tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31025680074708014152024-02-20T13:39:46.124+00:00MexiGeek: the only Mexican Food Blog in EdinburghEdinburgh-Based Mexican Food Blog: inspiring and promoting interest Mexican cuisine and culture in the United Kingdom.Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-64930756859549560032015-07-04T10:58:00.001+01:002015-07-04T10:58:23.197+01:00Breakfast with MexiGeek: quick migas<p dir="ltr">I've written about <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/breakfast-with-mexigeek-migas-en-salsa.html?m=1">migas</a> before, but it was migas en salsa verde.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Today I didn't have any salsa verde.</p>
<p dir="ltr">What I did have was leftover classic tomato and chile salsa, leftover carnitas, leftover <a href="http://gringadairy.com/about-us/">queso chihuahua from Gringa Dairy</a>, and some tortilla chips (totopos).</p>
<p dir="ltr">One of my favourite things to do with leftover salsa is fry it for a few minutes and then scrabble eggs in it. It basically makes huevos a la mexicana, but without having to dice the onions, chiles, and tomatoes first thing in the morning.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This morning I fried the leftover carnitas in butter (to keep it healthy), added the salsa, and then scrabble the eggs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When the eggs were just cooked, I crumbled the tortilla chips in, then topped with queso chihuahua (Mexico's melting cheese).</p>
<p dir="ltr">One the many great Mexican breakfast dishes.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIt-moG4qmut-UUCEaleqKH3AtaFIFKJzbIA4vaSBZwtRyPfOdPed9LCZ57Dt49PmsQm78VHOgMlOGl03E2oPX6fuxpSwIcFWQfejMM7_4OXED04JO90Y_oOpSmi9H-vohBSl1wCXaMpU/s1600/20150704_094045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIt-moG4qmut-UUCEaleqKH3AtaFIFKJzbIA4vaSBZwtRyPfOdPed9LCZ57Dt49PmsQm78VHOgMlOGl03E2oPX6fuxpSwIcFWQfejMM7_4OXED04JO90Y_oOpSmi9H-vohBSl1wCXaMpU/s640/20150704_094045.jpg"> </a> </div>Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-23929121416024950932015-06-05T18:22:00.000+01:002015-06-05T18:22:51.746+01:00El Cartel - Finally a Mexican restaurant in Edinburgh I can support<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiopULgcmIC7neJ3xXnA65D3Ip4ofUitiK1RCIZJeJutOCKmQpDuWZfBB0GEcdlZ6a0apQcfbGufYLzCDoi-U1AF0q53Oi_INKzQIlMNy7gJmU9Jem8tHaAU1fuYzjmPSBTHNItAmf_Axs/s1600/El+Cartel+Guacamole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiopULgcmIC7neJ3xXnA65D3Ip4ofUitiK1RCIZJeJutOCKmQpDuWZfBB0GEcdlZ6a0apQcfbGufYLzCDoi-U1AF0q53Oi_INKzQIlMNy7gJmU9Jem8tHaAU1fuYzjmPSBTHNItAmf_Axs/s320/El+Cartel+Guacamole.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This guac rocks. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One thing I've never been able to do in Edinburgh is find a Mexican restaurant I can endorse.<br />
<br />
Sure, I rave about <a href="http://www.lupepintos.com/" target="_blank">Lupe Pintos</a> deli, where you can buy all the ingredients to make your own brill Mexican food (and get awesome recipes from their cookbooks or just asking the staff), but I've never found a restaurant, cafe, street stall, whatever in Edinburgh that I could recommend to my readers.<br />
<br />
Until now. <a href="http://www.elcartelmexicana.co.uk/" target="_blank">El Cartel</a> on Thistle Street.<br />
<br />
Oddly enough, El Cartel was launched by the team behind <a href="http://bonvivantedinburgh.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bon Vivant</a>, which isn't Mexican. But in spite of that they got it spot on when they cooked this place up.<br />
<br />
El Cartel has three things going for it, a kind of Holy Trinity of Awesome that will make them tough to top for the foreseeable future.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>1. Simplicity</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This may not come as a surprise, but I've often tinkered with the idea of opening a restaurant. But I always get bogged down by the complexity and richness of Mexican cuisine. I would want it to be a <i>taqueria</i>, a <i>fonda</i>, and a <i>restaurante</i> all in one.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
That can't really be done. So El Cartel don't do it. This is basically a <i>taqueria</i> (taco shop), and a fecking amazing one at that. By focusing on tacos and getting it so, so right, they probably accomplish more than they could if they tried to add all the soups, <i>tortas</i>, <i>moles</i>, and <i>platos fuertes</i> in Mexico. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>2. Authenticity</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So they're just going to do tacos (and a few other things). Great. But what <i>kind</i> of tacos?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is the all-important question, because tacos are probably the most eaten and least understood "dish" in all of Mexican cuisine. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thanks to Taco Hell, I mean Taco Bell, and the dominance of flour tortillas in Tex Mex and California, most people outside Mexico don't really know what a taco is. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A taco, as I've said before in this blog, is ANYTHING folded up in a <i>soft </i>corn tortilla. None of that U-shaped hard shell crapola. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So whatever the filling, if it ain't in a soft corn tortilla, it ain't a taco. And at El Cartel they only do soft corn tortillas, which are obviously homemade by the way. </blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumLykEpI3r-QUSipY9whXZgQymbFNUhV5VYDzyGJue-f9RZ5Jd74bbsbpzn99ufU7WD05ku0-z4_g191VSL4WVC2bE90WhhGD8DlInsR3yU4_ghKYOCc0VyfiPXRUAdWUqPNXyKNchaI/s1600/El+Cartel+Tacos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumLykEpI3r-QUSipY9whXZgQymbFNUhV5VYDzyGJue-f9RZ5Jd74bbsbpzn99ufU7WD05ku0-z4_g191VSL4WVC2bE90WhhGD8DlInsR3yU4_ghKYOCc0VyfiPXRUAdWUqPNXyKNchaI/s320/El+Cartel+Tacos.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at the charring and the uneven edges: that's how you know you're eating a good tortilla!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But it also matters what you put in the taco. That ground beef and "seven layers" ain't Mexican either. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mrs MexiGeek ordered <i>cochinita pibil</i>, a classic of the Yucatan, complete with <i>cebollas en escabeche</i>. This is absolutely the first time I've dined in a Mexican restaurant in Edinburgh that has served something I've actually cooked at home. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I chose the "duck carnitas". Prehispanic Mexico had no chicken or pork, so they ate wild duck, wild turkey, and venison. These things are still important parts of Mexican cuisine. Having said that, I've never heard of shredding duck into carnitas. Texture-wise this resembled the crispy shredded duck of Asian cuisine. It may sound odd, but Asian fusion is actually pretty big in the trendy bits of Mexico City, so I can imagine this being served in Mexico. And if it isn't, it should be, because this was delicious.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>3. Vibe</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Great food deserves a great setting. Though the "greasy dive" thing can work for some venues, most people don't want to eat in a shit-hole. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
El Cartel has a great vibe. Almost everything is black, and the skeletal <i>dia de los muertos</i> decorations add splashes of colour - as do the snack-bar style spinning coolers of their frozen margaritas. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The place is casual - walk-ins only, no reservations, but also user-friendly. If there aren't any tables, they send across the street to Bon Vivant and will come fetch you when a table opens up. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One drawback to the black decor is it was way too dark to photograph our food, so the photos in this post were shamelessly ripped off from their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/elcartelmexicana/info?tab=overview" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.</blockquote>
In addition to this, El Cartel also sports some excellent starters, including excellent guacamole with pomegranates (yes, this is a real thing) served with plantain crisps (also a real thing), probably the most impressive selection of tequilas and mezcals of any restaurant in Edinburgh, and their own homemade habanero sauce.<br />
<br />
There are other salsas on the table, but forget them. Go for their own brand. I literally couldn't make a better one myself.<br />
<br />
Of course, being the aficionado I am, I have some suggestions as well. They use a soft crumbly cheese, which is basically like feta. I hope they look into sourcing their queso from <a href="http://gringadairy.com/" target="_blank">Gringa Dairy</a>. It would give their tacos that extra bit of authenticity.<br />
<br />
And while they have ample tequilas, mezcals, and Mexican beers, I would really like to see <i>michelada</i> on a menu, and if any restaurant in Edinburgh is gonna do it, this is the one.<br />
<br />
(Miro's Cantina has what they call "michelada" on their menu, but it's just beer and cholula.)<br />
<br />
I've been waiting a long time to write a review this positive. I imagine a lot of people are interested in trying authentic Mexican food, but don't have the confidence in the kitchen to attempt these recipes. So I've always wanted to be able to name one local restaurant I could send them to.<br />
<br />
And now I have one. El Cartel. The only Mexican restaurant in Edinburgh approved by MexiGeek.Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-33704066490198549752015-05-12T14:20:00.000+01:002015-05-12T14:20:46.517+01:00Cinco de mayo: a tale of tamales and chiles poblanos<div dir="ltr">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stole this presentation from Rick Bayless. If it's good enough for #Obama, it's good enough for <i>mi familia</i>.</td></tr>
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<br />
Last week was <i>cinco de mayo</i>. I meant to post this earlier, but I got a bit distracted by the election. And I'm not exactly swimming in free time either. But better late than never.<br />
<br />
The first thing you need to know about <i>cinco</i><i> </i><i>de</i><i> </i><i>mayo</i> is it's NOT Mexican Independence Day. That's the 16th of September.<br />
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i>Cinco de mayo</i> is the anniversary of the battle of Puebla, when Napoleon III of France tried to take over Mexico shortly after Benito Juarez took office as president. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br />
The French lost.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br />
The second thing you need to know is it's not a national holiday in Mexico. It is a regional holiday in Puebla.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br />
When <i>cinco de mayo</i> is celebrated outside Mexico, any Mexican cuisine is appropriate, but I wanted to give a nod to good old Puebla, so although I made quite "generic" tamales, I used poblano chiles from the <a href="http://www.coolchile.co.uk/" target="_blank">Cool Chile Company</a>.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br />
But because Puebla is Oaxaca's rival for culinary capital of Mexico, I've balanced it by using queso de Oaxaca from <a href="http://gringadairy.com/" target="_blank">Gringa Dairy</a>.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br />
I've written about sweet tamales and "tamale pie", but I haven't written about savoury tamales, which is a glaring omission, as they are a classic of Mexican cuisine. In fact, they are older than the mighty tortilla.<br />
<br />
A quick lesson in corn (apologies for the squeamish): if you've ever changed a nappy after <i>chili con carne</i> day at your child's nursery, you'll know that kernels of corn are practically indigestible. They go right through.<br />
<br />
This is because they have a tough outer hull which resists digestion, meaning you can't absorb most of its nutrients. It also gets stuck in your teeth.<br />
<br />
What the Meso-Americans found out, several thousand years ago, is that if you soak corn kernels in slaked lime (the same caustic substance used for rendering the stucco that covered their pyramids), the outer hull would loosen and could then be rinsed off.<br />
<br />
Then the soft, inner flesh of the corn kernels could then be ground into a nutritious dough. This process is called <i>nixtamalizacion</i> (nixtamilization), from Nauhatl <i>nextli</i> "ashes" (referring to the slaked lime) and <i>tamalli</i> "dough".<br />
<br />
So tamales, which are basically corn dumplings, would have been one of the first things they made with their discovery. Tortillas probably came later.<br />
<br />
So, the thing about tamales is, they take a hell of a long time to make. In fact, you have to start the night before.<br />
<br />
There's actually no one right recipe for tamales, and there are countless regional variation as well. And as they're quite fiddly, people tend to stick with the recipe that works for them.<br />
<br />
The one I use comes from <i>Two Cooks and a Suitcase. </i><br />
<br />
To make these tamales you need:<br />
<ul>
<li>200g masa harina</li>
<li>100g melted butter or lard</li>
<li>250 ml chicken stock</li>
<li>1/2 tsp baking powder</li>
<li>salt</li>
</ul>
You will also need a lot of corn husks.<br />
<br />
A note on the lard: in this age of health-consciousness we are all a bit frightened of lard, and rightly so. And I certainly wouldn't suggest you get one of those cloudy-white blocks of lard they sell in supermarkets.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, pork lard (<i>manteca de cerdo</i>) is a big part of traditional Mexican cooking. To get manteca I usually skim off and sieve any rendered fat from pork dishes, especially bacon, though it takes a long time to collect a decent amount.<br />
<br />
Or Gringa Dairy has provided <a href="http://gringadairy.com/lard-manteca/" target="_blank">this recipe for homemade manteca</a>.<br />
<br />
If you're still not comfortable using lard or butter, you can try olive oil, though I never have. <br />
<br />
First you have to soak your corn husks in water overnight. The recipe will probably make 12 tamales, but you'll need to many more corn husks because some will be ripped or too small or otherwise unsuitable, and you'll need extras to cut into strips so you can tie the tamales.<br />
<br />
The day you intend to serve, you have to <b>make the tamal dough</b>.<br />
<br />
Sift the masa harina and baking powder into a bowl.<br />
<br />
Add the melted butter.<br />
<br />
Then gradually stir in the stock until the liquid is fully incorporated. It will be kind of pasty and spreadable.<br />
<br />
Then you need to <b>assemble the tamales</b>.<br />
<br />
Spread out a good sized and undamaged corn husk.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOG2ZIjKFcBsKDFkDX_eruQ3yhjKol4Zr3lvVXFiYhgWed4JIinX_brZzGJA5TFxQJnmecaJmiX_leTcNfe9WI6DqHfVIsOIsWAYEeqB9gvra1K4Yzavmravm7UNBP-6gVYYH_lMrhfGI/s1600/2013-01-03+09.07.56_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOG2ZIjKFcBsKDFkDX_eruQ3yhjKol4Zr3lvVXFiYhgWed4JIinX_brZzGJA5TFxQJnmecaJmiX_leTcNfe9WI6DqHfVIsOIsWAYEeqB9gvra1K4Yzavmravm7UNBP-6gVYYH_lMrhfGI/s320/2013-01-03+09.07.56_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr">
Spread a heaped dessert spoon of the tamal dough over the widest part of the husk, leaving about a centimetre of space at the top and sides. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shit. I forgot to leave space at the side. </td></tr>
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Now put a dessert spoon of filling into the middle. Fold the tamal from left to right and then fold the bottom up to create a little parcel. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Tie the parcel up with kitchen string or with strips of smaller corn husks (the traditional way). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUL2-iV0zOQRki6KcjW62PgCNuPFpltq8u7Lu0UWm5J0EB2s3X3INFiegJ4oZL7HfV4NbynD5guMxMRWvQ80yndT8S1YfPLBNvIm0viyThO-m9lq-SPn0D239BH_Pgcn3QZi4vRx0850/s1600/2013-01-03+09.11.59_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXUL2-iV0zOQRki6KcjW62PgCNuPFpltq8u7Lu0UWm5J0EB2s3X3INFiegJ4oZL7HfV4NbynD5guMxMRWvQ80yndT8S1YfPLBNvIm0viyThO-m9lq-SPn0D239BH_Pgcn3QZi4vRx0850/s320/2013-01-03+09.11.59_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
As you can see above, I've folded the top down too. That's optional, and a lot of people leave the top open. I do it myself about half the time. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
When you've assembled the tamales, stand them upright in a steamer and steam on high for a good hour. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkzE7pfeNW4XYRfE0of7rALuhDPvXKqjS6E2x4LHBp1tXVNCBfEtfHS9dXxZlle_JUzg0kxWyGnWeVHJa_vz_zjCWYKg5gU8cwOvikovRxOwEyQRX4txenQu2Yy2jqIKH9vKxp3H6Yhg/s1600/2013-01-03+09.16.12_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkzE7pfeNW4XYRfE0of7rALuhDPvXKqjS6E2x4LHBp1tXVNCBfEtfHS9dXxZlle_JUzg0kxWyGnWeVHJa_vz_zjCWYKg5gU8cwOvikovRxOwEyQRX4txenQu2Yy2jqIKH9vKxp3H6Yhg/s320/2013-01-03+09.16.12_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr">
In Mexico they have special tamal steamers (with extra-tall steaming chambers). You can get them by mail order from <a href="http://www.mexgrocer.com/96901-00150.html">MexGrocer.com</a>, but I just use a standard steamer (even though my tamales stick out the top. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
However, you cannot make tamales without a steamer, so if you don't have one, make <b><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/tamale-pie-no-really.html">tamale pie</a></b>. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
So what <b>fillings</b> did I use. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Well, I had some leftover carnitas, so I filled four of my twelve with that, omitting the spicy red chile sauce you would normally have so my kids could eat them. (My 5yo daughter loved them but my 2yo son just ate the corn dumpling and left the carnitas.)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I haven't written about carnitas yet, but I donated <a href="http://gringadairy.com/301/">this recipe</a> to Gringa Dairy. It works every time. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MNzZy6YAQ5mVl-7p2GMSI1g0Ju_Xc0ZHAKhWp8BEA2yeobzsEW6S3kQ4W43s32aV5J5UcsHnuwL7Hroo3pXvXKSlkNekQYvNMSTXoyGa7cIQufRnQDsktUIUikj4tZ3AurGM-Jjr0ss/s1600/DSC_0078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MNzZy6YAQ5mVl-7p2GMSI1g0Ju_Xc0ZHAKhWp8BEA2yeobzsEW6S3kQ4W43s32aV5J5UcsHnuwL7Hroo3pXvXKSlkNekQYvNMSTXoyGa7cIQufRnQDsktUIUikj4tZ3AurGM-Jjr0ss/s320/DSC_0078.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carnitas, or Mexican pulled pork.</td></tr>
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I also <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/carnitas-de-pollo.html">poached and shredded some chicken breasts</a> and fried it up with rajas con crema (strips of chile poblano fried with sour cream) and salsa verde. I used this for four more tamales. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPvmi20NTvwdX__w9kCQ85-KR2YADioC13nElsLXAo0BHMF17ePgO_5ec0gffbHZgdNHemvN9W8h12-DXWVlffJpNtn_FWoIQP2_dbX-mNVoWHB2QDHCe5VECEo5jLn5YjkIQCzK0Ncg/s1600/DSC_0763.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPvmi20NTvwdX__w9kCQ85-KR2YADioC13nElsLXAo0BHMF17ePgO_5ec0gffbHZgdNHemvN9W8h12-DXWVlffJpNtn_FWoIQP2_dbX-mNVoWHB2QDHCe5VECEo5jLn5YjkIQCzK0Ncg/s320/DSC_0763.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are rajas, ready to be fried.</td></tr>
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The last four I stuffed with rajas and queso de Oaxaca, inspired by <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/tamalcouk-this-is-what-tamales-are.html">Tamal.co.uk</a>. </div>
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I actually had one left over, so the last tamal had no filling. This is called a <i>tamal sordo</i> (literally a "deaf tamal"). </div>
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I served the tamales on a bed of <i>frijoles de olla</i> (stewed black beans) and topped them with a string or two of queso de Oaxaca and some more salsa verde.</div>
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Here's the money shot again, just because I like it: </div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-78837379985722940142014-09-27T22:43:00.000+01:002014-09-27T22:43:52.392+01:00Lupe Pinto's Tollcross Chili Cook Off: Why I picked the runner-upLast year I attended Lupe Pinto's annual Chili Cook Off as an ordinary punter. This year I got a Judge's Ticket.<br />
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Once again, Tollcross was decked out in <i>papel picado</i> and Mexican flags, making the coolest city in Scotland even cooler.<br />
