Saturday, June 28, 2008

Chicken in Pipián Sauce

I made this once before using a recipe from Rick Bayless. It turned out great, but it was very labor intensive. The version from Sunset Mexican was more manageable. The recipe actually calls for duck, but I used chicken. I adapted the pipián paste to a smaller portion, which is how we end up with only 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro. I tried it with 1 teaspoon of dried cilantro, and it worked out fine.

For the pipián paste:
3 oz. hulled, unsalted pumpkin seeds
¼ cup chicken broth
½ jalapeño, stemmed and seeded
¼ teaspoon each ground cumin, ground pepper, and salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

For the rest:
1 small chicken for roasting (all I could find was a five-pounder)
1 or 2 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 can (11 oz.) tomatillos, drained
2 large romaine lettuce leaves, torn into pieces
1 recipe pipián paste
2 tablespoons salad oil
1 cup chicken broth

First, make the pipián paste.
Spread the pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and toast, stirring once or twice, in a 350 degree oven, until seeds begin to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (Note: I used our toaster oven, and it took about half that amount of time). In a blender, combine pumpkin seeds with chicken broth, jalapeño, cumin, pepper, salt, and cilantro. Whirl until smooth; add a little more liquid if necessary. Sauce will be grainy. Set aside.

To make the chicken:
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Place breast side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven until done, about 1 hour and a half (90 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a blender, combine chiles, onion, garlic, cilantro, tomatillos, and romaine; whirl until smooth.

Heat oil in a 2- to 3-quart pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add chile puree and pipián paste; cook, stirring, until sauce bubbles. Blend in broth and bring to a boil.

Pour sauce into a rimmed serving platter. Cut chicken in quarters and lay over the sauce.

We had this with rice and a sautéed medley of corn, zucchini, and red peppers.

Red Snapper Veracruz

I have declared this the Summer of Mexico (as opposed to last year’s summer of salad). Here’s Red Snapper Veracruz, also adapted from my Sunset Mexico book.

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ small green bell pepper, chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of half a lime
¼ cup sliced pimento-stuffed green olives
2 tablespoons diced green chiles
2 large tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 snapper or rockfish fillets (about 1 pound)
½ tablespoon of capers, rinsed

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add bell pepper, onion, and garlic and cook until soft (about 7 minutes). Add pepper, cinnamon, lime juice, olives, and chiles; cook for 1 more minute. Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil; cook until thickened, about 10 minutes. (Note: I added a little water to the mixture. Check the seasoning before adding the sauce to the fish; we found that it needed salt).

Place fillets in a lightly greased baking dish just large enough to hold them. Pour sauce over fish and bake in a 350 degree oven until fish is just slightly translucent or wet inside when cut in thickest part (10 to 15 minutes). Stir in capers just before serving. (Note: I don’t like capers, so I left them out).

We had this with white rice. It got the Gabe stamp of approval.

Very tasty chili

As part of my ongoing attempts to find the perfect chili recipe, I tried my hand at Chili Colorado, from my Sunset Mexican Cookbook. The recipe in the book called for 5 pounds of meat, and I only wanted to use about a pound, so I adjusted the ingredients accordingly.

Chili Colorado

1 ounce dried New Mexico chiles
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons salad oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 pound boneless beef chuck, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
½ teaspoon each ground cumin, ground cloves, dry oregano, dry rosemary, and dry tarragon
1 14.5 oz. can tomatoes (petite dice)
½ cup (or so) beef broth

Rinse chiles; discard stems and seeds. Break chiles into pieces. Combine chiles and water in a 2 ½ to 3-quart pan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chiles are soft, about 30 minutes. (Note: Using different directions on the package of chiles, I pureed the chiles with about half the onion and the garlic, then added boiling water to the blender, and blended until smooth. I set it aside while I prepared the rest of the dish.)

Heat oil in a dutch oven or other large, heavy pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic; cook, stirring often, until onions are soft (about 10 minutes). Sprinkle meat with flour. Add meat and chile puree to pan and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. (Note: when I make this again I’ll probably brown the meat first, then add the chile puree).

Add cilantro, cumin, cloves, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, tomatoes and their liquid, and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until meat is very tender when pierced (3-4 hours).

Serve with diced onion, diced tomatoes, grated cheese.

We had it cheese and sour cream, which really went nicely. Gabe even liked it. We also had some warmed up corn tortillas.