Mexican – Grow. Cook. Eat.

May 6, 2010

Come On Over, The Water’s Fine (Recipe: Chicken Mole)

A major water-line ruptured a leak last Saturday, leaving the Boston area (and over 2 million homes) without potable water for three days. By some stroke of luck, Cambridge was spared from this fiasco as we have our own water supply. But Boston and 27 other communities were under order to boil water before using it for drinking, cooking and even washing dishes.

The next day, it was clear this “boil water order” might extend for several days… so I got on the phone and invited friends in affected areas over for dinner. With such short notice, I wanted to cook something simple and savory (and economical) that could easily scale up for a crowd.

At first blush, chicken enchiladas seemed like a great idea: a one dish casserole that would easily round out with a salad. But then I thought about how many steps actually go into enchiladas – making the sauce, cooking the filling, softening the tortillas and then rolling them. And, of course, serving enchiladas is really not an easy feat – unlike the restaurants that bake them in individual dishes, a casserole becomes very messy very quickly.

But I did like the idea of the mole sauce. The corn tortillas, with their distinctive lime flavor, and Monterey Jack cheese make a wonderful combination. I decided to reconstruct the dish is a way that’s easy to prepare and easy to serve.

There was no getting around making the mole sauce… and who would want to short-cut that anyway… with its rich, spicy complex flavors. And after making the same recipe for over 10 years, I’ve mastered making it in less than 30 minutes. Instead of using store bought tomatoes, I used a can of smoked tomatoes from last summer. I cooked chicken breasts, simply seasoned with salt and pepper, in the mole sauce.

If there’s one thing about mole I can say with conviction, it’s even better when paired with corn tortillas or other dish made with masa harina. Masa harina is corn meal that has been treated with lime and gives tortillas their distinctive flavor. It is also used in tamales and pupusas. I didn’t want to compromise the dish because I was too lazy to roll enchiladas. Instead, I made individual mounds of nachos – corn chips topped with melted jack cheese and scallions.

In the end it was a delicious, elegant meal, and a wonderful last minute, throw-together dinner that took less than an hour to prepare.

From the Garden: Tomatoes and Scallions

Chicken Mole

6 chicken breasts, boneless skinless
mole sauce
corn tortillas
guacamole
monterey jack cheese
scallions

Make the mole sauce.
Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Place chicken in a single layer in a casserole dish with a cover. Ladle mole sauce on top. Cover the dish.
Bake chicken at 350F for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.
Meanwhile, put corn tortillas on a cookie sheet in little piles. Top with grated jack cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.
Serve chicken with nachos and guacamole. Garnish with scallions.

January 11, 2010

Fish Tacos in Paradise

A cross-country road-trip often requires stopping in places one otherwise might not visit. As I drove from DC to San Francisco in 1994, El Paso became an intermediate destination. I pulled into a seemingly clean motel with cheap rooms, and immediately began a quest for dinner. The hotel clerk recommended Lucy’s Restaurant just a few doors down. This suited me just fine since I could walk.

I was traveling alone. And perhaps it was the way I people-watched, or wrote in my journal; the manager decided I was a restaurant critic from the New York Times. He took great interest in what I ate, and brought me sample sizes of many different dishes. I recall my intrigue as he presented the soft tacos filled with cubed meat instead of the American taco bastardization of crispy shells filled with ground meat. This was a revelation.

Several years later, the discovery of crispy fish tacos was less unexpected, but more satisfying. The taco shells were still prepared of soft corn flour, but instead the filling was crispy fish chunks topped with shredded cabbage, onions and thinned, seasoned sour cream, with nary a hint of cheese. This style of tacos made their way north into the US from Baja California via San Diego.

On the other side of Mexico, on the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea, a different style of fish taco has evolved… the fish is cubed and marinated, more like a ceviche, and grilled in banana leaf or griddled plain.

With visions of turquoise waters and azure blue skies, these tacos are paradise on a plate. Equally authentic, but a distant relative of the tacos from Lucy’s.