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This is a great event with a great vibe. People dress up. People paint their faces. People bring their kids. Nobody goes hungry.<br />
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Let me explain how this works. Ten venues in the Tollcross area, most of which are pubs, cook up some chili. People buy tickets from Lupe Pinto's, which entitles them to sample the chili. Then they rate it from 1 to 10 on three factors: taste; texture; and originality.<br />
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Entering the Tollcross from the west, I stopped first at <b>Lebowskis</b> on Morrison Street, last year's winner.<br />
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As before, they advertised the ingredients list and the concept, this year a "green chili" made of slow-cooked pork ("slow-cooked" is an adjective you're going to see a lot in this post) and three kinds of green chile (note I spell it differently when it refers to the ingredient instead of the dish), cooked in chicken stock to give it a pale colour, and served with a slice of lime.<br />
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The concept was certainly original. I've never made green "chili" before. Whereas last year the chili had a few different meat ingredients, this year it was just the pork, kind of like <i>carnitas</i>. It was soft as you like, but one piece in my sample was a wee bit fatty, so I had to deduct a bit on texture. The flavour, however, fired on all cylinders. In fact, it was the most Mexican-tasting chili I've ever had. (Chili is not actually a Mexican dish; it's the state dish of Texas, which used to be part of Mexico, but definitely has its own cusine.) So my soft spot in this area caused me to pick Lebowskis as the winner on flavour again this year.<br />
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However, there was a new kid on the block this year: <b>Burger</b>, on Fountainbridge. Their star ingredient was slow-cooked beef short rib, which really paid off in the texture. But the taste was the real asset. They managed a perfect marriage of sweet and smoky. It was a more traditional idea for a chili (beef, rich dark sauces, smoke), so I gave it less points on originality, but in all other ways it was masterful.<br />
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It was also quite the crowd-pleaser. Everywhere I went the buzz was about Burger's chili. I could tell it was going to win.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burger's winning chili, with its ample accompaniments.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At this point I could have considered revising my original scores, but for me, the Mexican flavour of the three green chiles, one of which was a <i>poblano</i>, is still my personal number one.<br />
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But, Burger's chili was equally excellent, and I accept the people's democratic choice.Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-13266751368738889712014-08-22T09:24:00.000+01:002014-08-22T09:24:44.202+01:00Breakfast with MexiGeek: molletes (Mexican beans on toast)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVEdxx96uXs/U9S5kkuXGgI/AAAAAAAADTI/5FkvZrFEEkg/s1600/IMG_20140727_093359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVEdxx96uXs/U9S5kkuXGgI/AAAAAAAADTI/5FkvZrFEEkg/s1600/IMG_20140727_093359.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mexican leftovers are the best, because they make the best breakfasts.</div>
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Most people think of beans on toast as crappy British food, but believe it or not there's a Mexican equivalent which is absolutely delicious.</div>
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<i>Molletes </i>are toasted open-face "sandwiches" of refried beans topped with melted Mexican cheese, salsa, and anything else you like.</div>
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The popular salsa choice would be classic chunky tomato and chile salsa, but I didn't have any so I used some Cholula.</div>
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I did, however, have some <b><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tortillas-dobladas-or-how-not-to-puff.html">homemade refried black beans</a></b>.</div>
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<i>Molletes </i>are usually made with <i>bolillo</i>, which is like a baguette, but I had some sourdough, which is more like Mexican <i>birote</i>, to use up.</div>
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I heated the beans up, toasted the bread, then topped the bread with the beans and some cheese.</div>
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<i>Queso Chihuahua</i> is a good melting cheese for this dish, and you can get it from <b><a href="http://gringadairy.com/buy/">Gringa Dairy</a></b>. Otherwise some medium white cheddar will do.</div>
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Put the <i>molletes </i>under the grill to melt the cheese if you wish, then add the other condiments. </div>
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I used some leftover white picked onions (a white onion version of <b><a href="http://gringadairy.com/304/">Yucatecan cebollas en escabeche</a></b>).</div>
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You can use any kind of refried beans for this, and it's apparently very popular with Mexican businessmen.</div>
Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-77670878556553837002014-07-29T15:59:00.001+01:002014-07-29T15:59:05.885+01:00Mexican chipotle chicken salad with avocado<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--2dZ9OTdlZg/U9evjTdqdMI/AAAAAAAADTY/wGOMv83dN6A/s1600/IMG_20140729_152557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--2dZ9OTdlZg/U9evjTdqdMI/AAAAAAAADTY/wGOMv83dN6A/s1600/IMG_20140729_152557.jpg" height="266" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With a little help from my friends: KANKUN chipotle sauce, Don Agustin tequila, and agua fresca de Jamaica from the Cool Chile Company</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Summer's here and the time is right for eating salads in the street.<br />
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Or, you know, in your kitchen/dining room. Wherever.<br />
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Some people make a big deal about how the Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana (it was, you know).<br />
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What they don't talk about as much as that the chef, Caesar Cardini, was actually Italian, or that he was based in California but opened a restaurant just south of the border because the US had the whole Prohibition thing going on at the time.<br />
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But this salad weather we've been having got me thinking about a Rick Bayless recipe I've been meaning to rip off: chicken with avocados and chipotles.<br />
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Rick didn't intend this to be a salad. His recipe is more of a snack/taco filling. But I think this makes an awesome summer chicken salad, and shows you that Mexican food doesn't have to be heavy and stodgy.<br />
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Rick's recipe uses diced chipotles en adobo, which you can get from La Costena. If you do this, you have to dice the chiles very fine, otherwise you'll get random smoke-bombs while you're eating.<br />
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To make it easier to distribute the chipotles more evenly, you can make a chipotle sauce by combining a tin of chipotles en adobo, a tin of tomatillos, and a couple cloves of garlic.<br />
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I didn't have any tomatillos on hand. However, I did have a fresh bottle of KANKUN chipotle sauce, which is awesome. Basically, this stuff tastes exactly like a homemade Mexican chipotle sauce.<br />
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For the chicken, I poached some chicken breasts as I would for <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/carnitas-de-pollo.html">carnitas de pollo</a></i> except I added some sliced carrot and potato.<br />
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When the chicken was done and shredded, I chopped up some romaine lettuce and avocados (do the avocados at the very last minute so they don't oxidize).<br />
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I also added some green tomatos (NOT <i>tomatillos</i>, which are actually not tomatoes at all but really a kind of gooseberry), because I have kind of a thing for Mary Louise Parker.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb4mn38Ug-vponqvkIoQclUB59vi-S1Q4mDrjkEljw_Leh5GYz8vNs5J97aBnR2UXgIGl3coSYxR0WPkkIPlSp3PuyNL4p9EJje4s4CAzzknoxNNintX6prHNTBk4DU-3SPTUbl3MyEc/s1600/222477.1020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb4mn38Ug-vponqvkIoQclUB59vi-S1Q4mDrjkEljw_Leh5GYz8vNs5J97aBnR2UXgIGl3coSYxR0WPkkIPlSp3PuyNL4p9EJje4s4CAzzknoxNNintX6prHNTBk4DU-3SPTUbl3MyEc/s1600/222477.1020.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't wanna have dinner with you. You're covered in BEES!</td></tr>
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I tossed everything together with the chicken, carrots and potatoes.<br />
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Rick Bayless says this should be topped with raw white onions, but I don't like raw white onions, so I made up a white onion version of Yucatecan Pink Pickled Onions:<br />
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<b>Cebollas en escabeche</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<i>Ingredientes</i><br />1 white onion<br />1 habanero, fresh or dried<br />6 allspice berries<br />10 black peppercorns<br />1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano<br />1/4 teaspoon cumin<br />120 ml white wine or cider vinegar<br /><br /><i>Procedimiento</i><div>
<i><br /></i>Peel and thinly slice the onion.<br /></div>
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Make a 1 cm slit in the habanero. (You can use more habaneros if you like it hot!)<br /></div>
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Put the onion, habanero, spices, oregano, and vinegar in a bowl and add just-boiled water until the onion is covered by at least 1 cm.<br /></div>
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Steep for about four hours.</div>
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<br />Drain the onions, fish out the habanero and, if possible, the peppercorns and allspice.<br /></div>
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Transfer to a serving bowl.</div>
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I served the salad covered with KANKUN (which I used as a salad dressing - seriously, it worked!) and with some sliced sourdough bread on the side.</div>
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Sourdough bread is kind of like a Guadalajaran bread called <i>birote</i>, but you could use a baguette or crusty white bread or (of course) fresh hot corn tortillas as well. </div>
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For a drink I decided to keep with the summer thing and make a traditional <i>agua fresca</i>. </div>
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<i>Aguas frescas</i> are non-alcoholic drinks made by steeping something in boiled water. There are lots of <i>aguas frescas</i>. Probably the most famous is <i>horchata</i>, which is made with ground rice and almonds, but I chose the hibiscus flower water or <i>agua fresca de Jamaica</i>. </div>
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You can get this from the <b><a href="http://www.coolchile.co.uk/prod/53">Cool Chile Company</a></b>.</div>
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Instructions are on the bag, but what you do is combine half the bag with 1.5 L of just-boiled water and 150g of sugar, give it a good stir and le it steep over night. </div>
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The next day, sieve it and serve!</div>
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I decided to make mine alcoholic by adding a shot of Don Agustin tequlia!</div>
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Because YOLO!</div>
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(I can't believe I actually wrote "YOLO". I feel like such a douche.) </div>
Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-44157097857859922592014-07-19T13:43:00.000+01:002014-07-19T13:44:18.322+01:00Breakfast with MexiGeek: Chimichurri scrambled eggs on blue corn tortillas with habanero sauce and queso fresco...which is a mouthful to say as well as to eat.<br />
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First off: <i>chimicurri</i> is NOT Mexican. It is (I believe) Argentine. It seems to be kind of a "thing" just now. They sell it in supermarkets, and of course in <b><a href="http://www.lupepintos.com/">Lupe Pinto's</a></b>. It was even mentioned in the most recent series of <i>MasterChef</i>.<br />
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So this breakfast came together because I was near the end of a bottle of chimichurri, so I fried the sauce in hot oil, because frying sauce is one of the basic techniques of Mexican cooking.<br />
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When the sauce was sizzling, I cracked a couple of eggs and scrambled them until they were just done.<br />
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On a plate I had two warm <a href="http://www.coolchile.co.uk/products/view/blue-corn-tortillas-x-13">blue corn tortillas from <b>The Cool Chile Company</b></a> and some slices of cured Spanish-style chorizo.<br />
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I put the chimichurri scrambled eggs on top of the chorizo, crumbled up some <i>queso fresco</i> from <a href="http://gringadairy.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Gringa Dairy</a> and some <a href="http://kankunsauce.com/products/kankun-habanero/" style="font-weight: bold;">KANKUN habanero sauce</a>.<br />
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<i>Y provecho!</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It ain't breakfast if it don't got chiles</td></tr>
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It has never occurred to me to cook eggs without some form of chile. I'm not even sure that it's possible.<br />
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What I loved about this breakfast was that:</div>
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<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A) I made it up as I went along, and </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
B) I made it with a little help from my friends: <b>Cool Chile Company, Gringa Dairy, </b>and <b>KANKUN.</b> Three of the reasons it is possible to cook Mexican food in the UK. </blockquote>
Also, it was delicious, but that pretty much goes without saying. <br />
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-7228939464172697492014-07-15T16:02:00.001+01:002014-07-15T16:02:56.629+01:00Salsa de fresa con totopos dulces<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yRLcESKSMeGxZy151MNrmdsxjU_Uv2WAXT8PIlbTN-AieVJogbM3lwmidMhTQ3OqQ6XtY6VIZFaysLZoATnx2J93GWj5CdHvgDnkhYuf6Q2UWokXt8iHpUmCJkGWoJ2XxQmvp21FDvs/s1600/2012-08-19+13.38.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yRLcESKSMeGxZy151MNrmdsxjU_Uv2WAXT8PIlbTN-AieVJogbM3lwmidMhTQ3OqQ6XtY6VIZFaysLZoATnx2J93GWj5CdHvgDnkhYuf6Q2UWokXt8iHpUmCJkGWoJ2XxQmvp21FDvs/s1600/2012-08-19+13.38.36.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is blender salsa, but you can dice the strawbs for a <i>pico de gallo</i> style salsa or bash the holy living f**ck out of them in your <i>molcajete</i></td></tr>
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Because it's summer and strawberries are the best summer fruit ever, I thought I'd share this lighthearted take on tortilla chips and salsa.</div>
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I'm not great at desserts, so when I'm planning a three-course menu I really struggle with the finale.</div>
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But this "dish" is ridiculously easy to make and the comic transformation of what is usually a savoury snack into a pudding <i>almost </i>makes it a show-stopper.</div>
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The key element is the strawberry salsa. </div>
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I came up with this because my daughter hates chiles ("They're too spicy ") but she LOVES strawberries. So I tried to think of a way she could enjoy chips and salsa.</div>
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She's four by the way.</div>
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Basically everything I would put in the classic Mexican tomato and chile salsa has a corresponding sweet ingredient in the strawberry salsa.</div>
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<ul>
<li>Instead of tomatoes, I use strawberries (duh).</li>
<li>Instead of diced white onion I use diced apple.</li>
<li>Instead of fresh cilantro (coriander) I use mint.</li>
<li>And instead of chiles I use chiles.</li>
</ul>
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Ha!</div>
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Seriously though: you can leave chiles out of this one. <i>HOWEVER</i>, if you want to use chiles, try a bit of habanero. It's fecking hot, but the fruity flavour is ideal for this recipe. Just take it easy if you or your guests aren't hardcore chileheads.</div>
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So now that you have all this stuff, make it into salsa more or less the same way you would make standard (raw) tomato and chile salsa.</div>
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Then make the <i>totopos</i> (tortilla chips).</div>
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For these I uncharacteristically use flour tortillas.</div>
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First I preheat the oven to 160 C.</div>
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Then I cut the tortillas into triangular wedges using a pizza cutter (I kid you not).</div>
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Then I melt some butter and brush a baking tray with the butter using a pastry brush.</div>
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Then I place the tortilla wedges on the tray and brush them with more butter. </div>
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Then I dust them with ground cinnamon and sugar and bake them for about 20 minutes or until crisp.</div>
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(You can deep-fry them instead, in which case you would have to use oil, and dust them with cinnamon and sugar after frying, before they cool. But I never deep-fry my <i>totopos</i>.)</div>
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<i>Y provecho!</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JJuNpqJbbwU/U8K_7eAzVfI/AAAAAAAADSU/DJoztiu1-no/s1600/2012-10-09+21.36.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JJuNpqJbbwU/U8K_7eAzVfI/AAAAAAAADSU/DJoztiu1-no/s1600/2012-10-09+21.36.05.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't think they really eat these in Mexico, but they are still the bomb. </td></tr>
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I like to put a few <i>totopos</i> on everyone's plate and put the bowl of salsa in the middle, so it becomes a sharing activity and promotes socializing. </div>
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You should also have a bowl of extra <i>totopos</i> to hand, because even after the strawberry salsa is finished, your guests will want more of these. In fact, so will you, then next day. </div>
Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-65803205626772949612014-07-11T16:46:00.000+01:002014-07-11T16:46:08.610+01:00Product Review: Taza Chocolate Mexicano<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-71yaR_qzE6k/U7__Id-mBrI/AAAAAAAADSE/CwQDD22q2Ko/s1600/IMG_20140617_225903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-71yaR_qzE6k/U7__Id-mBrI/AAAAAAAADSE/CwQDD22q2Ko/s1600/IMG_20140617_225903.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
What happened was, I was searching the internet for American candy suppliers in an attempt to find some Black Jack Gum.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the shit I was looking for.</td></tr>
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Black Jack Gum is the first ever flavoured chewing gum. It tastes like aniseed or "black licorice". It was made mildly famous when Christian Slater's character chewed it in <i>Pump Up the Volume</i>.<br />
<br />
I never tracked down the gum, but the search results included this chocolate called <i>Taza</i>, which is Spanish for "cup", as in <i>una taza de chocolate</i> ("a cup of [hot] chocolate").<br />
