Chiles

Tamal de Cazuela (Tamal Casserole)

sophia — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:16:43 -0400

This is a very easy Mexican casserole to bring to any potluck or family gathering this Fall. You can buy roast chicken from the supermarket as a short-cut, though we recommend making it from scratch.

2 cups Maseca flour
1 cup corn meal (you can find it at many local farmers markets)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Dash of paprika
½ cup olive oil
½ cup hot chicken broth

2 chicken breasts
Chicken broth or water
1 poblano pepper
1 ½ cups butternut squash, diced

Tomatillo Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the chicken breasts in a medium pot covered with water. You can add aromatics such as some diced carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and black pepper corns. This will create a nice broth for the recipe. Alternatively, you can cover them just with water and use store bought chicken broth where it is called for later. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook the chicken through, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from the liquid. Strain liquid and bring to a simmer. Keep warm.
Shred the chicken breasts with your fingers or using forks.
Shortcut: Buy roast chicken, and shred the meat from the breast. Use the rest of the chicken for another meal.
Roast the squash with some olive oil and salt for 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Roast the poblano pepper in the oven or over an open gas flame until charred on all sides. Remove from heat, place in a bowl covered with a cloth or towel and sweat. When cool enough to handle, peel the pepper and discard the seeds.

Make the dough: sift together the dry ingredients. Pour in the olive oil and rub it into the flour. Next, pour in the hot broth and knead until smooth.

Grease a 9x9 square baking tray. Place a thin layer of dough into the bottom, evening it out with your hands. Combine the chicken, pepper, and squash, and arrange on top of the dough. Pour over the Tomatillo Salsa (recipe follows). Create the top layer of the casserole with the remaining dough.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with the Tomatillo Salsa.

Tomatillo Salsa:
2 lbs tomatillos
1 clove garlic
½ a medium yellow or white onion
½ cup fresh cilantro
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Soak the tomatillos in warm water to loosen their husks. Remove the husks and roughly chop. Blend together the tomatillos, garlic, onion, cilantro, vinegar, and olive oil into a nice, loose salsa. Season to taste with salt.

Latin Black Bean Salad with Peaches

sophia — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:50:56 -0400

Latin food can be local too! This recipe is for a very simple salad using black beans from Cayuga Pure Organics near Ithaca, New York. Thanks to them, we have access to a great vegetarian source of protein from a regional organic farm. The dish was inspired by a wonderful dish made for us by Autumn Stoscheck of Eve's Cidery , who used as many fresh vegetables she could tossed with cooked black beans. The result was a juicy salad of September bliss.

This is a simplified version with just a few ingredients. There are no exact quantities for this recipe, because it is up to you to judge the amounts you want to use. The idea is to have the same proportions of onions, tomato, and peaches, and just make the dish as colorful and diverse as possible. Who needs mango when we have ripe, juicy peaches?!

Cooked black beans (see below)
Red onion
Heirloom tomatoes(of any color and shape)
Peaches
Small red or green Chile peppers
Herbs: mint, cilantro, parsley
Vinegar (and lime if not on a local diet)
Salt
Collard greens or kale

Dice the red onions, tomatoes, and peaches to about a medium size, not much bigger than the beans. For 1 cup of cooked beans you will need about 1/2 a peach, 1 medium tomato, 1/4 of a red onion, and about 1" of the chile pepper.
Mince the chiles finely and toss them in along with the herbs for extra flavor. Dress with vinegar, season with salt, and toss thoroughly.
Steam the collard greens and kale, and place them on the bottom of the dishes. Spoon the bean salad on top of the greens and serve.
Buen Provecho!

How To Cook Dried Black Beans:

Take 1 cup dried beans, place in a bowl, and cover with about double their amount in water. Soak for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Drain the beans of their soaking liquid and transfer to a pot. Cover again with at least 2-4 inches of water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer covered on very low heat until the beans are cooked through and soft (about 1 hour). You can add cumin, ginger, or garlic to the cooking liquid to add flavor. Ginger and cumin both help with the digestibility of the beans, reducing gas.

Guajillo Ketchup

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:23:25 -0400

This homemade ketchup recipe is inspired by the flavors of the rugged Southwest. We made it slightly spicy by adding guajillo chile peppers, which you can find in the produce section of most supermarkets. The next time you have a barbeque, be sure to make this and give your guests a different kind of condiment.

