Salsa You'll Want to Put on Everything

There's a simple reason why it's taken me so long to photograph my new favorite salsa: it's too delicious. It's gone before I can set up a good photo. It's a quick recipe, so it gets made while prepping dinner. By the time it's done, it hits the table. Any leftovers are often gobbled up first the the next morning atop someone's potatoes, eggs, or in a breakfast burrito. Besides, even if I were to try to get the shot before we sat down to eat, the light is all wrong. Unlike yours truly, food photographs best in the light of day.

Anyway, this recipe comes from Rick Bayless's awesome cookbook, Mexican Everyday. I had been turning out batch after grubbin' batch throughout the summer. Even though tomato season has passed, this salsa remains doable. Just take care to select some good, red, vine-ripened tomatoes, as I did this week. I allowed them to ripen a few more days on my counter, and made salsa when the tomatoes had that glorious garden-fresh tomato scent on their skins.

Last night we had Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos. Fresh salsa is an absolute must with Fish Tacos. I grilled the Mahi (which I just basted with a wee bit of canola oil, fresh lime juice, salt and pepper before grilling, and an extra shot of lime juice as a board dressing while it rested post-grilling) alongside some late season corn on the cob from Whole Foods, turning the latter into a quick Roasted Corn Salsa. Tonight's dinner will be a tough act to follow.

Here's both recipes:

Fresh Tomato Salsa
Print recipe only here

INGREDIENTS
1 jalapeño, seeded and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 medium ripe tomatoes, quartered and cored
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 lime, halved
2 green onions, finely sliced
Salt and fresh pepper

METHOD
In Cuisinart, process or pulse jalapeño until finely chopped, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add garlic and process or pulse. Add tomatoes and cilantro and pulse until tomatoes are roughly chopped. Transfer to a small bowl.

Add sliced green onions. Squeeze juice from one half of the lime. Taste for seasoning to determine if you need the other half of the lime. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Roasted Corn Salsa
Print recipe only here

INGREDIENTS
2-3 ears fresh corn
1/2 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 lime
2-3 T chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper



METHOD
Preheat grill or broiler. Shuck the corn and remove all the silk. Brush with canola oil. Grill for about 5-7 minutes, rotating halfway thru, or until the corn is browned. Remove from the grill and allow to cool to room temperature.

Prep the remaining ingredients and combine in a small bowl. When the corn has cooled, cut it from the cob and add to the bowl. Add the lime juice and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as desired.

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Lean, Green Braised Mexican Pork Tenderloin

Photo courtesy Thibeaultstable.com

I've been tinkering with this recipe for awhile and finally have it right where I want it, with tomatillos instead of tomatoes and adding a long, slow braise to the cooking method. The result is a fragrant and flavorful stew with lean pork that falls apart. I've honestly never had pork tenderloin that was this tender.

Rick Bayless wrote the original version. It's in his fantastic Mexican Everyday cookbook. We enjoyed his version, but it didn't deliver on its promise. The meat wasn't tender enough and the bland dish belied the flavorful ingredients that went into it. Sorry, Rick. But you'd agree that this is really good.

To make a bigger feast, I made Chipotle Shrimp as an appetizer (and chips and guacamole) and served the braised tenderloin with Black Beans and warmed corn tortillas. But you could omit all that for an easier weeknight meal.

This would cook up quite well in a slow cooker, too - but you still have to brown and saute. If you are a Dutch oven-user, a 3-quart covered pot is all you'll need.

Braised Mexican Pork Tenderloin
Print recipe only here

Serves 4

Note: Start this around 2:30 and enjoy a wonderful meal a few hours later. You won't be cooking that entire time - but the pork will.

INGREDIENTS
1 to 1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin
2 T canola oil
2 fresh poblano peppers
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves, pressed
5-6 tomatillos
3/4 cup beef broth OR 2/3 cup water
1 t hickory smoke
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt

Corn tortillas, to eat alongside

METHOD
Preheat broiler.

Remove husks from tomatillos, rinse, and place on a sheet pan. Broil for about 5-6 minutes, turning midway, until browned.

Roast the peppers over an open flame or under a broiler under they are uniformly blackened and have softened a bit. You can do this right on your stovetop by setting the peppers directly above the flame.

When done, place in a bowl and cover. Allow them to cool.

Turn down oven to 200F

Peel and halve the onion and cut it crosswise into strips about 1/4-inch wide. Reserve.

