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FishBulb posted:Boiled? In a cup? What is this sorcery? No, the corn is boiled and then it sits in a cooler full of warm water for vendors. If you are making it at home, you just boil the corn and then serve immediately. When ordered, it's pulled out of the water, cut off the cob onto a plate, then dumped into the cup and covered with the other ingredients. Then you stir it all up and chow down. It's also served straight off the cob and smeared with the ingredients. Traditionally, it's supposed to be boiled in the husk, the husk is pulled down and used as a makeshift holder. Most of the Chicago vendors however aren't keeping them stored with the husk, so if you want to eat it off the cob, they serve it up on a stick.
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May 26, 2013 19:27
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Dirty water elote sounds pretty weird. Every one I ever saw in LA was grilled in the husk next to illegal bacon dogs.
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May 26, 2013 20:43
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Hah, a place by my old apartment sold that under the name "crazy corn". I never suspected it was a real dish.
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May 26, 2013 22:32
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Totally Reasonable posted:Dirty water elote sounds pretty weird. Every one I ever saw in LA was grilled in the husk next to illegal bacon dogs. Yeah you grill the corn in the husk and them dunk the cob in the sauce. At least that's how they do it in Tijuana and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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May 26, 2013 22:36
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So, I used this recipe for birria: http://masaassassin.blogspot.com/2009/04/birria-de-chivo-recipe-goat-stew.html Some changes: - I only had anchos and chipotles, so that was what I used - Since it's just the two of us, I used a goat shank (for collagen) and a meatier leg chop - I braised in my tagine in the oven at ~275 for about 4 hours. Results!     Turned out pretty good, but I really think it needs some California chiles. Time to mail order, I guess!
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May 27, 2013 00:59
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Dumb Northeasterner-gringo question. Do you folk who are really into Mexican food pretty much exclusively make your own tortillas or is this something you do only on special occasions? It seems somewhat time consuming. Is it realistic to make homemade tortillas for, say, a weeknight dinner?
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May 27, 2013 04:37
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It takes me about a half hour of actual work, it would take even less with a proper press (I roll them out with a rolling pin). They are so much better than anything you can buy, it's totally worth it. No more of that disgusting bitter preservative taste that overpowers all others. Also, you can make a shitload at a time and freeze them. Whenever fancy strikes, take them out, heat a pan, and you'll be done in 5 minutes.
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May 27, 2013 04:43
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I gave in and bought that cast iron press I posted before, and we made corn tortillas last night. I followed the advice from the thread and waited longer before rolling the dough, so I actually needed to add some extra water. The longest part of the process was cooking since I have a small pan, but it was seriously about 10 minutes of total work, maybe 45 minutes from starting the dough to the last tortilla so its definitely do-able. They're really easy to toss in the pan while you're doing something else, just need to flip them from time to time until they're done, so I'd say it's definitely doable on a weeknight but not a bad idea to make a bunch and freeze them. Can't say enough good things about that press, it was seriously wonderful.
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May 27, 2013 06:18
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to put in northeasterner-gringo context. They are significantly faster and easier to make than dinner rolls and biscuits and serve similar purpose, a starchy side dish or meatshovel.
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May 27, 2013 06:47
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Doing a Mexican food truck in rural Pennsylvania has some weirdness. Most locals at first haaaaaate home-made tortillas, just because they're used to doughy, starchy store-bought ones (most common complaint I hear is that they're too rough or flavorless). Then, they'll return a week later, realizing that home-made corn tortillas soak up flavor so much better while letting taco filling do more of the flavor work. The "flavorless" comments receive apologies too once they realize that it's more of a balance thing, in that it's more of a compliment to the flavor of the taco filling than a contest. Ever since I've gotten better at cleaning nopales, there's always a stock of them in my fridge. Our local Weis is carrying them for cheap-rear end prices and is more than willing to sell it to me by the case. They're a biiiitch to prep, but are worth that smoky flavor you get when cooking them with some onions and chilies. If I can explain them, they're like crispy green bell peppers with more flavor, and I've enjoyed mixing them into new kinds of dishes.
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May 27, 2013 17:51
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Plan Z, do you mind sharing pointers for cleaning and preparing nopales? I saw some at my grocery store and have had them many, many years ago, but don't know where to start.
