Ancho Chile and Sesame Seed Sauce: for meats (or, y'know, not)

Ancho Chiles and Sesame Seeds

6 Ancho chiles, seeded and deveined (reserve 1 tablespoon of the seeds)
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds

3 whole cloves
5 peppercorns
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons lard or olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 medium white onion, chopped
salt, to taste

Notes:

If you already have some chicken broth on hand, the red sesame seed sauce can be prepared in advance. Make double batches of the sauce and use it as a condiment for other meats — it will freeze well.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toast the ancho chiles lightly by flattening and pressing the chiles for no more than 5 seconds, inside down, using a metal spatula. In a large bowl, cover the chiles with hot water and soak for about 10 minutes.

Toast the reserved ancho chile seeds until golden brown. Set the seeds aside to cool. Once cooled, add the seeds to the cinnamon stick, cloves, and peppercorns in a spice grinder, food processor, or mortar and pestle. Grind the spices to a fine powder.

Toast the sesame seeds until aromatic and lightly browned. Set the seeds aside to cool before grinding to a fine texture.

Transfer the soaked ancho chiles to a blender. Add the garlic clove and 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth. Blend to a smooth puree.

Heat a skillet or saucepan over low heat. Fry the ground seeds and spices over low heat for 3 minutes while constantly stirring.

Add the blended chiles to the fried spices and cook for about 5 minutes while constantly stirring.

Pork Mimi's Way, Yucatan Style: Cochinita Pibil

Chorizo and Cornbread Stuffing

Chile Relleno with Vegetable Picadillo and Black Bean Sauce

Mmm, black bean sauce...

Cilantro Crema

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the heavy cream and buttermilk in a glass bowl or jar with a lid and stir or shake well to blend thoroughly. Allow to sit in a warm place, unrefrigerated, until cream is thickened and somewhat "set," up to 6 hours. Shake well and refrigerate overnight before using. When ready to serve, add cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper.

Good over plantains or whatever sounds good.

Tomatillo Crema

For sauce:

• 1 pound tomatillos, husked
• 2 serrano chiles (seeded, if desired, for less heat)
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon oil
• ¼ cup Mexican crema, crême fraiche or sour cream
• salt to taste

For the enchiladas:

• 8 medium corn tortillas
• oil as necessary
• cooked, shredded chicken for filling
• cheese for melting on the enchiladas: Chihuahua, Mexican manchego, jack or Gouda

Preparation

Place the tomatillos and chiles in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until the tomatillos are tender. Drain and reserve ½ cup cooking liquid.

Put the tomatillos, chiles, garlic, cilantro and reserved liquid in a blender and puree until smooth.

Heat the oil in the saucepan in which the tomatillos and chiles were cooked, add the puree in a slow stream, and cooked over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in cream and add salt to taste.

Heat oil as necessary to soften tortillas, first on one side until it puffs up, then on the other. Tortillas should remain pliable. Drain on paper towels.

Dip each tortilla in sauce, fill with chicken, and return to the skillet in which the tortillas were softened. Spoon any remaining sauce over the enchiladas, sprinkle cheese on top, cover and heat briefly, just long enough for the cheese to melt. Do not overheat or the tortillas will become soggy.

These are richer than most other enchiladas, so two enchiladas, plus a side dish, is an average serving. Serves 4.

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Chuy's Deluxe Cream/Tomatillo Sauce

This is an easier recipe than the one above.

Ingredients:


1 (4 ounce) can green chilies
1 3/4 cups canned tomatillos, drained
1/4 cup cilantro leaf
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:


Blend all ingredients, in blender or food processor.

Cover whatever you're cooking generously with this sauce, as it soaks in, as it cooks(but make sure it does cook, on top of your enchiladas, burritos, etc, as it contains raw egg).

Mexican Shredded Pork

ZO-MY-GOD, this is sooo easy, it cooks itself, AND you get broth as well!

2 pounds pork butt, or boneless country-style pork ribs

1 med. white onion, quartered

2 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon oregano

2 Tablespoons oil or lard

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Cut meat into 1-inch cubes. Put in large pot with everything else. Cover w/ water by 1 inch. Bring to boil, skimming constantly, Reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes.

