Nancy in Pátzcuaro

This recipe is a little labor intensive, but the results are definitely worth it. This is less a recipe than a technique, and so quantities are not specified. Olive or vegetable oil Chiles poblanos, skinned and seeds removed without making a big hole Queso fresco, cut into thick chunks to tuck into the chiles Eggs,separated Flour Salt and pepper to taste Good ripe tomatoes, or canned if the market has let you down White onion Garlic Dried oregano Chicken broth Rub the chiles with a light coating of oil, which makes them blister faster and doesn't overcook the flesh. Put under a broiler or turn over a gas cooktop until blistered and blackened. Pop into a plastic bag to steam and then peel and discard the seeds while trying not to make a big slit in the chile. I use a scissors to snip off the seed thing below the stem. Leave the stem on if you can--it will come in handy later. Put about an inch of oil in a skillet and heat to medium high. Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold in the yolks and enough flour to make a fairly loose batter. Try not to deflate the egg whites too much. Put some flour on a plate. Stuff each chile with a log of the cheese, roll in the flour and then dip into the batter. Try to keep the opening overlapped before you roll in the flour. It will keep the cheese inside a little better. Fry the chiles until both sides are golden brown and delicious (thank you Alton Brown) and remove to a plate lined with paper towels. You can use the stem to turn the chiles, but a spoon also works. If using fresh tomatoes, chop roughly and put in a food processor bowl. Roughly chop the white onion and garlic and add the oregano to the food processor. Buzz together until smooth. If using canned tomatoes, just dump them into the food processor and then add the onion, garlic, and oregano. Heat oil in a skillet and fry the sauce for a few minutes to thicken it, and then add the chicken broth. You are aiming for something runnier than you want for the final sauce. Cook the sauce until there's no taste of raw onion. Gently slip the chiles into the broth. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, and then serve on white rice. You can add a salad or simple vegetable to the plate. Again, I apologize for the vague ingredient list. I was not given specific amounts by Alicia, because this is less a recipe than a technique, which I think is very straightforward. I've made this several times and I recommend breaking up the tasks, like roasting the chiles the day before. And if it's possible, this is almost better the next day. Nancy in Pátzcuaro .

Oh my goodness--what fun it has been to play with unlimited raspberries. The jam is the bomb--7 half pints of deliciousness (is that a word?). My husband, the pie man, made a magnificent raspberry pie with walnut crumble (recipe upon request), and today he brought home another 2 kilos. Those will become syrup, sauce, infused into vodka, and possibly raspberry pancakes. And I want to dehydrate some just to see if that is a good thing. I have a question that probably should be posted to Pastry and Baking. Jam made with pectin has more fresh fruit flavor, but using pectin requires more sugar than I'm willing to use. Is it possible to reduce sugar while using pectin? Mind you, I generally thicken my jam via cooking down, so I don't have a lot of experience with pectin. Thanks for your help with this. My husband asked the guys growing and selling the fruit about what pesticides they use, and he was told that these berries (strawberries, blackberries and raspberries) are all organic, meant for export to the US and as far away as China. The boxes (about 3 kilos) all say "Dole," but given how promiscuous boxes are in México I wonder if these weren't borrowed from other suppliers. But it is a relief to know that we aren't eating icky pesticides. They also indicated that they would have raspberries through the end of the month and into June, until the rainy season starts. That's also when blackberries and strawberries disappear from our breakfast table. One thing that I've enjoyed the most about living in México is the realization--the remembrance, really--that food is seasonal. In the fall we have the interesting hard squashes that look like huge acorn squash, in the early summer the wild mushrooms appear along with the figs, and right now we are at the end of the passionfruit season. Juice oranges are pooping out and will soon be flavorless and a little sour. Best of all, though, are the mangos. At the height of the season in mid-summer they are almost free. Pickups loaded with mangos are parked by the side of the road, advertising 5 x 20, which means 5 kilos for 20 pesos. It's my favorite time of the year. Raspberry Fields Forever! Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Wonderful ideas, everyone. So far on my "to-do" list are jam (natch), syrup, sauce, infused vodka (love that one), and freezing whole for later use. Unfortunately there are no cellars, cool or otherwise, in this part of México, so raspberry wine is probably impossible, even if I knew how to make it (which I don't). I'm also interested in dehydrating them--raspberry raisins! I brought my dehydrator for some reason, probably thinking I'd use it for something, and this sounds like the perfect time to dig it out of the storage closet. I've found some interesting non-sweet recipes on the Internet that I want to try. It appears that raspberries and goat cheese are going to have a great future ahead in our house, and I'm going to try a raspberry glaze on chicken breasts. I think I'll just make that one up as I go along, tasting and adding levels of flavor. If I come up with something good I'll be sure to post it. In the meantime I'm going to make a big bowl of fruit--raspberries, blackberries, mango, pineapple--for breakfast, with yogurt and granola. To complicate things further, my husband and I bought another 2.6 kilos yesterday, most of which will go into the jam I'm going to make tonight. At least now I have enough to experiment with, and the growers indicate that the supply is ample. There were numerous flats of raspberries and blackberries, and piles of strawberries, with little chicks running around eating the fruit that fell on the floor. In the past year or less, acres of hoop houses have sprung up like mushrooms and this is the result. I doubt this is a Driscoll enterprise, though I don' t know to whom they are selling all this fruit. It's not often that I get the chance to play with an ingredient and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it! Thanks, everyone, for your good suggestions. I won't torment you with the actual cost, though. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Ooh--Black Forest Cake sounds wonderful. Thanks! Nancy