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And the photos made it clear it was defo Mexican style chocolate.<br />
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I thought "WTF, I've never heard of this brand". And it turns out that's because <i>Taza</i> is made in America, in Massachusetts, the most un-Mexican place on Earth.<br />
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So naturally I had to investigate.<br />
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This is nothing you can't find out from the company's own <b><a href="http://www.tazachocolate.com/About">website</a></b>, but basically the founder, Alex Whitmore, was travelling in Oaxaca (yay!) and discovered real Mexican chocolate. So he decided to bring it on home to MA.<br />
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If there's one thing I can dig, it's people being inspired by real Mexican food and wanting to spread it around the world.<br />
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Taza Chocolate is not just Mexican style chocolate made in the US. For instance, the main Mexican brands of chocolate (Ibarra and Abuelita) are actually <i>very</i> sweet and tend to be made with cacao extracts rather than pure cocoa beans.<br />
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Taza has more in common with the revival in authentic chocolate, probably best represented in the UK by Willie Harcourt-Cooze's "artizan" cacao.<br />
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What Taza does is source excellent cacao and other ingredients, but process them in a Mexican way (including stone-grinding) and with Mexican or Mexican-inspired flavours.<br />
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The result is a product that looks a lot like the classic disc of Mexican chocolate and acts like it too. For instance, you cook up a pot of Taza chocolate in water, rather than milk (you can use milk if you want to though).<br />
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So I had to try this, and I figured their <a href="http://www.tazachocolate.com/store/Products/MexicanoSampler"><b>Sampler</b> </a>would be my best bet. It comes with a variety of their flavours:<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Cinnamon</i> - classic, though in Mexico it would also have some ground almond</li>
<li><i>Vanilla</i> - Vanilla is native to Mexico, and I checked: it uses real vanilla, not that artificial extract</li>
<li><i>Guajillo</i> - one of my favourite chiles</li>
<li><i>Salt and Pepper</i> - ???</li>
<li><i>Orange</i> - I HATE chocolate and orange together, but that's a personal preference</li>
<li><i>Chipotle</i> - nuff said</li>
<li><i>Ginger</i> - How can you go wrong?</li>
<li><i>Dark chocolate</i> - just the pure unadulterated stone-ground goodness</li>
</ul>
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By now I've brewed up several pots of this chocolate (but not the orange, because yuck!). I also tried eating one whole, as their website suggests you can do this.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-rhIvwfrs0/U7__G7qxzaI/AAAAAAAADR8/uG7icgHd_Fc/s1600/DSC_0418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-rhIvwfrs0/U7__G7qxzaI/AAAAAAAADR8/uG7icgHd_Fc/s1600/DSC_0418.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ygU_S3HW6cc/U7__DIzs-sI/AAAAAAAADR0/ZRU0-eIdNfw/s1600/DSC_0417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ygU_S3HW6cc/U7__DIzs-sI/AAAAAAAADR0/ZRU0-eIdNfw/s1600/DSC_0417.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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I always brewed it Mexican style, with water, whipping it with a whisk until it goes all frothy, just like in <i>Como Agua para Chocolate</i>.<br />
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For comparison, I used Ibarra and Cool Chile Company's own Mexican hot chocolate as benchmarks.<br />
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The cinnamon had the classic flavour you'd expect. It much more chocolate-y (in the sense of real, high-cocoa solid chocolate flavour) than Ibarra and on a par with the Cool Chile Company's product.<br />
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The vanilla was absolutely gorgeous.<br />
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The chipotle flavour had a nice heat, but I found the smokiness didn't come through very well, which is a shame.<br />
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The ginger was pretty much perfect.<br />
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I'll get Mrs MexiGeek to try the orange one.<br />
<br />
All in all, this is actually a superior product to Ibarra and Abuelita, which are now widely available outside of Mexico. I'm not sure it trumps the Cool Chile Company's chocolate, but it's less gritty and comes in a wider variety of flavours.<br />
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By the way, one reason you really should be drinking Mexican chocolate is it's actually kind of healthy.<br />
<br />
I'm not even joking. This kind of high cocoa solid chocolate brewed with water instead of milk leaves out two of the three things that make chocolate bad for you: oil and dairy fat. There's still a certain amount of sugar, but sugar burns off quickly, and it's natural sugar, not those chemical sweeteners that cause cancer in lab rats.<br />
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If this product became more available in the UK, I could really see it taking off. Plus it's just wonderful to see more people being inspired by Mexico and turning it into their life's work.Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-50750573754800130392014-01-26T12:06:00.000+00:002014-01-26T12:06:48.689+00:00Breakfast with MexiGeek: Migas en salsa verde<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCIaRWsAhG8oFCdxh4lu2JkMYyvmE66_tLL4E_LKXoV9IRNdJ8_0eC3-zjc0PsV-mVQRR6TYB8b7dvtsRsxhT2cCdC7SGFh1f2rIt9x0R_Wlk9mict4o9ebZX6d9PQ_2e3lMe6Wh7QURk/s1600/IMG_20140126_111054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCIaRWsAhG8oFCdxh4lu2JkMYyvmE66_tLL4E_LKXoV9IRNdJ8_0eC3-zjc0PsV-mVQRR6TYB8b7dvtsRsxhT2cCdC7SGFh1f2rIt9x0R_Wlk9mict4o9ebZX6d9PQ_2e3lMe6Wh7QURk/s1600/IMG_20140126_111054.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I saw that Nigella had basically done a version of<i> migas</i>, I knew it was high time I did one.</div>
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(This was before we found out about the cocaine but after her now ex-husband choked her in a public restaurant in broad daylight. She's living the dream.)</div>
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Anyway, <i>migas</i> literally means "crumbs", but in the kitchen it means a dish of scrambled eggs and tortilla chips.</div>
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That's right: tortilla chips for breakfast.</div>
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This dish is pretty simple, and there are many variations, depending on what you have lying around.</div>
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Some people fry the tortilla chips first, but I only recommend this if your tortilla chips are homemade. Store-bought ones disintegrate too easily.</div>
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I didn't have an onion so I used minced garlic, but as a rule chopped onion is the way to go.</div>
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And I had some leftover <i>salsa verde</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI22Sa4J96Fn0zhmC5XU4LnwqDP_4S0rs0lUDL5dQUszG9baLhHMrGOi2dhWuW-AOAJb4wgQGea5a-pw62jNsG3fwboQ0HQM35ST99Fx3qAHmqv9u5aAm_C2oE899__j19dnU3eLs-cqM/s1600/DSC_0285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI22Sa4J96Fn0zhmC5XU4LnwqDP_4S0rs0lUDL5dQUszG9baLhHMrGOi2dhWuW-AOAJb4wgQGea5a-pw62jNsG3fwboQ0HQM35ST99Fx3qAHmqv9u5aAm_C2oE899__j19dnU3eLs-cqM/s1600/DSC_0285.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I started by heating some oil in a pan and sweating the garlic (use onion if you've got it. This is also where you'd fry your homemade tortilla chips. Remove them once they start to brown.)</div>
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Then I tipped in my salsa and fried it until it reduced and most of the water had cooked off. This is kind of like making <i>salsa de huevos</i>.</div>
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Then I added the eggs and a couple handfuls of crumbled tortilla chips and scrambled it all up.</div>
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¡Y provecho!</div>
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I served it with a few more tortilla chips, some sour cream, and chopped coriander or <i>cilantro</i>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just so you know, I do have one of these.</td></tr>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-53643174415673409352014-01-22T13:07:00.000+00:002014-01-22T13:07:16.688+00:00Pollo en mole verde<script>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nkoZ7qKKOHs/Ut7g5R1QePI/AAAAAAAAC6g/tKX4ZdJ3deE/s1600/DSC_0255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nkoZ7qKKOHs/Ut7g5R1QePI/AAAAAAAAC6g/tKX4ZdJ3deE/s1600/DSC_0255.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>When I first planned this dish, I was going to make the famous <i>pato en pipián</i>, which is duck in a pre-Hispanic <i>mole</i> of pumpkin seeds, <i>tomatillos</i>, and green chiles.</div><div><br />
</div><div>But as I continue to adjust to life with an under-one in the house, what I really need are more dishes that can be put together in less than an hour.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It <i>is</i> possible to cook two duck breasts in that time, but it's "fussier". You have to sear the breasts to give them texture (crispy skin) and flavour, then put them in the oven to finish. And you have to keep an eye on them or they will overcook.</div><div><br />
</div><div>By substituting chicken, I just had to poach the breasts in seasoned water for 20 minutes.</div><div><br />
</div><div>If you accidentally poach them longer, the breasts don't dry out as easily as they would in the oven, plus you can let them "cool" in the water once they're done and not only will they not overcook, they will stay moist and just the right temperature, pretty much until you're finished cooking everything else.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The other "cheat" was that I used some <i>pipián</i> I had made previously and frozen.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Some cookbooks tell you not to freeze <i>pipián</i>, but I think they mean the finished dish, with the chicken and rice incorporated. There's nothing "unfreezable" in the sauce itself.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So: <i>pipián</i> or <i>mole verde</i>?</div><div><br />
</div><div>There are seven <i>moles</i>in the legends of Mexican cuisine. The one you probably mean if you just say <i>mole</i> is the dark brown <i>mole poblano</i>, by far the most famous, because it contains chocolate. It also has 26 other ingredients and takes several days to make from scratch (I've tried it).</div><div><br />
</div><div>There is also a (slightly) simpler <i>mole rojo</i> ("red mole"), which has fewer ingredients than the <i>mole poblano</i> (though it still includes a bit of chocolate) and is slightly easier to make.</div><div><br />
</div><div>And there's a green mole, <i>mole verde</i>, which, as Rick Bayless wrote, replaces everything red in the red <i>mole</i> with something green: instead of tomatoes you get <i>tomatillos</i>; instead of dried reddish chiles you get fresh green chiles; instead of dark rich spices you get fresh green herbs.</div><div><br />
</div><div>All three of these are thickened with seeds (the French thicken sauces with flour; Mexicans thicken sauces with ground nuts or seeds).</div><div><br />
</div><div>Sesame seeds are the star of the brown and red <i>moles</i>, but pumpkin seeds (which, again, are green) take the lead in <i>mole verde</i>.</div><div><br />
</div><div>(By the way, the other four <i>moles</i> are <i>mole colorado</i>, which is another red <i>mole</i>; <i>mole amarillo</i>, the yellow mole - though it's actually kind of orange; <i>manchamanteles</i>, which means "tablecloth-stainer" and includes fruit; and the most complex and challenging of them all, the Oaxacan black <i>mole</i>, or <i>mole negro</i>.)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Some people don't believe that <i>mole verde</i> and <i>pipián</i> are the same thing. They may be right, though I say they're basically the same: a rich green sauce of pumpkin seeds, <i>tomatillos</i>, and green chiles.</div><div><br />
</div><div><i>pipián</i> is one of the earliest pre-Hispanic dishes described by the conquistadors. It was served to them when they visited Moctezuma (before all hell broke loose).</div><div><br />
</div><div>Of course, modern <i>mole verde</i>/<i>pipián</i> is embellished with some things the Spanish introduced, not least of which are onions, garlic, and coriander (<i>cilantro</i>).</div><div><br />
</div><div>Because I used my pre-made frozen <i>mole verde</i>, I'm only going to give recap on the recipe here. You can read the full thing in <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/quick-post-on-mole-verde.html"><b>my post on <i>mole verde</i></b></a> last year.</div><div><br />
</div><div><div dir="ltr"><b>Ingredientes</b></div><div dir="ltr"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ul><li>6 tomatillos</li>
<li>100 g pumpkin seeds, hulled (I used half pumpkin seeds and half sesame seeds; some recipes even add peanuts)</li>
<li>1/2 a white onion</li>
<li>3 cloves of garlic</li>
<li>Green chiles to taste (I used 2 chiles serranos, 1 chile jalapeño, and about half of a chile poblano)</li>
<li>A bunch of coriander</li>
<li>1tsp of dried epazote</li>
<li>10 black peppercorns</li>
<li>2 cloves</li>
<li>A 5 cm stick of Mexican cinnamon</li>
<li>A pinch of cumin seeds (say, 1/8 tsp)</li>
<li>Stock (homemade if possible)</li>
<li>Salt</li>
<li>Oil or lard for frying</li>
</ul><b>Procedimiento</b></div><div><b><br />
</b></div><div>Basically, prep all the ingredients, put everything but the seeds and spices into a blender and blend to a smooth sauce. Gradually add the seeds and spices and continue blending while the sauce thickens.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then heat some oil or lard in a pan and fry the sauce until it darkens and thickens some more. Then thin it back out with some stock.</div><div><br />
</div><div><i>Mole verde</i> is best served on the day, but I froze it and then thawed it in the fridge overnight. That way I just had to gently re-heat it in a pot over the hob, adding some stock when necessary to thin it out.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Where did I get the stock? By poaching my chicken breasts, of course!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Basically just bung the chicken breasts into a pot, add some bits to season (usually chopped onion, garlic, a bay leaf or an avocado leaf, black peppercorns, etc), cover with water and bring to a rapid boil, then turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or so.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Let the chicken "cool" in the broth if you have time. Not only is the chicken cooked beautifully, you now have a basic, though not very strong, chicken stock!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A8OTj0OLaQY/Ut7gH420z5I/AAAAAAAAC6M/wVtawHLfcPI/s1600/DSC_0252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A8OTj0OLaQY/Ut7gH420z5I/AAAAAAAAC6M/wVtawHLfcPI/s1600/DSC_0252.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I also served a modified version of <i>arroz a la poblana</i> (Pueblan rice), which is normally white rice with <i>chiles poblanos</i>, but I used green bell peppers and some yellow corn.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Take some diced onion and sweat it in some butter over a medium heat until it gets soft and a bit translucent but <i style="font-weight: bold;">not</i> brown.</div><div><br />
</div><div>(I didn't use to use butter for Mexican rice until I read <b><a href="http://amexicancook.ie/recipe/white-rice-arroz-blanco">this post by A Mexican Cook in Ireland</a>.</b>)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then add the rice and fry a few minutes more. Then add the corn and fry a few minutes more (unless you're using tinned corn, in which case add the corn last because it's already cooked). Then add some diced green bell pepper.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After the bell pepper has softened, add some water, bring to a rapid boil, then turn the heat down to medium-low for about 25 minutes or so. When it's done cooking, you can take the rice off the heat and keep it covered. It will stay warm for like an hour.</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y-CCD8YxslQ/Ut7gH-PvyHI/AAAAAAAAC6M/8tJiH_6WjCw/s1600/DSC_0253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y-CCD8YxslQ/Ut7gH-PvyHI/AAAAAAAAC6M/8tJiH_6WjCw/s1600/DSC_0253.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nearly done!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>The quantities I use, by the way are:</div><div><br />
</div><div>1/2 cup of diced onion</div><div>1/2 cup of yellow corn kernels</div><div>1 green bell pepper, diced</div><div>10 g butter</div><div>150 g white rice</div><div>300 mL water or stock</div><div><br />
</div><div>You want the uncooked rice to be exactly half the volume of the water, so what I actually do is fill a cup with rice and then put in two measures of the same cup of water. But this time I weighed it out as well and those were the quantities I got.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It works for me every time.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So how this worked out was, at just after 8pm I put the <i>pipián</i> in a pot to heat up, put the chicken on to poach, and started on the rice.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I checked the <i>pipián</i> every now and then to make sure it wasn't burning or anything.</div><div><br />
</div><div>When the chicken was done, I used some of the broth to thin the <i>pipián</i> to the desired consistency. I probably could have thinned it more, actually.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Once the rice was simmering, I used my "free time" to lay the table and whip up a "wintery" salad of watercress, pear, and toasted walnuts with a balsamic vinegar and agave nectar dressing, which was just phenomenal.</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kG_MG7UCG7U/Ut7gH9P0gwI/AAAAAAAAC6M/zmhVpTBbdy4/s1600/DSC_0258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kG_MG7UCG7U/Ut7gH9P0gwI/AAAAAAAAC6M/zmhVpTBbdy4/s1600/DSC_0258.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything about this was awesome</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>We were eating by 9pm. WIN!</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KXZsPK79GDw/Ut7gH3ojZ0I/AAAAAAAAC6M/TipEy2lSgao/s1600/DSC_0257_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KXZsPK79GDw/Ut7gH3ojZ0I/AAAAAAAAC6M/TipEy2lSgao/s1600/DSC_0257_edit0.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I have warm feelings about this dish, because it was one of the first authentic Mexican dishes I ever cooked, using the recipe from <i>Two Cooks and a Suitcase</i> (where it appears as <i>Pollo Verde</i>).</div><div><br />
</div><div>It blew my mind. On the one hand I had never tasted anything like it (it was completely different from the Americanized Northern Mexican food I grew up on). On the other hand something about it tasted so inimitably and unmistakeably Mexican, as if it could not have come from any other national cuisine.</div><div><br />
</div><div>That was years ago now, and the recipe I currently use is a synthesis of several different recipes from various cookbooks.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It's a very good dish (and quite spicy if you use enough chiles!). If you have never tried it, you really should. Mexicans have been cooking with pumpkin seeds since before they invented the <i>tortilla</i>.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It is a true classic of Mexican cuisine.</div>Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-87617561036397141852014-01-07T21:09:00.001+00:002014-07-09T15:56:01.506+01:00Tortas ahogadas: my first attempt at cocina tapatía<script type="text/javascript">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hero Shot! Story below!</td></tr>
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One of the things that excites me about this recipe is that it's a <i>torta</i>.<br />
<br />
Where I'm from in California, people don't necessarily know there is leavened bread in Mexico. They think everything comes in a tortilla.<br />
<br />
So these huge Mexican sandwiches are one of the hidden gems of Mexican cuisine.<br />
<br />
