Puerco Adoba Gordita and Carne Asada Huarache at Las Gorditas in Las Vegas!

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A nice place for good Mexican food in Las Vegas!
     Las Gorditas is located at 2300 North Rainbow Boulevard just south of the intersection of Smoke Ranch in Las Vegas and they have a few other locations in the Las Vegas valley.  I have driven past this restaurant on Rainbow many times and I finally gave Las Gorditas a try.  I only wish that I had stopped by this restaurant a few months ago, because this could become my favorite local Mexican restaurant!     Las Gorditas looks plain from the outside of the building, but once the door is opened, it is easy to see that this is no ordinary taco stand style restaurant.  Las Gorditas has a really nice dining room with an old fashioned black and white checkered tile floor, modern furnishings and a nice layout.  The open view kitchen looked like it was designed for doing some serious business and the equipment was modern and very clean.  In fact, Las Gorditas was one of the cleanest well maintained restaurants that I have ever seen!  The owners, management and employees really seem to be on the ball!     I was greeted by a friendly person behind the counter who was helpful in describing the menu items that I had questions about.  Las Gorditas offers many Mexican specialty items on the menu that are not seen everyday.  Many of the menu items were food that I have only cooked or eaten once or twice in my lifetime.  The menu even had items that I have never had before, but I have read about them and regretfully also forgot about them.       Huaraches were on the Las Gorditas menu!  Everybody knows what a huarache is, right?  A huarache is a Mexican flat sole, open toe, strapped sandal.  A Mexican food huarache resembles a shoe huarache.  The food huarache item is made with a papusa dough or sopapilla that is patted flat and it is as thick as a pancake.  The shape of the dough is oblong like the sole of a huarache sandal.  The huarache is grilled till light brown highlights appear, just like a Salvadoran papusa.  Then the toppings are placed on the huarache.       Traditionally refritos negros are the base topping on a huarache, instead of refritos pintos.  The black beans add a rich flavor.  I ordered a beef steak carne asada huarache!  The grilled marinated beef steak had a good traditional Mexican carne asada flavor.  The grilled beef steak was chopped before being placed over the refried black black beans.  Shredded cabbage is a traditional topping.  Cabbage is refreshing and it holds up better in the hot Mexican summer heat than lettuce.  The further south you go in Mexico, the more cabbage toppings that you will see.       A Mexican dry grated cheese that was similar to Italian parmesan was generously sprinkled over the huarache.  I believe that the person behind the counter said that the cheese was cotija.  Cotija is a well known Mexican fine cheese.  Obviously the chef and owners of Las Gorditas chose authentic top choice Mexican ingredients for the food on the menu, rather than to use that cheap yellow gringo queso that the American fast food taco joints use.  That was a very good decision that they made, because they captured a customer that likes their high quality Mexican food.  Me!      Gorditas are made from a nixtamal masa harana papusa like dough.  Gordita translates to fat baby!  Gorditas are stuffed with a filling, just like Venezuelan arepas.  I chose the Puerco Adoba Gordita as part of my meal.  I just happened to be very hungry the day that I visited Las Gorditas!  Us chef school students do not just sit around eating food all day.  Sometimes, we just listen to boring lectures and get hungry!      Puerco Adoba is pork that is slowly simmered in dark red chile adobo.  Puerco adoba has a rich good tasting barbacoa kind of flavor, but there is usually no sweet piloncillo in the sauce.  The pork becomes very tender from the slow cooking and it easily shreds.  The puerco adoba gordita on my plate was plump, full of filling and very nicely crafted!       One thing that really impressed me about Las Gorditas was that all the nixtamal masa harana dough items were patted out by hand the old traditional way and they were all made to order.  Las Gorditas is not a fast food restaurant, but the highly skilled employees do work fast.  I thought that I was fast at patting out papusa dough and tortillas, till I saw how fast and expertly the girl that made the huarache and gordita patted out the dough.  That girl was very fast and she really did not overwork the dough.  Both the gordita and the huarache had a great texture.     Like nearly every southwestern Mexican restaurant, Las Gorditas has a self serve condiment bar.  The salsas looked fresh and they looked like they were made fresh, instead of being poured out of a bottle!  That made my day!  The escobeche was good and all of the vegetable garnishes were fresh.       Obviously, Las Gorditas is a good, sound, quality oriented business establishment.  The food was great and the ingredients were top choice.  Everything was fresh and well prepared.       I highly recommend Las Gorditas for visitors of Las Vegas and locals alike!  Las Gorditas offers great traditional Mexican cuisine and there are many items on the menu that you do not see everyday.  By the way, the banana smoothy was delicious too!  Yum!  ...  Shawna  

Tunisian Harissa Couscous with Tilapia

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Couscous Tunisian style!  
