Category: Recipe

Chicken Meatballs in Green Sauce from Doña Yolanda :: Albóndigas de Pollo en Salsa Verde Estilo Doña Yolanda

Several years ago, Mexico Cooks! was thrilled to meet doña Yolanda Rodríguez Orozco. At the time, she was cooking at a now-defunct buffet restaurant in Morelia, Michoacán. In Mexico, 'doña' is an honorific indicating true respect for a woman (it's don for a man). Affectionately known to one and all as doña Yola, she cooked with tremendous love as the primary seasoning for whatever she put on the table.

One of the most delicious items on the menu at that restaurant was albóndigas de pollo en salsa verde (chicken meatballs in green sauce). Because I promised that I would share the recipe with all of you, doña Yola graciously shared her amazingly easy recipe with me. Quick and simple to prepare and marvelous to taste, these meatballs instantly made it to star status on Mexico Cooks! dining table. These albóndigas are entirely different from the better-known Mexican meatballs in red sauce.

A chicken vendor grinds fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast to order for me at the weekly tianguis (street market) in my neighborhood. You can ask the butcher at your supermarket to grind the breasts for you. Bring the skin and bones home to freeze for another day–for chicken broth.

Gorgeous dark green vitamin-rich spinach, ready to chop for the albóndigas.

Fresh mint grown in a pot on my terrace or available at any market, along with beautiful local red-shelled eggs.

Albóndigas de Pollo en Salsa Verde Estilo doña Yola
Chicken Meatballs in Green Sauce, doña Yola's Way

Ingredients for the meatballs
1 kilo (2.2 lbs) freshly ground boneless, skinless chicken breast
100 grams (1/4 lb) raw fresh spinach (stems removed), finely chopped
1 small white onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 Tbsp fresh mint, finely minced
1 chile serrano, finely minced
1/2 cup cooked white rice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tsp cornstarch or as needed

Ground chicken, spinach, onion, garlic, mint, and chile serrano, ready to mix with cooked rice.

Procedure
Lightly mix the first seven ingredients together. Beat the eggs and Worcestershire sauce together and mix by hand into the mixture. Add sea salt and ground black pepper to taste. Add cornstarch until the mixture holds together well when you form a small amount into a ball. Form the mixture into balls approximately 2" in diameter. Makes 20 albóndigas. Plate the meatballs in a single layer (Mexico Cooks! likes to re-use well-washed Styrofoam meat trays from the supermarket for holding the albóndigas), then cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Tomates verdes (tomatillos) and chiles serranos for preparing salsa verde. Remove the tomatillos' papery husks and wash the sticky tomatillos thoroughly.

Ingredients for Salsa Verde
10-12 tomatillos (known in Mexico as tomate verde), husks removed
3 or 4 whole chiles serranos
1 bunch fresh cilantro, largest stems removed
Sea salt to taste

Procedure
In a large pot of water, bring the tomatillos and chiles to a full rolling boil. Boil just until the tomatillos begin to crack; watch them closely or they will disintegrate in the water.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop the cooked tomatillos and chiles into your blender jar. Allow to cool slightly There's no need to add liquid. Cover, hold the blender cap on, and blend until smooth. Be careful not to burn yourself, if you try to blend this mixture before it cools, it tends to react like lava in the blender. Don't ask me how I know this.

While the blender is running, remove the center of its cap and, little by little, push the cilantro into the whizzing sauce. Blend just until smooth; you should still see big flecks of dark green cilantro in the lighter green sauce. Add sea salt to taste and stir.

Pour the salsa into a 2-quart pot. Add the meatballs and bring to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes. Mexico Cooks! prepared six meatballs for comida (main meal of the day) for two, but two meatballs apiece were plenty for us. We ate the leftovers (and another two meatballs) the following day. We froze twelve raw meatballs without salsa for subsequent meals.

Albóndigas de pollo en salsa verde, plated with white rice cooked with carrots, Mexican style.

Mexico Cooks! is so grateful to doña Yola for sharing her recipe with us. These albóndigas de pollo are not only easy to prepare and very healthy (with high vitamin K and beta carotene content and no added fat), but they are also absolutely delicious.

Provecho!

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22 de February de 2020
Heart and Soul Warming Ponche Navideño :: Mexico’s Hot Christmas Punch

Mexico's fragrant, delicious ponche navideño–Christmas punch, served piping hot. Loaded with seasonal fruits and sweet spices, it's a do-not-miss at our Christmas festivities. The recipe is simple and the rewards are many; you, your family, and your holiday guests will love it as much as I do. I wish the computer had a scratch-and-sniff capacity–the fragrance of the ponche would make your mouth water. Photo courtesy México Desconocido.

At nearly every mid-winter party in Mexico, you'll find a big vat of steaming hot, homemade ponche navideño. Served with or without a piquete (a shot of rum, tequila, or other alcohol), this marvelous drink will warm you from the inside out. Really, it wouldn't be Christmas (or a posada, or New Year's Eve) without it. Here's the recipe I've used for years.

Ponche Navideño Mexicano**
**You should be able to buy everything on this list at your local Latin market

2 pounds sugar cane, peeled and cut into 3” sticks
1 pound apples, cored and cut into thin slices or chunks
1 pound pears, cored and cut into thin slices or chunks–Bosc are excellent for this
10 ripe guavas, cut in quarters and seeded
Peel of one orange
1 pound tejocotes, cut in quarters and seeded
1/2 pound tamarind fruit removed from the pods and deveined
1/2 pound prunes with or without seeds
2 ounces dried jamaica flowers
2 whole cloves
1 star anise pod (optional)
1 kilo piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar)
1/2 cup white sugar (optional)
2 long sticks Mexican cinnamon, broken in thirds or quarters

6 quarts of water or more

Special Equipment
A 12-to-14 quart lidded pot
__________________________________________________________________

Just before you start cutting up fruit, put 6 quarts of water in a pot, cover it, and over high heat, bring the water to a boil.

Add all the cut fruit to the pot and bring the pot back to a boil. Then lower to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. If you think the pot needs more water, bring it to a boil separately and add it little by little.

Add the tamarind, the prunes, the jamaica, the cloves, the piloncillo, the white sugar, the cinnamon, and continue to simmer until all of the fruit is soft and very tender.

We usually ask our adult guests if they'd like their cups of ponche "con piquete" (with a shot of alcohol–rum, tequila, etc). Add a shot to each cup as requested, prior to adding the hot ponche.

Serves 12 to 15. If you have some left over, save it (fruit and all) till the next day and re-heat. Ponche navideño is even better the second day!
_____________________________________________________________

Sugar cane is in season in Mexico right now. On the left, you see it in the already-peeled "sticks" you want for your ponche. On the right, you see the unpeeled sections that you want for your piñata! Thanks to Verónica Hernández at Mexico City's Mercado Medellín (corner of Calle Campeche and Av. Medellín, Colonia Roma) for letting me take this photo; if you're in the city, look for her and her employer, Mario Bautista, at Booth 138 in the market–tell her you saw her caña (sugar cane) on Mexico Cooks!.

The fragrant perfume of seasonal ripe guavas permeates our markets right now–they're ready to buy for ponche.

