Puerco Pibil

I first heard about Puerco Pibil from director Robert Rodriguez, who featured his recipe on the DVD extras of Once Upon a Time in Mexico (naturally, you can find this online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO8EiScBEjA).

It’s a really fantastic, tangy pulled pork dish with a little bit of kick to it as well. I made a few notable changes to Rodriguez’s recipe: I omitted the tequila (didn’t have any, wasn’t about to buy a bottle for this) as well as the banana leaves. I don’t know if the banana leaves add any flavor, but I suspect they are used as a traditional garnish since in the past this was cooked on coals buried in dirt (pib is Mexican for pit barbecue)

Puerco Pibil:

5 lbs. pork butt, cut into 2-3” cubes

5 tablespoons annatto seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 tablespoon whole black pepper

½ teaspoon whole cloves

8 whole allspice berries

2 habanero peppers, deseeded and chopped

½ cup orange juice

½ cup cider vinegar

8 garlic cloves, diced

6 limes

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons salt

Use a spice grinder to grind the annatto seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper, cloves and allspice into a powder.

In the container of a blender add the orange juice, cider vinegar, habaneros, diced garlic, brown sugar, salt, spice blend from the grinder and brown sugar. Juice the limes into the mixture as well.

Blend to liquefy, and add the marinade into a large Ziploc bag along with the cubed pork. Toss the bag into the fridge, and marinate for 4 to 6 hours, turning every so often.

Preheat an oven to 325. Add the meat and the marinade to a 9”x13” baking pan and cover with foil. Bake for 3 hours. Remove the pork from the sauce and shred. Serve over rice with some salsa. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Tomatillo Salsa:

6 tomatillos, halved

2 garlic cloves, still in their husks

1 habanero, deseeded

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

½ cup of water (more if needed)

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black peper

Put a pan over medium heat and add the tomatillos, garlic and habanero, and cook, flipping once, until everything starts to get some color on it. Add the tomatillos straight into a blender. Chop the habanero and add it to the blender. Remove the garlic cloves from their papery husks and chop, then add to the blender. Add the cilantro and water (go easy on the water and add more if you think it needs it) and puree. Season with cumin, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.

Carne Asada Tacos

After having some carne asada tacos from a lunch truck last week, I’ve been craving more. I’m keeping it simple here: marinated meat, salsa, pickled shallots and cilantro. I used Peruvian peppers – aji panca – in the salsa, because I have a ton of them. You could use any pepper really – guajillos or pasilla would work great, as would jalapenos or chipotles (in adobo sauce or dried). 1 pound of skirt steak makes enough for 2 servings, so plan accordingly.

Marinade recipe adapted from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/carne_asada/

Pickled shallots adapted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-quickpickled-red-onions-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-193247

Marinade:

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 dried habanero pepper

½ teaspoon ground coriander (I didn’t have whole coriander seeds)

Small handful of cilantro

4 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup orange juice (I used the Simply Orange orange/mango juice)

2 tablespoons white vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup olive oil

Skirt steak (flank would also work)

Toast the cumin seeds and dried habanero in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about a minute. Add to a coffee grinder and pulse to a powder. Add to a bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust flavors accordingly.

Pour the marinade into a 1 gallon Ziploc bag and add the meat. Marinate for 1 to 4 hours.

Pickled Shallots:

5 oz. sliced shallots

1 cup cider vinegar

5 allspice berries

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 clove garlic, cut in half

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon sugar

Place the shallots in a colander or strainer. Boil water in a small pot and pour over the shallots to par-boil them. Drain excess liquid and add to a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Allow to stand for at least 1 hour.

Tomatillo Salsa

5 tomatillos, husks removed and washed

2 cloves garlic

2 Dried Aji Panca Peppers

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon Mexican oregano

Salt

Pepper

Roast the garlic, skin on, in a dry skillet for about 5 minutes, flipping as the sides start to brown. Remove the seeds from the peppers, and toast in the dry skillet for  30 seconds, then flip and give the other side 30 seconds.

