"My house has wings and sometimes in the middle of the night she sings." A quote by Sir Edward James in reference to his surrealist garden in Xilitla.
This week we had our cooking class in Puebla, which is a city in Mexcio about 5 hours from Oaxaca. Puebla has about 2.2 million inhabitants and is known for its blue and white tile called talavera. Its two culinary specialities are Chile en Nogada and Mole Poblano (described later).
Chile en Nogada
This dish was created to have all the colors of the Mexican flag. It's a poblano chile stuffed with apples that have been cooked with cinnamon, cloves, raisins and chicken, and is smothered with a walnut-cream sauce with a sprinkling of pomegranate arils.
chipotle chiles (smoky & spicy)- Salsa Rojo
- Fry 4 big cloves of garlic until golden. Fry 5 chipotle chiles until puffy. Remove both from oil and purée in blender with 9 medium red roasted tomatoes and 2 tsp salt.
- Salsa Verde (my fav!)
- Dry roast 2 cloves of garlic, 12 small green tomatoes, 3 jalapeños, 5 chilitos serranos. Put half in blender with 2 c cilantro, 1/2 c water, 2 tsp salt, purée. Add rest of tomatoes, chiles, 2 more c of cilantro, purée. May need more water because green tomatoes aren't as juicy as red tomatoes.
Chalupas
Tortillas fried in lard, then heated on a sombrero-like contraption with salsa, cheese, and onion. Eaten like a taco.
Advice: transfer to paper towels to remove excess oil.
Hominy
Dried corn kernels treated with lime (CaOH) in a process called nixtamalization. It's an essential component of posole.
Posole Rojo
A delicious soup made with pork broth, tomato purée, a little ultra spicy chipotle salsa, a generous amount of dried oregano, shredded pork, & hominy. The chipotle salsa is an absolute necessity for depth of flavor.
Traditional toppings include: fresh squeezed lime juice plus some chopped radish and lettuce for crunch.
La Hierbabuena
Generic name for mint. Some of this went in the mushroom dish and some was used to make tea for after dinner.
Rajas Poblanos con Champiñones
Rajas Poblanas
Char 9 poblano peppers, put in a plastic bag for ~30 minutes then "Le piel se quita" i.e. remove the skin under running water. Slice into thin strips (rajas) and set aside.
Recipe
Sergio sautéed about 2 c of sliced onions, then added 1/4 c minced garlic. After that cooked, he added the poblanos en rajas, about 4 c of sliced mushrooms, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 c water + 1 T consommé de pollo (powdered chicken bouillon), 1/4 c crema (liquidy sour cream), and let that simmer for about 20 minutes with a lid. He added another 1/4 c crema and about 2 c of cubed queso de Panella which is like very soft, Monterey jack cheese; this simmered for about 10 min and then was served with mint.
This dish was eaten taco style on mini corn tortillas.
Mole Poblano
This mole is very similar to the Oaxacan Mole Negro, but with a little more kick. Because of its laundry list of ingredients and many steps, this mole is a multiple day process.
Ingredients: ancho chiles, guajillo chiles, pasilla chiles, sesame seeds, anise, black pepper, cloves, thyme, marjoram, cinnamon, chicken stock, peanuts, almonds, pepitas, bread, corn tortillas, onion, garlic, Mexican chocolate, tomato, tomatillo, & raisins.
It's commonly served on top of Pan de Agua, a specialty of Puebla.
Los Ajonjolís
Sesame seeds are a traditional topping for mole.
Comments
Post a Comment