Low-sugar horchata for Cinco de Mayo

It has been hot in our part of Mexico. The afternoons have been over 90 F/32 C. lately, and I can only hope this doesn’t foretell the summer ahead. A cold drink would be nice when we are in town. The street stands with beverages always have a 5-gallon jug of cold, icy horchata, but we pass them by. With so much sugar, the sweetness level is over the top for our tastes.

Originally from North Africa, this creamy drink traveled to Spain, thence to Mexico, where it is made with rice, sometimes barley. In Spain, horchata de chufa is made from exotic sounding tiger nuts from the sedge plant, as it is in Africa as well. Someday, I hope to encounter tiger nuts, but until then, rice will do, as it does for thousands of Mexicans.

I made coconut milk for this version. It’s easy with a blender and a fine seive or mesh cloth. Boxed almond, rice, or fresh dairy milk would work just as well.

Start by soaking raw rice (brown or white) and cinnamon sticks in water overnight. Really, white rice is how it’s done in Mexico. I used brown rice, and surprisingly, the horchata was quite white in color when blended. Probably the hull does not make it through the seive. Remove the cinnamon stick and blend until almost smooth. Strain the next day, discarding solids.

To the liquid add milk of your choice (coconut, almond or dairy), sweetener of your choice (sugar, stevia or honey), and vanilla. I used azucar mascabado, an unrefined sugar. While some recipes call for as much as a cup of sugar, I found two tablespoons of sugar plus 8 drops of liquid stevia gave a very pleasant sweetness without the bitterness that can be associated with stevia when too much is used. Chill and serve over ice for the perfect antidote for a hot afternoon. After avoiding horchata for years, I was surprised by how good low-sugar horchata is. Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Brown Rice Horchata

• 1 cup/200 gr. raw brown rice (or white rice)
• 4 cups /1 l. water
• 1 cup/250 ml. coconut milk (or almond milk or dairy)
• 2 sticks Mexican cinnamon (Ceylon or cannela in Spanish)
• Stevia or sugar to taste
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• ground cinnamon to garnish finished horchata

1. Soak rice, cinnamon sticks and water overnight in refrigerator.
2. Remove cinnamon sticks and blend rice and water in blender until very smooth, about 5 minutes.
3. Strain through 2 thicknesses of cheesecloth, a nut milk bag or other very fine material.
4. Discard solids and pour liquid into pitcher. Sweeten to taste and add vanilla and ground cinnamon.
5. Chill. Serve over ice.

Notes:

~ To help those who don’t have enough hours in the day, instant horchata is common in grocery stores. I suspect that those five gallon jugs of horchata I see on street stands are made from instant mixes.

~ It’s hard to imagine Mexico without rice, but it was not in Mexico until the Spanish arrived. Originating in China, rice made its way around the world, becoming a staple in Mexico. It is the side dish, along with refritos – refried beans – found on most restaurant plates.

~ Cinnamon in Mexico is not the same as the common cinnamon in the U.S. Here, Mexican cinnamon, canela in Spanish (Cinnamomum verum), is widely available and used. Serious Eats describes it as being less spicy, with a flavor that “tends toward vanilla: a warm floral note with hints of heat and honeyed fruit. Though it’s milder, “true” cinnamon possesses a deeper cinnamon flavor that plays well in the background of dishes, especially savory ones.” If you have whole sticks, but are not sure which cinnamon you have, snap a stick between your fingers. If it breaks easily, it’s canela, Mexican cinnamon. The cinnamon common in the U.S., Cinnamomum aromaticum or C. loureiroi, also known as cassia, is so hard that it cannot be snapped between your fingers. Don’t try to grind it in your spice grinder. The grinder may not survive.

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Dessert Quesadillas

Remember the last post about fruit quesadillas? Many quesadillas later, they morphed into all-out dessert. Goat cheese was swapped out for requesón, the name for ricotta cheese in Mexico. Chocolate was added. And walnuts. And ice cream. At this point, the quesadillas were dessert, not lunch.

Has anyone else come up with dessert quesadillas? I don’t know and I don’t want to know. In my world, dessert quesadillas originated here on Cooking in Mexico, and I don’t want Google to tell me otherwise. I still remember how excited I was when I thought I was the first person ever to come up with walnutella, my own concoction of walnuts and Ibarra chocolate to make a Nutella-like spread. A quick internet search proved otherwise. Then there was the time I thought, Hey, no one else is doing tuna melt quesadillas! Wrong. They were all over the internet, too. So, if you see dessert quesadillas on the internet, don’t tell me, OK? Gracias.

Take almost any fruit — apples, mango, pears, strawberries, figs, even banana. I used mango and apple this time. Laying the tortilla flat, spread with ricotta cheese. Then top one half with fruit, chocolate and nuts, and fold the other half over. It’s ready for a hot griddle. Fruit, ricotta and chocolate could not be a more delectable combination.

Add a scoop of ice cream and some chocolate sauce, and all of a sudden a fancy dessert is happening. With everything prepped, this would be easy to put together for company, and would probably be a dessert they have not had before.