Add all ingredients to a blender and puree.

Corn Tortillas:

8 oz. Masa Harina

10 Oz. Warm Water

½ teaspoon salt

Combine all 3 ingredients in a bowl and mix to form a dough. Break the dough into 9 equally sized pieces.

Working with 1 piece at a time, place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and either flatten with a heavy object and/or roll out with a rolling pin.

Cook the tortillas in a dry skillet set over medium heat. They should take about 1 minute per side.

Place a plate in a warm (like 200F or less) oven and store the cooked tortillas in there to keep warm.

To Finish:

Marinated Meat

Corn Tortillas

Pickled Shallots

Tomatillo Salsa

Cilantro, chopped

Remove the meat from the marinade and wash off any excess. Cut the meat into bite sized pieces, and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a skillet to medium high and add some canola oil. Cook the meat, stirring and flipping, for about 3 minutes.

Place the meat on tortillas with the shallots, salsa, and chopped cilantro.

 

Chicken and Tortilla Soup

I was going to write about how fall is great for soup, but it hit 71 degrees today, so I'd be a liar if I said this was soup weather. I do, however, have a ton of chicken stock in my freezer, and more bones ready to be made into additional stock, so I needed to do something with it. Surprise, surprise, I went with a Mexican dish. Recipe modified from: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/chicken-tortilla-soup/.

Tortillas:

8 oz. Masa Harina

10 oz. Warm water

¼ teaspoon salt

Mix masa and salt in a bowl, add the water and mix until a dough forms. It should be just slightly tacky – adjust amount of water or masa if too far in either direction.

Break the dough into 9 equal sized pieces (about golf ball sized) and place a towel over the ones you aren’t using. One at a time, place the tortillas between saran wrap and use a heavy object/rolling pin to roll out the tortillas into circles.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium (no oil needed). Cook the tortillas about 45 seconds per side, until they just start to show some browning in spots. Repeat with remaining tortillas. You’ll only need 6 for the soup, so you’ll have enough for a few tacos left.

Soup:

2 tablespoons bacon grease

1 medium white onion, diced

2 anaheim peppers, deseeded and diced

1 red bell pepper, deseeded and diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 quarts chicken stock

2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 6-ounce can of tomato paste

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon oregano

3 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 large chicken breasts

6 corn tortillas

2 tablespoons masa harina

2 tablespoons lime juice

Avocado slices

Shallots (diced)

Cilantro

Heat the oven to 425°F. Salt the 2 chicken breasts and roast for approximately 40 minutes, until they hit 165°F. Remove and let cool for about 10 minutes or so. Shred the meat using forks or your hands (I think using your hands is better). 

Chop the onions, peppers and garlic. Heat a 6 quart dutch oven over medium and add the bacon grease. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic, stirring occasionally and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, and salt and pepper (phew). Taste and adjust seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes.

While the soup is doing its thing, add enough canola oil to a 12” cast iron skillet so that there’s a few centimeters of depth to it. Heat the oil over high to about 250°F. Cut 6 tortillas into strips and add to the oil in two batches. Cook for about 1 to 1.5 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until the tortilla strips start to crisp. Remove to a sheet pan lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.

Back to the soup: After the initial 45 minutes of simmering, add the shredded chicken. Mix 2 tablespoons of masa with warm water to create a slurry and add to the soup. Add the lime juice. Adjust seasonings as needed. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes, then turn off heat and allow to stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Ladle the soup into a bowl, add the fried tortilla strips, avocado slices, diced shallots, and cilantro to garnish.

"Mexican" Meatloaf

I’ve made meatloaf before, but I wasn’t too happy with the results, so I went back to the drawing board and decided to keep it simple. This recipe comes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, with slight variation to the ingredients, and the bain marie cooking method that Michael Ruhlman uses in his book Ruhlman’s Twenty.  The meatloaf I made last year was on the dry side, but this one is anything but. Nothing complex here, but keeping it simple yields the best results in this case.

