Mexican egg cups with roasted tomato and chile sauce

Sometimes you want something a little flavourful for breakfast (or even breakfast for dinner). Some members of our household (never me) go running on Sunday mornings and I tend to take that time to whip up a breakfast/brunch that’s a bit heartier and more complicated. Also if you’re just hosting friends for brunch and want a dish that will impress, give this recipe a try. These eggs in a spicy tomato sauce served in a crispy tortilla bowl look nice and offer up some delightful Mexican flavours.

As with many chile sauces, the chile you use defines the flavour. I’ve provided a few options below. You can really use any dried chile so explore something new. I like to use costeño amarillo, which I brought back from Oaxaca, Mexico. This doesn’t work as well with fresh chiles.

Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

Chile sauce 

Makes 1.5 cups sauce

chiles*
1/2 onion
3 roma tomatoes or 2 dozen cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground cumin
1/2 tsp of sugar
juice of half a lime
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

* I used 3 costeno amarillo chiles (med spicy) – this would also work with 3 dried red chiles that you find in the stores (spicy), 2 guajillo chiles (fruity not too spicy), 1 pasilla chile (earthy not too spicy), 2 chipotle chiles (smokey and medium spicy)

4 fresh corn tortillas
4 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese (cheddar, jack, queso fresco)
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
Bit of finely chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo


To make tortilla bowls:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Make sure your tortillas are soft and pliable so they don’t crack. If they are a bit dry, sprinkle them with water, wrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave for about 30 seconds.

Spray each tortilla all over with some cooking spray. Then manoeuvre the tortilla into an oven-proof dish (I used some onion soup bowls) so they’ll create a bowl. Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned and crispy. Set aside when ready. Don’t remove from the bowls.

To make the sauce:

Stem and seed the dried chiles. If using larger chiles, splitting them open so you can flatten them. Heat up a comal or a non-stick frying pan and dry roast the chiles in the pan. Heat them for about 20 seconds on each side, flattening with a spatula, so they get soft. Be very careful not to blacken the skin otherwise your sauce will be bitter. Wispy smoke is okay, more than that they’ll be burnt and bitter. Place the roasted chiles in a small bowl of boiling water for 20 minutes so they can rehydrate.

Thickly slice the onion. Put it along with the garlic with its skin still on, onto the comal or frying pan. Roast them until they are blackened on both sides. Put the tomatoes on as well. If you’re using larger ones, they’ll take a bit longer to roast. Turn them frequently until blackened all over. The cherry tomatoes won’t take very long. Let them get black on one side then roll over so they get another blackened area. Don’t let them burst open because it’s messy and you’ll lose most of the meaty good stuff.

With the garlic, once it’s ready put to the side and let cool, then slip off the skin. Put the other roasted ingredients as they’re ready into the jar of a blender. Add the cumin, oregano, salt, and sugar as well as the rehydrated chiles and 1/2 cup of the chile water. Blend it all together until you have a smooth, yet fairly thick sauce, about 3 minutes. If it’s too thick add a bit of plain or the chile water to thin it out a bit. Squeeze in the lime juice.

In a small sauce pan, heat the oil to a high heat. The sauce needs to really sizzle when you pour it in so test with just a drop to see if it’s hot enough. When it is, pour the sauce from the blender jar into the pot. It’ll sizzle and sputter a bit so watch out. Turn the temperature down to med-low and simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The colour will darken and the simmering allows the flavours to all blend together. If it begins to dry out and stick to the bottom of the pot, just add a bit of water.

Check for seasonings and let rest a few minutes while you bring it all together.

Bringing it all together:

Put the oven back on to 350F. Sprinkle the bottom of each tortilla cup with a pinch of cheese (or more if you desire). Put them back in the oven for 7 minutes or so until the cheese melts.

Cook the eggs. If you are an egg poacher, then knock yourself out and poach four eggs. If you prefer to fry them, then make it so. Cook them so the yolks remain soft and runny.

Once the cheese has melted, take the tortilla cups out and, if you prefer, remove them from the bowls you’ve cooked in and put on a plate. Gently place your soft eggs in the cup. Top with a generous dollop of the spicy tomato sauce. Garnish with the sliced avocado and tomato/pico.

Serve them up and enjoy.

© Gail J. Cohen 2017

4 chile chili

Chiles: chipotle, guajillo, ancho, pasilla

It’s winter time, comfort food time. And if you’re me and have a cupboard full of chiles, what else is there to do but make chili. So here’s one that’s a bit different than the usual. I can’t eat beans which is what most people put into their ground beef chili. Texas-style chili is often iade with big chunks of beef. I’m taking a middle road by using stewing beef cut up into really small pieces.

