Chicken and Shellfish Paella

Yesterday I made paella in the park. Turned out pretty well, considering all the mistakes I made. The pan never got as hot as it should, which meant that every time I added any cold ingredient it cooled way down and took forever heating up again. I'm posting the video anyway (here's the link, since I'm having trouble embedding it). Why? Because despite my mistakes it still turned out all right. I used the same recipe that I posted here.

By the way, you'd be surprised at the number of people who have never even heard of paella. Disturbing.

Chicken in Charmoula

Charmoula is a cilantro/parsley mixture that we first tried over broiled white fish. The tart, garlicky melange brought something so wonderful to the fish that we immediately decided to try it on chicken. Once the meat has been marinated, you can grill it or bake it -- either way it turns out great. Tonight we grilled the chicken (45 minutes to 1 hour over charcoal) and served it with Spinach Garbanzos.

3/4 cup cilantro

1/3 cup parsley

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 chicken, cut up for grilling

Grind together cilantro, parsley and garlic in food processor, then add all the other ingredients except the chicken and blend until as smooth as possible.

Combine charmoula with chicken in a bowl, cover and chill in refrigerator several hours or

overnight before baking or grilling.

Moroccan-ish Spinach Garbanzos

Let me say, for the record, that I despise the usage "chickpea." Sure, it may be slightly closer to the Latin name (from Cicer arietinum -- which, incidentally, is also where the Roman orator Cicero got his name, but I digress), but the Spanish "garbanzo" sounds more robust, more healthy.

All that aside, spinach and garbanzos go together like Laurel and Hardy; like Don Quixote and Sancho. Sure, you can imagine one without the other, but together they are something special.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 15 oz can garbanzos, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1/3 cup tomato sauce

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

dash of cayenne

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

kosher salt

black pepper

Over medium high heat, saute bread crumbs in oil until brown. Add the garlic, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Saute about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, then add tomato sauce and garbanzos. Reduce heat and cook for a few minutes, then stir in the spinach. Heat through and season with salt and pepper.

Caldo Tlalpeño

The Summer of Mexican continues, and what better way to celebrate a hotter-than-the-weatherman-predicted summer evening than with a killer soup? Recipes from the Mexico the Beautiful cookbook have been sort of hit and miss for me, but this one was a home run. A beautiful soup, light and flavorful. I ended up changing it slightly, but my only regret was that I didn't have a ripe tomato in the garden and had to make do with one from the store. We served this with homemade French bread from a recipe Erika found here. I was a little concerned that the recipe called for twice the amount of yeast you normally use for that amount of flour, and the dough was a little goopier than I was expecting, but the bread turned out pretty good.

Soup

12 oz cooked and shredded chicken*

6 cups low sodium chicken stock

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon oil

2/3 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded and cut into strips

1 tsp. salt

Condiments

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)

lime slices

1 ripe tomato, chopped

2 serrano chilies, finely chopped

1 cup cooked rice

Heat the oil in heavy bottomed pot and saute the carrot, onions and garlic until onions are transluscent, about 3 minutes. Add garbanzos, chicken stock, chiles and salt. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes over low heat then adjust seasoning. Add the chicken to the pot to warm it.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with condiments to taste. Serves 6-8.

* I used a mixture of white and dark meat from a chicken I roasted in advance.

Pinchos morunos and tortilla española

I love Spanish bar food and these are two of my favorites. Pinchos morunos are grilled pork skewers, marinated with olive oil, garlic, paprika and a hint of red pepper. I've blogged about them before, here. Tortilla is one of those things that are easy to make, but not always easy to get perfectly right. Enjoy.

Zucchini Brownies

I found this recipe originally here; I added some milk, but otherwise the recipe is as is.

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

ICING:

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup margarine

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a standing mixer combine oil, sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and milk until well blended. Add flour and cocoa, then fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Pour into pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Then set aside to cool.

To make icing, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Empanada de pescado (again)

Erika suggested I try making a You Tube video, so I decided, what the heck. I had some leftover striped bass from the other day, so decided to make an empanada. I posted a recipe awhile back here.

This version is a little different:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 large onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

salt

sugar

1 cup or so of cooked striped bass

red pepper flakes (optional)

1 hardboiled egg, diced

2 tbsp. pine nuts

1 1/2 pounds pizza dough

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Saute the onion and bell pepper in the olive oil until the onion is transclucent. Add the tomato sauce and simmer uncovered for a few minutes, then add salt to taste and a dash of sugar to bring out the tartness of the sauce.

Stir in the fish, crushing slightly with the spoon so it is well integrated into the sauce. Add a dash of red pepper flakes, if desired.

Remove from heat and add the hardboiled egg and pine nuts.

Divide pizza dough in half and roll out half into a 12-inch circle. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a pizza stone and lay dough circle on it. Spread the fish mixture evenly over it. Roll out and lay the other sheet of puff dough over the top and crimp the edges. Paint dough with olive oil and place in oven.

