mexican food

i enjoy mexican food. always. i LOVE real corn tortillas, soft, and hot off the tortilla press, topped with almost anything.

mexican food should NOT be confused with fake mexican. fake mexican, which takes the same 5 ingredients and combines them in nearly endless (and repetitive) permutations. hey look! it's a new menu item from taco bell! it has a tortilla! and spiced meat! lettuce! holy shit! and CHEESE!!! and MORE GOOEY FAKE CHEESE! jesucristo, what a unique creation!

real mexican food (from an authentic restaurant, or made at home), can have surprising depth of flavor, beyond just cumin. Almonds, unsweetened chocolate, and pumpkin are all among the unexpected flavors that you can find in authentic mexican. today i went to a local authentic (YES you CAN get authentic ethnic food in the midwest) mexicarn restaurant in milwaukee with a couple friends and had a delicious dish with mole almendrado... amazing. the dish was simple: grilled chicken covered in mole, with veggie rice and tortillas along with the usual lettuce, tomato, and sour cream on the side. there was also a delicious spicy tortilla soup with just a tad of queso chihuahua (NOT nacho cheese. or pepperjack. or whatever nasty americanized cheese most places slather on). after having this mole for the first time in a couple years, i decided that successfully making a real mole sauce would be my next cooking quest.

when i mentioned this ambition to my good friend marisa over at policy-and-purls.blogspot.com, she said "mole is one of those things you just can't make, I think. unless you are 80 years old... it's soooo complicated, and requires like a zillion ingredients... but that's why it's so damn good." with that challenging? disheartening? harsh? feedback in mind, my resolve to perfect a mole was steeled.

i plan to make my mole creations over the weekend, and until then, i'll be looking for some base recipes to add my own flavor too... i'll update then!

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Buttercream Frosting

i was searching for a dessert that would challenge me, but for which i would also have the requisite tools. i kept running into elaborate tarts, or basic pies and cakes. then... voila. guiness cupcakes with irish buttercream frosting. the fact that there were two types of alcohol mentioned in just the name of the dessert had absolutely no impact on my decision to bake these. none... whatsoever... really. i swear ;) Here's the recipe (found at nibbledish.com).

ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• ½ cup Guinness
• 1 stick butter
• 3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¾ tsp of baking soda
• 3/8 tsp of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sour cream

For filling:

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate (small shavings)
• 1/3 c heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbs butter (room temperature)

For buttercream:

• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 3 tbs Baileys Irish Cream

Making the cupcakes:
Take unsalted butter and Guinness and let simmer in a small sauce pan.  When mixture is simmering, add cocoa powder and whisk thoroughly.  Turn off heat and allow mixture to cool.  

I made the very amateur (but very "me") mistake of  accidentally turning my stove all the way to low instead of off, and was afraid that i may have slightly burned the mixture, but it all turned out ok. 

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar.  Whisk.

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg and sour cream.  Whisk until the consistency begins to look like cream.

Take Guinness mixture from fridge and combine into egg/sour cream mix bowl.  Whisk. It will look really chocolately and creamy once it's all mixed. 

When I let the guinness/chocolate mixture cool, it separated quite a bit. and repeatedly. every time i checked this mixture, it separated. i was slightly worried that it hadn't emulsified, but figured that this wasn't the finished product, so I should just keep going. Once I mixed it into the sour cream/egg mixture, everything was just fine.

Add your flour mix, and continue to whisk thoroughly.

Using a large spoon, scoop mix into lined muffin pan.  Place in oven and allow to bake. Mine took approximately 28 minutes at 350 degrees.
 

Filling:
Bring heavy cream to a simmer in a small sauce pan.

Pour over bittersweet chocolate.  Allow to sit for one minute, then whisk. Add in butter and continue to whisk until consistency becomes creamy.

Pipe filling into center of each cupcake.

i piped the filling into the cupcakes when they were not quite cool... i wanted to make sure that the cupcakes had a bit of give when i added the filling. i had never filled cupcakes before, so there were a few where i think i piped in too much, but hey, can you really complain about TOO MUCH chocolatey filling?

