...Yucca Chips!

You can't eat just one.

That's a slogan for Pringles, and that's so true when it comes to chips, pretzels, and even cookies - the smaller they are, the harder it is to eat "just one".  This is also a problem when you're trying to watch what you eat, because the "mindless eating" craze tends to set in, and before you know it - you've eaten half (or all) of a bag of the chips.

Pampered Chef recently came out with a Microwaveable Potato Chip Maker, where you slice potatoes (with their Ultimate Mandoline or Simple Slicer, of course) to make even chips, then microwave them without oil to make "healthier" potato chips.

Brilliant, right?

Given my obsession with Chicken Latino's Yucca Fries, I wanted to see if this would work with yucca root.  After reading the directions to the Potato Chip Maker, I noticed that they explicitly said that it works with yucca, too.

This is going to happen.

On a trip to the Strip District one day, I stopped at Stan's Market to check out the yucca - and it was only $0.99/lb.!  WHOA!  Usually there it's $1.19/lb., and I've already ranted about Giant Eagle's $3.99/lb. rate for both it and jicama (what a rip-off!).  I bought some immediately, fearing for a sudden price increase or noticeable discrepancy.

The worst part about yucca is peeling it.  I had recently purchased a new Vegetable Peeler from Pampered Chef (as I have no idea what happened to my old one - how do you lose a vegetable peeler, really?).  It got easier once I got some of the initial bark off, but it was the most time-consuming and exhausting part of the process.

No, I didn't use that Santoku knife.  I still have all of my fingers.

 Then, the Ultimate Mandoline - I was fearful of breaking the blade, as I feared that with the Vegetable Peeler as well, but I was shocked at how well it sliced the yucca into "chips".  I have no idea how Shelbin at Chicken Latino slices yucca into "fries", let alone PEELS all of that yucca on a regular basis (it wore me out!), but slicing them into chips was a breeze.

Ultimate Mandoline and yucca

Chips came out even and pretty!

I know that the point of the chip maker is to not use oil, but I thought - these will need some flavor.  I had purchased some Persian Lime Oil from Olio Fresca in the Pittsburgh Public Market, and lime is a great Latino flavor - it would go really well with yucca, along with some cumin.  Also, in a previous food experiment, I learned - the hard way - that you don't need a lot of this oil for the flavor, just like peanut oil.  So really, I wasn't adding that much fat to the chips - maybe a teaspoon's worth, at most:

Olio Fresca's Persian Lime Oil - available at the Pittsburgh Public Market

After mixing the yucca, lime oil, and cumin together in a Ziploc bag (the most efficient method of evenly coating the chips), I spread them out in a single layer on the Microwaveable Potato Chip Maker:

Coating the chips with lime oil and cumin

After microwaving them for 2 minutes - yes TWO MINUTES - they were done.  YUCCA CHIPS!

Yucca chips!  Done!

I had more to make, but didn't want to eat an entire yucca root in one sitting - so I put that Ziploc bag in the refrigerator, and made one tray's worth when I wanted to.  I got about 3 more servings out of that root, and they turned out great each time. 

In addition to the flavors in the chips, I needed to dip - I like dipping - and my new obsession is Heinz Balsamic Ketchup.  I swear this endorsement is completely unsolicited - I am obsessed with this stuff.  I hope that this "Limited Edition" thing is just a marketing ploy, because when I can't find this anymore, I may cry.  James insists that he can teach me how to make balsamic ketchup, but I refuse, fearing that it just won't be this good.  I think I'm just going to buy two bottles on every shopping trip I make to stock up...and make sales soar...and make Heinz realize it would be a huge loss to take this off of store shelves...

Heinz Balsamic Ketchup.  Even better than the original.  No joke.

Yucca chips are a delicious, at-home potato chip alternative, and I thank Shebin at Chicken Latino for the inspiration (although, I will say that nothing compares to her Yucca Fries with Green Sauce and Mayo!)  Thanks to the Pampered Chef products, making them myself (and yourself) is quite simple!

To order the Microwaveable Potato Chip Maker, Ultimate Mandoline, Simple Slicer, Vegetable Peeler, or any other Pampered Chef products, please visit: http://www.pamperedchef.biz/mariemcdonald

Stan's Market

1811 Penn Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stans-Market/247614901924765

Olio Fresca Olive Oil Company (inside Pittsburgh Public Market)

Website: http://www.oliofresca.com/shop/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OlioFrescaOliveOilCompany

Pittsburgh Public Market

Produce Terminal Building

Smithfield Street near 17th Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Website: http://pittsburghpublicmarket.org/

Facebook: http://pittsburghpublicmarket.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/PghPubMarket

…My Strip District Visit 10-15-11, Parte 5: Roasted Apple & Tomatillo Salsa + homemade Yucca Fries

I have an obsession with yucca.