Bake for 15-20 until golden brown. Cool on wire rack, and serve.

Grilled Fish

2 large striped bass fillets, skin on

5 tbsp. mayonnaise

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

SAUCE

10 guajillo chilies, seeds removed

5 ancho chilies, seeds removed

1 cup water

4 tomatoes

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. white vinegar

3 whole cloves

1/3 onion

1/2 tsp. each dried oregano, thyme, marjoram

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, salt and pepper. Rub onto the fish and marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.

To prepare the sauce, soak the chilies in hot water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain, transfer to a blender and puree with the water, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, cloves, onoin, oregano, thyme, marjoram and cumin until smooth.

Heat the butter and oil in a small saucepan and add the pureed chilies. When the puree comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool to room temperature.

Grill with the rack set about 8 inches over a charcoal fire. Place fish skin side down and grill for 15-20 minutes, basting regularly with the sauce. Turn the fish over and grill for about 5 minutes longer, or until fish is done.

Budín con picadillo (Ground Meat Casserole)

I like finding things to do with ground beef that don't involve hamburgers, lasagna, spaghetti or tacos. This recipe actually calls for squash blossoms, which I did not have. I suspect it would taste great with zucchini or even with spinach or Swiss chard. Adapted from Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook, by Susanna Palazuela.

3 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 whole clove

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons salt

1 lb ground beef

2 tablespoons oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeño chili

1 lb tomatillos, husked

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 poblano chilies

oil for frying

12 corn tortillas

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

Grind 2 garlic cloves together with the pepper, clove, thyme and one teaspoon of the salt in a mortar. Transfer to a large bowl, add the beef and mix well.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until transparent. Add the beef and saute, uncovered, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cook the jalapeños together with the tomatillos in boiling water until the tomatillos change color, about 10 minutes. Drain, transfer to a blender with 1 garlic clove, the cilantro, and 1 teaspoon salt. Puree and set aside.

Roast the poblano chilies: brush the chilies with oil and roast in 450-degree oven for 20 minutes or so, turning once or twice, until skin is blistered. Let chilies cool and sweat a little. Rinse under cool water, removing seeds and skin. Skin will slip right off. Slice into strips.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1/2 inch oil in a skillet and briefly fry each tortilla on both sides. Arrange 6 tortillas, overlapping, in the bottom of a rectangular baking dish. Cover with a layer of meat, a layer of poblanos, half of the sour cream and a third of the grated cheese. Make another layer of tortillas, meat, chilies, cream and cheese. Cover with tomatillo puree, transfer to oven and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining one-third of the cheese and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts and browns.

Potatoes in Green Sauce

Served this at a barbecue tonight, where at least one person claimed they were the best potatoes she ever ate. I wouldn't go that far, but they were pretty flavorful. The recipe comes from Cookshelf Mexican, by Marlena Spieler. All you're doing, basically, is adding green salsa to already-cooked potatoes, so I suppose that in a pinch you could just open a jar of tomatillo salsa and save a few steps. But roasting the ingredients for the salsa is not hard, and adds a flavor dimension you most likely will not get from a jar.

3 pounds red potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch chunks

1 onion, halved and unpeeled

8 garlic cloves, unpeeled

8 tomatillos, husks removed

1 large jalapeño chili

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

salt

Place potatoes in a pot of water and bring to a boil, then cook gently for 8-10 minutes until potatoes are almost done. Do not over cook. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, roast onion, garlic, tomatillos and chili in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until charred. Remove from pan. Let cool slightly, then peel onion and garlic. Place onion, garlic, tomatillos and chili in a blender, together with 1/2 cup chicken stock to make a puree. Set aside.

Heat oil in heavy skillet and fry puree until it reduces slightly. Add potatoes and zucchini, along with half of the cilantro and the rest of the chicken stock. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Check for salt.

Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve.

Baked Beans with Ancho Chili

This was my offering at our friend’s Fourth of July barbecue yesterday. The chili and orange zest add an interesting dimension; these are not your standard barbecue baked beans. I pulled the recipe from Aliza Green, Beans: More than 200 Delicious, Wholesome Recipes from Around the World, but made a few changes based on ingredient availability and time frame.

1 pound dried pinto beans

1/2 pound bacon, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 ancho chilies, seeded, soaked in cold water 30 minutes, and minced*

2 tablespoons ground toasted cumin seeds

6 tablespoons brown sugar dissolved in 2 tablespoons of liquid from tomatoes**

Zest of 1 orange

Juice of 1 orange

2 14.5 ounce cans petite diced tomatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

Rinse beans and place in pot with 8 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until nearly done. Drain.

Cook the bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until crispy. Transfer bacon to paper towels. In the same pan, cook the onion, carrots, and garlic in the bacon fat until softened. Add the chili, cumin, brown sugar, orange zest, and juice. Cook for three minutes.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the beans, tomatoes, chili mixture and bacon in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil on the stove, cover and bake in oven for 1 hour or until beans are almost soft. Season with salt and pepper, stir, and return to oven for another 30 minutes, or until the beans are soft and the liquid has been absorbed. If necessary, add more liquid during baking.

