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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Annual trip to Apple Hill |
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| Belated SoCal holiday dinner with family (Lara, Rick, Logan, Matthew) |
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| Logan and Rick checking out the view from Jandy's new home |
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| Dinner at Maccheroni Republic (Jandy and Raelin) |