Rub the blackened skin off the poblanos, remove the stems and seeds inside and rinse under water to remove the excess charred skin and seeds. Slice into long strips, about 1/4-inch wide, and then chop into pieces about two inches in length. Reserve.

Pat the tenderloin dry with paper towels and trim away all visible fat. Cut the tenderloin into 1-inch cubes and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt.

Heat the canola oil in a Dutch oven or large skillet (12 inches). And pork (do this in batches if necessary, to avoid overcrowding) and brown all over. Transfer to a plate and reserve.

Add the onion and poblano strips to the same pot and saute over a medium flame for 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatillos, smashing them up with a wooden spoon. Add beef broth (or water), Worcesteshire, and hickory smoke and bring to a boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours.

Add cilantro and taste for seasoning, adding more salt as needed. Serve with warmed corn tortillas.http://www.thibeaultstable.com/2009/08/chili-rellenos-mexican-dinner.html

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Fajita Peppers and Tips for Making Leftovers Taste Better

There's no microwave in the Pinch kitchen, so leftovers go straight to the skillet for reheating. I'm a fan of the skillet and have become adept at resurrecting meals. The best trick I figured out was a means of reheating pasta that didn't leave it fried or pasty. It's water. Heat about 1/4 cup of water in a skillet. Bring it to a boil, then add your leftovers and stir until nicely hot. You can add more water if you need, but go slowly. Overcooked pasta is blechk. Anyway, today's lunch featured leftover fajita peppers and flank steak from the other night's fajita party. And a smidgen of the cotija I snagged at Trader Joe's recently.

Cheese sidebar: For my favorite domestic and imported cheeses I usually go straight to Pastoral. Whole Foods revamped their cheese department when they moved into the super sized location south of North Ave - and for the better. I had sworn off their old cheese department because everything I bought was stifled and off-tasting. But they're now a reliable source when the need arises for a supple triple creme.

Where were we? Cotija! If you haven't ever crumbled some on your fajitas, I highly recommend it. Most versions are pretty firm, you basically grate it. It's really a whole heck of a lot like Ricotta Salata, which I also recommend giving a try. The latter you would sort of crumble or peel atop an open panini, or a serving of pasta. Finding cotija at Trader Joe's was a total treat since that's my source for all regular cheese - gorgonzola, cheddar, fontina, gruyere, all cheeses that appear as supporting flavors in healthy meals. Examples? The Pinch House Salad features a bit of gongonzola; Chanterelle Pizzas - a great fall meal with chanterelles in season now - feature a light sprinkle of fontina; Ham & Gruyere panini are a favorite weekend lunch, especially in the colder months. The cheddar  - Tilamook medium - is around for the kids.

But we were really talking about the Fajita Peppers.  I've been making my peppers the same way for several years. They're smokey and sizzle up nicely in a cast iron pan. I serve them along side grilled chicken or flank steak, with a bowl of guacamole and some lightly charred fresh corn tortillas. Or atop a small bowl of black beans for a scrumptious and hearty lunch. Today, I just heated them up in a hot skillet with nothing added - and they were as glorious as they were the other night.

Fajita Peppers
Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow onion
1 jalapeno
Optional: 2-3 Roma tomatoes

2 T canola oil
1 t liquid smoke (I like hickory)
>1 T Worcestershire sauce
Few turns fresh ground pepper
Pinch of kosher salt

METHOD
First, combine the canola oil, liquid smoke, Worcesteshire, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl:

Then, preheat a medium to large cast iron pan over medium high heat. Note - I don't have issues with tomatoes in my cast iron pan. If you do, use a different skillet.

Prep your veggies:

Halve the onion, peel, and slice crosswise.
Trim red and green bell peppers to thin strips (about 1 ½ inches long and about 2-3 mm thick).
Trim jalapeños a bit thinner so that they can be avoided if necessary.
Quarter the tomatoes. Remove the seed gunk and slice quarters in half, lengthwise

Transfer all the veggies to the mixing bowl and toss to coat.

Add the veggies and saute over a good flame for about 4-6 minutes until softened and a wee bit caramelized.

Serve and savor.

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Just Say No to Taco Seasoning

It's been a couple of years since I last wrote about tacos. We had them for dinner last night and I was recalling how they've been in regular rotation for, like, ever in my kitchen. With all the fixins - guacamole, salsas, beans, shredded lettuce and cheddar - you really can accommodate anyone who comes to the table.