If you can’t find dried chipotles, you can always use canned ones. The chiles in this recipe are now fairly widely available either in local latin grocery store or most higher end chain grocery stores. It’s about a 6/10 on the heat scale.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 chile ancho
1 pasilla chile
2 chipotle chiles
1 guajillo chile
4 garlic cloves
1 small onion
2 tomatoes
1 tsp mexican oregano
2 whole cloves
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup beef stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pound stewing beef, cubed very small
1 heaping tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt

Stem and seed the dried chiles, splitting them in half so you can flatten them. Heat up a comal or a non-stick frying pan and dry roast the chiles in the pan. Heat them for about 20 seconds on each side, flattening with a spatula, so they get soft. Be very careful not to blacken the skin otherwise your sauce will be bitter.  Place the roasted chiles in a small bowl
of boiling water for 20 minutes so they can rehydrate.

Thickly slice your onion and place it and the garlic cloves with their skin on in the pan or on the comal and dry roast them until they are nicely blackened. The garlic will get all soft and sweet. Remove from the heat and let cool then peel and put into the jar of a blender along with the onion, cut up tomatoes, oregano, spices, beef stock, softened chiles and about 1/2 of a cup of the chile soaking water (do not throw the soaking water away yet!).

Blend it all together for 2-3 minutes to ensure you have a smooth but not very thick paste.

Heat the oil in a medium sized pot and brown the meat.

Turn the pot back up to hot and add a bit more oil, then pour in the chile mixture. You should get a nice sear. Bring to the boil. You’ll need to add up to a cup more of liquid – water, stock, or chile soaking liquid (which will make it spicier) – so there’s sufficient liquid to simmer. Add sugar (to take away any bitterness) and salt. 

Bring to the boil, turn heat down to low, and simmer partially covered for an hour, checking frequently to make sure there’s still enough simmering liquid. Add more if it’s getting too dry, it should be saucy but not soupy.

Serve in bowls with tortillas or rice, some slices of avocado and sour cream. I ended up making some cheesy grits and it was super delish together. The chili is  lovely if made a day ahead so all the flavours have a chance to meld together. It’s easy enough to reheat just before serving.

© 2016 Gail J. Cohen

Roast duck tacos

Sometimes you just need a break from chicken and duck is a great alternative. Not to mention, these are an excellent option for using leftover duck that you may have made for Thanksgiving or some other special occasion that had you experimenting with non-turkey options.

If you’re starting from scratch, this dish does take a while but it’s totally worth it. If you are using a frozen duck, which are available in most grocery stores, make sure it is completely defrosted before you start. You can use the first part of the recipe simply to make a delectable, spicy roast duck or you can go all the way and serve up some unusual tacos to a tableful of lucky dinner guests.

I have set up the recipe with the instructions for the roast duck first, followed by the one for the salsa, which stars my personal favourite poblano peppers.

Yield: 4-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 whole duck
2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper

Sauce:
2 poblanos
2 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 serrano peppers
1 large tomato
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion, thickly sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of half a lime

Garnish:
Chopped radishes
Chopped cilantro
Sliced or mashed avocado
Chopped tomatoes
Lime wedges

Corn tortillas

Roasting the duck

Preheat the oven to 450F

Clean the duck – ie: remove all the giblets, cut off excess fat etc. and rinse.  Prick the skin in all over and then gently put the duck in a large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes. This action will give you super crispy skin down the road. Totally worth doing it even though you don’t need to. After 10 minutes, remove the duck from the pot and let cool.

Mix the chipotle powder, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Once the duck is cool, rub seasoning mix inside and out.  Place the seasoned bird breast up on a rack in a roasting pan and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. After that, turn the oven down to 350F and cook for another 40 minutes.

At this point, take the duck out of the oven and carefully turn it over so you don’t tear the skin. Also add about a 1/4 cup of water to the fat and drippings that have collected in the bottom of the pan. Return the duck to the oven for another 35 minutes. After that turn the bird one more time and cook for about another 15 minutes. It’s ready when the drumsticks feel loose. Don’t overcook though because it will be dry, rubbery, and stringy. Remove from the oven.

This duck is now spicy and delicious with some awesome crispy skin. Be sure to save the duck fat and juices that have collected in the bottom of the pan.

One duck provides enough meat for 6 to 8 people to have a large meal of off-the-charts duck tacos. So usually for four, I use half the duck and save the other half for other meals. Conversely, you can eat the fresh roasted duck right away because it is hot and delectable and then use the leftovers for tacos.

Once you make the decision on how to proceed with consuming this bird, let the portion for tacos cool then remove the skin and shred the meat into a bowl.

Making the salsa

While the duck is cooking, you can prepare the salsa. Start by roasting the poblano peppers. If you have a bbq or gas stove, char the skin over the flame. In this case, it’s a bit more complicated if you have to use the oven. You can either wait until the duck is cooked or put them under the broiler beforehand for 10-15 minutes, turning so all sides get charred.

Put the hot peppers in a bowl, cover them with a tea towel, and let them sit/steam for 10 minutes or more. The skin should now come off easily when you rub it. Remove as much of the skin as you can then cut out the stem and seed. Rinse them to get all the black stuff off and remove the final few stubborn seeds. Cut them up into a few large pieces and put into a blender jar.

