Experiment 14 - The Selection

I actually picked this clipping out on Wednesday, so I have no good excuse for not posting until Friday evening.  I blame robot aliens from the mysterious future.

I ended up with another clipping of "The Butcher", but this one isn't dated.  The column itself talks about San Francisco in the 1950's, and specifically, the Papagayo Room at the Fairmont Hotel.  Merle Ellis talks about customers (from prostitutes to celebrities), the owners, and the parrots what were free to fly around the restaurant.  The recipes in the column are taken from a cookbook that was published by the owners and available from Amazon for prices ranging from $40 to over $500.  I think I'll stick with the four recipes that I have in this clipping for now.

And speaking of four recipes, this week is going to involve making all of them, since they all go together.

1) Carne Asada
2 pounds boneless top sirloin in one piece
juice of 3 limes or lemons
Salt
This is meant to be served with guacamole, Enchilada Verde (see #2 below) and Cebolla con Rajas (see #4 below).

2) Enchilada Verde for Carne Asada
6 Tortillas
2 cups onion, finely diced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups Salsa Verde (see #3 below)
Oil for frying tortillas

3) Salsa Verde
4 pounds tomatillos or 4 12-ounce cans tomatillos
2 or 3 small green chiles
3 cloves garlic
8 sprigs cilantro
2 tablespoons lard or shortening
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt

4) Cebolla con Rajas (Green chile and onion strips)
2 large onions, cut in rings
1/2 cup peeled long green chilis cut in strips (rajas)
1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil

I will definitely be trying to halve this recipe, 2 pounds of beef is a bit much.

I believe I'll start with the Salsa Verde, since that will need to be ready in order to make the Enchiladas.  There is also a note that it freezes well, so maybe I'll consider making the full batch of that.

The tomatillos might be a challenge to find, which might make this whole experiment a bust from the git-go.  We'll see.  Tom Leonard's, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods ... ?  There are some bodegas around, also, which I guess should be the first places I check.  On the cilantro, as noted a couple weeks ago, I'll most likely use something dried, although I don't know the "sprig to tablespoon" conversion factor.  Unfortunately, I don't expect to have any parrots flying around the house this weekend.