DIY Oak Tortilla Press: YAY!

I am so so very excited, I have wanted my own Wood tortilla press for a long time, I finally made my own out of some Oak that I bought at my local Lowes! Best part - the whole thing with hardware cost me only 20$!


For those who want to attempt this on your own , you will need some familiarity with working wood and the following

1 12 " X 24 " Oak board = around 12$
1 Oak staircase baluster = around 6 $ (looks like this)
two 2" hinges
1 carriage bolt

Ask the fellow at your Lowes to cut the oak board into two pieces of 11" and 13" respectively. Similarly ask him to cut the baluster into two , at around 3/4rth of the length. Hardwoods like oak can be difficult to cut with your jigsaw, so find the man!

Fasten the hinges to the both the oak boards.

This was the easy part so far.

The thing that takes the most time is figuring out at what angle you want the handle / oak baluster to hit the top board. Thing is , the oak handle should put pressure on the center and the edge of the top oak board. Once you figure that out , the rest is easy if you have a drill bit the size of your carriage bolt. Drill bits are pretty cheap at walmart, around a dollar or so. Attach to your power drill.

Stain and varnish is not necessary but it makes the press look spectacular no?


Anybody need more help do leave a comment and i will be glad to help out

MS #11: Plum Salsa with homemade Pineapple vinegar

Mexican Series #11: Plum salsa mexicana with home made Pineapple Vinegar

Back home, I once took a summer of salsa(the dance) lessons with my friend S. as a lark. It turned out to be the most fun thing we did in Bangalore. Only through reruns of Seinfeld( remember the double dip?:)) did I stumble upon the fierce chip and dip American culture. After we started hitting the gym this summer, we had to bid a teary farewell to all our deep fried friends and welcome low fat low calorie salsa into our bowls and over our enchiladas :)

The most common salsa is salsa mexicana. Jugalbandi's perfect Tomato Salsa s really a perfect version and their Papaya Green Apple salsa is a colorful fruity version.

While I was going through Diana Kennedy's From my Mexican Kitchen, I came upon an interesting and totally simple recipe for Pineapple Vinegar( All it involves is keeping some pineapple(I used one whole peeled pineapple) and brown sugar in water in a closed bottle in a warm dry place for about a month). Mexican cooking uses mild fruit based vinegars for salsa and pickles of all sorts- the other favorite being Banana Vinegar. When you look at a picture of the pineapple vinegar in progress it looks fairly gross,

DONT WORRY!! This thick glutinous layer is called the 'mother' and it indicates that the vinegar is now ready for use.

I will sign off with the

Plum Salsa Mexicana Recipe :
3 Ripe Plums
1 Peach / Nectarine
1 Small Red Onion
1 Jalapeno( or according to taste)
2 tbsp pineapple vinegar or 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
cilantro leaves
salt to taste

Chop in to fairly small pieces, mix all ingredients an hour before use - to let the flavors blend. Serve with tortilla chips or heavily spiced mexican dishes like enchiladas.

Enjoy!

Mexican Series #10: Panuchos

Before I tell you about Panuchos, the easiest vegetarian Mexican Breakfast you can every make, a big thank you to Jayashree of My experiments with food for passing on the Yum blog award to me. Wow Thanks!



A Panucho is basically a corn paratha/roti stuffed with delicious black bean paste and hard boiled eggs thrown together with some toppings. I am really and truly lazy so i did not bother stuffing the corn tortilla but instead layered all the ingredients on top of each other and it tastes so delicious. You can find the more traditional( and pretty!) version here.

According to The art of Mexican cooking by Diana Kennedy, this is a Yucatan( Hey I did not know WHERE the Yucatan in Mexico was- hence the link) evening snack specialty. Mexican food is like a palette of tastes, and you can easily customize it according to your tastes. If you donot have the cabbage or onion - you can surely skip them.

To make 4 Panuchos you need:
1. 1 cup Finely sliced cabbage in 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp oil and salt
2.Corn tortillas from the supermarket or make your own
3. 1 can of Refried black beans ( Amy's Organic Refried Black Beans recommended)
4. 1 can of Red Enchilada Sauce or my red enchilada sauce
5. 1 can Red Tomato Salsa or Green Tomatillo Salsa
6. Four eggs Sunny side up, yolk cooked as well as you want.
7. 1 cup Onions in 1 tbsp Vinegar, 1 tbsp oil and salt.