Tejocotes are also in season–it's Mexican hawthorn, similar to the crabapple. Each of these measures approximately 1 1/4" in diameter. The fruit is very high in pectin, which slightly thickens your pot of ponche. If you simply cannot find tejocotes, substitute another pound of apples.

Tamarind pods with their shells on. If you're unable to find the pods, use about 1/4 pound tamarind paste per recipe.

These are prunes with seeds. You can use these or you can used seedless prunes.

Here are the dehydrated jamaica flowers you need to make ponche. The jamaica flower is a cousin to the hibiscus; its English name is roselle. The flowers add deep red color and cranberry-like tartness to the drink.

Star anise for your ponche. You will find this in the store where you usually buy spices, at a Latin market, or at an Asian market.

Look at this huge display of piloncillo (molded raw brown sugar) at the Mercado de Jamaica, Mexico City! Why? EVERYBODY makes ponche at Christmas time! Click on any photo to enlarge.

Here is an up-close look at the two different sizes of piloncillo. For the ponche, you'll want to buy one kilo (2.2 pounds) of either size.

This is what's known as canela–Mexican "true cinnamon". The truth is, it's grown in Ceylon and imported to Mexico. Notice how many, many layers of very thin bark are folded in on one another. This cinnamon is quite soft, breaks and flakes easily, and is what you want to look for to use in ponche and any other Mexican recipe calling for cinnamon. Do not be misled into buying cassia, a much more readily found, much harder in consistency, and much less flavorful "fake" cinnamon. Look for canela at your Latin market; the sticks are usually quite long. These measure nearly half a yard! To the right side are Mexican raisins, which, if you like, you can also add to the ponche. I often do.

Old-fashioned Mexican peltre (enamel over metal) cups filled with ponche navideño. Be sure to put a lot of all of the varieties of fruit into each cup. Those are caña (sugar cane) sticks (colored pink by the jamaica flowers)–an edible decoration and a tool for pushing fruit from the cup into your mouth! When you've eaten all the cooked fruit in your cup, chew on the sugar cane sticks for another sweet treat. Be sure to spit out the fibers after you've chewed them. Photo courtesy Kiwilimon.

Provecho! (Mexico's way of saying bon appetit!)

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21 de December de 2019
Calabaza en Tacha :: Hard-Shell Winter Squash in Syrup

Looking for something different to serve for Thanksgiving? How about calabaza en tacha—calabaza de Castilla (a winter squash) cooked in a deliciously sweet syrup? As a side dish instead of sweet potatoes–or in addition to sweet potatoes!–this Mexican-style squash is sure to be a hit with your family and guests. Photo courtesy Mercado Libre.

María de la Luz Padilla, the marvelous woman who spoils Mexico Cooks! by doing all my housework, gave me a squash. She brought two home from her rancho (the family farm) out in the country, one for her and one for me. The 8" diameter squash wasn't very big, as winter squash go, but it was plenty for me. Mari's first question, after I had happily accepted her gift, was whether or not I knew how to cook it. "Con piloncillo y canela, sí?" (With cones of brown sugar and cinnamon, right?)

Here's a crosscut of a really big calabaza de Castilla. It measures about 22" in diameter. Mexico Cooks! photo, Mercado de Sonora, Mexico City.

Even though I knew how to spice the squash and knew how to cut it apart, knowing and doing these things turned out to be worlds apart. Faced with the project, I waffled and hesitated, intimidated by a large vegetable. The squash sat on the counter for several days, daring me to cook it before it molded. Then one of the cats toppled it over and rolled it around the counter, so I moved the squash outside onto the terrace table and gathered my nerve.

On Sunday, I finally decided it was Cook the Squash Day. Mari was due to arrive early on Monday morning and it had to be done before she scolded me for letting it sit for so long. I chose pots, knives (a 10" Sabatier carbon steel chef's knife, more than 50 years old, was my go-to knife), and gathered the rest of the simple ingredients for a mise en place.

The squash with the first section cut out.

Cutting the squash in sections was the only difficult part of preparing it. The shell of the squash is hard. Hard. HARD. I was careful to keep the knife pointed toward the wall, not toward my body. With the force I needed to cut the squash open, one slip of the knife could have meant instant and deep penetration of my entrails. Later that night, my friend Araceli told me that her mother usually breaks a squash apart by throwing it from her home's second floor balcony onto the concrete patio! The next morning, Mari told me that her husband had cut their squash apart with a machete. I felt really tough, knowing that I'd been able to cut it open with just a big knife and a few pointed words. (That's shorthand for 'the air turned blue above my counter').

The squash, cut into sections and ready for the pot. On the counter behind the squash is a 1930's Mexican covered cazuela (casserole), the top in the form of a turkey.

Once I had the (expletives deleted) squash cut open, I scooped out the seeds and goop and cut it into sections more or less 4" long by 3" wide. I did not remove the hard shell, nor should you.

Piloncillo (raw brown sugar) cones in two sizes. The large one weighs 210 grams; the small one weighs 35 grams. I use the small ones in the recipe below.

Meantime, I had prepared the ingredients for the almíbar (thick syrup) that the squash would cook in. Mexican stick cinnamon, granulated sugar, and piloncillo (cones of brown sugar) went into a pot of water. I added a big pinch of salt, tied anise seed and cloves into a square of cheesecloth and tossed the little bundle into the water. The pot needed to simmer for at least three hours, until the syrup was thick and well-flavored.

Clockwise from left: Mexican stick cinnamon, anise seed, piloncillo, and cloves.

Several hours later (after the syrup thickened well), I added the pieces of squash to the pot. Cooking time for this very hard squash was approximately an hour and a half over a low-medium flame.

As the squash cooks in the syrup, it softens and takes on a very appetizing dark brown color. Calabaza en tacha is one of the most typically homey Mexican year-round dishes for desayuno (breakfast) or cena (supper). Well-heated and served in a bowl with hot milk and a little of its own syrup, the squash is both nutritious and filling.

Squash for breakfast! On Monday morning, Mexico Cooks! served up bowls of squash with hot milk, along with a slice of pan relleno con chilacayote (bread filled with sweetened chilacayote squash paste). Mari thought my squash was almost–almost–as good as hers.

Calabaza en Tacha estilo Mexico Cooks!

Ingredients
One medium-size hard shell winter squash (about 8" in diameter)
6 cups water
14 small cones of dark piloncillo (coarse brown sugar)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 Mexican cinnamon sticks about 2.5" long
2 pieces of orange peel
1 Tbsp anise seed
1 tsp whole cloves

Preparation
Heat the water in a large pot. Add the piloncillo, the granulated sugar, the orange peel, and the cinnamon sticks. Tie the anise seed and the cloves into a cheesecloth square and add it to the pot. Cook over a slow flame until the liquid is thick and syrupy, approximately three hours.

While the syrup is cooking, prepare the squash. Cut it into serving-size pieces as described above. If the squash shell is very hard, take adequate precautions so that you do not hurt yourself as you cut it in sections. You can always throw it from your second-floor window onto the patio!

Add the squash pieces to the thickened syrup and simmer until the squash is soft and takes on a deep brown color. Cool for 15 minutes or so before serving. Re-heat for desayuno (breakfast) or cena (supper). Serve with hot milk poured over it.

Makes about 16 servings.

¡Provecho!

