LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

“Top Chef Masters” alum and chef/owner of The Border Grill and Street, Susan Feniger, stopped by Access Hollywood Live to cook up a feat from her new cookbook “Susan Feniger’s Street Food.” Here are the recipes from today’s show…

Picadillo Chili Dog with Mustard & Relish

(Serves 8 )

Picadillo is a chili-like dish that is served in many Latin countries. In Mexico they often use ground beef, onions, tomatoes, and lime, all stuffed into an empanada, while in the Caribbean nations and Atlantic islands they tend to add raisins or fruit. Once I had a version in Puerto Rico with achiote (a citrus-flavored paste made from the seeds of the annatto tree), capers, and olives. This recipe was influenced by my favorite lunch as a kid. My mother made a ground beef, mustard, and raisin mixture that she would scoop onto a hot dog bun and heat under the broiler. I decided to blend it with a new twist for an old all-American dish!

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup canola oil

1.5 medium red onions, chopped (2.5 cups)

3 tablespoons masa harina

3 canned chipotle chiles, rinsed and chopped

2 tablespoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 pounds ground beef

1.5 tablespoons kosher salt

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, with their juices

3/4 cup dried currants or black raisins

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

8 hot dog buns

Yellow mustard and pickle relish, for garnish

1 teaspoon olive oil

8 hot dogs or sausages

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the canola oil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown, 8 minutes. Add the masa harina, chipotles, cumin seeds, smoked paprika, dry mustard, and cayenne. Stir well and cook for 1 minute to toast the spices. Reduce the heat to medium and add the ground beef and the salt. Cook, stirring and breaking up the beef with the back of a spoon, and scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally so that none of the spices stick and burn, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the meat is browned.

2. Reduce the heat to low. Add the tomatoes and their juices, breaking them up with a spoon so that they’re in smaller pieces. Add the currants. Simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the black beans, stir, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Toast the hot dog buns. Slather the buns with yellow mustard and pickle relish.

4. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the hot dogs and cook until they are browned on all sides.

5. Put a hot dog in each bun and top with a good amount of the picadillo. Top with more mustard and relish, if desired.

*****

Angry Eggs

INGREDIENTS:

30 yolks

3/4 cup mayo

3 tbsp chile garlic

1.5 tbsp Dijon

Salt

*****

Spicy Tomato Gazpacho with Fresh Horseradish

(Serves 4 to 6 )

All over Spain, when you order gazpacho in a bar, it’s served in a glass like a Bloody Mary. What a great idea! The tomato juice is key in this recipe, so make sure you use the very best available. I use an all-natural organic tomato juice made by R.W. Knudsen. If you can’t find that brand, substitute one of equal quality.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups tomato juice

1.5 cups sliced pale inner ribs of celery

4 Persian cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped

1 red jalapeño pepper, sliced

3 tablespoons grated fresh horseradish

Juice of 1.5 lemons

2.5 tablespoons

Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Celery salt, for garnish Ice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put 2 cups of the tomato juice and the celery, cucumbers, bell pepper, jalapeño, and horseradish in a blender. Puree on high speed for 3 minutes, until completely smooth. Strain the mixture, pressing on it with a rubber spatula, into a mixing bowl; discard the solids. Add the remaining 1 cup tomato juice, the lemon juice, and the Worcestershire sauce, celery seeds, paprika, and salt. Whisk together. Pour into a container and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

2. To serve, press the rim of each highball or rocks glass into a damp towel and then onto a small plate of the celery salt. Put 3 to 4 ice cubes in each glass, fill with the gazpacho, and sprinkle the tops with a little paprika.

NOTE: If you want to turn this into a cocktail, start with 1 ounce of Ciroc vodka (my favorite) per glass and then add the gazpacho.
Fresh Horseradish: This brown root, which is actually a member of the mustard family, can be found in the produce section of well-stocked supermarkets. Peel it with a knife as you might a potato.

*****

Green Sriracha Sauce

I think this is the sauce that you’ll always want to have in your fridge. A mildly spicy, almost fruity, herbal fresh condiment, it is fantastic on a piece of grilled fish, on roasted chicken, and on sautéed mushrooms.