Layer the ingredients from 1 to 7 on a plate one on top of another. Presto! Breakfast is ready!

Mexican Series #9: Chiles Rellenos:Stuffed Ancho & Poblano

My entry for Dhivyas A.W.E.D Mexican.

My Gujju heart says that Chiles Rellenos is only Bharela Marcha by a different name, localized with Mexican Ingredients. Bharela Marcha is a stuffed chile( either the mild long one or the Capsicum) that is sometimes fried as a fritter or Bhajiya. Big picture settled, the details are very very important. Mexican cuisine is all about the marcha or the chile. They have n number of chile varieties, which when they combine with n number of fillings leads to billions of variations and that spins my head round and round and round......

uh coming back to Chiles Rellenos, it is, then, a classic Mexican dish of stuffed, battered and deep fried Poblano , Ancho or even Jalapenos or Habaneros in different regions of Mexico. In a way, Jalapeno Poppers, that cheese creamy hot goodness is a Chiles Relleno.

Do check out my other vegetarian Mexican recipes here.

Donot get intimidated by the long list of ingredients or the equally long method, this dish is worth the work. This recipe does not deep fry the chiles for a healthier chiles Rellenos. It is a main course dish and you can eat it by itself.

.
The two most common Chiles Rellenos, have to be the stuffed Poblano and Ancho. Poblano is a deep green, fresh, long and mild pepper while the Ancho is a deep red dried Pepper. Both are easily available in local Mexican or farmers markets.Images from Happynews.com and Wikimedia

Check out Asha at Foodies Hope who has a detailed post on the stuffed Poblano Chiles Rellenos. I guess the only things I could add to her detailed instructions is you could also char the poblanos on a gas stove top, cover it for ten minutes and then peel it. Remember that you should char the poblanos only until they are black and blistered. Too much and you wont be able to peel them. Also, try not to wash them under water because that dilutes the flavor. Dont worry about little bits of skin, they taste damn good!

Stuffing Anchos Chiles is a slightly different procedure, you have to first rehydrate the chiles. This recipe is from a book called Rosa's Mexican Table which I liked for its beautiful pictures and slightly unconventional stuffing.


Stuffed Poblano Peppers & Ancho Peppers in a thin tomato sauce:
Chiles anchos rellenos de puntitas de res:

To rehydrate the Anchos:
2/3 cup Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup piloncillo or jaggery or 3 tbsp brown sugar + 2 tbsp molasses
8 Large Ancho chiles, dry but pliable

For the filling
1/3 cup of soft goat cheese
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1.5 pounds trimmed beef tenderloin ( I substituted with TVP made from Soy. You could also use Rice- Brown or white - Works out to about 2 cups-cooked)
6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
6 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems removed chopped
1 large white onion finely chopped
2 medium jalapenos, chopped finely
11/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
2.5 tsp dried oregano crumbled
salt to taste
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3 tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:
6 medium tomatoes roasted in an oven at 400 degree F for 10 minutes( if you find yellow tomatoes use them for a beautiful color contrast)
1 habanero chile
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (11/3cups)small white onion finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Blend all the sauce ingredients except the onion. Take some oil in a saucepan and heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the blended sauce and cook the blended sauce until it thickens. The Author recommends 40 minutes, I did not have the patience and I used a thinner tomato sauce, tasted just great.


METHOD:

First, Rehydrate the Anchos: Take six Dried Anchos in a Large bowl. Combine 4 cups water with the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, Stirring until the piloncillo is dissolved. Add the water to the Anchos. Put a heavy weight on top of the Anchos so that they are submerged. Soak for about an hour until they are soft. Drain. Carefully make a slit on one side and remove most of the seeds. Make sure the stem does not fall off and try not to tear the chile.

Prepare the filling: In a pan with add the oil, add the cumin, onions, rice or tvp, jalapenos, garlic, oregano, salt and mushrooms and saute until the onions are cooked and the mushrooms are lightly browned and all the water from the mushrooms have evaporated.

When cooked add the goat cheese and cilantro.

Stuff each chile carefully. This mixture should fill around 6 Anchos. The extra anchos are in case any chile tears or does not become soft.