I've been picking up 96/4 lean ground beef at Trader Joe's since we moved to Chicago. It's much leaner and makes a fine burger, and is super for tacos. If you use the leanest ground beef you won't have grease seeping out of the meat and into your coronary arteries, or worse, your taco shell.

As for the taco shell, I like the Bearitos ones at the generic 365 label at Whole Foods. Trader Joe's recently put some on their shelves that I plan to try. I always warm them up in my trusty toaster oven - just warm them in whatever oven you use for a few minutes to freshen them up.

The filling for tacos is easy to prepare. You need fresh garlic, onion, and chili powder and ground cumin - no silly jarred taco seasoning. I do it this way: saute the garlic and onion in a wee bit of canola oil. Then add the beef and brown it. Once it's cooked through I like to strain it, collecting the juices to feed to my grateful dog. Then, return the beef to the same pan and add the spices. The amount of spice will vary depending on how intense your spices are. I love my medium hot chili powder and cumin from The Spice House here in Chitown. For one pound of beef, I shake on about one tablespoon of chili powder and two teaspoons of cumin. Dry cook the spices on the beef to really bring out the flavors. Taste the meat after a few minutes, and add more spices and salt as you like. Then add about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and continue to cook for a few minutes. At this point it's done. I usually turn off the heat, cover it and let it sit while I make everything else.

One easy salsa I love for tacos and carnitas is this: chopped onion mixed with cilantro. I use it often in the winter, when fresh tomatoes have traveled too far for their own good.

Here are the recipes for a great meal:

Lean Beef Tacos with Black Beans, Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and Spanish Rice.

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RealTime Lunch: Mexican Pork Tenderloin Stew

In Mexican Everyday, Rick introduces this recipe (he calls it Pork Tenderloin a la Mexicana) with the advice, "Make it a staple in your kitchen." Not to be one to disregard a trusted authority, I immediately procured a pork tenderloin and a couple of poblano peppers and made my new favorite stew. Trouble is, we didn't love it so much when we had it the other night.

Soups and stewy things always tend to be better the next day when flavors have had more time, and a second round of cooking, to emerge. I'm enjoying my leftovers immensely. And so it comes to be that, today, on a gorgeous and snowy Chicago winter day, Mexican Pork Stew is being offered on Pinch.

It's hearty and lean and not unlike a fancy chili. The cooking time really is short. I'm reluctant to provide timing on recipes because people work at different comfort/skill levels and with a variety of distractions. But it took me less than 30 minutes, for sure. Next time I'll start making it at around 3 and let it sit for a few hours, then reheat at dinnertime. That would probably deliver the dish to its more flavorful 'leftover' state. Oh, and it wasn't spicy. Not even a teeny bit.

Mexican Pork Stew

Print recipe only here

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
2 poblano peppers
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pork loin or tenderloin, trimmed of all fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 T canola oil
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, pressed
one 15-ounce can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes (I like Muir Glen)
3/4 cup beef broth (or 2/3 cup water plus 2 T Worcestershire sauce)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

METHOD
Roast or broil the poblanos, turning until blackened all over (allow 5 minutes over an open flame, or 10 minutes in the broiler). When done, transfer to a bowl, cover with a plate or towel, and allow to cool.

Trim and cube the pork and dry with paper towels. Don't skip this! Sprinkle with kosher salt. Heat the oil in a large skillet and, working in batches if necessary, add the pork and brown all over, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and reserve.

Using the same skillet, add the sliced onion and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, rub the blackened skins off the chilis and pull off the stems and seed pods. Rinse and cut into strips. Add the peppers and pressed garlic to the skillet with the onions and cook for another few minutes.

Add the tomatoes, broth or water/Worcestershire to a pot (I used a 3-quart Dutch oven) and bring to a boil. Add the peppers and onions, lower the heat and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

Add the pork and chopped cilantro to the pot and cook for about five minutes. Season to taste and serve, or cover and let rest. Reheat for 3-5 minutes before serving.

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Quick and Hearty Mexican Beef You Won't Want to Share

I always feel just a little bad when I won’t share with my dog. He got up from his nap only because I was reheating leftover Poblano Beef. He even followed me upstairs (he rarely does the stairs anymore) so I would take pity on him and toss him a bite. It just doesn't seem right to try poblanos on him at this point in the game.

