Je Mange la Ville » Mexican

Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeño

mlb — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:45:18 +0000

This marks the return of Thursday soup nights. For awhile last Winter, I was coming home from work on Thursday nights and making a big pot of interesting soup. I decided to start up the tradition again this year and the first experiment was this cumin-y, black bean soup. I thought it had great flavor and while I didn’t include all the seeds from the jalapeño, it was spicy enough for me. jwa, of course, opted for a little hot sauce.

The original instructions said to not drain the beans, but I wanted to rinse a little of the salt/liquid off, so I split the difference and drained one can/used the other without draining. Seemed like a good compromise and I probably added about 1/2 tsp of kosher salt at the end.

Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeño
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 jalapeño chile with seeds, finely diced
2 15- to 16-ounce cans black beans, 1 can undrained, the other drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (instead of canned tomatoes, I used 15 oz from a package of Pomi tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups low-salt (or homemade) chicken broth
Garnishes:
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped green onions
Crumbled feta cheese
Hot sauce

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.

Add onion, carrot, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Mix in cumin and about half the diced jalapeño.

Add beans, tomatoes with juice, and broth; bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.

Transfer 3 cups of soup to blender and puree until smooth. Return puree to pot. Or, use a stick blender and break up some of the beans/veggies that way (what I did).

Simmer soup until slightly thickened, about 10-15 more minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining jalapeño, if desired.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro, green onions, and feta cheese.

Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos

mlb — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:55:11 +0000

It seems like I hardly ever sit around on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon anymore and watch cooking shows. I used to do that all the time. Now, meh. I should really try to get back in the habit of doing that, as I feel like I’ve been in a little bit of a food rut lately.

Now this recipe…this is what happens when I actually see something on a cooking show and right then, go out and get what I need to make it. Except, in this case, I forgot limes. Thankfully, I found an orange in the fridge that I used as a substitute. And, although I think that limes would work really well in this recipe (duh), I have to admit, the orange was quite nice. A little sweeter, but it complimented the tomatillos and jalapeno well.

Plus, this is seriously some braising weather lately. Go braise something! Why not this?

Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos
Adapted from a recipe by Anne Burrell (she with the crazy hair). Serves two as written below. Double it up and you’ve got lunches for the next day as well!
3 tomatillos, husked
1 jalapeno pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 chicken drumsticks
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 medium white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 green bell epepper, cored and diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 orange, zested and juiced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus a few more leaves for garnish

Citrus Sour Cream:
1/4 cup sour cream
1 limes (or 1/2 orange), zested and juiced

Place the tomatillos and jalapenos on a foil lined baking sheet and put under the boiler, turning as needed, until charred and black. When they are done, remove and put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or foil to steam. After a few minutes, you should be able to peel the blackened skins off. Chop the tomatillos and jalapeno (removing some of the jalapeno seeds, if you want it less spicy).

Coat a large, wide straight-sided saute pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt. Add the chicken legs to the hot pan. Brown the chicken well on all sides. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Remove any excess fat from the pan and add a few drops of new oil. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrot, season with salt and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and continue cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Next, add the reserved tomatillos and jalapenos. Stir to combine and add the chicken stock, orange juice and zest. Taste and season with pepper and more salt if needed. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and let cook for 15 more minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.

For the sour cream: Combine the sour cream with the lime (or orange) zest and juice.

To serve: Remove the chicken from the pan and stir in the cilantro. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with cilantro leaves and serve with the citrus sour cream.

Delivered Dish: Trebol

mlb — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 23:09:02 +0000

The other night we (I) didn’t really feel like cooking so we did something we hadn’t for a while — we ordered in using Delivered Dish and got some food from Trebol in North Portland.

It seems when Delivered Dish first starting delivering in Portland, it seems like we called an order in at least every couple of months but then we sort of forgot about it. I’m not sure why, we always had good service and we thoroughly enjoyed our every-so-often Indian food fix brought directly to our house.

Anyway, we opted to order through them recently and it was nice to be able to order online now. Before, it was phone only. It was also nice that as I added things to the order area, I saw exactly what I was spending. It’s really easy to get carried away when ordering tasty food. Especially Mexican food, where I tend to want to order one of everything. Oh and also, it looks like Delivered Dish is in Denver and San Diego now. Funny, because I have actually mentioned that to friend in Denver before.