It’s also great as a garnish for a rich soup, on top of mashed avocados with feta cheese, or as a dip for crudités. This Sriracha sauce is different from the typical red sauce you see in squeeze bottles in every Asian restaurant. I still use chiles, but I use poblanos, which give the sauce a rich, gentle heat.

(Makes 4 cups )

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped

2 serrano chiles, stems removed, sliced (optional)

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 (3-inch) piece young ginger (see page 209), peeled and roughly chopped

1 (half-inch) piece fresh turmeric (see page 122), peeled and thinly sliced

1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stems roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)

Leaves from 1 bunch fresh Thai basil (see page 109) or regular basil (about 2 cups)

Leaves from 1 bunch fresh mint (about 1 cup)

1 bunch fresh chives, roughly chopped (about 1.5 cups)

4 fresh kaffir lime leaves (see page 21), roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon finely minced

inner stalks of lemongrass (see page 61)

1 cup canola oil

Juice of 3 to 4 limes (about 1/2 cup)

2.5 teaspoons kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put roughly a third of the coconut, chiles, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cilantro, Thai basil, mint, chives, lime leaves, and lemongrass in a blender. Add all of the oil, 1/2 cup of cold water, the lime juice, and the salt. Puree until smooth. (You may need to pulse the blender at first so the ingredients don’t catch in the blender blades.)

2. Depending on the size of your blender, you may be able to continue adding ingredients to the pureed sauce until all of the ingredients are used. If you need more space, pour half of the pureed sauce into a bowl and continue blending the remaining ingredients in batches, always using a little bit of the original sauce to start with.

3. When all of the ingredients are blended smoothly, pour the sauce into a medium bowl and stir well. The sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

*****

Coconut Curry Caramel Corn

This is the recipe to think about if you are going to a party—it would make a great gift instead of a bottle of wine. I recently prepared this as a party favor for a luncheon of 750 women, and they loved it. Even more note-worthy: I still loved it after making such a huge batch! That says a lot. The combination of sweet and spicy in the popcorn is what makes it different from anything else you’ve tasted.

INGREDIENTS:

Olive oil spray

1.5 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

3 tablespoons canola oil

3/4 cup popcorn kernels

2 cups Candied Peanuts (page 21)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1.5 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons chopped fresh curry leaf (see page 20; optional)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (see page 78)

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg (optional)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Makes 18 cups

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Liberally spray an extra-large mixing bowl (not plastic) with olive oil spray.

2. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven, stirring it once or twice, until it is golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool, leaving the oven on.

3. Put the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot, add the corn kernels, and set over medium-high heat. Cover, and shake the pot occasionally until the popping begins, about 5 minutes. Once the popping starts, shake the pot continuously until the popping slows down dramatically, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, but continue shaking it until the popping stops entirely. Dump the popcorn into the prepared mixing bowl, trying not to let any unpopped kernels fall into the bowl. Add the toasted coconut and the candied peanuts.

4. Before beginning the caramel process, spray a rubber spatula, a wooden spoon, and 2 cookie sheets liberally with olive oil spray.

5. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with the oil-sprayed spatula, until the butter is melted. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and being careful not to splatter the hot caramel, until the mixture thickens and a candy thermometer registers 255°F, about 7 minutes. (If you do not have a candy thermometer, you will know it is ready when the bubbles of the mixture get noticeably larger and slower.) Remove from the heat. Add the salt, baking soda, curry leaf, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, turmeric, mace, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon. Stir quickly to incorporate, and then immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn mixture. Stir with the wooden spoon until all of the popcorn is well coated.

6. Pour the mixture onto the oiled cookie sheets and spread it out evenly. Bake for 1 hour, stirring it every 20 minutes to keep it from burning.

7. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let the popcorn cool to room temperature. The popcorn will crisp as it cools.

8. When it is cool, you can serve the popcorn immediately or package it in airtight bags for storage. It will keep well for 4 days.

Curry Leaf:

Used in curries in India and Sri Lanka, curry leaf is fried along with chopped onion in the first stage of cooking. Usually called “curry leaves,” they are also called “neem leaves” or “curry neem leaves.”Curry leaf is what they call the “mystery ingredient” in India. Used everywhere but hard to describe, curry leaf has a slight nuttiness that adds backbone to the flavor of a dish. There really is no substitute, so if you can’t find the leaves, simply omit them from the recipe.

For more, visit SusanFenigerSite.com.

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