Monday, 15 April 2013
Friday, 12 April 2013
Some online shop recommending..
My Mexican Shop - Based in Ireland and will deliver throughout Ireland for €8 and within Dublin for €6 (though that charge covers up to a very generous 30kg), with the ability to collect your order in person if you are based in Dublin. Their selection isn't enormous but does cover things like epasote, achiote and dried chiles that are hard to find outside Mexico.
mexgrocer.co.uk - The selection at MexGrocer is larger and they deliver throughout Europe. For delivery to Ireland by courier they charge £17 for up to 20kg, they will also deliver by standard mail, the prices are listed on their site.
Achiote
Annatto
The annatto seed is the small, flinty little seed of a shrub with grows in the tropical parts of Latin America. Because of the seed's deep red colour it is often used as a food colouring - it is the colour used to make margarine yellow as well as being used to colour Gloucester cheese.
The seeds are sometimes heated in oil to release their orange colour, and used in much the same way as saffron, however I have never done this.... I imagine seeing as how annatto stains everything it touches I would inevitably destroy a shirt if I even tried.
In Mexican cuisine the seed is ground to a paste with other spices to make achiote paste, which can be used as a rub or marinade, and as the seasoning in the famous cochinita pibil.
It's difficult to describe the taste of achiote, the word "earthy" is used a lot, and that definitely true. It's distinctive but not in any way unpleasant, in fact it's quite comforting and slightly rustic. There is something elemental about the taste - it is of itself and not something assembled from already familiar tastes.
Achiote
It is possible, using a blender, to make an achiote marinade using anatto seeds, though it is more common to buy the achiote as a block of a thick paste and then to loosen this with (normally) citrus juice. Making the paste yourself would require a spice mill to grind the exceedingly hard seeds and it's not something that can be done in the home.
Achiote Marinade
2 cups of liquid - use a combination orange juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar.5 tbs anatto seeds
2 tbs of salt
2 tsp of cumin
2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of oregano
5 allspice berries
5 whole cloves
5 cloves of garlic
Chile (if desired, use habanero or piquin)
Simply blend everything in the blender until the anatto seeds have been pulverised. This could take a couple of minutes of blending but it's important to take enough time to do this properly or you'll be left with anatto grit in the marinade.
A far easier method is to skip messing around with anatto seeds altogether and simply use one of the packaged pastes which can be bought in the supermarket. The paste is simply bought to the desired consistency by mixing with liquid. Normally citrus but a light vinegar or even water can be used. These pastes will generally produce a smoother achiote and can also produce a thick rub which would be impossible to do in a blender from the seeds themselves.
Using Achiote
Cochinita Pibil - Pork, marinaded in achiote, roasted in banana leaf. Traditionally this dish would be prepared in a pit barbecue, if you have one available.
Pollo Pibil - Like cochinita pibil but using chicken. You can also steam the chicken wrapped in the banana leaf rather than cooking in the oven.
Huachinango Tikin Xik - Red Snapper, butterflied, marinaded in achiote and grilled.
The achiote can be used, with a little liquid, as a thick paste to smear on meat or fish before roasting or grilling or, with more liquid, as a marinade. It works well with grilled salmon or over a roast chicken.
I'll cover the pibil and the huachinango dishes in more detail at some further date, though I couldn't mention cochinita pibil without pointing you towards this mini masterpiece from Robert Rodriugez
.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Some YouTube Recommending
Cocina al natural.
Cocina al natural, with Sonia Ortiz, is in Spanish, though everything is done so clearly and logically it should be possible to follow even if you don't speak Spanish.
She is crazily prolific, with over 1200 videos uploaded. Not all of the videos are of strictly Mexican cusine, though over the course of the 1200 videos she has covered anything I have ever searched for.
The videos are concise, as are the recipes themselves. They are similar in some ways to Mark Bittman's Minimalist videos, with each recipe taken to it's essentials and no unnecessary frills or elaboration.
The channel has almost 22 million views so far - so she is clearly doing something right. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for guidance on any Mexican dish.
Cocina al natural, with Sonia Ortiz, is in Spanish, though everything is done so clearly and logically it should be possible to follow even if you don't speak Spanish.
She is crazily prolific, with over 1200 videos uploaded. Not all of the videos are of strictly Mexican cusine, though over the course of the 1200 videos she has covered anything I have ever searched for.
The videos are concise, as are the recipes themselves. They are similar in some ways to Mark Bittman's Minimalist videos, with each recipe taken to it's essentials and no unnecessary frills or elaboration.
The channel has almost 22 million views so far - so she is clearly doing something right. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for guidance on any Mexican dish.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Sopa de Fideo
It seems like a contradiction in terms, but there is a class of Mexican soups called "dry soups" or "sopa seco". Marilyn Tausend in the introduction to her recipe of Sopa de Fideo Seco con Frijol Negro, says it was common to serve both a "dry" soup and a "wet" soup before the main course in traditional Mexican meal.