     Tunisia is the home of couscous and harissa.  The earliest form of couscous was actually millet grain.  Wheat flour pasta that was formed into tiny millet grain shapes became more popular than millet for couscous in the last 400 years.  The reason that pasta style couscous retained its millet shape or ball shape was in part by tradition.  Couscous is scooped with fingers with the other ingredients and eaten without utensils.       Part of the reason that the pasta style couscous retained a small millet or small bead shape was due in part to the lifestyle of North African people.  Beduin nomadic people travel by horseback and camel.  That is not a smooth way to travel by.  Long delicate pasta carried on the back of an animal would break apart and end up looking like couscous by the end of the day.       Another reason pasta style couscous has a small shape is because water is scarce in desert regions.  An average Italian pasta takes over 8 minutes of cooking time in an excess of boiling water.  Pasta style couscous can be cooked with just enough water to reconstitute the couscous in about 4 minutes.  No water is wasted, when making couscous!     Tunisian couscous can be accompanied by a wide variety of vegetables and meats.  Some are more traditional than others.  Some tunisian couscous are only flavored with broth or spices.  Most Tunisian couscous entrees do have varying amounts of harissa in the recipe.  Some Tunisian couscous recipes feature the harissa and it becomes the main flavor of the couscous.       Harissa is a key ingredient in all North African cuisine.  Traditional harissa paste is only made with varieties of paprika peppers and red bell peppers.  Dried spicy peppers are usually added to an entree's recipe that already has harissa as an ingredient, only if a spicier flavor is desired.  Spicy chile peppers are not usually added to the paprika peppers when making harissa.       By western standards, harissa tastes very mild, because those of us in the west have a high tolerance to hot chile peppers.  In Arabic countries, a hot variety of paprika is considered to be very spicy.       Keep in mind that anybody that lives in a vast desert region does become more sensitive to the environment and they do develop a keener sense of smell.  I have noticed this while spending days camping out in the Mojave desert.  The sense of smell is directly related to the sense of taste.       Many Arabs take pride in being able to detect the odor of a wisp of smoke from several miles away, so you can imagine how keen a desert Arab's sense of taste must be.  That is why varieties of paprika peppers are considered to be spicy in North Africa.  Besides, water is precious and and those who travel by camel do not carry enough water to put out the fire from the ultra spicy flavor of a habanero chile pepper!     My Lebanese Syrian step grandfather sure had a big honker of a nose!  When we were kids, we used to tease him about the size of his nose.  He used to respond by saying "It is all the better for smelling what kind of trouble that you kids got into" and then stick his tongue out at us while making a silly face!  Ha ha ha!  The scary thing was, he was not kidding.  He used to be able to tell where we had been and what we were up to, just by smelling the odors that we carried with us back into the house!  We got in trouble many times, because of his keen Arabic sense of smell.        This recipe is a traditional Tunisian couscous entree.  Potatoes are traditionally used.  Fava, chickpea, lentil and several other beans are popular in Tunisian cuisine.  They are all a healthy source of protein.  I chose an easy to find sustainable fish for this recipe.  Tilapia tastes nice in couscous and it is a whitefish.      If you are out in the middle of a desert with a limited water supply, then cook the potatoes in the same broth that the couscous will later be cooked in.  That way no water is wasted!       
     Tunisian Harissa Couscous with Tilapia Recipe:
     This couscous entree makes 1 large portion or 2 small portions!
     Par boil 1 russet potato that is cut into 8 large wedges.
