Mexican Series #6 WW Burrito with Hongos Guisados

As a bookish cook, I usually try various recipes from different books. For the first time, I find myself cooking through a book- Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless - all the vegetarian recipes i.e. The Mexican Series is a chronicle of this cook through.

Whole wheat burritos uses whole wheat tortillas which are a variation on this recipe from Authentic Mexican. I substituted one cup of the all purpose flour with Whole wheat flour. The texture of the tortillas and their taste was quite good.

Update: This weekend I was at an Mexican restaurant with good reviews in Philadelphia. The texture of their flour tortillas was silken smooth and soft. Quite unlike the texture of my flour tortillas. The flour tortilla recipe needs more work.

As for fillings I usually turn towards sauted peppers and onions with jalapenos and oregano. Yawn. After trying some of the various quesadilla/enchilada/empanada fillings recipes in his book, I highly recommend the Stewed Mushrooms with Onions and garlic - Hongos Guisados. Ive also used this Mushroom recipe as a layer in lasagna and it works beautifully. It has become my go to recipe for Mushrooms.

To assemble the Burrito, Lay out a line of the Hongos Guisados Mushrooms in the middle of the tortilla. Top with a little canned Refried Beans, some chopped lettuce , grated cheddar cheese and onions. You can optionally grill it at a high temperature for a delightfully smoky flavor. Wrap and serve with a fresh salad.

Hongos Guisados Recipe:

12oz Fresh mushrooms, washed and chopped in half
1/2 medium onion diced
1 Jalapeno , diced
2/3 cup broth
1/2 small lime, juiced
1 tbsp oil
1 large tomato, roasted or boiled, cored, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
11/2 tbsp epazote(or cilantro)
Salt to taste

1.Cooking the mushrooms:Place the mushrooms, onion, chile, broth , lime juice and oil in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil ove rmedium high heat, cover and cook 3 min. Uncover and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms begin to fry in the fat.
2. Finishing the mixture. While the mushrooms are cooking, puree the tomato with garlic in a blender or food processor and optional epazote and cook for about 5 min, until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick. Season with salt and cool before using.

Other fillings I tried:
1. Potatoes with Swiss chard Acelgas Guisadas
Tastes a lot like aloo palak. Not very mexican to my palette.
2. Potatoes and Green Chiles Papas con rajas
Aloo sabji again. Yawn.

I just love the look of the fresh green swiss chard. The folds of its leaf recall some distant hidden valley. If you are still reading the post, and are curious about the swiss chard potato recipe, here it is!






















Swiss Chard with tomatoes and Potatoes.
Acelgas Guisadas

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion thinly sliced
1/2 chile jalapeno
1 ripe medium small tomato, roasted or boiled
2 small boiling potatoes, diced
1/2 cup broth
Salt
1/2 bunch small swiss chard , stems cut off and leaves sliced crosswise into 1 inch strips

1. The flavorings: In a medium size saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and chile and cook, stirring frequently until the onion ins lightly browned. Roughly chop the tomato, add it to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes longer to reduce the liquid a little.
2. The poatoes. Stir in the potatoes, broth , optional epazote and salt. Cover, and cook over medium low heat until the potatoes are tender about 10 minutes. Check the amount of liquid, If too much boil down.
3. Steam cooking the chard: Mix in the chard, cover and cook over medium heat until the greens are tender. Uncover and taste for salt. There should be enough tomatoey broth to coat the vegetables. Serve right away.

Mexican Series#5 Mexican street style Enchilada

Enchilada, what enchilada? The fellow in the photo up there dont look like no enchilada :)In essence this is a tava version of the baked Enchilada.

I always, always make my Enchiladas the other way-Roll em up, top with sauce and plllenty of cheese. Enchiladas meant carb fest: gorge myself on the glorious cheesy goodness. So im glad that this "authentic" Mexican street style Enchilada from Rick Bayless's book Authentic Mexican lets me have my Enchilada and indulge myself with far less guilt( Authentic is as authentic does- Im not sure about authentic, having never been to Mexico but ill take Ricks word for it)

Note the bed of cabbage( at the best of times not my favorite vegetable), the utter and complete lack of cheese ( those two little yellow strings on top dont count) and the mushroom topping(Only two mushrooms for decorum in a photo- You can veg out in the actual plate). More veggies, less cheese- yet complete flavor.