The sopa de fideo with black beans is a very typical dish, however here I'm going to talk about a slightly plainer version, a simple sopa de fideo, that is a little quicker and still describes the very unusual technique involved.
Fideos are small pieces of thin noodle an inch or so long. They can be bought in the shops here the same as any dry pasta, however broken thin spaghetti (spaghettini #3) will substitute perfectly well.
OK, Let the weirdness commence.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan, add the dry fideo and fry until golden brown. Yip, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan, add the dry fideo and fry until golden brown.
This needs to be done carefully. The goal here is to colour all of the fideo evenly and you can only achieve this if you work with care, over a not too high heat and stir often. Over browning the fideo will affect the taste, but more importantly, the dish will look terrible if it's flecked with brown fideo.
The sauce
There are quite a few choices here. You need a tomato sauce, but all recipes vary. I like to add a couple of toasted and soaked guajillo chiles for a small amount of heat and a little extra colour, however chipotle or fresh chile could be used, or the sauce left without chile altogether.
The sauce is made in the blender using the tomato, about a quarter cup of onion, a clove (or less) of garlic, chile (if being used), and seasoning.
Some water or chicken stock will be necessary. How much depends on the tomatoes and how fast you cook the pasta so it's difficult to judge, just remember it's easier to add water if the dish is too dry than to remove it once the pasta is cooked. What you are aiming for is a consistency similar to a loose risotto, the soup shouldn't be too liquid, but neither should it be so tight that you can stand your spoon up in it!
The soup is garnished with a swirl crema and some queso fresco if desired.
Simple, quick, comforting, cheap, and a little strange.
The sopa de fideo with black beans is a very typical dish, however here I'm going to talk about a slightly plainer version, a simple sopa de fideo, that is a little quicker and still describes the very unusual technique involved.
Fideos are small pieces of thin noodle an inch or so long. They can be bought in the shops here the same as any dry pasta, however broken thin spaghetti (spaghettini #3) will substitute perfectly well.
OK, Let the weirdness commence.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan, add the dry fideo and fry until golden brown. Yip, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan, add the dry fideo and fry until golden brown.
This needs to be done carefully. The goal here is to colour all of the fideo evenly and you can only achieve this if you work with care, over a not too high heat and stir often. Over browning the fideo will affect the taste, but more importantly, the dish will look terrible if it's flecked with brown fideo.
The sauce
There are quite a few choices here. You need a tomato sauce, but all recipes vary. I like to add a couple of toasted and soaked guajillo chiles for a small amount of heat and a little extra colour, however chipotle or fresh chile could be used, or the sauce left without chile altogether.
The sauce is made in the blender using the tomato, about a quarter cup of onion, a clove (or less) of garlic, chile (if being used), and seasoning.
Some water or chicken stock will be necessary. How much depends on the tomatoes and how fast you cook the pasta so it's difficult to judge, just remember it's easier to add water if the dish is too dry than to remove it once the pasta is cooked. What you are aiming for is a consistency similar to a loose risotto, the soup shouldn't be too liquid, but neither should it be so tight that you can stand your spoon up in it!
The soup is garnished with a swirl crema and some queso fresco if desired.
Simple, quick, comforting, cheap, and a little strange.
Friday, 29 March 2013
Chicken Tinga
Reduced to it's absolute essentials tinga is a tomato salsa spiced with chipotle. It's commonly used with chicken but goes well with pork also. The meat is shredded and added to the sauce and is very nice served in tacos or on a toastada.
Variations on the dish center on whether chorizo is added or not and also around whether the sauce is seasoned with something acid or with something sweet. I prefer the slightly sweet version, and although chorizo makes everything better I usually don't bother with it.
Ingredients:
3/4 roma tomatoes (or 1 can of tomatoes).
1 clove of garlic.
1/2 of a tennis ball sized onion chopped, not too finely.
1 or 2 (according to your tolerance!) chipotles in adobo with some of the adobo.
Salt to taste.
A good inch of ground black pepper.
A pinch of oregano.
1 tsp (or more) of sugar.
The fussy method is to fry the onion till translucent, then add the chorizo and the garlic. Next add the roasted and peeled tomatoes and seasonings and cook everything together for 20 to 30 minutes, finally adding the shredded meat and the sugar and simmering everything together for a few minutes before serving.
A quicker method is to put the tomato, garlic, chipotle and seasonings in a blender, if a small amount of water is necessary to get the blades spinning ad that, and blend everything. Fry the onion for a few minutes then add the tomato mixture and cook together for 15 to 20 minutes. Finally add the meat and sugar annd simmer for another few minutes.