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9 de November de 2019
El Ostión Feliz in Guadalajara :: Touring With the Newspaper El Mural

This week, Mexico Cooks! has cranked up the way-back machine for a trip down Memory Lane. This article, and the articles for the next two weeks, are from 2008. The Guadalajara newspaper El Mural asked me to give their reporter a food tour of Guadalajara "as if it were for tourists", and we had a fantastic time going places the reporter and the photographer had never been–in their own city. A short while after the tour, Mexico Cooks! was the big news on the first and subsequent pages of Buena Mesa, El Mural's food section. Here's Part 1 of where we went and what we ate.

Denisse Hernández, reporter from Guadalajara's newspaper El Mural, interviews Rosario Reyes Estrada about the coctel de camarón (shrimp cocktail) that Mexico Cooks! proclaims to be the best in Mexico. Behind the two women you can see another tianguis (street market) booth that sells balls and toys.

In February 2008, while Mexico Cooks! was deep in the heart of Chiapas, I received an email saying that El Mural, the prominent Guadalajara newspaper, wanted Mexico Cooks! to guide a reporter and a photographer on an eating tour of…Guadalajara! The initial email from the editor said Mexico Cooks! was the best blog in the blogosphere, they were dying to meet us, and that the article would be featured in an upcoming Buena Mesa, El Mural's Friday food section. Flattery will get you everywhere, so of course we said a delighted YES.

Sra. Reyes, her family, and a small staff operate El Ostión Feliz.

Mexico Cooks! met reporter Denisse Hernández and a staff photographer in downtown Guadalajara and off we went on our eating outing. Our first stop was westernmost Guadalajara's enormous Tianguis del Sol, an outdoor market specializing in sales of everything from bales of gently used clothing shipped in from the United States, to replacement parts for your blender, to incredible prepared food and every possible raw ingredient to cook at home. What a delirious experience!

When I was first living in Guadalajara, a dear friend introduced me to Rosario Reyes Estrada at her mariscos stand, El Ostión Feliz (the Happy Oyster). Sra. Reyes is at the Tianguis del Sol every day it's open, serving concoctions of fresh fish and seafood. Her tiny booth, where about eight hungry diners at a time sit on plastic stools at a long, oilcloth-covered table, is definitely where the desayuno (breakfast) and almuerzo (brunch) action is. We've been eating her coctel de camarón (shrimp cocktail) for years, and as far as Mexico Cooks! is concerned, it's the best in Mexico. We don't know what magic ingredient she incorporates into the coctel (she swears her only secret is the use of the absolutely freshest ingredients), but from the first bite several years ago, we were instantly addicted.

Look at the size of the shrimp in that soup spoon! Each of doña Rosario's cocteles de camarón includes a dozen shrimp like that.

A Mexican coctel de camarón resembles a shrimp cocktail from the United States or Canada only in that both are made with shrimp. When asked for her recipe, doña Rosario, originally from the state of Veracruz, just smiled. This approximation of her coctel will have to satisfy you till you get to Guadalajara.

Coctel de Camarón Estilo Mexicano for Four

Ingredients for Poaching the Shrimp
48 fresh large (U25) shrimp, heads removed and shell on
1 clove garlic
1 stick celery, with leaves if possible
1 carrot, washed but not peeled
1 medium white onion, peeled
1 Roma tomato
1 chile serrano, split from tip almost to stem
A few stems of cilantro

Ingredients for composing the coctel
Caldo (broth) reserved from cooking shrimp
Sea salt to taste
1 cup tomato catsup (yes, catsup, really)
1 Tbsp minced white onion per serving
1 Tbsp minced Roma tomato per serving
1 Tbsp minced cucumber per serving
1/2 tsp minced chile serrano
Roughly chopped cilantro to taste
Ripe avocado
Mexican limes, halved and seeded
Salsa de mesa (table salsa) such as
     Cholula, Valentina, Búfalo, etc.
     DO NOT USE TABASCO!

What You Might Not Have On Hand
Ice cream soda glasses–optional, but authentic for serving

Procedure
In simmering water, poach the shrimp, along with the garlic, celery, carrot, onion, tomato, chile serrano, and cilantro until the shrimp are just done, firm and pink but still tender. Discard the vegetables from the caldo. Reserve and cool the caldo de camarón (poaching liquid) for later use. Be careful: a friend of mine poached his shrimp and drained it into the kitchen sink–without a bowl under the strainer–inadvertently pouring all the cooking liquid down the drain! Be sure to put a container under your strainer.

Shell the shrimp, cover, chill, and reserve.

At serving time, mix the catsup, the reserved, chilled caldo de camarón (shrimp broth), and sea salt to taste.   Add a squeeze of fresh Mexican lime juice.

In each ice cream soda glass or other large glass, put the indicated quantities of minced onion, tomato, cucumber, chile serrano, and chopped cilantro. Add 12 shrimp to each glass. Pour the catsup/caldo de camarón mixture to cover all ingredients.

Serve with sliced or diced avocado. At the table, offer Mexican lime halves for those who prefer a limier flavor, a small dish of sea salt, a dish of minced chile serrano and another of chopped cilantro for those who prefer more, and a salsa de mesa or two for those who like more picante (HEAT!).

A coctel de camarón is traditionally served with saltine crackers and tostadas, those crunchy fried or dehydrated salty, crisp tortillas. Tostadas are usually rubbed with the cut side of a squeezed lime for added flavor. Buen provecho!

The lovely Sra. Josefina Naranjo of Guadalajara has eaten at El Ostión Feliz for years, going every Friday to enjoy doña Rosario's fish and seafood.

The assortment of doña Rosario's salsas includes Valentina (in the bottle), a house-made salsa of cucumber, onion, and chile habanero (in the bowl), a green avocado/cilantro salsa, and my favorite, the little jar of hotter-than-the-hinges-of-hell salsa de ajonjolí (sesame seed) and chile de árbol. This one is so popular that doña Rosario sells it to take home. Mexico Cooks! wouldn't be without a jar of this salsa muy picante in the refrigerator.

Tianguis del Sol
Avenida Copérnico at the corner of Avenida Tepeyac
Colonia Chapalita
Guadalajara
Open: Every Wednesday, Friday, Sunday 7:00AM – 3:00PM
Wear comfortable shoes and clothing
Paid parking on the premises–be sure not to lose your ticket!

Next week with Mexico Cooks! and "El Mural": Taco Fish La Paz.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

21 de September de 2019
Mexican Pan Dulce :: Sweet Bread for Breakfast, Sweet Bread for Supper, Sweet Bread In Between

Steaming hot café con leche (expresso coffee mixed with hot milk), served with a basket of Mexico's pan dulce (sweet bread). I took this photo many, many years ago–so long ago I don't remember when–in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán at Restaurante Don Rafa, when don Rafa was still living and had served me and my companion cafe con leche and a basket of pan dulce to start our breakfast. I still miss him, and may he rest in peace.

In early 2000, when my mother visited me here in Mexico, one of her dearest wishes was to visit a Mexican bakery. For more than 40 years, Mom baked every crumb of bread that she and her guests consumed: white, rye, whole wheat, pumpernickel, sourdough, French baguette, and esoteric ethnic loaves that she just had to try. Mother wanted to see how bread baking was done in Mexico. She even arrived with her baking apron, hoping to push her hands deep into some yeasty dough.

