Tetela! An amazing Mixtec stuffed taco!

Living in Oaxaca has it's perks. We recently took a cooking class from a local Mixtec woman. The Mixteca are one of many indigenous groups who call our state home. In addition to teaching my wife and I our first Mixtec word ("nuni", which is corn), she taught us a few recipes. This is by far my favorite. It's tetala--basically a stuffed bean pocket with cheese and salsa on top. They're great finger food when you want something a little different!

Note that you'll need a cheap tortilla press for this recipe. If you don't already have one, you can grab one at a Mexican market or online for a few bucks.

Prep time: 2 cocktails
1 batch tortilla dough - NOTE: just make the dough in this recipe, don't form or cook into tortillas
1 batch sexy Oaxacan black beans
1 batch Oaxacan salsa (or another favorite salsa)
Crumbled queso fresco or crumbled queso blanco (optional)

You start by lining your tortilla press with plastic wrap on the bottom. Then roll a ball of tortilla dough about the size of a golf ball. Place it in the center of the tortilla press and put another sheet of plastic on top. Press until you get a 6-8 inch ball that's twice the thickness of a normal tortilla (you might have to adjust the amount of dough up or down a bit from golf ball size).

Remove the top plastic sheet and put a heaping 1 TBSP dollup of beans in the center and spread it out a little bit. Now, fold the tortilla in thirds so it's totally enclosing the beans. Photos are below demonstrating this.

Now, heat a dry frying pan over medium-low to medium heat. Transfer your tetela to the pan and cook until the bottom is a tad browned, just as if you were cooking tortillas. Flip and repeat. Top with cheese and salsa and eat with your hands or with a fork! Amazing!

Note: I searched the internet high and low for photos of this process since I've so far failed to take photos every time I've made this recipe. I found these pics on a blog called Mexico In My Kitchen. After subsequently spending way too much time on this blog, I can honestly say that I'm in love with the creator's recipes. She has some truly great stuff. If you're into Mexican cooking, it's a great resource for fresh ideas! A new favorite!!

Cheese-less chile rellenos

I love chile rellenos. But what I don’t love is feeling like a bloated old beached whale after I consume what is essentially a pound of deep fried cheese. Luckily, when I was visiting a rural village in Oaxaca, Mexico, I came across this version. It swaps out the cheese for a savory vegan stuffing that’s every bit as good as it’s cheesy cousin… but it won’t make you feel like a manatee who just ate a tub of lard for dinner. Note that this can be prepared vegan by substituting garbanzo bean water (called aquafaba)--it’s a brilliant old vegan life hack that’s good for meringues and other whipped egg white applications!

While ingredients like capers, raisins, olives, parsley, and olive oil might seem out of place in Mexican cooking, I’ve found many of these are actually really common during my time living south of the border. So don’t think this is some gringo-ification of an otherwise great recipe. This is exactly as I was taught to make the rellenos.

Prep time: 4 cocktails

To make the filling:

1/3 pound fresh oyster mushrooms

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 clove garlic, whole

2 tsp salt

2 allspice berries

3 cups water

2 TBSP olive oil

1 small onion, chopped finely

2 additional cloves garlic, minced

1 pound tomatoes, chopped

2 sprigs Italian flat leaf parsley

2 allspice berries

2 cloves

½ cinnamon stick

1 more sprig thyme

¼ cup raisins, chopped coarsely

1 TBSP capers

10 green olives, chopped + 1 TBSP of the olive brine

16 whole, raw, unsalted almonds

Combine first 6 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until mushrooms have softened but aren’t mushy, 10-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Remove mushrooms and shred with a fork like shredded chicken. Discard the rest of the other ingredients in the saucepan.

Next, in a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Now add the shredded mushrooms, tomatoes, parsley, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Now add the second sprig of thyme, raisins, capers, and olives with brine to the mushroom/tomato mixture. Sauté until all excess water has cooked off, about 20 minutes. Salt to taste about halfway through.

While your mushroom and tomato mixture simmers, bring a cup or two of water to a boil. Add the almonds and remove from heat. Let it soak for 10 minutes. Then remove the almonds from the water and peel them by squeezing each almond between your thumb and forefinger. You can chop the almonds up a tad if you like as well, but that’s optional.