Remove from heat, and cool meat in broth. When cool, pour broth through strainer and bottle. Shred meat with fingers. That's it!

My Favorite Weekend Breakfast: Machacado Con Huevos

Pickled Red Onions

Ingredients

1 small red onion, peeled and cut in half
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Salt

Directions

With a knife or food processor, thinly slice the onions. Scoop into a non-reactive bowl. Pour boiling water over them, count to 10, then immediately pour the onions into a strainer. Shake off all the water, pour the onions back into the bowl, pour on the lime juice and stir in the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Frijoles a la Charra

Ingredients

1 pound dry pinto beans

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound bacon, diced

1 onion, chopped

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

1 (3.5 ounce) can sliced jalapeno peppers

1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Place pinto beans in a slow cooker, and completely cover with water. Mix in garlic and salt. Cover, and cook 1 hour on High.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat until evenly brown, but still tender. Drain about half the fat. Place onion in the skillet, and cook until tender. Mix in tomatoes and jalapenos, and cook until heated through. Transfer to the slow cooker, stirring into the beans.

Cover slow cooker, and continue cooking 4 hours on Low. Mix in the beer and cilantro about 30 minutes before the end of the cook time.

Tortilla Soup Recipe - Don't forget to add cumin!

Mexican Potato Soup

3 bacon strips, cut into small strips

3 large potatoes, cubed

5 cups water

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp salt

10 ounces green chiles, chopped

1/2 pound sharp cheddar, grated

**************

Brown bacon, add potatoes and coat with fat.

Add water, tomato sauce, onion and salt. Simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Place chiles and cheese in bowls, ladle soup over them.

Cold Avocado Soup With Bacon And Corn

or the more traditional recipe:

4 medium avocados, pitted, quartered, peeled
2 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth
2/3 cup whole milk
2 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons dry Sherry
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Sour cream Chopped fresh chives

Preparation

Working in batches, blend avocados, chicken broth, 2/3 cup milk, chopped shallots, 2 tablespoons Sherry and 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce in blender until mixture is smooth. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until cold. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon dollop of sour cream atop soup. Garnish with chives and serve.

Sopa De Elote (Corn Soup)

Ingredients:

1 poblano chiles or 1 green bell pepper
1 medium onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves
2 cups corn kernels, fresh (or frozen and thawed)
6 sprigs epazote, fresh (or dried)
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
salt
pepper
1 -2 tablespoon pure chile powder
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

*For a silkier soup, add 2 Tbsp butter and 1 cup heavy cream.

Directions:

Place a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pepper, onions and garlic. Roast turning occasionally, until nicely browned.

As they brown, transfer to a plate to cool. The garlic will take 3-4 minutes and the pepper and onions will take 6-8 minutes. If you put them in a ziploc bag and seal it, the process will be accelerated.

Using plastic gloves, scrape as much skin off the pepper as you can.

Finely chop the pepper, onions and garlic.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the peppers, onions, garlic, corn 2 sprigs of epazote (or cilantro), the bay leaf and stock or broth. Bring to a simmer.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the corn is soft. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Puree the soup in a blender; return it to the pan. Stir in the cilantro and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish each with a sprig or sprinkling of epazote and a sprinkling of chili powder.

Serve each with a lime wedge for squeezing into the soup.

Black Beans, Corn and Rice

6 cups cooked brown rice
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
4 fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 dashes hot sauce

Directions:

Cook brown rice.

In a medium bowl, combine black beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, oil, salt, pepper and hot sauce.

To serve, Place a scoop of hot rice in a bowl or on a plate, top with a generous scoop of the black bean mixture.

Brisket Tacos With Red Cabbage

This takes time, but sounds so good! Garlic sauce, cabbage slaw w/ no mayo, and brisket!

Cerdo con Frijoles (Mexican stewed pork and black beans)

Pasole and Green Chili Stew

2 (64 ounce) cans hominy
3 cups water
3 -4 lbs pork shoulder
4 cups chicken stock
2 (64 ounce) cans green chilies
1 (64 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
2 medium onions
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt
pepper


the original recipe used nixtamel* which is mexican limed corn, take 2 cups, rinse well in colander, put it in pressure cooker and add the water.Do not add salt as it will cause the corn to be tough.Cook at 15 lbs pressure for 1:20 minutes.

