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.

65 recipes down, 90 to go

On Thursday evening, at the tail end of Month 5, I made Spicy Plantain Pie (D12).  Frankly, I was a disappointed with the result.  It’s made with ripe plantains, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and with cream and eggs to make it custardy.  I was actually quite surprised at how sweet it was — too sweet for my taste.  The flavor of the plantain, its tanginess, did come through, but for me it was sort of like a not-quite-ripe banana flavor with too much sugar.  The addition of the sweetened whipped cream, however, was good (mine was flavored with Mexican vanilla and sugar as I was out of Brandy).  John and the kids all liked it and ate it but I doubt I will make this one again.

On a positive note, though, the crust turned out perfectly.  I am now a firm believer in crust made with lard.  The lard lends a flakiness to the crust that butter or shortening by themselves cannot produce.  Especially now that I know where to get lard.  I suggest you all go out and find yourselves a lard source.  You won’t be sorry.  Lard is good.

Month 3

So what can I tell you about month 3 that you probably can’t already guess? That is was relatively pathetic in terms of output: only 7 recipes completed; that I was either sick or caring for sick people for practically the whole month; that I can testify that you don’t want your kids to get h1n1. That said, there were still a couple of gems that would make up my modest meal of the month:
Ripe Plantain Turnovers (Empanadas) with Fresh Cheese Filling
Oaxacan Black Bean Soup
And really, there was nothing that I wouldn’t make again. So in that sense, it was a good month. I’m ready for month 4 to be a success despite the hustle and bustle of the holidays. We’ll see how it works out. Stay tuned . . .

50 recipes down, 105 to go

Now that everyone is healthy again, I’m happy to be back to the project. I knew it had been too long since making something Mexican when I learned that John had gone back to eating at the Mexican station at his work cafeteria, not once but at least twice! I’ll try to make sure that doesn’t happen again. On the primarily vegetarian menu for Saturday evening was Ripe Plantain Turnovers with Fresh Cheese Filling (SOS12) and Smoky Braised Mexican Pumpkin with Seared White Onion (VBRED2). Both recipes also called for a repeat of Essential Roasted Tomatillo-Chipotle Salsa (EF9).
John and the kids made the salsa and true to chipotle form it was spicy! I went with the smaller number of chiles called for in the recipe; it called for 4.5-9 and I used 5. The lesson has been cemented in my mind: chipotle chiles are spicy. There is definitely a distinction, though, between the Tomatillo-Chipotle Salsa and the Quick-Cooked Tomato-Chipotle Sauce (EF6). The recipes that were made with the former were spicy to be sure, but good. For me, those made with EF6 were too spicy.
As for the Pumpkin recipe, I opted to include the optional boneless pork shoulder (just a half pound, giving a nice mainly veggie meal with just an accent of meat) which was cut in pieces, browned in a skillet, and set aside. Sliced onion was then browned in the skillet before adding the salsa and a roasted tomato (my first use of one previously roasted and frozen). This was cooked and reduced. The cubed pumpkin (from Scarlett’s Halloween pumpkin) was mixed with the pork shoulder in a casserole dish. This was topped with the onion, tomato, salsa mixture and baked. We served it with tortillas. The result was great! The salsa gave the dish a smoky, spicy flavor and the pumpkin had a bright taste that very nice. John labeled this dish his “biggest positive surprise” so far. I guess that means he wasn’t expecting much. He really should have more faith in Rick.
As for the turnovers or empanadas, I generally shy away from recipes calling for things to be fried in an inch of oil, so if not for the project I probably never have made this one. That, and you need a tortilla press to flatten out the dough. If you’ve been reading, you know that I ordered a tortilla press way back at the beginning of the project and I felt that after a relatively long hiatus of Mexican cooking that this weekend was the perfect time to break it out. End the end, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the empanadas were to make. You roast the plantains and then scoop out the pulp and mix it with flour in the cuisinart. This makes a dough which gets rolled into balls and pressed flat with the tortilla press (which, by the way, works like a dream!). You scoop a little crumbled queso fresco onto the flat round circle of dough and then fold it over and pinch the edges to seal. It really worked well. The turnovers are then fried in oil and then served with salsa (Rick recommended the Tomatillo-Chipotle, so that’s what we did). They were fabulous! The dough had a nice texture and a delicious, slightly sweet flavor and the salsa provided a complementary tangy, smoky, spicy accompaniment. All in all it was a fantastic meal.

Next up for hopefully this evening is Smoky Shredded Pork Tacos (TEOCE3). And, since I’m not cooking for Thanksgiving I should be able to do more later this week. I may even make another trip into Pilsen for some supplies. Of course there is also Christmas shopping to do. I’ll let you know what wins out Oh, also, I’ll post a month 3 recap soon, dreary though it may be.