     Cook the potato, till it is about 3/4 fully cooked.
     Remove the potato from the hot water and set them aside.
     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
     Add 1 small splash of blended olive oil.
     Cut 4 to 6 ounces of tilapia filet into long wide strips.
     Sear the tilapia strips on bot sides, till they become fully cooked and till light brown highlights appear.
     Season with sea salt and black pepper.
     Sprinkle 1 pinch of oregano over the tilapia.
     Place the seared tilapia strips on a dish and keep them warm on a stove top.
     Heat a sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 1 splash of olive oil.
     Add 1 handful of thin sliced onion.
     Saute till the onions turn clear in color.
     Add 1 clove of minced garlic.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger.
     Add 1 jalapeno that is cut in half lengthwise.
     Add 4 thick carrot sticks.
     Saute till the vegetables start to cook.
     Add 2 pinches of cumin.
     Add 3 pinches of coriander.
     Add 1 small pinch of saffron.
     Add 3 pinches of turmeric.
     Add 1 pinch of dried mint.
     Add 1 pinch of oregano.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 3 cups of chicken broth.
     Add 1/2 cup of red lentils.
     Gently boil, till the lentils start to become tender.
     Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste.
     Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of harissa.
     Stir the ingredients.
     When the broth returns to a gentle simmer, add 1 1/2 cups of small traditional couscous.
     Place the blanched potato wedges on top of the couscous.
     Cover the pot with a lid.
     Allow the couscous to boil and steam for 4 to 5 minutes.  The couscous will absorb all the liquid in the pot quickly.
     Remove the lid after the couscous is finished, so the steam escapes.  (The aroma of couscous steam is like ringing the dinner bell in Arabic countries!)

     Presentation:
     Mound the couscous high on the center of a plate, but try to leave the vegetables in the pot.
     Arrange the vegetables and reserved strips of warm seared tilapia around the mound of couscous, so the vegetables and fish point vertically from top to bottom.
     Garnish the top of the mound of couscous with slices of Arabic pickled lemon and cilantro leaves.
     Place cilantro leaves around the base of the couscous mound.

     It is important to make a couscous entree look nice and to place the featured ingredients on the surface where they can be seen.  Tunisian couscous is a special traditional social entree that brings smiles to hungry faces!  Yum!  ...  Shawna

Oeufs et Scrapple a la Pronvencal

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What is scrapple anyway?
     I have written all about what scrapple is in the past scrapple recipes that were posted in this blog.  Scrapple is an Amish creation that is made with pork and corn meal.  It is like a soft mushy meatloaf and it is usually grilled crisp for breakfast.  What parts of a pig are used to make scrapple?  Everything but the squeal!     The scrapple recipes that I posted in the past were basic and traditional.  I noticed that the scrapple recipes drew a lot of views and interest.  Quite a few readers were looking for fancy scrapple recipes.  I always like taking on the challenge of creating new entrees to satisfy my readers, so creating some fancy scrapple recipes is in good order.      The basic French provencal tomato sauce seemed like a good choice for the first fancy scrapple creation.  Everybody seems to like tomato sauces.  Poached eggs on toast is a classic breakfast.  Poached eggs with grilled scrapple is a favorite in Pennsylvania Dutch country.  Why not combine the two, add a sauce and present the breakfast entree like an eggs benedict?  Simple enough, good looking enough and definitely tasty!  This fancy scrapple breakfast creation turned out to be rather nice!       The only problem with the fancy scrapple breakfast entree that I can foresee, is whether the French readers will put up a fuss over combining classic Pennsylvania Dutch food with French Provence food.  Many French chefs will claim that scrapple is nothing more than a French pate, but it really is not.  The French do like to reinvent the wheel when they adopt new foreign food items.  It would be interesting to see what a French charcutiere would do to create a new scrapple a la Francaise signature style version of the old traditional Amish scrapple!  Viola!  Magnifique!  
