97 recipes down, 58 to go aka Susie’s MK Project travels to Texas!

This was one of my most favorite project experiences!!  John and I used to live in Austin when I was in graduate school (French Linguistics) and neither of us had been back since I defended my dissertation seven years ago.  It was in Texas that I first learned to like spice, being exposed to both great Tex-Mex food and also authentic Mexican food.  It was after enjoying the great food at Fonda San Miguel (if in Austin, I highly recommend their Sunday brunch) that I decided to purchase Mexican Kitchen for John for his birthday back in 1997.  One of the other great things about living in Austin for us was a group of wonderful friends (who were also all really good cooks) with whom we had formed a supper club.  There were four couples and we would meet once a month and each contribute a dish for a themed menu.  We did all sorts of things: French, Italian, Scandinavian, Mexican, Alsatian, Indian to name a few.

So for a great variety of reasons I was really looking forward to our vacation in Texas, but at the top of the list was cooking a Rick Bayless meal with my supper club friends (minus Linda and Noel who, sadly for us, couldn’t make it in from the Netherlands).

For the menu we decided on a casual Mexican brunch which would include two kinds of seviche and huevos Motuleños.  We were staying at the house of our friends, Stephanie and Greg, and together with John and myself, we did the bulk of the Mexican cooking.  Our friends Melissa and Joe came with beans for the huevos as well a fabulous (though not Mexican) dessert of mango fool with blackberries.

First up was Classic Seviche Tostadas (SOS4).  Now seviche is something that I’ve never made at home but I can assure you that I will be making it in the future.  The classic rendition was so easy and so very tasty!  It calls for very fresh fish (in our case tuna) to be diced and marinated in fresh-squeezed lime juice.  This is then drained and mixed with Essential Chopped Tomato-Serrano Salsa as well as a little olive oil, salt and sugar, and of course, a diced avocado, and served atop tortilla chips.  All agreed that it was fabulous!   Like many Bayless dishes it was light and fresh tasting with nice spice and texture.

Melissa about to enjoy her Classic Seviche Tostadas!

We also made Shrimp Seviche with Roasted Cactus (SOS6).  This recipe would mark my second experience with nopales or cactus paddles.  First, let me say, we were in Texas, so my friends, who did the shopping in advance of our arrival didn’t have to worry about whether or not their grocery store carried nopales, they simply snipped some off of a cactus plant in their neighbors back yard!  Secondly, if you will recall, when I used nopales the last time, in Guajillo-Sauced Shrimp with Quick-Fried Cactus, back in August (wow, has it really been that long ago!), I was turned off by the slimy consistency.  But Rick promised that if roasted, the excess ooze would cook off, and true to his word, it did.  What was left was a very pleasant tangy flavor, without the slime.  They were combined with shrimp, poached in water and lime juice, and then diced.  Also in the mix was diced fresh serrano, tomato, avocado, and cilantro.  This was all soaked in a dressing of lime juice, cider vinegar, thyme and oregano.  Again, this version of seviche was a big hit that everyone liked.  When pressed to choose, the majority gave a slight edge to the classic variety, but the margin was slim.

Greg, after enjoying his Seviche

Finally, we made Huevos Motuleños or Motul-Style Eggs with Roasted Tomato, Black Beans and Plantains (VBRED24).  I’ll borrow Rick’s description because it succinctly describes a somewhat complex dish: “They’re made from crispy tostadas topped with black beans and eggs sunny-side up, doused with robust roasted tomato sauce flamed with habanero chiles, then strewn with ham, peas, crumbled fresh cheese and slices of sweet fried plantain” (270).  For this recipe I give full credit to Greg for making a delicious iteration of Essential Simmered Tomato-Habanero Sauce, and also for frying the eggs!  Once all the ingredients were combined, the flavors and textures really did work wonderfully together making this a great dish.  I will say that to whip this up from scratch on a Sunday morning (as Rick suggests he enjoys doing) is no small task.  If I wanted to impress with a great brunch for guests, I would be sure to make the sauce, the beans, and the plantains ahead.  But it really was very good and I would like to make it again some day.

Table full of Huevos Motuleños

Stephanie enjoying her eggs!

Me enjoying my eggs!

So to wrap up, I have to send out a huge thank you to Stephanie, Greg, Melissa and Joe for helping me with my project and for making it so much fun!  Plus, vacation in this case, didn’t grind my project to a halt.  More of Month 10 to come soon.

