Newsletter for June, 2003
Issue 20

Today's Recipe
What the hell is a "Chimichanga"?

In addition to this newsletter I also write a food column for a local paper here in Cabo (www.gringogazette.com). Usually the two are entirely different, but not this month. I think that my latest column might be of interest to you so I am using it as this month’s newsletter.

I’ve been getting more than a few requests for my recipe for beans. It seems that the world wide web has eaten that particular newsletter. So if any of you have bothered to keep a copy of the ‘Bean’ Newsletter on your computer
(I think it is November 2002). I would appreciate it if you would send me a copy. The first one to do so wins a free T-shirt and a Margarita.( the catch is; you have to come to Cabo to collect)

 

If you’re from the southwest or the west coast, you probably know the answer, but if you are visiting from the south, the east coast or the mid-west you may be puzzled by a lot of the things you encounter on menus in Cabo. For example burritos, quesadillas, sincronizadas and chimichangas are all described as something or other in a flour tortilla, yet they are very, very different.

BURRITO
A burrito is nothing more than a heated flour tortilla rolled into a tubular shape around a filling of some sort. For Breakfast maybe some eggs scrambled with chorizo or bacon and chiles. For lunch they usually contain beans, some meat and/or cheese and salsa. They can be picked up and eaten like a sandwich. As a matter of fact Blue collar workers often pack them for lunch.

QUESADILLA
If you take that same flour tortilla, lay it flat, cover one half with cheese(and whatever else you want…chicken, chiles, whatever) then fold it closed and heat it on a grill or fry it …. you have a quesadilla. A flour tortilla heated on a grill is a little like Pita bread, but if you fry it in a little oil it gets crispy, almost pastry like. Which leads us to

CHIMICHANGA
Take that same flour tortilla - lay it flat and put some sort of filling right in the center, then fold the top of the tortilla over the filling then fold up the bottom, then the left and right and you should have what looks like a little closed package which you then proceed to fry in lard, butter or vegetable oil. Remember to fry it with the folded side down first so it doesn’t open and spill the filling into the pan. Fry it until it is golden brown, but not burnt, then turn it over and fry the other side. You have just made a chimichanga. I think a good basic filling for beginners is a spoonful of sour cream, some grated cheese and a couple of strips of green chiles. Okay, but what the hell is a sincronizada??

SINCRONIZADA
A sincronizada is simply a flour tortilla laid flat and covered with some sort of filling (the most common in Mexico is probably ham &cheese) then another flour tortilla is placed on top – just like a sandwich - then grilled or fried top and bottom It is then sliced into wedges like a pizza and eaten with the fingers. This can make a pretty elegant appetizer – at the restaurant we serve a sincronizada made with smoked tuna, green onions and jack cheese….. all the tourists think it’s a fancy high tone dish.

 

 

This is something you can do with left-over chicken , and it’s really good—easy to make too. Just spread some shredded or chopped chicken on one half of a flour tortilla- add some grated jack cheese (just a little-we don’t want a big chewy mass of cheese) and some pineapple salsa. Fold the other half over and fry in a little oil. Yeah, but I don’t have any pineapple salsa!! No problem.

First things first...

This salsa is easy, easy, easy to prepare and most folks have never had anything like it, so they're gonna think you're a real culinary genius because it's beautiful to look at and wonderful to taste. If you want to tell them that it's an old family recipe handed down from generation to generation and takes three weeks to prepare and you personally grew and hot smoked the chipotle chiles and had the organically grown pineapple air freighted in from Vera Cruz and the red peppers were personally selected by your grandfather in Tamalipas and picked during the full moon and blessed by the local parish priest and then oven roasted in an adobe kiln with rare Elephant garlic from Gilroy and marinated in a first crush extra virgin olive oil from a 2000 year old tree in Tuscany and aged in charred white oak vat in a cave in Bordeaux, go ahead, I won't tell. Anyway, this salsa is great on any kind of pork, wonderful with barbecued chicken, dynamite plain with
chips and makes great quesadillas with most any kind of cheese. I'm giving the ingredients for a relatively small amount just in case you think it really sucks. Oh, I'm giving you the quick version here – the salsa is actually a lot better if you first saute or pan roast the Red Pepper and Garlic.