Baileys Butter Cream Frosting
Beat the butter with an electric mixer - it MUST be at room temperature.  Add in a few tablespoons of powdered sugar at a time and continue to whisk.  

Once all the sugar has been used up, add in Baileys and keep whisking.  If the frosting becomes too thin, add in a few more tablespoons of powdered sugar. 

Pipe or spread butter cream over cupcakes and serve.

The finished product :)

recipe feedback: my mom seemed really enthusiastic about this cupcake... she thought it was "perfect... wouldn't change a thing." my dad also enjoyed it, though he has more of a sweet tooth (like me), and was not as keen on it. my response? i thought that the combination of not very sweet cake with unsweetened filling was... a bit underwhelming. don't get me wrong! the bailey's buttercream was plenty sweet. PLENTY. but it will be something I remember if i make this recipe again.

changes: with the above feedback in mind, i think i would just change the bittersweet chocolate in the filling to semi-sweet. Just that bit more sweetness would make all the difference. that was my only change :)

lessons learned: clean as you go. seriously. clean as you go. and this is only half the kitchen :)

Edit: I just made these cupcakes again, and either I went hog-wild the first time or forgot to mention it - the yield is only 1 dozen. you do NOT need all 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate. In the future I'd make about half as much filling. 

a father's day foray - brandied curry chicken.

this past weekend was, as you likely know, father's day weekend. my sister lives in california, and i was fortunate enough to be able to be in wisconsin with my dad for father's day. of course, i decided to make him dinner. i wished my sister could've been there, so i decided to use one of her favorite recipes (she is ALWAYS bragging about it) for the first time.

so that you have the proper visual, please keep in mind that i did almost zero prep for this, so while my dad was enjoying a beverage on the patio, i was in my mother's kitchen, running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find both the necessary ingredients and the requisite culinary equipment.

please note that this recipe is an adaptation of a Sunny Anderson recipe. my version of the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 large skinless chicken breasts, cut in large pieces (approx 2"x1")
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 2 1/2 cups seedless red grapes
• 8 ounces egg noodles
• 3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and sear on both sides just until golden. Remove chicken and set aside. Turn heat down to medium-low. In the same pan, add the remaining oil, if needed, and saute onion, garlic and curry. Deglaze with brandy, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add chicken back to pan and stir in heavy cream and half & half. Cover and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add the grapes and noodles, return to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken juices run clear when poked with a fork and sauce is the desired thickness. Stir in mustard and dill. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper and serve immediately. 

tips and observations: after searing, the chicken will NOT be cooked all the way though, don't worry. i had never cooked chicken like this, part way, then returning it to the pan. i was anxious. DON'T worry. it'll be fine. After sauteing the onion & garlic, if the pan is too hot, the brandy will reduce too quickly. if this happens, just add a bit more brandy to fully deglaze. having a bit more brandy flavor is just fine, especially if it lets you get all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.

lesson learned: just do your prep work. i had wanted to spend as much time with my dad as possible, so i skipped out on a lot of the prep, but this just made me stressed and insane once the cooking actually started. especially on holidays, it's easy to put it off, but just DO IT. 5 minutes of planning is worth 20 minutes of freaking out and running around your kitchen looking for the garlic.

recipe feedback: everyone LOVED this recipe. it has a hint of sweetness, but the spice of the mustard, the depth of the curry, and the creaminess of the, well, cream, really make for a well balanced dish. the leftovers were good, the sauce was quite thickened (to be expected), but it was surprisingly good cold. reheated, the oil separated from the sauce, making it greasier than when it was fresh.


changes: my only negative - the dish is rather unappetizing to look at. really blah looking. if i were making it again, i would try adding some garnish - probably of fresh grapes and dill over the top, not just mixed in. also, this would make a really flavorful vegetarian side dish... just omit the chicken. the sauce would miss out on a bit of the flavor, but it's so rich anyways, you'll never know! i would NOT suggest trying to make this dish healthy. if the sheer volume of heavy whipping cream didn't set you off... well... then i have nothing more to say to you.


i can only take a little of the credit. my sister suggested the recipe, and many of the edits from the original recipe were from her suggestions. it's because of her that we had such a delicious father's day dinner. thanks jess :)