*or 2 tablespoons ground ancho chile

**or 1/2 cup molasses

Darn Good Chili

This is a little more labor intensive than using commercial chili powder or (Heaven forbid) opening a can but it is well worth the time. The basic recipe and technique comes from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, but I've kind of done my own thing with it. As written, the recipe calls for ground beef (or a half-and-half beef/pork blend), but I've also used chunks of chuck to good effect. When we went to Yosemite I made some of this in advance and froze it. We warmed it up in the cabin and, voila, instant dinner.

You'll notice that I've used canned tomatoes, beef broth, and beans; I'm sure you could use fresh tomatoes and prepare the broth and beans from scratch and the finished product would taste that much better, but it is pretty dang good as it is.

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 dried ancho chilies and 2-3 dried California chilies (2 oz. total)

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 can beef broth

1 pound ground beef

1 small yellow onion, diced

1/2 can petite diced tomatoes

1 can pinto beans (optional)

Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies and open them up as well as you can.

In a large, heavy skillet (I use cast iron) over medium heat, roast the garlic, turning occasionally until soft. Let cool slightly, then remove skins.

While the garlic is roasting, in the same pan you can toast the chilies (on both sides), pressing down on them with a spatula, until they blister and crackle slightly. Place them in a bowl of hot water to soak for about 30 minutes. Then drain.

Place the drained chilies together with the garlic, and the next seven ingredients in a blender. Add half of the can of broth and blend to a smooth puree. If you wish you can strain the puree, but it's not necessary.

Meanwhile, fry the ground beef and the onion in a little oil in a small Dutch oven over medium high heat. Once the meat is cooked, drain out most of the fat. Add the chili puree all at once and fry, stirring frequently, for several minutes.

Add the rest of the beef broth, the tomatoes and enough water so that the mixture is floating freely. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer, uncovered, for a couple hours. Add the beans toward the end.

A Bit of Doggerel -- About a Cat

Every now and then I get seized by my muse and wax poetic. I wrote this years ago. It was a hit at our family reunion, where I did a dramatic reading with my brother-in-law Robbie backing me up on bass. Background: When I was a kid my sister had an orange-striped cat named Nicky, whose idea of fun was to race the garage door. One day he lost.

How an Orange Kitty Cat One Day Learned a Valuable Lesson

He had tiger stripes, young kitty cat
ball of fluff, now smashed so flat.

And so my friend raced out one day
(a day, by the way, built for play,

and much, it seems, like most other days:
sky mottled white on blue, and rays

of sun dripped like drops of rain
upon a dewy glistening plain

of backyard blessed with blades of green --
a sea of grass on which to dream).

But oh my striped young kitty cat,
(ball of fluff now smashed so flat)

cavorted not outdoors that day
but in garaged darkness played;

racing toward the blinding light
oft revealed and brought to sight

when ‘lectric buzzing motor'd raise
the great wood door before his gaze.

Then began the game quite simple
(though it gave his side a dimple):

race the door and reach the outside
before the door could brush his young hide.

But oh! my striped young kitty cat,
ball of fluff now smashed so flat!

Never more on bright blue day
will you race outside to play!

The door came down, soundly smashing
my kitty cat who once, so dashing,

dashed across a concrete floor
and tried to beat a ‘lectric door,

but ne’er again will frolic anew
beneath a winsome sky most blue.

For oh my striped orange kitty cat,
ball of fluff, you’re smashed
... so flat.

Frijoles de olla

Incredibly easy.

1 pound pinto beans

8 cups water

2 tablespoons lard

1/2 white onion, diced.

Place all ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are soft. Add salt and simmer for about half an hour longer. Beans will keep in the fridge for a couple days.

Mole poblano

Tonight's extravaganza: chicken in mole poblano, frijoles de olla, cactus salad. Our guests, the ever-game Ashcrofts, brought a quinoa salad.

It was touch a go for a bit and I was worried that it wouldn't turn out, but in the end it all came together.

Mole is immensely time consuming, involving a multitude of ingredients that have to be toasted, ground, and fried, in what appears to be a heart-stopping amount of lard. The kitchen got a little crazy and I found myself stopping to clean periodically so I wouldn't end up using every dish in the house.

Which would be quite easy to do, so plan ahead. I used the same cast iron skillet to fry the chiles, fry the chile puree, brown the chicken, toast the spices and sesame seeds, fry the raisins, etc.

Time organization is tricky too; some steps can be done simultaneously or in a different order. I toasted the spices for step 3c and did the frying for step 3d well in advance of when the recipe says to do them, and just set the ingredients aside until they were needed. Also, I was short on time, so I didn't get to simmer it quite as long as the recipe calls for, but it still turned out fine.

Other changes of note: I did not have any chiles mulatos, so I left them out. Also, I used chicken instead of turkey. Certain things could be done in advance (make the sauce the day before; precook the chicken and warm it in the sauce 20 minutes before serving). Anyway, here it is. Adapted from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.

