mojo de ajo

one of my all time favourite condiments - and i do fancy my condiments. simply garlic roasted in oil. i keep it in the fridge and use it in lieu of fresh chopped garlic in pretty much anything. coating vegetables in the oil and roasting them in the oven is quite sublime. this recipe is from rick bayless' pbs show mexico one plate at a time.

• 4 heads of garlic
• ~2 cups of olive oil
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

separate all the individual cloves and whack them with the heel of your knife.peel the papery skin off of the cloves and place them in a baking dish. cover with enough olive oil to fully submerge them and season with salt and pepper to taste. while you're doing all this, preheat the oven to 350 f.roast at 350 f for 40-50 minutes or until the cloves are golden brown and the oil is bubbling away.remove from the oven and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or two forks. add the juice of the lime and red pepper flakes. return to the oven for a further twenty minutes and voila! allow to cool and transfer into sterilized mason jars for storage in the fridge. this recipe usually gives me one pint jar and one half pint jar: enough for home use and one to give away!while home-made garlic oils are usually a no-no due to the risk of botulism, the prolonged exposure to the high heat of the oven will kill any C. botulinum and their spores. just make sure to follow hygienic procedures in the kitchen and sterilize any storage vessels to reduce your risk.

grilled mushroom torta

as often i was inspired by rick bayless's tv show, mexico one plate at a time, which by me airs on saturday mornings on pbs. it's reruns now, from last summer, and i wonder if they'll be putting anything new out soon. anyway, housesitting for my mum i had access to a grill again, and was my mouth started to watering when a torta show was rerun. the highlights of this sandwich are the sauces, though everything is good. the black beans were directly inspired by the show and are just cooked with a little roasted garlic, onion, and chile before being pureed. the grilled salsa verde was sublime and very simple.the mushrooms i marinated in a little mojo de ajo (garlic roasted in oil) and balsamic vinegar. for the salsa i took tomatillos, serrano chiles, and red onion and tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper before throwing everything on the grill. when it was all nicely blackened i set the mushrooms aside and took all the salsa ingredients and threw them in the food processor with a handful of cilantro, a bit of olive oil, and a squeeze of lime juice. not only did this produce a nice piquant salsa verde, but the smokiness of the charcoal gave it a wonderful body and depth of flavour. next i took a loaf of french bread, sliced it longways and pulled out most of the crumb.i lightly grilled the bread, then spread the black bean paste over the bottom. i then layered the sliced, grilled mushrooms, cilantro, pepper jack cheese, the salsa verde, and avocado before wrapping the whole thing up tightly in foil and throwing it back on the dying coals for ten more minutes.and then i ate the whole thing. all by myself. one of the best sandwiches i've ever had.

a whole other relleno

i've said before that one of my favourite foods is the chile relleno, so much to my luck a couple weeks ago rick bayless' pbs show, mexico one plate at a time, did a whole episode on just that! his main point throughout the episode was that while the most popular application of the dish is the one of which i am so fond, the name itself simply means 'stuffed chile.' he then proceeded to make the classic, as well as an ancho chile stuffed with ripe planitains, onion, garlic, and brown sugar, served with a craime freche, and an anaheim chile stuffed with shrimp and cheese, wrapped in corn husks and grilled. i have frankestensteined the two together, somewhat, with my own additions of wit or necessity.
the end of october also saw my last csa basket, which consisted predominantly of squash. i still have a pumpkin and a spaghetti squash i haven't gotten to yet and they're going soft in places. unfortunately, we have been without an oven for the last month and i have been required to steam what i have, or cram it into the toaster oven.
i have done a couple different varieties of this recipe in the last week or so, with fresh and dried chiles. here is the ancho, a dried poblano, the classic chile of the relleno, because it's different, and i would never have thought to stuff a dried chile. i used:

• 6 ancho chiles
• 1 small-medium acorn squash
  
• 1 tsp. fresh grated cinnamon
• 3 cloves, pounded fine in a mortar
• 1 tbs. brown sugar
• 1 medium white onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs. butter (optional)
  
• corn husks for wrapping (optional)
  
• olive oil as needed

soak the chiles in water just off the boil for about five minutes, until softened but still holding their shape. cut a slit into the side of each chile and remove the seeds and membranes.
half the acorn squash and scoop out the seeds, reserving them for another use. drizzle the halves with olive oil and season with the cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper. cover with foil and roast the squash at 375 degrees f for about 45 min. before removing the foil. allow another 15 min. or so for the squash to finish. it should be fork tender. allow it to cool somewhat before scooping out the flesh.
heat olive oil with the butter in a small pan and sweat the onion and garlic with salt and pepper until translucent. add as much of the squash as is prudent to fill the chiles, reserving any extra. sautee the squash until well combined and season to taste. stuff the mixture into the chiles.
now you could serve that just as is, there is no need to cook anything further, but if you are preparing for later in the day, or your filling is messier or needs to melt or something, the corn husks are a lot of fun. you just soak them in boiling water for about ten minutes, place two end to end to end to give yourself a decent working space, and tear one into ribbons for tying. then you can grill or roast them as you like it, no muss no fuss.

sopes

little corn masa boats. filled here with caramelized peppers and onions, a sort of pickled cole slaw, tomato, and avocado. refried beans on the side. very yummy. i love south american food for all the toppings. i love toppings. people ask me all the time what's the deal with fake burgers. why eat a fake burger if you don't like to eat meat? i say it has very little to do with the burger, it's all about the toppings.
the pickled cabage salad is an el salvodorean dish called curtido de repollo. i got the recipe from the international vegetarian union. the recipe makes a lot, though. i have two pint mason jars of the stuff now. i used napa cabbage cause it was in my fridge, and yes i am finally running out of fresh veg, but i think i can catch the evanston farmer's market if i get off my butt in the next 15 minutes.
for the sopes:
reconstitute instant masa powder (most common brand i see everywhere is maseca) with appropriate amount of water (back of package). i like rick bayless' take from mexico one plate at a time, to cut in a little wheat flour (not much, small handful ~3 tbs. for the 1 cup of masa i used) and baking powder (~ 1 tsp.) he also says the dough should be the consistency of soft cookie dough. take a small ball of the dough, flatten it, and pinch up the sides. fry in oil until golden brown. add toppings!
the peppers and onions were just sliced into strips and fried in oil with a chopped and soaked pasilla pepper (i had no fresh chiles) and cumin seed ground coarsely in a mortar.
the beans were out of a can, but i added onion, garlic, and chipotle.
i think i will use up all leftovers tonight and make chile rellenos, my favourite.