The <i>torta ahogada</i> ("drowned sandwich") is a special kind of <i>torta</i>, and characteristic of Guadalajara.<br />
<br />
My favourite placename in the whole world is Guadalajara. To me, it just <i>sounds</i> like Mexico.<br />
<br />
(I was actually shocked to learn there's a Guadalajara in Spain; I'd always taken it for an indigenous name.)</div>
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<br />
Guadalajara is the second-largest city in Mexico (after DF, of course), and it's the capital of the state of Jalisco. In English, a person or thing from Guadalajara is "Guadalajaran", but in colloquial Mexican Spanish the word is <i>tapatío</i><i>/a</i>.</div>
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<br />
Jalisco is the home of many things non-Mexicans think are common throughout Mexico, like tequila, mariachi music, and the Mexican hat dance (called the <i>jarabe tapatía</i> in Spanish).</div>
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<br />
While these things are internationally known, Guadalajara's distinct <i>torta</i> is not. </div>
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<br />
The "drowned" <i>torta</i> is a <i>torta</i> of <i>carnitas</i>, and it's drowned in a super-hot <i>salsa picante</i> made mostly of <i>chiles de árbol</i>.</div>
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<br />
This dish is fairly easy to make, though it requires time. It has three essential components, two of which are procurable here in the UK.</div>
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<br />
The one that isn't is the Mexican bread.<br />
<br />
The <i>torta ahogada</i>, however, is made from kind of sourdough-ish bread called <i>birote</i>, which is typical of the region. So you could presumably substitute sourdough bread.</div>
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<br />
(There used to be a Mexican bakery in London called Los Pastelitos, but they've closed. I'm sure they had <i>bolillo</i>, the more common type of Mexican bread, but they may not have had <i>birote</i>.)</div>
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<br />
The other two components are <i>carnitas</i> and the salsa.</div>
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<br />
<i>Carnitas</i> means "little meats" in Spanish, and in practice it's usually shredded (or at least diced) pork.</div>
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<br />
Pork is possibly the most popular meat in Mexico, (though chicken is probably the most commonly eaten). Pigs were introduced by the Spanish, but they're easy to keep, don't need a lot of space, and will eat just about anything, making them much more practical than the fussier, space-hungry beef cattle.</div>
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<br />
Also: pigs are delicious (sorry, veggies).</div>
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<br />
Because it's such a common thing, there are about a million recipes for <i>carnitas</i>, varying what seasonings you should use, how precisely to cook it, and even how big the pieces of pork should be.</div>
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<br />
I prefer to do mine like pulled pork in the slow cooker.</div>
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<br />
<b>Carnitas</b><br />
<br />
<i>Ingredientes</i><br />
750 g pork shoulder<br />
2 cloves of garlic, minced<br />
1 inch cinnamon stick<br />
10 black peppercorns<br />
1 tsp Mexican oregano (which you can get from <a href="http://www.mextrade.co.uk/products-mex-spi-p02.html">Mextrade</a>)<br />
1/2 tsp coriander seeds<br />
1/2 tsp cumin<br />
Orange zest<br />
Salt<br />
Water to cover</div>
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<br />
For a Yucatecan twist you can add some<i> El Yucateco</i> <b><a href="http://www.mextrade.co.uk/products-mex-spi-p02.html">achiote paste</a></b>, which is also available from Mextrade.<br />
<br />
<i>Procedimiento</i><br />
If you're not using pre-ground spices or <i>achiote</i> paste, make sure to toast everything separately on a hot dry frying pan or <i>comal</i> and then grind it all down.</div>
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<br />
Rub your pork with your seasonings and ideally let it sit for an hour (or overnight in the fridge).</div>
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<br />
Place the pork in the slow-cooker and carefully pour about 300 ml of water down the sides of the chamber. You don't wanna wash off that spice mix. </div>
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<br />
Then cook on low for ten hours or on low or for two hours on high and then two or three more hours on low (I've actually got better results this way).</div>
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<br />
When it's done, remove the pork and shred it with fork; it should just fall apart.<br />
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best <i>carnitas</i> fall apart with nothing more than a harsh look.</td></tr>
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<br />
Now for the <i>salsa picante</i>.<br />
<br />
A reader informed me that in Guadalajara you can actually get <i>tortas ahogadas</i> with either the super-hot <i>salsa de chiles de </i><i>árbol</i> or a not-so-hot tomato sauce.<br />
<br />
I definitely prefer the <i>picante</i> sauce, but if you don't, try good quality Mexican <i>salsa roja</i> like<b> <a href="http://www.mextrade.co.uk/products-mex-sal-02.html">this one from La Costeña</a>.</b><br />
<br />
Or, for the super-hot version, try<b> <a href="http://www.mextrade.co.uk/products-mex-sal-09.html">this one from Valentina</a></b>. <br />
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<br />
And if you're up for a challenge, you can make it from scratch.<br />
<br />
Speaking as someone who adores <i>pipián</i> and is practically obsessed with <i>salsa verde</i>, I must say this is probably the greatest sauce in the world ever. <br />
<br />
As far as I know, <i>salsa picante</i> ("hot sauce") is its only name. It is made throughout Mexico with a myriad subtle variations, but apparently always with the fiery <i>chiles de árbol</i> as the star (many people add <i>piquín</i> chiles too, but I don't). <br />
<br />
The recipe I use is slightly modified from one by Rick Bayless. It uses a whole bag of <i>chiles de árbol</i> from <b><a href="http://www.coolchile.co.uk/">The Cool Chile Company</a> </b>or <b><a href="http://www.mextrade.co.uk/products-mex-spi-02.html">Mextrade</a>. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Salsa picante</b><br />
<br />
<i>Ingredientes</i><br />
60 g chiles de árbol (plus reserved seeds)<br />
2 cloves of garlic, minced<br />
20 g sesame seeds<br />
20 g pumpkin seeds (hulled)<br />
4 allspice berries<br />
2 cloves<br />
a pinch of cumin seeds (½ tsp or 5 g max)<br />
180 mL cider vinegar<br />
<br />
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<br />
<i>Procedimiento</i><br />
Cut the stems off the chiles and twist them gently between your fingers until the seeds fall out. Save the seeds. There are easily 50 or 60 chiles in the bag, so this takes a while.<br />
<br />
Toast the chiles in the a hot dry frying pan or <i>comal</i> and gently stir until they just begin to darken and you can smell a chile aroma rising.<br />
<br />
<b>They will burn quickly so don't toast them too long!</b><br />
<br />
Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with just-boiled water. Weigh them down with a plate and let them soak for 15 minutes.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile toast each kind of seed and spice separately in the hot dry frying pan until they darken slightly and release their aroma. Stir constantly so they don't burn.<br />
<br />
Let the pumpkin seeds sit until the first one pops, then stir constantly until they all have popped.<br />
<br />
The chile seeds will burn quickly so stir constantly from the start; if one pops, it's time to take them off the heat. Also, they will release capsaicin vapour into the air, so toast them last and keep the extractor fan running.<br />
<br />
Put the seeds and spices into a <i>molcajete</i> (mortar and pestle) with the minced garlic and grind down to a paste.<br />
<br />
Remove the chiles from the water and put in a blender with the ground garlic, seeds, spices, and vinegar and blend to a smooth texture.<br />
<br />
Add up to 200 mL of the chile soaking water, a tablespoon at a time, until the salsa is a thin, pourable consistency, sort of like Tabasco, but with pulpy bits.<br />
<br />
Now pour the salsa through a sieve to strain the pulp out. You will have to press the pulp against the sieve with a spoon to make sure you extract every drop of liquid.<br />
<br />
(Actually I pass it through a sieve first and then put the remaining pulp through a muslin and squeeze really hard. This stains the muslin - and your hands - something awful, but you don't want to lose any of that precious sauce.)<br />
<br />
Put the strained salsa into a sealed container and let it mature in the fridge overnight. It will be a beautiful bright orange colour. It contains enough vinegar that it will literally keep for months in the fridge.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This sauce will hurt so good!</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>Finishing the torta</b><br />
<br />
After you've done all this, all you really have to do is knock together the <i>tortas</i>.<br />
<br />
Slice your bread (a good sourdough bread should do it), fill it with <i>carnitas</i>, and drown the sandwiches in the sauce.<br />
<br />
Traditionally some raw white onion is used as a garnish, though I prefer Yucatecan <i>cebollas en escabeche</i>. <br />
<br />
Some cheese is also nice: crumbled <i>queso fresco</i> from <a href="http://gringadairy.com/"><b>Gringa Dairy</b></a> works really well. <br />
<br />
In Guadalajara, if you think this sauce might be too much for you, you can order your <i>torta</i> "<i>media ahogada</i>" ("medium-drowned"). <br />
<br />
Apparently you can also go hotter and ask for "<i>bien ahogada</i>" ("well drowned"). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is actually manchego because Lupe Pintos was sold out of <i>queso fresco.</i></td></tr>
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I had dreams of making mine <i>bien ahogada</i>, but when it came to it, I held back, not because I was afraid of the heat, but because I couldn't bear to use up all that beautiful salsa in one go. <br />
<br />
Whenever I make this sauce, I find myself taking a spoonful of it straight before I go to bed. It's <i>that</i> good. Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-63388908436703511152014-01-06T13:21:00.001+00:002014-01-07T13:01:14.362+00:00Dos Mil Catorce<p dir=ltr>Last year when I came back from Christmas vacation I set out some goals for the coming year.</p>
<p dir=ltr>I had started this blog in late 2011, so 2013, was only my second full calendar year of bogging. I wanted it to be the year I took the blog up a notch.</p>
<p dir=ltr>And despite having a drastically curtailed cooking regime due to a new baby, I totally did this. 2013 was pretty much a completely upward trajectory (apart from some dead chile plants).</p>
<p dir=ltr>So what do I want from 2014?</p>
<p dir=ltr>The obvious answer would be to take it up yet another level. Except I don't actually know what that would mean.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Last year I broke 10,000 pageviews, I connected with just about everyone involved with Mexican food in the UK, I got loads of free food. There's actually not a lot more to accomplish.</p>
<p dir=ltr>On the other hand, "keep up the good work" isn't a very exciting goal for the coming year.</p>
<p dir=ltr>So instead of a set of "hard" goals, I'm going to propose a couple of "softer" New Year's Resolutions.</p>
<p dir=ltr>1) Post my backlog, especially all that stuff I cooked last summer.</p>
<p dir=ltr>This should be fairly easy, and should keep me posting regularly while I get to grips with...</p>
<p dir=ltr>2) Cook more</p>
<p dir=ltr>I had a good reason for less cooking last year, and my son is still quite wee, so I'm not going back to my pre-baby schedule for a while yet, but I should be able to do more cooking this year.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Give me at least six months to get this started though.</p>
<p dir=ltr>In addition to these two very achievable things, I would like to make another video and create a map of every Mexican food supplier in the UK so my readers never need to wonder where to get corn husks or achiote seeds.</p>
<p dir=ltr>In the meantime, stay tuned for the first of my "lost" summer posts.</p>
Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-42575430857116853482013-12-12T18:07:00.000+00:002013-12-12T18:07:47.388+00:00Xmas Vacation and MexiGoals ReviewOnce again it's 12 December: the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico's Patron Saint).<br />
<br />
Which means it's time for MexiGeek to go on Christmas Vacation. <br />
<br />
2013 was quite a year for MexiGeek. Early on I set myself a some goals to try to accomplish by the end of this year. It feels like I did that yesterday, and here I am signing off until 2014!<br />
<br />
Anyway I wanted to:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Make another <i>mole</i>.</b></li>
</ul>
<b><i><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/quick-post-on-mole-verde.html">Done</a>. </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArAwOx8VgCAe74rW1q9uov7r_dztnTnXYJDY0sqyqylZbROfa8nyqBlqKt2uoWNOmB3SkAdXDKSc88siZy-_HvZk76dDkBC7Og1TfgwftuwZPuA3iD1b4vytSEdsLngA_fR4iTKF5rvU/s1600/DSC_0105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArAwOx8VgCAe74rW1q9uov7r_dztnTnXYJDY0sqyqylZbROfa8nyqBlqKt2uoWNOmB3SkAdXDKSc88siZy-_HvZk76dDkBC7Og1TfgwftuwZPuA3iD1b4vytSEdsLngA_fR4iTKF5rvU/s320/DSC_0105.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
This is kind of cheating, because <i>mole verde</i> is the easiest of the seven <i>moles</i>. But it still counts. <br />
<br />
Also I haven't actually cooked with it yet. The whole batch is sitting in my freezer, waiting to be unleashed on <i>pato en pipian</i> and <i>pozole verde</i>. Having two kids has actually put the kibosh on most of my cooking for the foreseeable future. Sad but true.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Put up an <i>ofrenda</i> for Day of the Dead.</b></li>
</ul>
Nope. I still didn't get around to this. This Autumn has been nothing but hectic. I was lucky I got to<b><i> </i></b><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/tamale-pie-no-really.html"><b><i>cook something</i></b> </a>for Day of the Dead. <br />
<br />
Maybe next year.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Cook for someone else.</b></li>
</ul>
Nope. Not unless you count my kids. Our home schedule has still not reached a level of stability where we can "entertain", so this too will have to wait until 2014 at the earliest.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Do restaurant reviews.</b></li>
</ul>
Does <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/antojito-cantina-mexican-pop-up-for.html">this </a>count?<br />
<br />
I have also visited another, more permanent restaurant in Edinburgh, but I haven't written up the review yet. It was part of the Summer of MexiGeek (where I did loads of cooking and eating and yet have not posted about at all).<br />
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://www.zazzle.co.uk/mexigeek/gifts?cg=196950322379893414">Sell T-shirts</a></b></li>
</ul>
Well, I have t-shirts (and other branded products) <i>for sale</i>. Whether anyone buys them is kind of out of my hands. <br />
<br />
When I added this goal in January, I still hadn't created the products. They've been live for most of this year, so I'm going to call this a win.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Shoot a video</b></li>
</ul>
<a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/atole-blanco-plain-atole.html">Done</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/sJGuvbGwkYs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
It's a pretty simple recipe (<i>atole blanco</i>), but it was fun to shoot and edit and it actually turned out quite well.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div>
It was a slow-burner in terms of success, but it has now topped 900 views, 3 likes, and the feedback I have got from it is mostly positive.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'd like to shoot more videos of course but I'm not rushing into it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So that's 3.5 out of 6 goals accomplished.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That ain't great.h</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the other hand, here are some things I did that I hadn't planned on doing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My blog reached 10,000 pageviews, compared with around 4,000 this time last year.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also, while my cooking regime has shrunk, my networking has exploded. I have a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/MexiGeek/451339714886590">Facebook page</a> and a <a href="https://twitter.com/MexiGeek">Twitter account</a>, and through them I have learned about a host of new and old suppliers of Mexican food and ingredients, and they have learned about me.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In addition to some old friends like <a href="http://www.lupepintos.com/"><b>Lupe Pinto's</b></a>, <a href="http://www.coolchile.co.uk/"><b>The Cool Chile Company</b></a>, and <a href="http://www.luchito.co.uk/"><b>Gran Luchito</b></a>, this year I've enjoyed connecting with:</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>All Things Mexico</b>: a meetup group in London for people who love Mexico. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Though I've never been able to attend this group, being way up here in Edinburgh, the group's founder, Laura, has shared some of my posts with the group, and from her I got an amazing recipe for <i>pollo en salsa de cacahuates.</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="http://gringadairy.com/">Gringa Dairy</a></b>: the UK's first producer of Mexican style cheese.</div>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Seriously, I cannot overstate how much I love this cheese. I was also honoured to work with the dairy's founder, Kristen, on some classic recipes that use her cheeses.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66ib5RBmqCFQ2g7AI2G2x5f-xtRzln-d5oC5nAtPgPwR4S4vmzbRvpfEQX9itrY2pDmhw-n182Ka_aKhGfRG7EYwXDjeyprZf3rSjPRJO3FEIqdjRWuPm_xChJcQ1pAkabQyJwg4bZW4/s1600/2013-07-20+18.07.20_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66ib5RBmqCFQ2g7AI2G2x5f-xtRzln-d5oC5nAtPgPwR4S4vmzbRvpfEQX9itrY2pDmhw-n182Ka_aKhGfRG7EYwXDjeyprZf3rSjPRJO3FEIqdjRWuPm_xChJcQ1pAkabQyJwg4bZW4/s320/2013-07-20+18.07.20_edit0.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queso fundido</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Habanero Cafe</b>: a Mexican restaurant in Birmingham that makes their own delicious habanero salsa in house.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="http://kankunsauce.com/">KANKUN</a></b>: the difference between KANKUN's chipotle salsa and pretty much everyone else's is that KANKUN's is what a real Mexican chipotle salsa tastes like.</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQNZ4F9qw9egx9W2zCBqD50KO_lhQ4-2viKzCont5ni_2Gq3eaED7tYNUp7nP8lr_q5BnNXexaGttYFRZsn8n-foEwo7TJQxfxwqi4qjSi04F_ztDXqn-gmn_wL_fc0E8_Yly54Huank/s1600/IMG_20131012_093023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQNZ4F9qw9egx9W2zCBqD50KO_lhQ4-2viKzCont5ni_2Gq3eaED7tYNUp7nP8lr_q5BnNXexaGttYFRZsn8n-foEwo7TJQxfxwqi4qjSi04F_ztDXqn-gmn_wL_fc0E8_Yly54Huank/s320/IMG_20131012_093023.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
