Recipes and inspiration from 'Street Food Diaries'

Philly Cheesesteak Tostadas

 

• 3 jalapeno peppers
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 eggs               
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 cups canola oil
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Kosher salt
• 6 tostada shells or crispy tortillas
• 1 red onion
• 1 lb beef striploin, thinly sliced
• Black pepper
• 6 thin slices American cheese
• ¼ cup cilantro
• 1 lime

 

The Toppings

1. Very thinly slice one of the jalapeno peppers.

2. Place the sliced jalapeno with its seeds in a small bowl and add enough rice wine vinegar to cover them completely.

3. Let the jalapeno slices soak for 10 to 15 minutes to lightly pickle them.

4. For the jalapeno aioli, chop the remaining two jalapeno peppers into large chunks.

5. Blitz the eggs in a in a food processor or blender, and then add the jalapeno chunks with their seeds and the garlic. Blitz to blend well, then slowly blend in the oil while the machine is running.

6. Once the aioli has thickened, squeeze in a little lemon juice and add a bit of salt to taste.

7. Give it one last quick blitz to mix it all together.

 

Build the Tostada from the Bottom Up

1. First, you’ll need a tostada shell. If you can’t find any tostada shells, you can always deep-fry a soft-shell corn tortilla.

2. Put about ½ inch of canola oil in a pot and bring it to 325F.

3. Place the tortilla in the hot oil, and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until crispy, for the perfect tostada vessel. If you fry the tortilla in oil that’s too hot, it will fry too quickly, burn and break apart.

4. Slice the red onion into thin rings. Place the slices in a hot grill pan or skillet over high heat for 5 or 6 minutes, or until the onions have softened in texture and darkened in colour.

5. Remove from the pan and set aside at room temperature. Lightly salt and pepper the strips of beef striploin.

6. Mix the onions with the raw beef, and stack them into a small clump. Place the beef and onion mixture in the hot pan.

7. Leave the meat stacked while on the heat. Cook for approximately 5 minutes and then flip the beef. I suggest leaving it bunched up so that you can still have some parts undercooked while other parts are more cooked.

8. Separate the meat into six piles while it’s cooking. Place a slice of American cheese on top of each pile as it cooks, and cover with another pan or lid for just a few minutes to melt the cheese. (You can do this in two batches of three if it’s easier.)

9. Remove your cheesy beef and place it on the tostada, giving it some height.

10. Dress the to top the meat with a little bit of the jalapeno aioli, pickled jalapeno slices, and some washed and picked cilantro.

11. Serve with a lime wedge. Repeat with remaining tostados.

 

Moroccan Beef Short Ribs

 

• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground turmeric
• 4 whole long-bone beef short ribs
• 2 Spanish onions
• 10 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 4 oz piece fresh ginger, peeled
• Juice from 6 limes
• 2 pints dark beer
• 2 cups Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups ketchup
• ½ cup molasses
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 cup salted butter
• ¼ cup crushed pistachio nuts

 

Rubbin’ is Lovin’

1. First you need to make your Moroccan rub to completely cover your ribs.

2. Combine the salt, pepper, cinnamon, ground ginger, cumin and turmeric in a bowl.

3. Mix it all together so it makes one very robust-smelling spice.

4. Preheat the oven to 250F.

5. Cover each and every part of the ribs with the rub until it’s layered on thick.

6. Place the ribs, meat side up, in a baking pan with approximately ½ cup of liquid.

7. Slow-roast the ribs, uncovered, for approximately 6 hours. Every hour or so, try to baste them with the liquid from the pan.

 

Moroccan dark sauce

1. For the Moroccan dark sauce, you will need to blitz one onion, the garlic cilantro, peeled ginger, and lime juice in a blender or food processor. There should be no lumps.

2. Pour the contents into a large saucepan and add the beer, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, molasses, and honey.

3. Stir it really well, then toss in the butter and the remaining Spanish onion (keep it whole, but peel it first).

4. Cook the sauce, uncovered, over medium heat for approximately 1 hour.

 

Succulent Ribs

1. Take the ribs you’ve been slow-roasting and place them in the sauce.

2. Cook them in the sauce for about another hour, or until the meat just looks incredibly soft and tender.

3. Take the ribs out of the sauce and top them with crushed pistachios before serving.

 

Ole Mole Guacamole Chicken Sandwich

 

• 3 cans chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 Spanish onion
• 2 tbsp unsweetened smooth peanut butter
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 cup cold espresso
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, separated
• 1 cup salted butter
• 1 oz Amaro
• 21 oz unsweetened dark chocolate
• 2  avocados
• ½ bunch of cilantro, stems removed
• 3 limes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4 soft buns
• 5 oz tortilla chips, crushed

 

The Mole Sauce

1. Blitz the chipotles, garlic, tomatoes, onion, peanut butter, cinnamon, oregano, and then the espresso in a super-duty blender or food processor.

2. Add 2 teaspoons of the salt.

3. Place the butter in a large saucepan and melt it over medium heat.

4 Add the blender chipotle mixture to the melted butter and stir well.

5. Once fully combined, add the Amaro and the unsweetened chocolate.

6. Lastly, pour in 2 cups of water and continue to stir.

7. Allow the sauce to simmer, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 1 hour.

8. When the excess liquid has reduced and the sauce thickens up nicely, you’ve struck mole gold. If it looks like it’s in danger of burning, turn down the heat even more.

9. Once it’s cooked, remove it from the heat and transfer to a container or bowl to let it cool at room temperature.

The Guacamole

1. Peel both avocados. Place them in a bowl and start to break the flesh down with a fork.

2.Wash the cilantro and finely chop it. Add approximately 2 tablespoons of cilantro to the bowl with the avocado.

3. Squeeze all the juice from the limes onto the mixture and keep working it down with the fork. I would leave it relatively chunky, because you can use a fork or spoon to add it to the sandwich. If you’re planning to transfer it to a squeeze bottle, then make sure the guac is well blended.

4. Add the olive oil and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt for a little extra flavour. Normally I would suggest adding some finely chopped garlic, onions, and jalapenos to your guacamole, but the flavour from the mole sauce is so rich that these extra ingredients might get in the way. But hey, to each their own. Add some if you like.

 

The Sandwich

1. Preheat the oven to 325F.

2. Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and add just enough of the mole sauce to cover them.

3. Toss the thighs around in the bowl until the meat is evenly coated.

4. Drizzle a little vegetable oil in a large pan or skillet over high heat.

5. Add the chicken and cook for approximately 2 minutes per side, or until the thighs have been browned on both sides.

6. Remove the chicken from the pan, slather with more mole sauce, and place directly on a baking sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

7. The chicken is fully cooked when the juices run clear. If they run pink, it isn’t fully cooked yet and will need more time.

Put two pieces of chicken on each bun. Give it another blob of mole sauce, then top with a healthy portion of guacamole and crushed up tortilla chips. Voila, ole mole guacamole!