Cooking in Mexico -- part I

I (Kermit) have received a few emails over the past few months wondering what in the world I’m doing this year. My daily life is usually made up of taking the kids to school, going shopping (almost every day—small fridge and carrying the groceries), laundry once a week (which I’m actually doing right now as I write, after taking a bus to a different laundrymat which has better rates on drying clothes—we’ll see if it is worth the trip), washing dishes a couple of times a day, the gym a couple of times a week, picking up the kids, stopping in the park to play after school, starting dinner, taking the kids to afternoon classes (Theater and Dance) 2 days a week. Of course I find time in there to read and stop off for breakfast from time to time as well (as I just finished a good plate of Chilaquiles while waiting for the laundry!!).

My main “job”, however, is preparing different Mexican foods this year. So I’ll include a list of the things I’ve made so far, with a few comments. Those readers who have some favorite dishes, variations or other suggestions, please let me know.

• Chilaquiles rojos – I used chile morita, a type of small chipotle. I’m not sure how different the taste is. For a dish that is intended to use up leftover tortillas (fried up as chips) I felt this was a bit time-consuming. I wonder if people make this frequently (daily?) or just from time to time. Maybe we just need to eat all of our tortillas and not have any left over.


• Tinga Poblana – the first time I made this with pork loin, which came out too dry. After having it at a birthday party we went to I realized it should have a lot more onions and I used pork shoulder – much better!


• Mole de Almendras – my family doesn’t care much for mole, so this is the only one I’ve made so far. It was also a much simpler recipe than the other red and black moles.


• Chicken with raisin, olive, almond and vinager sauce – apparently from the Chiapas region. I have yet to see this on a restaurant menu.


• Chicken with Pumpkin flower sauce – the recipe I had just called for a pumpkin flower and cream sauce, but I found a variation with chile poblano strips (rajas), so I added those.


• Pickled carrots, onions and jalapeños – I think jalapeño is really supposed to be the main ingredient in this “escabeche” but I really love the carrots.


• Tortilla soup – I think this is still one of my favorite Mexican foods – the ancho chile broth with fried ancho pieces, avocado, fresh cheese and tortilla strips . . .


• Fish a la veracruzana – I think this is most commonly prepared with Red Snapper (Huachinango), but I picked up another white fish. I’ve seen this on menus many times but have never order it. A good mediterranean-influenced sauce – green olives and chile tomato sauce.


• Wild Mushroom Soup – the cookbook says this is from the Tlaxcala region (a small mountainous state near Mexico City). I went to the Coyoacan market and bought 4 different kinds of funky-looking mushrooms. I wrote down the names of each, none of which were in any dictionary I have found. A very good broth with chipotle and some mushrooms blended together.


• Frijoles charros – how can you go wrong adding chorizo to anything, especially beans. Although Gretchen didn’t go for adding chorizo to her lasagna recipe, as a chef friend suggested.


• Meatball Soup – (Sopa de albóndigas menonitas) – One recipe I found referred to this as a Mennonite Meatball Soup – from the Chihuahan Mennonite community. I couldn’t find any other history of Meatball Soup in Mexico to see if it really did originate there. I made beef-chorizo-rice meatballs, which turned out very good, if a bit more greasy.


• Pozole rojo – Red chile pozole (pork & hominy soup) – I followed Rick Bayless’ advice for the best broth and bought pig trotters split in half. Unfortunately they didn’t have the half pig’s head that day.


Pig trotters in red pozole (only photo with this post because I keep forgetting to take pictures of the meals).

• Chile relleno – My first attempt at fried-stuffed peppers. I went with cheese stuffed, but many of the recipes call for a ground-beef, olive mixture. I did have something similar in a restaurant a few months ago – a meat stuffed rehidrated ancho chile that was very good. (Maybe I’ll have to tackle that next).
• Posolillo – a fresh corn and pork version of pozole – ancho chile broth with fresh corn and 3 kinds of pork – ham, loin, and chorizo. The recipe also called for chicken, but I figured 3 kinds of meat was enough. I’ve never heard of this before, nor seen it on a menu, but it was very good. Another “mestizo” meal – combining corn and chile from the Americas with the smoked pork meats of Spain.

There have been a few other things as well – different rice dishes, pumpkin flower quesadillas, carne asada tacos, quesadillas de rajas (chile poblano), alambre (meat, green pepper, onion & melted cheese) tacos, etc.

Feel free to comment and make suggestions, because I’ve got 7 more months of cooking to go!!