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

RECIPE: Carne con Chile Verde

This recipe hails from the Northern States of Mexico - the cuisine here is simple, quite representative of the ingredients growing in the desert highlands. Chiles are technically fruits and the dance of spice and sweet in this dish make the chiles the star of the show. The green Anaheim chiles from the North are superb and if a fruit had the ability to capture the flavors of the desert sun, an Anaheim would be just that.

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Carne con chile verde

Method:

1. Over an open flame, charr the Anaheim chiles until the skin has blackened. If you don't charr them all the way, the skin will not be able to be removed and will be difficult to digest. Once charred all over, place into a bowl and cover until the skin is cool enough to touch. Rub the chili of its burned skin and chop into pieces.
2. Place the meat and garlic in a pot and cover with water so that the meat is fully submerged. Salt accordingly. Bring to a boil and scrape off any impurities floating on the surface. Lower the temperature and allow the meat to cook slowly, roughly 1 hour or until the meat is tender and soft to the touch.
3. Once the remaining water has just about evaporated, raise the heat to medium, pour the lard or vegetable oil into the pot with the chopped onion. Allow the onion and the meat to caramelize slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the flour and constantly stir, for about one minute.
4. Place back over a high flame and add the chiles and tomatoes with 2 cups of water and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes and stir so that the chile doesn't scald. The sauce should thicken to a soup/stew-like consistency.

Serve with fresh flour tortillas cooked on the comal and a if you want more heat, as Anaheims can rather mild, serve with seared serranos torreados.

Ingredients:

• 10 Anaheim chiles
• 2lbs beef shoulder (or pork if you so choose), cut into 3 inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon pork lard OR vegetable oil
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3 fresh tomatoes, broiled and crushed by hand

 

RECIPE: Cochinita Pibil Tacos

Cochinita Pibil is an exquisite dish from the Yucatan Peninsula, a region whose cuisine is so different from the rest of the country, it deserves its own category. Cochinita means a suckling pig in Spanish and Pibil is Mayan for cooked underground. This underground cooking method is one of the oldest forms of roasting meat safely and every culinary tradition has some form it. I'm not sure what the legality of digging a pit and cooking a pig underground in New York City is, but I don't want to run the risk, so this recipe is for an oven. This is a great recipe for staying home on Sundays, letting the meat slowly render out its flavor.

Serves 6.

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Cochinita pibil tacos

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons achiote / annato seeds
• 2 teaspoons cumin seed
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 10 peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 - 3 habanero peppers
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup white vinegar
• salt
• Banana leaves (optional)
• 3lbs pork butt or shoulder, cut into large pieces
• 1 small red onion
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

Method:

FOR THE MEAT:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheiht.
2. Put achiote, cumin seed, allspice, peppercorns, and cloves in blender and grind into a coarse powder. Achiote is a very tough seed and needs ample time to break down in the blender.
3. Add garlic, habaneros, orange juice and 1/2 cup of vinegar to blender and salt to taste. The habaneros can be too spicy for some, so be careful here on the quantity. Blend everything for roughly 4 minutes, or until most of the garlic and spices are broken up.
4. Line a dutch-oven with the banana leaves, if using, place pork pieces inside and pour the blended spice mixture over the meat. If the meat is not 3/4 submerged in the liquid add water. Cover with more banana leaves and put into the oven. Roast for 4 hours or until the meat is falling apart and the fat has rendered out.
5. Allow the meat to cool slightly before shredding and assembling the tacos.

FOR THE PICKLED ONIONS:

1. Slice the onion thinly and habaneros thinly.
2. In a non-reactive bowl (I use glass) place the onion, oregano, salt, habanero. Pour vinegar over the onions and mix by hand. Let this chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 

Assemble the tacos using handmade tortillas on a comal. Garish with the pickled red onions. Serve with black beans and white rice.

RECIPE: Esquites

ESQUITES

Asia had rice. Europe had wheat. And The Americas had maiz - CORN. In Mexico there are over 59 native varieties of maiz and the differences in flavor, texture, color run the gamut. The last time I was in Mexico City I went to one of my favorite mezcal bars - Mano Santa. Between copitas of angustofolia and karwinski, my boyfriend and I became peckish and Esquites was on the menu. The pairing of the classic sweet street food snack and the smokey mezcal carried me to another culinary palette that I love to introduce to my friends at dinner parties.

For the corn, I prefer organic because Monsanto's corn scares the shit out of me. Read more about Monsanto's Frankenstein practices of playing God here.

Ingredients:

Method:

1. Over medium heat toast the chile de arbol until it becomes fragrant like peanuts over a comal. Once cooled, chop this into a fine powder. Skip this step if you are using Tajin.
2. Heat the lard until melted and add the diced onion and jalapeño. Sautée for 5 minutes until onion is translucent. 
3. Add the epazote or cilantro and corn and stir until coated. Add 1/4 cup water and cover the mixture allowing it to cook for 5 minutes over med-low heat.
4. Remove the pot from heat and allow the mixture to cool. Salt to taste.
5. Serve into small ramequins and garnish with fresh cotija cheese, chili de arbol or Tajin, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

• 1 chili de arbol toasted on the comal or Tajin.
• 1 tablespoon lard OR butter
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1lb bag of frozen organic corn, brought to room temp
• 2 sprigs of fresh epazote OR cilantro
• 1 lime wedge
• Grated cotija cheese
• Salt to taste

 

RECIPE: Micheladas "To Taste"

A Michelada is like a Bloody Mary - minus the hard liquor. A beertail, if you will.

And the best part of a Michelada is that you can write the recipe - I'll just lay the base. Allow me to explain - a Michelada is a beer fortifified with tomato juice, lime, chile and flavorings and YOU get to pick the proportions. Want something more spicy? Just add more chili pequin or arbol to the rim.. want something more sour? Add more lime. ETC.

Ingredients:

*For one serving. All ingredients to taste.

MICHELADA

• 10 Chili pequin or 3 chili de arbol toasted on a comal until fragrant OR Sal de Muchos Chiles Rimming Salt

• Lime juice to taste

• 2 ounces Tomato juice

• 2 Dashes of Worcestershire

• Salt

• Hot sauce (like Valentina of Cholula) to taste

• 1 12-ounce bottle of Mexican Lager (claro or obscuro is fine)

Method:

1. Place glassware into the freezer for at least ten minutes. 

2. Toast the chili pequin or arbol on a comal until fragrant. Once cooled, chop into a fine powder with a pinch of salt.

3. Squeeze lime juice onto a plate, dip the frozen glass rim into the lime juice and then the chili powder to rim the edge.

4. Remove the glass from the freezer. Add tomato juice, lime, Worcestershire, hot sauce and stir the mixture well. This should equal approx. 1/3 of the volume of the drink. Add ice cubes 3/4 of the way up the glass. 

5. Pour the lager over the ice cubes and stir the drink to blend both layers. You will have beer leftover which is the best part of a Michelada, it changes flavor and consistency as you continue to dilute the tomato mix with the beer.