I've been after a bottle of KANKUN since I first heard of them and I finally got hold of it this year. At first taste I knew it was something special.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Later I was honoured to submit two recipes using their salsas for their blog, and to meet the salsa's creator, Rolando Cardenas, at Lupe Pinto's annual Chilli Cook-Off.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I'm still putting their new habanero sauce on just about everything I eat. </div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzKX8RkHb5o9q1HPOCISN8AySclbNTaJDFHgoKiqVVUEt7_pnIwKH96SQyCfqhyphenhyphenhiNHCian2B9Hovae833H2xBdBl6zVbxmsHT9aSDHVsH_gCrBxDeUlS4YS8yU9j41HX4aoYk3zkZhY/s1600/DSC_0079_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzKX8RkHb5o9q1HPOCISN8AySclbNTaJDFHgoKiqVVUEt7_pnIwKH96SQyCfqhyphenhyphenhiNHCian2B9Hovae833H2xBdBl6zVbxmsHT9aSDHVsH_gCrBxDeUlS4YS8yU9j41HX4aoYk3zkZhY/s320/DSC_0079_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<b><a href="http://www.lacostena.com.mx/">La Costeña UK</a></b>: I've been a fan of La Costeña for years. An actual Mexican company, they're pretty much the leading supplier of Mexican ingredients and products in North America.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That they have been expanding their market in the UK is a welcome and exciting development.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They recently sent me some <i>cuitlacoche </i>(and other things), which I haven't cooked yet, but I'm hoping to get some time over the holidays. I already have a recipe in mind.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/">Mexgrocer.co.uk</a></b>: a well-established supplier of quality Mexican products. I got some blue <i>Maseca </i>from them and made some homemade blue tortillas!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They also supply the <i>piloncillo</i> I use for sweet tamales and <i>atole</i>, though I technically bought this at Lupe Pinto's. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="http://mexicoretold.com/">Mexico Retold</a></b>: an amazing blog written by an expat living in Oaxaca (I need her life!).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Her love of Mexico comes through in everything she writes. Plus there are amazing photos so you can see just how beautiful it all really is. This is a must-read!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="http://www.tamal.co.uk/">Tamal.co.uk</a></b>: which sells authentic tamales made here in the UK via the internet!</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvypZzRjnrJbef0ImNyix55gmfaS7VmzgyHJsP2WnqxeQ16LSe6Ad6J5sTrY2cFVMQOFYaQBTmFu4TYOGcw2LZrKdaMVbULnNNB9L55RjyzHbO2igCeMMhSnnp1SDz-GIsLoASGMb9TTo/s1600/2013-04-27+17.45.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvypZzRjnrJbef0ImNyix55gmfaS7VmzgyHJsP2WnqxeQ16LSe6Ad6J5sTrY2cFVMQOFYaQBTmFu4TYOGcw2LZrKdaMVbULnNNB9L55RjyzHbO2igCeMMhSnnp1SDz-GIsLoASGMb9TTo/s320/2013-04-27+17.45.27.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
I love tamales, but I know a lot of people are unfamiliar with them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, visit Tamal.co.uk for delicious, authentic tamales, which are after all one of the greatest of all traditional Mexican dishes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I also got to try some excellent new products, including blue tortillas and "mini" 10 cm tortillas from Cool Chile Company and new salsa from Gran Luchito.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtiShxozMmZ02s4yDgbjeWYtv3jfry1km3MRUCpo56aQw-bYSYvC17Vu9d1DBDhU_LjAXZFvOPGN6mWrwAoBeCw0ncqWiXGXlKoJ_OjZD_-ybJc_KpAl_3lCSuh8R1UIM8PcfGCYGVoyU/s1600/2013-07-05+18.20.45_edit0_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtiShxozMmZ02s4yDgbjeWYtv3jfry1km3MRUCpo56aQw-bYSYvC17Vu9d1DBDhU_LjAXZFvOPGN6mWrwAoBeCw0ncqWiXGXlKoJ_OjZD_-ybJc_KpAl_3lCSuh8R1UIM8PcfGCYGVoyU/s320/2013-07-05+18.20.45_edit0_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9djMAAInncKu_rsz_t8c06vfpRrLklcC9k_9nW3XfGgFpfZzbaSxVQXTZfIMRjkCoOqZZsXL5DtqEQzWLzN57R_DvARWd5S8toOZufqs4YqG_JYi8VPVt9iCgK0yr7QysOECQpXzoCY/s1600/2013-08-13+18.48.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9djMAAInncKu_rsz_t8c06vfpRrLklcC9k_9nW3XfGgFpfZzbaSxVQXTZfIMRjkCoOqZZsXL5DtqEQzWLzN57R_DvARWd5S8toOZufqs4YqG_JYi8VPVt9iCgK0yr7QysOECQpXzoCY/s320/2013-08-13+18.48.42.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And last but not least I became a dad again: </div>
<div>
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This is what he looks like now: </div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMIyWPMTzWLBo7b2se2qLjqpH88vkaU6JnnZ0hVJodN0Nui3QjBCjoizpQNsoJGgfYBqTiumC6EPf3d4cRYlWcqQqAo4-depMNHqag0RlDz80uK49Gj-Y5QAq3El6DnBKc5rOK1Vcxa0/s1600/IMAG0072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMIyWPMTzWLBo7b2se2qLjqpH88vkaU6JnnZ0hVJodN0Nui3QjBCjoizpQNsoJGgfYBqTiumC6EPf3d4cRYlWcqQqAo4-depMNHqag0RlDz80uK49Gj-Y5QAq3El6DnBKc5rOK1Vcxa0/s320/IMAG0072.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With his big sister</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
So that about wraps it up for this amazing year. 2014 is going to have to work pretty hard to top this.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I won't be posting again until January, but I plan to make more sweet tamales, possibly some turkey <i>pozole</i>, <i>tacos de cuitlacoche</i> in a <i>pasilla</i> chile sauce with toasted walnuts and tarragon, and maybe have another go at <i>sopaipillas</i>, because they actually were pretty amazing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the meantime I will be launching my Christmas blogs, <a href="http://thetwelvedaysofcrap-mas.blogspot.com/">The Twelve Days of Crap-mas</a> and the <a href="http://12daysofrockmas.blogspot.co.uk/">Twelve Days of Rock-mas</a>, which count down the 12 worst and best Christmas songs, in my opinion at least. This all kicks off today.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Nothing Mexican in these blogs, but stop by if you want a good laugh.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
¡Feliz navidad y próspero año nuevo a todos!</div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-10893696560884620542013-12-07T23:21:00.000+00:002013-12-07T23:21:23.857+00:00Leftover turkey, Mexican style: enchiladas (with La Costeña Doña Chonita mole)<script type="text/javascript">
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So a couple weeks ago it was Thanksgiving, and since I'm American I basically force my Scottish family to eat a big-ass traditional turkey dinner with me, even though we're going to have another one in less than a month.<br />
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(To be fair, I've never heard anyone in Scotland complain about getting two turkey dinners a year.)</div>
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But what do you do with your leftovers when you're also MexiGeek?</div>
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Well, for me, leftover turkey means only one thing: <i>enmoladas</i>!</div>
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Most Americans have heard of <i>enchiladas</i>. Even a fair few Brits have heard the word, though I have yet to see a proper enchilada served in the UK.</div>
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Well, "<i>enchilada</i>" means "(tortilla) smothered in chile sauce". But in Mexico you can smother a filled tortilla in anything.</div>
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If you smother it in bean sauce it's an <i>enfrijolada</i>. If you smother it in tomato sauce it's an <i>entomatada</i>. And if you smother it in mole it's an <i>enmolada</i>.</div>
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Of course, the purpose of a leftover dish is too be quick and easy. It should be pieced together with stuff you already have lying around.</div>
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In Mexico, you would always have tortillas to use up (enchiladas and their variations are usually made with stale tortillas briefly fried to "revive" them), and if it's the day after a holiday, there's a good chance you have some mole in the fridge as well.</div>
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This ain't necessarily the case outside Mexico.</div>
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One of the things I never shit like shut up about is how I made my own <i>mole poblano</i> one year. And I definitely did use the leftovers to make <i>enmoladas</i>.</div>
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But this year I had a little help from my friends at La Costeña, who sent me loads of awesome products from their Doña Chonita range, including <i>mole poblano</i>.</div>
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La Costeña is a well-known brand of Mexican food and ingredients. Unlike some brands, they are actually a Mexican company, and their core costumer base comprises Mexicans cooking in Mexico.</div>
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However, they have been expanding their international market, which is a great windfall for all of us, because of the high quality and authenticity of their products. </div>
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Two things from La Costeña I find indispensable throughout the year are their tinned tomatillos (essential when fresh ones are out of season) and their <i>chipotles en adobo</i> (my favourite brand; I cook with these a lot).</div>
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Their Doña Chonita range are ready-to-serve salsas, <i>moles</i>, etc, that you can just pour into a saucepan, heat up, and use.</div>
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So this mole, a leftover pack of tortillas and some shredded Thanksgiving turkey made for about the quickest <i>enmoladas </i>ever.</div>
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Seriously, this was the first time I ever plated up a Mexican dish less than 30 minutes after starting the prep.</div>
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I put the oven on to 160° C fan, then opened the <i>mole </i>and began heating it over medium. </div>
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You want it warm, but don't burn this beautiful sauce. Keep an eye on it and stir frequently.</div>
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Then I shredded the turkey by hand and fried it in about 10 g of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil.</div>
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When the turkey read warm through I added just enough <i>mole </i>to the pan to coat the turkey completely.<br />
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Then I filled some tortillas with the turkey, rolled them up, put them in an oven-safe dish and covered with the rest of the <i>mole</i>.</div>
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Ten minutes in the oven and they were done. I topped them with crumbled queso fresco from Gringa Dairy before serving.<br />
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This is gringo-style cooking, but delicious none the less. (In Mexico you would fry corn tortillas, then dip them in <i>mole</i> before folding them around the turkey.)</div>
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The <i>mole</i>, which after all was the star of the dish, was excellent. It had a real depth of flavour that you could only really top by spending four days making your own from scratch.</div>
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A lot of non-Mexicans are unsure about <i>mole </i>because it famously contains chocolate (as well as 23 or more other ingredients).</div>
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Of course, <i>mole </i>looks like chocolate sauce because of its rich brown colour, but this <i>mole</i> doesn't taste overpoweringly of chocolate because it has such a good balance of its many ingredients. </div>
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It also has a noticeable chile zing, which is important because the real stars of <i>mole</i> are the Holy Trinity of Chiles: <i>anchos, mulatos</i>, and <i>pasillas</i>.<br />
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I'm always an advocate of making your own <i>mole</i>, if you have four days and 23 ingredients handy, but most of us don't, besides which it's a good idea to try products like these so you can get an idea of what <i>mole</i> is supposed to taste like.<br />
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Anyway, although I made this after Thanksgiving, Christmas is coming up, and I reckon we're all getting pretty tired of turkey curry. Trust me, there's no substitute for turkey <i>enmoladas</i>. </div>
Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-88913641943692299462013-11-19T21:31:00.000+00:002013-11-19T22:13:22.414+00:00Experimental Mexican Hot Toddy (version 1)<script type="text/javascript">
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In Scotland we do this thing when the weather gets cold and you discover that you have a sore throat.</div>
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We mix whisky, honey, hot water, a dash of lemon juice, and some warming spices and sip it slowly until we completely forget that we were miserable in the first place.</div>
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This is called a "hot toddy", and I believe it has caught on in other countries.</div>
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A while ago it occurred to me you could probably make a Mexican version by substituting the "Scottish" ingredients for corresponding Mexican ones.</div>
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But wait: doesn't Mexico have its own certain already?</div>
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Mexico certainly does have its fair share of hot drinks, both with and without alcohol. However, Mexico has a very different climate from Scotland. Even in the dead of winter you're not going to be as desperate to curl up under a blanket with what is essentially a sweetened hot whisky and hide from the freezing rain and the darkness that sets in at 4pm.</div>
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So this is purely an experiment; I will doubtless have to refine it and perfect it some more before I call it a success. But here's what I've got so far.</div>
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The starting point is a one-to-one substitution of the original ingredients with Mexican ones. I also added some chile, because why not?</div>
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<b>Ingredientes</b><br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx52zJ48Su9NwPHeKfnIstZu70dgMMa4X0EPcppLj1f0dVa7NqDNSMKKjwOu1_eaBoNgLLiJsaSmYS0_zWBn-kVdPxFuOAZrlFA9ViWzQLPpoC2ZnJnd74l6Rg2MkL2mk5XrdraxqiZ8/s1600/DSC_0153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx52zJ48Su9NwPHeKfnIstZu70dgMMa4X0EPcppLj1f0dVa7NqDNSMKKjwOu1_eaBoNgLLiJsaSmYS0_zWBn-kVdPxFuOAZrlFA9ViWzQLPpoC2ZnJnd74l6Rg2MkL2mk5XrdraxqiZ8/s320/DSC_0153.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don Agustín añejo almost tastes like whisky anyway</td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1 tsp agave nectar (instead of honey)</blockquote>
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1 shot of tequila, preferably añejo (instead of whisky)</blockquote>
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3 allspice berries (taking a cue from the Yucatán) </blockquote>
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Lime juice (instead of lemon juice)</blockquote>
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A dash of <i>tajín</i> or a couple <i>piquín</i> chiles</blockquote>
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Hot water</blockquote>
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<b>Procedimiento</b><br>
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Basically, put everything in a mug and give it a stir.</div>
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If you're using <i>tajín</i>, sprinkle it on top just before drinking; if you're using the dried chiles, they'll need to be in the mug at the start so they can steep and release their flavour (and heat).</div>
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<b>Result</b><br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_HldABmqwB5iF0m7Zrkj3RPcs4w9j5fOBEvmDUgJKBoiYUmkXnMn61Oc2Lys1Qj1pUoHmvmIPQXsE21ac9-eMr77vtvd4z6OvZ9ecRdx1KaJcwegsp93rUBZ1QfwtMMVcfmDUZatIKo/s1600/DSC_0154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_HldABmqwB5iF0m7Zrkj3RPcs4w9j5fOBEvmDUgJKBoiYUmkXnMn61Oc2Lys1Qj1pUoHmvmIPQXsE21ac9-eMr77vtvd4z6OvZ9ecRdx1KaJcwegsp93rUBZ1QfwtMMVcfmDUZatIKo/s320/DSC_0154.jpg" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicioso!</td></tr>
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My initial worry was the lime juice: would it clash with the agave and the allspice?</div>
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It didn't. In fact, it was such a good addition I used more than I originally intended (about half a lime for one serving).</div>
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My second concern was the chile. I was going to make it optional. Turns out it's not optional. It really makes this drink.</div>
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You might think it's strange putting chile in a drink that's meant to soothe a sore throat, but as always, you add the chile to taste. If you don't overdo it, you'll get a pleasant tingle in your mouth that won't actually reach your throat.</div>
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Also, if you have a sore throat, chances are you have other symptoms of a cold as well. Chiles are full of vitamins and antioxidants to help you get well, and are the best decongestant ever.</div>
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What ended up not bringing much to the party was the allspice. I had high hopes for this, but it was undetectable on the palate. This drink was all lime, tequila, and chile.</div>
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In that respect, it was somewhat like a warm <i>margarita</i>, which led me to question whether it needs the agave nectar either. But I have decided to keep it in for now because it adds texture as well as flavour, giving the drink a somewhat more silky mouthfeel.</div>
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Next steps: try steeping the allspice berries to boost their flavour before I cut them out completely. And maybe up the chile heat as well.</div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-20633551018310216142013-11-05T21:23:00.000+00:002013-11-05T21:23:22.656+00:00Tamale Pie (no, really)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I still remember when I first got <i>Two </i><i>Cooks </i><i>and a </i><i>Suitcase</i>, the Lupe Pintos cookbook that effectively launched my journey into authentic Mexican food.</div>
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Near the beginning Doug Bell and Rhoda Robertson wrote "if you make only one recipe from this book, make tamales or tamale pie". I made both on the same night.</div>
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Now, "tamale pie" isn't something I remember eating as a kid. In California we mostly have <i>norteña</i> style tamales with a savoury filling, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed.</div>
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But the amazing thing about tamales is that they have about a million variations throughout Mexico.</div>
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One of those variations is a kind of tamale pie called <i>Muk-Bil Pollo</i>, typical of the Yucatán.</div>
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(The Yucatán is one of the regions where Doug Bell and Rhoda Robertson lived in Mexico; <i>Two Cooks and a Suitcase</i> is teeming with Yucatecan recipes.)</div>
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So this year, for <i>día de los muertos</i>, I decided to make a tamale pie as a kind of simplified version of <i>Muk-Bil Pollo.</i></div>
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With limited success.</div>
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The main issue with anything <i>tamal</i>-related is time, because you but only have to mix up some <i>tamal</i> dough, but also make a filling, and then the dish will need 45 minutes to an hour's cooking time.</div>
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For the pie version, you can dispense with the faff of rolling the tamales into corn husks, but this doesn't save as much time as I'd hoped.</div>
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The other issue I had in particular was the filling itself. I read a traditional recipe for <i>Muk-Bil Pollo</i> and found it was another of these <i>achiote</i>-marinated fillings, which I've been eating a lot of recently.</div>
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I simplified the dish by omitting the pork (<i>Muk-Bil Pollo</i> is traditionally a combination of chicken and pork) and the banana leaves (again, traditionally you would wrap the pie in a banana leaf before baking it).</div>
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Even so, I was cooking for several hours.</div>
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The finished dish was good. But it wasn't really<i> </i><i>great</i>. It was certainly not the best thing I've ever put into a <i>tamal.</i></div>
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However, the kids loved it (I made them a <i>chile</i>-free version); my four-year-old ate about twice as much of it as she usually does of things I cook.</div>
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I just kind of ended up wishing it was filled with <i>pollo en salsa verde</i>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Definitely not <i>pollo en salsa verde</i></td></tr>
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If you want too make this, you'll need to make the filling first.</div>