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May 27, 2013 18:04
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TychoCelchuuu posted:Let's start off with flour tortillas Thanks for the recipe, dude. I made these tonight for fajitas and they turned out great! The cast iron skillet worked perfectly. Rolling and shaping the dough was by far the most difficult part. Most of them turned out longer in one direction. The recipe is so simple you don't even have to write it down. Great stuff! 
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May 27, 2013 23:55
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Veet Voojagig posted:Try working directly on the clean kitchen counter instead of using parchment paper, just sprinkle some flour on the work area and have at it. Also, try switching to a flat rolling pin. My mother back in Mexico would make her own handmade tortillas to sell along with menudo on weekends. She never used flour on the counter when shaping the tortillas. Instead she would use something like this: http://www.mexgrocer.com/50409-87326.html *note, you don't have to pay so much to get a tortilla press, it is really easy to make one if you have the basic tools and some carpentry experience, or know somebody who could make it for you. Also, from what I remember, my mother would try not to use metal presses because they would often make the thickness off the tortilla uneven, or something like that. She's cut a plastic bag open, put a ball of masa dough in the middle, then use that thing (I can't remember the name of it in English, sorry) to press the ball down. She'd then peel the plastic slowly and toss the tortilla on a hot pan to cook. My mother would usually buy already made masa from the local tortillerias, or make her own using Maseca flour (incidentally most tortillerias use Maseca dough I believe). This video is in Spanish, but it shows how the lady talking makes her homemade tortillas like my mother does. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jhuqCdkLDI Here's the same lady making flour tortillas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT11MW_wKEw Edit: Save me jeebus posted:Plan Z, do you mind sharing pointers for cleaning and preparing nopales? I saw some at my grocery store and have had them many, many years ago, but don't know where to start. I don't know how Plan Z does it, but cleaning nopales isn't that hard. You basically take a sharp knife and cut the edges off the nopal, and "shave" the center part to remove the thorns. you just gotta hold it carefully so you don't hurt yourself. I found another video wwith a lady showing how to clean a nopal, she's so  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCo0qU5V69U Chido fucked around with this message at 02:20 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 02:14
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Yeah, I just do a cut around the edges (like cutting crust off of a slice of bread), then just lay my chef's knife at an almost flat angle against the petal, and just gently shave the large brown spikes off, then use a light scrub pad (those green ones, for whoever's worked at a restaurant) to gently get the tiny spines off of both sides. They're typically then julienned into strips. Once I get a new phone, I'm going to start going over some prep techniques and recipes as I go. Today's prep for selling was Mushroom and chili tacos and pineapple-raisin tamales.
Plan Z fucked around with this message at 06:37 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 05:40
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Anyone care to share enchilada or chicken mole recipes? The only reason I group them together is that my dad and grandmother make it is pretty much the same way for either dish. Some places I've been to have a real tomatoey sauce which I don't care for, or a really dark dark brown or almost purple sauce that I also don't like. I don't know the exact measurements but he uses something like a tablespoon and a half of red chili powder, garlic, onion, a little oregano, salt and pepper, mixed with a toasted flour and shortening roux. Then the corn tortillas are dunked in hot grease for a few seconds, then hot sauce, and stuffed with cheese and onions, and little more cheese sprinkled on top. I don't mind chicken in them but ground beef is just weird. When white people bring their 'enchiladas' into work potlucks I always cringe because of all the tomato sauce, ground beef, and flour tortillas cramed in a baking dish and enough cheese piled high to make it look like a lasagna.
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May 28, 2013 14:54
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Gracias, Chido and PlanZ!
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May 28, 2013 16:27
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Anybody have a good pan telera recipe? Tortas are right up there with banh mi as far as amazing sandwiches go and I need to make the bread at home. I'm guessing it's a pretty basic white bread with a little shortening, but is there a fairly common recipe or something special that really makes it pan telera?