My spouse just came home with a kilo of beautiful raspberries at an embarrassingly low price. They are being grown, along with strawberries and a small amount of blueberries, in the fields between Patzcuaro and Morelia and will be available until around mid-June when the rains start. So my question is--given an unlimited supply, what should I make with them (other than lots and lots of jam)? Syrups, fruit leather, eaten by the handfuls--help me out here! I am of course open to non-sweet applications. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I've never had this problem before... Nancy in Patzcuaro

&roid, when we moved from Salida to Patzcuaro 5 years ago the altitude was essentially the same, within about 50 feet. However, Breck is probably another 1500 feet higher, and that would require a further adjustment. All baking requires a sometimes drastic decrease in leavening and bread is not an exception. But I think shaping technique is probably your best bet here. Nancy in Patzcuaro

If you go to the King Arthur website you'll see weights for their flours, which I assume are essentially the same as other flours at least in terms of weight. For instance, all purpose flour weighs between 110 and 115 grams, bread flour weighs 120 grams, etc. I use this to convert recipes from volume measurements to weight and have found that I get better, reproducible, results. Using volume measurements means that you can make the same recipe several times and get different results each time. I have a nice little digital scale that gives me weights in both ounces and grams; I use the latter around here almost exclusively because Mexico uses the metric system. Takes a little time to figure it out, of course. Nancy in Patzcuaro

What's your altitude? I've had similar problems making bread at higher altitude, and the answer was to reduce the yeast. Now I use only 1-1/4 tsp. for a loaf and the crumb is much more uniform--if that's what you're looking for. In any case the holes will be smaller when using less yeast. I use my bread machine to mix and knead the dough and then remove it to be baked on a preheated stone. I haven't baked a loaf in the machine in many years, though that experience taught me a lesson about the yeast. I kept producing a loaf that was dense at the bottom and almost crumbly on top, but reducing the yeast solved that problem. Experiment with quantities to find out what works best for your altitude. Or look up online the CSU (Colorado State University) Extension Service for their recommendations. Hope this helps--Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Wonderful! Thanks again for your invaluable advice. One less thing to put on the list to bring from the US. Nancy

Thanks so much for responding, Panaderia Canadiense. I know you're occupied in helping with the earthquake recovery and I appreciate that you took time to write. My husband and I have spent many happy days in Ecuador, even considered moving there (but ended up in México), and when we heard about the earthquake and aftershocks, and the horrible number of fatalities, we were heartsick. When I started to incorporate the egg whites into what seemed like way too much powdered sugar/cocoa/chopped nuts, I was surprised that it turned into something scoopable. I was sure it would be a dry, crumbly mess. So if I reduce the egg whites by one and bake for less time at a slightly lower temperature it might make actual cookies instead of "Chocolate Bark." You give me hope that the next time I (maybe) make this it will be successful. I have no confidence that I could successfully fold in whipped egg whites without completely deflating them, so using one less unwhipped egg white would make it simpler for me. I think I'll give it a try. I'll report back if I'm lucky! I'll look for tapioca flour or potato starch here, but I suspect I'll have to bring it from the US. Thanks for that tip also. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