The recipe below is (slightly) adapted from Rick Bayless' great cookbook, Mexican Everyday. It's quick, easy, healthy (if you use a nice lean beef) and incredibly flavorful. And amazingly enough, even though I wasn't planning on making it this week, I had the critical ingredients on hand: three poblano peppers and two lean sirloin steaks from Trader Joe's. The steaks were supposed to be used for Coriander Dry-Rubbed Steaks with Avocado Salsa later in the week, but the timing of my ripening avocados wasn’t going to be right.

Anyway, you simply must try the Poblano Beef sometime - if only for the possibility of leftovers for lunch. As good as it was for dinner, it was even better for lunch the next day.

Poblano Beef
Print recipe only here

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
3 fresh poblano peppers
1 T canola oil
1# lean sirloin steak, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced
3-4 medium potatoes, cubed
4 cloves garlic, pressed
½ cup water, beer, beef broth or white wine
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

METHOD
First, roast the poblanos. I did this on my stovetop - just put them right on the burner over the flame and turn them with tongs. You could also broil them. You want them nice and charred - it’ll take at least 5 minutes. When they’re done, place them in a bowl, cover them with a plate or towel and reserve until cooled.

Get all your veggies prepped, the onions, garlic and potatoes. And cube the beef. Don’t forget to dry it with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sprinkle the beef with salt and add to the skillet, browning it all over. Transfer the beef to a plate once browned.

Add the onions and potatoes to the skillet and cook over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes. Then add the garlic. Sauté together for another minute, then add the water/stock/beer and Worcestershire.

Reduce heat to low and cook about 7-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, rub the blackened skin off the poblanos and peel off the inside membrane and remove the seeds and tops of the peppers. Rinse to remove the remaining bits of seeds and skin, and then cut into strips, about ¼-inch wide. Add the poblano strips to the skillet and continue to cook for a few more minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Return the beef to the skillet and heat thru. Sprinkle with cilantro and add more salt if necessary. Serve and enjoy.

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Making Mole Verde

I know this now: mole just means sauce, or mixture. (So guacamole = avocado mixture.) Previously I thought there was mole*, and it was a brown, chocolaty sauce in which chicken parts were braised. Then I started taking note of the different moles at different establishments. I was eating a fine meal at Chicago's Mixteco Grill recently and everyone's mole was so different - some smoky from the chipotle peppers, some more chocolaty, some sort of vinegary. I had never sampled mole verde, so when the opportunity presented itself to cook it myself I jumped at it.

It was a fun cooking experience. Araceli, a great Mexican cook, and my teacher in this lesson, explained that the mole verde is a great starter mole because it's quicker and easier to make than the others. It wasn't hard, but there were many steps and ingredients that surprised me. Boiling peppers? Pumpkin seeds? LETTUCE?!?

Pollo con Mole Verde
Serves 4

YOU WILL NEED:
Four skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds, or a jar of Dona Maria Mole Verde - the principal ingredient is pepitas
One onion
One bunch cilantro
Six tomatillos
Three poblano peppers
One jalapeno
One head Romaine hearts (or equivalent)

METHOD
Place in a medium stockpot:
chicken breasts
1/2 onion, peeled and quartered
few springs cilantro
1/2 t salt

Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cover loosely, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes. Save the cooking broth - you'll use it later. (Alternately, you could marinate and grill the chicken - just have some chicken broth on hand for the mole.)

Meanwhile, cut the poblanos in half and remove seeds and veins. Place in a small saucepan and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.

Now you need pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, to lend the mole it's classic flavor. We used a jarred pepita mole for this, but next time I'd just grind the pepitas myself. They're widely available, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding them. Just make sure they're green and shelled. Toast them first in the oven or in a pan - just about 5-10 minutes ought to do it - just til they're fragrant. Then let them cool. Grind them up in a blender with a half-cup or so of chicken broth - blend until as smooth as you can get them.

Now you need to blend everything else. You will have to do this in two or three batches. Add to the blender (you can keep the pepitas in):

Poblanos
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1/4 onion
6 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
bunch cilantro
small head romaine lettuce (or 6-8 big leaves)
2-3 cups chicken broth (cooking broth or other)


Now, heat a small splash of canola oil in a large saucepan. As you blend the batches of veggies, add to the saucepan. It's a beautiful thing. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes. It's gonna make a bit of a mess - it's like a burpy lava pool.


If you're doing this in advance, you can just let the mole sit at this point. When you're ready to serve dinner, add the chicken and reheat (cook some white rice while reheating). Taste for seasoning, too - you will probably want to add a bit more salt.

