China Magic Noodle: Oodles o' noodles

I believe it would be tough to find a culture that didn't have some sort of noodle – probably as hard as it would be finding someone who didn't like them, but I also believe the Chinese have the upper hand when it comes to noodle technology. Marco Polo (the explorer, not the game) knew this and in a real twist, stole an idea from the Chinese and the secret was out.

Interesting that something made from flour, a little salt, and a bit of alkaline water could take so many forms and be so pleasing on the pallet, a chameleon that takes on the flavor of sauces and a perfect accompaniment to vegetables and meat alike. There is also fun value involved in the making of the noodles, or at least watching them be made. One place to engage in this most delightful of spectator sports is the Magic Noodle in Gilbert, AZ and interestingly enough a great place to enjoy these handmade beauties.

The Noodlemeister

When I was in the Far East one rule I followed was to see things made and cooked in front of me, mostly to ensure some heat was applied, but also a great way to pick up some cooking tips – fortunately most places I frequented did just that, as does the Magic Noodle. There is a small window where the “noodlemeister” plies his trade, or in reality practices his art. If you want to really feel inadequate in your attempts at making noodles at home, five minutes spent at this window will do it for you. It is also a good time to watch and learn, then enjoy the results in a bowl of broth and UFOs (unidentified Floating Objects) after this bt of performance art.

The soup is wonderful with a choice of noodle thickness and types of additives, but beware the trap, the aroma lures you in soup is very hot and you will scorch your tongue. The pain is worth the deliciousness that is the magic noodle soup. I made the mistake of ordering the dumplings as an appetizer – they where huge and wondrous, but after eating some of them I could not finish the amazing soup.

I will definitely make the pilgrimage back to the Magic Noodle, and as a bonus, there is a Lee Lee's market right around the corner – Oriental bliss ensues!

Magic Noodle House

2015 N Dobson Rd
Chandler, AZ 85224

480) 786-8002

Appetizer

The Goods

Full table

Cartoon Noodle Dude

The Bird, the Whole Bird, and nothing but the Bird...

Though enamored with the boneless turkey roasts, my daughter decided that I should go back to the whole bird for the sake of the grandkids so they might experience the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving of days gone by. I have to admit there is no romance in the boneless roasts, though they do resemble a football, which is appropriate considering the relatives sleeping through the Giants game in the living room. I had cooked the whole bird when my own kids were smaller. I used the oven, turkey bags (which work very well) , and finally the grill. Once I plopped ol' Tom Turkey on the hot grids I never looked back, though there was one episode that didn't go as planned.

Turkzilla

We were going to celebrate Turkey day with some friends and they said they'd provide the bird and so they did on the day of the festivities they brought over a monster turkey, perhaps the biggest I'd ever seen. The 23 pound beast did fit on my grill, however when I tried to put the cover on my Weber to commence roasting, it just rocked back and forth on top of the bird. The clock was running on this meal with only a few hours until meal time so I had to do some fast thinking. I tired jury rigging the grill by using bricks to prop the top, but that still didn't allow for covered cooking, so violating every rule in my microwave owner's manual, I stuffed the behemoth in the microwave and cooked the hell out of it, finishing it in the oven to get some brown on the skin. The fowl came out very nicely despite the unorthodox and potentially lethal cooking methods.

Prep

Getting the bird ready for the grill is half the battle, maybe even ¾ as the prep will help determine if the bird is a dry chunk of meat in a rubber bag of skin, or a moist bird with crispy golden hide. This is also your chance to introduce a bit of flavor by separating the skin form the breasts (carefully) and inserting various food related items. Herbage is always welcome, moisturizers such as strips of bacon or pats of butter are also a good addition, or for something off the scale try Martin Yan's Chinese Roast Turkey – possibly the most flavorful bird I ever grilled up. In fact I may do that this year accompanied with Yan's superb stuffing recipe.

As for the skin, salting the outside of the bird with kosher salt so that the salt is visible, then wrapping and refrigerating for about 2 hours puts you on the road to crisp skin. After the two hours, bring the bird out and rinse thoroughly to get all the salt off. Them pierce the skin with a fork and part way through the cooking mop the skin with some oil – olive, not motor.

