August 20, 2003 Ask the Chef Article

August 20, 2003 ... Ask the Chef ... John Pisto

Q: Dear John: Love the show. Educational and great fun. Not just a cooking show but great humor. Your travel shows rival your cooking shows! A couple of years ago I was not able to catch your Cabo San Lucas "fish taco" show. Will there ever be a repeat? I've had the pleasure of eating them there. Awesome! Just cannot figure out what all is in them. The Monterey area certainly is indebted to your having highlighted how beautiful the area is. Thanks. Gilda, Via e-mail

A: Thank you very much. I sure hope the Monterey area appreciates it. It’s hard to believe that my national show on the GoodLife Network has been on for 7 years. Yes, the Cabo show will repeat eventually, just keep watching. What makes the tacos of Cabo so good? Is it that they use soft tortillas? The fish they usually

use is Marlin, which has great texture, nice and firm. Try the salmon wraps, the recipe is posted on my website July 23. Here’s a nice recipe using corn tortillas.

Fish Taco Recipe: First the fish: 1lb. of firm white fish - swordfish, talapia - or tuna works too. Cut the fish into small dices about 1/2” square. Have ready 1 medium onion diced the same size, 2 jalapenos also diced, 4 chopped garlic cloves, 1 bunch of cilantro chopped. Salt and pepper.

Salsa: Firm tomatoes (Roma’s work best) about 2 cups (6 to 7) chopped fine

1 medium red onion chopped fine

2 jalapenos chopped fine

2 fresh cloves garlic chopped fine

1 small bell pepper chopped fine

1 bunch cilantro chopped fine

Combine everything and add a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. ground cumin - ready to go! To make the fish filling: Sauté the onion and garlic in corn oil for about 2 minutes. Now add the fish and salt & pepper. Start shaking the pan so it doesn’t stick, 2 to 4 minutes. Check to see if it is almost cooked. Carefully flare off a bit of tequila and your ready to go. Corn tortillas: Before you use these guys you must heat them on a flat skillet. Have the flame medium to high working back and forth until the tortilla is soft and pliable. Add a bit of butter to the tortilla and then the fish mixture. Finish it off with the salsa. Have a Wabo-Rita ready (a cold Mexican beer or some sangria also goes good with this).

Q: Dear Chef Pisto:

I enjoy pigeon. Had it in a Moroccan restaurant. Is it the same bird that seems to be everywhere in large numbers? If so, why are these birds not harvested? Do you have a recipe for the dish I mentioned? What can I substitute for pigeon? Chicken?

Paolo R.,

Santa Cruz

A: I don’t know about you guys across the bay, but what we need here is a good recipe for seagull. Man they are all over the place. Local pigeons are considered flying rats by the Health Department. You don’t want to eat the ones that fly around cities. However you can raise them or buy from someone that does. The meat is also known as squab. It is red meat, juicy and succulent. The dish you had was called Bisteeya or pigeon pie. Boy it is delicious. I’ve seen some that are 2 inches thick and 2 feet

across. I recently had mini Bisteeya (the size of one cup). The chef made them in front of us - of course he had a lot of things done ahead of time. It is a rather complicated recipe. Here’s one that uses phyllo dough.

P.S. There was a restaurant in Seaside that was harvesting them. He was also trapping seagulls. The Health Department closed him down. Believe it or not the seagull mandarin-style was one of my favorites! Love them knuckles!

Chicken in Phyllo Dough Recipe

For the chicken:

4-5 lbs meaty chicken pieces, skin removed

2 medium onions, grated

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon black pepper, pref. freshly ground

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups cold water

For the filling:

8 large eggs, well beaten

2 cups (about 10 oz.) blanched almonds, toasted and finely ground

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For assembling and topping:

Approx 1/2 cup unsalted margarine, melted

10 large sheets phyllo dough

confectioner's sugar

ground cinnamon

Put the chicken pieces into a 4-quart pot. Add the other ingredients on the chicken list to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, approx.11/4hours. Remove the chicken from the pot and reserve the broth. Set chicken aside to cool. Remove the chicken from the bones and shred. Set aside.

Bring the broth to a boil and continue cooking until the liquid has been reduced by about a third. Lower the heat to the simmer and, when the broth has stopped boiling, stir in the beaten eggs. Stir the broth continuously until the eggs are cooked into firm curds. Set aside. Mix together the ground almonds, sugar and cinnamon. (May be prepared in advance to this point in the recipe.) Use a pasty brush to coat the inside of a 14" pizza pan with melted margarine. Lightly brush one sheet of phyllo with margarine and place it "buttered" side up in the center of the pan, ignoring the fact that the corners of the sheet of dough will hang over the diameter of the pan.

Repeat with a second sheet of dough. Then place six additional layers of dough like the big hand of the clock radiating out from the center of the dial at the 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00 positions. Sprinkle half the almond mixture over the phyllo. Top with the shredded chicken. Use a slotted spoon to remove the egg curds from the broth and spread them over the chicken. Top with the remaining almond mixture. Drizzle two tablespoons each of the broth and melted margarine over the filling. Fold each of the overhanging sheets of dough over the filling, completely covering everything. Brush the top of the pastry with melted margarine. Top with two additional layers of dough, using margarine for each layer. Bake the pie in a preheated 400 F oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Invert the pie onto a serving platter. Lightly sift confectioners' sugar on the top. Sprinkle cinnamon over the pie.

Serve hot, cut into wedges.

For more info about John Pisto's fine restaurants

in Monterey, California, click here.

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