Pork Tamales

Well, we've crossed another marker in the Mexican food exploits of UK living. Pork tamales. This is something I've wanted to make for years. But if I've moaned about sourcing ingredients before, try finding dried corn husks in the UK. This was a necessary Arizonan import. Intent on my goal, I brought a bag back with me last time I visited home, where a bag of about 50 are on sale for less than $1. Because honestly. They're corn husks.

Tamales are the ubiquitous Mexican New Year's Eve food. Usually complemented with red and/or green salsa, most families will gather around a large bowl of masa and set up an assembly line for making them. The trick is to get the balance between the filling (pork in this case) and masa just right. You set grandma up with making the masa, Mom gets working on the pork (or whatever filling) and then everyone grabs a corn husk and starts making these little parcels of deliciousness. Pork is traditional, but you can even make dessert tamales by stuffing the masa with chocolate, dried fruit, or really whatever your heart desires. You will need a steamer for these guys and about a day free for cooking. The recipe I used (from this website) actually advised spending two days on the project. Now I can justify a day of cooking as thesis procrastination, but even I have to draw the line at two. I started cooking the meat in the morning and it was falling apart (perfect tamales consistency) by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The masa took minutes to make. So worry not, delicious tamales can be yours in less than 24 hours.

Ingredients

2 pounds pork lean steak (fat trimmed and cut into 2'' cubes)
1 onion, thickly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 cup chili powder (I used a blend of ancho and achiote, very smoky and not too hot)
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp cumin
4 cups masa harina (dried masa for tortillas)
1 cup lard (or vegetable shortening but good luck finding it!)
corn husks

Preparation

Cook the pork in a large pot of water (or in a slow-cooker filled with water) with an onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook for the day, 4 hours minimum.

After the meat is cooked (so that it falls apart and shreds easily), remove from pot, set aside to cool, and puree the onion and garlic with the broth. Season broth mixture to taste with chili powder and salt.

Shred meat finely with two forks (you can even chop it after shredding), and store covered in refrigerator separately from broth.

Soak your corn husks in a bowl of boiling hot water for about 30 minutes or until they are soft and pliant.

Season shredded meat with chili powder, salt, and cumin (optional) to taste. As you season the meat, add a small amount of broth to moisten meat, but it should not be runny.

For every 2 cups of masa harina (meal), add ½ cup of shortening or lard, 1tsp. of salt, and enough chili powder to make a pink dough. Add broth mixture a little at a time to masa and mix with your hands to get a smooth, spreadable consistency. If you run out of broth, you can use hot water, but you will wish you had plenty of broth.

Assemble the tamales: spread masa about 1/8 inch thick on corn husk with fingers, leaving about ½ inch border along the sides and 2 inch border along the top and bottom of husk. Use about 2 Tbsp. of shredded meat to fill the tamal (like a cigar). Fold sides until they just overlap, fold narrow end under, and place tamal folded side down.

To keep the corn husk in place, I recommend making small strips of one corn husk, using each strip to tie a "belt" around each corn husk.

To cook, place about 1/2'' of water at the bottom of your steamer, allow the water to come to a boil and then reduce to a nice simmer. Place the tamales in the steamer so that they just overlap with each other (but don't crowd them!) and then steam for 15 minutes or until masa is no longer sticky.

Serves: about 8-10

Courgettes (Zucchini) with cheese and green chilies

I will not even deign to comment on the whole zucchini/courgette name debate but suffice it to say I was looking for a veggie side dish that was at least pseudo-Mexican and this one fit the bill. Delicious, but feel free to decrease the amount of cream cheese you put in.
Consider it dependent on your adherence to the credo that veggie side dishes should retain at least some nutritional value.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tomatoes
1/3 cup drained pickled jalapeno chili slices, chopped
1 1/4 lb (500g) courgettes (zucchini)
1/2 cup (115g) cream cheese
salt and ground black pepper

Preparation

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, and oregano. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.

Cut a cross in the base of each tomato. Place in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave in the water for 3 minutes, then lift out on a slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of cold water. Drain. The skins will have begun to peel back from the crosses. Remove the skins and cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds. Chop the flesh into strips.

Top and tail the courgettes, then cut them lengthways into 1/2 inch wide strips. Slice the strips into matchsticks.

Stir the courgettes into the onion mixture and fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Add the tomatoes and chopped jalapenos and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Add the cream cheese. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting. As the cheese melts, stir gently to coat the courgettes. Season with salt, pile into a heated dish and serve.