In those years, there was a tiny wholesale bakery in a garage just a block from my house. Shortly after Mom's arrival, I took her to meet don Pedro, the master baker, and his helpers. For two hours that afternoon, don Pedro and my mother swapped bread stories—conversation about oven temperatures, yeast, flour densities, protein content, and tales of experiments, successes and failures.

Don Pedro spoke no English and my mother spoke no Spanish, but I interpreted between them and they discovered that they were soul mates. The day before Mother was to leave for home, I took her to say goodbye to don Pedro. They both cried and insisted that pictures be taken before they exchanged farewell hugs. Such is the bond of bread.

Bread fresh from the oven: the evocative aroma brings back timeworn memories of Mom's kitchen, filled with the yeasty perfume of twice-raised, golden-crusted hot bread. Here in Mexico, that redolent scent wafts through the air from bakeries scattered like hidden treasures through many neighborhoods. At certain hours of the early morning and mid-to-late afternoon, barrio ovens disgorge mountains of pan dulce (sweet bread) destined for tiny corner mom-n-pop stores or for sale to individuals.

For a few pesos, an early breakfast of bread served with milk, juice, hot chocolate, or coffee gets Mexico up and off to work or school. For a few pesos more, the same sort of late supper rocks Mexico to sleep.

In the history of the world, bread has its own record and development. The making of wheat bread has evolved with the progress of world civilization. Particularly in gastronomic Mexico, bread has deep roots in the evolution of the República. The Spanish brought wheat and wheat flour to Nueva España to make communion hosts for the Catholic churches they established here. Soon followed the flavors and recipes of all Europe, arriving with the Spanish to the New World. The 1860s era of Emperor Maximilian and his French wife, Charlotte, imposed a giddy 19th century French influence on our more rustic breads—with the advent of puff pastries, whipped cream fillings, and sticky glazes, the already extensive assortment of Mexican breads expanded even more.

Tasty sugar-swirled conchas (shells) are ubiquitous throughout Mexico. Take a good look at the curved form of the top of the concha and then look at the photo below.

This is the kind of baker's mold that makes the curved lines in the sugar topping. Gently pressed into the sugar, it leaves its print. I purchased two of these as a gift to my Mom; they hung in her kitchen until she passed away. When my sister and I cleaned out her home, I brought them back to Mexico as a memory of her.

During the Mexican Revolution, soldiers from every region of Mexico came to know the foods of states far from their homes. When they returned to their own areas after the fighting, they took the recipes and flavors of other regions home with them. The south of Mexico incorporated northern bread recipes into its repertoire, the west took from the east, the north from the south.

Today, most panaderías (bakeries) in Mexico prepare similar assortments of pan dulce, along with a sampling of their own regional specialties.

Puerquitos (also called marranitos, little pigs, on the right) taste very much like gingerbread.

It's been said that Mexico, of all the countries in the world, has the broadest and most delicious selection of breads. As a result of the mixture of cultures and regional flavors, today in Mexico you will find more than 2000 varieties of breads, and all will tempt your palate.

Pan dulce is just one variety, but there are hundreds upon hundreds of different sub-varieties. The great mosaic of Mexican bread making, inventiveness, and creativity is such that every variety of pan dulce has a name, usually associated with its appearance. That's why you'll see names of animals, objects, and even people gracing the breads on bakery shelves. Puerquitos or marranitos (little pigs), moños o corbatas (bowties or neckties), ojo de buey (ox eye), canastas (baskets), conchas (shells), cuernitos (little horns), chinos (Chinese), polvorones (shortbread), hojaldres (puff paste), empanadas (turnovers), and espejos (mirrors): all are names of specific and very different sweet breads. My current favorite name for a pan dulce is niño envuelto (it means wrapped-up baby and it looks for all the world like a slice of jellyroll).

If you've never visited a Mexican bakery—a bakery where the breads are baked right on the premises—you have a real treat in store. One of my favorite bakeries is owned by the Rojas family, in Ajijic, Jalisco. When the bolillos (crusty white rolls) come out of the oven in the early mornings and again when the roles (cinnamon rolls—they're addictive) are ready at about 12:30 PM, you'll find lines of locals waiting to carry home a bag of hot, fresh goodies. The Rojas family bakery used to be called "the secret bakery", because the only identifying sign was a tiny wood rectangle at the entrance to a dead-end alley–well, that and the incredible fragrance of baking bread, wafting from the ovens.

At the Rojas bakery, the bakers will help you select the breads you want. There are no bakers' shelves at Rojas, and the selection of items is usually small. Most of the breads are delivered to shops and stores shortly after they're taken from the ovens. Larger Mexican bakeries can be a little intimidating when you first push that front door open and enter a warm, fragrant world of unfamiliar sights and smells.

Unsweetened biscochos are very similar to biscuits. Lately, a lot of these are being prepared with sugar as an ingredient. I prefer them without, and I can't find those now!

Panadería El Resobado in Coatepec, Veracruz, has been baking bread for over 130 years. Truly, 130 years! Two friends and I were there, at the recommendation of another friend, about three years ago. We took our tongs and trays and gathered up bags and bags full of pan dulce, more sweet bread than we could have eaten in a week!

These are just the conchas at Panadería El Resobado–and just some of them, not all. The multi-level shelves stretched across two long rooms.

Two of us sneaked into the back room at El Resobado–we thought we had heard a 'meow', and sure enough, these were only two of the several kitties who live in the back, near the ovens.

Another recent bakery excursion was to Panadería Pan Bueno, located at Avenida Vallarta #5295 in Guadalajara. The owner, Sr. Roberto Cárdenas González, graciously allowed me to take photographs with the assistance of his employee, Edith Hernández González.

When you go inside Pan Bueno, take a minute to look around first to orient yourself. Right there by the door are the big metal trays and the tongs you need to gather up the breads you want to buy. With tray and tongs in hand, it's good to take a tour of the racks of pan dulce so you can decide what you want.

Polvorones de Nuez are an old standard Mexican recipe that many of you know in the United States and Canada as Mexican Wedding Cookies. They're easy to make and are absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Somehow they always manage to disappear first from any tray of assorted homemade cookies.

Polvorones de Nuez
Mexican Wedding Cookies

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound) butter (room temperature)
3/4 pound powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Then beat in 2 tablespoons of the powdered sugar, the egg yolk, vanilla, and your choice of nuts. Gradually add the flour, beating after each addition to blend thoroughly. Pinch off pieces of dough the size of large walnuts and roll between your palms into round balls. Place the dough balls 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten each ball very slightly.

Bake in a 275 degree oven until very lightly browned (about 45 minutes). Remove from the oven and place the baking sheets on wire racks. Allow to cool on the baking sheets until lukewarm.

Sift half the remaining powdered sugar onto a large sheet of waxed paper. Roll each cookie gently but firmly in the sugar. Place cookies on wire racks over wax paper. Allow the cookies to cool completely and again dust generously with more powdered sugar.

If you make these cookies ahead of need, store them in airtight containers, layered between sheets of waxed paper, for up to three days.

Makes approximately three dozen cookies.

