already, because they are absolutely nasty. I was devastated. For the record though, I don't hate all Teddy Grahams. I polished off a box of the oatmeal ones about a month ago, and those were quite yummy.

Today's adventure was Mexican food, enchiladas to be specific. Despite all the reviews stating that the enchiladas took forever to make, I was confident that they could be assembled in a reasonable amount of time. Luckily for me, I was right. Barely. I got to Jim's house and immediately turned the oven on to 400 degrees. Then I husked a pound of tomatillos and placed them on a foil-lined baking sheet with jalapenos and a halved onion, drizzling them with a bit of EVOO and salt (my contributions). I forgot to also roast garlic alongside the veggies, but the rest of them roasted for 20 minutes while I started on the filling. I diced an onion and caramelized it in some EVOO before adding some chopped garlic and cumin. I then added flour and chicken broth, stirring them and making what Tyler calls a "veloute," something I've never heard of. After looking it up on wikipedia, I've learned the following:

"A velouté sauce, along with Béchamel, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato, is one of the classic 5 mother sauces of French cuisine."

Anyway, I made a veloute, simmering it over low heat until it thickened and the flour cooked off. I also stirred in some leftover creme fraiche (another addition of mine--what else was I going to do with it? It's close enough to sour cream, right?) and the rotisserie chicken that Jim shredded yesterday. When the veggies finished roasting, I tossed 'em into a food processor with cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice. I let Jim pulse the salsa into his desired consistency, which was pretty smooth. I added some of the salsa into the veloute and left the rest for the enchilada sauce.

Thereafter, it was a simple assembly-line process. I flash heated 10 tortillas over the gas burner (first time fun right there), dipped them in the salsa, spooned some filling into the tortilla, added cheese (a "Mexican" blend of Monterey Jack, cheddar, colby, and mozzarella that was low-fat instead of the listed Monterey Jack), rolled it up, and placed it in an 8 x 8 baking dish with some salsa spooned on the bottom. I made two 8 x 8 trays, then drizzled the remaining salsa and cheese on top before baking one of them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Of course I didn't try the chicken filling, but I tried a bit of the salsa and was quite impressed. There was a nice, full-bodied flavor with some kick to it. I'll have to make it again just to see if there's a difference with the roasted garlic because I liked the salsa even without the garlic. And Jim raved about them, so I'm thinking that this recipe is a keeper.

I didn't get to stick around for the finishing of the baking or the taste test because tonight I went to the SF Symphony with my dad to see Lang Lang perform. It was an amazing all-Beethoven program, with Lang Lang performing Beethoven's No. 1 and No. 4 concertos. Afterwards, I got his autograph and a picture. It was an interesting night for several non-music related reasons. First, because it was Lang Lang, there was a disproportionate number of Asians and Asian-Americans there. Don't get me wrong--the symphony patrons consist mostly of old WASPs and Asians, but tonight, Asians had at least the plurality. And with the droves of Asians naturally came lots of illegal picture taking, which I found incredibly amusing. I also learned that for Asian-American girls, there is no escaping the "outfit": the dress, the stockings, the shoes, and the hair pulled back or cut in a Peter Pan-esque style with bangs. You have to be Asian to understand. And while my mom considers me way more "American" than "Asian," I learned that I really am Asian. Case in point: when an older Asian woman cuts right in front of me 3 people before I get Lang Lang's autograph, I do nothing, even when she justifies her rudeness by saying that the parking garage is closing soon and it's another TWO HOURS before it actually does close. Of course, to combat any slight hint of Asianness I may have in me, I mugged a girl my age who acted completely Asian by running and shoving people out of her way to get in line for Lang Lang's autograph. I wanted to snap at her and tell her we're not in the mother country and that we don't behave that way in America, but I settled for a contemptuous look and a intentionally pitched "Seriously?" when I got in line like 3 people behind her after all of her antics. Of course, for the record, that made ME the rude one.

For the record, I am a pretty big Lang Lang fan. No, he's not the best out there, but he is definitely exciting, contemporary, and flashy. I get all of the criticism about him, I really do. And parts of me agree with it. But in the end, it doesn't really matter to me because he's just an incredible performer who draws you in. And there's no doubting his passion for music, which makes a big difference to me. MTT's associate conductor led the orchestra tonight, and I found it quite amusing that he was shorter than Lang Lang. It was a great night, and I'm glad that I went with my dad. I think it meant a lot to him, so that meant something to me.