This recipe can be adapted very easily for the slow cooker.
I think the two important things to get right for this dish are not to shred the meat too finely and secondly to get the consistency of the sauce right. The sauce should be think enough to coat the chicken and the pieces of chicken shouldn't be broken down too much.
Variations on the dish center on whether chorizo is added or not and also around whether the sauce is seasoned with something acid or with something sweet. I prefer the slightly sweet version, and although chorizo makes everything better I usually don't bother with it.
Ingredients:
3/4 roma tomatoes (or 1 can of tomatoes).
1 clove of garlic.
1/2 of a tennis ball sized onion chopped, not too finely.
1 or 2 (according to your tolerance!) chipotles in adobo with some of the adobo.
Salt to taste.
A good inch of ground black pepper.
A pinch of oregano.
1 tsp (or more) of sugar.
The fussy method is to fry the onion till translucent, then add the chorizo and the garlic. Next add the roasted and peeled tomatoes and seasonings and cook everything together for 20 to 30 minutes, finally adding the shredded meat and the sugar and simmering everything together for a few minutes before serving.
A quicker method is to put the tomato, garlic, chipotle and seasonings in a blender, if a small amount of water is necessary to get the blades spinning ad that, and blend everything. Fry the onion for a few minutes then add the tomato mixture and cook together for 15 to 20 minutes. Finally add the meat and sugar annd simmer for another few minutes.
This recipe can be adapted very easily for the slow cooker.
I think the two important things to get right for this dish are not to shred the meat too finely and secondly to get the consistency of the sauce right. The sauce should be think enough to coat the chicken and the pieces of chicken shouldn't be broken down too much.
Monday, 25 February 2013
Thursday, 21 February 2013
Some Breakfast Dishes featuring Eggs
There no need for anything in the way of recipes here....
Huevos Rancheros.
Fried eggs served over tortillas with a fresh tomato salsa.
Migitas.
Scrambled eggs mixed with strips of fried tortilla.
Huevos Divorciados.
Two fried eggs, one smothered in a cooked tomato salsa the other in a tomatillo salsa.
Huevos con Chorizo.
Scrambled eggs mixed with chorizo. Mexican chorizo unlike the Spanish cured version is fresh, it required cooking and cannot be eaten raw. When cooked it breaks into a fine mince consistency.
Huevos del Albañil - Bricklayers eggs.
An omlette (or sometimes fried eggs) smothered in tomatillo salsa and served with avocado and crema.
Machaca.
Scrambled eggs with dried beef, tomato, onion, chile and garlic.
Huevos Revueltos.
Scrambled eggs with tomato, chile, onion and garlic.
Breakfast Burritos.
No point trying to compete with Robert Rodriguez on this one!
Huevos Rancheros.
Fried eggs served over tortillas with a fresh tomato salsa.
Migitas.
Scrambled eggs mixed with strips of fried tortilla.
Huevos Divorciados.
Two fried eggs, one smothered in a cooked tomato salsa the other in a tomatillo salsa.
Huevos con Chorizo.
Scrambled eggs mixed with chorizo. Mexican chorizo unlike the Spanish cured version is fresh, it required cooking and cannot be eaten raw. When cooked it breaks into a fine mince consistency.
Huevos del Albañil - Bricklayers eggs.
An omlette (or sometimes fried eggs) smothered in tomatillo salsa and served with avocado and crema.
Machaca.
Scrambled eggs with dried beef, tomato, onion, chile and garlic.
Huevos Revueltos.
Scrambled eggs with tomato, chile, onion and garlic.
Breakfast Burritos.
No point trying to compete with Robert Rodriguez on this one!
Yet more cookbook recommending...
La Cocina Mexicana.
La Cocina Mexicana: Many Cultures, One Cuisine is by Marilyn Tausend and Ricardo Muñoz Zurita. It's a beautiful book with a carefully selected range classic recipes giving a very good overview of Mexican cooking, along with evocative descriptions of people and places, and some interesting historical context for the dishes.
I really enjoy this book. It's not fussy or glossy. What I find most impressive is that it is not simply content to rush through simple versions of the "greatest hits" dishes and takes a much more considered and careful look at the cusine.
The font for the recipe titles looks like it was lifted from the cover of a death metal album, and that is as much fault as I can find with the book. It belongs in any respectable collection.
The Mexican Slow Cooker
The Mexican Slow Cooker by Deborah Schneider was, on the other hand, a disappointment. It's a fine idea, well produced, but I expected more. I was really looking forward to this book and getting ideas for soups and tacos guisados (the stewed type of taco filling, pibil, barbacoa, tinga etc.) that could be made in a slow cooker.
While there are recipes for some of these the book is padded out with a lot of very standard Mexican fare, only very tangentially, if at all, related to the slow cooker.