To serve, simply plate the chicken with a generous scoop of mole verde on top.

* For the record, I did at least know that it's pronounced MO-LAY, unlike my daughter who after seeing on our weekly menu was horrified that we were eating the furry maker of molehills.

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High cloud. No Rain. Two hot salsas.

I painted my stairs AND made cinnamon ice cream and baked Meredith's friendship cake and two (two!) salsas. There's even a bit of sunshine. Not too shabby. And it's not even 3pm. I wish I were this productive every day.

The salsas are Hot and Hotter. I was intending to make a salsa verde, and did - it's milder than the more colorful salsa in the shorter container on the right. But it's still got some heat. I followed basic guidelines from Rick Bayless and:

Blistered/Broiled 10 tomatillos
Pan roasted 2 serranos and 2 jalapenos and 2 cloves of garlic

When cooled, I pulsed it all together in the Cuisinart with about a quarter cup of water (add slowly, just until you get the right consistency). After than, transfer it to a mixing bowl and I add a teaspoon each of kosher salt and sugar and about 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro and half an onion, finely chopped (which RB recommended rinsing after chopping, so I did that too). It's quite good.

Now the other one - this is for those of you who really, really like it hot. You know who you are! I used 5-6 each of the following: banana peppers, jalapenos, and red chilis (I don't know exactly WHAT KIND of red chilis and forgot to take a before picture. Mybad.) Followed RB again, and just pulsed everything with the juice of half a lime and some salt. Peppers abound at the farmer's markets right now, so plan on doing this soon if you plan to do it at all.

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Got Your Goat? Making Mexican Cajeta

Cajeta is a very fun word to say on account of the jota in the middle. It gives the word the same guttural punch as a boisterous Hebrew LeChaim!

Cajeta is a Mexican caramel sauce, made by slowly cooking sweetened goat's milk. I've been wanting to make it since buying a small tub of it's South American counterpart, Argentinian dulce de leche. I'm a big fan of caramel, and a big fan of goat's milk. As far as I know, goat's milk is the more traditional foundation for cajeta, where dulce de leche exclusively uses cow's milk. My standard caramel sauce is made much more quickly (by caramelizing the sugar which takes 5-10 minutes), but relies on cream and butter. Standard caramel is a lovely sauce, but I like the intrigue of goat's milk on the tongue.

I followed a recipe from Rick Bayless and had no trouble locating goat's milk at my local Trader Joes. I used to buy from my little grocer in Telluride when my children were small and having trouble digesting cow's milk. (Try adding goat's milk to Annie's mac and cheese sometime for a lovely two-cheese flavor.) There's an alternate preparation which involves a can of condesed milk, a vat of boiling water and a degree of danger of explosion that sounded too risky. Plus, I like the idea of using fresh milk, adding my own sugar, and stirring as the the milk caramelized.

And what am I going to do with it? Put it in crepes this weekend, along with banana and coconut, for one. Or add a spoonful to vanilla ice cream, or pour it over a Kentucky Butter cake. My children are enjoying it by the spoonful.

Cajeta
Print recipe only here

Makes about 1 cup

INGREDIENTS
1 quart goat milk (available at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and many other grocers)
1 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split open lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 2 teaspoons water

METHOD
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan combine the milk, sugar and vanilla bean and place over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until it comes to a simmer and sugar is dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat and add dissolved baking soda. It will bubble up. When the bubbles have subsided, return the pot to the heat.

Adjust heat so that the milk is simmering briskly. Cook, stirring regularly, until the it turns pale golden, about one hour.

You will now need to stir the milk more frequently as it thickens and turns a caramel-brown color. Don’t allow the milk to stick to the bottom of the pot. It will probably cook for another 30-45 minutes, depending on how hot you simmer it. It is done when it reaches the soft ball stage, or a deep caramel color.

Strain the cajeta through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or pyrex measuring cup to cool. When the cajeta is cool, it should be a medium-thick sauce. If it’s too thick, add hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until it is the proper consistency. If it is too thin, return to the heat until it thickens.

Refrigerate until ready to use. But reheat before serving; cajeta is best served warm.

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Easy Appetizers: Chipotle Shrimp

First of all, it's pronounced chip-OAT-lay, not chip-OADLE like I thought before I moved down the street from the ubiquitous purveyor of gourmet burritos and tacos.