     Provencal Tomato Sauce Recipe:     Note:  This provencal sauce recipe is one of many provencal sauce recipes.  Lavender is not really part of a true Herbs du Provence mixture.  The lavender is more of an American herbs du provence item.  French purists do not like lavender in the mixture.  Lavender is always an optional ingredient.          Heat a small sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.     Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.     Add 1 clove of minced garlic.     Add 1 tablespoons of minced onion.     Add 1 tablespoon of minced celery.     Add 1 tablespoon of minced carrot.     Saute till the onions turn clear in color.     Add 2 chopped peeled and seeded Roma plum tomatoes.     Add 1 pinch of cayenne pepper.     Add 2 pinches of tarragon.     Add 1 pinch of thyme.     Add 1 small pinch of rosemary.     Add 1 tiny pinch of ground fennel seed.     Add 1 pinch of chervil.     Add sea salt and black pepper.     Add 1 pinch of paprika.     Add 2 pinches of minced Italian parsley.     Saute the mixture, till the tomatoes start to become tender.     Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine.     Add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock.     Add 1/2 tablespoon of tomato paste.     Simmer and reduce, till a coarse tomato sauce is formed.     Remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature.     Puree the sauce with a food processor, a puree wand or by pressing it through a fine mesh strainer.     Place the provencal sauce into a sauce pot.     Keep the provencal sauce warm over very low heat.     Add vegetable stock, if the sauce becomes too thick.  The sauce should be a medium thin tomato sauce consistency.
     Grilled Scrapple:     Heat a non-stick griddle or saute pan over medium/medium low heat.     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.     Add 2 slices of scrapple that weigh about 3 ounces apiece.     Use a spatula to shape the scrapple into 2 round patty shapes as it grills.     Grill the scrapple patties, till they become brown and crisp on both sides.     Keep the scrapple patties warm on a stove top.
     Oeufs et Scrapple a la Provencal:     Trim the crust off of 2 slices of stone ground wheat bread, so they become rectangular shapes.     Bake the trimmed wheat bread slices in a 350 degree oven, till they become toasted.     Keep the toast warm on a stove top.     Poach 2 eggs in salted water in a sauce pot over medium/medium high heat.     Place the warm toast slices on a plate.     Place the warm crispy brown scrapple slices on the toast.     Place the poached eggs on the scrapple.     Generously spoon the provencal sauce over the poached eggs.     Garnish the plate with an edible fine herb of your choice.  I chose to garnish with Vietnamese perilla leaf sprigs.
     A gourmet scrapple breakfast entree?  Yes!  The Amish do grow tomatoes and they do like fresh herbs.  Wine, olive oil and cayenne pepper are not really part of Amish cuisine.  Those ingredients can be omitted by my Pennsylvania Dutch readers, if the wish to try this nice tasting recipe.       My French readers should like this recipe too, if only they could find some Amish scrapple for sale in France!  I am sorry to say, that I really do not think that Amish scrapple has become a major export item as of yet.  Yum!  ...  Shawna         

Malaysian Sambal Belacan and Long Beans

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Malaysian Dried Shrimp in Chile Paste Sauce with Yard Long Beans!
