Making Mexican at home

We picked up a crate of freshly roasted Hatch green chiles on Saturday, and spent the rest of the day processing them.

Last night, we began to reap the rewards:

Chiles rellenos with homemade queso fresco.

Chiles rellenos with homemade queso fresco.

Homemade cheese as in you made it yourselves and have this wonderful recipe which you would be delighted to share....?

Thanks.

Chiles rellenos with homemade queso fresco.

Homemade cheese as in you made it yourselves and have this wonderful recipe which you would be delighted to share....?

The recipe we used is from Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll.

We did a blog post on the process a while back which you can find that here.

If you scroll down to the end of the comments on that post, there is some more information on the ingredient details.

In honor of El Grito and Mexico's 200th anniversary, I thought I'd post photos of some Chiles en Nogada that I made last week. The recipe was courtesy of Iliana de la Vega former chef/owner of El Naranjo in Oaxaca.

Ingredients for the stuffing. Lean pork and beef, onion, tomato, pear, apple, plantain, a little canela, a few cloves and probably some other things I'm forgetting

Chiles ready to stuff

Stuffed

Ready for sauce (walnuts, almonds, crema, cream cheese, salt, sugar, white pepper and milk to thin)

Sauced and ready to eat

Here's a white pozole I made last week.

I must confess I've never encountered this 'white'.... do you have a recipe?

There's a recipe for white pozole in Bayless's recent Fiesta at Rick's: I posted about it here, but there's not much to look at since it's assembled at the table.

In honor of El Grito and Mexico's 200th anniversary, I thought I'd post photos of some Chiles en Nogada that I made last week.

Oh, my - Kalypso, that looks amazing!

Our dinner was much more basic. Grilled chicken escabeche with potatoes; cowboy beans with roasted Poblano chiles and bacon (both from Mexican Everyday). Tapatio or salsa verde de habanero for kick. Green salad, cucumbers, and tomatoes not pictured.

I expected plenty of leftovers, but the family wolfed everything down.

Sopa de tortilla con pollo (tortilla soup with chicken): We used Mrs. C’s smoked turkey stock from Thanksgiving. Browned onions and garlic cloves, pureed to a sauce with tomatoes, fried to deepen the flavors, and then simmered with smoked turkey stock and cubed chicken thigh meat. Served with cubed queso fresco, fried tortilla strips, fried chile pasilla, and lime wedges.

Calabacitas al mojo de ajo (zucchini with toasted garlic and lime)

Arroz blanco (white rice): Jasmine rice with roasted chile Poblano, Mexican oregano, white onion, garlic, and chicken stock.

Awwwwwwwwwww, Bruce. You had me at calabacitas. I so love them.....

Awwwwwwwwwww, Bruce. You had me at calabacitas. . . .

:laugh: and thanks! Calabacitas and chayote seem to go so well with Mexican flavors. I forgot to mention that I fried the sliced garlic in oil that I had used to fry Pasilla chiles, which added a subtle heat and extra flavor.

It looks incredible. :wub: It just might be next on my list of things I must make.

Lots of people professing a love of Mexican food in Favorite ethnic/regional cuisine not your own (clicky) , so let’s see some! I’ll start:

Jalapeno beef tips with mushrooms, adapted from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Kitchen. We seared beef sirloin cubes, and then simmered the beef with salsa de jitomate cocida, thinned with chicken stock and seasoned with Mexican oregano and cilantro. The mushrooms were dry-fried before adding to the sauce.

Served with our usual arroz blanco (white onion, garlic, cilantro, and chicken stock), raw cucumbers, and some fairly decent winter tomatoes.

Yummy I'm coming to your house for dinner!

Thank you, Kalypso. We will set out an extra plate, just in case.

My papas guisadas:

The roasted tomatoes seems to have made the difference for me. I didn't have serranos, so I subbed in Holland chilis.

I have "Art of Mexican Cooking", but I've been too intimidated to cook out of it until yesterday, lacking the correct chilis and that sort of thing. But since I'm not entertaining Ms. Kennedy, or for that matter - anyone who can tell the difference - I think I'm going to try cooking from it more substituting what I have at hand. I may have to start an Asian:Mexican chili pepper comparison topic to get ideas for substitutions.

These look so good I am almost drooling. Will make them next. For sure. Thanks.

Nakji, I'm coming to your house for dinner too! Seriously, those potatoes look really good.

And, as for The Art of Mexican Cooking, don't let it intimidate you. It's my favorite DK cookbook. Most of the recipes are pretty doable with good end results. Substituting Chinese chiles would probably work well enough.

Nakji, I'm coming to your house for dinner too! Seriously, those potatoes look really good.

And, as for The Art of Mexican Cooking, don't let it intimidate you. It's my favorite DK cookbook. Most of the recipes are pretty doable with good end results. Substituting Chinese chiles would probably work well enough.

I agree, don't be intimidated by DK. My favorite is still her first, Cuisines of Mexico, but all are very good and meticulous; just follow the leader.

I have Bayless' Mexican Kitchen, Kennedy's The Art of Mexican Cooking, Ortiz' The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking (1967 and completely falling apart), Lindsay Greer Cuisine of the American Southwest (1983, admittedly a Tex-Mex book, but a good one), the new Fany Gerson My Sweet Mexico for desserts and an assortment of magazines and books which I have had forever.

Mostly I crosscheck the Bayless, Kennedy and Ortiz before I make something new and this seems to work for me. There are so few Hispanics in our area...no one teaches as far as I know, so it's all on my own. With, of course, interference help from my DH, Ed.

How could I forget to add: the eGullet topics and the various mentors whom I am gathering about me: Calypso, Theobroma, Pierogi, Jaymes and other kind souls

I have Bayless' Mexican Kitchen, Kennedy's The Art of Mexican Cooking, Ortiz' The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking (1967 and completely falling apart),

Others may disagree, but I think these 3 Mexican cookbooks are a great foundation for cooking Mexican. I think Mexican Kitchen is Rick's strongest, Diana's The Art of Mexican Cooking is also one of her best (I'd agree with Janeer that Cuisines of Mexico is also very good) and Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz' book is absolutely underated and underappreciated. I've probably got close to 200 cookbooks on Mexican cooking in English and Spanish, and more often than not, I find myself coming back to these 3 books as my starting point.

I've probably got close to 200 cookbooks on Mexican cooking in English and Spanish,

May I be completely overwhelmed?

I am grateful for your help so far.

I've probably got close to 200 cookbooks on Mexican cooking in English and Spanish,

May I be completely overwhelmed?

I am grateful for your help so far.

Thank you.

I have very much enjoyed reading about your escapades in trying to teach yourself Mexican cooking. Major kudos for your tenaciousness

Computer crashed, so no pictures but I will try to describe with words.

Seared zucchini with roasted tomato, chipotle, and chorizo (Tinga de calabacitas): Cubed zucchini, fried until just tender and set aside. Fry chorizo with sliced white onion, add chipotle-tomato salsa and Mexican oregano, and simmer until the flavors meld. Add the zucchini, warm through, and serve with crumbled queso fresco, warm corn tortillas, and a little Tapatio salsa for kick.

Quick cowboy beans (frijoles charros): Bacon, garlic, tomatoes, chopped chipotle chiles in adobo, and frijoles negros. The family strongly prefers frijoles negros over pintos.

The boys gave the meal thumbs up, which was somewhat surprising given the preponderance of vegetable matter.

Not a great photo but: more tortilla soup

What chiles Janeer?