Fire it Up

Once you have pimped out your bird the next step is to arrange indirect heat on the grill by placing coals on either side leaving an open area in the center. This open area is a great place to put a pan full of beer or water, you can use one of those disposable foil pans. The fluid filled pan will do two things, help with the moisture and catch grease from the bird. I like to place the bird on a roasting rack atop the grids, and clip the wing tips and tuck up the end of the drums, finally placing a tinfoil shield over the breast for the first hour of roasting. To be honest I use whatever wood I have on hand, generally mesquite, but starting with hickory or oak and finishing with apple or cherry would be the way to go. Maintain around 250-300 and use a meat thermometer stuck into the meaty part of the thigh to see how Ol' Tom is progressing. Remember for poultry you want the temp at 165. Generally I pull the bird when it his 160 and allow it to rest and cruise up toe 165 – remember you can always cut it up and microwave if the meat still looks a bit on the rare side.

Don't Poison Anyone

As with an food it is important to observe all safety guidelines – ignore these and you may well wind up killing guests instead of entertaining them. Go HERE  for some sound advice. I don't normally trust our government, but as they didn't name the item “War on Turkey” I figured it was probably going to be successful advice. 

Turkey Roast

Looks as though we may be doing the two Thanksgiving Day thing again this year. I don't mind a bit as it allows me to spend a lot of quality time with the grill, as I smoke my birds – the though part is keeping them lit. I've been doing turkey or boneless turkey roasts on the grill as long as I can remember. I know some who swear by deep frying their bird, but I have had it done that way and found it was nothing to write home about, not to mention the vast quantities of very expensive peanut oil and the chance of it all ending a spectacular fire. Okay, the fire would be pretty cool -- sometime I'll have to relate the story of the giant fireball I created (unwittingly) on my old Weber, that was nuts.

The boneless turkey roast is a snap, I prefer the ones with both dark and light meat, all wrapped in a net bag ready for the grill. I toss the gravy packet that comes with it out as I don't know what is in the pouch and I don't want to know. The roast is small, so I usually do several, one with a rub, one injected with olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning, and one just salt and pepper. I use indirect heat, with a pan of beer under the roasts to provide steam and additional flavor and I use hickory through the whole process, but they'd be nice if one were to finish with apple. I do come through with a quick mop of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and crushed red pepper. About half way through the cooking process. They cook fairly quickly, even with the grill kept around 250 so I use a meat thermometer and when I find the temp at 165, I pull the roasts cover with foil and let them rest. The temp should cruise up to about 170, the safe temperature for poultry. Don't be too ashamed to use the microwave if the bird still looks a bit pink, better your guest fall asleep in front of the TV than spending the rest of the day hugging the toilet.

Consider the roasts if you don't feel like dealing with a carcass, don't want your bird to wind up looking like a prop from a slasher movie after your attempt at carving. While the roasts don't have the romance of a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving, they make up for it in less waste as they are all meat and they cook a lot quicker than a whole bird.

 

Turkey Time is Nigh

Like it or not it is almost that time of the year again – that time to invite Uncle Mert and Aunt Millie and watch them swap their one pair of dentures back and forth so they can take turns demolishing the turkey. Then there's Fred and Tom, both in a turkey coma in front of the football game where the lions are getting their asses handed to them once again. Somethings never change, including the star of the show – the turkey. While there is no law you have to have a turkey, and there is some thought venison was the big seller at the first Thanksgiving, it has become a tradition and the folks wining their way to your bash will be hankering for some bird.

I'd hold off rushing out to the market at this point to grab a bird for it is a little too early for that and right now there is more Christmas crap in the store than there is Thanksgiving accouterments. It is a good time to decide if the turkey will meet its fate or perhaps tofurkey will save his bacon, so to speak. Once the market managers get their massive pre-turkey day shipment choices will be abundant. This is the first hurdle of Thanksgiving prep – the hunt for the bird, and as with nay hunt it is important to know what you're hunting for in a bird. Frozen, fresh, in a bag in a box, on train...well, you get the idea.

The frozen bird is the most ubiquitous. It will literally choke the freezer bins in the meat aisle, different sizes, different brands, free range, in a gilded cage, and so on. It can be overwhelming, but you can narrow the field if this is the road you wish to travel. The first limiting factor is how many freeloading relatives are you expecting and how are their appetites. This will help determine the size of the fowl so there'll be enough to send Fred and Tom off to sleepyland in front of the Detroit Lions' demise. The recommended portion is a pound per person, a pound and a half if you don't want leftovers ( ) .

There is another way to limit the amount of turkey leftover – buy smaller. There are boneless turkey roasts or just the breast (kind of boring that). There are also fresh turkeys, wild turkeys if of the Fudd persuasion, and fresh bits and pieces – in short supply at the present, but I assume the section will grow as the holiday approaches. I've never done a fresh turkey, but have smoked drumsticks, so aside form the thawing I don't expect the cooking process would differ. There is even turkey for the cooking challenged – pre-smoked to be warmed and Jenni-o Turkey roasts with either just breast or breast and dark. Even has gravy include, but a warning to you – if you make one of these there is something about hem where you will wind up eating the entire thing before you notice it's gone. For the hopelessly inept many markets will offer fully cooked meals. That would be incredible sad, but there you are.