Place the chiles in a baking dish, add the tomato sauce to upto half way up the chiles. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degree F.







Variations:
From Recipes from Regional cooks of Mexico Diana Kennedy
1. Chiles Rellenos con Calabacitas Chiles stuffed with Zucchini
2. Chiles Rellenos de Elote con Crema Chiles tuffed with corn and cream
From The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy
3. Chiles stuffed with Cheese
4. Ancho Chiles stuffed with Potato and Chorizo
From Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless
5. Pan fried Chiles Rellenos with sauce and without
6. Black Bean Chiles Rellenos
From Cocina dela Familia by Marilyn Tausend
7. Chiles en Nogada Stuffed Chiles wih Walnut Sauce
8. Chile Rellenos de Fiesta Unstuffed Stuffed Chiles
From Elise of Simply Recipes
9. Chiles En Nogada
10. Chile Relleno Casserole

Mexican Series #8: Quesadilla Education

Quesadillas are everywhere simply because they are comfort food like grilled cheese sandwiches. But they have several names- quesadillas, empanadas, molotes, tlacoyos etc according to Rick Bayless. What do quesadillas and empanadas have in common? I decided to do some digging.

The two authors I ran into in my exploration of Mexican food via books were Diana Kennedy- an older, pioneer woman in the documenting of Mexican cuisine and Rick Bayless - a contemporary chef who runs the Frontera grill in Chicago.

Diana Kennedy is strict about what a quesadilla is, " a corn masa turnover doubled over a filling of oaxaca cheese, a strip of poblano chile and some epazote leaves". Wait a minute CORN MASA ? Not even a cooked tortilla? If you make a quesadilla according to Diana Kennedy, as I did, it looks something like the picture below.

The more common quesadilla Ive seen so far is like the one below, two tortillas sandwiched over some filling. This is more accurately called a quesadilla synchonizada- so called because of the two synchronized tortillas on top of each other.






















What are empanadas then? Rick Bayless suggests that an empanada is a wheat flour turnover / samosa with typically meat fillings. I will be posting empanada recipes soon.

To sum up,
For the quesadilla, roll out some corn masa like in the picture, keep some stuffing in the middle , fold and cut in a half moon shape. Deep fry or fry on a non stick skillet. The crisp exterior gives way to soft and melty corn dough and then to melty cheese. Yumm!

How to mix corn masa/ Lime processed corn flour? Refer to my previous post on corn tortillas

For the Quesadilla synchronizada, Place a tortilla - either corn or flour, on top of your skillet on medium heat. Top with about a tablespoon of filling - smooth out. Add as much cheese as you like - Domestic Sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, Muenster or if you have access to Mexican cheeses, Oaxaca string cheese and chihuahua . Top with another tortilla and toast on both sides until crisp and the cheese is completely melted.

You can also optionally grill the quesadilla synchronizadas. One good tip is to top the quesadillas with some sal limon, that is lemon salt with paprika just before you take the quesadilla off the skillet. Easily available in mexican markets it gives a tangy sour patch type of finish which kids are sure to love.

For the filling you could use simple and delicious cheese or my recipes from previous posts on Mexican Stewed Mushrooms ( Hongos Guisados) or Mexican Swiss chard and Potatoes(Acelgas Guisadas).

Another filling for quesadillas/ empanadas/ Burritos that Ive come up with is

ROASTED RED PEPPER WITH CHIPOTLE
Makes enough for four quesadillas
2 roasted Red peppers( beautiful post from jugalbandi on how to roast red peppers)
1/2 a medium onion
1 chipotle pepper or to taste in adobo sauce
1 tsp mexican oregano
salt to taste

Saute onions until soft and translucent, add the rest of the ingredients and saute for a minute more until the flavors are blended. Cool and use as filling. This is really delicious even if I say it myself!

Mexican Series #7: Chorizo-style TVP Veggie Burger

I have been trying to integrate soy into my plate for a long time. Tofu, nuh-ive tried it fried, baked, soft , firm- it just doesnt work for me-not yet anyway. Ive made Soya Kheema from TVP before and that worked for me. TVP or textured vegetable protien is made from soy flour that is passed through a machine- an extruder, to make small pellets or granules, commonly available at your local health store or organic food store bulk bin.