La Cocina Mexicana: Many Cultures, One Cuisine is by Marilyn Tausend and Ricardo Muñoz Zurita. It's a beautiful book with a carefully selected range classic recipes giving a very good overview of Mexican cooking, along with evocative descriptions of people and places, and some interesting historical context for the dishes.
I really enjoy this book. It's not fussy or glossy. What I find most impressive is that it is not simply content to rush through simple versions of the "greatest hits" dishes and takes a much more considered and careful look at the cusine.
The font for the recipe titles looks like it was lifted from the cover of a death metal album, and that is as much fault as I can find with the book. It belongs in any respectable collection.
 |
| La Cocina Mexicana |
The Mexican Slow Cooker by Deborah Schneider was, on the other hand, a disappointment. It's a fine idea, well produced, but I expected more. I was really looking forward to this book and getting ideas for soups and tacos guisados (the stewed type of taco filling, pibil, barbacoa, tinga etc.) that could be made in a slow cooker.
While there are recipes for some of these the book is padded out with a lot of very standard Mexican fare, only very tangentially, if at all, related to the slow cooker.
 |
| The Mexican Slow Cooker |
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Salsa de Chile de Arbol
This is a very hot sauce that is used to accompany Guadalajara's special Tortas Ahogadas, a pork sandwich in a crusty bap drowned (hence the "ahogada") in a tomato salsa. This fiery sauce is served on the side, though some people do drown the sandwich entirely in this sauce and omit the tamer tomato salsa altogether.
Even though the sauce is hot, it does still have flavour. Just remember not to rub your eyes!
- Chiles de Arbol - about 50 - a good fistful, toasted and then simmered in enough water to cover for 20 minutes or so.
- 2 cloves of garlic - preferably toasted.
- A tablespoon of cider vinegar.
- A tablespoon of sesame seeds - preferably toasted.
- Some onion - not much.
- A couple of cloves
- A teaspoon of salt
Even though the sauce is hot, it does still have flavour. Just remember not to rub your eyes!
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Aguja Nortena
Cuts of Beef
The cuts of beef in the butchers shops in Mexico can be slightly different to what I am used to and it can sometimes be confusing to identify exactly where in the animal a particular cut comes from, and also what the best cooking method for a particular cut is.
This article by Karen Hursh Graber gives as good a summary as one could hope for. It has finally cleared up the arrachera question for me, which US writers regard as equivalent to hanger steak, flank steak or skirt steak pretty interchangeably (it's skirt steak). It's a very useful resource and I've used it quite a bit over the past three years. The diagram below is from the same source.
Aguja Nortena
When it comes to cuts of beef, especially the popular Mexican cuts which are destined for the grill, you need to remember that quick fast cooking and medium rare meat doesn't necessarily equate to tender meat.
Arrachera for example, can be quite stringy when cooked medium rare and works much better when cooked through completely. Similarly, aguja nortena, which is very common here in Monterrey for BBQs, works better when grilled slowly and served well done. It seems counter intuitive, but in these cases, well done is more tender. The mesquite coals that are used here help by providing a steady but not fierce heat that allows relatively slow grilling.
Agujas themselves are cut from the underside of the animal, about six inches by three inches with some bone along one of the long edges. These steaks are cut quite thin - to about a centimetre. At parties they are often cooked, a couple for each guest and offered with tortillas. They are best when seasoned simply, just salt and a sprinkling of Worcester sauce before grilling.
The cuts of beef in the butchers shops in Mexico can be slightly different to what I am used to and it can sometimes be confusing to identify exactly where in the animal a particular cut comes from, and also what the best cooking method for a particular cut is.
This article by Karen Hursh Graber gives as good a summary as one could hope for. It has finally cleared up the arrachera question for me, which US writers regard as equivalent to hanger steak, flank steak or skirt steak pretty interchangeably (it's skirt steak). It's a very useful resource and I've used it quite a bit over the past three years. The diagram below is from the same source.
Aguja Nortena
When it comes to cuts of beef, especially the popular Mexican cuts which are destined for the grill, you need to remember that quick fast cooking and medium rare meat doesn't necessarily equate to tender meat.
Arrachera for example, can be quite stringy when cooked medium rare and works much better when cooked through completely. Similarly, aguja nortena, which is very common here in Monterrey for BBQs, works better when grilled slowly and served well done. It seems counter intuitive, but in these cases, well done is more tender. The mesquite coals that are used here help by providing a steady but not fierce heat that allows relatively slow grilling.
Agujas themselves are cut from the underside of the animal, about six inches by three inches with some bone along one of the long edges. These steaks are cut quite thin - to about a centimetre. At parties they are often cooked, a couple for each guest and offered with tortillas. They are best when seasoned simply, just salt and a sprinkling of Worcester sauce before grilling.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)