     Malaysia has an interesting mixture of food from many cultures mixed with traditional local cuisine. Hindi, Islamic, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Western, European, Spanish and Japanese influences are part of modern Malaysian cuisine.  Malaysia is like Singapore in the way that both places have become fusion food capitols of the world.  Immigrants to Malaysia all brought their own cuisines with them and many immigrant food items have become Malaysian favorite entrees.     Old traditional Malaysian food is quite different than the modern fusion food flavors.  Traditional Malaysian food is quite tropical.  Fruits grow year round and seafood is plentiful.  Tropical pacific root vegetables, native exotic vegetables and herbs are all part of traditional Malaysian cuisine.  Ever since the Colombian Exchange, chile peppers have entered the tropical cuisine of every region in the sun belt.  Rice and grain have alway been a trade commerce item in asia, so noodle and rice dishes are part of the traditional cuisine.  Tropical banana leaf style cooking and serving food on banana leaves is a common part of old Malaysian cuisine.     One of the biggest influences in modern Malaysian is Indian cuisine.  Masala spice mixes of all kinds are now part of the island cuisine.  Roti style Indian breads are very popular in modern Malaysia.       Ever since chile peppers were introduced from the western world, sambal has become a South Pacific island tradition.  There are over 100 varieties of sambal chile paste in the Pacific island region.  Sambal is an important part of Malaysian cuisine.  Malaysian sambals are usually made with mortar and pestle.  There are specific names for Malaysian sambals that are made with kaffir lime, dried shrimp and other local flavors.  There are specific names for raw or cooked sambal.  A basic plain sambal is a mild red chile paste.     Belacan can refer to shrimp paste or dried shrimp in Malaysia.  I chose to use tiny dried shrimp for this Malaysian long bean recipe, because I had them on hand.  The dried shrimp combine with a plain red sambal to create a very nice flavor!     Long beans are very popular in tropical asia and India.  Long beans are in the cowpea family and they grow from climbing vines.  Long beans are great for food shortages, because they grow very quickly and they are loaded with nutrients.  Long beans have a nice flavor that is a little bit different than a standard green bean.     The choice of rice is an option in modern Malaysian food.  Jasmine rice is traditional.  Basmati has become popular in Malaysia, because of the Islamic and Indian immigration.  I actually wanted to serve today's blog entree with jasmine rice, but I mistakenly chose basmati, because I did not have my glasses on.  Oh well!  For once, a mistake turned out to be okay thanks to the Indian and Islamic fusion of modern Malaysian cuisine.
     Malaysian Sambal Belacan and Long Beans Recipe:     Cook 1 cup of white rice ahead of time and keep it warm.  Either jasmine rice or basmati rice is fine for accompanying this recipe.           Boil 3 tablespoons of tiny dried shrimp with 2 1/2 cups of water in a sauce pot over medium high heat.  (Do not remove the tiny thin shrimp shells.  The shells are soft and edible.)     Boil the dried shrimp for 5 minutes, so they reconstitute and create a rich tasting broth.      Add 2 cups of long beans that are cut into 2" to 3" long pieces.     Add sea salt and white pepper.     Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground galangal.     Cover the pot with a lid.     Boil the long beans, till they start to become tender.  (This only take 3 to 5 minutes.  Do not add water, allow the broth to reduce. There should be about 1 1/4 cups of liquid left in the pot, after the long beans and dried shrimp are cooked.)     Remove the pot from the heat.     Heat a saute pan or wok over medium heat.     Add 1 small splash of vegetable oil.     Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves.     Add 1 tiny handful of bite size onion strips.     Saute till the onions start to become tender.     Add 1/2 of a thin sliced small red Thai chile pepper.  (optional)     Add 4 tablespoons of plain red serrano chile pepper coarse sambal or your favorite plain mild red pepper sambal.  (Be careful not to chose a sambal that is salty.  Some sambal have more salt than others!)     Add 1 tablespoon of Korean red serrano chile pepper sauce.     Add 1 pinch of crushed dried red pepper.  (crushed dried red chile caribe)     Add 2 teaspoons of thin soy sauce.     Add the long beans, dried shrimp and broth from the other pot.     Toss the ingredients together     Simmer and reduce the liquid, till only a small amount of thin sauce remains in the pan and till the sambal sauce can easily coat the long beans.     Use a mold to place the rice on the plate.     Place the Malaysian sambal long beans around the rice on the plate.     Pour any remaining sauce over the long beans.     Garnish the plate with lime slices and a cilantro sprig. 
     I have said this many times, sometimes a great flavor combination comes from only a few choice ingredients.  That is the case with this Malaysian Sambal Belacan and Long Beans entree!  The rich umami flavor of dried shrimp and dried shrimp broth with galangal (Thai blue ginger) tames the mildly spicy red serrano chile pepper sambal in a nice way.  Yum!  ...  Shawna

Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon and Belgian Endive BLT Sandwich

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A nice simple seven day cure bacon with an exotic flavor!