Looks healthy! So when I read the recipe I thought id give it a shot. I used flour tortillas, H. having a complete allergy to corn tortillas.

Ingredients:

A. 12 corn tortillas,preferably dry

B. Sauce Recipe

C. Vegetable Stuffing / Topping( Can use any cooked vegetable topping(potato, carrot) of your choice or use any of the recipes in Mexican series #6 to follow)

D. For the condiments:
1/2 small head cabbage
3 tbsp cider vinegar ( can sub with lemon / lime juice)
1/2 tsp salt
2 thin slices onion
1/2 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco, or other fresh cheese like feta or farmers cheese ( I only had yellow cheddar)


Method:
1. The condiments or garnishes: Slice the cabbage very thinly( or get a packet or chopped coleslaw) and place in a bowl. Mix with vinegar, oil and salt,then toss with the cabbage. Set aside, together with the onion rings and crumbled cheese.
2. Frying the enchiladas: About fifteen minutes before serving, divide the cabbage mixture among 4 plates, spreading it into a bed in the center. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet( I used my Nirlep Non stick Tava). When the oil is hot, dip both sides of a tortilla into the sauce, then lay it in the oil. After about 20 seconds, flip the tortillas over, fry for another 20 seconds, fold in half, then in half again lenghtwise. Lift them out draining as much of the oil back into the pan as possible.
3. Finishing the dish.
Lay 3 tortillas per plate on the bed of cabbage, top with vegetables and the cheese and serve.

VERDICT:
I actually liked this version better, sort of like a different take on roti sabzi.The cabbage was a revelation, crip and tart - it went perfectly with the enchilada. Note to self: always serve enchiladas(baked or otherwise) in the future with pickled cabbage and onions.

Having a timeline for this dish would be helpful
1. Upto a week Before: Make the sauce
2. Upto four days before: Buy the tortillas
3. Two hours before serving: Make the cabbage base, The sabzi topping.
4. Assemble.

The baked enchiladas are convenient because they freeze very well, but if you are making lunch for just yourself this is a great way to have a light but flavorful lunch.

If you do try it with corn tortillas, let me know how it goes.

Mexican Series#4 Red Enchilada Sauce

In the picture: Puffed up ancho chile

I used to buy Enchilada Sauce from the supermarket, but I started looking for alternatives as soon as i tasted it. Call me a curious cat, but I just had to know what the real thing tasted like. A couple of searches on chowhound revealed long and passionate discussions on "real" Enchilada Red Sauce, but all of these discussions had a couple of ingredients in common, Mexican Chiles(Ancho, Guajillos),Garlic, Onions, Cumin and Pepper. Many had flour added to thicken the sauce but I could not stomach that idea.

Finally, I ended up going to my sourcebook, Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless- and I must say his recipe makes a pretty darn good Enchilada Sauce, without flour.This is the first time Ive ended up cooking through an entire book and its been quite a learning experience and the entire Mexican series is from that book.

To those who are short on time, Dont think enchilada sauce, think chutney. When you know what ingredients to throw together and puree - the whole process is a breeze. If you donot have time to toast the chiles as Bayless suggests, just soak the chiles in water and puree with some pre chopped garlic, pepper and cumin.I have taken this route before and It tasted similiar to the elaborate method that he outlines.

Now the mexican style of cooking is similiar to ours, so the recipe below is more of a suggestion rather than a very fixed thing. If you saute onion and garlic and add some tomato to the sauce below it becomes Salsa roja or Western Texas Enchilada Sauce. So do feel free to experiment.

Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe:

4 clove garlic, unpeeled
4 medium dried chiles guajillos
6 medium dried chiles anchos
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 cups any poultry broth, plus a little more if needed.
Salt, abt 1 tsp
Sugar 1 pinch if needed

Heat a heavy skillet or griddle over medium then lay the garlic on one side to roast. Tear the chillies into flat pieces and, few at a time, press them against the hot surface with a metal spatula, flip them over and press again; you will see them blister and change color.