On a comal or in a large non-stick frying pan, dry roast the garlic (leave it whole with the skin on), slices of onion, tomatillos, and tomatoes. All the vegetables should be nicely charred with the tomatoes and tomatillos just starting to ooze some juice. Put all but the garlic into the blender. Let the soft, blackened garlic cool then peel and chuck in the blender. Add the cilantro, salt, and lime juice and blend for about a minute.

In a small saucepan, pour two or three tablespoons of the duck fat/dripping mixture. When hot pour in the salsa mixture. You will get a tremendously satisfying sizzle from this operation!  Turn the heat down and let it slowly bubble away for 10 minutes or so until it turns a deeper shade of green. Check the seasonings.

Now let’s make some tacos

Warm the tortillas in the microwave either in a paper towel or tortilla warmer.

Fill them up with the shredded duck, a couple of spoonfuls of the salsa, and the garnish of your choice.  Serve with lime wedges. Enjoy!

© 2016 Gail J. Cohen

Chile powder

My love of chiles knows no bounds, so I'm always looking for different things to do with them. The reality is, though, that you can't cook every meal with chiles because the people you live with might not be quite as in love with them as you are. That doesn't mean my mind isn't always thinking about things to cook and ways to use all the beautiful chiles Mexico has to offer.

The most recent round of chile idea generation was spakred by my friend Sarah, who recently went to Arizona and came home with a big bag of cascabels. Cascabels are cutie little chiles - they look like big cherries, but, you know, with a bit of a kick. Unlike many chiles, the cascabels don't flatten out when they dry. Literally cascabel translates to "rattle" as the seed inside rattle around when the chile is dried and you shake it all about. The Gourmet Sleuth describes cascabels as "moderately hot and have a nutty flavor with a rich tannic and slightly smoky nuance."

While Taco Tuesday has become quite the thing, I am all about Taco Everyday. So I figured I'd try making some chile powder to make tacos later. This is what I whipped up it's still making my nose tickle hours later.


Yield: 2-3 tablespoons

Ingredients

2 dried cascabel chiles
2 dried chiles morito (chipotles)
2 dried cayenne peppers (I grew these in my garden last summer)
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tbsp Mexican oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried coriander

Deseed the chiles. Then add all the ingredients to a grinder - I have a coffee grinder that I use only for spices. Grind it all up until it's a fine powder.

Use it as you would any chile powder.

(c) 2016 Gail J Cohen

*********

With this, I made some tasty beef taco. Just took 3 teaspoons of the chile powder, 1 pound of ground beef, 1 chopped/sauted onions, and a tablespoon of tomato paste and cook it all up for 20 minutes or so.  Then add the fixings and it's  Taco Saturday Night!

Sopa de albondigas de pollo

Wanted to try something new with the ground chicken we had in the freezer. I love soup and meatballs so figured I could Mex it up and create a deeply flavoured broth with some beautiful chiles. If you like it smoky, use chipotle or my absolute favourite pasilla Oaxqueno, otherwise guajillo would work well.

6 servings

Meatballs

1 lb ground chicken

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp breadcrumbs or matzoh meal

1 tsp Mexican oregano

1 tsp tomato paste

3 tbsp chopped onion

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper

Broth

½ onion

1 garlic clove

1-2 dried chiles

1 bay leaf

1 cup pasata or crushed tomatoes

6 cups chicken stock

¼ cup rice

Juice of half a lime

Salt and pepper

Slice an onion in thick rondelles and put that and the unpeeled garlic cloves on a comal or non-stick pan and dry roast.

Stem and seed your chiles and dry roast them quickly on the comal and then put in a bowl of boiling water for 15 minutes to soften.

Take a couple of the slices of onion and one of the cloves of garlic (peel it first) and chop them finely for the meatballs.

Put the beaten egg, ground chicken, chopped onions, chopped garlic, breadcrumbs/matzoh meal, cilantro, oregano, and tomato paste into a medium sized bowl and get your hands in there and mix it all together. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Take about a heaping teaspoon worth of the meatball mixture and roll it into a small ball with your hands. Put the balls on a cutting board. Continue until you’ve used up all the meat mixture.

For the soup broth, put the rest of the roasted onion and peeled garlic into a blender with the tomato sauce and chiles. Waz it all up and add a little bit of the chile water for extra oomph.

In a medium-large pot, pour in the chicken stock and then add the tomato mixture and bay leaf. Add a bit of salt and pepper then bring it to the boil. Once it’s boiling CAREFULLY drop the meatballs in. Finally add the rice, turn the temperature down to med-low and let it simmer away for at least half an hour.

Once it’s cooked, give the broth a try and add more salt if you need to. Add the lime juice to taste (you may want a bit more or a bit less), and then serve this up. With a salad, or all on its own, this makes a nice light dinner. Of course, if you have fresh tortillas, do eat them with the soup. Crispy tortilla strips served on the top would also be a nice touch.

It is delicious and super-low calorie! (3 points per serving if you're counting it in Weight Watchers Smartpoints)

(c) 2016 Gail J Cohen