Meatloaf:

1.5 lbs ground beef/pork/veal mix

2 shallots, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 jalapeno deseeded and diced

1 tablespoon mustard

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 egg

1/3 cup salsa (store brand)

2/3 cup milk

½ cup panko bread crumbs

¾ cup monterrey jack and cheddar cheese blend

Chipotle Ketchup:

1 cup ketchup

2 chipotle chilis in adobo

1 teaspoon fish sauce

Add all the meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. You want everything incorporated, but don’t go overboard and overmix it.

Place the mixture into a loaf pan.

Place the chipotle ketchup ingredients in a blender and liquefy. Taste and add more peppers if you like it a bit spicy.

Spoon the ketchup on top of the meatloaf. You’ll have some leftover ketchup. Cover the meatloaf pan with aluminum foil.

Place the loaf pan in a large baking dish, and fill with water until it comes halfway up the side of the pan. Remove the meatloaf pan, and place the water-filled baking dish in an oven and heat to 300°F.

Carefully place the loaf pan into the water (rubber oven mitts are fantastic here) and cook for 1.5 hours. Remove from the oven and take the foil off the loaf pan. Place the meatloaf under a broiler for about a minute, just to give it a little color.

Chiles en Nogada

I've been meaning to try these for a while and finally got around to making the recipe. I deviated from the traditional in a few ways; first, chiles rellenos are usually battered and fried, which I'm sure is delicious, but also not particularly healthy. Secondly, the stuffing usually involves pork, but I opted for a vegetarian (hell, this meal is even full on vegan, thanks to using almond milk instead of dairy) version for no particular reason. Usually the pork is accompanied by fruits like apples and pears, for a sweet and hearty flavor, and I think mine are in that same spirit. Finally, it seems like all the recipes I read garnish the dish with parsley, but I wanted the sort of penetrating fresh flavor cilantro brings to the table.

Chiles Rellanos:

10 poblano chilis

½ large eggplant, diced

2 small zucchini, diced

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 pear, peeled, cored diced

½ large yellow onion, diced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 tablespoon cumin

½ teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons chili powder

Nogada Sauce:

2 cups walnuts

¾ cup almond milk

½ cup beer (I used a Victory Festbier)

1 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of salt

To Finish:

Pomegranate seeds

Cilantro

First, we need to char the poblanos. You can do this directly over a gas burner, on a cast iron pan with no oil, or stick them all under the broiler. I used the broiler. They will take a few minutes each side – flip them when they start to blacken and char. Remove from the oven and drape a towel over them for a few minutes. Once they cool, remove the skin (it should come right off). Cut a slit down the middle, and remove the seeds – it’s best to try and keep the stem intact so that the chilies stay together when stuffed.

Moving on, hope your knife skills are up to snuff because there is a good amount of chopping to be done. You’ll need the eggplant, zucchini, apple, pear, onion, and garlic diced and the mushrooms sliced.  Add these all to a large bowl or two.

All these ingredients are going to be sweated down, and you’ll need to do this in 3 batches. Heat a large pan over medium, add a little oil, and the diced ingredients. Season with salt, and sweat for 5 to 7 minutes, until much of the water in the vegetables is released.  Repeat with remaining batches.

Once you’ve sweated the veggies, add them all to a bowl along with the cumin, allspice and chili powder. Stir to mix.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spoon the stuffing into each of the chilis. Place on a backing sheet/roasting pan lined with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Before saucing

Sauce:

Combine the walnuts and almond milk in a blender, and puree. Add the beer, and season with salt and taste. Add sugar as appropriate. The sauce will have some texture to it.

Serve the baked rellenos with sauce and sprinkle pomegranate seeds and cilantro on top. Serve with corn tortillas or white rice.