70 recipes down, 85 to go

I’ve made three more recipes: Oaxacan Omelette with Roasted Tomatoes and Green Chiles (VBRED23) for dinner on Saturday and Broiled Chipotle Chicken with Creamy Spinach (MD3) last night which featured the new (for me) essential flavor, Essential Sweet-and-Smoky Chipotle Seasoning Salsa (EF10.5).

The Omelette came together very easily as I had already made the Essential Roasted Poblano Rajas for last week’s chayote casserole.  I also still have frozen roasted tomatoes left from the summer.  So really all I had to do was combine those with a little broth to make the sauce.  The eggs then get cooked and the sauce goes on top with queso fresco and cilantro to garnish.  This was good and easy to put together, although, honestly I think I preferred the egg dishes with tortillas.  But then again, I’m not really an omelette fan in general so I guess that’s not too surprising.  One more note, the poblanos in the rajas were actually quite spicy.  Not to the point of being too spicy, but definitely more like a serrano.  I’ve found the poblanos to be the most variable in terms of spiciness.  It’s a question I plan to ask Rick about if I get the chance at our wine dinner in a couple of weeks.

I had intended to make the Broiled Chipotle Chicken on Sunday night but made the classic mistake of not reading the recipe and thus not realizing that the chicken was to marinate for several hours.  So we ended up making the Chipotle Seasoning Salsa on Sunday night and then the Chicken last night.

Let’s talk for a moment about the salsa.  The recipe calls for 4 ounces of dried chipotle chiles (the spiciest variety that I’ve worked with) which comes out to around 50 chiles.  That is a serious amount of spice!!  These are fried in oil and then puréed with garlic and piloncillo-sweetened water.  The purée is then fried until thick (although mine was pretty thick after being puréed and so did not need to cook as long as indicated.  We were almost afraid to try it when it was done.  I coated about a third of a baby spoon with the salsa and it kept my tongue tingling for a good 45 minutes.  But it’s not just heat.  There is a depth of flavor, a smokiness to it giving it its appeal.  According to Rick, “The first time you stir a spoonful into that bowl of black beans you’re having for dinner, the first time you add a little to that bland barbecue sauce you bought, you’ll know why I think of it as essential, even when it isn’t widely known or used in Mexico” (52).  One more nice thing about this salsa is that it keeps for several weeks and is only needed in small quantities so I will be able to make the three recipes calling for it with this batch.

Now, for the chicken, 2 tablespoons of the salsa is mixed with an equal amount of cream and slathered over boneless, skinless chicken breasts and left to marinate.  I let them marinate overnight (really almost 24 hours).  The chicken is then broiled on one side and then flipped, doused with more cream, and broiled on the other side until the chicken is done.  The cream is then put in a sauce pan with a little broth and some spinach and cooked until the spinach wilts.

This was fantastic!!!  For all the spice in the salsa, the cream really tempers it and you are left with all the good smoky flavor and the feeling of the spice without it being overwhelming.  The chicken was cooked to perfection and I’m also a big fan of wilted greens.  This is a dish where you definitely need some bread to sop up any remaining sauce on your plate because it simply can’t be left behind.  Or, if you’re at home and among family or good friends, there would certainly be no shame in licking the plate   I will make this again for sure.

p.s. I forgot to take a pic of the chicken so I’ll try to remember when we have the leftovers.

55 recipes down, 100 to go

So with the holidays coming up (we’ll be heading to CT at the end of month 4 to visit family for Christmas) I figured that if I was going to make any progress this month that I had better get going. I decided to tackle three new recipes on Sunday. I prepared the perfect start to the day with Rustic Red-Sauced Eggs on Corn Tortillas (VBRED22) made with a repeat for me: Essential Roasted Tomato-Jalapeño Salsa (EF2). This was pretty easy to make, even doing the salsa from scratch. You toast tortillas on a dry griddle and top them with a fried egg and warm salsa. This is then topped with cheese and voilà . . . yummy breakfast! I also got the spice level in the salsa right!!! The recipe called for 2-3 jalapeños; I used 2 but only the seeds from half of one. It was pleasantly spicy. I probably could have done a full pepper with seeds, but I have plenty of experience with overdoing it and I didn’t want to sour my desire for a Mexican dinner. The only alteration I made to the recipe is that I used queso fresco instead of queso añejo (the latter not readily available at my local grocery options).

