by Guy Fieri
WELL, MOM, I’LL TELL YA, WE HAVE TO WORK ON YOUR PORTIONING…I’M JUST A KID.
Photograph by Matt Winquist
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[GUY ASIDE]
If it’s going to be a breakfast joint it better be a good one, because I don’t like getting up early to cook or eat breakfast. There are a lot of components about breakfast that I’m not a fan of. However, when I do get to find a breakfast joint that’s doing things like green pesto pork chops, it changes my mind. I even mentioned in the show The Best Thing I Ever Ate that the pork chop was one of my favorites. So if you can take me from zero to hero on a breakfast thing, that’s a pretty big deal to me.
Funny thing is, it should’ve been called Big Matt’s Breakfast, because he looks six-foot-twelve and he’s as nice as he is big.
Prank: They tell me the mayor of Phoenix, Phil Gordon, likes to go there, and I’m like, far out! And even the mayor has to wait. So he’s sitting at the counter, his security detail all out front. He’s got his mayoral car sitting there. I start talking to his security, and the next thing I know I’ve swindled the driver and head of security into letting me sit in the mayor’s car, with them in my car. (Have you ever seen the movie Super Troopers, where the cop acting like a bad guy thinks he’s stealing the cop car and takes the three guys for a ride and says, “You boys ever been to Mexico?”) Anyway, the mayor comes out with a camera following him, and it was perfectly timed. When he gets back into the car, I’m in the front seat and say, “So, on our next stop for Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, where do you want to go?” He turned four shades of white; it was hysterical.
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Chop and Chick
ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE COURTESY OF MATT POOL OF MATT’S BIG BREAKFAST
They serve each chop with two cage-free eggs cooked any style, a choice of hash browns or home fries, and hand-cut toast (sourdough, white, or wheat) with local preserves.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
4 garlic cloves
1 good handful of local organic fresh basil
2 tablespoons organic pine nuts
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
½ teaspoon coarse-grain sea salt, plus more to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
4 boneless pork rib chops, 1 inch thick (about 7 ounces each)
THE LITTLE DUDE RUNS THE WHOLE SHOW!
Photograph by Matt Winquist
1. Put the garlic cloves, basil, pine nuts, ½ cup of the olive oil, and ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse intermittently until all the ingredients are combined. Slowly add the remaining ¼ cup olive oil with the processor running or as you increase the blender speed. Process or puree until smooth, about 25 seconds.
2. Pour the marinade over the chops and toss to coat. Refrigerate the chops for at least 3 to 4 hours.
3. The next step is to remove the chops from the marinade. Wipe off excess marinade and season the chops with more salt and pepper to taste (discard the marinade). Cook them on a lightly oiled, preheated flattop (or pan-fry for the home cook), flipping once or twice, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
WEST AND SOUTHWEST
SALSA BRAVA
EST. 1988 DOING THE NAVAJO TACO HUNCH
You’ve got to love a road trip, and there’s nothing better than a Route 66 tour. In Flagstaff, Arizona, you’ve got to stop at Salsa Brava, where this dude’s scratch-making just about everything.
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TRACK IT DOWN
2220 E. Route 66 (Santa Fe Avenue)
Flagstaff, Arizona 86004
928-779-5293
www.salsabravaflagstaff.com
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It’s all done by hand, and that’s the way native Arizonian John Conley’s been rolling for years. When he was twenty-one he decide to drop out of school and open his own little taqueria. Mexican was his first choice; he loves the culture, people, and food. And folks around here love the way he’s making the food, from classics like burritos, to something called the Maui Taco with pineapple (see Maui Tacos), to a Southwestern favorite, sopapilla.
He makes the dough for the sopapilla out of flour, salt, and baking powder with water, works it for five minutes, then covers it and lets it sit for an hour and a half. For the marinated chicken he starts with lemon-lime soda (I’ve never seen this move before), cool water, fresh lime juice, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, chile powder, and garlic. The chicken marinates in the fridge for twenty-four hours, covered. He then grills it and finishes it in the oven. Back to the dough: he takes about a four-ounce ball, rolls it out (this is to order every time), trims the circle (about as big as my head), and layers some beans, marinated chicken, and shredded Jack and Cheddar cheese. He folds it up, pinches the edges, and it’s bye-bye, you go fry—about a minute and a half weighted down in the deep-fryer, then he takes the weight off and flips it. This is where King Kong meets the popover. He then hits it with a little cilantro cream sauce—heavy cream, milk, cilantro, garlic salt, and butter—and plates it with beans and rice and a little cheese, melts that down, and garnishes with chopped cilantro, chopped onion, and their avocado cream. Wow, everything is rockin’ inside. What’s neat about that chicken is that it’s been cooked, then cooked again in the fryer, and it’s not dried out. It’s nice and tender, and the cilantro cream sauce is outta bounds.
OWNER’S NOTE: To Anthony “Chico” Rodriguez, director of photography.
