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Newsletter
for December and a Half, 2005
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: She calls for the seeds from 8 Mulato chiles, 5 ancho chiles, 6 pasilla chiles toasted separately. Anise seeds and coriander seeds toasted together. Pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds toasted separately. One small stale tortilla and 3 pieces of stale French bread. Okay, you get the idea. I also read and recommend the ‘Picayune Creole Cookbook’ ….for entertainment only -- its recipes are all over a 100 years old and almost impossible to make today. I just use these books to steal ideas from. The two books I actually use the most are the good ol’ ‘Joy of Cooking’ and ‘Mexican Cooking’ by Elisabeth Ortiz, but I know what I’m doing and just use them for general info. I’ve never been able to really recommend a cook-book for general consumption. Until now! I’ve also never used this Newsletter to try and sell you something. Until now! My old friend and mentor Joseph Carey has written a dynamite cook-book. He’s a no bullshit sort of guy and has the same contempt and disdain for the celebrity chefs that I do. I think I quote him accurately when refers to them as that pack of ‘fatuous, self-aggrandizing morons’. He added ‘except for Anthony Bourdain”. I just think he only likes Bourdain because he reminds him of Bunky, the cook we had in Berkeley who walked off the job in tears because he couldn’t stand the crawfish screaming and trying to climb out of the pot as they cooked. I tried to explain that the crawfish were frozen, but Bunky swore they were screaming. I think he just had better drugs than the rest of us. Joseph is a good teacher (in fact, the founder of the prestigious Memphis Culinary Academy), a good writer and he really knows his stuff. What’s more – I think he includes at least one of my recipes in the book. Joseph was a Viet Nam vet who wound up in Berkeley at about the same time I did. I think we both got into the restaurant biz by accident. He couldn’t find an opening in the field he really wanted to make a career in nor could I. He wanted to be King and I was looking to catch on as a Viking. Joseph is probably responsible for me being in the restaurant business. He taught me a lot and I am still learning from him. Remember- this was Berkeley in the 60’s, so I also learned about a lot of other things, but fortunately lived through them. Anyway,
his book is perfect for anyone who loves food and\or cooking.
It would make a great Christmas - present and even better….
Amazon has it on sale. If you are interested in checking
it out, click
here. Do yourself a favor and check it out,
maybe Joseph will wind up on the food network and I can rag
on him too. Somewhere along the line we encountered mole (Mo-lay). Mole seems to have an aura of mystery around it, maybe because the most famous mole, ‘Mole Poblano’ has chocolate in it. It is reputed to be an ancient dish because the word mole comes from the Aztecs and means mixture or blend. However the truth is somewhat different. Mole Poblano is widely thought to have been created in 1698 by some nuns in a convent in the city of Puebla. That’s 100’s of years after the Aztec civilization bit the dust. Also there are 100’s of recipes called mole, many of them with absolutely no ingredients in common. Some are green, others, red, orange, black or even white. My personal theory (and from now on I’m claiming it to be a fact) is that in the context of cooked food ‘mole’ was just the Aztec word for ‘stew’ or maybe ‘fricassee’ or even ‘cacciatore’. So, in the USA mole is a dish that folks eat in restaurants but no one even tries to make at home. Here’s Mexico’s dirty little secret – virtually no one in Mexico makes it from scratch at home either. As a matter of fact I don’t know of any restaurants that make it from scratch either. Every time I’m in a place that has ‘home made’ mole on the menu, I sneak a peek into the kitchen and always seem to spot a big yellow can of ‘Dona Maria’s’ Mole. Even my ‘homemade’ mole at the restaurant starts with a blend of ground seeds and herbs and chiles that I get from Oaxaca. I then add the fresh ingredients and proudly claim to serve ‘homemade’ mole. I don’t think it’s exactly lying. I mean everybody makes homemade spaghetti sauce and I don’t know anyone who starts with fresh tomatoes. Don’t we all start with canned tomato sauce or paste? Well, there you go. Here’s how you too can make great homemade chicken mole(mo-lay). ……….and it won’t take all day.
When the chicken is good and brown – take it out of the pot and put it aside. Add a generous amount of butter to the pot and turn down the fire. Scrape up any good brown stuff on the bottom and throw in the onion, ham, mushrooms, parsley, garlic, bay leaves and oregano and cook it - stirring until the mushrooms start to exude their liquid - about 5 or so minutes. You don’t want to burn or even brown this mix. Okay now add the mole mix, – give it a good stir and add the stock - or water if you don’t have stock - in the amount called for on the mole jar. Bring it up to a quick boil an turn it down to a slow simmer – toss in the browned chicken put a lid on it and go take a nap. Check it in about an hour - maybe 45 minutes. I like the chicken cooked to the point where you can just about pull the bones out, but you get to decide how you like it. At home I serve this over white rice. I also like it over egg noodles. In Mexico it is usually served by itself with some Mexican rice on the side. When you plate it up sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over it and dig in. Incidentally, the ham, mushroom, onion, parsley mix is one of my ‘secrets’. I learned it from Joseph in the whacky Berkeley days where we used as the base for a red wine/butter Creole sauce for filet mignon. I have since used it as a base for chicken and veal marsala. I’ve used it in soups, fricassees, with grated cheese as a stuffing for mushroom caps and as a filling for potstickers and ravioli. I’ve even added potatoes and made hash. Hmmm. Wonder if it’s in his new book.
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