This is Edith, who walked with me to make the rounds of the bakery, I asked her if she knew the origin of any of the names for pan dulce. With a charming smile, she admitted that they were just traditional inventos—made up titles. When I asked her if she ever got tired of eating pan dulce, she shook her head emphatically. "Oh no, señora, we always love the pan"

You will always love the pan as well. And now, if you'll excuse me, a slice of niño envuelto is calling to me from my kitchen. How could I have resisted buying a pan dulce or two as I made the bakery tour? All right, it was four—but who's counting?

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7 de September de 2019
Picadillo :: Mexican Homemade Hash, It’s What’s for Dinner!

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz (1915-2003), a proper British woman married to Mexican diplomat César Ortiz Tinoco, learned Mexican cuisine in Mexico City, her husband's home town. She published her wonderful The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking in 1967, which introduced the English-speaking world to some of the regional cuisines of Mexico. I've cooked from this ever more raggedy, taped-together, yellowing, food-stained, still-magical paperback edition since the middle 1970s, starting several years before I moved to Mexico. The first truly Mexican recipe I ever prepared was picadillo, from Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz's book. It's Mexico's traditional home-style hash, and it made quite the hit with my guests, who had never heard of it prior to snarfing it down and asking for seconds at my table.

When I first started making this dish in the United States, some of the ingredients were hard to source. Today, nearly 45 years later, the ingredients for picadillo are easily available in almost any supermarket. Starting with the bowl of ground pork at about seven o'clock in the photograph and moving clockwise, you see the raw meat, Mexican cinnamon sticks, bright orange carrots all but hidden in the dish, chiles serrano, Roma tomatoes, white potatoes, a Red Delicious apple, raisins and dried cranberries, freshly dried hoja de laurel (bay leaves), a whole white onion, and, in the little dish in the right-center foreground, freshly dried Mexican oregano. I dried the bay leaves and the oregano myself, but you can make substitutions: use ground cinnamon rather than the cinnamon sticks, store-bought bay leaves, and the oregano you normally use instead of the Mexican type; the rest of the ingredients are commonplace.

Minced chile serrano and diced white onion.

Hash of all kinds is one of the most comfortable of comfort foods, and the hash called picadillo (the word means 'a little something chopped-up') is simply Mexico's slightly more rambunctious cousin. This picadillo recipe is always forgiving, always flexible. Prepare it with ground beef, ground pork, or a combination of the two meats. Use more potatoes, fewer carrots, an extra tomato (or two, if the ones you have are quite small). Don't care for olives? Leave them out. But by all means do try picadillo: it's a far cry from your mother's canned corned beef hash.

More ready-to-cook raw ingredients, left to right: diced tomatoes; peeled, diced apple; peeled, diced carrots. For size comparison's sake, the knife blade is 10.5" long.

Ingredients
1 kilo (2.2 lbs) ground pork, ground beef, or a combination of the two
3 large, ripe Roma tomatoes, diced
3 fresh chiles serrano, minced (Use less chile if your tolerance for picante (spiciness) is low.)
1 clove garlic, minced (I prefer to leave out the garlic.)
1 medium-large white onion, peeled and diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 or 2 large Red Delicious apples OR 1 or 2 large, ripe Bartlett pears OR one of each, peeled and diced
4 medium white potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup large green olives, with or without pimento, sliced
3/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or a combination of both
1 tsp dried oregano, Mexican if you have it
3 large bay leaves
2" piece of Mexican cinnamon stick OR big pinch of ground cinnamon
Freshly rendered pork lard OR vegetable oil, as needed
Sea salt to taste
Beef, chicken, or pork stock, tomato purée, or water, as needed

Sliced large green pimento-stuffed olives. Each of these olives measures a bit more than one inch long prior to slicing. Slice them in thirds or quarters.

Equipment
A large pot with a cover. I use a shallow 4-quart enameled casserole.
Cutting board
Sharp knife
Large wooden spoon

Preparation
Heat 3 Tbsp lard or vegetable oil in your cooking pot until it shimmers. Add the onion and chile and sauté over medium fire until the onion is translucent. Add the ground meat and continue to sauté over medium fire until the meat is no longer pink. Break the meat into bite-size chunks as it sautés. Add the rest of the ingredients.

After sautéeing the onion, chile, and meat, add the rest of the solid ingredients to the pot and stir to incorporate them all. Then add stock, tomato purée, or water; the liquid should come to about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the pot. In this instance, I used a combination of tomato purée and water. Enlarge any photo for a bigger view; you'll be able to see that I used a combination of raisins and dried cranberries. I had about a quarter cup of dried cranberries on hand; a neighbor loaned me the raisins to make up the difference in measurement. The section at the bottom of the photo is blurred due to rising steam.

Cover the pot, leaving the cover just slightly ajar. Lower the heat to its lowest. Set your kitchen timer for 30 minutes and go read your email, walk the dog, or look at Facebook! When the timer rings, check the pot for liquid. If the picadillo has absorbed most of the original liquid, add the same amount again. With the cover ajar, continue to cook over a very low flame for another 30 minutes and correct for salt. Voilá! It's picadillo, ready to serve! I just made a pot of picadillo yesterday, and it's as good as it always has been.

Picadillo, ready to serve after an hour's cooking. This amount of picadillo will serve 6 to 8 hungry people when served over steamed white rice or Mexican red rice. I like to prepare the picadillo recipe, serve it as a main meal, and save the rest to re-heat and serve the next day. If anything, it is even better after a night's rest–but then, aren't we all? After the second day, whatever picadillo is left freezes beautifully.

Delicious, just-right spicy picadillo, served over rice. You and your family will love this traditional Mexican meal. By all means let me know how it goes over at your house. A huge thank you to Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, hasta donde tú estés (wherever you might be–the hope, of course, being Heaven).

Provecho! (Good eating!)

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10 de August de 2019
Orange Coconut Flan :: The Best Flan Ever!

Mexico Cooks! originally published this recipe for orange coconut flan in 2011. Today, it's back by by popular demand!

The major ingredients for Mexico Cooks!' best flan ever–clockwise from the bottom: fresh oranges, cream of coconut, whole milk, real Mexican vanilla, fresh eggs, and sal del mar (sea salt, in the little red hen salt cellar). You'll also need some sugar.

This is a Mexican flanera (flan pan). It's made of aluminum; the lid fastens down with a hinged clamp. If you have one, use it. If you don't, you can use any kind of oven-proof pan that holds about two liters. It need not have a lid. That's San Pascual Baylón, the patron saint of the kitchen, in the background. He can be especially helpful at the moment you turn the chilled flan onto the serving platter.

Start by caramelizing the sugar in a heavy pan. This is an 8" enameled cast iron omelet pan; it's been in the pantry for nearly 20 years and, for this purpose, works better than any other pan in the kitchen. Just dump the sugar into your pan over very low heat; when you see that the sugar begins to melt a bit around the edges, move the pan a little to redistribute the sugar so that it caramelizes as evenly as possible.

When the sugar is fully caramelized, it will look like this photo. Caveat: this process seems to take forever, but you can't hurry it. And no matter how tempted you are, do not stir the sugar! Just move the pan little by little, tipping the un-caramelized sugar into the melted mass.

As soon as all the sugar is caramelized–while it is still boiling hot–pour it into the flanera or whatever pan you are using. Tip and turn the flanera so that the sugar evenly coats the bottom and sides. Be very careful not to burn yourself. Set the flanera aside and complete the recipe.

