Enchiladas Potosinas - Chile Ancho Enchiladas

I love watching the Top Chef Texas competition on Bravo.  Although they claim to be impartial on the judging, I sometimes find that they tend to leave the troublemakers on till the very end.  For some reason, people like to watch drama.  I feel that those of us that watch it regularly watch it for the cooking.  For example, I do not remember during what season, but Mike Isabella broke chef code by not only stealing Richard Blais’ dish, he also denied it!  He should have been immediately eliminated, yet Top Chef grants him the winning dish and $20k.  Not cool! 

This week on the Texas edition, the 16 competing chefs had to create dishes for a Quinceañera.  This type of celebration is big; girls are presented to Society as young women.   As my husband and I were watching, I was appalled at what was being created and labeled as Mexican food.  For one, this is a cooking competition, and they decided to purchase the corn and flour tortillas already made.  Corn tortillas are easy to make, and flour tortillas, although hard to make, they could have purchased the ready to cook ones, which are fabulous. 

My idea for this post came from the poor Keith that was eliminated because he made enchiladas with flour tortillas.  When I see Keith talking about making flour tortilla enchiladas, I found myself talking to the TV saying, "flour? flour? what the hell?".  The judges criticized the other chefs for not telling him that enchiladas are not made with flour.  But, I actually think that  they didn’t tell him because the only Mexican chef was on the other team. 

Enchiladas Potosinas are little orange pockets of love!  The name is taken from the city they were created in, San Luis Potosi, which is located in central Mexico.  The first time I tried them was at Malinches restaurant in Monterrey, Mexico.  My sister was very good friends with the owner.  I used to go so often, and always eat the same thing that they did not even ask me, the just brought the enchiladas out for me.  I learned how to make them and here is my way.

2 Ancho chiles,

1-large garlic clove (2 if small)

4-cups of Maseca Masa Harina

1-teaspoon salt

water as needed (to soak chiles)

1-cup shredded Chihuahua cheese

½-cup of shredded Cotija or Añejo (they are the same cheese)

Crema Mexicana

Avocado

1-sliced onion

Comal (cast-iron skillet)

Slice the onions into rings and soak in a bowl with cold water and about ¼ cup salt.  This is the trick to make onions less pungent.  Set aside the bowl and rinse thoroughly when you are ready to serve the enchiladas.

So here we go, soak the ancho chiles in hot water for 5-10 minutes.  Once the chiles are soft, peel as much of the outer layer as you can.  Remove the seeds and the veins and put in the blender, add the garlic, salt and about ¼ cup of the cooking liquid.  You are looking for the consistency of a lose paste.  This is what you will use to form your tortillas.

Add this pasty liquid to the masa harina.  You are looking for a consistency that is not too wet, firm but soft.  I always stop adding the liquid as soon as the dough forms easily into a ball and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. 

I like small enchiladas, as cocktail appetizers, but you can make them the size you want.    You can use the quart size ziplock bag.  Open on the sides, place your tortilla ball in the middle, close the bag and use a large plate or pan to make into a tortilla.  Place on the comal for 1-2 minutes only on one side.  Remove and fill on the uncooked side with both cheeses.  Close and make sure you press to close.  You can use a fork to make sure the pocket is closed.  Return to the comal and cook thoroughly, you can tell when they are cooked when the dough doesn’t look raw.

Serve them on a plate; sliced avocado on top, sliced onions, crema Mexicana drizzled on top, and prinkle with cotija cheese.  They are great by themselves or accompanied by refried beans and rice.  If you have left over enchiladas, cover them tightly a freeze them.  They can be reheated anytime with a little oil in the pan.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Chocolate Flan Cake – Pastel Impossible Choco Flan

This cake has a wow factor that is out of this world.  It looks difficult because you are baking the cake at the same time as the flan.  The consistency when finished is incredible.  This is what I will be making for Thanksgiving.  I will take pictures and upload the step-by-step.

