Mexico - Retro Food For Modern Times

23
Jun
2015

Mexi-Can! Chili Con Carne

categories: 1970's food, A-Zof Cooking, Budget Recipes, Mexico

It’s been a while since we dipped into the pages of The A-Z of Cooking…and yep, we’re still only up to C. This time though we head away from the fun, fun, fun of Children’s Favourites and into the darker world of cost savers. Retro Frugality can a very scary place!

Surprisingly, all three recipes featured in this section were things I would have been happy to make. There was the Chili Con Carne, a Tagliatelle with Bacon and Tomato Sauce and an Oxtail Casserole. I REALLY wanted to make the Oxtail Casserole just because the others are things we probably eat fairly regularly and I have never cooked with o before. But, someone had a hissy fit in the butcher when I asked for oxtails. Sometimes it’s difficult trying to be a retro food blogger when you live with the fussiest eater on the planet!!! It will be made though. I have enough meals alone to warrant making some, even if just for myself.

A-Z of Cooking - Chili Con Carne Ingredients — A-Z of Cooking – Chili Con Carne Ingredients

But for now, we needed a meal to be eaten together and, turned out, we had everything to make this chilli already in the freezer, fridge and store cupboard. This is really important as you will soon find out that not all my ventures into Mexican cooking have been so expeditious. You will also notice that there are no green peppers, as specified by the recipe ingredients, and there are mushrooms which are not mentioned. I am not fond of bell peppers of any sort as they tend to repeat on me for HOURS after I have eaten them. Plus, I had mushrooms and, in the cost cutting vibe of this post, waste not, want not right?

I had one problem with this recipe. And that was the lack of cumin. Funnily enough, as I was writing this post, I was watching a Heston Blumenthal show where he made chili con carne and he too mentioned how important it was to have cumin in your chili recipe.

Then again, Heston’s’ chili contains 27 ingredients and at least 3 processes….I love Heston, I really do. But 27 ingredients for chilli? And that doesn’t even include the muffins?

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/heston-blumenthals-chilli-con-carne-cornbread-muffins

I’m sure Heston’s recipe is the best chili you’ve ever eaten. I’m equally sure that the A-Z of Cooking’s Cost Saving Recipe won’t be.

BUT. And it’s a big but. (Sir Mixalot would be proud).

Is this a tasty dish? This recipe lacked some flavour, most notably cumin. And personally, I would have increased the chilli content too. However, I think the mushrooms added some umami that would not have been present had the green peppers been used instead. And it was tasty even without the cumin. So yes, big tick on tasty.

Does it fill the brief of being a cost saver? Absolutely. The basic chili cost around $7.00. And that made 4 large or 5 medium sized serves.

Should this become something that is in your repertoire of basic dishes that you can then flavour and snazz up whatever way you want? Totally!

Is it something you will make over and over? You bet!

It’s a good, solid, basic chili recipe. Sure it’s not Heston. But it not everything needs to be. In fact, nothing except food at The Fat Duck should be.

And if you want to jazz it up, any, or all, of the following would make good additions:

Avocado Salsa
Corn Chips as dippers
Warm tortillas
Pico Di Gallo
Guacamole
Grated Cheese
Sour Cream
Pickled Jalapenos
Cojita or crumbled feta cheese
Tabasco or other hot sauce

This is great, quick easy weeknight cooking, it is also great, maybe even better the next day for lunch or dinner.

Eat, enjoy! With the money you save on this why not treat yourself to a margarita or two.

Have a great week!

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17
Nov
2014

Century Scallop Ceviche with Ancho Chillies (Spice Peddler)

categories: Ancho, Mexico, Scallops, Spice Peddler, Starters

About a billion years ago, the wonderful team at the Spice Peddlers sent me some fabulous Ancho Chillies to have my evil way with. I had never cooked with Ancho chillies before so this was a totally new and delicious experience for me.

I also have a new manifesto for my Spice Peddler treats – I’m going to try to cook one thing in the spirit of which it was intended and then I’m going to go kind of out there with the next one. So, to familiarise myself with the anchos and also to push my own boundaries I decided to make a ceviche. I have always been terrified to make sashimi or any “raw” fish at home in case it killed me. And before you start shouting, I am aware that ceviche is technically cooked but it’s not like it’s been crumbed, fried and coated with cheese is it?

Ancho Scallop Ceviche3 — Ancho Scallop Ceviche

But I did it and hey, still alive!!!

And it was super delish!!!!

So why the century ceviche I hear you ask? First I am fond of alliteration but second…the last post I wrote was the hundredth for this blog!!!

So let’s all raise a glass of something (Jenny, I hope it’s another of those Joan Crawford Cocktails) and join in as I do a little celebratory dance….

It seems fitting to celebrate this milestone by showing off some of the ingredients from the amazing team at the Spice Peddlers. They have been such big supporters of this blog and I, in turn adore them and their products!!! The ancho chilles were a very dark blackish red colour, and quite fleshy. They were not not very hot at all but were quite fruity and had a touch of sweetness ( this actually went really well with the scallops which are also slightly sweet.

