TEX MEX CHILE GRAVY

3 whole dried ancho chiles, seeded and stemmed
3 C vegetable or chicken broth
1/3 C spicy white onion, chopped
6 T vegetable oil or lard
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
6 T all-purpose flour
1 T ancho chile powder (or to taste, you may not need this much)
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
good garlic powder as needed (I use Frontier brand)

Place chiles in a small saucepan and cover with 1 1/2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, turn down to medium and cook until chiles have softened, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
Pour mixture and onion in a blender, cover and pulse on high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups broth and pulse to combine.
Heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until soft and tender but not browned, about 1 minute. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour smells toasted but garlic remains pale in color, about 2 minutes more.
Whisk in ancho chile powder, cumin, and oregano and let cook for 30-45 seconds while stirring and slowly pour in chile mixture. Whisk until chile mixture is completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add the butter. Remove from heat and season well with salt, black pepper and garlic powder, if needed.

TEX MEX CHEESE ENCHILADAS

Serves 2-3
Preheat oven to 375

6 corn tortillas, warmed so they are pliable
1/4 C spicy white onion, sliced and chopped (you could use a nice red onion)
6 tsp pickled jalapenos & a little juice, diced
3-4 T cilantro
3/4 C chile gravy
1-1 1/2 C cheese (I used a really good cheddar, you could use jack or jalapeno jack or a Mexican cheese)

In this recipe, I used a small Corningware dish with a lid, you could use a pyrex dish with foil for a lid, but use some type of lid in the beginning of cooking so the enchiladas don’t dry out.
Spread about 1/4 C chile gravy in the bottom of the pan. Assemble the tortilla adding some cheese, onion, pickled jalapeno, a little cilantro and a little drizzle of the pickled jalapeno juice. Roll tightly and place in dish seam side down. Pour the rest of the chile gravy over the top and pop the lid on and bake for 10-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the dish is hot. Take the lid off and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle some cilantro on top and serve warm.

This recipe is expandable if you have more to serve. It could also be done in a microwave, but I would put a cup of hot water in the microwave with the dish to keep it moist. You would have to watch it closely so the cheese doesn’t get hard and crusty and just melts.

Ingredients:
12 medium tomatillos, cut in half and cored
2 poblano peppers, cut in half
2 ancho peppers, cut in half
2 jalapeño or cayenne peppers, cut in half
2 fresh hatch chilis, cut in half, or 1 can (4 oz.) fire roasted hatch chilis
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped.
6 large cloves garlic, crushed and minced
6 tbs EVOO
1½ cups chicken broth
¼ C cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 tbs ground cumin
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Putting it together:
In a large glass baking pan, place the tomatillos and peppers cut side down and drizzle with half of the EVOO. Place in a 350 deg oven and roast for 30 minutes or until the skin is releasing from the peppers. Remove from the oven and place the peppers in a paper bag to complete the releasing of the skin, then peel.
 
In a medium skillet, add the remainder of the EVOO and the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until soft.
 
Place the tomatillos, chilis (if you are using the canned Hatch chilis, add them now), onions, garlic, and cilantro, along with the liquid from the roasting pan, in a food processor with a steel knife. Pulse until the mixture is chunky.
 
Place the processed tomatillos and chilis, broth, and cumin in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning, and cool to room temperature.
 
Use the sauce warm, refrigerate for later (lasts about two weeks), or freeze.

The version in the photo has the Pork Shoulder cut into about 1½ in cubes, but the chili would be better with it cut into ¾ in cubes.

Ingredients
1 lb Tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed and cut in half
4 Garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
2 Garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
4 Poblano or Ancho chilis, cut in half and deseeded
4 Serrano chilis, cut in half and deseeded
1 bunch Cilantro, rinsed, picked, and chopped, some reserved for garnish
3½ to 4 lbs Pork Butt, cut into ¾ in cubes
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Canola oil
2 yellow Onions, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 T dried fresh Oregano, crushed
1½ T ground Cumin
4 C “Better Than Bullion” Chicken Stock

Putting it Together
Remove the husks from the tomatillos, rinse well and cut in half. Cut the peppers in half and deseed. Peel four large cloves of garlic and cut in half. Preheat canola oil in a heavy bottomed skillet to about 375 deg F. Place tomatillos cut side down in the hot oil and cook over med heat until they start to soften. Add the peppers and garlic and cook, turning occasionally, until the tomatillos begin to brown and all are soft. Remove from the skillet and place in a Pyrex® bowl. Set aside until they are cool enough to handle.