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May 29, 2013 22:26
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I remember watching this video years ago.. I've never been so aroused by a tortilla before. http://www.chow.com/food-news/55224/the-perfect-tortilla/
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May 30, 2013 06:08
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Bob Morales posted:Anyone care to share enchilada or chicken mole recipes? The only reason I group them together is that my dad and grandmother make it is pretty much the same way for either dish. Yeah, ground beef seems out of place. Enchilada mole is actually very easy to prepare. You need some ancho chilis (like three or so), vinegar, a clove of garlic, black pepper, cloves, oregano and salt. First, you need to lightly toast the chilis on a pan. My dad used to toast them directly over the fire but I wouldn't recommend it, it's very easy to overtoast them making the final sauce bitter (and also turning the chilis into pungent smoke bombs). Once the chilis are done, boil them with the rest of the spices for ten minutes or so and then blend 'em. The resulting paste is going to be kinda chunky, so strain it and then add the vinegar. Leave it alone for a few hours and that's it! If you like spicier enchiladas try adding a couple toasted chile de árbols along with the anchos. You can also use this sauce to marinade pork tenderloin steaks to make carne adobada!
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May 30, 2013 06:17
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I know it's a new thread (and I'm a new GWC poster), but where's the tomatillo love?
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May 30, 2013 08:44
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Pinkerton posted:Dumb Northeasterner-gringo question. For flour tortillas, straight out of the package is a 1, warmed up is a 3, charred/browned a little bit is a 7.5, homemade is a 10. So it really depends on if you wanna do it. I personally only do it if I'm having people over because it requires a lot of active cooking time (vs making the actual meat, which only requires a few minutes of hands-on activity and you can clean the kitchen etc. while it's cooking)
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May 30, 2013 17:51
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they started selling these raw flour tortillas that you just cook in a pan and they're easily an 8 to 8.5 in taste and convenience.
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May 30, 2013 18:03
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GrAviTy84 posted:they started selling these raw flour tortillas that you just cook in a pan and they're easily an 8 to 8.5 in taste and convenience. A Mexican coworker swore by whatever raw flour tortillas she got, and they only need 5-15 seconds per side on the griddle. They were always fantastic.
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May 30, 2013 23:52
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HodjasBitch posted:I know it's a new thread (and I'm a new GWC poster), but where's the tomatillo love? Tomatillos have such a wonderful flavor. We have a secret recipe at the truck for roasted tomatillo salsa that people seem to love. The first time we served it, we started noticing that every business in town started to make gringo/gringa versions of it. Their crappo versions got us even more attention from people saying "Our friends said if we liked <horrible version from local vendor> then yours will blow us away." And it typically does. I love the flavor out of tomatillos, and I'm always experimenting with what they can do. For tomorrow, we have pork belly, black bean, and pickled jalapeno with queso fresco tacos, pineapple tamales, black bean and goat cheese tamales, tomatillo salsa or jalape(alt+something)o salsa to go, and fresh-squeezed limonada (alt+something I'm tired but it's worth it). I'll start advertising the location soon, but PSU students should know the place by now.
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May 31, 2013 04:13
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Tonight I made Puerco con Nopales A pretty standard recipe, very healthy and tasty. You can use any cut of pork, really. If it's a chop or steak, follow the preparation method I use below. If something else, boil first perhaps, then follow. Pork steaks An onion, chopped A couple of cloves garlic, smashed A few green chiles, chopped (your choice here, I prefer Anaheims) Several paddles of nopale, spines removed, chopped into strips Some greens such as verdolaga or chard, chopped Several tomatillos, husked and chopped A lime Salt Pepper Cilantro Lard Fry the onions in some lard until they begin to take color, then add the chiles, tomatillos, garlic, and some salt. Cover and cook until soft, add lime juice, and transfer to a blender where you will process it until smooth. In the same pan, fry your pork until it is browned on each side, with salt and pepper. Remove. Deglaze the pan with water or stock if you have any handy, and add the nopales. Cover and cook for another 10 or 15 minutes. Add the pork, greens, and the tomatillo sauce, cover again, and cook until the pork is done. Serve garnished with the cilantro, tortillas or rice, and whatever fruit or vegetables you want on the side. Mr. Wiggles fucked around with this message at 16:22 on May 31, 2013 |
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May 31, 2013 05:41
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Yo if you're casually making corn tortillas just every now and then don't buy press. use a quart-sized ziploc bag cut open in half, put a squash ball-sized chunk of masa inside, and press the tortilla between a cutting board and the bottom of a salad plate. Use either a glazed clay comal for maximum effect, or just get over yourself and use a non-stick pan like everyone else nowadays. Wet your hands, peel the tortilla from the plastic, letting it hanging from your palm, and let the pan catch the hanging end, then slide the rest of the tortilla down. cook one side for a minute, flip, cook one more minute, flip again and PRESS DOWN on the tortilla with your fingers or spatula until it starts to puff up. your tortilla is done. on a 12 inch pan you can do 3 at a time. Long time no see.
