Texas Home Cooking
Page 9
]), topped with mole sauce. Sprinkle with crumbled asadero or other fresh Mexican cheese, or with grated Monterey jack.
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The country's leading producer of commercial Mexican salsas is San Antonio's Pace Foods. David Pace developed the company's original product. Pace Picante Sauce, in 1947, and it's still made with the same recipe. One of the secrets is fresh jalapeños, used in amounts exceeding 25 million pounds a year.
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Technique Tips
Mexicans make many different moles—complex, slightly sweet cooked sauces of varied chiles, chocolate, and ground seeds or nuts. This is a Texified version of a common Oaxacan mole. Though time-consuming to do, the roasting and toasting of the ingredients develops the multidimensional richness that marks a great mole. The sauce can be made a day ahead or frozen in batches.
For a fast and still tasty alternative, keep a jar or two of mole paste (a precooked blend of the key mole ingredients) on the pantry shelf. Heat it with a couple of teaspoons of peanut oil, a few squeezes of orange juice to taste, and enough chicken stock to make a sauce.
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A common practical joke in the early years of Anglo settlement was to trick greenhorns into taking a mouthful of fiery chiles. Old-timers told newcomers the small red pods were sweet Texas strawberries.
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Chipotle Chorizo
German settlers in Texas flavored their sausage with smoke. Mexican settlers used chile and other seasonings instead. You get the best of both worlds in this chorizo, made with smoky chipotle chile.
4 dried red chiles, preferably 2 ancho and 2 New Mexican
1½ pounds ground pork
½ cup minced onion
⅓ cup cider vinegar
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 canned chipotle chiles, minced
1
to
2 teaspoons adobo sauce from canned chipotle chiles
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed chile pequín or cayenne, or more, to taste
½ teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground canela (Mexican cinnamon) or cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
Makes about 2 pounds
Preheat the oven to 300° F. Break the stems off the chile pods, and discard most of the seeds.
Place the pods in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and roast them in the oven for about 5 minutes. Watch the pods closely, because they can scorch easily. Break each chile into several pieces. Transfer the chiles to a blender, and blend until they are evenly ground.
In a medium bowl, mix together the ground chile and all the other ingredients. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate it at least 8 hours and preferably 24. Use the chorizo as needed. Form it into patties, or fry it as is over medium heat until it is richly browned. It keeps, uncooked and refrigerated, at least a week.
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As popular as jalapeños are in Texas cooking nowadays, they aren't a traditional Tex-Mex ingredient. Red chiles, such as the anchos used in chili powder, were the original favorites in the state. Jalapeños didn't catch on until recent decades. They reached craze status around 1976, when an Austinite set a world record by eating 108 in an hour. More recently, at the 1992 Jalapeño Festival in Laredo, Braulio Ramirez downed 141 of the fiery chiles in just 15 minutes.
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Menudo
Menudo migrated to Texas from the Mexican state of Sonora, but the tripe stew may be more popular today on this side of the Rio Grande than anywhere across the border. The Texas claimant for the title "breakfast of champions," menudo is widely respected as a hangover cure.
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup vinegar, preferably white
2 pounds honeycomb tripe
2 tablespoons oil, preferably canola or corn
2 large onions, chopped
4
to
6 garlic cloves
2
to
4 fresh serranos, minced, or 1 to 3 jalapeños, minced
6 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 smoked ham hock, pig's foot, pork knuckle, or meaty marrowbone, or ¾ pound oxtails (we prefer the smokiness of the ham hock)
2 tablespoons chili powder, preferably homemade ([>]) or Gebhardt's
1 tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
½ teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
Salt to taste
1 14½- to 16-ounce can hominy, drained
½ cup chopped fresh mint, optional
½ cup chopped cilantro, optional
Lime wedges, for garnish
Serves 6 to 8
The day before you plan to serve it, clean the tripe. Mix together the salt and vinegar. Pour about ⅓ of the mixture into a large bowl, and add the tripe. Of numerous descriptions we've seen for cleaning tripe, Chris Schlesinger says it best in his Thrill of the Grill. Scrub the tripe "vigorously for 5 minutes, with a brush, as if the tripe were a dirty shirt collar." The kosher salt's rough texture acts as an abrasive. Rinse the tripe under cold running water, and repeat the process two more times. Transfer the tripe to a medium bowl, and cover it with cold water. Chill the tripe, covered, at least 8 hours; twice that long is fine. Change the water once about halfway through the chilling.
