Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Adios, El Palenque
Lindsey Nair
Front Burner blog
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Recipes
Whether they were dishing up gourmet goat or rum-soaked chocolate cake, the Galvan family of El Palenque Mexican Restaurant kept their fans happy.
Unfortunately, according to Eduardo Galvan, their fans could have done more to keep them happy.
Galvan blames slow business and unsophisticated palates for the restaurant's demise after nine years in various locations around Roanoke.
"To Roanoke, we were a shock," he said. "Nobody had ever seen the kind of food that we were doing."
After a while, he said, customers left El Palenque -- which billed itself as authentic, home-style Mexican -- in favor of the "same old Mexican restaurants."
"A lot of people expected Mexican food to be under $10," he said. "They would come in and look at the menu and leave."
Three years after Frank and Yolanda Galvan moved to the United States from Mexico with their sons, Eduardo and Roberto, they opened El Palenque in a tiny building on Hershberger Road.
Yolanda and Roberto manned the kitchen while Frank and Eduardo managed the front.
The restaurant appeared to thrive on Hershberger for seven years before the family sold the building and moved into the former Chico and Billy's pizzeria on Brambleton Avenue.
At one point, the Galvans also expanded into a second location in the old Heironimus building downtown, but a faulty air conditioning system forced them to move out in June 2002.
In an October 2005 interview with The Roanoke Times, Frank Galvan said he hoped the move to Brambleton Avenue would be a successful one. He said they would be closer to many of their customers in Southwest Roanoke.
But business began to slow last year, according to Eduardo Galvan, and in the restaurant's final week, they had hardly a table for dinner.
"It was tough," he said. "It's something that we wanted to keep doing, but it just didn't work."
But there is good news for El Palenque lovers, especially those who don't know what they'll do without Yolanda Galvan's decadent handmade cakes.
She will continue to sell her prize-winning desserts on a special order basis under the name Galvan Cakes. The family also plans to offer catering services for special events like weddings and banquets.
For more information about the special order business, visit www.galvancakes.net.
Safer pot pies at home
Within the past several months, almost 200 people have been sickened with salmonella nationwide after eating store-bought frozen pot pies.
Six of those cases were reported in Virginia, and all of the illnesses have been linked to brands produced by the ConAgra Foods company, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I loved store-bought pot pies as a child, especially if they had a bottom and a top crust. All kids know the crust is the best (and least nutritious) part.
After about an hour in the oven, those little tasties made for a piping hot, savory TV dinner.
But after microwave directions for pot pies came along, the treat was ruined for me. The crust came out of the microwave doughy and weird, but an hour in the oven just seemed like an eternity for one tiny pie.
Fast-forward to adulthood, where I have earned a new appreciation for pot pies -- the homemade kind, that is.
Many readers are probably thinking they'd rather risk salmonella than go through all the trouble it takes to make a pot pie from scratch. But refrigerated pie crusts have delivered us all from the hell of hours in the kitchen trying to perfect Grandma's crust.
It was my easy chicken pot pie recipe, in fact, that I used to woo my husband on our first date.
Even after remembering that he hates peas, panicking and picking every one out of the filling, I still had the pie in the oven and baking before my doorbell rang.
This recipe is doubly easy because it calls for canned white meat chicken, which can be a little on the expensive side but should save time. And because it is precooked, canned chicken reduces your risk of food-borne illness.
Of course, you can always tweak this recipe and add roasted chicken or fresh vegetables. And for those craving an easy beef pot pie, I've included a recipe that calls for leftover pot roast.
When your "homemade" pie comes out of the oven all golden and bubbly, chances are you'll never want to stuff your freezer with little orange boxes again.
Share your favorite pot pie recipe on my blog at blogs.roanoke.com/fridgemagnet/.
Easy Beef Pot Pie
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups cooked beef, cut into 12-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas and carrots, cooked
1 cup diced, cooked potatoes
1 cup beef gravy, left over or purchased
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk
In a skillet over low heat, melt 2 Tbsp. butter. Add onions and saute until tender, about four minutes. Combine onions with chopped beef, cooked peas and carrots, potatoes and gravy; set aside. Melt 1/4 cup butter in bottom of 8-inch square baking dish in 350-degree oven. Combine flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, salt and milk in a mixing bowl. Stir until blended. Pour into baking dish then spoon beef mixture over the batter. Do not stir. Bake the beef pie for 55 to 65 minutes, until crust is browned and filling is bubbly.
Source: Diana’s Kitchen
Easy Chicken Pot Pie
2 (15 oz.) refrigerated pie crusts*
1 large (10 oz.) can white-meat chicken, drained
1 small (5 oz.) can white-meat chicken, drained
1 jar (12 oz.) chicken or turkey gravy
1 small bag frozen mixed vegetables of your choice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare bottom crust in a pie pan according to package directions.
In a large bowl, mix canned chicken, gravy and vegetables until well blended. Gently spoon chicken mixture into the bottom pie crust and spread evenly.
Top with second pie crust according to package directions. Cut away any excess overhanging crust, leaving the top crust slightly larger than the bottom crust. Roll the top crust over the bottom crust, press the two together gently and then crimp. Using a knife, cut several slits in the top crust. Cover edges with aluminum foil to prevent them from burning.
Bake 30 minutes, then remove aluminum foil and discard. Continue baking 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out very hot.
*Available in the refrigerated cookie dough and biscuit aisle. Each box comes with two crusts.