Ever since I first tried yucca fries at Chicken Latino, I can’t get enough of them.  No potato-based French fries can compare to yucca fries, especially when they are eaten with their green salsa and mayonnaise.

During my Strip District visit, I was shopping at Stan’s Market, grabbing ingredients for a salsa recipe, when my mom, who had just been to Chicken Latino for the first time, spotted it – yucca, $1.19/lb.  And not moldy.

Yucca (Yuca, in Spanish) on the shelf outside at Stan's Market - good eye, mom!

 Giant Eagle, you may recall, had yucca, too - $1.99/lb.  And moldy.

Done.  Purchased.  Yucca fries will be made.

I am very aware that this looks like poo.  However, it is yucca root.

It's much prettier when peeled.

Beginning to fry (looks like they're on fire at the bottom - I swear they're not!)

Fully frying

Crispy and delicious!  No, they're not burnt!

 In addition to the yucca, I purchased a lot of fresh veggies from Stan’s Market that day, including tomatillos, Granny Smith apples, jalapeno peppers, garlic (a head, not the jarred stuff that I usually buy), and onions, among others.  Why?  

Granny Smith apples from Stan's Market

 Yet another fabulous-sounding recipe, this time for salsa, thanks to @eatocracy and @chefmarcela.

Tomatillos have always intrigued me, but I have never tried to make anything with them myself – the bulk of this recipe was made up of tomatillos, so I figured that this was the best thing to try with them. 

Tomatillos from Stan's Market

@eatocracy (from CNN) posts links to recipes all of the time, but on this particular day, they seemed to be focused on recipes by Marcela Valladolid, or “Chef Marcela”, who has a show on The Food Network and is the author of Mexican Made Easy: Everyday Ingredients, Extraordinary Flavor.

Mexican?  Easy?  Yes, please.

The recipe can be found here: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/10/13/out-of-the-fryer-into-the-salsa-bowl

Ready to roast

Roasted

Roasted fruits/veggies ready to blend

Blended (salsa)

Reyna's tortillas, cut, baked

 At this point, I tasted the salsa – it was ok – I could definitely taste the apple, and I could get the feel for the flavor of the tomatillos, but it wasn’t very exciting.  I packaged it up in plastic containers, opened my fridge…

…then I saw the package of jalapenos.  

CRAP!   I forgot to put the jalapeno in my salsa! 

Luckily, I already had a tray of tortilla chips in the oven (corn tortillas from Reyna Foods sprayed with Pam, cut into 1/8ths), so I threw the stemmed jalapeno onto the tray to roast.  I pulled the chips out after a few minutes (otherwise they would have burned), and let the jalapeno continue to roast.

Trying to salvage the salsa by roasting the jalapeno!

 Once the jalapeno was roasted enough, I put all of the salsa back into the blender, along with the roasted jalapeno.  I probably should have removed the membrane and seeds, but I can handle the heat.

Going to blend in the jalapeno

 With the jalapeno, it didn’t make a huge difference flavor-wise, but the spice factor had definitely changed.  The tortillas had turned out crispy, yet almost chewy on the inside, and worked well with the salsa.

Mmmm, delicioso!

Nothing will compare to the flavor that the chicken and apple taco from Smoke Taqueria had, but this apple/tomatillo combo wasn’t bad, either.  Tomatillos, onions, garlic, jalapenos, and…apples (?!) does not sound like an appetizing combo, but roasting them definitely gave them a different, sweeter flavor, almost the way they would taste in a pie, minus the extra sugar and spices.  I tried this salsa with chicken, too, and it was pretty tasty.

I now check out all of @eatocracy’s recipes when they are tweeted, and I follow @chefmarcela.  I need to go get her book!

Stan’s Market

1811 Penn Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stans-Market/247614901924765

The Strip District Website: http://www.neighborsinthestrip.com/

Neighbors in the Strip on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=699253613466&id=47505581&ref=notif&notif_t=feed_comment_reply#!/StripDistrict

Strip District Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/StripDistrict

Eatocracy

Website: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ - !/pages/Eatocracy/333730193484

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/eatocracy

Marcela Valladolid

Website: http://www.chefmarcela.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chef-Marcela-Valladolid/308000942651?ref=ts&sk=wall

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/chefmarcela

…My Strip District Visit, 10/15/11 Parte Dos – Ingredients and Other Items Purchased

I like saving money.

I was never a coupon clipper until about a year after owning my own house and realizing that saving money as often as possible is essential when you want to spend money on things other than essentials. 

This is also why I work two jobs – one (teaching) pays the bills, the other (Kennywood) allows me to spend money on things other than bills.

My last trip to the Strip District taught me that because I like to buy a lot of fruits and vegetables, since they are “diet-friendly”, buying them there is more cost-efficient than buying them somewhere convenient, like Giant Eagle. 