Mexico Cooks! Flan de Coco y Naranja a la Antigua (Old-Style Coconut and Orange Flan)
8 servings

Make the flan one day ahead of the time you want to serve it. Once baked, it needs to chill for about 18 hours.

Move the oven rack to its lowest position. Pre-heat the oven to 165-170°C or 325°F.

Ingredients
Caramelized Sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Flan
3 cups whole milk
1 cup cream of coconut
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp freshly grated orange peel
4 eggs
6 additional egg yolks
pinch sea salt

Garnish as shown in photo
3 perfect strawberries with their leaves
4 1/4" slices carambola (star fruit)
2 to 4 Tbsp grated fresh coconut, toasted

Preparation

Caramelized Sugar
Over a low fire, pour one cup of granulated sugar into a small, heavy skillet. Do not stir the sugar. When the sugar begins to melt, move the skillet a little, tipping and turning it so that all of the sugar caramelizes evenly. Allow the sugar to boil until it is a deep caramel color. Add the orange juice and tip gently until the juice is fully incorporated into the sugar. Immediately pour the boiling caramelized sugar/juice mixture into the flanera or other pan, tipping the flanera until the sugar fully coats the bottom and sides.

Flan
In a 2-quart pot, combine the milk, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, the cream of coconut, vanilla, grated orange rind, and salt. With a wooden spoon, stir the ingredients over a medium fire until they are well-heated. Raise the fire to high and allow the mixture to boil, but don't let it boil over. Continue to boil the mixture until it has reduced by nearly one cup. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

The milk mixture needs to boil until it has reduced by about one cup. Be sure to set it aside to cool when the reduction is finished.

To easily separate six of the eggs so that you can use just their yolks, crack each egg into your open hand and allow the white to run through your fingers into a container.

With an electric hand beater, beat the eggs together with the additional yolks until they are light and foamy. Add the cooled mixture of milks. Pour the entire mixture into the flanera or prepared pan. If it is a flanera, cover it and fasten the latch. If it is another type pan, do not cover. Whichever you are using, put the recipient into a baño maría (bainmarie) and then into the pre-heated oven.

The milk mixture in the flanera; the caramelized sugar is at the bottom.

The flanera in the baño maría, just going into the oven. The baño maría can be any kind of pan; use enough water to come about one and a half to two inches up the side of the flanera or other pan.

Bake the flan for approximately two hours. At the end of two hours, take the top off the flanera and test the flan by inserting a thin knife or metal skewer into the middle; if it comes out completely clean, the flan is done. If some of the egg mixture clings to the knife or skewer, bake the flan about fifteen minutes longer, being careful not to over-cook it.

Once the flan is cooked, take it AND the baño maría out of the oven. On a cooling rack, let the flan rest in the baño maría about fifteen minutes more. Then remove the flanera (still covered) or other pan from the baño maría and allow the flan to cool at room temperature until the pan is cool to the touch.

Once the flan is cool, put the flanera (still covered) or other pan in the refrigerator and allow to chill until the following day.

To remove the flan from its mold, uncover and run a thin table knife around the entire outer edge. To ensure ease of release from the pan, dip the bottom of the flanera or other pan into very hot water so that the caramelized sugar liquifies a little. VERY CAREFULLY turn the flan out onto a platter. Mexico Cooks! puts the platter (one with a lip) on top of the open flan mold, calls on San Pascual Baylón for help, and quickly turns the platter and the mold so that the flan slips out easily. The caramelized sugar will run onto the top of the flan and make a pool in the bottom of the platter.

Approximate preparation time: 30 minutes
Approximate baking time: 2 hours

The finished product, ready to be taken to the dinner table.

Just prior to serving, decorate the flan however you like. In the photo, you see that I put one large strawberry in the center of the flan. I carefully made a border of toasted coconut and then cut the two remaining strawberries in half, leaving the leaves attached to each half, and placed one half at north, south, east, and west on top of the coconut. I then placed four slices of carambola between the strawberry halves. You could also use fresh red raspberries, thinly sliced twists of orange, and fresh mint leaves for a garnish, or any other seasonal fruit, or use no garnish at all.

Provecho!

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3 de August de 2019
Restaurante Los Comensales in Morelia, Michoacán :: How We Dined in Morelia in the Past

The covered dining terraza at Los Comensales bordered the restaurant's central garden, beautifully in bloom in rain or sunshine. Indoor dining was also available, but I loved to sit on the covered terraza to hear the sweet song of birds or to listen to the rain dripping on the greenery.

In years gone by, when Mexico Cooks! was looking for a traditional old-style Morelia comida corrida (soup-to-nuts main meal of the day, usually inexpensive), I often headed to Restaurante Los Comensales, on Calle Zaragoza in the Centro Histórico. A Morelia tradition since 1980, Los Comensales (the name means 'the diners') satisfied its clients' hunger very well, and in a genteel, old-fashioned way.

A small plate of verduras en escabeche (pickled vegetables) was the first dish to arrive at our table. This little plate holds carrots, cauliflower, green beans, chayote, and onions–along with a bay leaf or two and a sprig of oregano.

The lovely terraza and dining rooms at Los Comensales were filled with memories of days gone by. Photographs of the founders–Señora Aguirre has survived her husband by many years–are scattered on the walls. He was a bullfight aficionado; she was a great home cook, specializing in the broad gamut of Michoacán comida casera (home cooking). In 19th and 20th Century Mexico, French and Spanish cuisine were the sought-after flavors when Mexicans dined out in style. Mexican cooking was considered second-class restaurant cooking at best. Nevertheless, Sra. Aguirre and her husband decided to feature typical Michoacán cuisine when they opened Los Comensales in their own home in early 1980.

One always had a choice between at least two soups of the day. The last time Mexico Cooks! enjoyed comida at Los Comensales, the choices were between caldo tlalpeño that traditionally featured tender garbanzos and a touch of chile chipotle (pictured above) and crema de zanahoria (cream of carrot). We've also loved the delicious leek, mushroom, and potato soup and the simple consomé de pollo (chicken consommé).

Los Comensales was the first private home in Morelia to be converted into a restaurant. It immediately became a great success. In 1989, the pair opened a second downtown Morelia restaurant. Las Viandas de San José (The Foods of Saint Joseph), located directly in front of Morelia's Templo San José, was in the same style as Los Comensales: the rich and varied cuisine of the couple's beloved home state, Michoacán.

This tortita de calabacita was a tremendous hit, fresh and delicious in its pool of caldillo (thin tomato sauce). We chose it from the sopas section of the comida corrida menu. Other choices were spaghetti in cream sauce or standard Mexican red rice with diced vegetables.

Mexican sopas are divided into two classes: sopa aguada (wet soup) and sopa seca (dry soup).

Sopa aguada is divided into three further categories: caldos, consomés, and cremas. Caldos are clear broths, usually with other ingredients like vegetables and meat. Consomés are similar to caldos, but may not have vegetables or meat in their ingredients. Cremas are cream soups; the different possibilities are endless.

Sopa seca includes dishes such as pastas, rice, and vegetable tortitas–like the tortitas de calabacita shown above. These are easy to prepare and absolutely delicious.

