This week’s cuisine was all south of the border. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, but as I found out, much of what I think of as Mexican is really Americanized or Tex-Mex. For instance, refried beans aren’t the average side dish that we see on our plates. They’re often made for children to have for lunch.
A major point that Carol made was that recipes were passed down through generations. They didn’t write a lot down. The ingredients may change, as you go through the regions of Mexico, but the techniques are time-tested and haven’t changed for eons.
One of the ingredients that IS basic in all Mexican cooking is the chili. It’s indigenous to the land. There are hundreds of kinds of chilies and they’re all affected by where they grow. They’re eaten dried and fresh.
Chilies are dried either in the sun or using heat. All green chilies are red when dried. They should be pliable and leather-like. The larger the chili, the milder they taste when fresh and when these large beauties are dried, not only do they change color, but their flavor becomes sweet and raisin-like. You only use the skin and get rid of the seed and stem. The seeds of dried chilies taste bitter. To toast them, you tear them in pieces, heat a pan, put the chili in the pan and as soon as you start smelling it, you take it out. That’s it! Then you can put in whatever you’re making. Even better, if you sauté onions, you can toast the chilies in THAT pan afterwards to get the onion flavor.
Carol then explained that there are no hard and fast rules when cooking with chilies-or with most of Mexican cuisine. She then showed us an example of that when she made an enchilada sauce right next to a cooked salsa. Here’s another fact about Mexican food I didn’t know. WE consider salsa to be a condiment. Down south, it’s a sauce. 99% of the time, Mexican dishes start with onions. White onions.
Her enchilada sauce started with sautéed onions, softened in neutral oil. Then she added the chilies, some broth and then some tomatoes, which she said were optional. The more tomatoes you use, the less heat the sauce will have. Some put a little sugar in it, too. Then, she put stock in to cover and cook it all until it’s as soft as mushrooms. How do you know it’s done? Not by time, but by taste. That’s the intuitive part. Puree and serve.
The salsa was almost the same thing, except she used water instead of stock and chopped the onions smaller and left the tomatoes in chunks.
Many people grow fresh chilies in their back yards, even here in the US. But you know what? If you grow a hot chili, like a habanero, next to a mild one, like an Anaheim, the hot one affects the mild one and your Anaheim will grow hotter than usual. It’s important to separate them when planning a garden.
Want to tone down the heat on a hot chili? Roast it. You can do that right on the flames until you see the skin start to blister-then just turn it until the whole pepper is toasted.
Oregano is the most popular herb here. It’s very strong, stronger than Italian oregano, so you want to use it sparingly. Carol also suggested we don’t mix the two up-Italian and Mexican oregano have different flavoring.
The most popular grains are rice and corn. But you knew that. Tortillas are eaten every single day and they buy them fresh, just like the French by their bread. The corn that is made into polenta is different than the corn made into tortillas. There’s green corn, which is what we know as fresh corn, then there are the larger kernelled corn. They come in white and yellow and they’re used for the tortillas.
Beans are the third staple of the Mexican “triangle” (rice, corn and beans.). Pinto beans are more popular in the north, while the south and the Yucatan Peninsula prefer black beans. When cooking beans, they’re soaked, but then they just cook them until they fall apart. These are called ‘pot beans.’ They’re fairly plain, with perhaps a little onion thrown in. When eaten, condiments are added to make it tastier.
I love plantains. I have them when I go for Brazilian food, and it was nice to see that Mexicans cook with them, as well. They’re a very starchy fruit and you can’t eat them raw. They’re mostly fried and mashed or used as dough in the southern part of Mexico. I got to make a dish from the southern part of Mexico using plantains as dough. They’re delicious, because when cooked, plantains get a banana-like sweetness to them. I don’t usually fry food, but these are wonderful little treats, great for appetizers.
PLANTAIN TURNOVERS (Empanadas)
Ingredients:
Ingredients
- 3 large yellow-ripe plantains, about 2 pounds
- 1 cup flour, plus more for forming
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups crumbled queso fresco or pressed, salted farmer’s cheese
- Vegetable oil to a depth of 1”, for frying
- Salt
- 1 Cup salsa for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Cut the ends off the unpeeled plantains. Make a shallow incision down their length, and then cut them crosswise in half. Bake the plantains on a baking sheet until very soft, about 40 minutes. Use 2 forks to peel back the skins to allow the steam to escape as they cool completely.
- Scrape the plantains into a food processor and puree. Add the flour and salt and pulse until the flour is incorporated.
- Divide the cheese into 12 equal portions. Press each portion into a flat oval and set aside. Divide the dough into 12 portions and roll into balls between your floured palms. Roll the balls lightly in four. Use the tortilla press to flatten a ball of dough into a 4-5 inch disc about 1/8” thick. Place 1 portion of the cheese on one side, then fold the unfilled side over the cheese. Seal the edges. Lay the turnover on a clean towel sprinkled with flour. Repeat until you’ve made 12 empanadas.
- Turn the oven on low and line a plate with paper towels or use a drain. Fry the empanadas 2 or 3 at a time in hot oil until dark golden brown, about 3 minutes total. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and keep warm in the oven until all are fried. Serve with salsa.
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