Dessert Quesadillas 8 servings

• 2.5 oz./70 g. dark chocolate, chopped, plus 1 oz/28 g. for sauce
• 2 teaspoons avocado oil or other neutral oil
• 4 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 cup/8 oz./230 g. ricotta cheese
• 1 apple, peeled and sliced 1/2″/1.25 cm. thick
• 1 mango, sliced 1/2″/1.25 cm. thick(see Notes below for instructions)
• 1/2 cup/50 g chopped walnuts plus additional chopped walnuts for garnish
• Vanilla ice cream

• 1. Make chocolate sauce: microwave or melt over low heat 1 oz./28 gr. dark chocolate in 2 teaspoons avocado oil, heating just until chocolate is melted, and mixing until smooth. Set aside to cool.
• 2. Divide ricotta among tortillas and spread to within 1/2″/1.25 cm. of edge.
• 3. On one half of each tortilla, place fruit, nuts and chocolate.
• 4. Fold in half and cook on medium hot griddle until brown and toasty, about 2-3 minutes on each side.
• 5. Cool about 5 minutes on a cake rack.
• 6. Cut each quesadilla in half. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle with chocolate sauce, and garnish with additional chopped walnuts.

Notes:

~ Why whole wheat tortillas? Because they have more fiber, more nutrition, and much more flavor than white flour tortillas.

~ To slice a mango, stand it on end and cut the two cheeks off, slicing very closely to the seed. Without cutting through the skin, cut 1/2″ slices (see 3rd. photo). Holding one cheek in the palm of your hand, run the edge of a spoon between the flesh and the skin, releasing the slices.

~ Eight years ago, I wrote about making requesón. It’s actually easy, though I confess I don’t make it any more. We live in a dairy region where fresh cheeses are made at the local ranches and sold at the cremerías. It’s too convenient to bring home a carton of requesón, hand made at a nearby rancho. Freshly made requesón pairs well with fruit and good bread.

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Fruit Quesadillas

It seems like winter ended not that long ago, but local peaches have already made their appearance. El Galope, a nearby little village, is known for its small, early peaches and we look forward to buying them from baskets on the roadside.

I started out to make a peach galette, but thought of quesadillas instead. They are easy enough. And what about the ripe mangoes and the odd apple in the fridge? Lunch was taking shape. Guajillo chiles added a subtle zip, along with pepitas – squash seeds – for some crunch. The chile skin proves too much like cellophane to chew on, so the chiles were soaked in boiling water, and then the flesh was scraped off from the inside of the skin.

Quesadillas have been common in Mexico ever since the Spanish arrival, which brought cows and the making of cheese. The very first letters of “quesadilla” signify the addition of cheese, though I hear that quesadillas in Mexico City do not necessarily contain cheese. But how do they hold together?

Swiss and goat were the only cheeses in my fridge, and as this cook’s mantra is to make do with what I have, they were just right. Oaxaca cheese, or string cheese, is the traditional cheese used in Mexico for quesadillas, but any cheese would be good here. Cheddar, Oaxaca, manchego, mozzarella. Use what you have.

I prefer whole wheat flour tortillas to corn tortillas, though flour tortillas are more commonly used for quesadillas in northern Mexico. If you use corn tortillas, they need to be lightly oiled first on the outer side to prevent them from drying out. Whole wheat tortillas contain vegetable oil, which makes them resemble the flakiness and crispness of pie crust when toasted on the griddle. Probably white flour tortillas would be the same, but white flour anything offers no flavor when compared to whole wheat flour.

The quesadillas were assembled on the griddle. Fruit slices, cheese, a smear of scraped chile and a few pepitas sprinkled over everything. Try to get cheese on every piece of fruit to stick it in place when the toasted quesadilla is picked up.

Guajillo chiles are a common chile in Mexico, and should be found in any Mexican grocery store, or they can be ordered online. They are very mild, and described as having a “green tea or stemmy flavor with berry tones, a little piney and tannic, with a sweet heat” by Mark Miller in The Great Chile Book. They may also be labeled chile guaco, chile mirasole, or, where I live in Jalisco, chile liso. A very good, all-round chile to have in your cocina for many Mexican dishes.

Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side, turning when there are nice brown spots and the tortilla is starting to crisp.

Two peach quesadillas, two mango quesadillas, and one apple quesadilla were offered for lunch.

Fruit Quesadillas 2 servings

• 4 whole wheat tortillas (or white flour or corn tortillas)
• 2 cups sliced or grated cheese
• 2 chile guajillos, stem end opened and seeds shaken out
• 2 cups sliced fruit
• 4 tablespoons pepitas

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, turn off heat and add chiles to soak for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat griddle or skillet over medium low heat.
3. Cut chiles in half lengthwise, and scrape off flesh, using one half chile per quesadilla.
4. Distribute cheese over open tortilla.
5. Place fruit and pepitas on one side of tortilla and fold over in half.
6. Toast on griddle for 3-5 minutes per side, until toasty brown spots appear.
7. Cut each quesadilla in half and serve warm.