When I lived in Laredo, I tried this cake several times from a bakery in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.  I knew the owner of the bakery, so I innocently asked if she would share her recipe with me.  Well, she said it was a guarded secret.  Some people do not share their recipes so freely, unlike me that started a blog for the world to see, lol!

To me, every person makes the recipe their own and tweaks it according to their flavor pallet.  I may tell you how to make this cake, and yes, you may make it several times until you start tweaking the flavors or the ingredients.  Therefore, a recipe is never definite.  A recipe is in constant change.   I knew as much that the cake was a regular cake and the flan was a regular flan.  I just could not figure out a way to put it all together.   I started to do some research and found a column by Sonia Ortiz in the Universal de Mexico newspaper.  I started to read her column on a daily basis and to my surprise; she finally printed the recipe to this cake.  It is because of people like Sonia, that our traditions in Mexico will not die.  (Yes, I know this cake is not traditional, but ohhhh soooo good)! 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and remember that all recipes are in constant change, make it your own!

Chocolate Flan Cake  

For Cake

1-Can evaporated milk

3-Eggs

1-Cup vegetable oil

1-Box chocolate cake mix

2-Tablespoons melted butter

1- Cup of cajeta (dulce de leche)

½ Cup of chopped pecans

Preheat oven at 375F

Prepare a Bundt cake pan with removable bottom by smearing it with butter all around and in the middle too.  If you are afraid your pan does not seal tight, add foil paper to the bottom so that water does not leak through since it will bake in a water bath.   Once you have fully buttered the pan spread the Cajeta around the bottom of the pan and scattered the chopped pecans around the pan.

Mix the cake mix, 2 tbsp melted butter, 3 eggs, 1 can evaporated milk and the cup of vegetable oil at low speed.  Raise the speed until all the lumps are gone.  The more you mix the more air you incorporated into the batter.

For Flan

1-Can evaporated milk

1-Can condensed milk (la lechera or eagle brand)

6-Eggs

1-Tablespoon vanilla (use the good stuff not the imitation)

Place the evaporated milk, condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix until all the ingredients have incorporated uniformly and the consistency is smooth and velvety.

You are now ready to set up your cake.  First, add your cake batter to your greased Bundt pan.  IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you only add batter up to half way through the pan.  If you add more batter than the halfway mark, your cake will overflow while baking.   If you have cake batter left over, you can bake it separately. 

You are now ready to add the flan mixture from the blender to the Bundt pan, just let your flan fall into place around the pan.  When it is baking, the flan will naturally fall to the bottom because it is denser than the baked cake.

The cake will bake in a water bath for about 2 hours.   Put the Bundt pan inside a bigger pan.  You may use a lasagna pan.  The key is to bring the water only below the halfway point of your Bundt pan.  Place in the oven and check on it often to make sure you still have water while it bakes.  You will know it is ready when you get a clean toothpick out.  Clean toothpick means your cake is done.

Cool completely before you even try to plate.  I recommend you use a butter knife to insert gently around and then cover with a large enough plate, then turn over.  The cake should come out with the cake at the bottom and the flan with the pecans and cajeta on top.  Enjoy!!!!!!

Crema de Chile Poblano - Poblano Cream Soup

This cream of poblano soup is perfect for a winter day.  I actually enjoy it year round because the taste is so complex.  When working with peppers remember that everyone’s taste buds are different.  For me, four peppers are just right, but for you it may be too hot.  So add a pepper at a time to the blender and taste after each one.  You never know how hot a pepper is until it is too late.

Poblano Cream Soup

2 Tbsp of olive oil

4 Cups of milk

½ Tbsp flour (add 1 whole tbsp if you like a thicker consistency)

½ Diced onion

½ Cup of corn or one corn on the cob

5 Poblano peppers

Roast the poblanos directly over the gas burner if you have a gas stove.  On an electric grill you can roast them over an iron skillet or comal.  If you do not have an iron skillet you can roast them in an oven at 350 until the skin turns black and blisters.  Place them in a Ziploc bag for 5 minutes so that the poblanos can sweat.  Remove them from the bag, cut in half and remove the stem, seeds and veins.  Leave one poblano and cut in strips for garnish.