Peeling one of the Roma tomatoes to make caldillo. Don't worry, you won't burn your fingers!

Tortitas de Calabacita (Little Zucchini Fritters)
Ingredients
6 small calabacitas (or zucchini), no more than 3" long
6 1/4" thick slices mild white cheese (queso fresco or queso panela, if possible)
2 eggs, separated
Salt
Flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Slice the calabacitas in half, lengthwise. Place one slice of cheese between the slices of each calabacita. Hold the slices of calabacita and cheese together with toothpicks. Dredge each calabacita with salted flour.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Beat the egg yolks until thick and pale lemon in color. Gently fold the yolks into the whites.

Heat oil in a frying pan until hot but not smoking.

Coat the floured calabacitas in the egg batter and fry until golden brown. Serve bathed with caldillo.

Caldillo (thin tomato sauce)
4 or 5 red-ripe Roma tomatoes
1/2 small white onion
Chicken broth, preferably home-made
Oregano, preferably Mexican
Sea salt to taste
Vegetable oil for frying the sauce.

Bring a small pot of water to a full rolling boil. Add the tomatoes (I usually cut a 1/2" cross in the stem end) and boil till the skins split–just a single minute or a few seconds more. Remove tomato peels; they'll slip off like gloves from your fingers.

Place the peeled tomatoes and the onion in a blender. Add a very small amount of chicken broth and blend until smooth.

In a frying pan, fry the sauce in a bit of vegetable oil for about five minutes. Add chicken broth until you have a very thin sauce. Add a sprig of fresh oregano and salt to taste. Cook for another five minutes and remove the oregano. Strain the sauce through a wire strainer.

Plate each serving of calabacita on a small plate and pour enough sauce over each little squash–about 1/4 cup will do.

Serves 6 as a side dish.

Carne de res en salsa chipotle (beef in a smoky chile sauce) was Mexico Cooks!' main dish. Others sharing my table ordered milanesa de pollo (thinly sliced, lightly breaded chicken breast).

Los Comensales also offered an a la carta menu, but it never really tempted me. The daily comida corrida offered such a wide variety of dishes that I always chose my meal from that menu.

Our dessert, Flan napolitano (Naples-style custard with caramel), is firmer than its ordinary cousin. Flan napolitano is made with cream cheese, in addition to the usual milk and eggs.

The last time Mexico Cooks! dined at Los Comensales, my comida corrida was exactly what's pictured here. The total cost for me and my two companions was $300 pesos; each comida corrida was $60 pesos, plus the addition to our order of a large jarra (pitcher) of naranjada (orangeade, made with freshly squeezed orange juice and sparkling water). A tip was included in the cost of the meal.

Señora Catalina Aguirre Camacho, the owner of Los Comensales since 1980. Because of her advanced age, she closed the restaurant in 2010, and passed away shortly thereafter. She has gone to heaven to cook for God's angelitos.

Los Comensales was open for desayuno (breakfast) and comida every day except Wednesday. I think of the restaurant so often, and miss it very much now that I am once again at home in Morelia. Restaurants of this sort have all but disappeared in Mexico.

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29 de June de 2019
Made At Home With Mexico-Grown Blackberries :: Not your Abuelita’s Cobbler

Blackberries are one of the staples of the Mexico Cooks! kitchen. In season nearly year-round, Mexico's blackberries are commercially grown primarily in the states of Michoacán and Jalisco. I'm crushing this bowlful of delicious blackberries with Splenda® and a pinch of salt to add to breakfast yoghurt. Wild blackberries (in the Purépecha language, tzitún) still grow in the oak and pine forests of Michoacán.

In 1994, the commercially cultivated blackberry first arrived in the area around Los Reyes, Michoacán. High in the mountains, Los Reyes offered a perfect climate for the Brazos variety of erect blackberries. Originally, the commercial growers planted only three hectáreas (about 6 acres) of berries. Developed at Texas A&M University and introduced in 1959, 'Brazos' has been the Texas standard for years and is still a great variety. The berries are large and the plants produce heavily. In Michoacán, this variety starts ripening early in May. The berries are a just a little bit acid and are better for cooking and canning than fresh eating. This variety has more thorny plants and larger seeded fruit than many of the improved varieties. In fact, the blackberries offered in Mexico's markets are huge, about an inch long by half an inch in diameter–as big as the ball of my thumb.

Brazos blackberries 'on the hoof'.

Since those 1994 beginnings, local growers have learned a tremendous amount about the cultivation of blackberries. Today, the fruit fields cover more than 12,500 hectáreas in the area of Los Reyes, Tocumbo, and Peribán, and cultivation is currently underway in the area around Pátzcuaro–almost all in the west-central highlands of Michoacán. The 2018 blackberry production reached a weight of more than 260,000 tons of blackberries–tons! Ninety-five percent of those were exported to the United States, the primary foreign market. The rest of those exported went to Europe and Japan. This quantity of blackberries represents 95% of those grown in Michoacán and 90% of those grown anywhere in Mexico. Next time you buy a plastic "clamshell" box of blackberries, look at the label. Most labels will read, "Product of Mexico." Mexico Cooks!' rinconcito (tiny corner) of Mexico produces more blackberries than anywhere else in the world. Fortunately, enough of Michoacán's blackberries stay in Mexico to satisfy its population.

Recently Mexico Cooks! was unable to find unsweetened, unflavored yoghurt in our neighborhood shops–and there was nearly a kilo (2.2 pounds) of blackberries in the refrigerator that needed to be eaten immediately. They had been destined for a week's worth of breakfasts, but one morning se me prendió el foco (the light bulb went on in my brain) and I thought: COBBLER! In the bowl is the entire amount of berries, mixed with sugar, the juice and some grated zest of a limón (key lime), and a bit of cornstarch.

Blackberry cobbler, as you might have guessed, is not in the standard Mexican food repertoire. However, when all of the ingredients are grown or made in Mexico, maybe it should be. In the photo are salt, baking powder, an egg, two limones, wheat flour, standard-grade sugar,milk, and freshly rendered pork lard. Lard, so shoot me! You can substitute vegetable shortening, but lard tastes better.

Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF and butter a baking dish. In this instance, I used an 8" square ovenproof glass baking dish.

Scoop the blackberry mixture into the pan and gently even it out.

Measure the shortening of your choice. I always use the displacement method to measure solid shortening: for this 1/4 cup of lard, I started with 1 3/4 cups of cold water in this clear measuring cup. I added lard until the water rose to the two-cup level, then emptied out the water. Bingo, 1/4 cup of lard and no mess.

The flour mixture that will become the dough for topping the cobbler. You see the lard on top of the flour mixture, ready to be worked into it.

The flour mixture should look like this when you finish working the lard into it.

Break an egg into the milk and beat with a fork till blended.

The cobbler, topped with raw dough and ready for the oven. Sprinkle the raw dough with sugar to give it a finished look after baking. The cornstarch that I mixed with the raw blackberries and sugar thickens the juices as the cobbler bakes.

Bake the cobbler for about half an hour, or until the dough is light golden brown. Your house will smell heavenly!