( I was too lazy to strip the chillies into flat pieces, I just toasted them whole, they blistered up just fine - Look at the Picture above - Also I halved the quantities of the chiles but kept 4 garlic cloves- Even half the chiles makes a whole lot of sauce. You can buy mexican chiles at your local farmers market, My supermarket carries the goya brand.If you are apprehensive about buying two varieties of chiles that you may not use for other things, try out the recipe with only one chile type- still tastes great)

Dunk into hot water, and soak for atleast an hour, preferably 2 -3 hours. Turn the garlic frequently for 15 min or so, until blackened and soft within. Cool and then peel.

Now remove the stems from the chiles and puree with all the other ingredients.

(You can also add some cider vinegar or lime juice - which i liked - added a little tang to my sauce. While pureeing, you shouldnt add much water. The sauce will be thick. You can adjust the thickness of the sauce adding as much of the soaking water as you like. Adjust salt and sugar according to your taste)

This sauce keeps well for a long, long time in a glass jar in the Referigerator. It has a deep red ochre color that is really alluring.

Stay tuned for the next post on Authentic Mexican Street Style Enchiladas.

Mexican Series#2 Corn Tortilla

Corn is a basic grain in Mexican cuisine and the Corn tortilla one of its Building blocks. There are problems with commercially bought corn tortillas, for us vegetarians-they might contain lard or animal fat , their thickness is usually atrocious - the mouth swims in the gummy taste of fat and not so tasty tortilla and lastly they are not fresh.

How important is freshness to a corn tortilla? So important that buying the Masa or freshly ground dough is fervently advocated by most people who make the corn tortillas. Most of us cannot obtain freshly ground masa, but i think for those who make rotis, making tortillas is just a change from wheat to corn dough really. Corn tortillas made at home only have two ingredients: Corn masa and water.

You can use your fresh corn tortillas in making tostadas, quesadillas, burritos or even fresh tortilla chips.


Equipment:For someone like me who makes tortillas occasionally, no special equipment is needed. Just use your roti making apparatus plus some cling film or wax paper. You need to buy the tortilla maker only if you make tortillas on a daily or weekly basis.





Tortilla de Maiz:
Yield 15 Tortillas

13/4 cups masa harina ( Look for the MASECA brand in the Hispanic section of your supermarket)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp hot tap water

1. The dough: Mix the Masa harina with the hot water and then knead until smooth, adding more water or more masa harina to achieve a very soft , but not sticky consistency.

Divide into fifteen balls and let rest for half an hour.

2. Heat a large, ungreased, heavy griddle. It is important that your griddle be heavy. I used my light roti/dosa tava and it flopped miserably. I then used my heavy cast iron grill pan to great success.

3. Take one ball of the masa harina between two sheets of clingfilm, and proceed to roll out with your rolling pin ( belan).

4. Put the tortilla on the heavy skillet. If the tava is properly hot, the tortilla should balloon up like a phulka. Now mine did not fluff up, but they tasted just as good! I guess ill need a lot more practice before i achieve that.

5. When browned, remove and wrap in a towel or kitchen cloth. Rest for about 15 minutes , to finish their cooking, soften and become pliable.

Recipe from Rick Bayless: Authentic Mexican

Mexican Series #1 Flour Tortilla

My first introduction to the tortilla was bad. In my innocence, I bought a packet from the nearby American supermarket ( "Wow the supermarket has rotis!"). Heat them up, close your eyes tight and imagine Home and mom and garam garam rotis and then eat - not half as bad. Let them go cold though, hoo boy, its like biting into rubber.

Hand made tortillas, corn or flour are really good. They are soft and melty and are the base for the best enchiladas,quesadillas, burritos and taquitos.Corn flour tortillas dominate most of Mexico while of Maida or Allpurpose flour tortillas are found in Northern Mexico.