Personally I like the boneless roast, just for the ease of not dealing with the carcass, that is not very romantic and I have been required to do a “real” turkey for Thanksgiving so the kids can enjoy the experience (of eating it, not cooking it though that will come). I've eaten wild turkey and it is excellent, though scarce in these parts so I will use the frozen option, but more on that as the time draws closer.

Talking the Talk, Smelling the Smoke

I never mind stopping for a bit to chat about barbecue – I will probably learn something new and the wondrous smell of smoking meat is free. I can't get enough of that beautiful smoke and can't learn enough about the art and science of smoking meat until tasty moist and tender. Speaking to the owner of “Hog Heaven” was no exception.

While sampling the smokey goodness coming from his smoker, I learned the fellow was from Missouri and we bemoaned having to pay for hardwood, especially because we both had haunted woods full of beautiful oak, maple, and hickory through our childhoods. Here in Arizona mesquite is easy to come by, but gives the food a little bitter flavor, part of it's appeal, though it doesn't work well with everything. Starting with hickory and finishing with some fruit wood was the plan he used and I can vouch for it being an excellent technique. Oak is good and can be found in Arizona, hickory not so much and I have yet to see any apple trees – lots of citrus, but I have heard the smoke from citrus wood is a trifle toxic, so I avoid it.

The proprietor of Hog Heaven had things to do so I left him to it, thinking about picking up a pork butt and smoking it over some hickory chunks and finishing it with some apple wood chunks I had at home. I'd also like to try tossing corncobs on like they do in South Dakota where corncobs are easy to come by giving steaks a nice finish from what I understand. I do use mesquite, mainly because my son-in-law has a mesquite tree and I get it for free, but I would still finish with hickory (purchase din chunks from a big box store. The trouble with Big Box Stores as a source for wood as they are all headquartered in places that have seasons, unlike Arizona where there's no excuse fro not barbecuing or grilling every day. The inflatable Santas and Christmas trees go up and the grilling supplies all but disappear – this happens around the end of September, but seems to get earlier every year.

Anyway, use what you have on hand, but don't be afraid to try something a little different if the opportunity presents itself. The final problem I had with finding wood for my smoker was trying to convince the flight attendant that my Shagbark Hickory stump was carry on...

TOTTS AKA Talk of The Town Asian DIner

Lucky Cat

Chinese are famous for ancient pottery, human rights violations, and the great wall, but before all that there was the food. Ever anxious to leave a country where the government is even more overbearing and corrupt than ours, many immigrated to America to work the rail road, open laundries, and cook. Fortunately brought their recipes with them, but unfortunately many of the ingredients they used didn't come along for the ride, so being clever they persevered with what was on hand and this morphed into the carryout of the modern day.

There are many Chinese joints scattered throughout the valley, but one standout is TTOTs or “Talk of The Town,” and that's not just a catchy name. They offer large quantities of high quality food at low prices and do it rapidly. The menu is pretty inclusive, with all the standard favorites to please the sweet and sour pork set but also offer Asian Fried Sole and a credible Pad Thai. They have the usual appetizers and  offer Asian lettuce wraps and pot stickers to die for. There are noodles and curries, and Lucky Citrus Tarts for after. All good, all served up with alacrity and a smile. On the downside there is only one location in the East Valley. leaving we po' folk in the Far West Valley shit out of luck. There are nice Chinese places in the Far West, such as Chen Wok and the Tasty Kitchen, but for variety TTOTs has them pretty well beat.

The joint itself is clean and inviting -- you can see into the  kitchen so they can't drop your food on the floor  without being caught in the act (not that they would). The staff is happy, clean, and efficient. Altogether an enjoyable eating experience, but if one is antisocial carry-out is available.

Bottom line, if rubbing elbows with East Valley folk in Chandler and finding yourself hungry for something beyond the pedestrian Panda Express swill, give the place a shot.  

Talk of the Town Asian Diner

The Chow

Kitchen

4030 W. Ray Road, Ste E-1

Chandler, AZ

480-897-7928\

Hours:

Mon-Thu  10:30 to 9:30

Fir-Sat      10:30 to 10:00

Sun           11:30 to 9:30

Roll 'em if you got 'em: Tortillas

Finished (if thick) torillas

It is fun to try something new and wonderful in the kitchen, and I decided to take a shot at making my own tortillas with a recipe I stole off the interwebs. Normally I like to confer with the aide in my wife's class, a world class Mexican cook, but decided to just wing it this time. To share a shameful secret I have had a tortilla press stuck away forgotten in a cabinet for years. Always thought I'd use it one day, and that day finally came. Sadly I wasn't too impressed with the results.