Clean and de-stem the cilantro, and chop coarsely. Place the cool tomatillos, garlic and peppers into a food processor with the knife blade insert, and pulse. Add the cilantro and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed thoroughly.

Salt and pepper the pork cubes generously. Heat canola oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and brown the pork well on all sides. Lift Pork out of pan with a slotted spoon and place in a Pyrex® bowl; set aside.

Pour off excess fat beyond two tablespoons, place the onions in the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until limp, about five minutes. Add the crushed garlic and cook two minutes longer. Put the onion mixture and the pork into a large soup pot, followed by the oregano and cumin. Add the Chili Verde sauce to the pot, along with the stock.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer. Cook for two to three hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Garnish with cilantro and grated white cheddar cheese. Serve with Diablo Rice and freshly made corn tortillas.

  There are three types of Mexican stews – the mole, the pipian, and the tinga.  The mole is the best known in the US and elsewhere, probably because of the Mole Poblano, the chocolate-based dark stew that was originally created by the nuns of the Santa Rosa convent in Puebla in the 16th century.  In moles, the base of the stew is made with ground/processed chilies, mixed with chopped tomatoes, that are sauteed in hot lard.  Lard is the traditional cooking fat of Mexico, although you can use corn oil or safflower oil instead.  The chili/tomato mixture is put in the saute pan with hot lard, and the tradtional sizzle is a hallmark of making mole.  Lower the heat immediately, and stir constantly with your spoon to keep the sauce from burning.

  Here is a simplified (simplified from the hand-prepared recipe created by those nuns with all their novices who were there to help in the kitchen) recipe for Mole Poblano.

1 pound ancho chiles
1/2 pound guajillo or dried mirasol chile
1/2 pound dried cascabel chile, or rattle chile
2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
1 pound Mexican green tomato or tomatillo, chopped
Corn oil 

 4 slices white bread
1 cinnamon stick
4 to 5 cloves
4 to 5 whole peppercorns
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 pinch cumin
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup shelled peanuts
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/2 cup small raisins
1 1/2 plantains, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
1 small onion, roasted, then chopped
1 small garlic clove, roasted, then minced
1 corn tortilla
1 piece unsweetened chocolate square, Mexican chocolate is preferred
1/2 cup chicken stock, plus 2 1/2 cups
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening

4 cups cooked turkey meat or chicken, in pieces

Toast ancho, guajillo, and cascabel chiles in a heavy skillet until skins blister. Remove from skillet and stem, seed, and devein chiles. Set aside.
Place tomatoes and green tomatoes in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Drain and blend in blender or food processor and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat corn oil over low flame. Cut the telera bread or 4 slices of white bread, into pieces and fry in the corn oil until golden brown. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, thyme, cumin, sesame seeds, peanuts, almonds, raisins, plantains, and walnuts. Stir ingredients together. Add more corn oil, to coat ingredients lightly. Add chopped roasted onion and minced roasted garlic. Continue to fry over low flame for about 20 minutes. Add blended tomato mixture. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place corn tortilla over open flame and cook until burnt and crispy. Cut up and set aside.
In a medium frying pan, fry roasted chiles in corn oil along with burnt tortilla pieces for a few minutes. Combine tomato/spice/nut mixture with chile mixture in large saucepan. Add chocolate piece and cook until melted over a low flame. Add about 1/2 cup chicken stock to mixture and stir. Place mixture into blender or food processor and puree until all ingredients have combined completely. More chicken stock may be added to smooth out sauce.
In a large saucepan, heat vegetable shortening. Cook the puree in the shortening, stirring constantly. Add more of the chicken stock until you achieve the right level of consistency that you’d like. Warm sauce for another 30 minutes over a low flame.   Add the turkey or chicken to the sauce and heat through and serve!