Toss the almonds into the simmering mixture once all the liquid in the mixture has fully cooked off and remove the parsley, thyme, and dry spices if you can find them. Set mixture aside.

To make the chilies:

You can make this recipe with fresh and/or dried chilies.

12 chilies, fresh or dried

6 eggs (or about 3/4 cup garbanzo bean water), whites and yolks separated

1 Tbsp white flour

Oil for frying

Your favorite Mexican sauces or salsas for serving

Beans or other Mexican sides are a great addition too

For fresh chilies:

Use poblano or some other good sized chili for stuffing. First, cut a slit in each peppers and the grill or oven broil, turning every couple minutes until pretty well-charred or blistered. Transfer to a Tupperware with lid or a paper bag and close the top. Let sit for 10 minutes then remove and peel skin under cold running water. Also, remove innards through the slit you cut. The chilies will be delicate and it is possible to mutilate them. Do your best to keep them in tact, or else they’ll spill their contents when you fry them.

For dried chilies:

You will want to use an ancho or some other large, fairly mild chili for this. Cut a small slit in each chili. Boil a couple quarts of water and add the chilies. Remove immediately from heat and let soak until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove chilies from water, pat with towel until fully dry and remove innards through slit you cut. Like the fresh chilies, these are delicate, so try not to mutilate them.

For all chilies:

After you’ve prepared the chilies as described above, stuff them by gently spooning in the filling.

Next, combine the egg whites in a mixing bowl. Using an electric beater, mix until they are totally stiff, which can take up to 15 minutes. Now gently fold in the yolks and flour to your whipped whites.

Heat a frying pan with a neutral-flavored frying oil, like canola over medium heat. You want it to be between a half inch and an inch in depth.

Now, using a big spoon, very gently lower a chile into the egg batter (you might have to spoon a little over the top to fully cover them). After you’ve battered a chili, gently lower it into the oil—this is easiest if you pinch the stem and slowly slide it off your dipping spoon. Fry 1-2 chilies at a time. Flip over once the bottom is golden brown. If the chilies are too delicate to flip, just spoon hot oil over the top until the batter has solidified enough to flip without the contents falling out.

After each chile is nicely golden brown on all sides, remove from oil and transfer to a paper towel-lined platter and blot additional oil off the tops.

Southern Mexican black beans: Giving a sexy makeover to a humble legume

After living part-time in Oaxaca for the last few years, I still can’t get enough of the black beans here. They’re sublime. Finally, after asking around, I learned they key is avocado leaves! They make your boring run-of-the mill black beans into something amazing. It’s like those daytime shows when they give some frumpy dude in sweats a makeover and you realize with some new clothes and a decent haircut, he’s a real ladykiller. That’s the same with these beans. Just a few simple changes to your old, boring beans will make an amazing, delicious, complex black bean wonder. If only the makeover guy knew this recipe, he could have just picked up all the ladies without even having to ditch his sweats and dumpy haircut. Oh well.

Note that you can get epazote and dried avocado leaves at most Mexican grocers and maybe some specialty grocers. You can also order them on Amazon.

Prep time: 1/2 cocktail (after the beans are cooked)

Bean base:

2 pounds of black beans

1 small bunch fresh epazote or a scant handful of dried

1 onion, chopped

1 head of garlic, unpeeled and whole

Salt

For each batch batch of sexy makeover beans:

3 dried chilies (I like Pasilla or Guajillo)

7 dried avocado leaves

1-2 cups of the beans from the bean base
1 TBSP neutral cooking oil, like canola

Soak the beans overnight. Then rinse well and put in a Dutch oven with at least a couple quarts of water and bring to boil. Stir occasionally and add more water, as needed. Cook until soft, usually a few hours. But when they’re about 40 minutes from that point, stir in epazote onion, and garlic. Salt to taste. When beans are finished, fish out and discard the garlic head and epazote (if you used fresh).

Once your beans are done, toast the chilies and avocado leaves in a dry frying pan over medium high heat for a few minutes until they become highly aromatic and maybe a tad charred.

Transfer 1-2 cups of the beans plus the toasted chilies and avocado leaves to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.

Now take a small frying pan and heat the oil.  Transfer the contents of the the blender to the pan and sautee the pureed beans until they become “dry” to the point they clump together a little bit and are no longer runny (like in the photo above).