These make a delightful starter, and one that I can count on whipping up at the last minute. I always have frozen shrimp in my freezer and a can of chipotle chiles in my pantry. And usually cilantro. These would be a great base for shrimp fajitas, too, with some fresh avocado and corn tortillas. The avocado would really pacify the palate. These shrimp are muy caliente. Anyway, the recipe is adapted from Mexican Everyday, a fantastic cookbook from Rick Bayless.

Chipotle Shrimp
Print recipe only here

Serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS
1 pound medium-large peeled and deveined shrimp
One 15-ounce can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes
2-3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1 tablespoon of adobo sauce (reserved from canned chiles)
1 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup water or stock
salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
2/3 T fresh cilantro, chopped

METHOD
Puree the tomatoes, chiles and adobo in a food processor and process until smooth. I use my mini-prep processor for this.

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and saute gently for one minute. Add tomato-chile sauce. Bring to a boil and cook five minutes. Add broth or water and salt and bring back to a boil.

Add shrimp and cook 3-5 minutes, adding more water or stock if it gets to thick.

Transfer to plates when cooked through. Top with chopped cilantro and serve immediately.

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On the Importance of Toasting Your Tortillas

Mariana taught me this. In addition to being the person who tipped me off to Pete's Market in Pilsen, she showed me the proper way to prep a corn tortilla. It does not involve a pan - just the open flame of your gas range. Sorry to ye of the electric stove.

For starters, it absolutely helps if you have great tortillas on hand. I don't get to Pilsen that often but found a great tortilla at Whole Foods:

Anyway, your basic corn tortilla out of the package looks like this:

I you get them fresh, they're delicious as it. But trust me, they're even better if you toast them - even the Pilsen ones. To toast, just set your burner to a medium flame a pop a tortilla directly on top:

Flip after a minute or two, or once the tortilla puckers a bit. Just stay close by and keep checking. You want them to char a bit, just so. The end result looks like this:


We pretty much always have corn tortillas in the fridge, using them alternately for breakfast (with eggs), lunch (with tuna) or at dinner carnitas, or for soft tacos). I'm not certain that they're completely gluten free, but they provide a nice respite from wheat. Also: yum.

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Egg Soft Taco: the best breakfast you haven't tried

I did my Memorial Day weekend shopping at Pete's Market in Pilsen (the Mexican community on the lower west side of Chicago). What a treat! I picked up some glorious produce, a great selection of dairy (cotija, crema and queso fresco) hunks of roast pork and piles of fresh corn tortillas. Nearly every meal since has employed the corn tortilla in some form.

The breakfast featured above is known as the Egg Soft Taco. It cannot be beat. Scramble up some eggs, heat up your fresh corn tortillas on the stove top or griddle. I prefer the former. Toss a tortilla directly on the burner with the flame at a medium heat. Leave it to warm through for a minute or so then flip, using tongs or - for the brave - fingers. Cook the other side until softened or a bit charred and then transfer to a towel to keep warm. Divide the eggs between the tortillas, shake on your favorite hot sauce (Cholula and de cero's hot sauce are my faves right now) and serve immediately. As for quantities, I recommend one egg per tortilla.

I cannot recommend Pete's Market in Pilsen highly enough. The produce was spectacular ($.58 for a perfect avocado!), good organic selection, roast pork carnitas were great (with the caveat that I did remove a lot of fat while shredding it) and fresh corn tortillas?!? C'mon! Go shopping in Pilsen. You won't be disappointed. And get some caramel lollipops for dessert. Mmmm...cajeta.

Pete's Fresh Market
2526 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL
(773) 254-8400

* Warm thanks to Mariana for making the Pete's introduction.

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Throwing a Lean Taco Party

It didn’t take reinventing the wheel to create a healthy recipe for traditional beef tacos. It just took some good lean ground beef. I use Trader Joes 96/4 ground beef for everything and can’t recommend it highly enough.

Tacos are an easy weeknight preparation. There are some critical components to add to your grocery list – namely ingredients for guacamole which is integral. I don’t put any dairy on my tacos so the richness of guacamole is an obvious substitute.

Beef Tacos
Print recipe only here

YOU WILL NEED:
Taco Shells – I like both the 365 label at Whole Foods and the Bearitos label of organic yellow corn taco shells. Blue Corn has been getting some good press lately for being higher in protein and having a lower glycemic index than white corn. Bearitos does make a blue corn taco shell and I bet they're good, too.

