Making Mexican at home

[Domestic Goddess]

Nakji, in the Philippine wet markets you can get fresh hearts of palm every day. It is called ubod and is an ingredient in Fresh Spring Rolls (with garlicky sweet-savory sauce). I'll see if I can find a picture for you.

[v. gautam]

Re: Chayote greens taste: this thread is a good place as they are very much an ancient Yucatan and Guatemalan food, one of those fantastic plants like Amaranth, tomatillo,tomato, nopales etc. that these central Americans refined to the Nth degree and gave to the entire world. MAIZE!!

The whole plant is edible, fruit, root & leaves, making it extraordinarily valuable wherever it grows. To discover such a plant in its wild, not-so-giving state and then nurture it to its present state is the work of great genius. The same is true of peanuts, tomatoes, chiles and maize. Every Mesoamerican food crop, in fact.

Regarding its taste, it is very much like LAGENARIA greens, the bottle gourd. They are used in any way you might care to employ greens: African type "green soups" are an excellent device for these. Balinese stuffed duck, where sweet potato or tapioca leaves are employed, is another brilliant vehicle. I am sure you will know many more Mesoamerican dishes where squash greens and tips or quelites find a place: YOUNG chayote leaves and tips can be substituted to good effect here. Even for dolmates!

But the main benefit is to excite curiosity and knowledge about the Mesoamerican food plants with scant effort: just by buying a single pear, and supplying a foot-wide strip of garage wall.

The kids are already becoming multi-cultural thanksto Dad's cooking. Now if they can see some of the plants in action, they will have great talking points at school. Great thing to show neighbors, too. Bet no one has seen one in MD! No worries either, just let it grow up a narrow strip of wall on a trellis or panel or stake, if you are only going to cut the greens.

Edited March 15, 2009 by v. gautam (log)

[C. sapidus]

Gautam, you make an excellent case. I have added chayote to my vegetable garden list for this year. Thanks for the fascinating information.

If we do get any fruits from our chayote, the boys prefer to eat them raw rather than cooked.

[kalypso]

Bruce, if it's been a while since you've read the front of Zarela's Veracruz, you might want to do a quick reread. She talks about a town in the Veracruz highlands where the specialty is chayote...all parts of it including vines and roots. She made it sound heavenly. I think there is even a soup recipe for it in the book. I've had sopa de guias in Oaxaca made from chayote vines and it is, indeed, exceptional. It looks kind of gnarly (literally) but tastes great.

Good luck on your growing project

[brassica]

Hi all, I'm in the UK and access to proper Mexican ingredients is patchy at best (although I have found a Mexican grocer in London). I'm trying to make more authentic things but have a party to cater for next week - I usually do Texan style barbecue but want to try something different. I've already decided to do a vat of pozole, can I get some other suggestions to feed anything up to 30 people sitting/standing/mainly drinking? Was thinking I'd knock up some chorizo to be scooped up with tortill achips as per a poster upthread....

Cheers in advance.

[Fervetopus]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. My name is Mario, I am from northern Mexico but live in the Boston area. A suggestion for brassica; Albondigas en chipotle. You can feed lots of people and they often turn out great!

I have enjoyed reading post by all of you. I hope to be able to contribute!

Best to all

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, if it's been a while since you've read the front of Zarela's Veracruz, you might want to do a quick reread.  She talks about a town in the Veracruz highlands where the specialty is chayote...

←

Kalypso, thanks for the reminder. I knew that I had read about chayote greens somewhere, but I could not remember where.

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. My name is Mario, I am from northern Mexico but live in the Boston area.  A suggestion for brassica; Albondigas en chipotle.  You can feed lots of people and they often turn out great!

I have enjoyed reading post by all of you.  I hope to be able to contribute!

Best to all

←

Welcome, Mario! I look forward to hearing what you bring to the table (so to speak ), and a native's perspective is always valuable.

[C. sapidus]

Carne asada: charcoal-grilled flank steak with an compelling sauce (and marinade) made from toasted/soaked guajillo, New Mexico, and pasilla de Oaxaca chiles, roasted garlic, black pepper, cumin, and Mexican oregano.

