Parisa - A Texas/Alsatian microtreasure

I have some friends that live just south of me in Medina County where the Texas Hill Country meets the Texas Grassland, in an area known as "Little Alsace". People settled there after coming from the Alsace region of France. Their French/German traditions live on in the area including the cities of Hondo, D'Hanis, Castroville and Quihi. If you live in the area you are bound to pick up some of the local things, and in this case, that's a good thing.

One of the things that came to the area along with them is a dish called Parisa. I haven't heard that it can be found anywhere in the US but in this small area.


Alsatian Parisa

INGREDIENTS:
* 1 lb. exceptionally lean beef
* 1 onion, minced very fine
* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, de-veined and minced fine
* 6 ounces cheddar cheese, very finely grated (I have even tried pepper jack - pretty good too, but not authentic)

juice from a couple small limes (or one big one!)


** 2 t fresh ground sea salt - coarse (can use kosher salt if youhave no salt grinder)
** 1 T fresh ground black pepper - coarse
** 2 t garlic powder

Regular crackers or Ritz for serving the goodies


METHOD:

1. No matter where you get the meat or who grinds it, it should be ground through the fine plate of the grinder. You don't want this chunky. See important note at bottom of post. Work quickly so meat stays cold through the entire process.

2. Have all ingredients prepared in advance. Combine first four ingredients(*) and mix well to incorporate. Add lime juice, mix again to distribute. Refrigerate.

3. While meat mixture is resting, mix remaining three ingredients together(**). Feel free to experiment with additions and quantities, but it's worth making it this way once as a baseline. Sprinkle spice mix over meat, and mix once more to incorporate well througout the parisa.

Feel free to adjust the spices to suit your taste! Mix it very well, and chill. It tastes best if you make it at least a day before you plan on eating it, as it lets the flavors all mingle. Yo will want an airtight cover over it, or at least press plastic wrap down on the surface to prevent oxidation and picking up srange fridge odors. Goes down best when served on regular crackers or even a Ritz!

IMPORTANT - Meat Grinding Basics:

1. The most important thing to remember in making any fresh ground meat dish is that everything must be excruciatingly CLEAN. I can not stress this enough. This meat is served *raw*, so there is no compromise here. Also, it should be as lean as possible - you want no fat, connective tissue or anything else in there with the meat.

2. Keep the meat chilled as you work with it, whether hamburger, sausage or sirloin. Some people even pack an ice pack around the grinder head while grinding. You can also keep the meat bowl chillled in an ice bath or the like so that it's temperature stays low.