For lunch we had John’s Polish side of the family’s specialty: perogi stuffed with sauerkraut. I had been at my Mother-in-law’s on Saturday morning making them with all of the women in the family, a December tradition. They were delicious and certainly the perfect contrast to our Mexican breakfast and dinner.
For dinner we had Chicken Breasts with Poblanos, Mushrooms and Cream (MD6) with a side of Green Poblano Rice (VBRED17). It seems now hard to believe that I had never cooked out of the Main Dish section of the cookbook before starting the project. This dish definitely did not disappoint. The sauce was full of poblano flavor without much spice (although I cooked it exactly as directed minus the optional epazote which I haven’t been able to find). The shitake mushrooms provided a nice earthy flavor that paired well with the creaminess of the sauce. Plus, I really liked the green color of the sauce. The only problem I had with this recipe was that my chicken breasts were larger than what was called for (he said 6 breasts totaling 2 pounds; my 4 did that) and so I had to increase the baking time. But that really wasn’t a big deal. The Poblano Rice had a bright, slightly tangy taste in which the cilantro was as prominent as the poblano. This is a dinner that I would repeat for company, especially since the majority of it can be done ahead.

I also have a big event to report!!! John and I have reservations to Topolobambo for Thursday night! It will be our first visit to a Bayless restaurant since I’ve started the project, so needless to say I’m thrilled to be going. Not to mention the fact that we’re spending the night downtown while John’s parents stay with the kids. I’m not sure I’ll cook anything Mexican before Thursday but if not, I’ll be certain to do something this weekend.

38 recipes down, 117 to go

I dropped my mom off at the airport this morning and can now report on a few days worth of Mexican cooking. For breakfast on Sunday (which was also my mom’s birthday!), I made Deluxe Scrambled Eggs with Serrano, Tomato and Avocado (VBRED25). This is the 3rd time I’ve made Essential Chopped Tomato-Serrano Salsa (EF3) and it’s becoming a favorite. Since my mom likes only a little bit of spice, I reduced the serranos from 3 to 2 and only used the seeds from one of them which resulted in a salsa that was quite mild. The next time I think I’ll try 3 serranos, 2 with seeds.
Anyway, you cook the salsa for a bit and then add eggs and avocado and it’s ready when the eggs are cooked. This really was easy, quick, and more importantly, delicious. I served this on some flour tortillas that I had leftover in the fridge but it would have been even better with corn tortillas. What I like so much about Rick’s recipes is that they are so full of flavor without resorting to the slathering of cheese. There was not a speck of cheese in these and it was not missed. Therefore, not only did these taste great but were a great healthy start to the day.

We took a break from Mexican on Monday with a lovely Winter Squash Soup but returned in full force yesterday with a dinner menu of Chicken in Pueblan Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce (MD2), Classic White Rice (a variation of VBRED15), and Celebration Cake or Pastel de Tres Leches (D3).
Shall we start with dessert? That happens to be both what we started cooking and eating first. I mean, we must have our priorities straight Let me begin first by saying that I had planned to make Tropical “Trifle” of Mango and Almonds (D4), not realizing that my mom didn’t like mangos. Honestly, who doesn’t like mangos? So my mom looks through the list of desserts that I haven’t made yet and selects the Celebration Cake. Of course that ends up being the most complex and time-consuming recipe (requiring trips to two different grocery stores to get ingredients that I don’t have), but I was glad to have her help in making it. Tres Leches means Three Milks in Spanish and one of the three milks in the recipe is Cajeta or Goat-Milk Caramel (D6). So we started on Monday afternoon by making that. This recipe calls for a quart of goat’s milk. I had noticed previously that Whole Foods does carry goat’s milk by the half gallon. I decided to double the recipe as Cajeta is an ingredient in two of the desserts and it keeps well in the fridge; so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone, not to mention not wanting to wasted half of the $6.99’s worth of goat’s milk.
Making the cajeta is not complicated and is merely a matter of cooking the milk with sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon stick, and baking soda on the stove until it reduces to about a third of its initial volume, browns, and thickens. Now I was sure that the fact that I had doubled the recipe would increase the time it took to reduce. I was not, however, prepared for the 35 minutes of cooking time detailed in the recipe to turn into the two HOURS my mom and I spent by the stove. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, we had a beautiful caramel-brown syrup that tasted unbelievable. I mean, it really was full of an amazing rich, gooey goodness which gave me very high hopes for the cake.
I’m running out of time so I’ll complete the description of our meal tonight.