Remove the tripe from the refrigerator, and drain it. Slice the tripe into bite-size pieces, and place the pieces in a stockpot or large, heavy saucepan. Cover the tripe with cold water, and bring the water to a rapid boil over high heat. Boil the tripe 30 minutes. Drain the water from the tripe, discarding it, and reserve the tripe.
Rinse and dry the stockpot, and return it to the stove. Add the oil. Warm the oil over medium heat, and add the onions, garlic, and serranos. Sauté until they are soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the stock and ham hock or other meat. Simmer the menudo over low heat 3 hours.
Remove the ham hock, discarding any bones or chunks of fat. Shred the meat, and reserve it. Add the chili powder, oregano, pepper, salt, and hominy. Simmer another hour, or until the stew is cooked down and the tripe is tender. It will retain a little chewiness. Stir in the reserved ham hock or other meat, and, if you like, the mint and cilantro.
Serve the menudo steaming in large bowls with wedges of lime. Menudo will keep for several days.
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Technique Tip
For menudo be sure to get honeycomb tripe, the most tender of the varieties. Tender is relative though, because all types start out tough and require long cooking. Tripe perishes quickly in its uncooked, uncleaned form, so start its preparation as early as possible. Look for tripe that is pale off-white at the market.
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Calvin Trillin, one of America's most passionate eaters, sniffs out good Mexican restaurants by looking for menudo on the menu. He's not interested in ordering the dish, but he knows that it's a sign of seriousness about the cooking.
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Arroz Pilaf
The best Tex-Mex rice is a chili-scented pilaf, not the gloppy tomato "Spanish rice" concoction you find almost everywhere outside the state. This arroz is a perfect foil for enchiladas, beans, and other combo-plate fare.
2 tablespoons peanut oil or lard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 cup uncooked rice
2 small tomatoes, preferably Roma or another Italian plum variety, chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder, preferably Homemade ([>]) or Gebhardt's
2 cups unsalted beef or chicken stock
¾ teaspoon salt
Serves 4 to 6
In a medium saucepan, heat the peanut oil or lard (we prefer to use peanut oil, but lard has its advocates). Sauté the garlic and onion over medium heat until softened. Add the rice, tomatoes, and chili powder, and sauté another couple of minutes, stirring to coa
t all the grains of rice with oil. Pour in the stock, sprinkle in the salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the rice for 15 to 18 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.
Remove the pan from the heat, and let the rice steam, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve it immediately.
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José Tafolla Garcia and his wife, Jesusita, both from the Mexican state of Michoacan, opened a four-table restaurant near the Fort Worth Stockyards on July 4, 1935. Originally they called it Joe's Barbecue and Mexican Dishes, and José's barbecue was the real specialty, with chili as a sideline. Over time an increasing number of customers made special requests for Jesusita's Mexican meals. After José's death, Jesusita wasn't able to manage both the barbecue and her own cooking, so she concentrated on the latter, and the renamed Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Dishes went on to become one of the top Tex-Mex restaurants in the state. The Garcias' daughter, Hope Garcia Lancarte, runs the operation today with the assistance of a dozen or two family members.
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Sopa de Fideos
This "dry soup" often shows up in place office with home versions of Tex-Mex fare. Fideo, a type of vermicelli, is one of the Cone Star State's favorite pastas.
2 tablespoons oil, preferably canola or corn
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
5 ounces fideo or vermicelli
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
½ green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1¼ cups unsalted chicken or beef stock
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Dash of cayenne or crushed chile de árbol, or pinch of ground dried New Mexican or ancho chile
Serves 4
Heat the oil and bacon drippings in a heavy skillet until medium-hot. Add to the oil the fldeo or vermicelli, crumbled lightly from the "nests" in which it usually is sold. Saute briefly, until the pasta is medium brown. Add the tomato, onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and continue heating for another couple of minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Pour in the stock, and sprinkle in the remaining seasonings. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the pasta tender, about 20 minutes. Serve the sopa warm.
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Texas cookbooks contained at least hints of Tex-Mex ideas from the beginning. In the earliest known cookbook, published in 1883, the Ladies Association of the First Presbyterian Church of Houston offered several versions of chili sauce in their "Sour Pickles" chapter. The Kute Kooking Klub of Honey Grove, Texas, put a similar recipe in its 1894 K.K.K. Cook Book. Two Austin ladies went further in 1891, when they included in their cookbook a whole chapter on "Mexican Receipts," featuring six dishes. Emma Davis and Anna Leigh, of Dallas, expanded on the options in 1909 in the "Chili and Tamales" category of their "400 recipes tested and proven to a point beyond failure."
