Houston Restaurant Weeks: La Casa Del Caballo

There are restaurants you drive by a million times and never stop - for no specific reason. We finally stopped at one such place during Houston Restaurant Weeks at La Casa Del Caballo. This building has had many names, and it's known in Houston as one of those 'cursed' locations from the many restaurants it's housed, and from an infamous fire.

Once the last garishly decorated, mediocre suburban Tex-Mex shuttered after four months, the building sat again for a while. Finally, in moves a genuine Mexican steakhouse with a good pedigree: La Casa Del Caballo. The owner, a northern Mexican, would grill for family and friends in his backyard. 

While more elegant than a backyard, the authenticity is undeniable when the smell of mesquite greets you upon entering the building. It reminded me of some very old-world restaurants in Italy and Spain. Nice!

The meal was very good overall, with some pretty outstanding elements. 

The tortilla soup with crispy tortillas, fresco cheese and guahillo pepper strips offered amazingly deep chile flavor. Really rich with umami goodness. 

I hardly ever have steak, but this is a steakhouse so the 6 oz. eye of the ribeye seemed appropriate. While a bit more medium than medium-rare, the quality and flavor more than made up for it. It was simple and simply gorgeous, with four different sauces to enjoy alongside it. I liked combining the tangy red onion and creamy avocado sauces. These mesquite grilled veggies were divine - I could have had a huge mound of them.
 

 

Greg's chicken enchiladas had that amazing red chile sauce on them, and it reminded him a little bit of New Mexico - we both really enjoyed it. And the crispy tortilla housing the chicken was impressively tasty and super-crunchy. The chicken inside was fine and predictable.

 

 

For me, the chocolate and white mousse was a pleasant texture - no grainy feel - though I didn't really finish much of it (I prefer very dark chocolate).  

Greg's Caribbean dark rum cake was moist and flavorful, and that sauce was super-delish.

I'd say we give this place a strong three stars. The decor is quite nice, quality of food is quite good, and plating is unimaginative. We hope they make it as there are plenty of steakhouses, but not northern Mexican ones.

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Pineapple coconut chicken curry with basil

It was time to get back into the kitchen. We've been chaotic playing catch-up with projects and people, so I insisted on dinner made at Cocina Candelaria. Here's my modified version of a super-easy weeknight chicken dish.

Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 tsp. of your favorite curry powder blend 
1/2 tsp. of salt (I used a flaked sea salt)
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips 
1/2 of a large ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
1 large serrano chile, minced
1 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
About 6 large basil leaves, torn 

To make:

Put chicken, curry powder and salt in a large ziplock bag and smoosh around to marinate. Overnight is best, though you can just leave it on the counter for a bit to come up to temperature and let the flavor begin to sink in.

Heat large pan to medium-high and add your oil of choice. I used this lovely coconut oil since it's so popular and it fit thematically anyway.

Saute chicken until it caramelizes, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium and cook it for another 3 minutes. Remove and put in covered dish. 

Now turn the heat back up and saute red pepper, pineapple and serrano. You'll know when it's done because the pineapple will begin to caramelize and it will all smell great.

Add chicken and its juices back to pan. Add coconut milk and brown sugar; stir gently. Let it bubble. If needed, add cornstarch-water mix to thicken.

 

Serve over brown rice, with fresh basil torn over the top. YUM!!

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Leftover chicken goes Bollywood

Most non-vegetarians like a savory roasted chicken, right? And probably at least half of them like this chicken as leftovers, correct? Well, when it comes to mixing leftover chicken with curry, we venture into a smaller proportion of the culinary population. I totally understand - it's not for everyone. I began the great love affair with curry when living in the UK, and I see no signs of that waning. 

Nutty Fruity Curried Chicken Salad

Since our doggie has kidney disease, I've been feeding him a special diet which includes roasted chicken and homemade low-sodium chicken stock (as for the latter, Greg rolls his eyes and mutters something about the spoiled rotten dog). So, on any given day, chances are there will be a roasted chicken in the fridge. Here's a great little curried chicken salad that adds a bit of Bollywood magic to leftovers.

I didn't really measure when making this, so the amounts are rough approximations.

Nutty Fruity Curried Chicken Salad 

• About 8 oz. of roasted chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• About 15 red seedless grapes, quartered (or halved if small)
• One Granny Smith apple, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• Two stalks of celery, peeled with a veggie peeler (to remove the stringy bits), sliced in half lengthwise and then chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
• About 1/3 cup of sliced or blanched almonds, lightly toasted in the oven or in a dry fry pan over low heat (you'll know they are toasted when they become fragrant)
• About 1/4 to 1/3 cup of light mayo, plain Greek yogurt, or sour cream
• About 1 Tbsp. of your favorite curry powder 
• About 1/2 tsp. of turmeric
• About 1/8 tsp. of cayenne pepper
• A few grinds of the pepper mill
• A few pinches of kosher salt
• About 1 Tbsp. of parsley, chopped
• About 3 chives, snipped with kitchen scissors (optional)

Mix the first five ingredients in a bowl. Put in a few tablespoons of your 'binder' (mayo/yogurt/sour cream) and gently mix. Add more if needed (remember that the salt brings out moisture in the ingredients, so you don't want to overdo it). Add the spices and herbs, stick in the fridge for an hour and let the flavors sit. Remove from fridge and adjust any of the ingredients to taste. 

Enjoy in pitas, on top of a bed of lettuce, on top of Wasa crispbread - use your imagination!

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Taking stock: chicken, that is.

Our finicky dog has been eating a lot of roasted chicken lately. It's one of the only things he'll eat, in fact. Not one for wasting food, I've been setting aside the remaining bones after pulling all the meat off. 

Stock in process - note the browned chicken bone!

It's so easy to make this stock and freeze it (in one-cup and two-cup containers) that I find myself making it pretty often. The shortcuts here are using the already roasted chickens, and not doing a lot of prep with the veggies such as peeling them. This stock adds a lot more flavor to recipes than the sodium-laden foil-wrapped cubes. 

You'll need are a large stock pot (I like the kind that is more tall than wide), large spoon and a large mesh sieve. I brown the chicken bones first because this creates a nice crust and flavor which is imparted into the broth. The caramelized bits created by the chicken are incorporated into the broth when you add the water.

1. Heat a couple teaspoons of olive oil in the stock pot over medium heat. Add in the chicken bones, and brown them on all sides.

2. Add in the following ingredients and stir gently with the chicken bones to allow all to saute:

• 2-3 carrots, ends discarded and chopped into large chunks 
• 3 stalks celery, ends discarded and chopped into large chunks
• 2 medium onions, cut into chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed (you can even leave the skin on)

3. Pour in enough cold (filtered) water to completely cover the contents plus another inch or so of water. Add:

• 2-3 bay leaves
• About 12 peppercorns
• Up to 2 tsp. of kosher, Himalayn pink rock, or French Grey salt
• About 6 sprigs of fresh parsley (stems and all)

4. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Occasionally skim off any yucky looking stuff as you walk by over the next 5 or 6 hours. 

5. Turn off the heat, let it cool for about 30 minutes (stir every few minutes to get it to cool more effectively). Strain in batches through the mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing gently with the spoon on the veggies to get flavor and water out. If you want to make the stock as lean as possible, but the bowl in the fridge overnight so you can capture any fat on top the next day. Or, portion into containers and freeze.

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