Fish Tacos a la Maya Tulum

Fish
1 lb. grouper fillets, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. lime juice
1 chipotle pepper (packed in adobo), minced
1 tbs. oil

Papaya Salsa
1 ½ cups ripe papaya diced
¼ cup red onion, diced
2 tbs. cilantro
1 tbs. rice wine vinegar

Cilantro “Aioli”
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup cilantro leaves (and stems)

Corn tortillas and romaine lettuce

1. For the fish: combine fish with soy, lime and chipotle. Let marinade for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for papaya salsa. Set aside.
3. In a food processor, combine cilantro and mayonnaise. Process until the mayo is bright green and smooth.
4. Turn oven to 400. Put corn tortillas on a sheet tray. Cover with a damp kitchen towel. Warm in oven until warm, soft and pliable, approximately 5 minutes. Set aside in a warm spot
5. While tortillas are warming, Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. Add the fish and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Put two tortillas on a plate. Top with fish cubes, papaya salsa and cilantro aioli. Garnish with lettuce.

I'm submitting this recipe to Joan of Foodalouge's Culinary Tour of South America. To see a round-up of Mexican recipes, click on her blog.

May 22, 2009

Chicken Enchiladas

Rick Bayless’s recipe for mole (pronounced mo-LAY) cautions the reader that it will require 26 different ingredients. The first time I made this Mexican chili and chocolate sauce it took me three hours. The second time, only 1 ½. Now, I can make it in a half hour.

Of course, I take short-cuts. Mr. Bayless recommends giving each ingredient individual attention: dry roast, fry, and then soak 4 kinds of chilies. Toast each spice separately and then grind. Blacken the tomato. Fry onions, garlic, stale bread, tortillas, almonds and raisins. Did I forget anything? I had intended to take a photo of all the mise-en-place, but after the photo, I realized I forgot half the ingredients.

Mole originates from Oaxaca (pronounced wha-HA-ka) Mexico. What we know in the US is only one of the seven varieties available. Mole is the Mexican version of curry… “The original Nahuatl word molli means ‘mixture.’” And like curry (whether it’s Thai, Japanese or Indian), it’s a mix of spices and aromatics that blend together into an intoxicating sauce.

I made the “mole coloradito oaxaqueno” version – which is the variety most commonly seen in the US. There’s also green, yellow, black, red (and obviously a few others whose names I can’t find). It pairs perfectly with enchiladas, pupusas or other Mexican dishes with a masa harina base.

I use the mole for enchiladas. It freezes beautifully. So if you take the time to make it, make lots! Then you will more easily enjoy it on future occasions.

Chicken Enchiladas with Mole Sauce

Filling
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. cumin
3 scallions
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine chicken with remaining ingredients, except scallions. Bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Cool. Shred meat and toss with scallions.

Mole
(the lazy approach — for a more authentic recipe, see Rick Bayless’s “Authentic Mexican”)
1/2 lb. dried chilies (pasilla, mulato, poblano or any other combination), seeded and soaked in boiling water for 1 hour.
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tsp. coriander
1 oz. chocolate
1/8 tsp. clove
1/2 tsp. fennel seed
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tomato
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
1 corn tortilla
1 slice stale bread
1 qt. chicken stock.
1/3 cup almonds
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup oil
salt, sugar and red wine vinegar to taste

1. Heat a large sauté pan. Add 1/2 of the oil, nuts, raisins and tortillas. Fry until they begin to turn golden. Toast the bread.

2. In a blender, puree everything together, except remaining oil. Thin with chicken stock or water as needed.

3. Heat a large sauce pot. Add oil. Fry the sauce and continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste with sugar, salt, and vinegar.

For assembly:
8 – 8” tortillas
1 cup plain oil
Shredded Monterey jack cheese
Sliced scallions
Sour cream

1. Dip each tortilla in mole sauce.
2. Heat oil over medium high flame. Fry mole-coated tortillas, one at a time, in oil until soft, about 1 minute
3. Lay the fried tortillas down on a board. Fill with ½ cup of shredded chicken and roll. Put in a baking sheet. Continue until all tortillas are filled and rolled.
4. Drizzle extra mole on top. Sprinkle cheese on top.
5. Bake at 400F until cheese is melted and sizzling.
6. Remove from oven and garnish with scallions.

I served the enchiladas with black beans and red cabbage slaw

December 3, 2008

The Savant Project – Special Promotion

My friend Benny opened The Savant Project in Mission Hill last year. We met in business school, both coming from the hospitality industry (he was a bartender, I was a chef), and became fast friends. Though I knew I didn't want to be in the restaurant business anymore, I was intrigued by his vision of restaurants and lounges (a "lounge empire" he modestly called it).