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Refried Beans
Refritos, or refried beans, are almost as central as tortillas to all Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking. The best versions are always made with lard or bacon drippings, bat if you eat refritos with frequency, you may want to substitute peanut oil, which contributes a similar nutty richness to the adobe-colored purée.
¼ cup lard, bacon drippings, or peanut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups Frijoles Borrachos ([>]), or other well-seasoned cooked whole pinto beans, plus 1 cup of the cooking liquid
Salt to taste
Crema ([>]) or crumbled asadero, mild cheddar, or Monterey jack cheese, for garnish
Minced fresh serrano or jalapeño, optional, for garnish
Serves 6
Warm the fat or oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions and garlic, and sauté until they are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the drained beans to the skillet, and mash them with a potato masher or Mexican-style bean masher, adding the liquid, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach a fairly smooth and moist consistency. Continue to cook, stirring up from the bottom with a spatula or large spoon, until the beans become a thick paste.
Serve the beans hot, topped with crema or cheese and, if you like, a sprinkling of serrano or jalapeño.
Variation: For a fat-free alternative to refritos, just mash well-seasoned beans with a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid instead of frying them. If other dishes on the plate are spicy, few people will notice the substitution.
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Technique Tip
When cooking dried beans, add salt toward the end of the cooking time, after the beans have softened well. If used earlier, the salt can hinder the softening process.
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Frijoles Borrachos
These "drunken" beans make a great side or supper dish, and also work well for refritos. Plan on a total cooking time of about 2 to 2½ hours. The hardness of the water, the altitude, and the obstinacy of the particular beans can all affect the timing.
2 cups pinto beans
6 cups water, or more as needed
12 ounces beer
2 teaspoons bacon drippings or peanut oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh jalapeños or 1 to 2 serranos, chopped
2 pickled jalapeños, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder, preferably homemade ([>]) or Gebhardt's
1 teaspoon salt
Serves 6 to 8
Pick through the beans and rinse them, watching for any gravel or grit. Soak the beans in water, enough to cover them by several inches, preferably overnight.
Drain the beans, and add them to a stockpot or a large, heavy saucepan. Cover them with the water and beer. Simmer the beans, uncovered, over low heat.
After 1 hour, stir the beans up from the bottom and check the liquid level. If there is not at least an inch more water than beans, add enough hot water to bring it to that level. Simmer the beans another 30 minutes, then check them again, adding water as needed.
When the beans are well softened, add the remaining ingredients, and continue simmering. Cook at least 15 more minutes, keeping the level of the water just above the beans. The beans are done when they are soft and creamy but not mushy, with each bean retaining its shape. There should be extra liquid at the completion of the cooking time, although the beans should not be soupy. If you want the liquid a little thicker, squash a few of the beans in the bottom of the pot with a potato or bean masher.
Serve the beans immediately, or cover them and keep them warm for as long as 1 hour. Or let them cool, and refrigerate or freeze them for later use.
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Technique Tip
Soaking beans makes them cook faster, particularly at high altitudes, and, if you pour off the water before cooking, also eliminates some of the water-soluble flatulent substances. If you're in a rush, you can substitute a high-heat boiling for the lengthy soaking. Cover the beans with several inches of water, and bring them to a boil over high heat. Boil for 50 to 60 minutes, then drain off the water. Start the cooking with fresh water or stock.
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The huge El Chico chain started out modestly in the 1920s as Cuellar's Cafe in the small town of Kaufman. The business is still run by its founding family, as are many other old Tex-Mex restaurants in the state, however large or small.
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Red-Hot Carrots
El Chico used to place a version of these carrots at each table with the condiments. We suspect the practice stopped because a friend of ours, Harriet Moyer, would go after every carrot in the restaurant when she came to dinner. She's now married to a doctor, which is probably a good thing for her stomach.
1 pound carrots, sliced into rounds
1
to
2 pickled jalapeños, chopped
3 tablespoons jalapeño pickling liquid
2 tablespoons oil, preferably canola
or corn
2 teaspoons minced onion
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of sugar
Salt to taste
Makes about 3 cups
Blanch the carrots in a saucepan of boiling water. Drain the carrots, rinse them in cold water, and drain them again. In a medium nonreactive bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Add the carrots to the marinade, and refrigerate them, covered, for at least 24 hours.
Taste the carrots, and adjust the seasoning if needed. The carrots will keep, refrigerated, for several days.
Ninfa's Marinated Onions
Ninfa Laurenzo serves these wonderful onions with fajitas, but we would eat them with anything from cake to cottage cheese.