In a blender add the remaining poblanos and blend with the milk.

Add the olive oil and add the diced onion.  When the onion turns translucent add the corn until the corn warms through.  If you are using fresh corn from the cob, you will need to cook it for about 7 to 10 minutes stirring frequently until it turns tender.  Add the flour and stir quickly for about a minute until it cooks through.  Remember all you want to do is cook the flour to remove the raw taste.    Add the contents from the blender and stir constantly until it achieves the consistency of cream, not too thick.  Season with salt to taste.  Remember to add little at a time, always taste before you add more.  That is the key to seasoning.

Serve and garnish with the strips of poblano and drizzle crema Mexicana.  This is a delicious creamy soup that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. 

Sopa de Lentejas - Lentils Soup

As promised, here is the recipe for Sopa de Lentejas, lentil soup.  This is how I learned to make it from my Mom, MariaElena, which she probably learned from her mother Chawis.  There may be variations of it, but what I am sharing is the way I make it. 

1/2 bag of dried lentils

1 onion

3-4 tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

1 serrano pepper

bunch cilantro

3 slices of bacon

Salt to taste

I use a pressure cooker because the lentils will be done in about 30 minutes.  Make sure the lentils are clean, I rinse them under running water in a sieve and make sure there are no rocks or debris.  Chop the bacon and render it on medium heat.  Once the bacon is crispy, you can to drain the bacon grease before you continue.  I always leave about a tablespoon and a half.  Chop the half the onion and the garlic and add to the bacon.  In a blender add the other half of the onion, garlic clove, tomatoes, serrano pepper and bunch cilantro.  You can always add water to help with the blending.  Add the contents in the blender to your pressure cooker or pot.  Stir for about 3 minutes, just so it cooks a little.  Now add the rinsed lentils and a quart and a half of water.  The amount of water needed is to make sure it doubles the amount of the lentils.  Now you are ready to salt.  Add salt then taste, and add more if needed.  In a pressure cooker it will take about 30 minutes once the pressure builds.  In a regular pot,  it may take about an hour and a half. 

If you are using a pressure cooker, once the cooking is over, run the pot under cold water in your sink.  DO NOT open until the pressure and steam has escaped.  Open and taste, if the lentils are still tough, close the pot and cook for another 15-20 minutes. 

What makes these lentils Mexican is because we add the typical salsa to it which is the tomato, onion, garlic, serrano and cilantro.  I serve it with cubed chihuahua cheese for myself.  My Dad and my husband Scot prefer it with parmesean or cotija cheese.  This soup freezes wonderfully.  I put in the freezer in individual servings and take to work.  I do the same with all the soups I make and my husband and I always have homecooking for lunch!

Fideo (Vermicelli) Soup - Sopa de Fideo

As you all may notice, I write a lot about my family.  I was very blessed to grow up with awesome parents.  As we got older they became not only our parents but our friends as well.  Unfortunately, my Dad passed away April 28, 2010.  I was very lucky to spend his last two weeks by his side.    It is very hard to live without him.  That same year, my parents would have celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. We used to talk everyday and getting his advice or simply his approval is something that I cannot seem to get used to being without. 

My Dad loved life, he made everyone laugh.  He had an incredible energy that people were naturally drawn to him.  He loved soups.  I remember one day I made sopa de lentejas (lentil soup) and as he was eating he said “ahh, I love soup, I can eat it every day".  So in his honor here are a couple of his favorites.  Sopa de fideo (vermicelli soup) and sopa de lentejas (lentil soup).

