Walking Tacos, Ludington-Style
Posted on 13 May 2008 under Food Destinations, Michigan Cuisine, Picnics, Recipes | 10 Comments
Click on this image for a larger version.
Back a couple months ago, Dawn Shock retired as librarian at the Rasey Memorial Library here in Luna Pier. She’d been here for quite some time, and was an incredibly hard worker. She set up the hours at the Rasey Library in such a way that it mirrored the hours at the library over in Erie. That way, she could operate both libraries at separate times! She was also Luna Pier’s official historian, and had things stashed and catalogued all the way back to the Prohibition era and before. Her retirement has left a huge space in how things work in those areas.
So it was a pleasant surprise last week to run into her again! Of course she and I talk food on occasion, and she had a good one this time.
It seems up in Ludington, Michigan, and places near there, they offer a thing called a “Walking Taco“. (In looking into this thing, I even found it on the lunch menu for the Catholic school in Ludington.) The way she described it, Fritos are crushed into a lunch sack, taco meat is dumped on top, then lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese … you then just grab a fork and eat it out of the bag. Dawn said she’s had others and there’s nothing as good as the ones in Ludington.
I looked into this thing, and it’s real easy. I did find a few variations on the theme depending on the target eaters, but really, there’s nothing to it.
Basically, you make a Walking Taco it the way Dawn described. That’s all, plain and simple.
Another method is to crush the Fritos withing their own individual serving bag, leave ‘m in there, and pile everything on top.
Just use a commercial taco seasoning such as Old El Paso or whatever. I make it a bit drier, only adding 1/4 cup water vs. the 1 cup of water the package calls for. But for this batch I used the bulk mild taco seasoning from GFS Marketplace, mixing 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup taco seasoning for each pound of browned ground beef. I also added mild banana pepper rings and sliced black olives to mine, along with a bit of chopped onion.
This is a good mix-and-match meal that would make a great little taco bar for a picnic buffet, particularly for kids. And one of these days, we’ll get up to Ludington for what retired librarian Dawn Shock calls “the good stuff”.
Dutch Cooking & The Longevity of Foreign Exchange Student Relationships
Posted on 5 November 2007 under Cookbooks, Food Destinations | 3 Comments
I really had fun putting this meal together for these ladies Saturday evening! This get-together and dinner was my idea, not theirs, as I know for a fact these three gals don’t get together enough as it is. The pork ribs were rubbed down with some Pork & Poultry Seasoning from the Alden Mill House, put into a 300 degree F oven at about 12:30 p.m., flipped over once at about 2:30 p.m., but otherwise were left to sizzle in their own juices. At 4 p.m. the ribs went to the grill, set on the lowest-possible heat, for an hour’s basting in Sweet Baby Ray’s original BBQ sauce. A 4 lb. tub of Stouffer’s macaroni & cheese hit the oven for that same hour, and the cole slaw was dressed just before serving. All of this was served with the wonderfully-fun Clive White Truck, a 2005 California white wine, in a bottle with a Chevy Cameo on the label.
So, what does this have to do with Foreign Exchange Student relationships? Here’s the thing …
The gal on the right is Monique Schoonen, who hails from Amsterdam. Back in late 1979 she was a foreign exchange student here in Monroe County. But the family she was staying with wasn’t treating her well. Basically, they were acting as though she wasn’t there, not including her in meals, not taking her anywhere … she went to school, and that was all. Of course, that’s no way to treat any student, especially foreign exchange students who are lost in an unknown environment anyway. My wife Mary, in the middle of the above photo, at the time not yet even knowing Monique as a friend, caught wind of what was going on and had an idea. Patricia Gardner, in the left of this photo (and a school bus driver at the time), and her husband Charles own a fairly large house where they were raising five kids of their own. Mary asked the couple if they could help, knowing what kind of love their house contained. Even though they were in the midst of a remodel of their century-old home, they took Monique in.
That changed everything in all their lives. Monique became much happier, she and Mary became very close friends … and Pat and ‘Shorty’ had their first of what ultimately became 14 full-time foreign exchange students. And as Pat also became the local leader in that organization, taking in temporary students looking for local homes, she figures 25 foreign exchange students have lived in their house over the years since Monique first showed up, looking desperately for a loving home.
Monique has returned at least every-other year for a visit since 1980. Her visit in 2005 included her husband and four children. The Dutch are tall … at 202 centimeters, their son Ludo just passed the seven-foot mark! Their youngest two are 14-year-old twins, the lovely Jyp, and my buddy Bram, a budding cook I like to stay in touch with. A jar of the Pork & Poultry Seasoning I used on these ribs is going back to Amsterdam for Bram, along with some other things.
Monique knows how much I like cooking. While I was finishing up this meal, she placed a package on the counter next to me. It contained the hardbound Dutch cooking today. The publisher’s web site is all in Dutch, but this particular book is in English. There are some wonderful dishes in this book! Monique pointed out the recipes for Bitterballen: Bite-Size Croquettes, which are deep-fried balls of beef ragout, and Endive ‘Stamppot’ with Mushrooms and Cheese, a stamppot being a mashed dish, this one being made of mashed potato, endive and mushrooms, with bacon and cheese. The Tomatoes Stuffed with Egg Salad sounds great (I love sliced tomatoes on my egg salad sandwiches!) There’s also the recipe for real Dutch Apple Pie, a Meat Stew with Cranberry Compote, and a recipe for Rabbit with Mustard Cream Sauce.
