GREEN MOLE
Serves 8-10
First blend:
4 tomatillos
1 poblano pepper
3 serrano chiles
½ onion
3 garlic cloves
bunch of cilantro
bunch of parsley
bunch of spinach
bunch of epazote
Second blend:
100g pumpkin seeds
60g sesame seeds
60g peanuts
60g almonds
broth
1. Prepare the first blend. Remove all the leaves from their stalks apart from the cilantro, and chop the tomatillos and onion. Peel the garlic and deseed and chop the poblano pepper. Blend everything raw, using some broth to help the blender. Add the serrano chiles one at a time and test the blend for spice level. Don’t add salt at this point.
2. Prepare the second blend. Roast the nuts one at at time in order of smallest to largest (sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, then almonds). The first two are ready when they start to crack and jump out of the pan, the second two when they have scorch marks on them. When cool, blend all of the nuts with some broth.
3. Caramelize the first blend. Add enough oil to a pot to cover the base and put over high heat. When the oil is smoking hot, add a ladleful of the first blend. Be careful, as it will spit. After a minute or so, the sauce will have darkened in color, thickened and got bubbles all over its surface. Add the rest of the first blend and continue cooking.
4. Add the second blend. As soon as you’ve finished adding the rest of the first blend, add the second blend and lower the heat.
5. Cook the mole. Allow to stew on a low heat for 20-30 minutes until the flavors come together and it no longer tastes raw. At this stage, add salt to taste.
6. Serve. Serve the mole with rice and your chosen protein. Potato and chayote are good options for those going meat-free.
MANCHAMANTELES
Serves 8-10
First blend:
3 ancho chiles
3 pasilla chiles
4 tomatoes
½ onion
2 cloves of garlic
6 pieces of allspice
6 cloves
cinnamon stick (10cm)
Second blend:
50g almonds
50g peanuts
2 slices of pineapple (1.5-2cm thick)
1 apple
1 plantain
broth
1. Prepare the first blend ingredients. Char the tomatoes, onion and garlic on a hot dry pan until black all over. Leave the skin on the garlic to protect it from burning. Meanwhile, heat two cups or so of broth in a saucepan and, using scissors, remove the stalks from the chiles and open them from the sides to remove the seeds and veins. Toast the chiles over a high flame, keeping them in constant motion so as not to burn them. Once they’re blistered and look lighter in color, place them to one side. At this stage, you can optionally fry the chiles. Add oil to a pan and out it on medium heat. Add the chiles to the oil one at a time, and fry each one for no more than three seconds each side. Whether you fry the chiles or just toast them, when you’re done, add them to the hot broth and boil for ten minutes to soften them.
2. Prepare the second blend. Either roast the seeds until they have 'freckles', that is, black scorch marks, or fry them in oil. If you fry them in oil, consider turning the heat down as low as possible to avoid burning them. When you’re done, add all of the nuts to the blender and blend them with what’s left of the broth, plus a little more water if necessary. For a silkier mole, grind for at least a minute. You may also choose to strain the blend into a bowl using a sieve and wooden spoon.
3. Prepare the first blend. After 10 minutes in the boiling broth, the chiles should be soft. Place them, the tomatoes, onion, peeled garlic and spices in the blender with all the broth, and blend everything for at least a minute. Using a sieve and wooden spoon, strain the blend into a bowl.
4. Prepare the fruit. Peel the apples and cut them into 1.5-2cm cubes. Peel the plantain and cut it into 1.5-2cm thick discs.Chop the pineapple slice into 1.5-2cm cubes.
5. Cook the mole. Heat a clay or metal pot until very hot and add enough of the oil you used to fry the chiles and nuts to cover the bottom. Add just one spoonful of the first blend to the hot oil to caramelize sugars in some of the ingredients. Be careful, as it’ll spit. When that first blend thickens and goes darker in color (about a minute), add the rest of the first blend and all of the second blend. Also add the fruit.
6. Stew the mole. Lower the heat and let the mole stew for 30-40 minutes. After that time, taste it, and add salt and sugar little by little until it tastes good to you. Serve with rice and your chosen protein. Oyster mushrooms are a great meat-free option.
GREEN TAMALES
Serves 8-10
Dough:
125g coconut oil
250g nixtamalized corn flour
500ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon tequesquite/ baking powder
salt
Filling:
250g tomatillos
2 serrano chiles
¼ onion
2 cloves of garlic
300g vegetarian filling (swiss chard/ spinach and Oaxaca cheese work well)
corn husks
1. Prepare the corn husks, tequesquite and steamer. If using dry corn husks, add them to a bowl of warm water and allow them to sit while you make your salsa and tamal dough so they become flexible. If using tequesquite, add it to a shot glass and fill the glass with warm water. Allow it to sit while you make your salsa and tamal dough. Fill a steamer pot with water up to the platform and start heating.