I used Penzey's Dutched Cocoa, but I have no idea what the fat content was (it was the last of the bag and I threw it away). I think I'll look on their website for that information. I also like the idea of adding some powdered egg white to beef up (so to speak) the structure. In the end I doubt I'll make this recipe again. There are plenty of other flourless recipes out there for Passover. But I have appreciated all the comments from all of you with great suggestions. EGulleteers are the best. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

In that case--the problem being related to altitude--I really don't know how to rescue this recipe. I've lived and baked at 7,000 feet for over 35 years and I know how to adjust a recipe for altitude, but this recipe, which has no flour or leavening, leaves me mystified. I know eggs provide some leavening, along with baking powder/soda/yeast in more traditional recipes, but how to adjust this one for altitude? I'm just about prepared to strike it off the list. Though it was a hit last night at the Seder--people couldn't stop eating it, despite being stuffed with other good food. As Satchel Paige once said, "Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you." Nancy in Pátzcuaro

The eggs were fresh, bought yesterday from a source that turns over quickly. I don't think they're organic, but they are local. But because the whites weren't whipped but put in the dry mixture as they came out of the shell, I'm not sure if they would deflate the way whipped egg whites would. But again, because I have no idea what happened, all suggestions are possibilities. Tonight I talked with someone who's made this recipe before and said hers were actually cookies and not a puddle of chocolate and nuts. But they were baked at sea level and I live at 7,000 feet--could that have contributed to the difference? Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Chocolate Brittle it is! Thanks for giving this a name-- The batter was definitely scoopable, though I remember adding the egg whites and thinking, "There's not going to be enough liquid" before it came together. You've got 3 c. of sugar, over 1/2 c. cocoa, and almost 3 c. of nuts, so there's a lot of volume of dry ingredients. The recipe cautioned against mixing too long because the batter could seize up. Perhaps I didn't mix long enough? I only chopped the nuts in the FP before transferring them to the bowl with the sugar and cocoa and then used a hand mixer to make the batter. I still suspect oven temperature, though. The photo accompanying the recipe (from Food and Wine) shows tidy little chocolate cookies, and when I put the scoops of batter on the parchment paper they made reasonable-looking mounds--like normal cookies, in fact. Just now I broke up the crackers and stacked them in a bowl for transportation to the Seder. They do look better as pieces rather than one huge brown slab. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Last night I made "Fudgy Chocolate-Walnut Cookies (flourless)" for a Seder dinner tonight. What emerged from the oven weren't cookies at all, but rather a crisp puddle with vaguely cookie-shaped broken pieces floating on it. Tastes wonderful, but looks pretty bad. No photos--too ugly. The recipe includes 9 oz. toasted walnuts chopped very fine in the food processor, 3 cups confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup + 3 Tbs. Dutch process cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 Tbs. vanilla, and 4 egg whites (unwhipped) . The instructions say to preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes. My first thought is that the oven temperature is too high for anything with egg whites in it. Any other ideas? I will try this again at a lower temperature, but there's no time to do it today (plus I'm out of both walnuts and confectioner's sugar). I'll bring them tonight, but it's a little embarrassing to have to break this big dark brown cookie/cracker into uneven pieces to serve it. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks-- Nancy in Pátzcuaro

I'll chime in with my own favorite cornbread recipe developed over many years. It's really a combination of 2 or 3 techniques. Preheat oven to 400. *Note that the cast iron skillet goes into the oven with the oil as the oven preheats (see below). Mix together 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. water. Set aside. Whisk together 2 c. cornmeal (I used yellow, of course) 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking powder 2 Tbs. sugar Beat together 3 eggs 1-1/2 c. buttermilk *Place 4 Tbs. oil--olive, corn, vegetable or bacon fat--in a cast iron skillet (10") and put in the oven while preheating. Mix wet and dry ingredients until just blended--do not over beat. Give the baking soda/water mixture a quick stir and add it to the batter. Remove hot pan from the oven, pour the hot oil into the batter and mix well. Pour the batter into the hot pan and bake for 20 minutes. Check after 18 minutes but don't over bake. Note that there's no flour in this batter and very little sugar. I've found that a full teaspoon of salt is too much for my taste. I rarely add anything to this, but if I were to add something I think it would be jalapeños or other similar chiles. This makes a very sturdy cornbread, so if you want something fluffier another recipe might be more satisfying for you. And if you want to use it for your Thanksgiving stuffing, add another egg. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Hmm--I think it's time to make some biscuits. Maybe savory ones for a change of pace. I tend to make scones--the same folding technique works for them also--but I should add biscuits back into the repertory. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

