RECIPE: Aguayón Estilo Oaxaqueño (Oaxacan Roast Beef)

This dish is simple yet elegant in its presentation and flavor profile. I compare it to the great braises of European cooking (i.e. Beef Bourguignon, Ragu) and but with the strong fruity profile of the Pasilla chile in the sauce that makes it truly Mexican. This recipe is loosely based on Diana Kennedy’s Aguayón Estilo Leonor from “The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.”

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I plate this with blanched green beans and boiled turned potatoes. On the side serve with fresh corn tortillas, a salsa de chile de arbol, and a full bodied red wine (Bordeaux, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Merlot.)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2lbs beef roast (rump roast preferred)

• Salt

• Pepper

• 2 tablespoons Olive oil

• 3 pasilla chiles

• 1 chile de arbol (optional, see note in Method)

• 2 cups chopped tomatoes

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted

• 1/2 inch slice of bread (kaiser roll preferred)

• 2 garlic cloves

Method:

1. Salt and pepper every side of the pot roast before placing it in a dutch oven with hot olive oil. Brown on all sides and remove from heat leaving the juices and browned bits in the dutch oven.

2. Open the chiles and remove the stem, seeds and veins. Toast the chiles over a comal until brown and blistered but not burnt. If you burn them, the sauce will become too bitter. If you want the sauce to be spicier, then use the chile de arbol as well, keeping the seeds intact but removing the stem. Soak the chiles for 10 minutes in water until ready to blend.

3. Add the soaked chiles, tomatoes, toasted sesame seeds, slice of bread and garlic to a blender with 1.5 cups of water. Blend on varying speeds until smooth.

4. Add this mixture to the dutch oven and cook for five minutes, adding more water as necessary. The sauce will splutter. Add the pot roast to the pan and fill the pot with water so that the beef is 3/4 submerged. Cover and simmer for 4 hours until tender on low heat.

5. Remove the beef from the pan and allow to rest while the sauce reduces uncovered until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

6. Arrange the beef with the green beans and boiled potatoes. Serve with warm tortillas and salsa.

RECIPE: Tacos de Chilorio

Think carnitas, but spicy and luxurious. Chilorio is a braised pork from the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The garlic, chiles, and vinegar act as a preservative for the meat which is often served in open air markets, an alternative to refrigeration. The meat is slowly cooked until it falls from the bone and then fried in a chile adobo that packs a flavorful punch. If you make enough of it (in the tradition of preserving the meat) the chilorio accompanies scrambled eggs and fried potatoes the next morning.

Serves 6

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Tacos de chilorio

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds pork roast, cut into 2 inch pieces

• 3 tablespoons lard OR vegetable oil

• 3 ancho chiles

• 3 guajillos chiles

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 tablespoon vinegar

• salt to taste

• radish, sliced in allumettes

• cilantro

• fresh tortillas

Method:

1. Place the pork in a large heavy bottomed pot and cover with 4 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to a steady simmer and put the lard in the pot, allowing it to slip off the spoon. Allow the water to evaporate and the meat to caramelize slightly. Shred and break up the meat in bite size pieces.

2. While the meat cooks, heat a comal over medium heat and toast the chiles. Once fragrant and a darker shade, but not burnt, reconstitute the seeded and deveined chiles in water for 30 minutes.

3. In a blender combine the chiles, orange juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar and blend until smooth, with visual red chile skin pieces showing.

4. Raise the heat on the meat and pour the chile mixture over. Allow the sauce to season the meat for a few minutes. Season with salt to taste. Serve the meat on fresh tortillas and garnish with radish, cilantro, and salsa de chile de arbol.

VIDEO: Tortilla 101

Alex Stupak, chef of Empellon in NYC, says tortilla making is more of a method than a recipe and I can't agree more. Tortillas are essential to authentic Mexican cuisine and they may seem simple, but mastering their texture and nuances has taken me years. My family made flour (harina) tortillas when I was growing up and we sometimes made maiz (corn). So when I went on this endeavor, I was like a fish out of water. I spoke with the tortilla flipping ladies of Mexico City and Oaxaca and finally at Casa Oaxaca, one of my best dining experiences I've ever had, the tortilla lady let me ask her questions that solved everything. I'm sharing those tips below.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 parts Maseca

• 1 part water (hot water)

• Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a bowl mix the masa and hot water for five minutes until well combined. These portions can change if the dough is too dry. You are going to have to do this many times to get the consistency right. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

2. On the highest heat possible, place a comal over the open flame. Let the comal get very, very, hot. Meanwhile press the first tortilla in a tortilla press.

3. Lay the tortilla on the comal and allow it to cook until the sides lift off the surface. Flip the tortilla and allow it to cook for another 45 seconds. Flip it a third time until the tortilla puffs, or fills with air. Immediately remove from heat and place in a basket or between two towels to stay warm. Serve as soon as possible.

*DISCLAIMER: In my video the tortillas did not puff. Due to technical difficulties, the gas on my portable stove top did not have enough BTUs to get hot enough.

RECIPE: Mole Negro Oaxaqueño

MOLE

/mo·le/

Classical Nahuatl:

Noun

1. sauce, molli o mulli

When I think of sweet and savory, mole instantly comes to mind. The blend of aromatic spices, chiles and chocolate make for a rich melange of flavors that make your tongue dance through the centuries of Mexican cooking. Mole is hard to classify because depending on who you are speaking with, mole can be a sauce or a main entree. I often see mole poblano smothered over enchiladas at restaurants in NYC, but Chef Enrique Olvera's Pujol in Mexico City serves mole as the main course, accompanied only by tortillas. I see it somewhere in the middle, as a hearty, protein forward sauce that cannot be over powered by another dish on the table.