1. The chiles
Approximately 1/2 cup lard
8 ancho chiles, seeds and veins removed
6 chiles negros, seeds and veins removed
(reserve 1 tablespoon chile seeds for later)

Heat the lard in a skillet and briefly fry the chiles on both sides. [Kennedy says to take care not to let them burn, but she doesn't bother to mention that frying dried chiles in lard releases a tear-gas cloud of pepper smoke into the kitchen that will chase your loved ones outside.] While your family takes refuge in the backyard, fry the chiles, place them in a bowl of cold water and soak them for one hour. Drain.

2. The chicken
2 4-pound chickens, cut into serving pieces
approximately 1/3 cup lard
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Heat the lard in a large cast iron skillet and fry the chicken pieces, a few at a time, until the skin turns golden brown. Place the chicken pieces in an oven-safe Dutch oven, sprinkle with salt, cover and braise in the oven for about 40 minutes. Pan juices can be added to broth.

3. The rest of the sauce
Approximately 8 cups chicken broth (low-sodium, preferably homemade)
1/2 cup tomatillos, cooked (to cook tomatillos, remove husks and boil for approximately 15 minutes)
3 garlic cloves, charred and peeled
4 whole cloves
10 peppercorns
1/2-inch piece of cinnamon stick, toasted
1/8 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
1/8 teaspoon aniseeds, toasted
1 tablespoon reserved chile seeds, toasted
7 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
approximately 1/4 cup lard
2 tablespoons raisins
20 unskinned almonds
1/3 cup raw, hulled pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds)
1 small dried tortilla
3 small slices dry French bread
1 1/2 oz Mexican drinking chocolate (1/2 tablet)
Salt to taste

a. Blend the drained chiles, a few at a time, in one cup of water, adding only enough additional water to release blender blades. Melt a little lard in a heavy skillet over medium heat and fry the puree for about 10 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking. Set aside.
b. Blend tomatillo and garlic and in 1 cup of broth.
c. Grind the spices together with the chile seeds in a spice grinder. Add to blender. Grind three tablespoons of sesame seed (reserving 4 tablespoons for later). Add to blender.
d. Melt 1/4 cup lard in a frying pan and separately fry the raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds, tortilla, and bread, draining each ingredient in a colander before adding to blender. Add another cup of thr broth, or enough to release the blades of the blender, until you have a thick, slightly textured paste.
e. Add the paste to the chile puree and continue cooking, again scraping the bottom of the pan, for about 5 minutes. Break the chocolate into small pieces and add it to the mole with another cup of the broth and continue cooking for 5 minutes more. Dilute the mole with another 4 cups of the broth, test for salt [start with about 1 teaspoon and work up from there] and continue cooking over medium heat until well seasoned and pools of oil form on the surface -- about 40 minutes.

f. Add the chicken pieces and cook for another 20 minutes. [I removed the skin from the chicken pieces before adding them to the sauce.]

Serve each portion sprinkled with a little of the reserved sesame seeds.

Sopa Verde de Elote (Green Corn Soup)

This was a wonderfully balanced and refreshing soup. Once again taken from The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, by Diana Kennedy.

¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup finely chopped white onion
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2/3 cup tomatillo, cooked and drained*
4 ½ cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
5 cups light chicken broth
2/3 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
6 large sprigs cilantro
2 small poblano chilies, roasted and peeled**
3 large Romaine lettuce leaves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Blend the tomatillo until smooth. Set aside.

Blend the corn with 2 cups of the chicken broth, the peas, cilantro, chilies and lettuce leaves until smooth. Strain through a medium strainer. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until translucent.
Add the tomatillo puree to the onion in the pan and fry over high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add corn puree to the pan and cook over fairly high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan constantly, since the mixture tends to stick.

Add the remaining broth and the salt and cook over low heat until it thickens and is well seasoned – about 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream and crisp-fried tortilla pieces.

* To cook the tomatillo remove husks and stems, cover with water in saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. About 7-8 medium tomatillos will come out to 2/3 cup.

** To roast and peel chilies, spray lightly with vegetable spray and place under a broiler, turning occasionally, until skin is blistered and charred, about 20 minutes. Place chilies in plastic bag to sweat for about 10 minutes, then remove peel and seeds. Poblano chilies are sometimes labeled as ‘pasillas’ in the U.S.

Pescado en tikin xik (Broiled Fish Seasoned with Achiote)

More or less from Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico
1 tablespoon achiote seeds
¼ teaspoon peppercorns
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons orange juice (with a splash of lime juice)
2 pounds fish fillets (recipe calls for snapper; all I had on hand was basa)

Grind first five ingredients together. Add the garlic and grind. Blend in the juice. Spread over fish and set aside to season for at least 2 hours.

Preheat broiler. Spray broiler pan with non-stick spray. Cook fish seasoning side up for 8 minutes. Turn fish over and cook for around 8 minutes more.