Sopa de Fideo

One box of vermicelli (yellow box) if you can't find it angel hair pasta will work but you will have to break it into little one and a half inch pieces)

1 large onion 

3-4 tomatoes depending how big they are

1 serrano pepper

2 garlic cloves

Bunch cilantro

1 quart chicken stock

1 slice American cheese

1 Tablespoon corn, vegetable or canola oil is fine

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a 2 quart sauce pan.  Once the oil is hot add the box of the vermicelli and brown lightly.  You have continuously stir it around because you do not want it to burn.  Dice about half the onion and one diced garlic at the same time and brown it all together.  Now that it is brown turn off the heat and remove from the heated stove.  In a blender, add tomatoes, the other half of the onion, one garlic clove, a bunch cilantro, and a serrano pepper.  If you do not like the heat, you can remove the seeds.  I like the heat, so I add one half, taste, and if not too hot, I add the other half.   Blend until a liquid consistency, if you need to add a little water to help blend.
Add the contents of your blender to the vermicelli and top it off with chicken stock.  Add water until you get to about 2 inches from the rim.  Taste for salt and add to taste.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the vermicelli is tender.  Turn off the heat when the vermicelli is al dente, because the soup is hot, the vermicelli continues to cook and you do not want to overcook it because it becomes too starchy and you will need to add more liquid.  Once the heat is off, add a slice of American cheese.  Yes it seems unconventional but believe me, it thickens the soup just slightly.  It does not work with cheddar cheese because it doesn’t blend well and it does not look good. Cover your pot and let the cheese melt.  Once the cheese is melted, stir and serve.  Yummy!  If you want to convert it into a meal shred some chicken and add it to the pot before serving.   

I will add the lentil soup in another entry.

Spaghetti Poblano (Espagheti Verde Crema Poblana)

I cannot remember when I started making the Poblano Spaghetti.   I want to say that the first time I tried this dish was during my sisters’ bridal shower.  You read correctly, both my sisters, Lorena and Mariela, got married in the same month in the same year!  We naturally combined their bridal showers! We were not being cheap; we just had the same group of friends.  I think our very dear friend Elena Moreno had the shower catered by her mom’s restaurant in Nuevo Laredo Mexico.  I am sure of it!

The first time I took a bite and savored this, my mouth and my taste buds had a party, a never ending party because this dish makes its appearance often and center stage.  It is very easy to make and I normally serve it as a side dish for the Thanksgiving turkey.  In our family, we love the whole turkey idea that we also have turkey and all its sides for Christmas Eve dinner.  You can make it during the year and it goes well with chicken.  I have tried different kinds of pastas and the best match is thin spaghetti.  Following is the recipe.

One reminder:  You never know how hot the Poblano pepper is going to be, so please add half a Poblano at a time.  Taste it between adding the Poblano and make sure the level of heat is one that you and your family can tolerate.  Remember that when your sauce hits the hot spaghetti, the heat will intensify a little.

1 box thin spaghetti

3-4 Poblano peppers

15 oz of crema Mexicana

Salt to taste

Shredded Chihuahua or Parmesan cheese for garnish

Follow the directions on the box of spaghetti and bring your water to boil.  Remember that once the water comes to a boil, to salt the water. 

While you wait for the water to boil, roast the Poblano peppers.  You can roast them in the oven, over an open flame in a gas stove, or over a comal or cast iron pan on an electric stove.  Once the peppers are black not burned, place them in a paper bag to sweat.  When peppers are cool enough to handle, you have to remove the stems, seeds and charred skin.  I find that it is easy to do this under cold running water.

In a blender, empty the contents of the crema Mexicana and add the salt to taste.  Add one Poblano at a time, or if you do not like spicy add half a Poblano at a time.  I usually add about 3 depending on the level of heat.

Once you have the crema tasting the way you want, add it to the cooked spaghetti.  Always reserve a little of the pasta water because you may need it to make the sauce creamier.  Once the crema has been incorporated to the spaghetti, if you feel that it is too tight, add pasta water until the pasta loosens a little.

Place the pasta in a rectangular Pyrex dish, spread the shredded cheese on top and cover with foil.  When you reheat, you can always add milk to loosen it up.  I hope you enjoy as much as I do.  If you cannot find crema Mexicana, let me know and I will be more than happy to tell you how to make your own.

This is the crema Mexicana, make sure it does not read Crema Agria because that is essentially sour cream.  What you need it the Grade A Table Cream.  There are many brands, but Cacique is probably the better tasting one.