The perceptive of you may have noticed from the photos that my ceviche is loaded onto a very un-Mexican pappadam. I guess traditionally this should be a tortilla chip. However, we had gobbled all of them with Joan Crawford Danti-Chips and I couldn’t be bothered going back to the shops so pappadams it was. And in some weird Indo-Mexican affinity they actually worked quite well with the ceviche.

The last 100 posts have been super fun to do and I am really looking forward to the next 100. In fact, I have so many ideas for posts at the moment, I feel like I have the next 100 already planned.

I was going to end this with one of my favourite ever Blur songs “End of A Century” then I realised the key lyric is “End of a century, it’s nothing special” which is completely wrong because whilst I love doing this you guys are what makes it special. Thanks to you all for reading and your comments, it is always lovely to hear from you.

You’re the best.

Around.

So, as you wax on, wax off this week, make it fabulous!

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09
Oct
2014

Rebel With A Cause – Smoked Trout Empanadas

categories: Chipotle, Cream Cheese, Finger Food, Fish, Mexico, Puff Pastry, Smoked Trout, Snacks, Starters

Have you ever read a recipe where the ingredients seem right….but the execution just seems horribly wrong?

The other day I was looking for something in…you know THAT room? Otherwise known as the room where we dumped all the crap we didn’t have a specific home for when we first moved in. Nearly a year later? It’s all still there. Thank the Lord for whoever invented doors. It makes it so much easier to metaphorically close the door and walk away from the room when you can literally close the door and walk away from the room.

I didn’t find what I was looking for in the room, because most things that go in there don’t come out. What I did find was a manilla folder full of old recipe clippings which included one for something called for Trout and Mascarpone Triangles.

Before we get to the point does anyone else have problems spelling mascarpone? For some reason in my mind it’s marscapone. I also can’t say the word “Preliminary” – that one just ends up a hot mess of r’s and l’s where they shouldn’t be.

But anyway, immediately in my head, (yeah the same one that can’t spell ma-scar-pone or pronounce pre-lim-in-ary) I had a vision of what these would be. They would look like exactly like these:

Hmm…except….maybe a little more triangular.

So, I was bitterly disappointed when I actually read the recipe and found it was nothing like that.

In fact, that whole recipe annoyed the hell out of me. In most cooking circles when you call something an X & Y triangle it’s pretty much a given that the X and Y are IN the triangle. Take these delicious looking cheese and spinach triangles from taste.com.au. Spinach and Cheese both EXACTLY where they should be i.e. inside the pastry triangle.

That is what I wanted from my trout and mascarpone triangles! Golden puff pastry filled with chunks of gorgeous pink smoked trout, creamy mascarpone, fresh herbs, a touch of chilli….that was what my mind told me a Trout and Mascarpone Triangle could, and should, be.

At best the original recipe is for trout and mascarpone ON triangles. And who the hell wants that? No one that’s who. I’m calling shenanigans on that recipe.

In some circles they say, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. In my circle I say if you think their recipe is a crock, make it like you think it should have been. And while we’re in the spirit of rebellion – the fancy pants Italian cheese I can’t be bothered writing the name of (because I would only have to re-write it to spell it correctly) can go fuck itself too. I’m using good old Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Which I forgot to take a photo of. The rest of the stuff is here:

I used a smoked trout, you could sub in smoked salmon if you prefer or cook a fillet of fish as per the original recipe. Or even used canned salmon or tuna to make these. Up to you. And I had an empanada maker thing but you could make triangles as per the original recipe. Or embrace the spririt of doing it your way and make them any shape you want!

If you are going to use an empanada maker, here’s how you do it from an expert,Connie Veneracion. Shame I didn’t read this until after I had made mine and hence some of mine were a little…shall we call them rustic? 😉

How To Use An Empanada Maker

And here is the revised, and in my not so humble opinion, vastly improved recipe!

Enjoy!

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Smoked Trout Empanadas

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Ingredients

Scale

400 smoked trout or cooked fish of choice
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 red onion, finely chopped
100g cream cheese, chopped into a small cubes
1 canned chipotle chilli and approx 1 tbsp of the adobo sauce it came in
1 tbsp dill
1 tbsp parsley
2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
poppy seeds and chilli flakes to garnish (optional)

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Instructions

If using a smoked trout, remove the skin and flake the flesh from the bones. Place this in a bowl with the cream cheese, red onion, lemon juice, chilli, dill and parsley. Mix lightly to combine.
Preheat your oven to 200C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Cut four circles out of each of your pastry sheets, using your empanada maker or tracing around a small plate or cup.
Place 1 tbsp of the trout mixture in the middle of each circle then fold the pastry over to seal in the filling.
Crimp the edges to seal.
Place on the baking tray and brush with the beaten egg.
Sprinkle with the poppy seeds and chilli flakes if using.
Cook for 15 minutes or until puffed up and golden.

Lesson of the week – if you don’t like it, change it.

Have a fabulous week and fight the power!

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Category: Mexico

Smoked Trout Empanadas

Ingredients

Instructions