Serve with heated corn tortillas and such toppings as chopped tomato, diced red onion, cilantro, avocado. Recipe calls for much more exciting condiments, which I didn't have on hand.

Pollo en ajo-comino (Chicken in Garlic and Cumin)

From Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico

The sauce in this dish was so good it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe that was my allergies. Regardless, this sauce could stand alone. We served this with warm tortillas, roasted potatoes on the side and the cactus salad. The boy made tacos with his share, and discovered that maybe being forced to give up crunchy tacos because of his braces wasn't such a tragedy after all. He pronounced them good.

4 ancho chiles, veins and seeds removed
1 teaspoon cumin
12 peppercorns
1 tablespoon salt
1 whole clove
4 garlic cloves
3 1/2 cups water, approximately
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 chicken, cut into serving pieces

Cover the chiles with water and simmer for about 5 minutes, then leave to soak for 5 minutes. Drain. In a mortar, grind the cumin, peppercorns, salt and clove, then mash in the garlic gradually, adding 1/4 cup of the water to dilute the mixture. Set aside.

Transfer the drained ancho chiles to a blender jar with 3/4 cup of the water. Blend until smooth and set aside.

Heat the oil and fry the chicken pieces, a few at a time, to a pale gold. Add the spice mixture and fry over medium heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the blended chiles and fry for another 3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan constantly. Add the remaining water, then adjust the seasoning and cook slowly, uncovered, until the chicken is tender -- about 40 minutes, turning the pieces over from time to time. The sauce should not be thick; add more water if necessary. Serve with warm tortillas.

Ensalada de nopalitos (Cactus Salad)

(Drawn from Diana Kennedy, the Vazquezes and my own experimentation)

When we moved to Brentwood, Erika went to a cooking demonstration at the home of a the Vazquez family from church. While there, somehow it came up that I like nopalitos (cactus). They were impressed, because apparently cactus-eating gringos are rare, and ever since then they've been after me to come over and harvest some from their backyard. So, today I did and this salad is the result. By the way, this is really good with warm corn tortillas.

There are multiple parts to this, so bear with me.

Preparing the cactus:
Use a knife or vegetable peeler to scrape the spines off the cactus paddles and trim the spines from around the edges. Be sure to wear gloves during this portion. Rinse well and make sure you've removed all the spines. Slice into strips or squares.

Cooking the cactus:
Place cactus in a heavy sauce pan and cover with water. Add about half an onion, a couple cloves of finely chopped garlic, one jalapeño, sliced, salt. Bring to a gentle boil and cook until cactus is nearly tender. The cactus will ooze a lot of slime. Drain and return to pan, cooking until slime is completely gone. Remove onion and cool.

Making the salad:
About 2 cups cooked cactus
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1/4 large red onion, thinly sliced
Oregano
handful of chopped cilantro
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
salt

Combine all ingredients, adding olive oil, vinegar and salt to taste.

Budín de elote (Corn Pudding)

From Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.

2 pounds frozen corn, thawed
6 ounces unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces rice flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces Chihuahua or Muenster Cheese, grated
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

Process the corn in a food processor with as little milk as necessary. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.

Setting the egg white aside, beat the egg yolks until they are thick. Add the sugar and continue beating until it is well incorporated. Beat in the rice flour alternately with the butter.

Stir in the corn pulp, salt, and cheese, mix well, and add the baking powder.

Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and fold them into the mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking for about 45 minutes. The budín should be soft and spongy to the touch -- the top and sides nicely browned, but the inside moist.

Serve with coarsely ground salt and thick sour cream.

Pollo en pipián rojo (Chicken in Red Sesame Seed Sauce)

Let the Summer of Mexican begin!


From Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico

This was absolutely wonderful. I'm putting it down pretty much as it is in the book. The sauce was mellow, with a pronounced but not overwhelming sesame flavor. Not too spicey. I didn't have any avocado leaf, unfortunately, so I left it out.

The Chicken
The chicken giblets
1/2 white onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme, or a large pinch of dried
Salt to taste
A 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into serving pieces

The Sauce
6 ancho chiles (reserving 1 tablspoon of the seeds)
1/2-inch piece of cinnamon stick, crushed
3 whole cloves
5 peppercorns
3/4 cup sesame seeds
3 tablespoons lard
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
Salt to taste
1 large avocado leaf, fresh or dried

Put the giblets, onion, garlic, herbs, and salt into a pan, cover with water, and bring to a fast simmer. Continue simmering for about 30 mintes. Add the chicken pieces and cook over low heat until just tender -- about 25 minutes. Strain, reserving the broth.

Toast the chiles lightly, cover with hot water, and leave to soak for 10 minutes.

Meantime, put the reserved chile seeds into an ungreased skillet and shake over medium heat until they turn a deep golden brown -- take care not to burn. Set aside to cool a little. Transfer the toasted seeds together with the spices and grind to a powder.

