Tag Mexican food

Parties That Cook’s Long Awaited “February” Cookbook Club: Rick Bayless’ Mexican Kitchen

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, General, Menus & Recipes Tagged with , , , , , , , , , March 17th, 2011 @ 3:37 pm

The Parties That Cook office team came together last week for February’s Cookbook Club. Yes, it was in March, but February was one short and action-packed month!  Michelene selected Rick Bayless’ Mexican Kitchen, in honor of the brightly colored piñata that has called our office home for the past month.

Bayless is a renowned chef and restaurateur with 6 popular cookbooks under his belt. Authenic Mexican, the earliest of these cookbooks, was published in 1987 (before someone in our office was even born!), and Fiesta at Rick’s, the most recent, in 2010. Needless to say, everyone one was excited to try Mexican Kitchen!

Initially intimidated by the endless recipes found in the cookbook, some just flipped to a random page and let fate pick their recipe. The resulting menu was remarkably well-balanced:

Rustic Jicama Appetizer – Beth made this beautiful dish just before serving, and it was SO fresh and crisp!

Topolo Caesar Salad – We could definitely taste the Mexican influence in the tangy flavor of Traci’s salad!

Tortilla Soup – Michelene’s dish was absolutely delicious. Everyone loved the soup, making it a popular lunch option for the few days it lasted beyond this lunch!

“Drunken” Pintos with Cilantro and Bacon (Frijoles Borrachos) – Crissy thought there was too strong of an alcohol flavor even after cutting the amount called for in the recipe, so she added more beans. The finished dish was one of the group’s favorites!

Oaxacan Black Mole with Braised Chicken (Mole Negro Oaxaqueno) – This incredibly involved recipe took hours of Carolyn’s weekend, but she was up for the challenge. Bibby raved that it was the best mole she had EVER had!

Crusty Chayote Casserole with Poblanos, Corn and Two Cheeses – Bibby took a few liberties with the recipe, per usual. Her dish, which included many more/different ingredients than the recipe called for (sorry Rick), was rich and delicious!

Warm Cajeta Pudding with Fresh Berries – Rosie noted that this was another time consuming recipe. Had we not already eaten SO much good food, I’m sure we would have eaten the entire dish. This dessert left me with cravings for days after my first taste!

This Warm Cajeta Pudding with Fresh Berries would have paired perfectly with this deliciously sweet recipe for Dulce De Leche Ice Cream!
For other crave-worthy  dessert recipes, check out our Dessert Recipe Library!

Ingredients
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks

Methods/Steps
Dulce De Leche: Immerse the unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot of water. Cover completely with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 1/2 hours, replenishing the water as necessary to keep the can always covered in water. Remove from heat and let cool slightly in the can. Open the can and you will have fresh dulce de leche.

Ice Cream: In a heavy saucepan, scald the cream and milk with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar until pale. Gradually whisk hot cream/milk mixture into blanched yolks. Add the whole can of the dulce de leche. Mix well. Return to saucepan. Stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when a finger is drawn across it (about 7 minutes) or when the temperature reaches 160ºF (do not boil!). Strain into a bowl over an ice bath. Whisk to cool quickly.

Process custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Freeze and Serve: Place in the freezer in an air-tight container. Allow the ice cream to set completely before serving (1 –2 hours).

Serves/Makes
Makes 1 Quart

Culinary Tour of Mexico Part 2: Cooking Lesson with Reyna in San Miguel, Mexico

1 comment By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in General, Menus & Recipes, Menus and Recipes Tagged with , , , , , , July 7th, 2009 @ 4:26 pm

I recently took a series of cooking classes while on vacation in San Miguel Mexico. My first cooking class was so much fun that I left wanting more. I chose a class in the home of a local San Miguel resident named Reyna.

Reyna picked me up at my hotel and drove me to her home which is about 15 minutes from the center of San Miguel.  At first, I was disappointed to find the whole class revolved around cactus (nopales).  But curiosity got the best of me when I saw that she was going to make a dessert out of cactus!

I had never worked with cactus before and was intrigued.  For years, I had seen it in the produce section at Whole Foods but shied away from it simply because I had no idea what to do with it.  When you buy it at the market, the prickles are still intact.  You have to carefully remove them by going the opposite direction with a sharp knife (you might even want to use thick rubber gloves or a plastic baggie to protect your hand).

Cleaning the Cactus

If the prickle is pointing to the right, cut underneath it going to the left.  Once all the prickles are removed, you can cut it into strips.  Inside is a gooey substance with the texture of aloe.  Sauté the strips in butter or olive oil until all of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.  The cooked cactus has a meaty texture like a thick roasted pepper and a slightly acidic taste (like a Poblano chile topped with freshly squeezed lime juice).

We started the class with a refreshment called Agua de Jamaica (Ruby Red Hibiscus Flower Water) For a fun twist, Yolanda added red wine turning it into Sangria.  Hey I’m on vacation – why not have a morning cocktail!

Ruby Red Hibiscus Flower Water

We made 3 dishes using the cactus.  Ensalada de Nopalitos (Cactus Salad), Fajitas De Arranchera Y Nopales Cocidos En Molcajete Caliente (Flank Steak Strips and Cactus Cooked in a Hot Traditional Stone Mortar) and for dessert, Pastel de Nopal (Cactus Paddle Cake). A few fun cooking tricks I learned… coat the salad by putting olive oil in a spray bottle and spray the ingredients lightly.

Salad

For the Fajitas, she heated a large molcajete (mortar) up-side-down on a gas flame. Once heated, she turned it upright and the residual heat cooked the meat.

Meat Cooking in Molcajete

Lastly, she made the cake base in a blender and then transferred it to a mixing bowl where she added Aunt Jemima Pancake mix.  I gotta say, I was very skeptical about the texture and taste of this cake but it was light, fluffy and delicious.

Cactus Paddle Cake

Back in San Francisco, we are fortunate to have stores where we can easily get these ingredients so it should be easy for me to recreate these recipes. Take a local trip to Mexico by heading over to the Mission where these ingredients are on sale for half the price of Whole Foods! Check out:

La Palma Foods: http://www.lapalmafoods.com
Rincon Latino: http://www.rinconlatinosf.com
Casa Lucas Market: http://www.yelp.com/biz/casa-lucas-market-san-francisco-2#hrid:m4X3h6_4PoKx8zUkKz5XLw/src:search/query:latin%20markets

Walking through the markets makes me long for Mexico.  Can’t wait for my next trip!


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