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I poached some chicken breasts with a quartered white onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 10 black peppercorns, and a teaspoon of Mexican oregano.</div>
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Then I shredded the chicken and reserved the stock for the <i>tamal</i> dough.</div>
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I roasted some red, yellow and green bell peppers on a hot dry frying pan until they blackened a bit, then cut them into strips (<i>rajas</i>).</div>
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I made a sauce by <b><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/reconstituting%20dried%20chiles">reconstituting two <i>chiles guajillos</i></a></b> and blending them with one recipe of <b><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/recado-rojo-yucatecan-achiote-paste.html"><i>recado </i><i>rojo</i></a></b>, adding enough of the chiles' soaking water to make it a loose, pourable sauce.</div>
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Then I diced half a red onion and sweated it for a few minutes in a frying pan over medium high.</div>
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Then I added the <i>rajas</i> and fried them a few minutes more.</div>
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Then I added the shredded chicken and fried it until the chicken took on some texture.</div>
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Then I added the sauce and continued cooking until everything was heated through.</div>
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For the <i>tamal</i> dough, I sifted 300 g<i> </i>of<i> masa harina</i> with 1/3 tsp of baking powder.</div>
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Then I poured in 150 g of melted butter (you can also use pork lard) and mixed it gently until it was fully incorporated. <br /></div>
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Then I gradually poured in 250 mL of chicken stock, mixing all the time, until I had a soft dough.</div>
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Then I greased a casserole dish, lined the bottom and sides with dough about 5 cm thick.</div>
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Then I added the filling and covered it with the remaining dough. This is hard, because if you pat the dough down too hard the filling will squidge out.</div>
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Cover the dish and bake at 180° C for 45 minutes.</div>
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I sold this to my kids as "Mexican cornbread", and it does have a "breadier" texture than steamed tamales, verging on being too dry. It's possible I overbaked it slightly, or perhaps if I'd used the banana leaves I could have preserved some of the moisture.</div>
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In any case, I have to admit I still prefer steamed tamales, especially considering that tamale pie isn't much less work. </div>
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If you're going to spend three straight hours in the kitchen you might as well have classic tamales.</div>
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I served the tamale pie with some <i>salsa </i><i>verde</i> I got from La Costeña, which was very good and the perfect complement to the richness of the filling.</div>
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On the side I whipped up a "winter salad" of watercress, avocado, sliced radish, satsumas, and pomegranates, with a dressing of lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, and minced shallot. Delicious!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the highlight of the meal.</td></tr>
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Next year I think I'll opt for pumpkin and chorizo tamales. Can't go wrong with that!</div>
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By the way: if you wanna have a go at this but don't wanna use the same filling, try poaching the chicken and prepping the <i>rajas</i> as above, but fry them in <i>salsa </i><i>verde</i> (store-bought or homemade) instead of the <i>achiote</i> sauce. You can even loosen it up with a bit of <i>crema</i> or sour cream. Simple but delicious.</div>
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And on a final geeky note, in Spanish, the singular of <i>tamales</i> is <i>tamal</i>, but in English <i>tamale</i> is an acceptable singular. </div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-8910925465662369462013-10-20T14:35:00.001+01:002013-10-20T14:35:44.863+01:00Breakfast with MexiGeek: the ugliest sopaipillas ever<div dir="ltr">
So my mom sent me a small city's worth of Mexican groceries. Seriously, I could feed a suburb of Ensenada for twenty-four hours.</div>
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Among this collection was <u>a</u> packet of <i>sopaipilla</i> mix. As in add hot water to make a dough, roll it out, fry it, <i>y provecho</i>.</div>
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I did NOT grow up eating <i>sopaipillas</i>. In fact, I first heard of them when we moved to Colorado and went to this god-awful "Mexican" restaurant called Casa Bonita.</div>
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There were queues around the block to get in, but that doesn't because of the food. The restaurant was also a D-List amusement park with cliff-diving displays, a taking volcano, and other tacky crap like that.</div>
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And they have you free <i>sopaipillas</i> with honey as long as you kept pumping quarters into the arcade games.</div>
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So if you don't know, <i>sopaipillas</i> are basically a variation of flour tortilla dough fried until it goes puffy. You can dust them with cinnamon and sugar or tear a hole in them and fill it with honey. Or dip them in your Mexican <i>chocolate</i>.</div>
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I would have been happy to add these to the list of Things That Aren't Really Mexican, along with nachos and fajitas. Then I read in one of Diana Kennedy's books that she had found them in a small town in Chihuahua. So they're really Mexican after all.</div>
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I just added warm water to the mix to make the dough, but I did some research and found that <i>sopaipillas</i> contain about half the fat of flour tortillas, so this is my estimate of a recipe:</div>
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250 g flour<br />40 g vegetable shortening<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
1/2 cup (75 mL) warm water</div>
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I'm guessing what you'd do is sift the flour and salt together, then work the (softened) shortening into the flour, like the start of making pastry. This, by the way, is one of those times when traditionally you'd use pork lard. I've found evidence that shortening makes a good substitute, but I haven't come across a recipe that uses butter, so I wouldn't recommend trying that. </div>
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Because of the lower ratio of fat to flour, don't expect this to get a breadcrumb texture. And when I opened my pre-mixed packet, it still seemed like the consistency and texture of normal flour. </div>
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Add your warm water in a little at a time, trying to incorporate the water fully before adding more. This is to make sure the dough isn't sticky. You probably won't need the entire 75 mLs. If your dough does go sticky, add more white flour a dessertspoon at a time until it isn't sticky any more. </div>
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Now knead this dough like you're on <i>The Great British Bake-Off</i>. Because this is a wheat flour dough it has glutens, so you can even do that thing where you slap it down on the work top. </div>
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Then let it rest for five minutes. </div>
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Now roll it out to about 1/8 inch thick. I was so impressed by the elasticity (remember, corn tortillas have no gluten, so they're not stretchy at all), that I flipped and stretched it like pizza dough!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolled out. I think this is thin enough</td></tr>
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I was advised to cut it into 3 inch squares, but for some reason I chose to make "mini-<i>sopaipillas</i>". Keeping with the pizza theme, I used a pizza cutter.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was not going for a Michelin-Star finish here</td></tr>
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Now, the key to this is to get the oil hot. I heated about a half-inch of sunflower oil in a high-sided wide-bottomed pan until the oil was shimmering and nearly smoking. </div>
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Then I carefully lay the irregular squares of dough into the oil. They puffed almost instantly. I flipped them once they seemed brown on the under-side, and removed them once they were brown on both sides.</div>
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The instructions on the packet specified they should be brown. I never noticed that they were brown when I had them at Casa Bonita, because the lighting was so "subdued". This was probably so no one could get a look at their disgusting food which almost certainly came out of packets of Old El Paso hastily mixed together by disenchanted teenage gringos who would rather be somewhere else. </div>
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There was enough to make two batches of mini <i>sopaipillas</i>. The first batch, to be honest, got a little too brown. By which I mean slightly burnt. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We'll just call them "caramelized"</td></tr>
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The second batch turned out much better. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this is what they're supposed to look like. Sort of.</td></tr>
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And to be fair, both batches went down a treat. Mrs MexiGeek and both little kiddy MexiGeeks loved them. (Baby MexiGeek had a savoury one filled with cream cheese.)</div>
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I tried them with honey, agave nectar (runnier than honey so it leaked out. Not recommended), and Luchito Honey, which was awesome. I also had some peaches on the side and they complimented the Luchito Honey nicely. </div>
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I don't have any pictures of this plated up, because my then my hands were too sticky to touch my phone. </div>
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Although this was never top of my list of things to cook, I was actually so impressed that I will consider making them again, from scratch. Which will give me a chance to test my estimated recipe. </div>
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Lastly, to show you what I mean about Casa Bonita, watch this video. And remember: this place is real.</div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-36355079775570481422013-10-18T13:23:00.000+01:002013-10-18T17:32:08.447+01:00KANKUN tacos al pastor<script type="text/javascript">
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<i>Tacos</i><i> </i><i>al </i><i>pastor</i> means "shepherd's tacos". I would expect British readers to have visions of mince and peas and carrots topped with mashed potato.</div>
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But "shepherd's tacos" has nothing to do with shepherd's pie. In fact, I don't think it has anything to do with shepherds, really.</div>
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Whereas in the US tacos have been corrupted by Taco Bell into a ridiculous (usually stale) U-shaped crispy thing nearly always stuffed with the same hardly Mexican ground beef filling, in Mexico a taco is usually a fresh (soft) corn tortilla which can be filled with just about anything.</div>
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There's even a verb, <i>taquear</i>, which means "to put (something) in a taco".</div>
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And yet despite this endless possibility, there are some fillings which are so popular they can be put on a Top Ten Favourite Tacos list. If <i>tacos </i><i>al </i><i>pastor</i> is not top of that list, it's got to be pretty close.</div>
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But that doesn't mean you can get them outside of Mexico.</div>
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I myself first heard of them in the book <i>Fiesta </i><i>en </i><i>la </i><i>madriguera</i>. And a lot of Mexpat food bloggers complain of how much they miss them.</div>
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So what are they? <i>Tacos </i><i>al </i><i>pastor</i> are pork and pineapple tacos in a spicy sweet and sour sauce made of chiles and <i>achiote</i> paste (<i>recado </i><i>rojo</i>).</div>
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I've read one recipe that uses <i>chiles guajillos</i> for the chile element, but my preference is for <i>chipotles</i>.</div>
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And one of the best - and most authentically Mexican-tasting - chipotle sauces you can buy is from <a href="http://kankunsauce.com/"><b>KANKUN</b></a>.</div>
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Now, before we get to the recipe, I have to warn you: these are "<i>al </i><i>pastor</i>-style" tacos, rather than literal <i>tacos </i><i>al </i><i>pastor</i>. The reason for this is that there's more to these tacos than the sauce.</div>
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Normally you'd expect Mexican pork tacos to use fried pork or slow-cooked <i>carnitas</i>. You wouldn't expect this:</div>
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Again, I'm sure my British readers are thinking "Kebabs!"</div>
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And indeed, these most popular of Mexican tacos were apparently first developed by Lebanese immigrants! Which just goes to show that Mexico, home of one of the world's first "fusion cuisines", remains adventurous and open-minded even it comes to food.</div>
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However, this also means that in the absence of a spit-roaster you can't make proper <i>tacos </i><i>al </i><i>pastor</i> at home. The flavour will be right, but the texture of the meat will not be quite the same.</div>
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One Mexpat blogger, Mely from <a href="http://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/"><b>Mexico in my Kitchen</b></a> was driven to extremes to replicate the authentic texture:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's one hell of a piece of kit, Mely!</td></tr>
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Perhaps we could all get together and ask the UK's kebab shops to add <i>tacos </i><i>al </i><i>pastor</i> to their menus. Who's with me?</div>
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<i><b><br /></b></i></div>
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<i><b>KANKUN pastor-style tacos</b></i></div>
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<b>Ingredientes</b></div>
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500 - 750 g pork shoulder for<i> carnitas</i><br />
Half a pineapple, diced (I actually used tinned pineapple)<br />
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1 red onion, diced</div>
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<a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/recado-rojo-yucatecan-achiote-paste.html"><b>1 recipe <i>recado </i><i>rojo</i></b></a> (about 50 g)<br />
4 tbsp KANKUN Chipotle Sauce<br />
90 - 100 mL pineapple juice<br />
A few pieces of diced pineapple</div>
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Tortillas and some extra KANKUN (to serve)</div>
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<b>Procedimiento</b></div>
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First make <i>carnitas</i>: trim the gristle from your pork, rub it with some ground spices like black pepper, allspice, a dash of cinnamon and a pinch of cumin, put in a casserole dish, cover with about 500 mL of water (taking care not to wash off the spices), cover and roast at 180° C (160° fan) for 3 - 5 hours.</div>
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When it's done, shred it and leave it to one side.</div>
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This recipe works really well with leftover <i>carnitas</i>. Or, you could dice the pork shoulder, marinate it in the sauce (see below) for at least an hour (preferably overnight), then brown it in a frying pan along with the red onion, then cover and stick it in the oven at 160° C (fan) for an hour.</div>
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Now make the sauce. Blend the <i>recado </i><i>rojo</i> (<i>achiote</i> paste) with the KANKUN Chipotle sauce and a few chunks of pineapple. Then add the pineapple juice a bit at a time until the sauce is thin but not watery. If you're using diced pork shoulder, this is what you use as a marinade.</div>
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If you're using <i>carnitas</i>, heat some oil in a pan and sweat the onion. Then fry the <i>carnitas</i> until they take on a bit of texture. Now add the sauce and continue cooking until the pork is completely covered and heated through. Then add the pineapple and continue frying a few minutes longer. </div>
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Serve with warm tortillas (preferably homemade corn tortillas, though I once made this into a <b><a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/burritos-al-pastor.html">burrito</a></b>) and a little extra KANKUN Chipotle sauce on the side.</div>
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The combination of the inimitable <i>achiote</i> paste with the smoky chipotle heat and the sweet and sharp pineapple is unbelievably addictive. I can really see why these are so popular.</div>
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Mrs MexiGeek called it a kind of Mexican Sweet and Sour, and there definitely is something "Asian" in the flavour profile, which isn't surprising considering the origin of these tacos.</div>
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If you've never tried <i>tacos al pastor</i>, you really need to. It's one of those things that will re-educate you about the flavours of Mexican food. And maybe some day we'll even get them from kebab shops!</div>
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Also, my mom sent me some jicama, so I whipped up a "Mexican raita" out of jicama and cucumber in sour cream and lime juice, sprinkled with some <i>tajin</i> of course, and served on the side. I "julienned" the jicama but peeled, seeded, and diced the cucumber. The <i>tacos al pastor</i> are pretty spicy, so it's good to have a "cooling" constrast dish on the side. </div>
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This recipe uses a fair bit of KANKUN (nearly 100 mL). Obviously I went for "hot". They make a mild version as well, if you're not such a heat freak. However I should warn you that it's Mexican mild, which is still pretty hot. For Edinburgh locals think of the so-called "mild" curries at Kebab Mahal.</div>
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One of the many reasons I love this sauce!</div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-36060248697000433332013-10-14T21:31:00.003+01:002013-10-14T21:31:55.073+01:00Quick post on mole verde<script type="text/javascript">
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I don't usually do this, but someone was asking for a recipe for this on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/MexiGeek/451339714886590?ref=tn_tnmn"><b>Facebook </b></a>page, and since my blog backlog is now so long, it may be a while before I get to post the full dish.</div>
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So over the weekend I made <i>mole </i><i>verde</i>, which some people (including me) believe is the same thing as <i>pipián</i>. (Both are a rich Mexican stew/sauce thickened with pumpkin seeds.)</div>
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I haven't made all seven yet, but I believe this is the easiest of the <i>moles</i>. And this is how you make it.</div>
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<b>Ingredientes</b></div>
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<ul>
<li>6 tomatillos</li>
<li>100 g pumpkin seeds, hulled (I used half pumpkin seeds and half sesame seeds; some recipes even add peanuts)</li>
<li>1/2 a white onion</li>
<li>3 cloves of garlic</li>