Frijoles refritos: Canned pinto beans, white onion, garlic, and olive oil (no lard or bacon grease readily at hand).

Garlicky greens with seared onion and queso fresco, substituting a mix of chard, mustard, and other Asian greens from the farmer’s market instead of lamb’s quarters.

Arroz blanco with corn and roasted, chopped Poblano chiles, leftover from last night.

[C. sapidus]

Camarones enchipotlados (shrimp in chile sauce, a different version than that posted upthread): We pureed ancho, guajillo, and chipotle chiles with roasted garden tomatoes, garlic, freshly-ground allspice, and Mexican oregano, and then simmered the sauce until the fat separated. The shrimp were brined, briefly sauteed, and then cooked through with the sauce, swirling in butter to finish. Probably the best-textured shrimp I have ever made. Recipe adapted from Zarela’s Veracruz.

Served with corn and arroz blanco, enhanced with roasted, home-grown Poblano chiles.

[menuinprogress]

For some reason, we've been on a slow-cooked Mexican dish kick lately.

Birria de Chivo:

Cochinita Pibil:

Tacos de Cabeza:

[Ce'nedra]

menuinprogress, those look amazing and most certainly melt-in-the-mouth. Did you use any particular book as reference?

[menuinprogress]

menuinprogress, those look amazing and most certainly melt-in-the-mouth. Did you use any particular book as reference?

Thanks, Ce'nedra. The Birria is a recipe from Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican. The Pibil we make using a recipe that is a mixture of one from Rick Bayless' Mexico One Plate at a Time and the video recipe included the dvd of the Robert Rodriguez movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The tacos we just improvised.

[Richard Kilgore]

menuinprogress, those look amazing and most certainly melt-in-the-mouth. Did you use any particular book as reference?

Thanks, Ce'nedra. The Birria is a recipe from Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican. The Pibil we make using a recipe that is a mixture of one from Rick Bayless' Mexico One Plate at a Time and the video recipe included the dvd of the Robert Rodriguez movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The tacos we just improvised.

Delicious photos, menuinprogress. Would you mind sharing with all of us your combined, adapted recipe for the Pibil?

[menuinprogress]

Delicious photos, menuinprogress. Would you mind sharing with all of us your combined, adapted recipe for the Pibil?

Sure - the recipe, along with pictures of the process is online here: Cochinita Pibil.

[C. sapidus]

Snowangel recommended the recipe for Northern Mexical barbacoa (a variation on Birria Jalisciense from Mexican Everyday). The family loved the dish, and food was on the table quickly. Thanks, Susan, good tip!

This morning I set up the slow cooker with chuck roast, potato wedges, and a spice paste of garlic, cumin, black pepper, vinegar, and freshly-toasted and ground guajillo and mulato chiles. This evening we defatted and reduced the sauce, and then garnished the barbacoa with chopped white onion, cilantro, and lime wedges. We also made guacamole in the mortar and pestle, a.k.a. Thai molcajete .

(now that I am posting, I notice that menuinprogress made a similar recipe just upthread )

Edit: splelgin

Edited January 7, 2010 by C. sapidus (log)

[C. sapidus]

Last night we made a big batch of manchamanteles (“tablecloth stainer”). Half went to a chile cook-off at work, and half stayed home for dinner. Ancho and guajillo chiles provided heat; onions, garlic, canela, cloves, and black pepper lent aroma; pineapple, fried plantains, and cider vinegar added a sweet-sour tang; and ground peanuts, sesame seeds, and dried bread thickened the sauce. For meat, we used chunks of pork butt, chicken thighs, and fried chorizo.

I set up the crock pot at the cook-off, but I was tied up in a meeting and missed most of the tasting. About half-way through the tasting I stepped out of the meeting to check on the manachamanteles, but it had completely disappeared. I suppose that was a good sign.

The remainder disappeared at dinner, accompanied by rice and fried plantains. I always choose the blackest, mushiest (and sweetest) plantains at the Latino market. As is often the case, they give me a free plantain or two for taking the “bad” ones off their hands. Win-win.