You will have a fair amount of leftover bean base. You can make additional batches of sexy makeover beans by repeating the process with the peppers and avocado leaves or use the beans for other purposes.

Salsa Oaxaqueño

So this is a great all purpose, quick salsa that's good with anything from chips to smothering enchiladas. The only thing unique about it, other than it being really amazing, is that the woman who taught me the recipe--a native Oaxacan--said that it's a traditional salsa from the area because it doesn't use lime. Instead, it relies on a hefty dose of charred tomatoes and peppers to produce the acidic bite that limes usually provide. And to be sure, she was right. It's big, fresh, and bright.

One word of note, however, is that you really don't want to try to save 90 seconds by using a food processor. This salsa--like many in mexico--is meant to be ground by hand in a molcajete, though any mortar and pestle will work. However, a food processor or blender totally rips the ingredients to shreds, which imparts some funky flavors. Channel your inner abuela and prepare this the traditional way. Your tastebuds will thank you!

One ingredient note is that here in Oaxaca, the recipe calls for chiles de agua. They're a local heirloom that isn't commercially cultivated outside our little valley. So instead, I recommend a couple Anaheim chilies and a jalapeno as a totally suitable replacement. That said, you should totally use 2-4 fresh chiles de agua if you happen to see them at your local Mexican market.

Prep time: 1/2 mezcal-based cocktail

6 Roma tomatoes
2 Anaheim chilies
1-2 jalepenos
4 cloves garlic, coarsely minced
1/4 cup chopped onion
2-4 sprigs cilantro, leaves plucked off and stems discarded
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to broil or fire up your outdoor grill. Once hot, place tomatoes and peppers on the grill (or the top rack of your oven, with a foil-lined pan underneath to catch drippings) and char everything until well blistered/charred and the skin of the tomatoes falls away, rotating every few minutes so all sides are equally roasted. Don't overthink this, as it's impossible to overcook these, and a long as things are well-blistered, they're not undercooked. It will take your peppers about 10 minutes and your tomatoes about 15, but mileage will vary. Your tomato skins will probably fall off and stick to the rack. Don't worry about it.

Transfer peppers to a paper bag or sealed tupperware and place tomatoes in a bowl to cool. Do something fun for about 15 minutes or until everything has cooled enough to handle.

After you return, in your molcajete or mortar and pestle, first grind your garlic and onion into a paste. Then peel, stem, and seed peppers (doing this under a stream of cold water is easiest). Put your pepper flesh into the onion/garlic mixture and pulverize well. Now peel and quarter each tomato lengthwise and transfer all the tomatoes to the onion/garlic/pepper mixture. Grind until you've reached the desired level of chunkiness for your salsa.

Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in cilantro (don't grind it like you did the other ingredients!) and salt.

Achiote Recado Tacos... As good as Stanley Tucci eating kumquats while listening to the Pixies.

I have to admit I've never thought much about annatto, other than I got a pretty photo of it (above) on a spice plantation in Zanzibar a few years ago. Like the Omaha music scene or American soccer, while it's probably great, annatto isn't something any of us spend much time thinking about. Underrated is the word I'm looking for. Then, just like other underrated things--from kumquats to the subtle power of Stanley Tucci's acting, once you give it a try, you're totally hooked. You swoon at the thought of annatto-infused oil. You're that guy at a dinner party extolling the virtues of Indonesian annatto versus Brazilian (which, frankly, tastes like sawdust) to a captive stranger at the snack table as he desperately tries to escape your spice drivel. Which, is exactly why, my friend, you should give it a try. Become part of the underground culture who have fallen in love with this smooth, delicate spice the way way we quietly and hopelessly fell in love with the Pixies the first time we heard them. Welcome to the club.

So what is achiote recado? Well, I'm glad you asked. It's a spice blend from the Yucatan. It's a mix of annatto with other spices and sour orange juice. As I learned while living down there, it's both delicious and super popular. You can use it as a rub for any type of meat that you want to enjoy, but it goes great in tofu-based tacos too. Every time I make this, it brings me right back to eating 5 of these tacos for a couple bucks in an open air stall at the town market for lunch!

