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.