Unbelievable! Not that we ever want this to stop—but what the heck! I never would have thought the response would be so huge and have such an impact on so many lives. Our food servers are grateful—cooks, host, managers, dishwashers—they’ve all been able to share in the prosperity that’s come as a result of this show. Last week everyone (without exception) got raises! When does it slow down? People traveling in excess of 1,000 miles solely to eat at Salsa Brava…the website has exceeded the one million mark and crashed multiple times—and we haven’t aired in weeks! What an unbelievably beautiful thing you’ve all created. Thanks again.—John Conley
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[GUY ASIDE]
John makes this killer taco called the Navajo taco. The thing was really cool, everything was made to order. You’re supposed to eat it on the plate with a fork and knife. But I was running around confiscating silverware and making everybody eat it like a taco, with the hunch. This requires a full Philly Hunch (see the diagram on MORe FOND PRANK MeMORIeS
FROM THe ROAD KReW).
John’s gotten a lot of acclaim; he’s a sharp chef, and he just came out with a cookbook. Just because an eatery is a funky joint doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a high-quality chef. He used to have multiple locations and he brought it down to just one in order to focus on execution and quality. It’s a hands-on location.
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John says great Mexican food is made simple and fresh, and you’ve got to get the best ingredients for everything. Like for his salsa; they serve five kinds every day, and they tastes like he just picked the ingredients out of his garden. His Roasted Pineapple Habañero Salsa (recipe on Roasted Pineapple Habañero Salsa) gives you a nice little sugar right in the beginning and then smack, that’s hot! I’d buy an ice cube for twenty bucks. One regular said he’d put that on anything, and eat a couple bowls of just that. But as long as you’re there, you’ve got fajitas, quesadillas, and a dish some folks call the state dish of Arizona: the Navajo taco, made from the same dough as the sopapilla and topped open-face with beef, chicken, or pork. For his slow-roasted pork he dusts cubed chunks of pork loin with a mixture of granulated garlic, salt, cracked pepper, Spanish paprika, mild red chile, and sugar. Then he puts the meat on a rack in a roasting pan with two ounces of liquid smoke in the bottom, covers it, and slow roasts it for five hours. After he shreds it, he puts it on the grill with a little bit of fresh orange juice and paprika, then layers it on the fried dough with beans, the meat, and Jack and Cheddar cheeses, then i
t’s back in a 450°F oven for about two minutes and topped with lettuce, salsa fresca, cilantro and onions, cotija cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and a little avocado cream. I recommend short sleeves, a bib, and a drop cloth.
Maui Tacos
ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE COURTESY OF JOHN CONLEY OF SALSA BRAVA
Note from John: What started out as a mistake has turned into one of our best sellers. One day we were blackening the pineapple for our Seared Pineapple Salsa, and as we pulled the roasting pineapple from the grill a small amount fell onto the flattop and got mixed in with an order of carne adovada. I threw it into a flour tortilla, and the lightbulb went off!
Make no mistake…this is not for those with tender palates. The heat from the chile de árbol can be intense. Enough said! Decrease the heat by eliminating a portion of the chile de árbol.
MAKES 8 LARGE OR 16 SMALL TACOS
1 cup packed chile de árbol, stems removed
2 to 3 tablespoons water
3 to 4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 pounds pork loin, cut into ½-inch cubes
¼ cup mild red chile powder
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup chopped Maui or other sweet onion
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
8 large or 16 small flour tortillas, warmed
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Crumbled cotija cheese, for garnish
Roasted Pineapple Habañero Salsa (recipe follows)
THIS IS JUST WRONG…WHO TOOK THIS PIC?
1. Place the chile de árbol, 2 tablespoons of the water, and 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a blender and blend on high to make a paste. Add additional water by the teaspoon if needed.
2. Put the pork in a shallow bowl and pour the marinade on top. Add the chile powder, garlic, garlic salt, kosher salt, and cumin. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
3. Remove the pork from the marinade (discard the marinade) and pat the pork dry with paper towels. Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. Add half of the pork, onion, and pineapple and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned and the pineapple and onion have caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining pork, onion, and pineapple, adding more oil if necessary. Serve in the flour tortillas, with chopped cilantro, cotija cheese, and Roasted Pineapple Habañero Salsa.
“SO, WHEN YOU DISSECT THE BURRITO, YOU START WITH…COME ON, STUDENTS, FOLLOW ALONG!”
Roasted Pineapple Habañero Salsa
ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE COURTESY OF JOHN CONLEY OF SALSA BRAVA
Note from John: We tried to have this recipe duplicated by a major manufacturer, and the result was a disaster—not even close to our house-made salsa. It’s hard to duplicate the same roasted flavor and texture provided by the slow roasting of the tomatoes and jalapeños and the sting of freshly blended habañeros. This salsa can be very hot, so adjust the heat by decreasing the habañero. Start with a small amount and increase accordingly. The habañero will be at its hottest as soon as you blend it, then will mellow to a certain point and maintain this heat level. So when adjusting for heat, keep this in mind. The current recipe is designed to be a hot salsa; however, this is truly dictated by the individual chile—the time of year it was grown, the location where it was grown, and the amount of stress the chile was exposed to while growing.