3 T olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 dried guajillo chiles, stems removed*
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ - ½ cup water
1 T + 1 tsp. molasses
½ tsp. salt (or to taste)

In a large skillet, dry toast the chile peppers until they darken on both sides. Take them out of the pan and submerge in hot water to let them soften.
In the same pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and start to fry the shallot and garlic cloves. Toss in the bay leaf. Add the tomatoes and keep frying for a bit more, then lower the heat and let the juices cook down a little bit. Pour in the vinegar, and enough water to just barely cover the tomatoes. Bring the contents of the pan to a simmer.
Meanwhile, remove the seeds of the chile pepper and add the chiles to the pan.
Simmer for about 5-8 minutes until reduced a bit. Remove the bay leaf.
Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender, add the molasses and salt, and puree until smooth.
Heat up the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pan, and strain the liquid through a sieve back into the pan. Reduce the sauce until it resembles ketchup, stirring constantly, so that none of the sauce burns along the sides of the pan.
Season with salt if needed, and transfer to a bowl for serving.
Makes a bit more than 1 cup.

*If you would like a slightly milder version, just use 1 guajillo chile.

Guajillo Ketchup

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:43:38 -0400

Inspired by the flavors of the rugged Southwest, we made it a little bit spicy by adding guajillo chile peppers, which you can find in the produce section of most supermarkets. The next time you have a barbeque, be sure to make this and give your guests a different kind of condiment.

Chile Ancho Chicken Recipe

sophia — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:47:16 -0400

This recipe is an easy way of trying to cook with chiles. Chile ancho is a dried poblano pepper, and has a wonderful smoky, yet slightly spicy flavor. It also adds a lot of color to this dish. Tita makes this dish for dinner parties, where it is always a hit!

Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into 4 pieces
2 skinless chicken thighs
2 skinless chicken legs
1 medium onion, halved and cut into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2-4 dried ancho chiles, without the seeds or veins (watch demo)
chicken broth powder, salt, and pepper
1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

Rinse the chicken pieces, pat dry, and season well with salt, pepper, and/or powdered chicken broth.
Place a large pot on the stovetop (enameled cast iron is best), and add the onion and garlic.
Using a pair of kitchen scissors (or even your hands), cut up the ancho chiles into pieces. Add the chiles to the pot.
Place the chicken pieces on top of the onion, garlic, and chiles, and pour in the vinegar and oil (you can mix the two liquids together and then pour in also).
Cover the pot and turn the heat on to medium- low. Cook slowly for about 45 minutes, basting the chicken with the cooking liquid every now and again. Basting will keep the chicken moist, as well as add the beautiful color of the chiles to the chicken.
If you need to moisten the chicken, add a bit more water.
Serve with either rice or potatoes, and a nice green salad.

Serves 6 as a main course.

Forbidden Love Pasta (Amor Prohibido)

sophia — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:57:30 -0400

2 acorn squash, cut in half, and seeds scooped out
2 garlic cloves
4 T olive oil, divided
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
¼ cup light cream
½ cup walnuts
¼ cup pepitas*
3 T fresh pomegranate seeds
2 teaspoons chipotle en adobo*
1 teaspoon chile ancho powder (optional)*
4 cups pasta (I like to use a flat shaped pasta such as rombi)
½ cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Toss the squash halves with about two tablespoons of the olive oil, and season with salt and some pepper. Place the halves cut side down on a baking tray, and roast for 30-40 minutes, until fork tender.
When the squash is cool enough to handle, peel off the thick green skin, and fork mash it well.
Toast the pepitas in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil until inflated. Turn them out into a bowl. Toss the walnuts into the same pan and shake around as well. When they are nice and brown, transfer them into the same bowl as the pepitas. Sprinkle both with a hint of salt and the chile ancho powder, if using.
Start getting ready to cook the pasta by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil.
In a large pan, heat up the rest of the olive oil and add the garlic and squash. Stir. Pour in the broth, and mix it well with the squash.
Let it reduce slightly, then add the cream, and stir again. Bring the contents of the pan to a simmer and reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the chipotle en adobo and season the sauce to your liking. You want it to be nice and thick, but not too dense to be poured over the pasta. Take it off the heat once it is done.
Cook the pasta in the boiling water to al dente, according to the instructions on the package.
Drain the pasta, reserving about ¼ cup of its cooking water, and return it to the pot.
Pour the acorn squash sauce over the cooked pasta, and loosen up with the cooking water if necessary.
Place a serving of pasta and sauce in each bowl, and then sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and pepitas. Garnish with some shredded Gruyere, and last but not least, some of the fresh pomegranate seeds.
Enjoy!