I wanted to make an healthy and hearty alternative to the potato cutlets that H. likes so much. I first tried this recipe for a veggie burger from CHOW. It has about every healthy thing you can imagine, from brown rice to grated zucchini to nuts. That makes the recipe a mile long ,fussy and this burger also sat in my stomach like a stone. I wanted something much quicker to make and tastier and lighter.

I was reading Rick Bayless's Authentic Mexican and his recipe for Chorizo, a traditional Mexican pork sausage. I liked the flavors in it, but I wanted a veggie version. After about three trials, Ive now arrived at a stable :) veggie version packed with soy and bean protien. You can have these at breakfast with bread or in a salad with veggies or just plain with ketchup or green chutney.

It keeps in the fridge very well, I usually mix up a big batch and fry it up on a non stick skillet whenever I want to eat it. You could also shape patties, put them on a large baking sheet, freeze for an hour and then put it in a zip lock bag. Then you could just skillet fry them whenever you like, except you should do that on low heat.

I am proud that for once I not quoting the recipe from either my mother or a book! This recipe is all my own.

For today, Ive paired this burger with roasted red and yellow peppers and cucumber. The Bread is Kamut Brown bread.

Chorizo style TVP Veggie Burger Recipe





















2/3 cup refried beans, canned, vegetarian and without lard
1/2 cup cooked brown rice( I used brown basmati, you could use any brown rice you have. Brown basmati is drier, other rice types might be a little wetter. Adjust bread crumbs accordingly)
1/2 cup bread crumbs

11/2 cups tvp

5 tbsp hot sauce (texas pete)
2 finely chopped jalapenos
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
1/2 an avocado
1/4rth cup tomato paste (I used Hunts Tomato Paste- donot use Puree, it is a lot wetter)
salt to taste

Method:
The method is fairly straightforward. If you have left over rice, great, other wise get that done first. Peel the avocado( technique video here).

Now dump all the ingredients into one bowl and mix it up. It should form a fairly stiff dough. Referigerate overnight. Form into patties and fry into cutlets on a non stick skillet.

Substitutions: Hot sauce- this is cheap about a buck, but a good substitute is lemon juice and red chilli powder. Make it about 5 tbsp of lemon juice and half as much chili powder as you like ( the jalapenos are hot too!)
Enchilada sauce- This really puts the chorizo in this veggie burger. If you are pinched for time , you could use a bottled mexican brand enchilada sauce.
Avocado- The avocado gives a nice creaminess because of its high fat content, skip and increase water if you want to avoid saturated fats.

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#3 Corn Cups

You can have fun with your corn tortilla dough by making easy and beautiful corn cups for great appetizers. This recipe idea is from a book called Hor doeuvres by Erik Treuille and Victoria Blashford Shnell.

Ingredients:
1 recipe Corn tortilla dough
23/4 inch biscuit cutter
Mini Muffin Pan
Oil Spray like pam






















Roll out corn tortilla dough between two sheets of Cling film. Remove top cling film. Cut circles in the rolled out dough with the 23/4" biscuit cutter. Carefully transfer circle of dough to the Mini muffin pan. Spray with pam, Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. In any case, remove before brown. Sometimes, if your circles have different thicknesses, some cups brown before others - so keep an eye on them.

For my daughters birthday I made these in three flavors, cheese, spinach and beetroot. For cheese, replace 1/4rth cup of the masa with Parmesan cheese, for spinach and beetroot - replace the water with pureed spinach and beetroot respectively. The spinach and beetroot affect baking times, so keep an eye on the cups in the oven.

I have seen some versions of this recipe online that used cooked , store bought tortillas. I tried that out, But I felt that those resulted in really inferior quality cups.

Serve these with a gorgeously unhealthy - dare i say it - VELVEETA based dip( Recipe from Epicurious)! and top with fresh tomato salsa. If velveeta makes you queasy, replace the velveeta with a good cheddar cheese + 1/4 cup heavy cream + 1/2 tsp sugar. You wont get the velvety :) texture of velveeta, but it will still taste fierce. I skipped the beer and the refried beans in the recipe and added a lot of jalapeno.

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.

V Day bfast: Onion & Jalapeno Quiche

Recipe modified from Epicurious

30 Minute Veg Mex

1. Flour tortillas
41/2 cups plain flour
1-2 tsp salt
3 oz vegetable shortening
boiling water