Here's the entire recipe:

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients
4-6 cups fresh blackberries
3/4 cup sugar, divided use
1 Tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup shortening–in this instance, lard
4 Tbsp butter
1 whole egg
1/2 cup milk

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Butter the glass baking dish. Mix blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Reserve.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 or 2 Tbsp sugar. Add the shortening and butter and work them into the flour with your fingers, until the mixture looks like fairly coarse corn meal.

Measure 1/2 cup milk into a large measuring cup; break the egg into the milk. Beat with a fork until well blended. Pour the milk/egg mixture into the flour/shortening mixture and stir until smooth. The dough should not be sticky; if you need to add more flour, start with just an additional tablespoon. When the dough is smooth but still quite damp, it's ready.

Pour the blackberry mixture into the glass baking dish and gently even out the berries with your fingers. Put large spoonfuls of dough all over the berries, leaving some small spaces on top for the juice to bubble through. Flatten the dough a little–use your fingers, and don't worry about how it looks. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a tablespoon or two of sugar.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. A serving of blackberry cobbler, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, will look like this–truly a thing of beauty.

The finished product: blackberry cobbler, hot out of the oven and topped with rich real-cream vanilla ice cream. The top diameter of the small white bowl in the photo above measures three inches.

What could be better for breakfast, or for dessert–a taste of Mexican blackberries, from a recipe straight out of your grandmother's kitchen!

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22 de June de 2019
In Memoriam :: Memories of Chef Patricia Quintana

Mexico's long-time chef Patricia Quintana. Her career spanned countries, decades, friendships, classrooms, books published, and regional foods. She left us on November 26, 2018, far too soon. Everyone who knew her, misses her.

A decorative charanda barrel at the entrance to Distilería El Tarasco in Uruapan. Charanda, distilled from sugar cane and bottled as both blanco (newly distilled) or reposado (aged), is a regional alcohol specialty of Michoacán.

Eighty hardy souls, chefs, journalists, travel specialists and food writers all, recently toured Mexico's Central Highlands on a two-week fact-finding and eating binge that brought us together from Europe, South and Central America, the United States, and other points around the globe. Aromas y Sabores de México, Ruta del Bicentenario 2010, organized by Mexico's national tourism department and led by the marvelous chef Patricia Quintana, kicked off in Mexico City on May 29 and ended its culinary wanderings in Michoacán on June 10. Naturally Mexico Cooks! thinks they saved the best for last!

Eleven o'clock on a hot spring morning and my friend Betty Fussell was sucking down a charanda piña colada AND a torito at the distillery! It was Betty's first full-blown taste of Michoacán and we had a marvelous time together.

The two-bus, multi-van caravan wound its way from Mexico City to the State of Mexico, then to Querétaro, to Guanajuato and, for the last four days, to Michoacán. Tour participants, accompanied by Chef Patricia Quintana of Mexico City's hot-ticket Restaurante Izote, slept when they could, partied when sleep eluded them, visited countless historic sites gussied up for Mexico's 2010 bicentennial celebrations, and ate till they could eat no more.

John Rivera Sedlar, of Rivera Restaurant in Los Angeles, California, enjoys a super-refreshing torito (made with charanda, of course) and a visit with Mexico Cooks! Photo courtesy Cynthia Martínez, Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809, Morelia.

The kind of drink dispenser that Mexico Cooks! uses for toritos for a party.

If you'd like to make toritos for a party, they're really easy to prepare and are always a huge success. If you can't find charanda in your hometown liquor store, substitute an inexpensive white rum.

TORITOS (Little Bulls)
Makes approximately 25 5-ounce servings

1 liter charanda or white rum
2 liters pineapple juice
2 liters grapefruit soft drink
Salt to taste
Ice

Crushed chile de árbol or other spicy chile
Crushed salted peanuts

Mix all of the liquids together and add salt to taste. Pour into a large pitcher and chill thoroughly. If your drink dispenser has a center cylinder for ice, you can fill it and keep the toritos cold without diluting them.

At the time of serving, place a pinch of crushed chile and a teaspoonful of salted peanuts in each person's glass. Fill each glass with the charanda mixture (or with the rum mixture), and serve.

This recipe is easily cut in half, if you're expecting fewer guests, or doubled (or tripled) if you're expecting a crowd. Try it soon, in the heat of summer. Toritos are enormously refreshing.

Salud! (To your health!

On a hot spring day in Uruapan, Michoacán, Magda Choque Vilca, field coordinator of Argentina's Proyecto Cultivos Andinos, delights in a cooling paleta de aguacate (avocado ice pop).

Two of Michoacán's best known products are the avocado (the state is the world's largest avocado grower) and the macadamia nut. This chilly and refreshing mousse, served in Uruapan at Restaurante Tony's–(Morelos #183, Col. Morelos, Uruapan)–combines both delicacies. The creamy white macadamia bottom layer supports the pale green avocado top layer. It was absolutely delicious.

A metate y metlapil (three-legged flat grinding stone, made of volcanic rock, and its 'rolling pin') on display at the regional museum at Uruapan's La Huatápera. Nearly five hundred years ago, Bishop don Vasco de Quiroga created the building as a hospitality center for the Purépecha people. Many Mexican kitchens still depend on the metate for grinding corn, beans, chocolate, herbs, and a hundred other ingredients.

For the Ruta de Aromas y Sabores tour, La Huatápera once again became a hospitality center. Tables along the portales (covered terraces) around the building held tastes of regional treats: ceviche de trucha, guacamole, paletas, and much more. Brought by Restaurante Tony's, the avocados in the photo above were halved horizontally, the meat partially removed and then mashed with cream cheese, spices, and stuffed back into the avocado shell and decorated with these charming faces. The parsley eyebrows especially tickled me.

Restaurante Los Mirasoles in Morelia hosted the welcome dinner for the Michoacán portion of the Ruta de Aromas y Sabores tour. The restaurant's executive chef, Rubí Silva Figueroa, pulled out all the stops to make the meal a high-end version of Michoacán's regional foods. Seated at a table with food professionals and journalists from Europe, South America, and the United States, Mexico Cooks! explained the food. It was, as one friend said, a comida didáctica–a teaching meal! Photo courtesy of Los Mirasoles.

Paracho, Michoacán, is known as Mexico's epicenter of guitar making, but it is also famous for weaving, embroidery, and other artisan work. Michoacán's Secretaría de Turismo (state tourism department) had arranged for a small tianguis artesanal (artisans' street market) for our tour. Among the items on display and for sale were rebozos (long rectangular shawls) woven by the famous reboceros de Aranza (rebozo-makers of Aranza, Michoacán). Finely loomed and beautifully patterned and colored, each of these dressy cotton rebozos take anywhere from two weeks to a month to complete.

We had a marvelous time on the tour! Left to right: Lic. Elizabeth Vargas Martín del Campo, director of the Politécnico de Guanajuato; Chef Patricia Quintana, innovative executive chef, caterer, and restaurant owner, Mexico City; Sacha Ormaechea, Restaurante Sacha, Madrid, Spain; Olivia González de Alegría, Director General, Instituto Gastronómico de Estudios Superiores, Querétaro; Cynthia Martínez, owner, Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809, Morelia; and Mexico Cooks!. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Martínez.

Originally published in 2010, this article about Patricia Quintana's amazing tour of Michoacán bears repeating in her memory. Chef Patricia Quintana passed away on November 26, 2018. May she rest in peace.

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18 de May de 2019