<li>Green chiles to taste (I used 2 chiles serranos, 1 chile jalapeño, and about half of a chile poblano)</li>
<li>A bunch of coriander</li>
<li>1tsp of dried epazote</li>
<li>10 black peppercorns</li>
<li>2 cloves</li>
<li>A 5 cm stick of Mexican cinnamon</li>
<li>A pinch of cumin seeds (say, 1/8 tsp)</li>
<li>Stock (homemade if possible)</li>
<li>Salt</li>
<li>Oil or lard for frying</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUsiMa4nZHmCMAgHyJe7Yw1gl71ViNjIG9NTvAIC9YELPgh43IzF8d6eZ5Hp4C-QZVHs8Im_c0sIUd5mLR_NJPa7qWX-oVocPe1309U3ZfeGmWVMdHbv579D8EI_B90NZII1icPuYTIw/s1600/DSC_0104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUsiMa4nZHmCMAgHyJe7Yw1gl71ViNjIG9NTvAIC9YELPgh43IzF8d6eZ5Hp4C-QZVHs8Im_c0sIUd5mLR_NJPa7qWX-oVocPe1309U3ZfeGmWVMdHbv579D8EI_B90NZII1icPuYTIw/s320/DSC_0104.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This, plus some stock, is about all you need</td></tr>
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<b>Procedimiento</b></div>
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Peel the papery husks off the tomatillos and rinse them well under warm water - their skins will be sticky. Boil them for about ten minutes until they go a paler, translucent shade of green, just like tinned tomatillos.</div>
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If you're using tinned tomatillos in the first place, just open the tin and drain them.</div>
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You may recall that when making salsa verde I opt for roasting the raw tomatillos on a hot dry frying pan or <i>comal</i>. I still think that gives the best flavour for salsa verde, even though it's non-tradish. But for this recipe I go by the book and boil the tomatillos.</div>
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While the tomatillos are boiling, heat a dry frying pan over a quite high heat. Put the pumpkin seeds in the pan wait until the first one pops. Then stir constantly until they all (pretty much) pop. </div>
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Remove them and let them cool slightly, then grind them in a <i>molcajete </i>(mortar and pestle).</div>
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If you're using any other nuts or seeds, repeat with one kind at a time, but stir constantly from the start, add most seeds will burn quickly (especially sesame seeds).</div>
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Roast the garlic in the pan with the skin still on until it comes up in black spots on all sides. Let it cool. The skins should come off easily.</div>
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If you're using whole spices, toast each kind separately in the hot dry frying pan until it releases its aroma, then remove and grind as with the seeds/nuts.</div>
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(The spices are only a guide, by the way. You can use any or all or none of these. The seasoning will be subtle in the finished sauce, but you'll know they're there. Don't use too much, though, because these are warm spices and you don't want to clash with the fresh green flavours.)</div>
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If you're using a <i>chile poblano</i>, use tongs to hold it over the open flame on your hob until the skin blisters on all sides, like this:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back in black!</td></tr>
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Put the <i>poblano</i> in a sealed plastic bag to cool for a few minutes, then peel the blackened skin off. Stem and seed the chile.</div>
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The other two types of chiles I just stemmed and sliced into rings. Because I like it hot. </div>
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Roughly chop the onion. </div>
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Put everything <b>except the seeds/nuts, spices, and stock</b> into a blender and blend to a smooth texture. Don't worry about over-blending, because the finished sauce should be very smooth. </div>
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At this point you basically have a kind of <i>salsa verde</i>.</div>
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Now add the seeds/nuts and spices to the blender, about a quarter at a time, and continue blending. The sauce will get paler and thicker each time you add more of the pumpkin seed/spice mixture. By the end it will be very thick. </div>
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Heat some oil or lard in a pan. when it's hot enough to make a drop of the sauce sizzle, add all the sauce (it will take some doing to scrape all of it out of the blender; I use a hand-blender and a plastic jar so I don't have to worry about the blades).</div>
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Stir constantly for a couple minutes until the sauce thickens even more. Then start adding the stock a little at a time until the sauce thins to a pourable consistency. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's nearly ready!</td></tr>
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Taste for salt. If you're using a stock cube, you probably won't need any more salt. If you're using homemade stock, you may well do. </div>
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The best way to get your own stock is to poach some chicken breasts with a chopped up onion, a couple cloves of garlic, maybe some celery and carrots, a sprig of some kind of herb like oregano, maybe some black peppercorns, etc. </div>
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The chicken will go great with the finished <i>mole</i> and you can use the poaching water as a stock. Just add the chicken breasts to the simmering sauce in time for it to heat all the way through. Then serve on a bed of <i>arroz a la poblana</i> (which will use up the other half of that <i>poblano</i> chile you'll have spent twenty minutes prepping).</div>
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This may well be my favourite Mexican sauce ever. </div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-72486361669582818372013-10-05T10:23:00.001+01:002013-10-05T10:23:37.080+01:00Breakfast with MexiGeek: Mexican Egg-Fried Rice with KANKUN Chipotle sauce<p dir=ltr>So when I made <i>cochinita </i><i>pibil</i> with KANKUN habanero sauce, I served it with Mexican red rice <i>(</i><i>arroz a </i><i>la </i><i>mexicana</i>).</p>
<p dir=ltr>At least it was meant to be Mexican red rice, but I didn't put enough tomato in it, so it wasn't really very red.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Still delicious though.</p>
<p dir=ltr>I had some rice left over, so the next morning I heated up some butter and fried the rice until it was cooked through.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Then I cracked an egg into the pan, doused it with some KANKUN chipotle sauce, and scrambled the egg into the rice.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Then I put it all in a flour tortilla, added some more KANKUN, ¡y provecho!</p>
<p dir=ltr>Simple but delicious.</p>
<p dir=ltr><b>Mexican </b><b>Red </b><b>Rice</b></p>
<p dir=ltr><i>Ingredients</i><br>
1 cup rice<br>
2 cups stock<br>
1 white onion, diced<br>
1 carrot, peeled and diced<br>
Peas (defrosted if using frozen)<br>
4 tomatoes, roasted on a <i>comal</i> or a dry frying pan<br>
Oil or fat for frying</p>
<p dir=ltr><b>Preparation</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>Heat the oil <u>in</u> pot with a heavy bottom and high sides.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Add the onion and fry until translucent, then add the rice and fry a few minutes more.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Add the carrot and fry a few minutes until the carrot begins to soften.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Blitz the tomatoes to a smooth puree. </p>
<p dir=ltr>Add the stock to the rice; then add the tomato puree and the peas.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, partially cover, and let cook for about ten or fifteen minutes (until the rice is fully cooked).</p>
<p dir=ltr>I only used two tomatoes, so my rice wasn't very red.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZjAbFsmD5WAhtUOtXtjrLhXPrPasMflxKVP8mMFQRpwuNV5qcC-fOHwb5RiuxRS7dMkd12KnIWqHbQMwpfi1IRa9alssFxySRO2QysBd1atop06pH6XcA1Cs0HPTqh0hknRnhw28vD4/s1600/IMG_20131005_095159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZjAbFsmD5WAhtUOtXtjrLhXPrPasMflxKVP8mMFQRpwuNV5qcC-fOHwb5RiuxRS7dMkd12KnIWqHbQMwpfi1IRa9alssFxySRO2QysBd1atop06pH6XcA1Cs0HPTqh0hknRnhw28vD4/s640/IMG_20131005_095159.jpg"> </a> </div>Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-57177942524648174032013-09-29T21:51:00.000+01:002013-10-01T13:29:27.565+01:00Spicy KANKUN Cochinita Pibil<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeZBXSpRQFhT3lsobxHrRzboZvdhAgRPwMEOxejFtu0CLFxHco_mqa83uEzUp3v-G0jimkvUpPsapLgZewdCFc_loSoM58-MURoBjvkUE1KdKG4Tahvvf2k1-lWCw9qm9MQntU1VALiE/s1600/DSC_0079_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeZBXSpRQFhT3lsobxHrRzboZvdhAgRPwMEOxejFtu0CLFxHco_mqa83uEzUp3v-G0jimkvUpPsapLgZewdCFc_loSoM58-MURoBjvkUE1KdKG4Tahvvf2k1-lWCw9qm9MQntU1VALiE/s320/DSC_0079_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lookin' for some hot stuff, baby, this evening?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">As a fan of Mexican salsas, extremely hot chile sauces, and KANKUN in particular, I was excited to get a couple bottles of their <b>85% Habanero sauce</b> in the post.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I repeat, "a couple bottles".</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">85% habanero is, as they say, <i>muy picante</i>, so this supply will last me a while.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">While I'm a big fan of pouring hot chile sauces on everything I eat, I have also been trying to think of ways to use this salsa as an ingredient. And because habaneros are typical of the Yucatán, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make <i>cochinita pibil</i>.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I last wrote about Yucatecan pit-cooked (<i>pibil</i>) dishes when I made <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/mexican-things-you-can-do-with-seville.html"><i>pollo pibil</i></a> (<i>pibil</i>-style chicken). And ever since I've been looking forward to making the equally popular pork version: <i>cochinita pibil</i>.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">To recap, the <i>pibil</i> dishes are meant to be cooked in a Yucatecan cooking pit called a <i>pib</i> (it's a Mayan word). You dig a hole, line it with hot stones and ashes, lay your food in the pit (wrapped in a protective covering like a banana leaf), and bury the lot.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Then let it slow-cook to perfection!</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Well, I don't expect you to dig a hole in your back garden (if I tried this at home, Mrs MexiGeek would pit-roasting <i>me</i> in it).</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Instead, you can compromise by slow-cooking <i>cochinita pibil</i> in the oven.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">What you CAN'T compromise on, though, is the seasoning, which here means <i>achiote</i> paste.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><i>Achiote</i> paste or <i>recado rojo</i> is made with the hard red seeds of a tree native to the Americas. It is quite easy to make, lasts months in the fridge, freezes well, and is useful for other Yucatecan dishes (so don't be afraid to make a big batch).</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Even better, <i>recado rojo</i> is made of easy-to-find ingredients, except for the <i>achiote</i> itself, which is available from specialist shops and on-line suppliers (it is often sold as "annatto", the Brazilian name).</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsL4ujxmHoHxIjl_CzD9I7AJ_JANBLBfAPGOrZuFMPDjFbDCV_B1s_MpUjhu4qAcr_lAWsBQhTwbxZIUKQmpChRPZMWdPRVVA3mZzoA8thkciUNI-neRB50SyF8wSensI0H6VrbXAwp_I/s1600/IMG_20130924_222337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsL4ujxmHoHxIjl_CzD9I7AJ_JANBLBfAPGOrZuFMPDjFbDCV_B1s_MpUjhu4qAcr_lAWsBQhTwbxZIUKQmpChRPZMWdPRVVA3mZzoA8thkciUNI-neRB50SyF8wSensI0H6VrbXAwp_I/s320/IMG_20130924_222337.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homemade <i>achiote</i> paste and the <i>molcajete</i> it was made in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr">These same suppliers often sell ready-made <i>recado rojo</i>, so you can use that and save yourself a step.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">The other thing a <i>pibil</i> dish requires is the juice of Seville (or bitter) orange. These are available year-round in the Yucatán but are restricted to January in Europe.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I bought a big bag last year and froze the juice, so I'm sorted, but you can also make mock bitter orange juice by combining two parts grapefruit juice with one part orange juice, then adding a dash of lime juice.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">You can get the orange and grapefruit juices out of a carton but I would definitely recommend using fresh lime.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">All <i>pibil</i> dishes, whether cooked in an actual <i>pib </i>or not, are traditionally wrapped in a banana leaf, which not only keeps the meat soft and moist but also imparts a characteristic flavour.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Banana leaves are available from some Asian grocers (look for ones with Thai ingredients), but if you can't find any, just wrap the pork in parchment (<i>en papillotte</i>, as the French would say). </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">If you have a good quality casserole dish, you could even do without the parchment.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Or you could make this dish in a slow-cooker (whether you use banana leaves or not). </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><i><b>KANKUN Cochinita Pibil</b></i></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><b>Ingredientes</b></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><i>Marinade</i><br />
<a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/recado-rojo-yucatecan-achiote-paste.html"><b>1 recipe <i>recado </i><i>rojo</i></b></a> (about 50 g)<br />
90 - 100 mL Seville orange juice (or bitter orange substitute)<br />
1 - 2 teaspoons KANKUN Habanero Sauce (or to taste)</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><i>Pork</i><br />
1 - 1.5 kg pork shoulder or loin<br />
A banana leaf or cooking parchment (optional)</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><b>Procedimiento</b></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">First I made the marinade.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">In a bowl, I combined the <i>achiote</i> paste (<i>recado </i><i>rojo</i>) and Kan-Kun with enough Seville orange juice to loosen it to a pourable consistency. This turned out to be about 100 mL, which covered the pork nicely.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Then I added the KANKUN Habanero sauce. I used just about two teaspoons. Normally I would taste in between to get the balance right, but I'm not sure if you should eat raw <i>achiote</i> paste, so I had to test it using sense of smell.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">If the mainade is gritty (which is likely if you made it in a <i>molcajete</i>), blend it with a hand-blender until it's smooth.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sgC902FR597o9WmJEnCiDJHhINs-D3SLsTyawQBc6h9wnJ92cbnmUz4Hy6LtS_-cv1abIbtSqGGykYDI8B0qCnQvM7oUkkX60bdoJhZGhiAaoXnnDNRgXjTHMm8AFr9pBcBvxDk-A_Q/s1600/DSC_0072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sgC902FR597o9WmJEnCiDJHhINs-D3SLsTyawQBc6h9wnJ92cbnmUz4Hy6LtS_-cv1abIbtSqGGykYDI8B0qCnQvM7oUkkX60bdoJhZGhiAaoXnnDNRgXjTHMm8AFr9pBcBvxDk-A_Q/s320/DSC_0072.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The three <i>amigos </i>of the Yucatan: <i>achiote</i>, bitter orange, and habanero!.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr">Then I prepped the pork.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">My partner in crime <b><a href="http://www.weesadie.com/">Wee Sadie</a></b> had bought me banana leaves from a shop on Leith Walk ages ago. I started trying to unfold the leaves (they are HUGE) and cut two pieces large enough to line my casserole dish and wrap around the pork.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjh_WZZHpiADuFHchHWLCRsgOt27hAY-D1Pp4gpB6voULQuzz9fU9EfRHkyPbu7njLXGpOWTTf3U2vYYCqtWBI-19xIboWMNCw7p8O68IgDqcYQ3JAIZUfUHvRZzzfaVoxLBaORW9uTY/s1600/DSC_0069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjh_WZZHpiADuFHchHWLCRsgOt27hAY-D1Pp4gpB6voULQuzz9fU9EfRHkyPbu7njLXGpOWTTf3U2vYYCqtWBI-19xIboWMNCw7p8O68IgDqcYQ3JAIZUfUHvRZzzfaVoxLBaORW9uTY/s320/DSC_0069.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Please resist the temptation to steal banana leaves from the Royal Botanic Gardens.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>You will have to wipe the leaves clean and cut off any edges that are starting to go brown or curly. Some people also recommend you pass the leaves briefly though a flame so they soften a bit, but I found the ones I used were malleable enough without this step.<br />
<br />
Handle them carefully, though, because they do like to rip at the seams!<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr">I lined a casserole dish with one of the leaves, laid the pork in the dish, and poured over the marinade. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT14MX_eEhNVYZqlFkDFNAOZoA5sTDGFWB_vvlmjUzYR_6iHjzgZK-PZpslQs_x3b1yEMiYlj7OHPGbPzFvW0v66TW-A7fe9WMuP6W5k7pHmZfT4vVGU3NkJr_ZWvaE9OeGnColujngrs/s1600/DSC_0070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT14MX_eEhNVYZqlFkDFNAOZoA5sTDGFWB_vvlmjUzYR_6iHjzgZK-PZpslQs_x3b1yEMiYlj7OHPGbPzFvW0v66TW-A7fe9WMuP6W5k7pHmZfT4vVGU3NkJr_ZWvaE9OeGnColujngrs/s320/DSC_0070.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkmm_92Ri-BhkrqdSNNWhjKVEv_mH6JrmL4Dndww9a7iFXJksVNJZVQPtD3CFgfD5jAHAIwbHiQxzk3Zu-boj_X-Jj4BY2Vs8k2kVzq2r0PGYe6cdGE2gGGt1L1QWTC-93LuwrwQqivg/s1600/DSC_0075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkmm_92Ri-BhkrqdSNNWhjKVEv_mH6JrmL4Dndww9a7iFXJksVNJZVQPtD3CFgfD5jAHAIwbHiQxzk3Zu-boj_X-Jj4BY2Vs8k2kVzq2r0PGYe6cdGE2gGGt1L1QWTC-93LuwrwQqivg/s320/DSC_0075.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div dir="ltr">But don't just pour the marinade. Massage it in with your hands. Work that flavour!</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">After I washed my hands (do this frequently: <i>achiote</i> is also a powerful dye!), I covered the pork with the other leaf and tucked it down on all sides so the pork was wrapped fairly tightly.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKiAvpV3j4AhIJuXKh8v6s9F2Sy0l9PyWvySuayM0IKennGM6eCduw9fc7juL_ASUMyrlpMAKj4UeEaCAiyQeAfd6xOo3Pky54fSy4vn7JdGNx4gD_N-f9uB1ixOJ9up4bv6Y4bYiIKc/s1600/DSC_0076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKiAvpV3j4AhIJuXKh8v6s9F2Sy0l9PyWvySuayM0IKennGM6eCduw9fc7juL_ASUMyrlpMAKj4UeEaCAiyQeAfd6xOo3Pky54fSy4vn7JdGNx4gD_N-f9uB1ixOJ9up4bv6Y4bYiIKc/s320/DSC_0076.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snug as a bug!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr">I put the lid on and left it to marinate in the fridge overnight. If you're not into waiting 24 hours to cook something, at least give it an hour or two. But the more time, the better.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">When you're ready to cook (which is hopefully the next day), preheat the oven to 180° C (160° fan) and cook for 3 to 4 hours.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I had to leave this to the ever-capable Mrs MexiGeek, because I was at work. The pork went in at 17.30, as per my instructions.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I checked it at 20.00 (after 2 and a half hours). I was looking for the pork to be soft, moist, and tender, so I even peaked under the banana leave and gave it a bit of a "test shred". I deemed it should go back in until at least 21.00.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWdMcyprZimX1zHOKC5KM61JONS7AVDxEPaa8orzcbnngAv_kpL5M6vFZLEWCR0TP8kf7eBSZdpE58upFIgic5MfHWzJY2CKmQICyn0wdtSulRMLccC2iG6w5XWFm4OilY80wezgIuJA/s1600/DSC_0077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWdMcyprZimX1zHOKC5KM61JONS7AVDxEPaa8orzcbnngAv_kpL5M6vFZLEWCR0TP8kf7eBSZdpE58upFIgic5MfHWzJY2CKmQICyn0wdtSulRMLccC2iG6w5XWFm4OilY80wezgIuJA/s320/DSC_0077.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Now</i> it's ready. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">You'll need to use your judgement here, but your pork may need as much as five hours, depending on your oven and the size of your cut of pork. If you're doing the slow-cooker method, my estimate would be 10 hours on low or 2 hours on high followed by 3 hours on low. (This is based on successfully doing <i>carnitas</i> in a slow-cooker.)