Manchamanteles

[C. sapidus]

Yellow mole with chicken, green beans, and potatoes (mole amarillo con ejotes y papas). Shortcut recipe based on one in Mexican Everyday. The broth contained toasted guajillo chiles, tomatoes, white onion, garlic, cumin, canela, allspice, Mexican oregano, and chicken stock, thickened with masa harina.

Served with Gulf coast-style white rice pilaf (arroz blanco), made with jasmine rice, white onion, garlic, and chicken stock.

Yellow mole with chicken, green beans, and potatoes

[poppalarge]

Bricklayer’s eggs (huevos al albanil) – more chile pasillas, and one of my absolute favorite things to eat in any category.

These just look divine.

[poppalarge]

What, would you say, was the ultimate cook book for authentic Mexican cuisine?

[C. sapidus]

Bricklayer’s eggs (huevos al albanil) – more chile pasillas, and one of my absolute favorite things to eat in any category.

These just look divine.

Thank you very much.

What, would you say, was the ultimate cook book for authentic Mexican cuisine?

I have never been to Mexico, but here are a few threads on Mexican cookbooks:

Looking for a 2nd Mexican cookbook

Mexican and Diana Kennedy

Diana Kennedy Cookbooks

Mexican Cookbooks: Kennedy or Bayless?

And if you speak Spanish (I don't, unfortunately):

Enciclopedico de gastronomia Mexicana

DK does Oaxaca

Enjoy!

[kalypso]

I don't have a photo to post, but I wanted to report that I made Carne de Res con Col from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cusinines of Mexico (pg. 292) and it was surprisingly good. Who knew a pound of ground beef and half the head of a small cabbage could be so crazy good. It's easy enough to do after work during the week. Yum yum.

Edited March 14, 2010 by kalypso (log)

[C. sapidus]

I don't have a photo to post, but I wanted to report that I made Carne de Res con Col from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cusinines of Mexico (pg. 292) and it was surprisingly good. Who knew a pound of ground beef and half the head of a small cabbage could be so crazy good. It's easy enough to do after work during the week. Yum yum.

Kalypso, carne de res con col sounds like a perfect weeknight meal, so I have penciled it in for next week. Thanks for the tip!

Boys gave tonight’s meal 10’s across the board, scores normally reserved for steak night. The pork and frijole recipes were from Mexican Everyday.

Puerco a la Mexicana: Pork tenderloin cubes browned and then cooked to tender rosy-pink in a sauce of tomatoes, white onions, garlic, roasted Poblano chile strips, beef broth, and cilantro. Yum.

Frijoles charros rapidos: Crisp-fried bacon, garlic, tomatoes, roasted Poblano chile strips, and ancho chile powder, simmered with canned black beans and finished with cilantro. More yum.

Mrs. C sauteed corn with onions and Rotel, and steamed orzo in vegetable broth (the latter not pictured but quite good).

[C. sapidus]

I don't have a photo to post, but I wanted to report that I made Carne de Res con Col from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cusinines of Mexico (pg. 292) and it was surprisingly good. Who knew a pound of ground beef and half the head of a small cabbage could be so crazy good. It's easy enough to do after work during the week. Yum yum.

Kalypso, great tip on the carne de res con col. We made it for dinner tonight, and the family loved it. Cilantro looked pretty sad at the grocery store, so we used culantro instead. Accompanied by our usual arroz blanco, cooked with chicken stock, white onion, garlic, roasted chile Poblano, and Mexican oregano.

Carne de res con col with arroz blanco

[kalypso]

Bruce, this is so funny. Yesterday afternoon the though crossed my mind that I needed to check this forum this morning because you were going to post another meal. Turns out my intuition was right I made this again last night and we had the leftovers for dinner last night. This time I served it with some red new potatoes and roasted the cherry tomatoes that came in my CSA bag last week. Rancho Gordo made it last week and some beans to it.

I've heard from people who have made this recipe with ground turkey and ground lamb in place of the ground beef and with Napa, savoy and red cabbage instead of the traditional green cabbage. The variations are all as good as the original.

[rancho_gordo]

I think kalypso has inspired us all! I don't remember reading this but I must have.

i cooked mine in a clay cazuela and added 1 cup of Moro beans. As kalypso says, it's very easy to like and make. My only comment would be that one single chile isn't enough.