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Michelin-trained Chef Scott Koshnoodi recently launched a new Persian-, Texan-, and Mexican-inspired food and beverage program at Parklife Taqueria in Brooklyn. Pull- ing from his Persian-Texan roots (Koshnoodi fled Iran at a young age to join his family in Texas) and food science- driven techniques, the new menu includes tastes from a variety of cultures.
One of those items pays homage to the chef’s Texas upbringing: his popular, upscale version of Frito Pie, a dish that features beef and potato chili, frito adobo, escabeche, and tortilla chip.
“I was looking to have something specifically ‘Texan’ on the menu and Frito Pie was an obvious choice,” Koshnoodi told el Restaurante. “The origins are humble, with chili and fritos being the main attraction, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious in its traditional way. I just wanted to take those flavors and riff on them with the techniques used to cook and present them. It’s more ‘stylized,’ but the flavors should be familiar to anyone that’s had a Frito Pie.”
Frito Pie
Brisket Flat (I use the flat to stay true to a chili’s roots — lean, affordable meat)
3 T. tallow
2 small onions
1 garlic head
5 T. advieh (ground spice mix: 1 part cumin, pink peppercorn, mustard seed, allspice, and 1⁄2 fennel seed)
3 anchos (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
3 cascabels (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
3 negro pasillas (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
5 moritas (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
3 guajillos (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
Beef stock
1 pint stout or porter
2 small potatoes
Masa
Escabeche and tortilla chip, for garnish
The Frito Adobo:
1 garlic head
1 shallot
Tortilla chips
1 morita (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
1 ancho (de-stemmed, de-seeded)
The Cooking Process:
Season and sear the brisket in tallow. Reserve meat and sauté sliced onions and garlic in the same pan with brisket sucs* until tender. Add advieh to pan and mix. Add chilis to pan and mix. Add stout or porter to pan and reduce by half. Add brisket to pan. Add beef stock to cover and bring up to boil. Reduce temp to low and cover until brisket is tender (~ 3 hrs). Cook potatoes in seasoned water until tender. Once cooled, cube.
The Building Process:
Allow brisket to cool overnight in stock and aromatics. Once cooled, remove the fat cap from the top.
Heat brisket and stock mix until warm and shred brisket. Blend stock and aromatics until smooth. Reduce until full flavor and season. Add mixture to shredded brisket until very moist but not soupy. Using a mold of your choosing, add moist brisket mix to the mold. Fill halfway up, add potato cubes, then add brisket on top to fill out the mold. Freeze meat in mold.
Once frozen, wrap with masa in a thin layer but be careful to not have any openings. Allow to unfreeze in the refrigerator until thawed out.
The Frito Adobo:
Using a spice grinder, pulse tortilla chips. Blanch the sliced shallots/garlic 3 times. Dehydrate until fully dried. Pulse in a spice grinder. Dehydrate ancho and Morita chiles until fully dried; pulse in a spice grinder. Combine ingredients to taste.
To serve: In a 350°F fryer, drop thawed masa-covered brisket chili. Check with a cake tester after 5 minutes to see if the center is warm. Once done, season with Frito Adobo and salt. Serve either whole or cut.
*The deposit of browned sugars, carbohydrates, and/or proteins on the bottom of the pan, along with any rendered fat.