  Pipians are like moles, but rather than using  just chilis as a base, ground nuts or seeds are the base, along with the tomatoes and other vegetables.  Pumpkin seeds, pistachios, filberts and squash seeds are favorites in making the base for pipians.  Although not as popular in the US as mole, pipians are very tasty, and use similar cooking techniques (along with the hot-lard-sizzle!) as the moles.  The different kinds of seeds and nuts make for a wide variety of pipians.

  Here is a recipe for a delicious chicken pipian that also uses ancho chiles.

3 1/2 pound chicken — (3 1/2 to 4)

chicken giblets

1/2 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled

a sprig of parsley

a bay leaf

a little thyme

1 Tb kosher salt, or to taste

water to cover

6 chiles anchos & hot water

1 tablespoon ancho chile seeds (or more to taste) well toasted

1/2 stick cinnamon

3 whole cloves

5 peppercorns

3/4 cup sesame seeds

3 Tablespoons lard

The ground seeds and spices

The soaked chiles

1/2 cup reserved chicken broth

1 clove garlic, peeled

3 cups the reserved broth

1 Avocado Leaf

Put the chicken, giblets, and the rest of the ingredients into the pan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer the chicken until it is just tender — about 40 to 50 minutes. Let the chicken cool in the broth, then cut it into serving pieces and set aside. Strain the broth and reserve it.

Toast the chiles lightly on a griddle or comal. When they are cool enough to handle but still pliable, slit them open and remove the seeds and veins. Save the seeds.

Cover the chiles with hot water and leave them to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the toasted, cooled seeds and the spices to the spice grinder and grind them finely. Set them aside.

In an ungreased pan, toast the sesame seeds well, until a deep gold color, and set them aside to cool off a little. Add the toasted, cooled seeds to the spice grinder and grind them very fine.

Melt the lard in a large flameproof dish and fry the ground seeds and spices over a low flame for about 3 minutes, stirring them constantly.

Transfer the chiles with a slotted spoon to the blender jar. Add the broth and garlic and blend to a smooth puree. Add the chile puree to the fried spice mixture in the dish and let it cook fast for about 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the remaining 3 cups of reserved broth and let the sauce continue cooking over a low flame for about 20 minutes, or until it thickens and is well seasoned. Add the cooked chicken, salt to taste, and let the chicken heat through.

Toast a large avocado leaf, fresh or dried on a warm comal or griddle, grind it finely and add it to the sauce.

This pipian is a deep-red, earthy-looking sauce. When it is cooked it should just lightly cover the back of a wooden spoon.

In Mexico this would be served with hot tortillas only, but plain white rice goes very well with it. It should not be very picante (“zingy”), but have just a pleasant afterglow from the chile seeds.

The sauce can be made several days ahead if you have some good chicken broth handy. The chicken can then be poached ready and heated through in the sauce when you are ready to serve. The sauce freezes extremely well.

  The tingas are more like traditional European stews.  They do not include sauteed chilies or ground nuts/seeds as a base, rather the garlic, onions, tomatoes and other ingredients are sauteed and simmered until reduced, and the pre-cooked meat and sausage are added at the last.  The broth that is created is delicious!  Here is a recipe for a pork tinga that goes very well with pork tostadas!

3 pounds fat-trimmed boned pork shoulder (butt), rinsed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 white onion (8 oz.), peeled and sliced

9 cloves garlic, peeled
15 sprigs (8 in. each) fresh cilantro, rinsed
6 sprigs (6 in. each) fresh mint, rinsed
3 dried bay leaves
About 1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds chorizo sausage
1 1/2 cups chipotle salsa (you can get this in cans at just about any grocery store)
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled

1. In a 5- to 6-quart pan, combine pork, onion, garlic, cilantro, mint, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until pork is tender when pierced, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. With a slotted spoon, lift meat from broth, leaving behind other solids. Reserve broth for another use. When meat is cool enough to handle, tear into coarse shreds.