Prep time: 3 cocktails

Achiote recado:
1/4 cup annatto seeds
6 allspice berries
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
5 whole cloves
1 TBSP oregano
1/4 of a nutmeg pod, grated on a microplane or the finest side of a box grater
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice

Tofu:
3 TBSP canola or peanut oil
1 brick of extra-firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

Roasted carrot refried black beans:
2 TBSP oil
1 very large carrot, cut into matchsticks
3/4 cup veggie stock, store-bought or homemade
1 14-oz can black beans, drained
Thyme (optional)

For the tacos:
Mexican style pickled onions
La Costena pickled jalepenos (available in the Mexican aisle of any grocery store), sliced
Cilantro, chopped
Tortillas, fresh or homemade

Additional optional toppings:
Avacado slices
Salsa macha

Combine all the first 5 ingredients of the achiote recado in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind into a powder. Transfer to a small, dry frying pan that's over medium heat and add oregano and grated nutmeg. Dry toast the spices until aromatic and just beginning to smoke a tiny bit, about 3-3 minutes. Transfer immediately to a food processor. Also, add garlic, salt and both juices to the spices in the food processor and process it.

For the tofu: in a large frying pan heat the 3 TBSP over medium-high heat. hen hot, add tofu and sauté, stirring with a spatula almost constantly, until the tofu is nicely golden brown but not burned. It may take some care to prevent the tofu from falling apart. When tofu is golden brown, add the achiote recado and stir it all together well.

While you're working on the tofu, make the beans. First in a medium saucepan, heat the 2 TBAP oil over medium heat. When hot, add the carrots and sauté until the carrots are nicely caramelized, but not burned, stirring frequently. Add veggie stock, beans, and thyme, if using. Bring to simmer for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to food processor and puree until it's smooth. Return to the saucepan and keep it warmed over super low heat.

Now assemble your tacos: throw down some beans and tofu on a tortilla and add a smattering of onions, jalepenos, and cilantro. Perfect!

Amazing Jackfruit Tinga Tacos

Traditionally made with shredded chicken or beef in a spicy, smoky, and savory sauce, tinga is not dissimilar from barbecue. And, like barbecue, this dish is best served with beer. A lot of beer. In fact, I learned how to cook the chicken version of this dish while living in the Yucatan from a short, plump local woman named Lily. She drank a lot of beer when she taught me how to make it. So I know it's authentic. Logic.

You can find jackfruit at many grocery stores and Asian markets. At grocery stores, it is often sold next to the canned fruit.

Prep time: 3 cocktails (or 6 cocktails if you drink like Lily)

5 TBSP oil, divided
2 14-ounce cans jackfruit, rinsed, drained and lightly shredded
1 very large onion, peeled but not cut up
2-3 dashes of liquid smoke
1/2 tsp salt
8 cloves garlic, minced and divided
4 medium tomatoes, cored but not chopped
3/4 tsp whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp dried allspice berries
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
8 whole cloves
3 bay leaves
1 TBSP oregeno
1/2 cup veggie stock, store-bought or homemade
The sauce (but not the peppers) from one small 7-ounce can of chipotles in adobo sauce
1 batch homemade tortillas
Pico de gallo
Mexican pickled onions
Black beans and rice (optional)
Avocado (optional)
Mexican crema or sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Cut the onion in half. Slice the first half into thin "half-moon" slices. Chop the other half.

Heat 3 TBSP oil over medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add shredded jackfruit. Saute jackfruit about 10-30 minutes, stirring frequently until jackfruit seems to have mostly cooked out excess water. Now add 3/4 of the chopped half of the onion and saute 7-10 more minutes. Add half the garlic and salt and saute another minute or two. If it sticks, add a bit more oil.

Now spread the jackfruit out in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until it looks like browned pulled pork, flipping about halfway through with a spatula.

As your jackfruit bakes, in a medium saucepan, combine tomatoes, the last little bit of chopped onion, and half of the remaining garlic over medium heat (without any oil). Cook until the tomato skin wrinkles and starts to fall off the fruit, gently stirring occasionally so all sides are wrinkled. This will take about 15 minutes. Then transfer to a food processor and buzz into a sauce.

While the tomatoes cook, combine peppercorns, allspice, cumin seeds, and cloves in a spice grinder and powder them all.

