Ok, so none of that actually happened. But I did get my hands on some Bhakti Chai concentrate recently and, always up for a challenge, I set out with a savory idea in mind and compiled my own Chopped basket of sorts. Several jars of concentrate, assorted whole spices, and half a day later, I came up with a dish that would have made even Scott Conant swoon.
I imagine I'm standing in the Chopped kitchen, competitors on either side of me, my dream team of judges (Marcus Samuelson, Amanda Freitag, and Scott Conant) gazing coolly at us from across the room. Ted Allen's voice calls out our three ingredients: "...baby carrots, whole chicken, and... chai tea concentrate!"
Ok, so none of that actually happened. But I did get my hands on some Bhakti Chai concentrate recently and, always up for a challenge, I set out with a savory idea in mind and compiled my own Chopped basket of sorts. Several jars of concentrate, assorted whole spices, and half a day later, I came up with a dish that would have made even Scott Conant swoon.
0 Comments
Some of you might be aware that I also write food articles from time to time (and do a lot of other things) for The Colorado Statesman, a well-established and highly respected political newspaper in Denver. Several weeks ago, right in the middle of that god-awful, single-digit cold streak, I got an invitation to try the menu at a new ramen restaurant in Denver: Tokio. It was so fantastic, I couldn't help but throw a few words about it on the blog, along with some pictures that didn't make it into the paper. The full-length article can be read here, and there's an excerpt below.
Though Denver has a large number of high-quality Asian restaurants (Izakaya Den, I'm looking at you), a quick Yelp search revealed a scant few ramen restaurants. I would hazard a guess that more people in Denver have had pre-packaged, dried, sodium-packed (don't get me started on sodium) ramen than have had real, authentic ramen. If there's one company I'd say I have brand loyalty to, it's Chipotle. Chipotle and I, we have a good relationship. When fast food is all I have the time/energy for, there's about a 99 percent chance I'll get my fix at Chipotle. My favorite dish? The burrito bowl. All that tender, slightly charred chicken, fresh salsas, fluffy brown rice – there's really nothing not to like. Expect perhaps for the price, which, though it's completely understandable with the quality of the ingredients, is quite a bit higher than, say, the dollar menu. So why, I thought, don't I try making my own burrito bowl? I could hypothetically make a similar product (with lots of leftovers!) for a fraction of the cost of a Chipotle bowl. Thus, I set out to see what I could rustle up in my little kitchen that you could easily rustle up in yours too. What you put in your burrito bowl is completely up to you. I decided to go for a version of what I order at chipotle: seasoned chicken, brown rice, fajita vegetables and guacamole. In the interest of getting all the ingredients done at the same time, you'll want to start the rice. I cooked brown rice according to package directions and tossed with chopped cilantro right before serving. Nothing fancy. While that's cooking, you can start on your ingredients. |
Maggie TharpThe simple story of a girl looking for beauty and inspiration through her combined love of food and writing.
Archives
May 2015
Categories
All
Blogs I Love |