For the beef:
1 pound lean ground beef – 96/4
½ medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1-2 T chili powder
2-3 t ground cumin
3-4 T tomato sauce (I keep the 8 oz cans for this)
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:
In a medium sauté pan or skillet, sauté the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of canola oil. Work over a medium heat.

After a few minutes add the ground beef. Turn up the heat a bit and brown until cooked though.

Add the dry spices, salt and pepper and cook for another few minutes. This helps release the full flavor of the spices.

Add the tomato sauce and cook another few minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary and serve in warmed taco shells. I heat mine in the toaster oven for a few minutes on a low baking temperature – like 200-250° so they don’t brown.

Serve with:
• Guacamole
• Shredded lettuce
• Salsa or hot sauce
• Spanish rice

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Lunch at De Cero: an update to Places in Chicago

Yesterday was a fantastic day in Chicago - low 60s and sunny. It's nice to see other urban cave dwellers emerge squinty eyed from their dens. Of course Cold Miser is not quite through with us here in the Land of Lincoln. It's dropping to the 30s over the weekend.

Delightful weather is cause for celebration in my book, so Josh and I went to a favorite lunch spot in the west loop, de cero. Since we always eat outside at de cero, I had all-but forgotten its very existence during the longest winter ever. (Ye from Lands other than Lincoln didn't believe me about urban hibernation, did you?!?)

Anyway, tagged as a modern taqueria, ordering at de cero is great fun because ordering a lot is encouraged - necessary, even, given the itty-bitty sizes - and I like ordering lots of different things. My general M.O. there is to get three soft tacos. My absolute favorite is the strip steak and I always have that. A pork and a fish taco round out the plate. Yesterday it was the tomatillo pork and the salmon with cilantro pesto. Possibly the best thing was that I also bought a bottle of their signature hot sauce for home. Mmm. It's so yummy - hot, smoky, sour and a brilliant red, to boot. I dribbled some on my breakfast potatoes this morning and look forward to slathering it on my huevos this weekend. The Egg Soft Taco is a favorite morning breakfast at Casa Fairbank. What movie is "Vaya con huevos" from? Was it Nobody's Fool?

The skinny:
de cero
814 W. Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 455-8114

Love the small soft tacos! My favorite: skirt steak with potatoes, onion, cilantro, lime, and chipotle mayo.

photo courtesy of de cero

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Tortilla Soup

This recipe is largely from James Peterson’s Fish & Shellfish, one of my favorite cookbooks. He gives some credit for it to Rick Bayless’s Authentic Mexican (Bayless has authored some great cookbooks, Mexican Everyday being a favorite of mine).
Makes four first course servings.

Tortilla Soup with Crab or Chicken
Print recipe only here

INGREDIENTS
* 4 ears sweet corn, or 2 cans organic whole kernals or two 10-ounce packages of frozen organic white corn
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 3 garlic cloves
* 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
* ½ t oregano
* 2 T canola oil
* ½ cup Muir Glen fire roasted crushed tomatoes
* Two 32-ounce boxes (8 cups) Imagine free-range chicken broth
* 4 marinated, grilled chicken breasts* or about a pound of lump crabmeat
* Fresh cilantro
* Juice of 2 limes
* 4-6 fresh corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
* 1-2 ripe avocados, cut into chunks

METHOD
Sauté the onion, garlic, jalapeño and oregano in canola oil over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onions soften.

Add the corn, tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Let simmer, loosely covered, for about 30 minutes. Remove cover, stir and allow to cool for about an hour (you can speed this up with an ice bath).

At this point prepare the tortilla strips and avocado and grill the chicken. For tortilla strips, heat 1 T canola oil in a 10” nonstick pan and add strips, pan-frying until crispy. Drain strips on paper towels and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Once soup has cooled well, puree between half and two-thirds of the soup in a blender (you do not want to puree hot soup or you’ll end up with burns and a very messy kitchen) and strain into a clean pot. You can puree as much as you want – I like it to have a smooth base with some texture.

SERVING
Bring soup to a simmer and add lime, cilantro (crabmeat, if using) and salt and pepper to taste. If serving with chicken, slice breasts and add to each bowl. Top with soup with avocado chunks and add a small tower of tortilla strips and serve immediately.

* If using chicken, plan to marinate skinless breasts for 4 hours in a mixture of lime juice, chopped fresh cilantro, thinly sliced onion and a tablespoon or so of canola oil. Grill and allow to cool before slicing into strips.

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