Toast the sesame seeds to a deep gold color in the ungreased pan and set them aside to cool of a little. Add the toasted, cooled seeds and spices to the spice grinder and grind them very fine.

Melt the lard in a skillet and fry the ground seeds and spices over low heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Transfer the chiles with a slotted spoon to the blender jar. Add 1/2 cup of the reserved broth and the garlic and blend to a smooth puree.

Add the blended chiles to the fried spice mixture and let it cook fast for about 5 minutes, stirring it constantly. Add 3 cups of the reserved broth and let the sauce continue cooking over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until it thickens and is well seasoned. Add the cooked chicken and salt, and let the chicken heat through.

Toast the avocado leaf briefly on a warm comal and then grind it finely. Add it to the sauce.

Budín de chícharo (Pea Pudding)

From Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.

My wife's first reaction when she heard I was going to make this was, and I quote, "gross." She and I were both pleasantly surprised. Not only did Erika have a second helping, the boy had some, as did the dog. In fact, the dog went to town on it. Texture-wise, think of spoon bread with a touch of souffle. As far as flavor, it's definitely pea, but it is not overwhelming. We had it as a side dish with our Pollo en pipian rojo. Erika and I enjoyed it with the orange and walnut sauce, while the boy preferred it plain.

2 pounds frozen peas, thawed
6 ounces unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces rice flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces Chihuahua or Muenster Cheese, grated
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
A sauce made by combining 2 cups orange juice with 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
Process the peas in a food processor. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.
Setting the egg white aside, beat the egg yolks until they are thick. Add the sugar and continue beating until it is well incorporated. Beat in the rice flour alternately with the butter.

Stir in the pea pulp, salt, and cheese, mex well, and add the baking powder.
Beat the egg white until they are stiff and fold them into the mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking for about 45 minutes. The budín should be soft and spongy to the touch -- the top and sides nicely browned, but the inside moist.

Serve immediately, with the orange and walnut sauce to accompany it.

Cervantes on Writing

For more thoughts on good writing, let’s turn to Miguel de Cervantes.

I spend a fair amount of time in class trying to bridge the humor gap between the 17th and 21st centuries to help my students appreciate that Don Quixote is a very funny book. The humor lies not only in the farcical situations, but in the language itself. Cervantes knew good writing. Novice readers, especially undergraduates, might not appreciate it, but Cervantes was a remarkable prose stylist. He had a way with irony that few have matched since, and apparently took great pleasure in puns, because every page teems with word games and double entendres impossible to translate. His prose is fun to read, once you know how, and signifies at multiple levels simultaneously.

While not a treasury of writing tips, Don Quixote can be considered a commentary on writing. It is, after all, a parody, or satire directed against the excesses of a particular literary genre. Part of Cervantes’s critique concerns issues of realism in fiction, but what concerns us here specifically is the issue of style. I suggest that we can consider the following to be a commentary on prose style:

... and he thought none was as fine as those composed by the worthy Feliciano de Silva, because the clarity of his prose and complexity of his language seemed to him more valuable than pearls, in particular when he read the declarations and missives of love, where he would often find written: "The reason for the unreason to which my reason turns so weakens my reason that with reason I complain of thy beauty." And also when he read: "... the heavens on high divinely heighten thy divinity with the stars and make thee deserving of the deserts thy greatness deserves."

With these words and phrases the poor gentleman lost his mind, and he spent sleepless nights trying to understand them and extract their meaning, which Aristotle himself, if he came back to life for only that purpose would not have been able to decipher or understand.

Don Quixote, Edith Grossman translation, page 20.

[y de todos, ningunos le parecían tan bien como los que compuso el famoso Feliciano de Silva; porque la claridad de su prosa y aquellas entricadas razones suyas le parecían de perlas, y más cuando llegaba a leer aquellos requiebros y cartas de desafíos, donde en muchas partes hallaba escrito: «La razón de la sinrazón que a mi razón se hace, de tal manera mi razón enflaquece, que con razón me quejo de la vuestra fermosura». Y también cuando leía: «... los altos cielos que de vuestra divinidad divinamente con las estrellas os fortifican, y os hacen merecedora del merecimiento que merece la vuestra grandeza».

Con estas razones perdía el pobre caballero el juicio, y desvelábase por entenderlas y desentrañarles el sentido, que no se lo sacara ni las entendiera el mesmo Aristóteles, si resucitara para sólo ello.

Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes

It might be worthwhile to ask, what is it about this writing that drove Don Quixote insane?

More from Twain on Cooper's Prose Style

Mark Twain followed up “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” with “Cooper’s Prose Style,” posthumously published in Letters from the Earth. “Cooper’s Prose Style” is delicious and brutal and well worth reading in its entirety, but to whet your palate, here’s a lengthy sample:

YOUNG GENTLEMAN: In studying Cooper you will find it profitable to study him in detail-word by word, sentence bv sentence. For every sentence of his is interesting. Interesting because of its make-up, its peculiar make-up, its original make-up. Let us examine a sentence or two, and see. Here is a passage from Chapter XI of The Last of the Mohicans, one of the most famous and most admired of Cooper's books:

Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians had found an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an arrow, and had borne the more preferable fragments of the victim, patiently on his shoulders, to the stopping-place. Without any aid from the science of cookery, he was immediately employed, in common with his fellows, in gorging himself with this digestible sustenance. Magua alone sat apart, without participating in the revolting meal, and apparently buried in the deepest thought.