Serves 6 as a side dish

Shrimp Salsa

Because I was holding a party that would involve several noted pescetarians, I wanted to provide something as a substantial meatless dish. Behold, the shrimp salsa. I'm not quite on the bandwagon yet with calling everything that is cold and has a few chilies in it "salsa" (I mean, what's the difference between this and a salad?) but regardless this was a good treat and went down well with the non-meat eaters of our group.

Due to continuing ripeness issues with avocados, for this recipe, I made it a few hours early just so that the avocados might soften a bit as they sat in the lime juice. Worked like a charm. 

Ingredients

2 limes, halved
about 30-35 cooked shrimp
1/4 teaspoon achiote powder (optional)
2 cups seeded and diced tomatoes
1/3 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos, or to taste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
Ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Use 1/4 cup of the lime juice and the achiote powder to soak the shrimp for about 1-2 hours if you want a really zesty salsa. Otherwise just skip to the next step.

In a large bowl, mix the shrimp with the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, avocado, lime juice, jalapeno, herbs, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and adjust with more lime juice, salt, or pepper.

Note: This dish can be made and refrigerated up to 3 hours before serving. It should be made the day it is served. Although it doesn't go bad, the vegetables become waters, and it isn't as good the next day.

Smoky Stuffed Jalapeño Chilies

As I've often commented (see previous posts), sourcing ingredients for Mexican food in England is not always the easiest task. And often it's the simplest ingredients that prove to be the most trouble to find.

For example: jalapeño chillies.

These little babies, which are so frequently stocked in your friendly neighborhood Tesco, were on this particular day nowhere to be found in the central Oxford area. Nowhere. Ancho chilies? The other slightly non-standard food item required by this recipe? Available by the truckload. And while I found it amusing that I couldn't find the main ingredient for a "Mexican" recipe found in a prominent English food magazine (Delicious, July 2010), the amusement did not extend past me asking the 5th store employee if they had any jalapeños. The amusement particularly had worn thin when the answer was no. So I improvised and invested in some Marks & Spencers baby chilies instead. Which were the perfect size and worked like a charm. These bite size morsels are definitely moreish. I doubled the recipe below in an attempt to satiate the appetites of 12, but I would say plan for at least 3 half peppers per person. There were definitive angry grunts from the people who hadn't swooped in to snag one before they were gone.

Ingredients

 

8 jalapeño chillies (or sweet baby chilies)
2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, for breadcrumbs (or Panko breadcrumbs)
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
1 apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
2 banana shallots or 4 regular shallots, finely chopped (or half an onion)
8 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 heaped tsp chipotles en adobo (available in major supermarkets and online at coolchile.co.uk)
       -or dried ancho chilies
Juice of ½ lemon
120g vegetarian goat’s cheese, diced or crumbled
75g grated vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese

Preparation

Halve the chillies lengthways (keep the stems intact) and remove the seeds. Plunge the chilli halves in boiling, salted water for 2-3 minutes to blanch. Refresh in cold water, then drain. This will soften them and temper their heat a little.

Meanwhile, whizz the bread in a blender to make breadcrumbs. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the diced apple and fry for 3-4 minutes until it has started to colour. Turn the heat right down and add the shallot, thyme and some seasoning. Cook for 10 minutes until the shallots are soft. Add the garlic and chipotles and cook for another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled a little, stir in the lemon juice, to taste, then the goat’s cheese.

Place the chillies in a shallow baking dish. Divide the stuffing among them and scatter with the breadcrumbs. When you’re getting ready to eat, preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Drizzle the chillies with a little olive oil and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Cream Cheese and Pecan Stuffed Berries

 
On summer nights it's hard serving warm cookies, cakes, or really anything that requires an oven for dessert. You want something that's light but sweet, and reflects something of the season. Berries are all over England right now. You can't move for strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries, the three-way tie for my favorite fruit. While the Brits can't pass up on their strawberries and cream (classic), here's a new twist on the same idea. The slicing of the strawberries was perhaps the most challenging bit of this, but once you get the knack, you can do all 20 (or however many) in minutes. And if you want to bypass that step altogether, opt for raspberries. Nature has already provided a space for you. And Nature, we are so, so grateful.
 

I tried to remember to take a picture of the dessert when it was sprinkled with pecans. But alas. They were gone in minutes and the photo was not to be. 

 

Ingredients

• 20 whole large strawberries, hulled (and/or raspberries)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup confectioners' powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and/or almond extract
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions

-Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Place berries, cut side down, on a serving platter.

-Carefully cut the berries into 4 wedges, cutting almost to, but not through, the bottoms with a criss-cross cut. Fan wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.
-In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until combined but still stiff.
-Using a teaspoon or a plastic bag with a small hole cut in one corner, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the stuffed strawberries.
-Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.