     Usually I do not get excited about bacon.  Many of the students at chef school think that bacon is like some kind of a prized possession.  They actually get excited about bacon.  That is the sign of a very green cook!       The basic duty of regular high volume breakfast cooking is the first step in becoming a good line cook.  Fast pace breakfast cooking in a restaurant is the very best way for a cook to develop good hand speed and coordination.  Food order ticket reading or dupe reading skills become sharp when cooking breakfast too.     One thing that a good breakfast cook does, is to prepare plenty of food before the shift starts.  Backup containers of every item on the cooking line are prepared, chilled and ready for easy access, for when a container runs empty during a business rush.  Bacon is usually blanched on parchment paper on a grill or in an oven, so it shrinks less and so it takes half the time to cook, when things get busy.  Some very busy breakfast cooks prefer to cook the bacon till it is three quarters finished cooking ahead of time, so it can be finished simply by reheating.     How much bacon is cooked ahead of time?  Lots!  Ten to twenty cases of bacon are partially cooked ahead of time for an average shift in a busy breakfast restaurant.  The bacon grease vapor saturates a cook's hair, clothes, skin and taste senses.  Everybody knows that a cook is a breakfast cook, because the cook smells like bacon!  After a while, cooks get to the point where they never want to see bacon again as long as they live.     Some bacon is better than others, but the choices are rather slim.  Applewood or hickory smoked bacon are about the only two smoked bacon choices.  Varieties of salt cured bacon are the norm.  Dry cured bacon is available too.  Maple or black forest flavored bacon are about the only choices for flavored bacon in most grocery stores.  As you can see, the choices of commercially available bacon can get old and boring.     Home cooks can safely use a refrigerated salt based curing method to create new flavors of cured bacon, without worrying about spoilage during the curing process.  After curing, the bacon should be consumed within a couple days or it can be sliced and frozen for later use.     Cured bacon can be smoked over a low temperature.  Before smoking, the bacon needs to be left uncovered in refrigerated air for 24 hours, so a film of patina forms.  I do not recommend the patina method for home cooks that are new to smoking bacon, because the health department does not approve of that old method.  Salt cured bacon for immediate use requires no patina formation or smoking.         Dry seasonings, dried ground fruit powders, exotic spice mixes and exotic salts can be used to create tasty custom creative salt cured bacon flavors!       Fresh herbs, fresh spices and highly perishable seasoning mixtures should be avoided when curing bacon with food safety in mind.  Many infused oils are actually highly perishable and they should not be used in a curing process.     Acidic ingredients may cause an unwanted pickling effect.  Orange peel is better for curing than orange juice!     Soy sauce is an easy curing ingredient, if you like asian flavors.  Fermented processed sauces like soy sauce or hot sauce are okay.       Honey is a natural preservative and it can be added to a curing mixture if you wish to cut back on the amount of sugar.  Raw sugar or brown sugar can also be used.  Maple, pomegranate or agave syrup too.       A gravlax curing salt and sugar proportion is also good for curing bacon.  The bacon will never taste salty if the gravlax proportion is used.     Kosher salt burns meat less than sea salt.  Sea salt is better for flavoring than it is for curing.  I used a small proportion of Himalayan Black Salt in my mango bacon curing mixture just to add an interesting flavor.  The high sulfur content of Himalayan salt actually aids in protecting the meat from pathogens.         No nitrates or color enhancers are needed for a seven day cure, if the bacon is cooked shortly after curing or frozen for later use.  Salt is the oldest of all preservatives known to mankind, but it does have its limits, so make use of the bacon shortly after it is cured!        The cured bacon can be thin sliced like store bought bacon.  A slab of bacon can be roasted whole and then sliced.  Thick bite size pieces can be cut, then grill, boiled or roasted.            Pork Belly:     Choose a good fresh clean piece of pork belly!  Curing will not save meat that is already going bad!  That is a mistake that some people make.     It is not necessary to cure a whole side of pork belly when making bacon.  I only cured a 5" wide slab of pork belly that weighed about 1 1/3 pounds.  Butchers will cut pork belly to any requested size.  The pork belly skin must be removed before curing.       The cure will only saturate the slab of pork belly from the outside in.  An ice pick, skewer or thin boning knife can be used to poke several tiny holes toward the center of a pork belly slab, so the cure can saturate the middle of the slab and not just the outer edges.     A large zip lock plastic bag is best for containing the curing mixture after it liquifies.  It is best to put the plastic bag inside of another container, in case the bag leaks.     For a first attempt at creating a custom flavored cure, go small.  Use a section of skinned pork belly that weighs 1 to 2 pounds.  A 5" wide slab of skinned pork belly is good for this recipe.
     Mango Chat Masala Cured Pork Belly Bacon:     Himalayan black salt is not really black in color.  It looks milky pink or milky orange colored.  It is used in North Indian, Sri Lanka and Nepalese cuisine.  Himalayan salt can be found at Indian markets.     Chat Masala is Indian 14 spice mix and it is used to flavor many desserts.  Chat masala contains cardamom, ginger, mango powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, coriander, peppercorns and a few other warm dessert spices that are perfect for a bacon flavor.  Ground dried mango powder and chat masala can be found in Indian markets.     Mix 2 parts sugar with 1 part Kosher salt.  Mix about 1 1/2 cups for a 5" wide slab of pork belly.  Any curing mixture that is leftover can be saved for later use.     Place the pork belly on a small roasting pan, to catch the excess curing ingredients that fall off.     Thoroughly coat the entire small slab of pork belly with the salt and sugar curing mixture.       Note:  For the flavorings, just season like you would a regular piece of meat!  A large amount of spice is not necessary, because the meat will be in contact with the flavored cure for seven days.     Season the small pork belly slab with a few generous pinches of Himalayan black salt.      Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of powdered dried mango evenly over the pork belly.     Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of chat masala over the pork belly.     Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper over the pork belly.     No black pepper or white pepper is needed!  Both of those peppers are part of the chat masala spice mixture.     Place the seasoned salted and sugared small pork belly slab into a large zip lock bag.     Scrape the seasoning and salt that fell off of the pork belly into the pan together and place it into the zip lock bag with the pork belly.       Add 1 extra tablespoon of Kosher salt to the bag to ensure a healthy salt curing level.     Press the excess air out of the zip lock bag and seal the bag.     Place the bag in a container in case it leaks.     Write the curing start time and date and finish time and date down and keep it in plain sight.     Once every 12 hours, pick the bag up and shake it, so the brine evenly coats the meat.  Flip the meat, so the same side is not always facing down.     The outer pork meat should darken to a beef like color after 4 to 5 days of curing.       Open the bag once a day and check the aroma.  There should be no hint of decay or contamination in the odor.  If the meat becomes badly discolored or if there is a foul odor, then discard the meat.     By 7 days you should have a nicely cured piece of pork belly.     Remove the pork belly from the bag and pat it dry with a clean dry towel.     Cut about ten strips of bacon to make a BLT with.       Save the rest of the bacon for more recipes or portion the remaining bacon and freeze it for later use.
     Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon and Belgian Endive BLT Sandwich:     Heat a saute pan or griddle over medium/medium low heat.     Place ten thin slices of the Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon in the pan.     Grill the bacon on both sides, till it becomes crisp, lightly browned and fully cooked.     Place the bacon strips on a roasting screen on a pan to drain of the excess grease.     Toast 2 slices of whole grain wheat bread.     Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the toast.  (optional)     Place a layer of trimmed Belgian Endive lettuce on one slice of the toasted bread.     Place a few thin slices of ripe beefsteak tomato on the lettuce.  (Beefsteak tomatoes are rather big and they have a great tomato flavor!)     Place the crispy cooked Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon slices on the tomato.     Place the top slice of bread on the sandwich.     Cut the BLT in half and place it on a plate.     Garnish the plate with a sliced peach or a fruit of your choice.     Serve with an ice cold Mexican beer like Modelo or a beverage of your choice!
     Ah!  Just what the doctor ordered!  A great BLT made with great tasting home made exotic cured bacon!  An ice cold Mexican lager beer!  Yay!       This is a safe curing method to try.  A piece of raw uncured meat can sit in a refrigerator for 7 days with no problem, so a 7 day cure is well within a safe food handling range.  If you follow the guidelines and recipe, your Mango Chat Masala Cured Bacon should turn out to be really good.  Yum!  ...  Shawna