On August 27, I blogged about placing a large order with Mex Grocer. I've been having fun using all the ingredients in a variety of Mexican and Latin American inspired recipes.
Above: individual serving of picadillo
Latin American Inspired Recipes
Here's links to my latest Mexican/Cuban recipes, which incorporate some of the ingredients I purchased from Mex Grocer.
Authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate; recipe for a hot chocolate drink.
Mexican Green Chile Cornbread Casserole; recipe for a lightly spicy corn side dish.
Picadillo Recipe; how-to make a classic Latin American meat sauce.
Pozole; pork and hominy stew
Quesadillas; homemade corn turnovers.
Above: Mexican green chile cornbread casserole
Last week I placed a second order with Mex Grocer, which arrived this afternoon.
Here's what I've received:
1. Can of mild, whole green chiles. Will use a few in the meat tamale filling and/or to make a green chile sauce to go along with the meat tamales. I'm thinking pork or turkey, but you never know.
2. Can of zucchini flowers - I plan on using them for either a zucchini flower soup, or as part of a corn turnover filling.
3. Bag of tortilla wheat flour, AKA harina para tortillas. I've made corn tortillas before, using masa harina, AKA corn flour, now I want to try making regular tortillas using wheat flour. The wheat flour contains shortening and baking powder, just add water to make into tortilla dough.
4. Another bag of masa harina. I've made homemade quesadilla's, AKA corn turnovers, twice since getting my first order from Mex Grocer. They are super delicious and fun to make. I still want to try making tamales, and will need quite a bit of masa for the tamale dough.
5. Another package of Mexican chocolate tablets. Great cinnamon laced chocolate. I've been using it to make Mexican hot chocolate and hot mocha - delicious!
6. Another couple of packages of corn husks. When I finally get around to making tamales, I'm going to be making a HUGE batch. I want to make three kinds: a dessert tamale, a meat tamale and a veggie tamale for my vegetarian daughter. YUM, I can't wait!
7. Mexican oregano. I have a huge Mexican oregano bush growing out front, but with all the cooking I've been doing lately, I've been using it faster than I can harvest/grow it. Not a bad idea to have some dried Mexican oregano on hand, just in case.
8. Bay leaves. I have an old container of musty looking bay leaves. Time to throw those out and replace them with some fresher ones.
9. Package of short cinnamon sticks, AKA canella. I have ground cinnamon, but there's nothing like grinding your own herbs and spices in a mortar and pestle right before you need them for a recipe.
10. Package of whole cloves. Again, I have ground cloves in the pantry, just not the same as grinding your own.
11. Package of whole cumin, AKA comino. Looks a little bit like caraway seeds. I'll use these both ground and in whole form.
12. Mild, red enchilada sauce. I'll probably use this as the sauce for either the meat tamales, or the veggie tamales when I make them.
13. Chipolte pepper paste. I received a can of whole chipolte peppers in adobo sauce in my last order with Mex Grocer. Since all the recipes I've been following have you finely mince/grind the chipoltes into a paste, I thought it might be more convenient to have a jar of the pre-made paste on hand. Chipoltes are smoked jalapeno peppers, totally different flavor profile than the fresh, green jalapenos.
14. Pickled prickly pear cactus, AKA nopalitos. The pickled cactus pads are packed in a glass jar with water, onions, cilantro, serrano peppers, salt and vinegar. I'll use these to make a salad, or as part of a corn turnover filling.
I've actually seen prickly pear cactus in a few of my neighbors yards. I suppose I could knock on their door and ask for one. But in this neighborhood, they might shoot first and ask questions later. And I don't think I'd really like dealing with the spines on the fresh cactus pads.
Above: making Mexican hot chocolate
Toast Your Herbs & Spices
Most of the Mexican recipes I've been following, call for dry toasting one or more of the ingredients. It's much easier to toast herbs and spices in their whole form. Use a dry frying pan, set over medium heat, and toast each ingredient until it just begins to turn fragrant. If the items are smoking, either your pan is too hot, or you've left them in the pan for too long. Remove the toasted ingredients from the pan, let cool, then grind to a powder in a coffee grinder or mortar & pestle.
You can also toast dry chile peppers using this method. Once the peppers have cooled, break them open and remove the seeds and membrane, unless you are looking to make a really hot and spicy dish. The peppers can then be torn into rough pieces and added to your recipe, or soaked in a liquid and then added to your recipe.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva