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Mole Negro Oaxaqueño

This mole will be difficult to make - I won't lie to you there. It requires patience and a culinary understanding that is not for the unseasoned cook. Most of the ingredients should be easy to source except for the chilhuacle negro chiles. On my last trip to Mexico City, I had to ask several market stalls in Mercado Medellin for these chiles. One woman even confused them for cascabel! Fine mesh strainers will be your best friends when making refined mole. You do not want your mole to be gritty, it should be thick, not gritty.

Mole is for celebrating. You simply cannot make a small batch of it and it is best to have a dinner party to serves it to your many guests. You can also save it in an airtight container and keep it in the freezer for 3 months.

Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, bone in, skin intact

• 5 chilhuacle negro chiles, seeds removed and saved

• 5 guajillo chiles, seeds removed and saved

• 4 pasilla chiles, seeds removed and saved

• 5 ancho chiles, seeds removed and saved

• 2 chipotle mecos

• 1 medium white onion, sliced in rounds 1/2 inch thick

• 6 cloves garlic, skin intact

• 4 medium tomatillos, rinsed and skin removed

• 2 medium roma tomatoes, cored

• 2 tablespoons almonds, skin intact

• 2 tablespoons peanuts, unsalted 

• 1 inch piece canela (Mexican cinnamon)

• 4 black peppercorns

• 4 cloves

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds

• 1 tablespoon pecans

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 2 tablespoons raisins

• 1 slice bread (a kaiser roll works fine) 

• 1/2 plantain, sliced in 1 inch rounds

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

• 1 tablespoon lard OR vegetable oil

• 6 ounces chocolate, chopped

• salt to taste

• 15 fresh tortillas, cooked on a comal

• 1 small white onion, sliced

• 1 radish, sliced

Method:

1. Place chicken in pot and fill with 5 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer until the chicken reads 150 degrees with a thermometer. Remove from liquid and allow to cool. Remove the skin and shred the meat from the bone. Store in the fridge or in a warm spot until ready for serving. Reserve the stock.

2. Heat a comal over medium-low heat and toast the chiles for roughly 10 minutes in a well ventilated kitchen (open a window). Depending on how dry the chiles are, 10 minutes may be too long. Once toasted soak the chiles in water for 30 minutes. Blend the chile mixture in the blender for 10 minutes with 1 cup of fresh water. Strain the chiles using a fine mesh strainer in a bowl. 

3. Raise the heat on the comal to medium and cook the onion, tomatillos, tomatoes until charred and soft to the touch. Reserve in a bowl.

4. In a dry skillet over medium heat toast the almonds, peanuts, canela, peppercorns, cloves, sesame seeds and pecans until fragrant and lightly browned. Reserve in the same bowl as the ingredients from step 3.

5. In the same dry skillet toast the chile seeds until black. Once fully blackened, light the seeds on fire and let the flames charr them until shiny. Put in cold water and soak for 10 minutes, strain and soak for another 5 minutes in fresh water.

6. In the same skillet heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Fry the raisins for 1 minute and allow them to puff up. Strain and reserve in the same bowl as the other ingredients. Fry the bread until brown, strain and reserve in the same bowl. Fry the plantain for 5 minutes, strain and reserve.

7. Blend all the ingredients from steps 3-6, the thyme and oregano for 10 minutes with 1 cup of chicken stock from step 1. More stock may need to be added if the blender becomes stuck. Pass the paste through a fine mesh strainer.

8. Heat lard over a medium flame and pour the chile mixture into the pan. Stir constantly for two minutes. Add the spice and nut mixture from step 7 and allow the mixture to cook over low heat for 30 minutes. More stock may need to be added if the spluttering is too rapidly. The mole should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but not gritty. Mole should splutter slightly and your stove will be messy. Relax - it's worth it.

9. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Salt to taste.

10. Assemble the warm chicken in fresh tortillas and arrange on a plate. Smother the enchiladas with the mole, garnishing with sliced onion and radish. Serve with white rice and fresh tortillas for mopping up the sauce.

RECIPE: Tacos de Pollo Adobado

An adobo in Mexico consists of a couple staples with variations: chiles, garlic, spices. It can be used as a cooking liquid for braising, a marinade or a sauce over enchiladas. Technically speaking, a marinade has vinegar which acts as (traditionally since the Renaissance) a flavor enhancer and preservative of the meat being marinated. This adobo has three chiles, vinegar, and spices and can be applied to any meat you'd like. Be creative with your adobos by adding different chiles, variations on spices, chocolate etc. I like to charr the meat over a grill or sear in a pan so as to bring out that smokey chile flavor.  

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 5 cascabel chiles
• 2 pasilla chiles
• 2 guajillo chiles
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 cloves
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 1 inch piece canela (Mexican cinnamon)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup water
• salt to taste
• 2 chicken breasts ( or other meat if desired)
• 1/4 white onion, thinly sliced
• 1 fresh lime, sliced into wedges
• cilantro, chopped

Method:

1. Heat the comal to low-medium heat and toast the chiles until fragrant and a visually darker shade. Place in a bowl of cool water for 30 minutes.
2. Place chiles, garlic, vinegar, cloves, allspice, canela, cumin, water, salt in blender and blend until smooth, roughly 3 minutes.
3. Pour the adobo over the meat and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Heat the grill or pan to high heat and sear the meat until cooked (160 degrees for chicken) and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces for tacos and salt accordingly. Arrange over fresh tortillas and garnish with thinly sliced white onion, fresh lime juice and cilantro. Serve with rice and beans.

Chiles:

Front: Cascabel

Right: Guajillo

Rear: Pasilla

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Tacos de Pollo Adobado