Ah, Mexico. I am still reveling in the zippy, healthy salsas, soups, and stews that I learned to make in San Miguel de Allende.
Breakfast in Mexico: huevos in guajilla salsa, served with the freshest mango and avocado you can imagine.
The true cuisine of Mexico differs from region to region, with a dizzying variety of dishes that barely resemble our American-Mexican food. In the mountains of central Mexico, where I attended cooking school, I learned that most dishes begin with dried chiles, whereas fresh chiles are more typical of the coastal foods.
Cooking with dried chiles can be a tad intimidating. They are often toasted briefly before soaking, but are so easy to burn. Marilau, my Mexican cooking mentor, taught me how to coax the subtle and not-so-subtle flavors out of the dried chiles. "You must always be in control of the spicihood", says Marilau. Spicihood may just be my new favorite Spanglish word.
Marilau taught us to toast dried chiles in a pan over low heat, flipping continuously until you can smell the chile aroma. If you go too far, your dish will taste burnt.
Marilau also taught me that the tomatillo is a beautiful, versatile vegetable. I am embarrassed to admit that I had never cooked with tomatillos before. I wasn't sure what the heck to do with these firm, green, husky tomato-ish vegetables. Now I know: make Salsa Verde and make it often.
Mis en place, Mexican-style, with chiles pasillas, guajillos, anchos, white onion, tomatillos, and tomatoes.
As Marilau loves to remind us gringos, real salsa is not for dipping. Mexicans do not eat chips and salsa before the meal. Salsa, in the true regional Mexican sense, is a sauce which appears as part of the main dish, on the side of simple grilled pork roast, in the broth of tortilla soup, or as the backbone of a creamy pumpkin seed sauce.
These 6 salsas form the backbone of the foods of central Mexico.
Like most Americans, it would be impossible not to want to dip a chip into these salsas. But I'll show you how to cook with them too.
I have three salsas for you to try. First the Salsa Verde, which is as easy as throwing tomatillos, onion, chiles and cilantro in a blender, then gently warming over the stove for 15 minutes.
Homemade salsa verde takes just a few minutes to cook up.
Next, there is Salsa de Chile Guajillo, that bright red sauce made of dried guajillo chiles and tomatoes, and a few secret ingredients. Blended and strained, a smooth perfectly balanced guajillo salsa is the benchmark of excellence for Mexican home cooks.
Salsa de Chile Guajillo.
Lastly, but not least because this is actually my favorite of the three, a Salsa Morena, or brown sauce. This sauce is also a breeze to make, just sauté ingredients, blend and strain. It tastes earthy from two types of dried chiles, pasillas and anchos, and slightly sweet from adding raisins (or apples or dates). It is just the sauce to dress up wild game, duck, pork tenderloins, beef brisket, chicken or turkey.
Salsa Morena is my new favorite way to dress up wild game tenderloins.
Once you get a feel for how spicy you want your salsas, you can vary the "spicihood" by adding more of the chile's seeds and veins.
The discarded parts of the chiles can be added back in for more heat.
Marilau"s 5 Rules of Cooking with Chiles:
- Never wash a dried chile. Just gently clean it with a cloth.
- When toasting dried chiles, be gentle and brief. Flip every few seconds, and remove from the heat as soon as the aroma reaches your nose.
- A smooth sauce is the hallmark of a great Mexican cook. You must have a blender and a sieve to make these salsas.
- Always control the "Spicihood" by removing the appropriate amount of chile's veins and seeds for your dish.
- Chiles are like music; you need to let each one sing. Don't mix dried and fresh chilies in the same sauce. Don't mix red and green salsas on the same plate. And never make a sauce with more than one type of fresh chile.
A day without chile is like a day without sun.
For a printable version of each recipe, click on the file below it.
Salsa Verde
This salsa will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- 3/4 pound tomatillos, husked, cleaned and quartered
- 1 slice white onion
- 1-2 chiles serranos with seeds and veins
- 8 stems of cliantro (leaves and stems)
- salt to taste
- 1-1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil
- Place tomatillos, onion, serranos (cut in half lengthwise), cilantro and chicken broth in a blender. Puree until smooth.
- Place lard or vegetable oil in a saucepan, and warm over low heat. Add contents of the blender, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
- Add more chicken broth to thin, if needed. Taste and add salt.
| salsa_verde__jacksonholefoodie.docx |
Marilau uses scissors to prepare the dried chiles.
Salsa de Chile Guajillo
To prepare the chiles, use scissors to snip off the stem, then cut them lengthwise and open like a book. Carefully remove veins and seeds.
- 6 dried guajillos chiles, seeded, deveined and torn into pieces
- 1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil
- 1 thick slice of white onion
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole black peppercorns
- 3 large plum tomatoes, quartered
- 2 cups chicken broth
- salt to taste
- Saute lard or vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over low heat.
- Add onion and garlic, and saute until onion is translucent.
- Add cinnamon stick, broken into pieces, and peppercorns.
- Add tomatoes, chiles and about 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer over low for about 15 minutes.
- Pour sauce into the jar of a blender, and puree until smooth.
- Strain over a fine mesh sieve, or a colander lined with cheesecloth.
- Taste again for salt, and add as needed.
| salsa_de_chile_guajillo_______jacksonholefoodie.docx |
Salsa Morena
To prepare the dried chiles, uses scissor to snip off the stem. Then cut them lengthwise and open like a book. Carefully remove veins and seeds.
- 2 dried pasilla chiles, seeded, deveined and torn into pieces
- 2 dried ancho chiles, seeded, deveined and torn into pieces
- 1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil
- 1 slice white onion
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1/3 cup raisins (or 1 apple, or 1 plantain, or 10 prunes or 10 dates)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- salt to taste
- Melt lard or vegetable oil in a medium saucepan.
- Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent
- Add raisins to plump, then chiles. Sauté for 30-60 seconds (DO NOT BURN).
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Pour into the jar of a blender, and puree until smooth.
- Strain over a fine mesh sieve, or a colander lined with cheesecloth.
- Taste, and adjust for salt.
| salsa_morena__________________jacksonholefoodie.docx |
In San Miguel de Allende, it feels a lot like being in Spain.