Add remaining 2 TBSP oil to a large pan and put it on medium heat. When oil shimmers, add the 'half moon' onions and saute until transparent. Add the last of the garlic and saute one more minute. Add the tomato puree and stir well. Once it begins to boil, add spice mixture from the grinder plus the bay leaves, oregano, veggie stock, and adobo. Cook until you have a marinara-like consistency, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add jackfruit mixture and cook 3 more minutes and adjust salt if needed.

Now, when your jackfruit has baked to the point that it resembles shredded chicken or beef, stir it together it with a very amount of the sauce, spread it out on the baking sheet once again, and bake for 15 more minutes. 

Remove from heat and build yer' tacos with the jackfruit and remaining ingredients, adding additional sauce to the  jackfruit if desired. Drink beer. Love life.

Ridicously Simple Roasted Salsa

Stop paying five bucks for salsa at the store! Make this instead! This was taught to me by the amigos who manned the kitchen at one of the restaurants I used to work at. They made it almost every day for lunch and never got sick of it. It's about as fast and simple to make as anything you can imagine and is a fraction the cost of store-bought salsa (and is better). It also scales up easily for a big party. 

This salsa is also fantastic for smothering any type of Mexican food, particularly tamales. 

It's important to not try to get too fancy with this recipe. I’ve tried to sex it up by adding lime juice, cilantro, or onion and have just ended up ruining the salsa.

And remember, you’re charring the vegetables, so it’s a great way to use up tomatoes or jalapeños that are too far past their prime for other uses.

This salsa is traditionally from the northern states in Mexico and traditionally goes great with carne asada. But it's a great all-purpose salsa too. Heat wimps can substitute some or all of the jalapenos with Anaheim chilies. 

Prep time: 1/2 cocktail

5 whole tomatoes, vine ripened

2 whole jalapeños (or more for spicier salsa)

1 scant teaspoon salt

Make sure your grill surface is super clean. A shot of cooking spray is even a good idea, as it’ll keep the skins from peeling off the veggies. Grill the tomatoes and jalapeños until the skins are nice and blackened, turning occasionally. Don’t worry about burning the vegetables, even totally charred tomatoes and jalapeños make great salsa (just don’t under grill them).

If outdoor grilling is out of the question, you can roast the tomatoes and peppers in the oven. Set the vegetables on an oven rack with a foil-lined, oven-safe dish underneath to catch the drippings. Broil until the tomatoes and peppers are nice and blackened, turning occasionally with a tongs. (Note that without good ventilation, you may fill your house with smoke.)

Remove veggies from grill or oven and chop stems off jalapeños and tops off tomatoes, but DO NOT peel the veggies. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you reach the desired consistency.

Chill and serve.

Best (Vegetarian) Fajitas On The Goddamn Planet

I'm not usually too outspoken about being vegetarian. I usually let my cooking speak for itself. This is one dish that makes that easy. Next time you need to slap some red-meat-lovin'-good-ol-boy back down to earth for harassing you about vegetarian food, I suggest you make these fajitas. I've made this for the sort of people who wouldn't go near a vegan cafe unless there was a gun store next door to nothing but rave reviews. These fajitas are basically bragging in food form. 

Shopping hint: for the seitan, there are a lot of different types out there. Go with traditional flavored (not barbecue, bacon, chorizo, or any other varieties that are now available). And there are also different types of "cuts" also now out there; just go with the plain old chunky stuff (if that's unavailable, strips will work).

Prep time: 1 1/2 cocktails

¼ cup canola or corn oil

16-ounces seitan, torn up into bite-sized pieces

7 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion cut into 1/4 –inch disks, so that you end up with lots of onion “rings”

3 medium (or 2 large) bell pepper, any color, cut into ¼”-inch strips

2 tsp chili powder

1 TBSP + 1 tsp cumin

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp red chili flakes (or more if you like it spicy)

¼ cup soy sauce

Juice of 1 small lime (optional)

Homemade guacamole

Flour tortillas

Sour cream

Grated cheese, hot sauce, salsa, chopped cilantro, lime wedges (all are optional)

Beer (not optional!)

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a very large frying pan or wok. When hot, add seitan, garlic, onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and chili flakes. Sauté for 7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add Braggs and lime (if using) and continue to sauté, stirring frequently. Cook until the onions and peppers have become completely soft—this could take up to 15 more minutes. If the veggie/seitan mixture begins to stick to the bottom add a tablespoon or two of water and continue cooking. Taste and add salt, if needed.