Kohlrabi kugel, Jalapeno Loco

I tried to make kohlrabi-beet latkes, but I couldn’t get the batter to bind well, so after two latke scrambles I gave up, put the batter in a Pyrex, and made it into a kohlrabi-beet kugel instead. It was good — and at least as far as Google knows it was the first kohlrabi kugel ever made.

In other good food news, we discovered (thanks to a tip from Chowhound) that Jalapeno Loco, the dismal-looking Mexican restaurant on the dismal-looking stretch of road adjoining the Milwaukee airport is, in fact, a first-rate Oaxacan place. We stopped there last week before our flight to Houston. Their rendition of chiles en nogada — a poblano stuffed with finely diced pork, apples, plantain, peach, and almond, battered, fried, drenched in a creamy walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds — is by a mile the best Mexican dish I’ve eaten in Wisconsin. And the vegetarian version, with el portobello replacing el puerco, is just as good! We liked it so much that when we got back from Houston, we stopped and had it again.

One more reason to fly direct from Milwaukee instead of one-stopping it from Madison. I need a transit historian to explain to me how it came to pass that General Mitchell is so much more pleasant than airports in other similarly-sized cities. Easy parking, short lines, lots of direct flights, a good used book store — and now chiles en nogada.

One more Mexican restaurant — Taqueria Guadalajara

On the advice of some of my commenters I took CJ to Taqueria Guadalajara tonight. Moral: believe everything you read in the comments! This homey place served me the first really satisfying torta I’ve eaten in Madison — with properly soft bread and a good balance of fillings. The meat has to assert itself without dominating, as in a successful patty burger. Guadalajara brings it off. The gordita and horchata looked and smelled very good, too, but CJ didn’t let me have any.

The dining room is pretty small, service at rush time is slow, and the atmosphere not particularly charming, unless you’ve been looking for a chance to catch up on El Gordo y La Flaca. They’re clearly doing a brisk takeout business; that might be the way to go.