My brother introduced my mother to halal street meat a while back, somewhere along the way. He works near the Famous Halal Guys at 53rd and 6th, and took to bringing home a platter for my mother every once in a while after work… so when her birthday came up recently, she requested this for dinner. Well… okay. I admit that I thought I liked street meat until I attended Street Meat Palooza 3, where I overwhelmed my palate with so many different spices and types of street meat, I haven’t eaten street meat since then. I was a little nervous about eating Famous Halal Guys – which was, of course, represented at SMP3 – but I figured I’d give it a shot.
I gave my brother my order of “lamb over rice” and he brought white sauce on the side for us all. One thing about street meat – I used to go to Michael’s downtown and loved that lamb over rice meant I’d get big chunks of whole lamb. Not so here – it’s ground lamb, or not even, I don’t really know – it tastes like it’s been cut from a lamb gyro spit and then ground down, almost – but whatever the case, this was actually really damn tasty. I surprised myself since I hadn’t loved it at SMP3, but this time, I found myself enjoying it greatly. Yum! I avoided the hot sauce because I knew I couldn’t handle it, but the white sauce mixed in with everything was really quite good. So now I know… I just can’t eat from 15 different platters in a short amount of time without wanting to scrape my tongue out…
What’s a birthday without cake? My brother asked me to pick up a cake, but I decided to go one better and made a cake instead. I am a product of my parenting, and my mother is picky as well – she doesn’t like chocolate that much (or at all, depending on when you talk to her), and she’s not much for sweets. I decided to flex my newfound baking confidence and picked out an orange cornmeal cake from the Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast (affiliate link), figuring it to be not overwhelmingly sweet, interesting texturally… and you know, fun to make.
I actually baked a test cake a few days before the day I needed it, and shared it with those who attended the ML HH that day. Everyone seemed to like it, so I went with it… too bad it’s so ugly! I’m still not entirely sure why it kept cracking up top – but I stuck some sliced kiwi on top to look like a bow and to cover the ‘test’ spot… and I guess my mom liked it? It definitely wasn’t too sweet.
My first cake not from a mix! 🙂
Orange-scented Cornmeal Cake, adapted from Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast
posted online here – the only adjustment I made was to definitely use sanding sugar for the crunchy topping.
Happy eating!
TT says
Happy Belated Bday Feisty Mom!
That’s pretty awesome that she all she wanted was street meat for her bday meal.
Good job with the cake.
Feisty Foodie says
We are women of simple tastes. At her age, I hope all I want is so simple (ie, I’ll have achieved everything already, the way she has). 🙂
esther says
yay! happy birthday, feisty mom!
awesome accomplishment on the cake! I know you always say you don’t know how to bake but look at that yummy looking cake! 🙂
As for why it cracks – it’s possible that your oven is too hot, so try cooking the cake longer at a slightly lower temp. Or try scraping the sides with a small knife so that the cake doesn’t tug at the sides as it cools. Hope that helps!! 😀
Feisty Foodie says
It does help – though the cracking happens while it’s still in the oven. I’ll try the lower temperature thing though! Thanks! (I’m probably going to attempt a different cake next though!)
esther says
YAY for the successful cake! I knew you had it in you. =)
As for the cracking, try baking at a slightly lower temperature or scraping the sides with a small knife after it comes out of the oven to prevent the sides from pulling. 😀
happy birthday, feisty mom!
Hungry says
Happy Birthday Feisty Mom!
The top is sugar. With baking, it’ll tend to crack. It’s made to look that way. That’s why frosting/icing is great. It hides imperfections.
CT says
Happy Birthday Feisty-Mom!
That cake was delicious! Very refreshing with the light-orangeness.
John says
I think the Famous Halal Guys is good, if you want pure basic street meat. They are my #1 in that regards. But if I want something flavorful and different, Little Morocco has become my #1.
Feisty Foodie says
What makes Little Morocco different? I haven’t had it except at SMP3 which barely counts.
John says
A Little Morocco, I feel that he has a great mix of seasonings amd flavors in hish chicken and it seems like he puts in a little of that into his ‘lamb’, his chickpea/onion mix and his sauces taste different also, and he has this nice green sauce and gives you a bit more of a real salad.
I don’t know what seasonings the halal guys use, but theirs seem like a more basic ‘lamb’ and chicken. The chicken is sometimes a bit dry too, which makes me avoid that. But I do like their flaming hot sauce.
Feisty Foodie says
I’ll have to visit Little Morocco. Thanks!
BeerBoor says
Don’t worry — it tastes like it’s been cut from a lamb gyro spit and then ground down, because it has. Lots of places slice chunks off and grill those without any more chopping, but I think I prefer Halal Guys’ way.
The cake, and the leftovers I managed to take home, was a winner. Frosting would have made it not as good.
Feisty Foodie says
I guess I don’t have to worry about my palate being off then, because that’s exactly what it tastes like. The texture is definitely not that of simply ground lamb.
Next cake will definitely be frosted like a birthday cake.
aimee says
It’s the infamous cake!!
skippymom says
Love me some Feisty Momma! Please send her a warm, heartfelt Happy Birthday from all of us. 🙂
Nice cake btw. 😀
T.C. says
Happy belated bday to the Feisty Mother.
Street meats is good stuff when not eaten frequently. I don’t really get my mixed with rice at the Famous Halal Guys often anymore, but they are a usual fav.
Mmm orangey corn-mealy cake.