Rick Bayless (Tacos, fine-dining style)

Today we received our new and final chef, Chef Al, a guy with a goatee and a straight, focused way of talking. I liked him immediately. The menus of Rick Bayless are all regional Mexican, calling for techniques we haven't tried much and some ingredients we haven't used at all.

We held the same groups, and I went back into the bubble. My recipe was Gordiata de Tocino con Guacamole de Chile Poblano, or Bacon-Flavored Gorditas Corn Masa Pockets with Roasted Poblano Guacamole. There were a lot of ingredients, and the description of the recipe ran three pages. As I worked through it, it wasn't so complicated -- a toasted and fried tortilla topped with guac n' stuff.

First thing was to mix some water with powdered masa harina (a finely ground corn flour) kneaded to cookie-dough consistency, then wrapped to prevent drying before letting it sit. Took a rasher of slab bacon, removed the skin, and sliced it up and cooked it slow in a pan to crisp. Once done, rough-chopped it into about 1/8" pieces, and mixed half of it (along with some rendered fat) into the masa.

While the bacon cooked and the masa rested, we prepped toppings -- grated queso fresco, arugula, salt, lime juice. Prepared a tortilla press, which looks like a small flat waffle-press minus the heating elements. Each plate had a piece of plastic applied to prevent the masa from sticking.

The guacamole was simple and surprisingly delicious. A poblano pepper was roasted on the open flame until covered with burnt blisters, then placed in a bowl and covered to steam itself to loosen the skin. Three cloves of garlic (with skins) were placed in a hot cast-iron skillet, then moved around occasionally until the skin was spotted black, the garlic soft and roasted. Both deskinned, the pepper and garlic were finely minced, then two avocados were scooped out over it and mashed together with a spoon. Seasoned with lime juice and salt, and into the fridge.

The gorditas were supposed to puff up at some point, to be stuffed like a pita. Either my ratio of water, the lack/surplus of heat on my pan or my fryer, or the presence of hunks of bacon in my dough prevented any puff action. Immediately after pressing, I placed the tortilla in the skillet, a minute on each side to get some nice brown spots, and then dipped them in a pot of canola oil at about 350 degrees (for about15 seconds), watching as the edges got crunchy. And that was that.

From there, it was just assemble and serve. Tortilla, guac spread on with a butter knife, small bunch of arugula chiffonade, generous pinch of cheese, pinch of raw onion, pinch of bacon -- what's not to love? The bitterness of the arugula, the creamy roasted flavor of the guac, the crisp corniness of the tortilla, the smokey num-num-ness of the bacon and cheese, a really good combo.

Tomorrow, the focus on French returns with Daniel Boulud.

ADDENDA:

BREAKFAST:
Throat a little scratchy, feeling tired, on the edge of run down. Took a vitamin C pill in addition to my daily dirt pill.

AM TASTINGS: 11am, bits of slab bacon, a few freshly made tortillas, two bacon gorditas, one pulled beef gordita, a few small pieces of chicken, turkey, cat fish, a little red rice, lime-aide, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dirty Kim did a dish similar to mine, but hers puffed up in the oil, making them stuffable like pita pockets, but were a bit on the greezy side.

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, cream anglais ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fell asleep, needed a smack awake.

PM SNACK: 5:45, large green salad, a couple of whole wheat pretzels, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, handful of bittersweet chocolate, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
Shame on me.

DINNER: 8:30pm, pork cutlet with curry rice, a few pork gyoza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11pm, quart of water