This little paragraph is full of matter for reflection and inquiry. The remark about the swiftness of the flight was unnecessary , as it was merely put in to forestall the possible objection of some over particular reader that the Indian couldn't have found the needed "opportunity" while fleeing swiftly. ...

No, the remark about the swiftness of their flight was not necessary; neither was the one which said that the Indian found an opportunity; neither was the one which said he struck the fawn; neither was the one which explained that it was a "straggling" fawn; neither was the one which said the striking was done with an arrow; neither was the one which said the Indian bore the "fragments"; nor the remark that they were preferable fragments; nor the remark that they were more preferable fragments; nor the explanation that they were fragments of the "victim"; nor the overparticular explanation that specifies the Indian's "shoulders" as the part of him that supported the fragments; nor the statement that the Indian bore the fragments patiently. None of those details has any value. We don't care what the Indian struck the fawn with; we don't care whether it was a, struggling fawn or an unstruggling one; we don't care which fragments the Indian saved; we don't care why he saved the "more" preferable ones when the merely preferable ones would have amounted to just the same thing and couldn't have been told from the more preferable ones by anybody, dead or alive; we don't care whether the Indian carried them on his shoulders or in his handkerchief; and finally, we don't care whether he carried them patiently or struck for higher pay and shorter hours. We are indifferent to that Indian and all his affairs.

There was only one fact in that long sentence that was worth stating, and it could have been squeezed into these few words-and with advantage to the narrative, too: "During the flight one of the Indians had killed a fawn and he brought it into camp." You will notice that "During the flight one of the Indians had killed a fawn and he brought it into camp," is more straightforward and business-like, and less mincing and smirky, than it is to say, "Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians had found an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an arrow, and had borne the more preferable fragments of the victim, patiently on his shoulders, to the stopping-place." You will notice that the form "During the flight one of the Indians had killed a fawn and he brought it into camp" holds up its chin and moves to the front with the steady stride of a grenadier, whereas the form “Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians had found an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an arrow, and had borne the more preferable fragments of the victim, patiently on his shoulders, to the stopping-place” simpers along with an airy, complacent, monkey-with-a-parasol gait which is not suited to the transportation of raw meat.

Mark Twain’s rules for good essay writing

As I wade through reams of student writing that reasons in circles, offers up inanities and then repeats them in altered form hoping I won’t notice, and otherwise exacerbates my mental ulcers, I find myself returning to my favorite essay on writing: “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses,” by Mark Twain. Mr. Twain gives us a list of 18 rules “governing literary art,” which, with a little tweaking, can be made to work for essay writing as well. So here I offer my tweaks, followed by Twain’s original list. By the way, reading the complete essay at a young age cured me of ever wanting to read Cooper and made me a devoted, lifelong follower of Twain.

Mark Twain’s rules for good essay writing
(liberally adapted from “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses”)
1. An essay shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.

2. The elements of an essay shall be necessary parts of the essay, and shall help to develop it.

3. Every element of an essay shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.

4. The words in an essay shall have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the essay.

In addition, the author shall:

5. Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.

6. Use the right word, not its second cousin.

7. Eschew surplusage.

8. Not omit necessary details.

9. Avoid slovenliness of form.

10. Use good grammar.

11. Employ a simple and straightforward style.

Here’s the original list of 18 rules:
There are nineteen rules governing literary art in the domain of romantic fiction--some say twenty-two. In Deerslayer Cooper violated eighteen of them. These eighteen require:

1. That a tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. But the Deerslayer tale accomplishes nothing and arrives in the air.

2. They require that the episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it. But as the Deerslayer tale is not a tale, and accomplishes nothing and arrives nowhere, the episodes have no rightful place in the work, since there was nothing for them to develop.

3. They require that the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others. But this detail has often been overlooked in the Deerslayer tale.

4. They require that the personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. But this detail also has been overlooked in the Deerslayer tale.

5. They require that when the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the
people cannot think of anything more to say. But this requirement has been ignored from the beginning of the Deerslayer tale to the end of it.

6. They require that when the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description. But this law gets little or no attention in the Deerslayer tale, as Natty Bumppo's case will amply prove.

7. They require that when a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a negro minstrel in the end of it. But this rule is flung down and danced upon in the Deerslayer tale.

8. They require that crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader as "the craft of the woodsman, the delicate art of the forest," by either the author or the people in the tale. But this rule is persistently violated in the Deerslayer tale.

9. They require that the personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausibly set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable. But these rules are not respected in the Deerslayer tale.

