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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | May 2006 
Recipes from Mexico: Green Ceviche
 RRNewswire
This recipe is the brainstorm of a young Mexican chef named Daniel Bravo Garibi, who has worked at several restaurants in Mexico City. Most recently he has been cooking on a ship for the Greenpeace environmental group.
Ceviche:
• ¾ pound red snapper fillets
• ½ cup orange juice
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper
Green paste:
• 2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, optional
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ cup each, fresh: mint leaves, basil leaves
• ¼ cup each, fresh: parsley leaves, cilantro leaves
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
Chile infusion:
• 6 dried cascabel chiles
• 1 clove garlic
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
Garnishes, optional:
• Blue and white tortilla chips
• 4 strips orange zest
• Cilantro, parsley, mint and basil leaves
>> For the ceviche, press or pound the fillet to flatten; chop into small pieces. Place in a medium bowl or food-storage bag. Add juices, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste; toss to coat fish. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
>> For the paste, combine the serrano chiles, garlic, herbs, olive oil and salt in a blender; blend until it forms a paste, adding water if necessary.
>> Set aside.
>> For the infusion, place the cascabel chiles and garlic in a dry skillet over medium-high heat; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
>> Place in a blender; add olive oil and salt. Blend until a paste forms, adding more as necessary.
>> Put the ceviche in wine glasses. Top with 2 teaspoons of the paste on one side and 1 teaspoon of the chile infusion on the other. Garnish with tortilla chips, orange zest and herbs.
>> Makes 4 servings.
Mole negro with chicken and pork
This sauce recipe is adapted from Petra Gutierrez de Romero, whose family operates a stall in La Merced market, selling chiles and other dried goods. She has worked in the market for 30 years, and also worked as a cook for 17 years. Serve this with warm tortillas.
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 small chicken, cut into pieces, 2 ½ to 3 pounds
• 2 pounds pork country ribs, trimmed, separated
• 1 small ripe plantain, peeled, chopped
• ¼ cup chopped peanuts
• ¼ cup chopped almonds
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 small corn tortilla
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 vanilla wafers
• 1 concha-style bread roll or other yeast roll
• 2 tablespoons chopped Mexican-style chocolate
• 1 teaspoon ground pine nuts
• 4 to 8 dried ancho chiles
• 2 to 4 dried mulatto chiles
• 1 to 2 dried pasilla chiles
>> Heat a large dry skillet over low heat; cook the sesame seeds until they are fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. Cover; set aside.
>> Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat; add the chicken. Cook, turning chicken occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side; transfer to a platter. Add pork ribs to the skillet; cook, turning, until ribs are browned, about 3 minutes each side. Transfer to the platter.
>> Add 3 tablespoons of the oil to the skillet. Add plantains; cook, turning often, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl; set aside. Repeat process, separately cooking the peanuts, almonds, raisins and brown sugar, adding a bit more oil as needed. Stir mixture together. Puree half of the mixture in a blender with ½ cup of the broth. Pour through a strainer; reserve liquid. Repeat with the remaining half of the mixture in a blender and ½ cup of the chicken broth. Pour through a strainer; reserve liquid. Set aside.
>> Process tortilla, cinnamon stick, cookies, roll, chocolate and pine nuts together in the clean blender until crumbly; set aside.
>> Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat; add the ancho chiles. Cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about 2 minutes; transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with mulatto and pasilla chiles. Pour boiling water over cooked chiles to cover; set aside 30 minutes. Puree in a blender. Pour through a strainer into a Dutch oven; discard solids.
>> Add remaining 2 cups of chicken broth to the Dutch oven. Heat mixture to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to a simmer. Add the chicken, pork, plaintain-nut mixture and tortilla mixture to the Dutch oven; cook until pork is tender, about 2 hours. Set aside to cool, about 20 minutes. Remove meat; shred meat with a fork. Stir shredded meat into the sauce; pour into a serving bowl or platter. Decorate with reserved sesame seeds.
>> Makes 6 servings.
Cactus-paddle salad
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 4 medium fresh cactus paddles (nopales), trimmed, scraped, cut into strips or 1 jar (12 to 15 ounces) cactus pieces, drained
• 1 large tomato, cored, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6 cilantro sprigs, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic or cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 Romaine lettuce leaves
• 3 tablespoons crumbled Mexican queso fresco or feta cheese
• 2 pickled jalapenos, drained, sliced
• 8 radishes, thinly sliced
>> Heat 6 inches of water and ½ teaspoon of the salt to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the cactus. Boil, uncovered, until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain; transfer to a large bowl. Add tomato, onion and cilantro; set aside.
>> Whisk together the oil, vinegar, oregano and salt; pour over the vegetables. Toss to combine. Line a platter with lettuce leaves; top with salad. Sprinkle with cheese; garnish with jalapenos and radish slices.
>> Makes 4 servings.
Sources
• Mexican markets and specialty stores are the best source for authentic ingredients. In addition, many supermarkets have expanded their Mexican-food aisles.
• Online ingredient sources include: Mexgrocer.com, Gourmetsleuth.com, Amazon.com |
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