Today's Recipe
All you ever needed to know about dried
chiles
For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Spencer Moore and along with my son Spencer am the chef owner of a couple of restaurants in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Mama's Royal Cafe is an upscale breakfast restaurant thought by many, myself included, to be the best breakfast place in the whole country. My other restaurant is Felix' - a dinner place specializing in original recipes and regional specialties not often found in restaurants. We also claim to have the world's largest salsa bar, with between 25 and 40 salsas on any given day. You can check out the menus at the web sites (www.mamascabosanlucas.com and www.felixcabosanlucas.com). Both restaurants have been featured on the 'FOOD NETWORK' where they refer to me as the 'SALSA KING'.
If a person were to get all their information from watching celebrity chefs on TV, they would no doubt be convinced that the two most popular vegetables in America are arugula and shallots
This month I'm going to deal with a deep-seated primal fear shared by many Americans. I am, of course referring to the almost universal reluctance of American cooks to make any salsa requiring the use of dried chiles. It's a damn shame because these salsas are probably the very easiest to make. Virtually every Mexican restaurant in the world and most Mexican households has a bowl of red salsa (made from dried chiles) sitting on the table. The reason we are reluctant to make these salsas, I think, is because all those self-acclaimed 'celebrity chefs' have made it seem so damn complicated they tell you to weigh out 31/2 grams of organically grown guajillo chiles from some damn mail order yuppie food nazi in New Mexico or to use only the shiniest first growth pasillas - or use only bright red Anchos from a little farm just outside of Tucson. Then they want you to hand grind these dried chiles in your $400 spice grinder. BULLSHIT!! That's right - it's all bullshit. These jerks think that if they make it seem real complicated then you will think they are really cool. I don't know about you, but I don't even own a spice grinder and I manage to put out about 30 salsas a day, every day. So trust me, these salsas are easy, easy, easy to make. A real no brainer. thick or thin, hot or mild, ranging in color from orange through all the shades of red to almost black. The last time I was in the U.S. I was surprised to find dried chiles in almost every super Market. Here's a short list of the dried chiles I use the most.
Chiles de Arbol
Arbol is the Spanish word for tree. I'm guessin' that they got there name because the bush they grow on resembles a miniature tree. These chiles are two to three inches long, thin, red, and quite hot, similar to cayenne chiles. They can be bitingly hot without much distinctive flavor. When first formed the chile is bright green, but with maturity turns bright red. The experts say the arbol may be used either fresh, green or red, or dried when mature, but I have never even seen the fresh arbols for sale. the dried chiles are available almost everywhere. I think these are the same chiles that are sold as chile flakes and found in shakers on the table at most pizza places. I also think that this is the chile used in most Asian dishes especially szechuan. It is also used to make Chinese Hot Oil. Chile de Arbol is 2 to 3 inches long and ranges in color from orange to deep red. The chile de arbol is 25,000 Scoville units (The Scoville scale is used to measure the relative heat of chiles and 25,000 units is hotÑa jalapeno runs from 2500 to 10000 units. It will add a natural, grassy flavor to dishes. In pod form the de arbol is often used to flavor oils and vinegars. As a powder the chile de arbol is great in soups and chilis.
Guajillo
These chiles are called mirasol when fresh, although I have never seen a fresh one, These dried brown-orange to purple-red chiles are 4-6 inches long and 1 inch wide when fresh Dried they have a dark-almost black dusty look. Among the most common chiles in Mexico, the Scoville scale shows it at 5,000 units, but I think it is actually milder and will add a sweet piney, green-tea flavor which is excellent in pesto sauce or with seafood. Also see Anaheim and Mirasol. We use it (with the seeds and veins removed, to add a bright red color to the broth in Pozole, Mancha Manteles and Tortilla soup. We also use this ubiquitous chile to make a red table sauce
Pasilla
The true pasilla is thin, dark green when fresh, and dark brown to black when dried, 5-7 inches long by 1 inch wide, tapering and narrow, with a blunt end. Its Scoville rating is 2,500 units. When fresh, they are used for rellenos in many parts of Mexico, although here in Baja we use Poblanos. As a matter of fact I have never seen fresh pasillas for sale and I tahink that the dried pasillas we get are actually poblanos. In any event I think you can use pasillas and poablanos interchangeably . Pasillas are mainly used dried or powdered and possess a complex, deep, smoky raisin flavor sometimes described as a licorice flavor similar to the ancho, poblano, or mulato chiles. They are excellent in seafood or moles. In Baja California, where much produce is grown and then shipped throughout the United States, the poblano is labeled as pasilla. Consequently, in California markets one can find two types of chiles vying for the name pasilla: the true pasilla as described above, and the poblano, which is a heavier, more broad-shouldered cousin. The pasilla is used in meat entrees, tamales and quesadillas. Dried, under the name of negro chile, it renders a thick, rich, dark sauce. Substitute poblanos for pasillas; they are both mild to medium hot. (also called chilaca chile or, when dried, chile negro...continued after the ÔreaderÕs forumÕ...