2. Set 5- to 6-quart pan or a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Squeeze sausage from casing into pan; stir often until meat is browned, 6 to 10 minutes. (If using ground pork, crumble pork into pan and add chili powder.) If there’s more than 1 tablespoon fat, drain off and discard extra. Stir in shredded pork, chipotle salsa, vinegar, and oregano.

3. Stir often over low heat until tinga is hot and juices are slightly thickened and no longer runny, 4 to 6 minutes. Add more salt to taste
 

  Basically, tamales are cakes of dough, filled with whatever you choose, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed until done.  There are meat fillings, vegetable fillings, and dessert tamales.  The basic dough can be flavored with broth and spices, or mixed with nuts, cinnamon and honey, depending on the type of tamale you are making.  In Central America and the southern parts of Mexico, tamales are often wrapped with banana leaves instead of corn husks.

  In this diary, I will give you recipes for basic dinner tamales with pork filling and dessert tamales.  There are an infinite variety you can make, depending on your taste and imagination.  The basic dough is simple, but requires elbow grease to make.

  The fat we used in “the old days” is a white, solid lard sold as “Estrella Blanca”.  It is guaranteed to clog arteries, impair circulation to the heart, and it has a shelf-life of forever.  For those who have access to free-range pork, lard rendered from free-range pigs would be the best.  You can use Crisco (with all its trans-fat loveliness) and some recipes even call for using corn oil.  I have never been able to acheive a proper fluffiness of the masa/fat dough using oil; unfortunately, the solid fats seem to work best for me when I make tamales.

Basic Tamale Dough

4 C Masa Harina -You can use MasTeCa, which is marketed as special for tamales, but I just prefer Quaker’s product.

2/3 C Crisco, Estrella Blanca, or rendered free-range pork lard

2 tsp salt

3 C water

1/3 C melted fat

Preparation of dough:

  In a large bowl, beat the fat/lard until fluffy.  Gradually add masa and enough water, continuing to mix to maintain “fluffiness”.  When all the masa has been incorporated, add the melted fat, and incorporate that.  You may need to add a bit more dry masa to get a dough/batter that is somewhere between a thick cake batter and a cookie dough.

Making the tamales

  While you were making the dough, you were soaking corn husks in some warm water until they are flexible.  Spread the middle of the corn husk with a layer of dough, putting whatever filling in the middle.  Be sure that you leave enough husk on each side to fold over.  Now, fold over these edges, then fold up the ends – you should have a nice little package of dough with goodies inside it.

  Put enough water in your steamer to cover the bottom about 1/4 of the way up.  Stack the tamales upright in the steamer, and cover with a cloth before putting the top on the steamer.  Bring the water to a boil, and steam the tamales about 1-1/2 hours, adding water as needed to keep the steam going.  You may check the firmness of the dough by peeling the end back.

Variations on tamale dough:

  For sweet or dessert tamales, you incorporate:

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup raisins

into the tamale dough.  For filling, you can use shaved Mexican chocolate, honey, coconut, or whatever, and cook according to the Basic Tamale recipe. 

  When you are making pork/meat filling tamales, you can substitute broth for water, and add garlic powder (1/2 tsp) to the masa.

 Savory Pork Tamales:

7lb pork butt roast, prefer boneless

1/3 cup chili powder

96 oz. chicken broth

1 Tbs. + 2 tsp cumin

2 heaping Tbs. Garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. + 2 tsp chicken base

2 triangles of Ibarra chocolate

6 heaping Tbs. flour

3/4 cup cold water

Directions: Fill  the  pot with the chicken broth and add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, chicken base and chocolate. Heat to boiling then cover and simmer on low while you cut up the pork.Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes. Trim as much fat off as you can. I prefer chucks of tender pork in my tamales recipe instead of shredded pork. You can do it either way.Add the cut up pork to the boiling sauce. Partially cover and simmer on low for 2 hours or until pork is real tender.