In addition to necessities, the Strip District also has unique shops for gifts, household items, and otherwise “fun” things.

Here is a rundown of my purchases on this day (not including the taco and Chicken Latino meal)  I marked the ingredients for future recipe posts with an asterisk (*):

Pittsburgh Public Market: Pumpkin butter*, Very Berry jelly, and mango habanero jelly from The Berry Patch; Honeycrisp apples from Morning Dew Orchards

Jelly and Butter from The Berry Patch

Honeycrisp Apples from Morning Dew Orchards

 Firehouse Farmer’s Market: horseradish root

Reyna Foods: mild and spicy chile peppers, roasted outside on the sidewalk as part of their 2^nd Annual Hatch Green Chile Roast; corn tortillas

Chiles Roasting

Chiles, bagged and purchased

 Random table on Penn Ave.: La Toalla Terrible!

Native Inka’s Shop: Handmade hats – one for me, and one for my brother (I’m the best sister EVER)

My awesome new hat - this is my best attempt at trying to look awake at 1:30 AM, when I decided to take this pic

You can tell that my brother loves his new hat!  You're welcome!

 Stan’s Market: bananas, serrano peppers*, jalapeno peppers*, white onions*, yucca root* (THEY HAD IT!  Not moldy!  $.80/lb. cheaper than Giant Eagle!), jicama* (still $0.89/lb., not $3.99 lb.), Granny Smith Apples*, acorn squash, garlic*, tomatillos*

Acorn squash, bananas, jicama

(clockwise, from top) Serrano peppers, jalapeno peppers, tomatillos

Yucca root on display at Stan's Market

Penzey’s Spices: Lemon pepper*, Mexican vanilla extract*, cream of tartar*

 Prestogeorge Fine Foods: Cookies ‘N Cream-flavored coffee (I’m busy, I need caffeine to keep me going)

Wholey’s: Flank steak*, The Laughing Cow Queso Fresco & Chipotle, Nutella, unsalted butter*

Flank steak - $7.99/lb. at Wholey's

The one flavor of Laughing Cow Cheese that they don't carry at Giant Eagle

Besides buying some items in these same stores, my mom also bought items in S & D Polish Deli, Art of Steel, Costume World, and Mancini’s Bakery.  In addition, we visited Collage, Yinzer’s, Penn Avenue Pottery, and the Artisan Market.

I’m exhausted!  4+ hours of shopping is killer before working 5 PM – 1 AM!

Now I can’t wait to share what I’m making with the ingredients that I bought…

…Giant Eagle’s Latin Food Fiesta with BONUS The Pampered Chef Mango Wedger

This title sounds like a really bad infomercial, I know – but it needs to be said this way.

I was so excited when I read the tweet from @Giant_Eagle on Thursday that they were having a Latin Food Fiesta to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15)!  I tweeted the link to the website with the info, which @Giant_Eagle then re-tweeted…ooh, I’m famous! 

Not really. 

I became skeptical, though, when I saw that there was a link to see WHERE this was being celebrated.  Uh oh.  I knew that the Kennywood Giant Eagle wouldn’t be on the list, but I held out hope for The Waterfront location.

They ARE!  AND they are the only Pennsylvania location holding it all 4 days – September 16, 17, 23, and 24!  AMAZING!  AND I do my grocery shopping on Fridays there anyway, so I could check it out!

It’s sad what gets me excited these days, I guess.

Later, I opened my Giant Eagle ad at home, which had arrived the day before – I probably should have looked at it sooner, but I was busy going to Mallorca for dinner the day before (more about that later).  They were advertising many Latin American brands that were on sale for the fiesta – Goya, La Preferida, etc. – brands that are widely sold at Giant Eagle, but can also be found at Reyna Foods in the Strip District.  I was excited to see what was going to be offered.

When I arrived at Giant Eagle on Friday afternoon, I went about my normal produce-buying routine – apples, bananas, kale…- and then came across these babies:

Ahhhh, mangoes.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I love mangoes.  4 for $5?  SOLD.

Not far from the mangoes was a display for produce related to the Latin Food Fiesta celebration:

Ok, yeah, hot peppers, tomatillos, avocados, cilantro, limes, sweet onions, bell peppers…I get all of that.  Nothing too out of the ordinary or exciting, though.

I remembered seeing in the ad about rambutans, which I had never seen at Giant Eagle before – I had no idea what they were, but I did remember that they were $6.99/lb. in the ad.  That’s insane!  $6.99/lb.?  No way was I buying them.