10. They require that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the Deerslayer tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together.

11. They require that the characters in a tale shall be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency. But in the Deerslayer tale this rule is vacated.

In addition to these large rules there are some little ones. These require that the author shall:

12. Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.

13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.

14. Eschew surplusage.

15. Not omit necessary details.

16. Avoid slovenliness of form.

17. Use good grammar.

18. Employ a simple and straightforward style.

Even these seven are coldly and persistently violated in the Deerslayer tale.

Lost in La Mancha

I was looking for files while prepping today's Quijote class and came across this, which I wrote while traveling through La Mancha with my wife in 2000.

Alcazar de San Juan, Aug 22, 2000

"La Mancha" literally means "the stain." And there are segments of the landscape that most definitely live up to the name. As we descended from the mountains south of Avila into the plains of Castilla-La Mancha, we passed from a dry but reasonably verdant landscape into a parched and arid no man's land.

Seeing the landscape makes it easier to understand the humor of Don Quixote, I think. The books Cervantes was lampooning take place in extraordinary locales - mystical islands and forests filled with monsters and fair virgins. And the heroes, of course, are virile young knights overflowing with virtue, and overwhelming with good looks. To poke fun at those books, Cervantes filled his with the opposite: hoary, horny prostitutes, a withered, old, crazy, self-invented knight, and, of course, the most mundane and unromantic landscape imaginable.

The visual humor of Don Quixote lies at least partly here in the remarkable plainness of the land, the last place you would expect to find a knight errant.

You have to wonder, then, if La Mancha gets the joke. Highway signs proudly declare "traveler, you are now crossing La Mancha," while official markers periodically remind us that we are traveling a "Ruta Turística." A tourist route not of actual historical events, but marking the landscape of a fictional personage. To me it is richly ironic that this place has so completely embraced a fame born of parody, of being deemed the worst, most unlikely place to nurture the worst, most unlikely knight errant.

I don't mean to suggest that La Mancha is entirely unappealing. It has its moments of charm. Castles stud the hillsides like desert buttes, some of them quite imposing. The hillsides without castles have windmills lining each ridge like propellers on a giant airplane wing. The sky is blue and the air is warm. La Mancha is also the home a wondrous cheese. And everywhere roams the specter of Don Quijote.

Don Quijote and Sancho Panza ride in bronze in the main square of Alcázar de San Juan. Little Don Quijotes and Sanchos adorn houses throughout town. And tonight Erika and I are staying at the Hotel Don Quijote, which boasts a Restaurante Sancho on the ground floor. Tomorrow we will go El Toboso, famous for being the home of the doubly fictitious Dulcinea - a figment in the imagination of the fictional Don Quijote.

In another Quijote connection worth exploring, Alcazar de San Juan claims to be the true birthplace of Cervantes. Apparently one of the local churches has his baptismal record.

Hmmmm.

Chicken Andouille Gumbo

From Gumbo Shop: Traditional and Contemporary Creole Cuisine, by Richard Stewart.

1 chicken, 2-2 1/2 lbs.
3 quarts water
1 lb. fresh or frozen okra, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbls. cooking oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 16 ounce can chopped tomatoes
3/4 pound Andouille sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. salt

Cut chicken into eight pieces, cover with water an simmer for about one hour until chicken is tender and easily removed from the bones. Pour off stock and set aside. Allow chicken to cool, remove from bones and set aside.

In a large heavy skillet saute the okra in 2 tablespoons oil for about 10 to 15 minutes or until all 'ropiness' is gone. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy bottomed Dutch oven, heat 1/2 cup oil over medium high heat. Add the flour and make a dark brown roux. As soon as the proper color is achieved, add the onions, bell pepper and celery and saute, stirring occasionally until tender. During this process, allow the vegetables to stick to the bottom of the pan a bit, then scrape the bottom with a metal spoon or spatula. This allows some of the natural sugars in the onions to caramelize, rendering great depth of flavor.

When the vegetables are tender, add the tomatoes, Andouille sausage and sauteed okra. Continue cooking and stirring for about 15 minutes. Add the bay leaf, thyme, basil, sage, peppers and salt and mix well. Pour in about 8 cups of the chicken stock, bring to a slow boil, lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add the cooked chicken and additional stock if necessary and simmer for 15 more minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve in large bowls over steamed rice.

Jambalaya

(Loosely adapted from Gumbo Shop: Traditional and Contemporary Creole Cuisine, by Richard Stewart)

3/4 lb chicken meat (white and dark), cooked and cut into bite sized pieces
cooking oil
1/2 pound andouille sausage, sliced
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb peeled shrimp

In a large skillet, sauté andouille in a dollop of oil until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside with the chicken. Add onion, celery and bell pepper to the pan and sauté until tender. Add the tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for about 5-10 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot. Stir in the rice and mix well. Stir in chicken stock, sausage, chicken and raw peeled shrimp, reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the rice and shrimp are done, about 20 minutes.

Note: I covered pan