I'm of the firm belief that "Knob Onions" are just something that Rick Bayless made up so that he could sit back and laugh at the thought of people asking for them in markets and grocery stores. That's the purpose of this blog though, I pound the pavement and ask the hard hitting questions so you'll have an easier time bringing Mexican food into your home.
So sit back and strap yourself in for Friday Night Mexican as we make Grilled Skirt Steak Tacos with Knob Onions and Cactus and the recommended Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (p. 208 in Fiesta at Rick's) as well as Wild Mushroom Queso Fundido.
We normally make roasted tomato salsa so burning up a few tomatillos under the broiler was a new experience. You don't get to peel off the burnt skin when they're done, so you have to be slightly more careful. And hey, who doesn't love a bowl of limes? Especially when your guests show up with 24 Corona Extra!
I think this was the first time that I'd ever roasted a whole head of garlic. I was quite amazed by how easily the garlic fell out of the skin afterward. From now on, all of my garlic will be roasted whole! The cloves eventually make their way into the marinade for the skirt steak; only half of which you're supposed to use. Rick suggests that you keep the other half in the fridge to use another time. Our steaks got the full dose because it's either that, or throw it out three weeks later once it becomes sentient.
So this is the big leap that we took this week - Cactus Paddles. I picked these ones up at Mexican Dry Food. A couple in the store asked me if I liked cactus but I had to be honest and tell them that I had never had it before. Héctor, the owner said that he enjoyed it, but his wife didn't. That was sort of expected though; if it was out of this world amazing, I'm sure they would have it in vending machines.
These are the mushrooms relaxing in the Porcini Rehab Centre for dried out fungus. They have that space food / just add water thing going on and a really rich earthy smell. Mushrooms are something that I'm coming around to liking as an adult. As a child, I wasn't really sure what my parents were doing even letting them into the house.
These aren't the onions we're looking for. But I went about my business anyway. Moving along the isle in the grocery store these were the largest green onions I could find. I found a bunch of other things that might have also fit the bill: boiler onions, cipollini onions, pearl onions, but no knob onions. My preliminary google searches tell me that they also go by the name cambray onions. If you know where to get knob onions in Toronto or the GTA make sure you leave a comment.
Greens under the broiler. I'm not sure if the cactus got cooked too long, but it was significantly thinner when I took it out than when it went in.
Here is the fundido, right before the queso gets added. Actually, as I understand from Google Translate, fundido is an adjective that means molten. So queso fundido is molten cheese. Cooking these two dishes in tandem, I would almost wait to add the cheese until the steak hits the cutting board. The steak gets flipped and then it should rest, according to Rick, so that the juice doesn't run out when you cut it. You also have to cut the steak in a particular orientation, which can add an unexpected minute to your prep time if you're not careful.
BIFF! Grilled skirt steak taco with cactus paddles and fake knob onions. Roasted tomatillo salsa on top and just a hint of lime.
POW! Wild mushroom queso fundido taco! We did manage to get some Mexican cheese into this recipe as I picked up a ball of queso oaxaca. However, according to this Guide to Mexican Cheese we used a 'soft' cheese when what we really wanted was a 'semi-soft' cheese. We're aiming for incremental accuracy here at Friday Night Mexican; we got cheese from the right country at least, maybe next week we'll aim for cheese from the right time zone too.
BONUS: Piñata and Mexican Candy
This week's guests figured, 'what is a Mexican fiesta without a Piñata?', and proceeded to construct one in my living room during the pre-dinner show. They were adamant about the authenticity and made it from clay pots and filled it with fruit and Mexican candy. We went down to the beach after dinner and smashed it good.
What was equally fun was sitting around afterward trying all of the candy that we had never had before. Some of it is pretty standard stuff, fruit lollipops and chews. That is until you get to the centre of some and they've decided to put a dose of chiles in there. It doesn't taste bad, it's just unexpected and different.
One thing that I had never actually come across is tamarind. The Pulparindo candies are essentially a hunk of tamarind pulp that has been jazzed up with salt and chiles to provide you with this interesting flavour explosion. Having never had tamarind before, I explained it to my friends that it sort of tasted like dates. It was good to see that I wasn't completely crazy; in Arabic the name means Indian Date.
So for all of you Friday Night Mexicans with a sweet tooth, head on down to Perola's to get your sugar fix.
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