From the back of the book itself:
60 modern and traditional recipes of favourite Dutch foods; Traditional foods to savor - well-known appetizers, classic cakes and tarts, good and honest stews and one-pan dishes, plus timeless favourite desserts. In Dutch cooking today the best of yesteryear is combined with some of today’s most tempting foodstuffs. Here are all the classic recipes but in a leaner form and given delicious twists with ‘new’ and readily available ingredients. This cookery book reflects and celebrates all the pleasures and unexpected variety of Dutch cooking today.
These three ladies continually tell me a trip to Amsterdam has to be in my future. Monique told me the other day they live downtown, within walking distance of the famed Farmer’s Market.
I love traveling. I probably should have been a foreign exchange student myself. Amsterdam … yes, one of these days, I’ll get there. Hopefully, soon.
The Fish Market: I’m Stuffed!
Posted on 12 October 2007 under Fish, Food Destinations, Shopping | No Comments
Mary and I are always hearing great things about The Fish Market. The market itself isn’t far … just south of the Ohio state line on M-24 (Telegraph Rd.) Her brother David always has something from The Fish Market whenever we’re at his house for a meal. He may even have cocktail shrimp on the table when we’re not having a meal … the market’s products seem to be a staple that way. Besides this though, owners Steve and Denise Gale live right here in Luna Pier not far from us, and Denise is on the Mason Consolidated School Board, where John attends high school. And when we had our wedding reception in June 2005 and ran short on electric roasters for the pierogies and sausage, Denise brought her own roaster to us so we’d have enough food ready. But I’ll tell you what, standing in The Fish Market yesterday trying to determine not only how to take the best possible photos, but also figuring out what to take home for my lunch, I found myself drinking in all the great smells of all the excellent foods in the place. It’s not a fishy smell whatsoever … rather, it took me back to the time I lived in Norfolk, Virginia … the wonderous smell of the open ocean …
Amongst all the freshwater and saltwater fish and seafood the market offers, and many that are already prepped for meals, I selected the Lobster-Stuffed Salmon. There’s a reason I did this. One year for our anniversary, we were given a gift certificate for a restaurant in Monroe. That evening, one of the specials was Lobster-Stuffed Salmon. It sounded good, so I went ahead and ordered it. Unfortunately, there was far too much sage in the lobster stuffing … so much that I could barely taste the lobster. And then the lighter flavor of the salmon was completely overpowered. I ended up not finishing the dish. But as it was such a great concept, by the end of the week I’d developed my own Whitefish-Stuffed Salmon, replacing the sage-based stuffing with one that includes cornbread and Hollandaise sauce.
So when I saw these Lobster-Stuffed Salmon pinwheels in the freezer case, I got a bit curious. There’s a little bit of green in that stuffing … not a severe overdose of sage. The stuffing is smooth, not chunky, and the salmon has an even pink color to it. At about 1″ thick and 3″ in diameter and $3.90 each, I decided two would do the trick for a nice lunch.
When I got home, I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F and cooked the pinwheels for 20 minutes as per the instructions on the price label. It also says to spray the baking sheet, but as I have the Lincoln by Wearever non-stick baking sheets from GFS Marketplace I didn’t need to. I then plated them on an inexpensive ($2.99) square black plate from IKEA on top of some nuke-ready Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice.
I almost didn’t eat the rice.
The Fish Market’s Lobster-Stuffed Salmon pinwheels have such a great balance of flavors, you could probably serve them in a used oil pan from an old Chevy and they’d still taste great! Even though I cooked from frozen, the Alaskan wild salmon was tender and flaky with a seriously-fresh flavor. The lobster stuffing was moist and delicious, perfectly complementing the flavor of the salmon. And this is me here, someone who really doesn’t like lobster.
The Fish Market does Lobster-Stuffed Salmon right. If that restaurant had simply bought these pinwheels and served them, the Chef there would have been better off, and maybe we’d be inclined to go back.
Too bad Mary doesn’t like a whole lot of fish seafood yet. She’s learning. But until she comes around, trips like this to The Fish Market are all mine.
Gee, that’s too darn bad …
Hey! Nice Breast!!!
Posted on 13 September 2007 under Food Destinations, Grilling, Shopping | 2 Comments
Really, that’s only half a breast. But what a beauty, eh? Alright, get your mind out of the gutter …
For Fall, It’s Pumpkin Beer
Posted on 6 September 2007 under Food Destinations, Shopping | 1 Comment
Where do you find pumpkin beer for this time of year? Erika at the Boulevard Market in Tecumseh has three different ones:
Pumpkin beer is here! Harvest Moon, Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale, and Ichabod from New Holland Brewing are all great and different from each other. You can buy them individually, put them in a mix and match 6 pack or buy the straight 6 pack if you find a favorite! Nothing says Fall like a pumpkin ale and a bonfire!
Pumpkin seeds not included.
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