Moser Good Eats and Good Times: Feliz Navidad!

Babysitting Izzy while Jana and Andy spent Christmas in Peru

It’s mid-January and I’m already neglecting my New Year’s Resolutions – one of them being more frequent journal updates (blog posts). Typically, I’ve got lots to say the first of January and several photos to share. This past Christmas was not typical, though. We’d celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving followed by our trip to Oaxaca. Christmas was just the two of us and Lauren made it three. It was our first in over thirty years that both girls were not with us, as Jana and Andy spent the holiday in Peru.

Jandy at Machu Picchu

Change is good, I guess. It was a little sad to wake up Christmas morning and not hear the girls giggling in bed together downstairs. And then there were the empty stockings hung by the chimney with care…actually, they weren’t completely empty as each had a box of Dark Chocolate Peppermint Covered Joe-Joes. Lauren discovered these little delights this year and I can assure you, they will now be a regular Christmas treat. If you are interested, they are sold at Trader Joes and apparently are only available for a few weeks each December and once stocked they don’t last through the weekend, we’re told.

Lauren and I came home from Mexico inspired to cook and try our hand at a few of the recipes we’d learned to make during our recent trip. She was home for ten days, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to experiment. We decided on a menu for Christmas dinner that included a tortilla soup, tamales with mole sauce, beef enchiladas with a chipotle sauce, Mexican rice, and flan for dessert. Leading up to our two days of cooking, we gathered my Mexican cookbooks, including two by Rick Bayless and another by Diana Kennedy, both authorities on regional Mexican cuisine, and scoured them for recipes and general techniques and tips. With exception of a few ingredients, we had or at least were familiar with everything required to make our meal. A few things new to our kitchen included:

· Lard – if you are not familiar with lard, it’s pig fat. There’s a wealth of information on the internet about the good and bad of it. According to one article, lard “is back in the larder”. In other words, it’s making a comeback. I’ve made tamales before and always substituted shortening. My bad! From now on its pig fat for me! The masa in our tamales was more flavorful and fluffier than any we’ve made in the past.

· Epazote – this essential Mexican cooking herb is not widely grown or available in the U.S. Obviously, I couldn’t find it in our local market and would probably have to drive an hour to find a Mexican market that carries it. The name was familiar to me and after searching my well-stocked drawer of Penzey’s spices, I pulled out a small jar of dried epazote! Our cookbooks warned against substituting dried for the fresh herb, but we were desperate and took our chances.

· Banana leaves – we used fresh banana leaves for the tamales in our class. In the past I’ve always used cornhusks and have fond memories of sitting around the dining room table with the girls making tamales and then cornhusk dolls with the leftover husks. What fun! Lauren and I agreed we prefer tamales made with cornhusks as the banana leaves impart a sweet flavor. However, for future reference I did discover they are available frozen at most markets.

· White corn tortillas – I generally purchase white or yellow corn tortillas, whichever is fresher. However, after reading Diana’s description of “those dirty-yellow, bitter-smelling ones” (she’s referred to the yellow corn tortillas), I’ll be sticking to the white corn tortillas in the future.

· Chile peppers – I’ve always liked both fresh and dried chile peppers of all kinds. When Verne and I started making and canning our own salsas, we found an excellent recipe that uses two different kinds of dried chiles and Verne learned a dry-heat method of rehydrating peppers. His approach has been refined a bit since taking our class and then reading our Mexican cookbooks and we now very quickly heat them in a small amount of oil until the color changes and then let them cool to use as a garnish or they go from the saute pan to a bowl of water until they are rehydrated and then pureed to be used in soups or sauces. Easy peasy and so delicious.

· Mole – this traditional Mexican sauce is not particularly difficult to make, but it does take a bit of time and patience. It involves toasting, browning, blending, straining, searing and simmering the twenty plus ingredients, which include dried chiles, raisins and chocolate. A concentrated mole paste can be purchased at some Mexican markets. I’ve seen it sold at the Grand Central Market in Los Angeles next to where Jana and Andy live. However, making a delicious mole is very satisfying and something we’ll do again as we work our way through all seven Oaxacan moles. It doesn't end there as each of the seven regions of Mexico have their own versions of mole.

Lauren making mole

To begin our Christmas Mexican feasting, we spent Christmas Eve in Ione with Maria, Ruben and Ruben's son, Edward. Ruben made one of his favorite soups he enjoyed eating as a child. Akin to my own Vegetable or Hamburger Soup (the name changes based on whether you're talking to my boys or my girls), this was a hearty vegetable soup with whole veggies and pork slow cooked in broth. Through our Oaxacan cooking class and our reading we had learned that many Mexican dishes are served somewhat deconstructed to the table and eaters are then encouraged to add optional ingredients table-side. Ruben served his soup in this fashion, providing us each with a simple bowl of soup and then a wide array of garnishes including serrano chiles, green salsa, a simple Mexican rice, a fresh squeeze of lime, and tortillas for dipping. By the time we finished fully garnishing our soups, we had each created an incredibly filling and delicious dish unique to each person. And this is to say nothing of the chips, salsa and guacamole Ruben made as a starter snack! I completed the nights meal with an apple crisp dessert served over vanilla ice cream. And by the time we left, Maria and Ruben were forced to roll us to the door.

The following day the same group gathered for Christmas dinner in Volcano. I suspect Ruben and his son had their doubts about our (a couple of gringos donning brightly colored Oaxacan aprons) attempt to prepare a Mexican feast for Mexicans, albeit Ruben is from Northern Mexico and our menu was based on recipes from Southern Mexico. All concerns were diminished after our first course, a tortilla soup with ancho chile (and a slew of condiments including queso fresco, crumbled dried chiles, avocado, thinly sliced radishes), followed by red chile pork tamales with a classic mole sauce. If there was any concern on the part of our guests, it related more towards the small portions than the quality and authenticity of our meal. And we ended the meal with a final course of chipotle enchiladas and Mexican rice. Maria made our delicious dessert, chocolate flan cake. It was one of those mystery desserts that starts out with the flan on the bottom and ends up on top after it’s baked. Very pretty and very tasty. This was a perfect meal and one that left everyone comfortably satisfied, while wanting more, as well as wanting the recipes. Our success has further inspired us to read more, learn more, and cook more Mexican food. Our latest book is “The Food and Life of Oaxaca” by Zarela Martinez.