1/2 A FRESH PINEAPPLE
chopped

1 CHIPOTLE CHILE en ADOBO
chopped fine

1 MEDIUM RED PEPPER
seeds and stems removed - chopped

1 CLOVE OF GARLIC
chopped fine

A COUPLE OF GREEN ONIONS
chopped

1 or 2 TEASPOONS OF SESAME SEEDS
(optional –to sprinkle over the top)

If you have a whole pineapple, cut the top and bottom off and put them in the garbage or plant them or put them in your compost pile. Slice what's left of the pineapple in half - down through the core. Slice one of the halves in two - down through the core. The core can be tough and woody and tasteless so trim it off and put it where ever it was that you put the top and bottom. Peel the outer skin off of the 2 quarters. Now you don't have to be real anal about this step. It's all right if you don't get every last little bit of the skin off. Just get the real big eyes and any seriously brown spots. Chop the pineapple - don't blend it - and put it in a bowl. For making a small amount of salsa I don't think it's worth it to go through the hassle of dealing with 1 dried chipotle so Open a small can of 'Chiles Chipotle en Adobo' and chop just one of the chiles very finely and add it to the bowl with the Pineapple along with some of the liquid from the can. Add the chopped green onions. You might have to add a little liquid but if you let it sit for a little while it will probably make its own liquid. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over it. Bingo, babycakes - you just made a great salsa. TASTE IT!! Too hot? - add some more pineapple. Not hot enough? - add some more chile. I repeat - This salsa (I think) is actually much better if you flame roast the Red Pepper ( see my web site www.felixcabosanlucas.com – click on ‘recipes’ and then click on ‘flame roasted peppers) with the Garlic instead of using raw. If you are barbecuing you can throw the peeled pineapple and seeded red pepper on the grill until they ‘re a little charred and make the salsa while the chicken is cooking. Call it "Mama Maria's charred Pineapple and Red Pepper salsa", it's great too.

Let me know how it turns out.

 

Hi to all,
Having just read your latest newsletter, I realized I missed the recipe for spicy carrots. Any chance of getting it? Thanks much, and will see you in Sept.
Eric n Ana
Las Vegas

Hi,
I just came across your letter in a file I rarely use. I hope I answered you a long time ago. If not, you can find the recipe for Hot Carrots on my web site (www.felixcabosanlucas.com) just click on ‘recipes’ Hot carrots is the very first one.
Spencer

__________

Hi Spencer,

I just received my first email and newsletter from you and have enjoyed reading it very much! My boyfriend and I have made 4 trips now to Cabo San Lucas and have had quite a few breakfasts at your restaurant. Being a "regular" now in Cabo, we always send people that we meet your way because we always have such a great time at your place. The service and food are always exceptional. We look forward to our next trip and our next visit to Mama's Cafe. Keep up the great work!
Mary
Seattle, WA

Thanks, Mary.
Spencer

__________

love the newsletter.....but....please send me the recipe for the creamy cucumbery
Salsa.
Eleanor

CUCUMBERY?? I like it.. That recipe is also posted on my web site.
ss

__________

Spencer, Spencer,
I tried your Hot Smoky Oil recipe, and it was a big hit with the family.
A variation is as follows:

2 whole Habaneros- garden grown and picked when bright red
2 whole Jalapeños- garden grown
1 sprig of fresh Oregano
4 cloves garlic
Chinese toasted sesame oil

Smoke the peppers on the grill, slow, with hickory chips. At least 1 hour.
grind the peppers, (now called Chipotles), in a blender. Add all ingredients to a bottle, add oil to top...Wall-Ah! Super Hot, Super Smoky oil.
Mix into Mayo for that gourmet yuppie spread, and put onto any barbeque
sandwich. Especially good on porketta sandwiches! Or pour directly onto meal, in small amounts as it will quickly overpower the meal.

On a side note- best cure for the Habanero Hots, that's when you are dumb
enough, like me, to scratch the itch on your nose after handling Habs....
Sour Cream applied directly to the flaming area will quell the swell.
Dairy contains a chemical that not only masks the capisin, but actually
draws it out, away from the area. My wife found me in the kitchen one day
spooning gobs of sour cream up into my nose. It's not pretty, but it works.

Thanks,
And keep the recipe's coming.

p.s. any chance you could tell us North-easterners with limited growing
periods, how to effectively dry and store our peppers for use during the
long winters?
Dave and Kristen, "The BoBos", Mansure

Thank you all for your support. I'll research that last question, and let you know.

Bye for now,
Spencer