Ill begin this series on Mexican food with flour tortillas one of the building blocks of mexican cuisine.

Ive run into a couple of recipes for Flour tortillas(eg. from 30 min Vegetarian Mexican) but they usually duplicate the rubberiness of the supermarket tortilla. Exactly the opposite of what you want to do.

Most books on mexican food I checked always referred back to Rick Bayless and his first book, Authentic Mexican. This recipe for flour tortillas comes from Authentic Mexican, and it makes killer tortillas.Soft and crumbly mmm mmmm....

A note on special equipment: If you already make rotis or parathas, No special equipment is required for Flour tortillas. Just use your rolling pin and some flour to dust the surface and you are good to go.

Wheat flour tortillas Recipe:
(Tortillas de Harina)
From Rick Bayless AUTHENTIC MEXICAN

3/4 pound(2 3/4 cups) all purpose flour
5 tbsp lard or vegetable shortening
3/4 tsp salt
about 3/4 cup very warm tap water

1.The dough: Combine the flour and fat in a large mixing bowl, working in the fat with your figners, until completely incorporated. Dissolve the salt in the water, pour about three fourth of it over the dry ingredients and immediately work it in with a fork, the dough will e in large clumps rater than a homogenous mass. If all the dry ingredients havent been dampened, add the rest of the liquid(plus a little more if needed). Scoop the dough on your work surface and knead until smooth, it should be a medium stiff consistency - definitely not firm but not quite as soft as bread dough.

( Should be roughly like a roti dough consistency, a shade softer).

2. Resting: Divide the dough into 12 portions and roll each into a ball. Set them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes ( to make the dough less springy and easier to roll.

3. Rolling and putting it on the griddle / tava.
Roll out the tortilla like a normal roti.It is best if you use a heavy cast iron tava or else your usual roti tava should do in a pinch. The tava should be hot. After 30 to 40 seconds, when there are browned splotches underneath, flip it over. Bake 30 to 45 seconds more, until the other side is done. Donot overbake or the tortilla will become crisp.

Remove and wrap in a towel.

Cooks notes: For roti makers this is a very easy process. The results are far, far superior to supermarket products, so the time invested yields good results. You can make a stack of these and store them in the referigerator or the freezer. To store in the freezer, first take a baking sheet, and lay out the tortillas in a single layer. After about an hour you can stack them up on top of each other and then put them into a ziplock bag.

Crema de Elote ( Corn Soup) & Jalapeno poppers

Soup recipe from
Rick Bayless: Authentic Mexican
Regional cooking from the heart of Mexico

Yield: About 1 quart, 4 servings
21/2 to 3 cups fresh or defrosted corn kernels
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
11/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups milk, plus a little more if needed
2 fresh chiles poblanos, roasted , peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 cup thick cream or whipping cream
About 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup crumbled mexican queso fresco or feta
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish

1. Prepare corn kernels if using fresh else defrost frozen corn and place in Blender
2. Saute Onion in 2 tbsp buttter until translucent and minced garlic, cook until garlic is done.
3. Add the onions garlic and corn starch to Blender along with the corn. Puree finely. Donot add water
4. Heat two tbsp butter in pan and add the puree. Stir until the mixture is thickened, a couple of minutes.
5. Add the two cups of milk and simmer covered for fifteen minutes.
6.Strain the mixture, remove the fibres of the corn and return the resulting smooth and silky puree to the stove. Add the cream, poblanos, salt and simmer for another ten minutes. Adjust thickness to liking
7. Garnish with cheese, parsley and serve in warm soup bowls.

Cooks Notes: I totally forgot to add the cornstarch and did not miss it in the soup at all. American corn is very sweet and to those who donot like sweet soups, well -beware. I left in some seeds of the poblano for a slight kick and for added measure , seasoned the soup with both black and white pepper. Also added some roasted red pepper, finely diced. Also added some mexican oregano to soup before straining for added flavor.

Jalapeno Popper recipe
Cooks notes: The jalapenos had a beautiful crust, but the pepper stayed raw during the frying. Next time I will slightly steam the peppers before hand.