Inspiration does exist in Dallas

Sometimes the Culinary Landscape of a city can be one that is defined by the legacy that the city and the region itself was founded upon. I'm not knocking that, in fact, I generally embrace it. I am and will always undoubtedly be a Texan. That being said, it sometimes doesn't do much to inspire the fledgling aspirations of the locals who have decided to give the food business a go...and by locals I mean me! It also can have a negative effect on perpetuating some of the preconceived notions that the rest of the country and world has for your region. Dallas and Texas as a whole are more than Cowboys, Steak, J.R. Ewing, and belt buckles the size of hubcaps. The city is modern and the cuisine can, at times, be very good.

Ciudad off of Oak Lawn is a great restaurant. Originality is the strength of this place. You'll definitely find it in the food, which if it had to be categorized would fall into that of Interior Mexican cuisine. I don't know that I would agree with that though. It's much more. There is more technique and certainly more combinations of textures, flavor profiles, and influences than in some of the other places around town that make the mistake of categorizing their food. In my opinion categorizing one's food isolates it from the audiences that just want to enjoy something honest and from the heart. Bill Buford in his fantastic book "Heat" described Mario Batali pointing out that a lot of cooks and restaurants that employ them, cook food like "they have never been properly fucked in their life." The food and atmosphere at Ciudad embody the anticipation, the process, and contentment of food as sex. The margaritas aren't bad either.

Let me tell you about the short rib. I'm sure that everyone has had a short rib, maybe even some good ones, but the one here is top-notch. It is braised to the point where if a bite is held in your mouth, without chewing, it will literally melt away leaving just the obvious layers of flavor that tell the eater about the process that it took to get it to that point. It's spicy, yet sweet, savory, yet smooth on the finish. It was served on a fluffy smooth bed of poblano mashed papas and given a generous ladle of some fantastic chipotle mole sauce. It also included a little grilled corn for good measure and a different texture profile. It was pure mastery of the braising technique and it warmed my heart and innards to see the flavors that were combined here. The presentations was nice and tight also. The shorty was expertly trussed so that the lone rib bones protruded from the top center....even though when I tore into it, it began to resemble a sheperd's pie. I would recommend it to anyone...except those boring nitwits who eat like five year olds.

Do yourself a favor. When in the Big-D next time get over to Ciudad and see what their doing. It just might inspire you...or least make you a little randy.

Ciao for now. KP

GUILTLESS JASMINE TEA CHEESECAKE

I, like most people, could probably eat a gargantuan piece of cheesecake each day and be pretty close to finding that state of mind that is somewhere between blissful and indifferent to the outside world. However, any rational person knows that isn't somewhere you could exist very long without the eventual screaming ambulance ride to the hospital because of the massive coronary or diabetic coma that was cheesecake induced. That is why it is probably a good idea to exercise (literally) some cheesecake restraint. If you do want to increase your cheesecake dosage though, you might try this one on for size.

One note before you read this post. This recipe uses non-fat and low fat versions of the fat contents of the recipe. It doesn't however skip or scale down the sugar content. That being said it should come out quite a bit healthier than your normal cheese cake recipe.

Gather the following:

1 spring form pan that has been covered on the outside with aluminum foil
1 can of canola cooking spray
1 roasting pan that will be used for the water bath

2 cups of low fat ground/powdered cookies
4 ounces of melted butter
20 ounces of room temperature fat free cream cheese
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons of jasmine tea powder or 4 tea bags

The first step in making a great cheese cake is the execution of the crust. The crust can be any type of crisp cookie that compliments the cheese cake. This particular cheese cake was made using low fat graham crackers. One could use ginger snaps, short bread cookies, etc.; as an alternative if they felt like it went with the flavor of the particular cheese cake.

All you do here is pulse the cookies in a food processor until you have a pretty fine cookie powder. How many cookies depends pretty much on how thick you want the crust and the size of the spring form pan you'll be using. You then melt enough butter so that when combined with the cookie powder you make what amounts to a cookie dough ball when you squeeze the mixture. You'll know that you didn't use enough butter to hold the shape or it crumbles. You'll know that you added to much if you see melted butter oozing from the dough ball.

When you achieved the desired firmness for your dough; spray the inside of you spring form pan and pack the dough into the bottom using your finger tips. You'll then let your crust bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Be careful not cook to long because the crust could burn and it will ruin the overall outcome. It should have a slightly fluffy look.

In a mixer cream the cream cheese and sugar. Then add the eggs one at a time, making sure that each one is incorporated. Then add the powdered contents of the jasmine tea bags. Pour the mixture into the pan and on top of the crust. Swirl the mixture around to make sure that its evenly distributed. Bake in a water bath that is around the mid point level of the aluminum foil wrapped pan. You'll oven should already be preheated to around 325 degrees. You'll let the thing go in the oven until the middle is set. Generally speaking the best way to tell is to stick a pairing knife in the center and if it is removed without any mixture on the blade then it is ready to go. This is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-45 minutes...but could be a little more it just depends on your oven. Remove it from the oven and let it refrigerate at least overnight. Carefully release it from the pan, cut it into halves, and then into portion sizes from there. Make sure that you wipe the blade with each cut to insure that the appearance of each portion is nice.

Enjoy and since it is made with non-fat cream cheese and low fat graham crackers, it should appease your conscience and satisfy your craving with each bite.

Be back soon. Take care.