*Pepitas are pumpkin seeds, and can be found in the dried fruits and nuts sections of most grocery stores.
*You can find little tins of chipotle en adobo in the International sections of some supermarkets, as well as in international grocery stores.
*Chile Ancho powder is the ground form of Ancho Chiles, which are popular in Mexican cooking. You can find this spice in many supermarkets nowadays. If you do not use it, make sure you season the pepitas and walnuts with salt instead.

Note: You can always bake the squash and garlic ahead of time, and finish the sauce when you are ready to prepare dinner.

Sauteed Red Snapper with Orange Chile Sauce

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:52:17 -0400

For the Fish:
2 filets of Red Snapper, or any local firm-fleshed fish

For the Salsa:
2 T oil
2 Guajillo chiles
3 Ancho chiles
2 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 onion, cut into slivers
Juice of two oranges
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
Salt for taste

For the Salsa:

In a dry pan, toast the chiles and then transfer them to a bowl and cover them with hot water.

Once they are soft, seed and de-vein them.

Heat up the oil to be quite hot.

Saute the onion, and add in the garlic and the bay leaf. You want the onions gain some color.

Add in the chiles with some of their soaking water and cook them a little as well. Pour in the chicken broth.

Bring the broth to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Blend the contents of the pan in a blender, then strain through a sieve. You do this so that the chile skins and any renegade seeds are caught.

Pour the sauce back into the pan, and turn up the heat again.

Add in the freshly squeezed orange juice as well as the two cloves and cinnamon stick.

Season and lightly simmer for another 15- 30 minutes. The flavors will start to meld together slowly.

I think it is best to turn the heat off and go about preparing everything else. The more the flavors can sit together, the richer the sauce will be.

Reheat the sauce when you are ready to serve the fish.

Slice two parallel slits in the skin of the filets, being careful not to slice too far into the flesh. Season the flesh well with salt.

Heat up another saute pan with a few tablespoons of oil to be very hot.

Carefully slide the snapper filets into the pan and flatten them with the spatula.When you see that more than half of the flesh has been cooked through, flip the filets over and finish cooking on the other side.

Alternatively, bake the fillets (lightly brushed with oil) in a 400F oven for about 20 minutes.

Place each filet on a plate, and then pour over the sauce.

Garnish with the mole crumble (see below) or with sesame seeds, and serve with fresh corn tortillas and steamed zucchini.

Serves 2 people for dinner, 3 if someone stays around too long.

Mole Crumble:

Take about 1 tablespoon of raw cacao nibs and 1 tablespoon of toasted peanuts. Pound them up with a mortar and pestle. Mix in about 1/2 tsp of sesame seeds. Use as a garnish for the Chile Sauce.

Ensalada Oaxaquena, or Watercress Salad with Hibiscus

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:51:07 -0400

1 bunch watercress
Some dry hibiscus flowers
1 handful raw pepitas
1 avocado
1 ripe pear of your choice
For the Dressing:
1 T acacia honey
1 T white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Chile Ancho powder
1 clove of garlic, smashed
1-2 lugs of olive oil
Salt

Mix the honey, vinegar, Ancho powder, salt and garlic in a bowl. Let the flavors infuse.

Wash the watercress well, and if not using it immediately place it in the fridge, so that it remains crisp.

Toast the hibiscus flowers on very low heat until they are dry. Once they are cooled, crumble them up to your desired size. You can do this by hand, or with a mortar and pestle.

Toast the pepitas in a dry pan on low until they inflate and are crunchy.

Slice the pear in half lengthwise and remove the inner core. Slice one half of the pear into thin segments.

Slice the avocado in half, remove the bone, and remove its jacket. Slice the avocado into thin pieces lengthwise. You can cut those in half if you want smaller pieces.

Remove the garlic clove from the dressing infusion. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, a few drops at a time.

Toss the watercress, pepitas, and pear slices with the dressing in a bowl.

Decorate the top of the salad with the avocado slices and hibiscus flowers for serving.

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as an appetizer.

Enjoy!