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[CREW ASIDE]
KareBear: “Best thing I’ve eaten? The pineapple habañero salsa at Salsa Brava in Flagstaff, Arizona, was downright addicting. I’m not usually a fan of pineapple anything, but this salsa was a perfect combo of sweet and heat.”
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MAKES 6 CUPS
3 medium tomatoes
4 jalapeño chiles, stems removed
¼ medium Maui or other sweet onion, sliced ¼ inch thick
1 to 2 habañero chiles
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple tidbits, with juice
½ cup water, divided
½ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
Kosher salt
1. Heat the broiler to high. Put the tomatoes, jalapeños, and onion on a broiler pan or baking sheet. Broil 4 inches from the heat until darkly roasted and even blackened in spots on one side (the tomato skins will split and curl in places), about 6 minutes. Flip the vegetables and broil the other side for another 6 minutes or so. The goal is to char all the vegetables but also to caramelize and cook them through to bring out the rich, smoky, sweet flavors. Cool for 10 minutes, reserving all the juices.
2. Put half of the roasted vegetables, the habañeros, the pineapple and juice, and half of the water in a food processor or blender and pulse; John prefers this salsa to be evenly chopped but not pureed. Add the rest of the roasted vegetables and the cilantro and pulse again.
3. Taste, season with salt, and adjust the consistency with water if necessary. The salsa will thicken as it cools, so take this into account as you add water. It will be hotter at first, then begin to mellow. Use right away or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
WEST AND SOUTHWEST
GORILLA BARBEQUE
EST. 2006 BIG BBQ FLAVORS AND A BIG CHEESE
So I had picked the wrong day to wear shorts or drive the convertible, but I found myself in Pacifica, California, to check out Gorilla Barbeque…served out of this orange train car.
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TRACK IT DOWN
2145 Coast Highway
Pacifica, California 94044
650-359-7427
www.gorillabbq.com
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Where did the Gorilla name come from? Well, the guy it’s named after says his dad came up with it: “You see how I’m a little bigger than normal?” (I just thought it was my TV!) This all started as a hobby for Gorilla, aka Rich Bacchi, who had this vision for years, so along with his old high school buddy, Jeff Greathouse, he made it a reality. After years of cooking for friends, they started catering, then acquired the train car. They start with a “rub-a-dub-dub” of his own concoction—ground cumin, oregano, garlic powder, granulated onion, sea salt, paprika, brown sugar, and black pepper—and give it a “mixy-mix” in the “magic mixer.” They call this the super-combo spice rub mix, and after a “tasty-taste” I gave it a thumbs-up. They’re putting it on everything from ribs to pulled pork to a heavy-hitting Texas-style brisket. You can never put enough spice rub on the brisket, says Gorilla—“the flavors are rendered through the fat on the top”—well, ahem! This guy even has a tiny light installed on the ceiling to shine light into his smoker. The brisket cooks on the top rack for sixteen hours; then he lets it rest for thirty minutes. It’s tender and good, and here’s one you don’t see: he’s using the brisket in a Philly cheesesteak. Some of that magic rub is even used in the pepper and onions, American Swiss is melted on top, and it’s given a squirt of Carolina-style barbecue sauce. There’s an explosive Southwestern flavor. (I felt like I needed to shampoo my goatee afterward; as one regular says, you need a spork to eat that bomb.)
GORILLA’S VEGETARIAN CONVERSION PROGRAM.
Photograph by Jeremy Ortega
TWO BBQ BAD BOYS! “ALL ABOARD.”
Photograph by Jeremy Ortega
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[GUY ASIDE]
I met Rich (“Gorilla”) last year when I was the grand marshal of NASCAR, and when I say this dude is a larger-than-life character, I mean it literally. On top of that he’s an incredibly nice guy, one of those bros you want to have. Anyway, I knew there was something I wanted to do with this guy. He says, “I do barbecue,” and I’m like, “Yeah, a lot of people do that.” So, another time we’re shooting DD&D at a place called Rocco’s Cafe in San Francisco, and an A Team-like van pulls up slowly alongside. Now, I don’t know where you come from, but when a van pulls up slo
wly, you move—so my cameraman pushes me outta da way. We took cover, and out stepped Gorilla! Later we drove to Pacifica and checked out his barbecue in an old train car, and it was amazing. What you see is what you get: enthusiastic, supportive, a great dude. All these places are really special to me, but some blow me away, and Rich did that. The only sad thing about it is that Rich has become so busy that he runs out of barbecue at 1 P.M.—so the two or three times I’ve gone there on my way to the airport they’ve been out, which has been a real bummer!
