Mexican Obsession Pt .1

You know how you have that one dish for a particular style of food by which you judge the mettle of a restaurant? For me, when the food is Mexican my first test is mole, and then chicken enchiladas, red and green. Maybe also the carnitas. I know what you are thinking - can she count? The main reason I don't have one, but three little tests for any new Mexican restaurant I try is that I have noticed not all of them will make mole, and their enchiladas may be only verde but not rojo, so you have to be flexible. And if they do make all three, all the more reason to visit, at least three times.

I was watching Alton Brown in Good Eats the other day, and as usual he snuck up with a recipe in one of his segments which I now consider to be an instant classic: Red Enchilada Sauce. In 1994 I visited Cafe Pasqual in Santa Fe, buying Katherine Kagel's Cafe Pasqual's Cookbook whilst there (I highly recommend both and can't believe I haven't been back since). The Cafe Pasqual's recipe for red chile sauce calls for 60 dried red New Mexico chiles. These are hard to find in Australia and expensive when you do. Alton's recipe is easier. And smokier because of the chipotles. Yes, I know it is vastly different as it is tomato-based and some chile sauce purists will scoff, but did I mention that this one is easy?

Anyway, Alton also explains in his show that sometimes border restaurants catering to gringo tastes would make an enchilada casserole - style instead of individual enchiladas, so, first idea, lay those tortillas flat like a lasagne! No more tedious rolling! And then he makes The Sauce - so simple, easy, and quick I made it within 30 minutes of turning off the TV:

Red Enchilada Sauce
Adapted from Good Eats, Season Ten, Episode Fourteen "Tortillas Again"

Alton uses dried whole chipotle peppers in his version, but used chipotles in adobo, La Morena brand. Both of these can be hard to find in Australia, but I recently picked up some ground chipotle from Herbie's in Rozelle (they also stock whole dried chipotle peppers but I figured the ground version would be more versatile). Alton's version also includes chile powder in addition to the chipotles, but since I used chipotles adobados I found that this made the sauce hot enough. Test as you go for heat to your taste.


3 cups tomato puree ( I used a 700mL jar of passata)
2 cups chicken stock
2 chipotle peppers, in adobo
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 teaspons ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano, preferably Mexican oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients except salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the sauce gently simmers, and cook for fifteen minutes at reduced temperature. Use a stick blender to break up the chipotle peppers and blend the sauce to a uniform consistency; or blend using a blender or food processor, being very careful if blending hot liquid (you may want to cool the sauce if not using a stick blender). Taste now, after the chipotles have been blended and their full heat has been released. Season further with salt and pepper (and additional chili) if desired.

Use this sauce for enchiladas, or cook with rice for a mexican pilaf, or use for baked stuffed peppers, or to accompany a cheesy souffle or omelette; I think its uses may be endless!

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Note: if you go to the Good Eats site for Alton's actual recipe for Enchilada Lasagna, you will see that it calls for queso fresco, a mild white crumbly cheese which IS impossible to find in Sydney (and is why I will be making it on another post). I stumbled upon Pantalica's Bacio cheese however (go to an Italian deli like Livoti's), which though not crumbly is certainly mild, and resists melting like queso fresco does. You will have to grate it as it is difficult to break up with your hands - I was very pleased with the result in my enchilada lasagna.

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PSS: I can't tell you how many parts there will be to Mexican Obsession. I just know there will be many.

New Year, New Mixer

This has never happened to me before. A small appliance manufacturer has crawled directly into my brain, studied the mental notes it found there on everything that was wrong with their otherwise lovely stand mixer, made all necessary amendments and adjustments (plus some that I had not even thought of) and deposited a new and improved version at my local shopping centre.

On Boxing Day, where it sat amongst the other marked down bargains.

At 15% off.

Plus a cashback offer of $100.

I couldn't believe it. I have never once used my otherwise beloved Kenwood Major mixer without wishing it had a timer to control the action - isn't the point of a stand mixer that you yourself do not have to do the standing, and are free to do other things, like chopping, popping prosecco corks, and applying makeup in a frenzy before the guests arrive? I have made several batches of overwhipped egg whites this way - thinking that I'll watch that beater and stop it at just the right level of soft peak, only to turn and chop something else before remembering too late that a 1200 watt mixer will just about cook those whites if you let it run long enough. That will never happen again now that I've upgraded to my Boxing day beauty (Kenwood KM040 if you have to know). From now on I'll just flick a timer on the new model for one minute or other intervals and go back to chopping, popping and frenzying. I love it.

There is also this new flexible beater attachment thingie that gets right to the sides and bottom of the bowl so there is less stopping and scraping.

Plus a 'fold' button. Rotates once.

Plus, to pause the action and start it again at the same speed, there is a pause button instead of having to rotate the dial again.

OK I'll stop now....

....and move on to the issue of the cost, and what to do with my (only two years) old version of the same mixer, currently up for sale as I type. If I achieve a reasonable price for this on eBay (blessed eBay!), and get my cashback in two months, I will only be down about, oh, $500.

Tragic?

Permit me to draw a direct line here between motorised kitchen appliances and the argument for an extensive batterie de cuisine as justified in Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe Cookbook; where she quotes Jean Troigros:

"Always choose a pan that is the right size. Too small, and you crowd the meat and steam it; too large, and you burn the fat you are cooking in, and that's not so good for the pan either. This is why we have the batterie de cuisine".

I think the parallel is clear in this case. I remember being quite excited when I read the above quote, and rushed right over to show it to Hamburger (aka my husband, who is from Hamburg). He regularly bemoans my batterie; its volume, its weight, its creeping up our walls and crowding out our cupboards. For once, however, this purchase will be a true replacement/upgrade rather than an addition - it fits directly into the space left behind by its predecessor.

Definitely not tragic.

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Did you know? According to Saveur issue No 115, the first powered mixer was patented in 1885, but was not manufactured - they didn't catch on until the 1930s.