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May 31, 2013 09:13
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walumachoncha posting in a Mexican food thread 
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May 31, 2013 09:17
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Now that you mention tomatillos, I don't think I've ever eaten a raw one... Don't know how hard they'll be to find outside Mexico, but if you ever come around tomatillos milperos (lit. cornfield tomatillos) buy them! They are smaller (around the size of a marble) and their flesh-to-seeds ratio is larger than the regular tomatillo, so salsas made with them feel a bit more "solid", for lack of a better word.
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May 31, 2013 13:21
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I make puerco guisado pretty often so I figured I ought to share the recipe so long as we are talking about Mexican food. I grew up in SW Texas a couple miles from San Angelo. My family is in ranching so we've had a Mexican family from San Luis Potosi that has lived and worked at the ranch for longer than I've been alive. My dad picked this recipe up from them -- I don't think its anything special but we love it. Puerco Guisado Ingredients: 1 pork shoulder or pork butt -- I don't think the particular cut matters too much. I tend to use the shoulder. 6 jalapenos, chopped 6 serranos, chopped 1 white onion, diced 1 jar of nopales -- I've been meaning to try to use fresh ones, but I like in OK now and they're hard to find (but I havent really looked). 2 or 3 limes, used for the juice 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1 tablespoon of cumin little salt and pepper Fresh cilantro to garnish prior to consumption Method: I like to cut the pork up into 2 inch cubes and brown it in a dutch oven. If you wanna be real about it then use some manteca (lard) instead of oil. I defer to oil most of the time because I don't tend to keep manteca in the house. Once the pork is browned, remove it and set aside. Next, brown your onion, peppers, and garlic together. Then, put pork and nopales into the dutch oven and cover with water. Add spices and lime juice. Let that slowly cook down until it gets pretty thick. I'm sure you could use a thickening agent but I don't -- in the winter, I occasionally take it off a bit early so its soupy. Finally, garnish with plenty of cilantro before you eat it. Also, they make the best cabrito that I've ever had. But, there's really nothing special about it other than marinading it in beer, limes, and cumin prior to barbecuing it -- it's wonderful though.
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May 31, 2013 16:33
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Plan Z posted:Tomatillos have such a wonderful flavor. We have a secret recipe at the truck for roasted tomatillo salsa that people seem to love. The first time we served it, we started noticing that every business in town started to make gringo/gringa versions of it. Their crappo versions got us even more attention from people saying "Our friends said if we liked <horrible version from local vendor> then yours will blow us away." And it typically does. I love the flavor out of tomatillos, and I'm always experimenting with what they can do. Are you privy to the recipe? To me, your post reads, "I know a really awesome secret but won't tell you." I would love a good recipe for tomatillo salsa. I have all the ingredients down I just seem to gently caress it up all the time. I think my biggest problem is that my oven's broiler is really lovely so I end up cooking them while only lightly browning them. Because of this, I think, my salsas are always less tart and fresh tasting. Or I just don't know what I'm doing... vvv While I do suck at seasoning to taste, what I meant was that, by cooking the tomatillos, their flavor changes. I could add lime but it wouldn't make it taste more like fresh tomatillo. pogothemonkey0 fucked around with this message at 19:35 on May 31, 2013 |
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May 31, 2013 18:41
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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pogothemonkey0 posted:Are you privy to the recipe? To me, your post reads, "I know a really awesome secret but won't tell you."
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May 31, 2013 19:20
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For fresh tomatillo salsa I usually do: 1/2 lb of tomatillos 2 tbps white onion or more garlic clove or two a serrano or jalapeno, stemmed handful of cilantro about a tsp of salt lime juice if you want add an avocado if you're feeling extra saucy BLEND
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Jun 1, 2013 02:26
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There may be a salsa thread, but I wanted to ask here to ensure total authenticity. I love salsa. I know, it's not "the definition of Mexican food" and is probably an Americanized thing mostly, but I love it. All I want to do it make really, really good salsa at home. I've tried recipes from all over the internet, and they all suck. If any of you have ever been to Red Iguana in Salt Lake City - this is the type of salsa I want to make. Red salsa. Spicy, not smokey. Salty overtone. Not chunky. Fresh and just plain awesome/authentic. Also, I love the orange habanero salsa you get from semi-shady Mexican restaurants (but not sweet/vinegary). It's very hot and I want to make it. Never found a good recipe. Any suggestions?