2. Prepare the green sauce. Char the tomatillos, serranos, and garlic in a hot dry pan. Leave the skin on the garlic to protect it from the heat. When all ingredients are black all over, add them to a blender with the raw onion with a generous pinch of salt, keeping one chile aside. Blend until smooth. Taste, and if it’s not too spicy, add the final chile and blend again.
3. Caramelize the green sauce. Add enough oil to a pot to cover the base and put over high heat. When the oil is smoking hot, add a ladleful of the first blend. Be careful, as it will spit. After a few minutes, the sauce will have changed color and thickened. Add the rest of the green sauce, and lower the heat. Cook for 10 minutes or so, or until it tastes ready. Add more salt if necessary. Leave to one side.
4. Prepare the dough. Whip the coconut oil in a wide bowl for a few minutes until it’s white and airy. Add three heaped tablespoons of corn flour and mix. Add enough stock until the mixture has the texture of cheesy grits, oatmeal, or a wet hummus or mashed potato. Continue adding three tablespoons of corn flour at a time and alternating with stock until you’ve used all of the flour, trying to keep the same texture all the time. Salt to taste. Then, add a generous extra pinch of salt to compensate for the salt that will be lost in the steaming process.
5. Build the tamales. Add one spoon of dough mixture to each husk, as well as a pinch of sliced swiss chard and shredded Oaxaca cheese and 1.5 spoons of green salsa. Fold. (See the below recipe for detailed instructions on how to do this.)
6. Steam the tamales. Add your tamales to a steamer and steam for 45 minutes or 60 minutes if starting from a cold pot. Be sure not to run out of water. After that time, remove a tamal from the pot and leave the rest to cook for a few minutes longer. If after five minutes, the tamal you removed comes out of the husk cleanly, the tamales are ready. If the dough still sticks to the husk, they need another 15 minutes or so. When they’re ready, turn the heat off and let them sit (with the lid off) for around 20 minutes. Reheat before serving if necessary.
FRESH CORN TAMALES WITH CHIPOTLE MOLCAJETE SALSA
Serves 8-10
Tamales:
100g butter
8 corn cobs
1 teaspoon tequesquite/ baking powder
sugar
salt
corn husks
Salsa:
4 tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles
¼ onion
2 cloves of garlic
salt
1. Prepare the corn husks, tequesquite and steamer. If using dry corn husks, add them to a bowl of warm water and allow them to sit while you make your salsa topping so they become flexible. If using tequesquite, add it to a shot glass and fill the glass with warm water. Allow it to sit while you make your salsa and prepare your tamal dough. Fill a steamer pot with water up to the platform and start heating.
2. Prepare the salsa topping. Warm the chipotles on a dry hot pan. Turn them every five seconds or so to avoid burning them until they puff up fully or start to smoke, whichever comes first. Remove them from the pan and wipe the pan with a dry paper towel to remove excess capsaicin. Char the garlic, leaving the skin on to protect it from the heat. It’s less delicate than the chiles, so can be turned every 30 seconds or so. At the same time, char the onion and tomatoes. These should be black all over by the time you’re done, so turn them only every 5 minutes or so. Wait for the salsa ingredients to cool and pulse them in a blender or, ideally, smash them in a molcajete. Add salt to taste.
3. Prepare the tamal dough. Massage the butter with one hand until it’s soft and then whip it to integrate air. You’ll know you’re making progress when the butter starts turning lighter in color. Shave the corn off the cobs and blend all but 10% of it in a food processor until you have the texture of grits or oatmeal. Add the blended and unblended corn to the whipped butter and mix. Add salt to taste. Add the tequesquite water, avoiding pouring the sediment in the bottom of the glass into your dough. Add sugar to taste, around one and a half dessert spoons should be good. Mix everything. Before cooking, add a generous extra pinch of salt to compensate for the salt that will be lost in the steaming process.
4. Build the tamales. Add one spoon of dough to the middle of each husk, fold one side of the husk over the dough and pull the dough towards you as if you were making sushi or a burrito. Roll, and then ‘toothpaste’ the dough towards the top of the husk until you have between 30% and 50% of the husk free of dough. Fold the tamal’s tail away from the seam, and stand the tamal against the wall of the warm steaming pot.
