bjcohan

Jaymes - No redemption needed. Your quickie version DOES sound tasty. Given that the day job often keeps me in the office til nearly midnight, I just may try your version sooner rather than later. At that hour, quick beats silky by a mile... It just never would have occurred to me to try it... and I'll bet DH Adan will love it. Barb BTW, I wholly agree with you about Herdez brand - it's the best of the cans. Their chipotles en adobo are the ones I like best. Smokier, spicier, darker and less tomatoey adobo than the others.

I adore good chilaquiles in green sauce, but my absolute favorite uses a thin red-tomato sauce made with smoky-hot chipotle peppers (not the brown dried ones, but the soft red ones packed in adobo), lots of onions, dry cheese, and sometimes a bit of chorizo, longaniza, or chicken. I would never use Fritos because they don't get that lovely silky texture that fried leftover corn tortillas have once bathed in the sauce. Here's a nifty chilaquiles trick that I made years ago for my Mexican husband (a chef) that drew rave reviews from him and his very exigente (picky) family. One Thanksgiving, I figured that if I can stuff a turkey with cornbread stuffing, why not stuff it with chilaquiles? So, I made up a large batch of chilaquiles with lots of onions and sliced jalapenos, extra-spiced them with chipotle -- assuming that a lot of the heat would dissipate with baking -- and added just a bit of sage and thyme (I was out of epazote). I added one beaten egg to the sauce mixture in order to bind the mixture somewhat. Then I loosely filled the turkey cavity with it and trussed the bird. During baking, I basted with a butter-chipotle mix to which I added a few drops of honey. The turkey was incredible!!! (If you try this, hold aside a little of the tomato-chipotle sauce and serve it over the stuffing to give it more moisture.) In subsequent years, I've experimented with it, adding mushrooms, cheese, chorizo (Toluqueno) and anything else that seemed right. That's the beauty of chilaquiles - very adaptable, easy to make, and fun to play with. Barb

Jaymes - I would say that the wild mushroom flan (which our customers will never let us remove from the menu) is a favorite, as are all of Adan's soups. When he makes his lobster bisque (a frequent special, made with a zing of jalapeno), people bring containers so they can have extra orders "to go." On the entree side, the lobster chile relleno, the duckling (crispy skin, still-moist meat), and the filete are big sellers. I don't care for lamb, but our customers keep telling me it's the best they've ever had. One REALLY popular item is not on the menu at all. Because Adan and I are serious fire-eaters, he makes his own fresh habanero sauce that we serve in a silver sauce boat for those who request it. Since so many diners are chilephobic, all of the dishes are made pretty mild and Adan will spice it up upon request, or we send out the sauce -- with appropriate warnings -- so folks can do their own. Barb