Cajeta (Dulce de Leche) Brie Appetizer (Brie Encajetado)

Since the holidays are coming up, I decided to share an appetizer that I invented at my sister Lorena's house during Christmas.  I was helping her prepare for the Christmas dinner and Lorena asked me to place the brie and crackers in the serving dish.  I set everything up and the brie looked so sad to me.  It needed some sprucing up.  I had seen the brie made with dulce de leche and pecans, so I was looking in the pantry for that.  What I found was the cajeta (dulce de leche), salted roasted pistachoes, dried cranberries and pecans.

This appetizer is very easy to set up and it has an extremely wow factor for looks and taste.  You chose how much you want to make, you can buy the round or just the triangular size.  In a pretty serving dish place the brie  and cover with the cajeta.  For those of you that do not know, here is the downlow on cajeta.  Cajeta is a caramel sauce made in Mexico out of goat's milk.  In Argentina it is made with cow's milk and it is known as dulce de leche.  You can make it with which ever you like.  I have only made it with the Mexican version because that is what I have available.  Now that I am living in Chicago I will probably have to make with the Argentinean version.

To continue with the recipe, cover your brie with the caramel sauce.  Make sure it is enough to cover the entire brie.  In a food processor, pulse the pecans and the pistachoes until they are roughly chopped.  THe quantity is up to you.  I start with 1/4 cup of eac.  Now cover the brie with the dried cranberries and the chopped pecans and pistachoes.  Drizzle with a little more cajeta on top and you are done.  Use your favorite crackers.  I recommend the round cocktail.  Do not get saltines nor the flavored ones. 

I will be making this for Thanksgiving and will upload the picture when I do.  You will love it!

Borracho Beans (Frijoles Borrachos)

Ever since I can remember, my Dad made carne asada every Saturday without fail.  There was never a doubt what we were eating over the weekend.  I remember a Saturday that we were hit with torrential rains due to a hurricane.  The patio was flooded with about six inches of water, but that did not stop my Dad from making his carne asada.  He prepared the meat and changed into his bathing suit.  He went out to the patio with an umbrella in hand and his flip-flops in tow.  He loved the ritual.  All our friends knew that if they stopped over at the house on Saturday or Sunday, they were having carne asada and all the trimmings.  My parents always had an open door policy, so we always had a full house.

The side that never failed to make an appearance were the borracho beans.  My mom always made beans and placed them in plastic containers in the freezer so we always had a stockpile of beans.  The secret to the borracho beans is to finish them off with a can of beer.  There are no precise measurements because have to eyeball the amounts.  Therefore, I will list the ingredients and you can decide how much to add.

Beans with their liquid
Chopped onion
Chopped tomato
Serrano peppers
Bunch cilantro chopped
Bacon
Sausage (whatever you have on hand, polish, Oscar Mayer, Hebrew national)
Beer (again whatever you have on hand, never tried it with dark so you know)

Slice the bacon and place it in a large pot to render all the fat and cook it until crispy.  Once the bacon is cooked, drain the fat. Do not wash the pot you want all the bits and pieces that stick to the bottom.  Next, slice the sausage lengthwise in half and then again in half.  One or two sausages will do.  Once the sausage is crispy, drain again any fat that was released.  Now you are ready to add the onion and your Serrano pepper.  The size of the Serrano pepper is up to you. I usually add one Serrano cut in thick rounds.  Once the onion and the pepper are cooked, add the chopped tomato.  Add a little water is your tomato is too dry. 

Once all ingredients are cooked, it is time to add the beans.  Here is when you will decide how much beans you will add.  Remember that you eat borracho beans as a soup, so leave room to add the beer.  Simmer all ingredients in the pot for about 5 minutes; all you want is to incorporate the flavors throughout.  Now is the time to add the beer. Add little at a time because it will foam over if you are not careful.  So add a little and mix until you have added all the beer.  Let it simmer until the alcohol is cooked off.  Taste for salt and add the chopped cilantro.  TA DA, you have awesome borracho beans!  P.s. I will look for the picture of my Dad grilling during the storm and will upload it.