The recipe called for the tortilla to be rolled out, but being a man I blew of the directions so I could use my toy, and truth be told the finished product came out thicker than I would have liked. Either I need to tune the press up a bit or swallow my pride and get the rolling pin out. I'll eventually get with my Mexican cooking expert and find out how she does it (which I should have done in the first place) and probably wind up selling the press to some other sucker. But I am getting ahead of the game here.

The first step is to bring the ingredients together. I've listed the recipe I purloined (my apologies to whomever came up with the original) at the end of this for your viewing pleasure – don't like the recipe, go steal your very own, there are a bunch out there. It's basically flour, salt, baking powder, oil and water, Nothing fancy, just basic stuff. The recipe instructs the cook to run the dough hook to ensure all the dry ingredients and then add the wet and mix away until the dough comes away from the side of the bowl. From there it's a matter of separating the dough into 16 balls of relatively equal size and allowing them to rest for a bit before rolling them out.

The process went smoothly and the dough came out well – now this may seem some pretty straightforward stuff, but I am here to tell you my baking sucks. I divided the dough into 16 balls o' fun and then squished them in my press – important note, I used a plastic cutting mat I vandalized by cutting in half to protect the plates of the press and also protect me because I am more than a little suspicious of the metal they used making the thing. After the first two I noticed it made some really cute tiny tortillas, suitable for diet tacos, maybe. So I took it upon myself to reconstitute a pair of dough balls in to one big dough ball and squishing them into a near normal small tortilla.

As I flattened one tortilla out I was cooking them on a cast iron skillet (AKA comal) flipping them when pale brown spots brown spots appeared on the surface. As stated earlier they came out a little thicker than I would have liked, but they tasted fine. Topped with some homemade refrieds, sliced olives, and cheese they were good to go despite being a bit thick and not terribly flexible.

After conferring with the expert and revamping my technique I will definitely try this again. It was a bit of bother, but I didn't wind up with a huge pack of tortillas and the ones I made tasted a lot better than the factory made ones. They do store well, so far, and I can pronounce everything that went into them. Once I get this perfected it's back to trying gorditas again (the first time was a bit of a fiasco, but the fire is out so no harm done). Looking for toppings/fillings -- pulled pork and brisket works really well...

Tortillas

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the dough hook attached mix dry ingredients until well combined. Add oil and water with mixer running at a medium speed. Mix for 1 minute, stopping several timesto scrape the sides of the bowl. After about 1 minute, or when mixture comes together and begins to form a ball, decrease mixing speed to low. Continue to mix for 1 minute or until dough is smooth.
2. Transfer from mixing bowl to a well-floured work surface. Divide dough in half, then in half again. Continue until you have 16 fairly equal portions. Form each piece into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand as much as possible. If dough is sticky, use a bit more flour. Cover flattened balls of dough with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes before proceeding.
3. After rest period, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Roll each dough piece into a rough circle, about 6-7 inches in diameter, keep work surface and rolling pin lightly floured. Don’t stack uncooked tortillas on top of each other or they will get soggy.
4. When pan is very hot, place one dough circle into pan and allow to cook about 1 minute or until bottom surface has a few pale brown spots. The uncooked surface will begin to show a few little bubbles. If tortilla is browning too fast, reduced heat a bit. If it’s taking longer than a minute to see a few pale golden brown spots on underside of tortillas, increase heat a bit. Flip to other side and cook for about 30 seconds. You want the tortilla to be soft but have a few small pale golden brown spots on surface. Remove from pan with tongs and stack in a covered container or zippered bag till all tortillas are cooked. This will keep them soft and pliable.
5. Wipe out the pan in between tortillas if flour is started to accumulate.
6. Serve warm or allow to cool for later use. When ready to use, place a slightly damp paper towel in the bottom of a container (with a cover) that will hold the stacked tortillas. Microwave, uncovered for 15-25 seconds (start with 15) or until warm, then cover to hold heat while serving.
7. The tortillas will keep well stored in an airtight container or zippered bag at at room temperature for 24 hours or can be frozen indefinitely. To freeze, separate tortillas with parchment paper or waxed paper and place in a zippered bag before placing in freezer.

Once again, my apologies to the original author of the recipe.

Preparing to squish and cook

cooking