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Hi,
Go
to the web-site (www.felixcabosanlucas) and click on 'newsletter
archive' then click on 'January 2003'... If you look in the letters
from the readers you will find my recipe for French toast... the
recipe for the 'topping' is exactly the same as for the filling
for the crepes except I don't use nuts in the crepes. The sweet
cream is just sour cream and lots of sugar and maybe a little vanilla.
You can use any recipe for the crepe batter-- mine originally came
from the 'Joy of Cooking'. You could even use any packaged crepe
mix available in most super markets. Let me know how they turn out
__________ Hi,
Thanks I'll pass the recipe along..... Avocado and White Grape Salsa One medium avocado, diced in half inch pieces, about 1 1/2 cups 1 cup quartered white grapes, seeded, measured after they have been cut. Juice of one lime, 1 teaspoon garlic, salt, black pepper to taste, Cilantro to taste. Just mix all the ingredients and refrigerate at least two hours before serving with chips __________ Spencer,
"Salsahead Activist/Humorist" ?? sounds good to me!! You suppose there's any bucks in that?? And if Tony Bourdain made it big - I missed it. _________ spencer
Sure thing. Saute some shrimp with butter and garlic - maybe a little oil to keep the butter from burning. When the shrimp are just about done- toss in some Salsa Mexicana and stir it around, When all is hot, cover the shrimp salsa mix with some grated Jack cheese and put a cover on the pan to melt the cheese. That's all there is to it. If you need it there is a recipe for salsa Mexicana on my web site (wwwfelixcabosanlucas.com) __________
Spencer Hi, Sure thing - just go to my web site (www.felixcabosanlucas.com) and click on 'Newsletter Archive, then click on May 2002 for my pozole recipe. That recipe(with pork, beef and chicken) is the same as it would be for chicken only. Chicken pozole is basically just chicken soup with hominy. You want the broth to be a very rich red color(guajillo chiles) and very clear - so make sure you skim it a lot, maybe even strain it through a kitchen towel or some cheese cloth. I think the secret of the presentation is in the garnish served with the pozole. At the very minimum you ahould serve chopped onion, cilantro, lime wedges,chopped chiles (preferably serranos), sliced radishes and oregano(whole dried or fresh - not powdered). Since most of your guests will not be familiar with this dish, you should instruct them to squeeze some lime juice into the pozole and then pile in the rest of the stuff. In addition to the above mentioned garnish I like to serv some avocado slices, pumpkin seeds, chopped lettuce or cabbage and grated jack cheese. I hope this helps. Let me know how it turns out. Spencer |
Preparing the dried chiles
The method for preparing the chiles is exactly the same for all of the chiles. Wash them off in cold water. Remove the woody stems. Cut or tear the chiles into small pieces and cover with hot water. Let them soak for an hour or so. That's it! All the preparation you need is done. I generally leave the seeds in but I like rustic, textured salsas. If you want something shinier and a little more elegant - remove the seeds. This will also make for a milder salsa.
Making the salsa
Take the soaked chiles and put them in a blender and blend them adding some of the water they were soaking in to get the consistency you like. That's it!! You now have a simple basic red table salsa. If you used guajjillo chiles it should be a bright red. If you used pasilla chiles it will be Dark red to Black. If you would like a fancier salsa there are a couple of more things you can do. Throw a ripe red tomato, a clove of garlic, oregano and some raw onion into the blender with the chiles. It sounds funny but then you fry the salsa. Add the blended mix to a lightly oiled skillet (Mexican cooks like to use a little lard) and cook it for 5 or so minutes. If you want that shiny more elegant salsa you should peel and deseed the tomato. For those of you who don't already know - here's how you peel and deseed a tomato. Have a pot of water boiling on the stove. Drop the tomato into the boiling water. Ripe thin skinned tomatoes only need about ten seconds - Thick skinned puppies can take up to a minute. Remove the tomato from the water... when it's cool enough to touch, cut it in half. The skin should come right off. Then give the half tomato a little squeeze and the seeds should squirt right out. Let me know how it turns out.