</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">When the pork is done, remove it and shred it like pulled pork or <i>carnitas</i>: it should fall apart easily. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I then poured the remaining marinade and cooking juices from the dish over the shredded pork and gave it a good mix.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MNzZy6YAQ5mVl-7p2GMSI1g0Ju_Xc0ZHAKhWp8BEA2yeobzsEW6S3kQ4W43s32aV5J5UcsHnuwL7Hroo3pXvXKSlkNekQYvNMSTXoyGa7cIQufRnQDsktUIUikj4tZ3AurGM-Jjr0ss/s1600/DSC_0078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MNzZy6YAQ5mVl-7p2GMSI1g0Ju_Xc0ZHAKhWp8BEA2yeobzsEW6S3kQ4W43s32aV5J5UcsHnuwL7Hroo3pXvXKSlkNekQYvNMSTXoyGa7cIQufRnQDsktUIUikj4tZ3AurGM-Jjr0ss/s320/DSC_0078.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like the greatest ever <i>carnitas</i>. The serving dish is <i>hecho en Mexico</i> too!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr">You can serve the shredded pork with warm tortillas and make tacos, or serve with a traditional Mexican rice dish. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I chose Mexican red rice, but I didn't use enough tomato, so it didn't come out very red. Also, I used diced <i>chiles poblanos</i> instead of peas. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Still, it looked and tasted awesome:</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrtfQ1-cP1ONZyLYV_D4eL6LTKEuBTpnH8M4WN7sxKY3dmcPzS0T39zxnUfTiaT85L1Zom7GhmfdayBN6WDVQy9XYKdZNerlHCloQJunSa6d_hZwF4DOvHQ5lpZJ8kGpLB5LR66J0jjM/s1600/IMG_20130927_230022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrtfQ1-cP1ONZyLYV_D4eL6LTKEuBTpnH8M4WN7sxKY3dmcPzS0T39zxnUfTiaT85L1Zom7GhmfdayBN6WDVQy9XYKdZNerlHCloQJunSa6d_hZwF4DOvHQ5lpZJ8kGpLB5LR66J0jjM/s320/IMG_20130927_230022.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And of course I added some extra KANKUN. Because some like it hot!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr">Another classic way to<i> </i>serve <i>cochinita </i><i>pibil</i> is shredded on top of <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/panuchos"><i>panuchos</i></a>, which are Yucatecan tortillas stuffed with refried beans.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">But whatever you choose, make sure you top the pork with Yucatecan <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/cebollas-en-escabeche.html"><b>pink picked onions (<i>cebollas </i><i>en escabeche</i>)</b></a> and serve some more Kan-Kun Habanero sauce for those who really want to crank up the heat!</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">The thing I love about the <i>pibil</i> dishes, and really all Yucatecan food, is that it's a million miles away from the stodgy Tex-Mex cuisine that people sometimes assume is real Mexican food. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">These flavours are vibrant, fresh, and yet deep and complex. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">In particular, the <i>pibil</i> pork (as opposed to the chicken dish) is rich, but the citrus of the bitter orange (and the <i>cebollas en escabeche</i>) cuts through it nicely, which the <i>achiote</i> paste adds deep, complex undertones. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">And of course, the KANKUN. I used just about two teaspoons in my marinade, and the flavour (and heat) of the habanero sauce was present throughout the whole dish. It was not <i>too</i> spicy, though. I'd say I hit upon just the right amount. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">(Mrs MexiGeek found it scrumptious as well.)</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">And again, habaneros, with their characteristic fruity flavour, are the perfect chile to complement this dish. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">And this is a serious habanero sauce. KANKUN use true habaneros for this sauce, not Scotch bonnets (which are related to habaneros, but not really the same thing). This commitment to using the authentic chile is important, because you need that true habanero flavour in a dish like this.</div><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr">Of course, habaneros are one of the hottest chiles; some of them can reach 350,000 Scoville Heat Units, I think. They're certainly over 100,000. So for readers who think they might not be able to cope with that, I have some final advice. </div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I added KANKUN's new habanero salsa to the marinade, but many cooks make the marinade without any chile, instead serving some chile salsa on the side.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">This approach works well if you or the people you're serving people don't like too much chile heat, as each diner can take as much or little extra salsa as they choose.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">So if you or any of your guests are a bit wary of the fiery habaneros, feel free to halve the quantity of KANKUN, or even leave it out of the marinade and just have a bottle of KANKUN on the table, for the hardcore chileheads.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-87727172272917561072013-09-25T13:23:00.001+01:002013-09-28T07:36:55.154+01:00Recado rojo (Yucatecan achiote paste)<p dir=ltr>One thing I love about Yucatecan food is the achiote seasoning paste (<i>recado </i><i>rojo</i>), which is, among other things the basis of the marinade used in the famous<i> </i><i>pibil</i> dishes.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Achiote paste is made from the hard, red seeds of a native tree. </p>
<p dir=ltr>You can buy birth the whole seeds and pre-ground<i> </i>achiote from on-line suppliers and specialist shops (like Lupe Pintos). It's often sold as "annatto", which is the Brazilian name for it.</p>
<p dir=ltr>These same shops and suppliers usually sell a pre-made<i> </i><i>recado </i><i>rojo</i> (El Yucateco is a good brand), in case you wanna save yourself some work. </p>
<p dir=ltr>But being MexiGeek, I actually enjoy doing it the hard way, which is grind it yourself in a <i>molcajete</i> (mortar and pestle).</p>
<p dir=ltr>However, I do but pre-ground achiote, because those seeds are so hard even a spice-grinder needs a few minutes to cope.</p>
<p dir=ltr>(And you can, of course, do the whole thing in a food processor.)</p>
<p dir=ltr><b>Ingredientes</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>There is no one set recipe, but there are a few essential ingredients plus a few likely "extras". And there is a typical ratio of amounts to get the flavour balance right.</p>
<p dir=ltr>The essentials are:</p>
<p dir=ltr>1 tbsp achiote<br>
1 tsp Mexican oregano<br>
1 tsp black peppercorns<br>
1 tsp allspice berries<br>
1 tsp cinnamon (canela)<br>
1/2 tsp cumin<br>
5 cloves garlic<br>
1-2 tbsp cider vinegar</p>
<p dir=ltr>You can also embellish this with:</p>
<p dir=ltr>1/2 tsp cloves<br>
1/2 tsp coriander seeds</p>
<p dir=ltr>You may also need to add an extra tablespoon or two of plain flour at the end if the paste is too loose.</p>
<p dir=ltr><b>Procedimiento</b></p>
<p dir=ltr>Keeping in mind that I use pre-ground achiote, I'm writing this in "grinding order".</p>
<p dir=ltr>(If you're using while achiote seeds, grind them separately in a spice-grinder.)</p>
<p dir=ltr>Peel the garlic and grind it down to a paste in your <i>molcajete</i>.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Crumble a one-inch stick of (preferably) Mexican cinnamon into the <i>molcajete</i> and grind it down.</p>
<p dir=ltr>(In Mexico they use canela or "true cinnamon", as opposed to the cassia bark we use in Europe.)</p>
<p dir=ltr>Add the allspice (and clove, if using) and continue grinding.</p>
<p dir=ltr>(The cinnamon won't break down completely until the end.)</p>
<p dir=ltr>Add the peppercorns and continue grinding. When they have broken down add the cumin.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Add the coriander seeds (if using) once the cumin has broken down; add the oregano and "mix" it in with the pestle.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Now add the achiote and grind it in until it <u>looks</u> well incorporated.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Now add the vinegar a little at a time and continue "mixing" with the pestle. If the paste is too loose, add some flour.</p>
<p dir=ltr>You should let this paste <u>stand</u> in the fridge overnight if you want it to really rock.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Then you can make <i>cochinita</i><i> </i><i>pibil</i>!</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLig6dUlAMABS6DtMiyOfqWZwSFbVa3Bes4sJ4VBBzrvZJ-ezdj_O1OlvL_TBO6TwT1h5wo1e29HCXBflfeUq8kub8zA9uz8fjgYNJDJH2rlqnbOzjV0KNOgcW00T85pbfk6XuS2LsIUo/s1600/IMG_20130924_222337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLig6dUlAMABS6DtMiyOfqWZwSFbVa3Bes4sJ4VBBzrvZJ-ezdj_O1OlvL_TBO6TwT1h5wo1e29HCXBflfeUq8kub8zA9uz8fjgYNJDJH2rlqnbOzjV0KNOgcW00T85pbfk6XuS2LsIUo/s640/IMG_20130924_222337.jpg"> </a> </div>Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-17427703388976869382013-09-10T13:17:00.001+01:002013-09-12T13:15:56.966+01:00How I spent my summer vacation<p dir="ltr">So despite not having posted much in the last three or four months, my pageviews have rocketed up from 6,000 to over 8,000!</p>
<p dir="ltr">¡Muchas gracias!</p>
<p dir="ltr">But though I haven't been writing, I have actually been cooking. In fact, I cooked so much I'm worried I'm going to forget some of it before I have a chance to post.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Over the next several weeks I plan to post as much of this "backlog" as possible. Most of it involves cooking with my mom, who visited in July to see the new baby.</p>
<p dir="ltr">You may remember she was meant to bring my (Mexican) great grandmother's recipe for mole rojo for us to cook. I even bought some real Mexican chocolate from Lupe Pintos for the occasion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Well, she didn't bring it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Her excuse was that the recipe was hand-written and Grandma Eva is no longer with us, so she didn't want to risk bringing it in a plane.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Fair enough.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So we cooked my recipes instead.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The other thing going on is that we've entered <i>mes de la patria</i>, "patriotic month", which is September, the month of Mexico's Independence Day.</p><p dir="ltr">(September is also my birthday month.)</p>
<p dir="ltr">On 15 September the streets of Mexico will ring out with people shouting<i> </i><i>el</i><i> grito</i> ("the cry") of "Viva Mexico!"</p>
<p dir="ltr">This commemorates the priest Hidalgo's grito, which kicked off the war of independence.</p><p dir="ltr">Twelve months ago I had some serious cooking plans for this month, but parenthood comes before cooking, so I'm officially running late on the chiles en nogada, but that, and possibly pozole verde, will happen at some point, along with<i> </i><i>cochinita </i><i>pibil</i>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And I'm considering<i> pato en pipián</i> (duck in pumpkinseed sauce) before the year is out, because I've always wanted to cook this elegant dish.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And finally I have a restaurant review to publish.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So between catching up and doing new things, the next few months will be quite busy. Honestly, I'll be lucky if I can finish all this before <i>el </i><i>día </i><i>de </i><i>los </i><i>muertos</i>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Clearly, I am still insane. I won't even talk about my plans to make Oaxacan black mole at Christmas.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Now, because this is an info/update post it has no food. But I have been receiving a lot of food from my various Mexican Food Heroes out there, including some incredible salsas from Kan-Kun.</p>
<p dir="ltr">These came with some clothing, so I thought I'd put them on and take my first ever selfie.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If this doesn't "unleash your inner luchador", nothing will!</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFRhppsmzJKC5NjW15VEj4VyShQvrMFOPWqqMZOII0H3mXEeRML8O2CqZmT4xfkR9E6F1wbr9lkkxAa4DHLSGwlHUgPbGer_r2pcY-1IAthkrW_jaaMbmvyQoEjvLB-bfdn2NBi_gDK0/s1600/Messenger_5783289448631360611_13788436534864395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFRhppsmzJKC5NjW15VEj4VyShQvrMFOPWqqMZOII0H3mXEeRML8O2CqZmT4xfkR9E6F1wbr9lkkxAa4DHLSGwlHUgPbGer_r2pcY-1IAthkrW_jaaMbmvyQoEjvLB-bfdn2NBi_gDK0/s640/Messenger_5783289448631360611_13788436534864395.jpg"> </a> </div>Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102568007470801415.post-1024076498377655832013-09-08T13:22:00.001+01:002013-09-08T13:22:57.927+01:00Mini tortillas from the Cool Chile Company<script type="text/javascript">
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<i>Mis amigos</i> at the Cool Chile Company have introduced <a href="http://www.coolchile.co.uk/products/view/soft-corn-tortillas-x-13">a new size of corn tortilla</a>, 10 cm (a standard size is 15 cm), and they were nice enough to send me some to try.</div>
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I'm always stoked about Cool Chile tortillas; as my regular readers know, they are the only tortillas in the UK I endorse.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzYvmRz70MaDd-BJKY1EEN3vZscIvcUPqyCms8UwzQDYHbPvMsVtk3LlwdKX6r4qn_bY_gRjqPEb72jVpduG1RKKIywSLJWZG1R_aT2HPNSOlX9AlEDgpHoZLwHXwuSGumn32ddU8iVs/s1600/2013-08-13+18.48.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzYvmRz70MaDd-BJKY1EEN3vZscIvcUPqyCms8UwzQDYHbPvMsVtk3LlwdKX6r4qn_bY_gRjqPEb72jVpduG1RKKIywSLJWZG1R_aT2HPNSOlX9AlEDgpHoZLwHXwuSGumn32ddU8iVs/s320/2013-08-13+18.48.42.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small but effective!</td></tr>
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When I saw these little beauties, I instantly thought of making mini <i>tostadas</i> ("<i>tostaditas</i>" if you will).</div>
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Tostadas (literally "toasted tortillas": essentially tortillas fried until crisp and then topped with any number of delicious things) are something I've overlooked in this blog, despite the fact that they a popular and very satisfying Mexican snack.</div>
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I guess I often focus on more complicated recipes. But this year, what with the new baby and all, I've been rediscovering some of the less daunting, more doable dishes.</div>
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And tostadas are definitively doable, especially as you can top them with just about anything.</div>
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I had a "test-drive" tostada for breakfast to check the frying time. As you may have gathered from my method of making <a href="http://mexigeekedinburgh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/review-of-cool-chile-company-tortillas.html" target="_blank">homemade tortilla chips</a>, I don't always go for frying, but that is the most typical way to make tostadas.</div>
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Whereas for enchiladas (or just to revive a tortilla that has gone stale) you want to fry the tortilla for about ten seconds on each side, tostadas need a full minute on one side and somewhat less than a minute in the other.</div>
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I topped this little guy with a fried egg and some Cholula. Simple but delicious.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fried egg is the same size as the tortilla!</td></tr>
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However, for the main event, I reverted to my baking method.</div>
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Partly this was to save time. Even a full-sized tostada is really just an <i>antojito </i>(snack), so I figured we'd all need several of these mini ones to make a proper lunch. Therefore it was quicker to do six at a time in the oven instead of one at a time in the pan.</div>
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<i>To make these "tostaditas"</i>: Grease a baking tray with olive oil, lay out your tortillas, and brush with more olive oil (I use a pastry brush).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how many fit on one baking tray!</td></tr>
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Bake at 200° C for ten minutes.</div>
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Now you're ready for the toppings.</div>
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<b>But first a note</b>: while the baking method has the advantage of letting you do several at once, they tend to curl up more than if you do one at a time in a frying pan - where you can use your spatula to keep them flat(ter).</div>
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But no tostada is completely flat, so it's not a big deal.</div>
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Now, to top these bad boys I made some <i>frijoles colados</i> (Yucatecan style "sieved" beans) by frying some homemade <i>frijoles negros de olla</i> ("black beans cooked in a pot") and blending them until smooth with a hand-blender.<br />
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(I promise I have a post on <i>frijoles de olla</i> coming soon!) </div>
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I also had a jar of pickled cactus paddles on hand, so I used some of that.</div>
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(The cactus was surprisingly spicy; I later found a couple <i>chiles serranos</i> in the jar! Awesome!)</div>
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And finally I made a homemade smoked chile and tomato salsa by charring three tomatoes and two cloves of garlic on a hot dry frying pan until they all came up in black spots.</div>
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I then peeled the garlic and put it into the blender along with the tomatoes, a chopped white onion, a teaspoon of Mexican oregano, and a heaped teaspoon of <a href="http://gran.luchito.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Gran Luchito</b></a> and blended it all to a textured sauce.</div>
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Then I heated a tablespoon and a half of olive oil in a pan and fried the sauce until it reduced and thickened.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfBPVo-PwOYeN6TTrXnt_NeQ71PkRNcI6NtavAGVFzNITaCw8tzsCp2K4GeMbDYhO0bc6YjF6byaSvWQdJ3hVuCBRAVDHJX9HbRQLZlcLv_uxx-h-zsY_Fyi2DRsNI4NT1mMVTWm_1Lw/s1600/IMG_20130831_141957_edit0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfBPVo-PwOYeN6TTrXnt_NeQ71PkRNcI6NtavAGVFzNITaCw8tzsCp2K4GeMbDYhO0bc6YjF6byaSvWQdJ3hVuCBRAVDHJX9HbRQLZlcLv_uxx-h-zsY_Fyi2DRsNI4NT1mMVTWm_1Lw/s320/IMG_20130831_141957_edit0.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "silk-screen" effect is because one of these tostaditas is actually Cybill Shepherd</td></tr>
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These "<i>tostaditas</i>" were so delicious we had to make another batch right away.</div>
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Obviously the toppings were awesome, but I can't stress enough how delicious a good quality tortilla fried (or baked) crisp is. It is truly one of life's great pleasures. </div>
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Considering the size of these tortillas, you could almost think of these as <i>garnachas</i>, which some say are the true precursor to American nachos (others, like Thomasina Miers, award that title to <i>chilaquiles</i>).</div>
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Either way, you cannot go wrong with this dish.</div>
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Another top quality tortilla product from the Cool Chile Company.</div>
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<b><i>Now a note on the photos...</i></b></div>
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I recently upgraded my phone. For the first couple weeks I noticed the camera had a peculiar bluish tint, and the image quality was somewhat blurry.</div>
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Then, after I took the photos for this post, I realized there was a piece of blue protective plastic covering the camera lens</div>
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FAIL!</div>
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In my defence the reviews of this phone indicated the camera would be quite a disappointment.</div>
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Next time the photos should be back to normal.</div>
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Robert Groveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13552183316641042450noreply@blogger.com0