Benny has succeeded in creating a lounge: the vibe is hip and funky, blending perfectly with this fringe neighborhood — on the edge of the prominent Longwood Medical Center and the up-and-coming Mission Hill. Hospital employees mingle with young hipsters. The tiny kitchen produces fun and funky dishes, variations on the typical bar food… a steak frite with yuca fries instead of the typical potato, quesadillas trios with homemade mango salsa, and a home-made veggie burger. They have received props from Boston Magazine (Where to Dine and Best of Boston Awards), the Phantom Gourmet, the Boston Globe and Chronicle.

When Benny asked if I could help streamline the menu, I had to say yes. How fun to be part of his exciting venture! Benny's two big challenges: the food costs were too high and the kitchen could not execute the menu fast enough on busy nights. We made a few adjustments with the current recipes (like slicing the pork tenderloins into medallions before cooking — yielding more yummy 5-spice crust and cooking faster). We also removed some of the slow selling items and replaced them with new dishes that cook quickly and have a lower food cost – we were even able to reduce the prices on some of the menu items!

The general approach to the menu was to simplify. The menu consisted of numerous items some of which did not move as quickly as we would have liked. As opposed to having numerous options all the time (which kills labor costs from excessive prep, and food costs due to waste and spoilage) the menu is focusing on its strengths. Now, the menu will switch out about 30% of the items every two months in order to provide the clientele with the options they so desire!

The most popular addition: Beer Battered Fish Tacos with a Chipotle Slaw and Guacamole. Although intended for the dinner menu (where it thrives) it also does quite well on the lunch menu. Priced at $15 it is cheaper than the traditional dinner entrees. It is priced higher than the veggie burger or the stuffed burger, however. These were the two most popular (and most affordable) dinner entrees. When a customer switches to the fish tacos from the burger, that means an extra $1.50 of revenue per entree or an 11% increase in food sales!

This month Benny is going on an all out promotions spree with the new changes to the menu. With the new menu in place, the restaurant now does three full turns for dinner with comfort and ease, and Benny plans to fully take advantage of this! Some of the promotions include 2 entrees and a bottle of wine for $50 any Sunday, Monday. In addition there is a 3 course NYE Dinner with a champagne toast and a glass of wine for $33.09 (designed by my friend and former co-worker Estuart Rojas) and he is even beginning a late night menu Thursday through Saturday till close with all items under $5. Enjoy some music and get some quality grub….in Mission Hill! (who knew?)

He is also happy to offer anyone who says the code words "we love Hoolia" (his idea, not mine) a complementary tapa with your meal or even just a drink! And Benny insisted I add his little blurb, "If you read Julia's blog and come on in, please ask for me! I'm here all the time and Julia has helped out so much (often just for bottles of wine…) that I owe her friends and fans the best of times."

And for those of you not in Boston, here's the recipe for the famed Fish Tacos.

Fish Tacos

¼ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 chipotle (or more to taste)

½ cup shredded red cabbage or lettuce
2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
¼ cup finely sliced red onion
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
¼ cup chopped cilantro
salt and lime to taste

1 cup flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. salt, or more to taste
1 cup beer
1 egg
12 6-in soft, white corn tortillas
Canola for frying
1 lb. fluke, cod or any firm white fleshed fish, cut into strips 1 inch wide and 2 -3 inches long

2 limes, cut into wedges

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, cumin and chipotle salsa. Toss in cabbage, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, garlic and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and lime juice.

2. In a large bowl, make a beer batter: whisk together 2/3 cup flour, cornmeal, salt, egg and beer.

3. Preheat oven to warm, or its lowest setting. Spread tortillas on a baking sheet and cover with a damp towel. Place in oven.

4. Pour 1 inch of peanut oil into a deep saucepan and place over medium-high heat. When it is hot enough to brown a bread crumb, begin coating the fish. Dust fish with the flour, and then dip into the batter. Add the pieces, one by one, to the oil. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary. Drain on plate lined with paper towel. Repeat process with remaining fish.

5. Fill each warm tortilla with 2-3 pieces of fish, a generous spoon of the cabbage slaw. Squeeze a wedge of lime and sprinkle a little salt over the filled tortilla. Fold in half and serve.