I've also found that twisting the cutter--tuna can, glass, whatever you use to cut the dough--will keep the dough from rising properly. Dip the cutter in flour, press it straight down without twisting, and gently put the biscuit on the your cookie sheet. Even if you decide to make square biscuits and cut the dough apart with a knife, make sure you cut straight down. And don't overwork it, of course. Less is more with biscuits. Pat the dough down to about a half inch, fold it in thirds, pat down again, and repeat one or two more times, and cut apart. That will give you layers and the flaky result you're looking for. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

For removing the seed pod I just use a pair of small scissors to snip it off. My Spanish teacher taught me to rub the chiles (poblanos) lightly with oil before roasting on the gas burner. The skin pops and blisters very quickly and you don't overcook the chiles. I stuff them with queso fresco, but I've also made a salt cod picadillo, which is quite good also. In that case I don't batter and fry them--just heat them a bit in the oven, or serve them cold. Dusting the peeled chile with flour helps the batter stay on rather than slide off. I use a little flour in the batter, with egg yolks and beaten egg whites, and finish cooking them in a thin tomato sauce (nothing more than white onion blenderized with Roma tomatoes and chicken broth, cooked until the raw onion flavor goes away). Muy rico! I almost like them better the second day. And I agree with Esperanza about choosing flat poblanos. Makes it much easier to roast and peel if the chile doesn't have any crevices. Nancy in Patzcuaro

I've used the recipe in Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's wonderful Flatbreads and Flavors for several years, though I haven't made pita recently. Here's the recipe for those who don't have the book--makes about 16 pitas. 2 tsp. dry yeast 2-1/2 c. lukewarm water 5-6 c. flour, half white and half whole wheat 1 Tbs. salt 1 Tbs. olive oil Begin by making a sponge with half the flour, and all the water and yeast. Stir together to combine completely and then stir 100 times in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let it stand for at least 10 minutes and up to 2 hours. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Add the rest of the flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn out on a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Let rise in a clean bowl until doubled, about 1 hour. At this point the dough can be refrigerated. Gently punch down the doubled dough and roll out the rounds. Keep covered with a towel so they don't dry out, but don't stack them. I guess you could use a bread machine or food processor to mix the dough. I found that the pitas puff more reliably if the dough is held in the fridge for at least overnight and up to 7 days, with the slight fermentation after a few days giving a nice flavor to the breads. Ir's also great to be able to pull off a chunk of dough to make a few pitas without having to go through the entire process of mixing and rising the dough. You have to bring the dough at room temperature before baking, which takes a few hours, so plan ahead. I use a baking stone and set the oven temp at 450. Make sure the stone is fully hot--preheat at least 30 minutes, preferably longer. I found it took 3 to 3-1/2 minutes to cook. I roll the dough less than 1/4" but not much less. And be a little careful about how you put the pitas on the hot stone, because a crease or wrinkle will keep them from puffing evenly, though they will still taste good. There's something just magical about seeing that pita puff up into a big ball! And they taste a whole lot better than the thick ones you buy in the store. I think it's time to get reacquainted with pitas in this household. Thanks for reminding me how much fun these are to make. Nancy in Patzcuaro

My recipe for limoncello requires about a week or so, not several weeks. Peels spend four days in the vodka, simple syrup is stirred in, another day to mellow, drain, bottle, refrigerate, and begin to enjoy in 4 or 5 days. The recipe says it lasts a month in the fridge, but I find it stays good for longer. Everything takes place at room temperature until it's bottled. Enjoy-- Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Having had an overabundance of limes myself, here's what I did with the ones I didn't give away-- Frozen lime juice (use an ice cube tray for this, along with containers of different sizes), frozen lime zest, lime pickle, preserved limes, candied lime slices, limoncello. Obviously some of these are not going to work for you, but freezing the juice and zest and making preserved limes would be an excellent use of your excess, and a jar of preserved limes makes a nice present. However, you're going to have to solve the problem repeatedly, it sounds like, when the next crop matures. Good luck--it's a nice problem to have, isn't it? Nancy in Pátzcuaro