5. Steam the tamales. When done, cover the steaming pot and put it back on the heat. Steam the tamales for 45 minutes.
6. Test the tamales. After 45 minutes, take one tamal out of the pot, leaving the others cooking. Let the tamal cool down for 10 minutes, and then try and roll it out of the husk. If the dough separates from the husk without sticking, even if the tamal’s soft, the tamales are ready. Turn off the heat of your steamer pot and remove the lid. Let the tamales sit for around 20 minutes and they’ll firm up like cakes allowed to cool after being in the oven. If the dough sticks to the husk, give the tamales another 15 minutes and try again after that time.
7. Serve. Feel free to reheat the tamales in the steamer for a few minutes before serving with the salsa. Sour cream and a crumbly, salty cheese such as cotija also go well with these tamales.
SALSA VERDE
Serves 8-10
250g tomatillos
2 serrano chiles
¼ onion
2 cloves of garlic
salt
1.Char the ingredients. Add the fresh ingredients to a hot dry pan. Leave the skin on the garlic to protect it from the heat, and turn it and the chiles frequently.
2. Blend. When all ingredients are black all over, add them to a blender, keeping one chile aside. Blend until smooth. Taste, and if it’s not too spicy, add the final chile and blend again. Do not add salt at this stage.
3. Caramelize the sauce. Add enough oil to a pot to cover the base and put over high heat. When the oil is smoking hot, add a ladleful of the blended fresh ingredients. Be careful, as it will spit. After a few minutes, the sauce will have changed color and thickened. Add the rest of the sauce and lower the heat. Cook for 10 minutes or so, or until it tastes ready. Add salt to taste. if necessary. Leave to one side.
CHIPOTLE MOLCAJETE SALSA
Serves 8-10
4 tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles
¼ onion
2 cloves of garlic
salt
1. Char the ingredients. Add the chipotles to a hot dry pan. Turn them every five seconds or so to avoid burning them until they puff up fully or start to smoke, whichever comes first. Remove them from the pan and wipe the pan with a dry paper towel to remove excess capsaicin. Char the garlic, leaving the skin on to protect it from the heat. It’s less delicate than the chiles, so can be turned every 30 seconds or so. At the same time, char the onion and tomatoes. These should be black all over by the time you’re done, so turn them only every 5 minutes or so.
2. Smash. Wait for the salsa ingredients to cool and pulse them in a blender or, ideally, smash them in a molcajete. Add salt to taste.
SALSA MACHA
Serves 8-10
8 chipotle chiles
500ml olive oil
100g almonds
100g peanuts
100g pumpkin seeds
100g sesame seeds
50g piloncillo
salt
1. Toast the nuts. Add the nuts to a hot dry pan and toast them one at at time in order of smallest to largest (sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, then almonds). The first two are ready when they start to crack and jump out of the pan, the second two when they have scorch marks on them. After cooking each type of nut, add it to the bottom of a heat-resistant blender. Add the piloncillo, also.
2. Cook the chiles. Heat the oil on a medium-high heat. Add a chile and see if it starts bubbling around the edges. If so, add the remaining chiles. If not, give it a little more time. Once in the oil, keep the chiles in constant motion using a spoon to avoid them burning. They should puff up and you should be able to smell them pretty quickly. After two or three minutes of constant stirring, turn off the heat, and continue to keep the chiles moving for one more minute.
3. Combine. When the oil has cooly partially but not entirely, add it to the blender on top of the nuts. The idea is to continue to cook the nuts a little, and melt the piloncillo. At a generous pinch of salt at this time.
4. Blend. When the oil is cool enough for it to be safe to do so, blend the sauce using the pulse feature of your blender. The idea is to break up the chiles, nuts and piloncillo, but also to leave chunks. Taste for salt and add more if necessary.
PICKLED RED ONIONS
Serves 8-10
1 red onion
1 habanero pepper
2 pinches oregano
6 pieces allspice
white vinegar
water
salt
1. Prepare the ingredients. Julienne the red onion and finely slice the habanero pepper, being careful to wash your hand afterwards. Add to the bowl in which you’ll serve the pickled onions.*
2. Finish. Add vinegar to the bowl until the sliced ingredients are half covered. Add water until they are completely submerged. Add the spices and a generous pinch of salt. Stir.
*Pickled onions should be made at least 24 hours before serving to give the onion time to pickle. If you’re in a rush, either heat your vinegar in the microwave before adding it to the bowl, or gently fry your onions until they’re soft but not colored. In either case, the heat will speed up the pickling process.
SALSA TAQUERA
Serves 8-10
250g tomatillos
2 serrano chiles
2 cloves of garlic
bunch of cilantro
1 avocado
¼ onion
salt
1. Blend the sauce. Roughly chop the tomatillos, chiles and cilantro and peel and chop the garlic. Blend in a blender. Salt to taste.
2. Add diced ingredients. Finely dice the onion and avocado as if you were going to serve them on top of a taco. Add them to the raw sauce and stir.
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