I was tempted to buy them just because they looked interesting, but I didn’t, and not just because of the price.  I didn’t know what they were.  I don’t know what they taste like.  I still don’t.  Wait, let me Google it…

Well, you can read about it at http://www.rambutan.com.  It’s totally not related to anything Latin or Hispanic – but here’s a pic:

Here’s a tip, Giant Eagle – if you want me to buy something, educate me on it…and offer a sample.

Anyway, I continued through the produce section to buy ingredients for Pumpkin Chili (I’m super excited that it’s almost fall and appropriate to eat anything with pumpkin once again), and I came upon another section of exotic produce.

GUAVA!  I have been looking for guava for months!

Yucca root!  I LOVE the yucca fries from Chicken Latino!  Maybe I can try to make my own!

Ugh, really?  Hispanic Heritage Month, and jicama is STILL $3.99/lb.?!  At least now I know that I can buy it at Stan’s Market in the Strip District for $.89/lb.

I continued about my normal shopping routine, and the usual ladies were across from the meat section, offering samples, as usual – but today I noticed that everything that they were offering samples of was a Latin brand-product – some sort of Spanish rice, some Goya product…

Oh boy.  There was prepared mole.  I had to try it. 

The woman offering the sample said that it was a chicken enchilada with mole.  I told her that I love mole, and ate my sample.

Ick.  It was cold.  And it pretty much tasted like a commercial-brand flour tortilla, covered in mole, rolled up, and cut into small pieces.  Chicken enchilada?  Barely.

No sale.

I finished my grocery shopping, and went to the checkout.  The girl ringing up my purchases rudely asked me what my Yucca root was, as I guess that’s not a common purchase, so I left, packed up my car, and went home, disappointed that Giant Eagle’s Latin Food Fiesta did not set off the explosion in my heart quite the way that the word “fiesta” does on its own.

I’m glad that Giant Eagle is taking a step to make people aware of their Latin American products, but the execution could be better.  I know that the Shaler location is having a book signing by Aarón Sánchez from Food Network’s “Chefs vs. City” on the 17^th, but that is not enough to make people aware of what Latin cooking is all about.  People need to be educated on the common flavors and ingredients, and how they come together to make Latin food taste as sabrosa y rica as it does.

After dinner at Chili’s (don’t judge me – I’ll explain more later), I came home to taste some of the unusual things that I had purchased earlier.

Well, first I had to get my pumpkin chili prepared and in the crockpot.  That was a priority.

I then took out my yucca root to take a pic for you all to see – and noticed something strange – one of the roots had split into two pieces, and a small piece had come off.  That’s weird.

Oh, that would be why – it was molding.  Fabulous.  $1.99/lb., and it’s moldy.  I had put two roots back while picking them out because they were moldy – I should have taken that as a sign that I shouldn’t buy it.

I then decided to taste the guava – I had bought those guava-flavored wafer cookies by Goya as part of the number challenge reward – they were amazing, by the way - and I had one student who came back for seconds…and thirds…and fourths…so I was curious to see what guava tasted like on its own (and not in wafer cookie form).

I took a spoon to the middle, figuring that was where the most flavor was – and I was right.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t much flavor at all.  I’m thinking that it wasn’t quite ripe enough, so I’ll let the other one sit for a day or two before I try it.

After those two depressing experiences, I needed a sure thing – ahhh, mango.  

I have to say, without a doubt, that The Pampered Chef Mango Wedger has made my mango-eating experiences much more enjoyable.  You may know (or maybe you don’t) that the skin of a mango is not edible (or tasty, for that matter), so only the yellow-orange fruity part should be consumed; however, the pit of a mango is oblong and hard, so getting the fruit by itself is not easy to do – unless you have this magical mango wedger.

With the help of my mango wedger, I have mastered the art of mango consumption.  I wedge the mango, and then cut each of the four sections in half.  This gives me eight sections of mango, plus any fruit left on the pit.  

I put it all in a bowl, and to eat the mango, I treat the skin as I would a cantaloupe or watermelon rind – I eat the fruit all the way down to it.  Mangoes are even better for this, too, because you can use your teeth to peel the fruit away from the skin, and then discard the skin.  I use a fork to scrape any fruity parts off of the pit, and eat that, being sure not to waste any good mango-y goodness.

So that was my Friday night – pumpkin chili in the slow cooker, moldy yucca root, tasteless guava…but ending with sweet, delicious mango.  Oh, and black tea.  Not important, but it was part of my night, and it was comforting.

I guess I should write about my dinner at Mallorca…and explain why I was at Chili’s, of all places, on Mexico’s Independence Day….

Giant Eagle – Waterfront Location

420 East Waterfront Drive

Homestead, PA 15120

Website: http://www.gianteagle.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gianteagleinc?ref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Giant_Eagle

If you are interested in The Pampered Chef Mango Wedger, please contact:

The Pampered Chef

Marie McDonald – Consultant

Website: http://www.pamperedchef.biz/mariemcdonald