My mom was of the low and slow method--start the bird--stuffed--at a very low temp just before going to bed and then serve it the next afternoon. It's a miracle I lived to adulthood. Now, though, I cut my turkey apart--no small task--and cook the dark and light meat separately. You miss that Norman Rockwell moment, of course, but the result is worth it. This year we are having about 40, which is a reduction from previous years when we had 60+. I do 2 turkeys and a ham (I cook the ham by the CI method on the grill), the dressing, gravy and if I have them, cranberry sauce. Sometimes I do my grandmother's red cabbage. Everyone else brings the rest--appetizers, side dishes and desserts. Everyone particpates, sometimes there are leftovers, and we all enjoy the one holiday without strings attached. We rent tables and chairs and seat people all over the yard, and we just hope it doesn't rain. It did today, thanks to Hurricane Sandra. As to the ham, you trim off most of the fat to about 1/4 inch and score it. Then rub the ham with a mixture of 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 Tbs. paprika, 1 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 tsp. cayenne. Transfer it to a V-rack and let it sit on the counter for 1-1/2 hours. Thread 2 long skewers through the ham alongside the bone. Light a grill--I use gas so that's what my instructions will be--and heat all burners on high for 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burners. Place the ham on the rack over the cool side of the grill and cook, covered, for about 1-1/2 hours, or until the heat reaches 100. Turn the burner under the ham to low and turn off the rest of the burners. Grill the ham until crispy on all sides, turning every 5 minutes--this is when the skewers come in handy--for about 30 minutes. Transfer to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve and serve. This is the most extraordinary ham I have ever eaten. I apologize for my detour into ham-ness instead of turkey-ness. There are so many ways to prepare a turkey--high heat, fried, cut apart and braised, basted, brined--but in the end we arrive at the same place. Surrounded by friends and family, eating some darned good food. And gratitude, too. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Sorry--I was abreviating the original recipe. It calls for a fresh tomato sauce--onion, garlic, tomato, white wine, a dab of garlic, cooked down to make a sauce. This goes on the bottom of the dish. Slice the squash about 1/4 inch by 3 inches and saute or broil (the low fat method) until barely tender. Lay the slices on the tomato sauce in layers with cheese in between. I assume you'd salt and otherwise season the squash. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and it's bubbling. Scatter chopped fresh herbs--parsley, marjoram, thyme--over the surface and serve. As I remember it--the last time I made it was many years ago--it was very satisfying. Hope this helps--N.

Like TeakettleSlim, I'm also late to this party. Because I now live in México my access to familiar hard-shelled squash is limited. Winter squash are showing up now in the mercado but I haven't tried any of them. It's on the top of my food bucket list now after reading this topic. Most winter squash here are cooked in sugar syrup and sold as a snack, so I have no idea if these squash are edible without that sugary preparation. I haven't tried the snack--just the sight makes my teeth hurt. However a friend drove to Austin 2 weeks ago and I now have a lovely butternut squash on the counter. An earlier post about recipes from the original Greens cookbook sent me back to that old favorite. I especially noted my comment--"This is delicious!"--on the recipe for Winter Squash Gratin (p. 214). Fresh tomato sauce, thinly sliced butternut squash cooked until just tender, fontina or gruyere, thyme--no sugar, no maple syrup, no cream or milk, just squash, tomatoes and cheese, baked just to melt the cheese. This would be brilliant for Thanksgiving. Shoot--it would be wonderful with a chunk of good bread and a glass of wine. You know, sometimes those old cookbooks deserve a second (or third) look. I think my friend should have brought me a couple more butternuts. Too many good ideas for just one squash, admittedly a large one, but still-- By the way, I just made a batch of chile jelly, using our local yellow chile perón (elsewhere known as chile manzana) with a sweet red pepper for color. The jars are cooling on the counter and the color is gorgeous. When I licked the spoon I really liked the combination of sweet and hot. I'm going to use it as an ingredient in things like glazes or as a boost of flavor when I need it. I have, however, 7 half-pint jars, which means I'll be giving them out as hostess gifts at holiday parties! You will have to come to Pátzcuaro to get one, though. To get back to the original topic, I think this jelly would be just fine stirred into some roasted pumpkin/squash or soup. One of the objections to many pumpkin recipes is that they're too sweet--this will fix that. Nancy from CO but now in Pátzcuaro