But back to Portland — It took about 45 minutes on a Friday night (I ordered about 5:30) and the delivery person was super nice. I was actually considering asking if I could take his picture when he got here, but that seemed kind of lame. Plus, he had tons of food to start handing over to me! Food was more important.

We got a couple of starters (Guacamole, Masa Cakes), two entrees (Enchiladas and Flat Bread with Braised Chicken) and a dessert to split. The delivery charge is based on your zip code and where the restaurant is — to our house it was $6.49.

House Made Flat Bread topped with Braised Chicken, Black Beans & Guacamole, Traditional Enchiladas with Summer squash, grilled cactus, caramelized onions, fresh cheese & a fried egg and Masa cakes stuffed with wild boar, roasted yams, & aged cheese topped with creme fraiche.

Guacamole con Chiles y Ajo – Organic avocados with Serrano chiles & caramelized garlic and another view of the Masa Cake. Garlic was fabulous. But you are probably not surprised by that, are you?

Tequila Caramel Flan with Chantilly Cream. Yes.

Awesome guacamole on a little tortilla.

Did I mention the caramelized garlic?

More masa cakes stuffed with wild boar.

The perfect accompaniment.

Dessert time! I actually love cilantro so I was happy to see a sprig on top of the flan.

Mary Navarette’s Garlicky Enchiladas

mlb — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:00:01 +0000

This, as I mentioned on Twitter last weekend while making it, was the very first recipe that I ever made out of a cookbook as an adult. It’s in one of my most-favorite-ever cookbooks, The Farmhouse Cookbook. It was really fun going back and making the same dish again…it’s one of those recipes where I have literally been saying, “Oh! I need to make that again!” for about the last 15 (20!!@#!) years. I really need to stop procrastinating. Hmmm…maybe tomorrow?

Anyway. In this version, I substituted canned tomatoes for the fresh (if it is Summer, and you feel so inclined, use 2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes for the sauce). I used a full can of whole, peeled tomatoes and about one half of a leftover can of diced tomatoes that I needed to use up. I only used two jalapenos, but in retrospect, I think I should have used three. Daring!

This dish is a Project. I made it in steps, throughout a Sunday. It’s certainly not a quick weeknight meal, but it is a fairly enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I even made the tortillas! At first, I pressed them out with my tortilla press, but they did not get flat enough. So I ended up rolling them out as well. Next time, I’ll just use a rolling pin from the get-go. Let’s go!

Mary Navarette’s Garlicky Enchiladas
Adapted from a recipe in The Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis
For the chicken:
1 chicken (3-4 pounds)
1 whole head of garlic (unpeeled)
1 tbsp salt
1 cup pitted black olives, drained and roughly chopped
1/3 cup diced red onion

For the Sauce:
1 28 oz. can peeled tomatoes, tomatoes diced, juice reserved
2 tomatoes, diced (or 1/2 a 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes)
2-3 jalapeno peppers
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion (this can also be the remainder of the red onion you used in the chicken)
1 tsp chili powder
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

Assembling/Finishing:
8 flour tortillas (homemade? — see below)
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup cotija cheese, crumbled

Garnishes:
Any or all — sour cream, diced avocado, cilantro, lime wedges, chopped jalapeno pepper, hot sauce, diced cherry tomatoes, etc…

The Chicken:
Okay….Rinse the chicken and pull out any surprises inside (the giblets, heart, etc…) and add it to a big pot, along with the whole garlic head. Cover with fresh, cold water and add the salt. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, about 30-45 minutes.

Pull out the chicken and garlic and set aside until cool enough to handle. Reserve he broth. At this point you can also add some onion, carrot, and peppercorns to the broth and simmer it a bit longer and make some stock for cooking other things. That’s what I did. In fact, after I shredded up the chicken, I threw those bones in there and let it all simmer together for another hour and a half.

After your chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat off it and squeeze all of the cooked garlic out of the cloves and add it the chicken. Toss in the olives and diced red onion. Your filling is done. Refrigerate until ready to use.

The Sauce:
Turn on the broiler and put the peppers on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Broil until all blackened and charred. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap after you pull the peppers out of the oven. Let them steam for a few minutes, so that you can easily then pull the blackened skin off. Seed and dice the peppers and set aside.