*You may use canned hominy, but the taste and texture will be different.

If you you are using canned Hominy add it with other ingredients after the pork is done

Take the pork sholder and cut it into several large pieces place in large stock pot,with the chicken stock until meat is tender

separate into bite size chunks.

While meat is cooking peel and dice the chilies and onions.

if using canned tomatoes crush into medium chunks.

peal & crush garlic and chop into small dice

Once meat is tender and pasole has finished cooking combine all other ingredients into pot with oregano and other spices, salt and pepper to taste. simmer for another hour to allow flavors to blend. serve with tortillas.

Carne Guisada (Beef Stew)

Rick Bayless’ Salsa Recipes

Classic Red Mole

Note: This is normally used on meats, but I think it would be killer on tofu products.
Ingredients

10 ounces (5 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 1/3 cup (about 6 1/2 ounces) sesame seeds
1 cup rich-tasting vegetable oil, plus a little more if necessary
6 ounces (about 12 medium) dried mulato chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces
3 ounces (about 6 medium) dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces
3 ounces (about 10 medium) dried pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup (about 4 ounces) unskinned almonds
1 cup (about 4 ounces) raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon, preferably freshly ground Mexican canela
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, preferably freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon anise, preferably freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon cloves, preferably freshly ground
2 slices firm white bread, darkly toasted and broken into several pieces
2 ounces (about 2/3 of a 3.3-ounce tablet) Mexican chocolate, roughly chopped
3 quarts broth
Salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar

Directions

1. Preliminaries. On a rimmed baking sheet, roast the tomatillos 4 inches below a very hot broiler until splotchy black and thoroughly soft, about 5 minutes per side. Scrape into a large bowl. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds, stirringly nearly constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Scrape half of them in with the tomatillos. Reserve the remainder for sprinkling on the chicken.

2. Brown other mole ingredients. Turn on an exhaust fan or open a kitchen door or window. In a very large soup pot (I typically use a 12-quart stainless steel stock pot or a medium-large Mexican earthenware cazuela), heat the lard or oil over medium. When quite hot, fry the chiles, three or four pieces at a time, flipping them nearly constantly with tongs until their interior side has changed to a lighter color, about 20 or 30 seconds total frying time. Don’t toast them so darkly that they begin to smoke—that would make the mole bitter. As they’re done, remove them to a large bowl, being careful to drain as much fat as possible back into the pot. Cover the toasted chiles with hot tap water and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring frequently to insure even soaking.

Remove any stray chile seeds left in the fat. With the pot still over medium heat, fry the garlic and almonds, stirring regularly, until browned (the garlic should be soft), about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to the tomatillo bowl, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot.

Add the raisins to the hot pot. Stir for 20 or 30 seconds, until they’ve puffed and browned slightly. Scoop them out, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot, and add to the tomatillos. Set the pan aside off the heat.

To the tomatillo mixture, add the cinnamon, black pepper, anise, cloves, bread and chocolate. Add 2 cups water and stir to combine.

3. Blend, strain, cook. Into a large measuring cup, tip off the chiles’ soaking liquid. Taste the liquid: if it’s not bitter, discard all abut 6 cups of the liquid. (if you’re short, add water to make up the shortfall). If bitter, pour it out and measure 6 cups water. Scoop half of the chiles into a blender jar, pour in half of the soaking liquid (or water) and blend to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard the bits of skin and seeds that don’t pass through the strainer. Repeat with the remaining chiles.

Return the soup pot or cazuela to medium heat. When quite hot, pour in the chile puree—it should sizzle sharply and, if the pan is sufficiently hot, the mixture should never stop boiling. Stir every couple of minutes until the chile puree has darkened and reduced to the consistency of tomato paste, about a half hour. (I find it useful to cover the pot with an inexpensive spatter screen to catch any spattering chile.)