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Jun 1, 2013 03:19
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hotsauce posted:Also, I love the orange habanero salsa you get from semi-shady Mexican restaurants (but not sweet/vinegary). It's very hot and I want to make it. Never found a good recipe. eg:  A habanero salsa that is legitimately orange, not tart, and offered to the general public is not something you see very often.
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Jun 1, 2013 04:16
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pogothemonkey0 posted:Are you privy to the recipe? To me, your post reads, "I know a really awesome secret but won't tell you." We only really have two "don't tell anyone" recipes, because the absolute second we ran tomatillo salsa and limonada, local business all had their heinous copies of them (because they were easier to make than our features). I guess I shouldn't worry, but it's also really late, and I'm too tired to type out an exact recipe. As for cooking the ingredients, keep it simple. Garlic, white onion, jalapeno peppers, and tomatillos with buttloads of cilantro and small amount of salt to taste is the basic recipe. Dry-roast the white onion (cut into 1/4" slices) and Garlic at around 300 for ten minutes(no oil or extra fluids), so that the garlic can be squished with your finger, and at least 50% of the onion is brown and crisp (with the rest losing its solid white color). Convection ovens are the best for this, but regular ovens work just as well. I wouldn't broil it. The tomatillos should be shucked, washed, and placed on a non-stick tray and dry-roasted at around 500 degrees for about ten minutes, until they easily are easily squished when pressed on by a thumb. Cook the jalapenos with the tomatillos. Take the garlic, jalapenos, and tomatillos, and throw them in a blender for a food processor for a few seconds, so that they're blended, but still leaving behind a chunky mixture. Dice up the finished onion slices and mix into the blended concoction, adding cilantro and salt to your liking.
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Jun 1, 2013 04:23
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That's interesting, I will have to try it. I've never seen dry roasting suggested; I wonder what difference it will make. So that means there is no oil or lime in your recipe?
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Jun 1, 2013 22:02
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marshalljim posted:A habanero salsa that is legitimately orange, not tart, and offered to the general public is not something you see very often. Where in the world is there such thing as salsas that a taqueria would make but wouldn't offer to the general public? Because I don't ever want to be there.  Here's a taqueria that is 5 min from my house's salsa selection:  Hell if i know what it all is, but I know a few. Roasted chiles and mexican green onions up top, sliced radishes. Then from the back to front it's something with cumin, pretty thin, medium hot, not my fav. Habanero, very very very hot, signature hab fruitiness. Chile de arbol, pretty decently hot. Avocado salsa verde. Tomatillo salsa verde. Chipotle, medium hot. Tomato salsa, mild. The taqueria itself isn't the greatest, but it doesn't suck and it's open 24/7 which owns.
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Jun 1, 2013 23:07
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pogothemonkey0 posted:That's interesting, I will have to try it. I've never seen dry roasting suggested; I wonder what difference it will make. So that means there is no oil or lime in your recipe? The Tomatillo provides enough acid and moisture, and oil isn't completely verboten in Mexican cooking, but it also isn't as common as in many European styles of cooking. Dry roasting is good for this particular recipe because it condenses the flavor of the garlic, onion, and tomatillo while letting all of the base ingredients provide the moisture, so you're not getting obtrusive oiliness or having the lime fight the tomatillos for flavor. Don't get me wrong, fresh-squeezed lime juice is a godsend, but it's just unnecessary with how great everything in this recipe tastes by itself, while providing the right amount of acid and zest.
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Jun 1, 2013 23:15
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Anyone have any good guacamole recipes? I have family with lots and lots of avocado trees so in the summer I get inundated with a metric shitton of avocados. Please help me convert them into delicious dip. Im getting tired of eating them with just salt and pepper.
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Jun 3, 2013 04:31
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GrAviTy84 posted:Where in the world is there such thing as salsas that a taqueria would make but wouldn't offer to the general public? Because I don't ever want to be there. And to answer MewMcDong, guacamole is tomato, cilantro, onion, lime, avocado, salt and pepper, maybe some serrano if you like
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Jun 3, 2013 04:37
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