Add the oil to a large pot and saute the onions and garlic until soft, about 6-7 minutes over medium heat. Add the chili powder and diced jalapenos and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add the tomatoes, about 1/4 cup of the juice and bring to boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to break up the tomatoes a bit. You can also use a blender or food processor here. You just want to break down some of the tomato chunks. If the sauce is too thick add a little of your chicken broth to thin it a bit. You might not need to do this…I didn’t have to add any extra liquid. Stir in the cilantro leaves. Taste again and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Sauce is ready.

Assemblege:
Okay! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take a tortilla and dip it into the sauce. Add about a 1/8 of your filling and a small handful of cheese. Roll up and place seam-sise down in a large rectangular baking dish (a lasagna-sized pan works well). Repeat this step seven more times.

You should have about a 1/2 cup or so grated cheese leftover. You may also have filling leftover. I’m sure you can find some sort of use for that! I know I have…

Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle the cotija cheese on top and bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes. If you prefer your cheese topping less golden, cover with aluminum foil for the first 20 minutes of baking, then remove for the remainder of oven time.

When done, remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before digging in. Serve with some refried beans on the side, maybe?

Flour Tortillas
3 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup lard or vegetable shortening
1 cup plus 1 tbsp water

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Use your fingers to rub in the lard or shortening until it is well blended, but grainy (kind of like when making pie dough). You can also do this in a food processor (what I did). Add the water and mix until the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Divide into 16 small balls. Cover with a damp towel and let rest 15 minutes.

Roll out each ball to a thin, even circle about 6-8 inches in diameter. Place rolled out tortillas between paper towels, sheet of parchment, or wax paper.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and cook each tortilla about 40 seconds on the first side and 15 seconds on the second side. They should be very thin, so this part will go very quickly. Let cool on a wire rack and use eight for your enchiladas and the other eight for snacking.

Not Really So Texas-Style Chili

mlb — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:05:08 +0000

I love this chili! I’ve made it twice in the past month. It’s really good…not mouth-burningly spicy (but it has a kick), very complex and if you are not from Texas, it’s perfectly appropriate to add beans, imho. Hooray! If you want your chili all meaty and Texas-like, just increase the meat to 3 pounds and loose the beans. How you prefer your chili is between you and your kitchen, that’s what I say. This is just how I like it.

The second time I made it, I actually grabbed a boneless rib eye steak from Trader Joe’s, cubed that up and used that for the meat. I think it was about $5 and I liked that better than the $12 worth of short ribs I used originally. Go figure.

Oh and this leftover chili makes EPIC NACHOS. Seriously. Just load some tortilla chips up on a baking sheet. Scatter some spoonfuls of (warmed up) chili on top, add cheese and diced red onions and stick in a 400 degree oven until the cheese melts and the chip get a little golden. Wow. Yeah. You’re welcome.

Portland-Style Chili with Beer, Coffee & Chocolate
Adapted from a recipe in Food & Wine Magazine
2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
About 2 cups boiling water
1-2 canned chipotles in adobo, seeded
1 cup brewed coffee (Stumptown! or in this case, Sleepy Monk Coffee Roasters from Cannon Beach)
One 12-ounce bottle pale ale (Bridgeport Ebenezer Ale because it was festive!)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb boneless short ribs, cut into scant 1-inch cubes (or 1lb stew beef, or 1lb other kind of red meaty steak-like substance)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
6 cups chicken stock
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup masa harina or fine cornmeal
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Garnishes: hot sauce, Shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onion, sour cream, cilantro, warm corn tortillas

Heat a large skillet. Add the dried chiles (I actually stemmed/seeded after toasting) and toast over moderately low heat, turning, until lightly charred, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a heatproof bowl. Cover with the boiling water and let stand until softened, about 20 minutes.

Drain the chiles and transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the chipotles and coffee and puree until smooth.

Heat the oil in a large pot. Season the meat with salt and pepper and add the pot. Cook over moderately high heat until browned all over, about 8 minutes. If you are using 3 pounds of meat, you’ll have to brown in batches.

Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, cinnamon and cloves and cook until fragrant.

Deglaze the pan with the beer. Then, add the chile mixture and the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, stirring. Cover partially and simmer over low heat until the meat is very tender and the sauce is slightly reduced, about 2 hours.

Ladle 2 cups of the sauce into a heatproof bowl and whisk in the masa harina.

Whisk the mixture into the pot and then add the beans. Simmer until the sauce thickens, 15 minutes. Stir in the chocolate.

Season the chili with salt. Serve with the garnishes. Even better the next day!