In two batches, blend the tomatillo mixture as smoothly as possible (you may need an extra 1/2 cup water to keep everything moving through the blades), then strain it in to the large bowl that contained the chiles. When the chile paste has reduced, add the tomatillo mixture to the pot and cook, stirring every few minutes until considerably darker and thicker, 15 to 20 minutes. (Again, a spatter screen saves a lot of cleanup.)

4. Simmer. Add the broth to the pot and briskly simmer the mixture over medium to medium-low heat for about 2 hours for all the flavors to come together and mellow. If the mole has thickened beyond the consistency of a cream soup, stir in a little water. Taste and season with salt (usually about 4 teaspoons) and the sugar.

Potato Tacos with Avocado and Tomatillo Salsa

Avocado and Tomatillo Salsa
2 avocados
4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered
1 large garlic clove, quartered
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
½ teaspoon salt

Potato Tacos
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, chopped into ½-inch pieces
4 ounces queso fresco, divided, crumbled
salt and black pepper
12 corn tortillas
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup Mexican crema, or sour cream
1 ½ cups iceberg lettuce, shredded

Procedures

For the Avocado Salsa: Cut avocados in half lengthwise, and remove large seeds. Scoop out flesh and place in blender along with tomatillos, garlic, chiles, cilantro, ¼ cup water, and salt. Process until it is a coarse puree. Set aside. The avocado sauce won’t turn brown because of the tomatillos.

For the Potato Tacos: Bring large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander. Mash the potato in large bowl, or pass through potato ricer. Mix in half of the queso fresco. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon two tablespoons of potato mixture into each tortilla. Fold each over, and secure each with one tooth pick, weaving in and out to keep each in a “U” shape.

Pour oil into large 10-inch cast iron pan set over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add enough tacos as will fit in a single layer, probably three. Cook until crisp and golden on each side, about 30 seconds for each, flipping with pair of tongs. When done, remove tacos, draining as much oil as you can. Place on paper towels and repeat process until all tacos are cooked.

Serve tacos with salsa, crema, and lettuce.

Jicama salad

(hick-uh-muh) What th?!

Just found this recipe (sounds good), but this one's even easier.

Peel and shred 1 jicama, drizzle on the juice of 1 lime, toss. Voila!

Makes salad for 2 or 3 people.

Tortas Ahogadas: Tortas with Tomato Sauce

Ahogadas means "drowned", an apt word to describe these sandwiches on a French roll, filled with meat and bathed with tomato sauce. While some restaurants and food stalls automatically top the tortas with both salsas, most people prefer to indicate how much chile sauce they want, since it is quite hot. When serving them at home, pass the chile sauce separately.

Ingredients:

For the tomato sauce:

3 pounds roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 large white onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon cumin

6 peppercorns, crushed

1 Clove, crushed

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
½ cup water
salt to taste

For the chile sauce:

¼ pound arbol chiles
1 cup water
1 Tablespoonwhite vinegar
salt to taste

1 cup pulque

1 teaspoon mustard

2 Tablespoons favorite hot sauce

For the tortas:

8 bolillos (French rolls) split in half lengthwise
1 ½ pounds boneless pork loin or shoulder
1 onion, cut in half
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 sprig oregano
salt to taste

Preparation:

Place all tomato sauce ingredients in a saucepan and cook until the tomatoes and onions are soft. Allow to cool, place in blender and puree. Strain the puree and set aside.

Lightly roast the arbol chiles on a comal or dry griddle, just to the point of fragrance. Do not allow them to char, as this results in a bitter flavor. Remove the stem and seeds from the chiles. Place the chiles and remaining chile sauce ingredients in a saucepan, cook until the chiles have softened, remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer sauce ingredients to a blender, puree and strain. Set aside.

Cook the meat in water to cover with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, oregano and salt to taste. When cooked through, remove from cooking liquid and allow to cool. Shred the meat with two forks, or slice thinly if preferred.

Remove the soft center (called the miga) from the rolls, place the rolls on plates, and divide the meat among the rolls by placing some on the bottom half of each roll. Bathe each one with tomato sauce. The tortas are easier to eat if the top half is left "dry." Each diner can add chile sauce to taste. If possible, do as they do in Jalisco and use a plate with a lip to serve these tortas, to prevent messy dripping. Serves 8.