When the pork is done and very tender, combine the 3/4 cup cold water and flour with a whisk until well blended.

Turn the heat up to high and when it is boiling, slowly add the flour mixture to the pork. Stir the pork continuously to avoid lumps just like you would when making gravy.

Continue to slow boil while stirring for about 3 to 5 minutes and then turn the heat off.

  Tamales can be frozen and re-heated without affecting their taste or texture.  They are one of the favorite Christmas presents I send to my Tex/Ex-patriate friends and family, as eating tamales on Christmas morning is a long-standing tradition at our respective houses, as well as in much of south Texas. 

  So, do some upper-body weight training, bulk up your shoulders and arms, and make some tamales!

 Corn tortillas are the basis of tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, gorditas and all the Tex-Mex/Amer-Mex variations that have been invented.  Fried in oil and salted, they make delicious chips.  Fresh off the fire, they are marvelous by themselves, or spread with a bit of butter or salsa and salt.  In your average Mexican city taco stand, you will find them stacked, covered with a cloth, and available to be wrapped around meat, beans, squash flowers, sauces, chopped vegetables – anything you want, fresh and tasty. When I was little and living in Mexico City,  I would see the tortilleras, the old Mexican ladies, kneeling in their shops, patting out stacks of tortillas by hand, keeping two or more hot griddles going at a time.  We would buy two or so kilos of tortillas, wrap them in our own napkins, and bring them home for dinner.  I could never resist sneaking one or two of these freshly made tortillas and scarfing them down, plain, simple, hot and wonderful.

  Although the ingredients are simple – corn flour and water – there is an art to making the proper tortilla.  I was taught in nursery and primary school how to pat them out by hand, but if you don’t practice, this can be clumsy and time-consuming.  You can buy a tortilla press at most cookery stores, but I prefer to roll them out by hand.  The corn flour is available at all grocery stores, the best I have found is Quaker’s Masa Harina (literally “dough flour”).

  You mix enough masa harina with enough water to make a dough that is soft, but not sticky, as you will be rolling or pressing the tortilla out in between layers of plastic wrap.  You will also need a hot surface – cast iron is the best as it gets sufficiently hot and it does distribute heat well.  Cut your pieces of plastic wrap – each about 8″ square, get your rolling pin (or large can of whatever) and heat up the cast iron griddle, and you are ready to start making tortillas.

  Place a small ball of dough (about the size of a robin’s egg) in between the two sheets of plastic wrap, and roll it out into a circle, and thin enough – but not too thin to withstand being removed by hand and placed on the hot griddle.  This will take you about six tries, and several corrections in the stiffness or wetness of the dough, but you will get it.  Lay the flattened circle of dough on the hot surface and watch it carefully.  When the edges start to get a little dark, lift one edge with a spatula or your fingers, and turn it over.  This second turn will take longer.

  A proper corn tortilla has two layers – the top layer very thin, the lower somewhat thicker.  The space in between the two layers allows steam to cook the other layer and has much to do with the tenderness of a good tortilla, and it is the timing of the first and second turns that determines whether your tortilla has two layers.  Don’t worry about brown spots – they are signs of a home-made tortilla!  After the second turn, turn the tortilla a third time.  This last turn will puff out the two layers, and the side that was on the griddle at the second turn will get “steamed” by the hot moist air inflating through it during the third turn.

  The smell of cooking corn tortillas is miraculous.  It awakens heavy sleepers, cures hangovers, and revives flagging appetites.  It is nothing like the odor made by those grocery store corn patties when they are warming.  It is the scent of Heaven, as far as I am concerned.

  If you can stand it, take your hot corn tortilla and put it in a basket lined with a tea towel, and cover it, and put it in the warming oven, or better yet, cover it with the next corn tortilla you make!  Freshly made corn tortillas are good for about 4-6 hours and can be reheated and still retain their character if you use them in that time.  Otherwise they become tough and are good for teething babies or making tortilla soup, chilaquiles, or a multitude of other dishes.

  But first, you have to have the simplest and best of foods – the corn tortilla.