Well, I was invited to do some shameless self-promotion, so here it is. Paloma (full name is Paloma Mexican Haute Cuisine) is our first restaurant. Opened in November 1999, it is located at 6516 Castor Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia (about 15 minutes by car from downtown Philadelphia). The very talented chef (and my DH) is Adan Saavedra, who is Mexican-born and trained in some of Philadelphia's finest kitchens. After graduating from the Restaurant School in 1991, Adan worked at La Truffe, Ciboulette, Michel's, and the Four Seasons with various stops in between. He considers Jean-Marie LaCroix his mentor. The cuisine reflects his work in these French kitchens, and he draws upon his Mexican roots to add flavor and color to his dishes. I am not a pastry chef, but I do all of the desserts (except for the creme brulee) and sorbets and run the front of the house whenever I can break free from the day job. Listed below are some items from our present menu. The menu will be changing shortly, but not in its entirety. We also have daily specials, usually 2-3 soups/appetizers and 2-3 entrees, as Adan tweaks dishes that he is considering adding to the menu. Last Saturday's specials included rack of veal with vegetable risotto in a red wine guajillo sauce and a shrimp and wild mushroom vol-au-vent with habanero chardonnay sauce. Appetizers Ensalada Cesar the classic, created in Mexico, served with shaved parmesan cheese Ensalada Carlota mixed baby greens with balsamic tequila vinaigrette, garnished with crisped onion rings Poblano Vichyssoise traditional French leek and potato soup, flavored with puréed poblano chiles, served chilled Two-Bean Soup silky two-tone black and white bean soup garnished with crunchy julienned corn tortilla and a quenelle of chive mousse Wild Mushroom Flan creamy flan of mixed wild mushrooms sprinkled with cilantro pesto Castillo de Vegetales grilled vegetables, including peppers, zucchini and eggplant, stacked with goat cheese and napped with an ancho-balsamic vinegar glaze Rock Shrimp / Flor de Calabaza Dumplings pasta wrappers filled with tender rock shrimp and zucchini blossoms served with a lightly spiced ginger-orange sauce Ceviche Carenzo fresh shellfish marinated in lime juice, mixed with tomato, onion, peppers and cilantro Entrées Crab Corn Tamal jumbo lump crabmeat and purée of fresh corn baked in crisp phyllo dough served with tomatillo sauce Scallops Don Porfirio sautéed jumbo scallops, topped with a leek crust and served on a grilled portobello mushroom cap with jalapeño beurre blanc Lobster Chile Relleno batter-dipped poblano chile filled with fresh lobster sautéed in brandy and mixed with pepper, shallots and queso fresco, served with three sauces Shrimp Las Hadas sautéed jumbo shrimp with carrot curry sauce on a pyramid of rice Filet of Salmon au Poivre baked salmon filet crusted with pepper, served on a spinach-potato cake with brunoise peppers and habanero chardonnay sauce Pasta Azteca fresh tricolor angel hair pasta served with nopalitos, seasonal vegetables and lightly fried squash blossoms in a mildly spiced tomato-basil sauce Puerco al Ajillo pork tenderloin marinated in garlic and herbs, pan roasted and served with white bean salad and lemon garlic sauce Chicken Culiacán boneless chicken breast filled with spinach mousse and wrapped in crisp bacon, sautéed and served with chorizo sauce Rack of Lamb Tapatía tender roasted rack of lamb with a sauce of red wine and shiitake mushrooms served with risotto finished with white truffle oil Duckling Paloma slices of tender roasted duck breast in a rich dark sauce flavored with hoisin sauce and a touch of guajillo peppers Filete al Cafetal grilled filet mignon served on a crisp potato galette with espresso-chipotle sauce We are in the Zagat guide (with a 26 on food ) and one local reviewer called us "Le Bec-Mex." Despite numerous requests, we do NOT serve chips, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or any Tex-Mex dishes. The restaurant seats 45-50 and is open Tuesday through Saturday. There is a small bar and a broad range of wines. There is no dress code (we want people to be comfortable) but smoking is not permitted. Ample on-street parking is available with meters free after 6pm. Reservations are recommended. Telephone 215.533.0356. Website is not up yet. Barb

When I lived in Mexico I was addicted to their chips, especially: - chile piquin with salt and lime (YUM!) - smoky chipotle - habanero (for serious fire-eaters) Haven't thought about these in ages. Now I'm getting homesick... Barb

Jaymes - I lived in Mexico and am married to a Mexican chef. Carnitas is without a doubt my favorite food on the face of the earth. Your recipe is just about how I learned to do it in Mexico, although we cut our pork just a wee bit larger than you suggest, being careful to trim no fat from the roast. The only things we added to the water there, however, were garlic, a little fresh epazote, and a little CocaCola. The sugar in the coke added lovely flavor and helped with caramelization. Although when I came back to Philadelphia from Mexico I brought a big copper cazuela for making carnitas, I find that it's easier to avoid having those lovely crunchy bits stick to the pan if I use a large nonstick pot instead. Then you can just scrape 'em up and lose none of that glorious flavor. (Quick! The drool bib!) Great thread!!! Barb {edited to add} PS - Having brought dozens of cookbooks back from Mexico, and bought many more here, DH Adan and I love Patricia Quintana's best (including the ones in Spanish that, to my knowledge, haven't been released here), followed closely by those of Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless.

My very favorite is a homemade sauce made with a modified recipe from a hot sauce cookbook. The recipe is called "F-16" because it calls for 16 fresh habanero peppers. I add rum and mango and other goodies, and it's wonderful. However, I can't carry that around with me very well, so, for the bottle-in-the-purse, I prefer: El Yucateco Habanero (green) Marie Sharp's Habanero (from Belize) and Busha Brown's Scotch Bonnet (from Jamaica). All of these maintain the gorgeous fresh habanero taste without going all vinegary. Sriracha is good, but is based on the serrano (or similar) pepper and, while tasty, lacks the flavor of habanero that this particular fire-eater craves. Different strokes... Don't leave home without it!!! Barb