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Back again. With breakfast of champions – black beans with avocado and egg

Well, this is a bit awkward. Where do I start after three years of silence? Suffice it to say that after being locked out of Cooking in Mexico since 2021, I was finally able to regain access, almost by accident. But after this absence I’m a little rusty at blogging. How to insert photos? Where to find drafts? What happened to the thin frame around the photos and how do I get it back? (Do I even want to resume blogging?) So I’m making it easy on myself with a simple recipe, not a lot of text, and few photos.

Here is my first post in three years, black beans with avocado and egg, a breakfast favorite and one that comes together easily if you have cooked beans on hand. Tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro add brightness and round out the flavors. Add salsa or hot sauce for a bit of zip. Omit the egg for a vegan version.

Since I last wrote, an instant pot has joined our kitchen cadre of useful appliances. It has become the easiest way to cook beans, a staple in our cocina. Check here if you need instructions for cooking beans on top of the stove. If you are in Mexico, pick through the beans before cooking. It’s not uncommon to find a little pebble or two. Or use canned beans to make getting this simple breakfast to the table even easier.

Black Beans with Avocado and Egg

• cooked black beans (or any bean of your choice)
• Sliced avocado
• chopped red onion
• chopped cilantro
• halved grape tomatoes
• Softly fried egg (optional)
• salsa or hot sauce

No amounts are given here, because it really depends on your appetite and taste, and how many servings are being prepared. Buen provecho!

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Ancho Mole Cookies

I wanted to make a pretty cookie, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I really thought I could do it. I’ve probably made thousands of cookies by now, but they were mostly the drop kind. Not the freeze, roll into a three-sided triangle shape, roll in sesame seeds, freeze again, slice really thin through the hard chocolate and nuts without distorting the shape kind. But the Ancho Mole Cookies sure tasted good, despite being less than the perfect triangles I was hoping for.

Epicurious had the recipe for Ancho Mole Cookies on their web site recently, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to make it. The combination of chocolate, chile, cinnamon, sesame seeds, fruit, and nuts — ingredients in a classic mole sauce — was pure genius, and immediately caught my attention and went on the “bake soon” list. Plus, they were just so dang pretty. Perfect equilateral triangle slices, with dried fruit shining through like stained glass.

Russ noticed I was busy in the kitchen, and asked what I was making. “Cookies for the blog.” Russ: “My name is Blog. That’s my new name, Blog”. Blog gave them his seal of approval, really liking the chile bite combined with the chocolate, fruit and nuts, and he didn’t care that they weren’t equilateral triangles.

Instead of dried fruit, I used fruta cristalizada, a common treat in Mexico, where entire halves of camote (sweet potato), large chunks of papaya or calabaza (winter squash), whole figs and many other fruits are cooked in a sugar syrup until candied, but still tender on the inside. The colors are like gems. If you are not in Mexico, use any dried fruit you have on hand.

Make these cookies. Don’t be put off by my misshapen attempt. I plan on making them again, and just not obsessing over achieving a triangle cut as specified in the original Epicurious recipe. Round cookies are fine. A good cookie is a good cookie, regardless of shape.

Omit the chile if you are faint of heart/palate. And use white flour, if you are not of the whole wheat persuasion. If you use ancho chile powder, be prepared for a mouth tingling zip that leaves you reaching for another cookie.

Ancho Mole Cookies

• 1 cup (4 oz/115 g) nuts (I used walnuts)
• 1¼ cups (6.34 oz/180g) raw sesame seeds, divided
• ¼ cup (.84 oz/24g) pure, ground ancho chile powder
• ¼ cup (59ml) agave syrup
• 2 cups (256 g) whole wheat or all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 12 Tbsp. (6 oz/170 g)unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup (33.55 oz/100 g) sugar
• 1¾ tsp. kosher salt
• 3 large egg yolks (save the egg whites for brushing on the rolled cookie dough)
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup (130 g) dried fruit, such as papaya, mango, or pineapple, cut into (¾”) pieces. I used papaya cristalizada. The weight may vary, depending on the moisture content of the dried fruit.
• 3/4 cup (4 oz/110 g) chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Toast nuts and 1/4 cup sesame seeds for 10 minutes, tossing halfway through. Set aside.
2. Blend all dry ingredients, chile and cinnamon included.
3. In standing mixer, cream butter and sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat an additional minute. Add agave syrup and beat until well blended.
4. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients until blended.
5. Stir in nuts, toasted sesame seeds and dried fruit.
6. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 10″ log and wrap each one in plastic wrap or wax paper, rolling again to make each log smooth. Freeze for 20 minutes on a flat surface.
7. Now you have a choice. Either follow Epicurious’ instructions and slap the cold cylinder on the counter to form a 3-sided triangle form, OR skip that and leave as a perfectly round log shape. Whichever your choice, leave wrapped and freeze an additional 15 minutes.
8. Working with one log at a time, unwrap and brush with egg white. Roll in remaining 1 cup of sesame seeds, covering surface completely. Freeze unwrapped for about an hour, until surface is firm but not frozen.
9. Pre-heat oven to 350 F/180 C.
10. Slice each log into 1/4″ (6.35 mm) slices. If dough warms and becomes soft while slicing, return to freezer for 10-15 minutes. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced 1″ (25 mm) apart.
11. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are set, but centers are still soft. Let cool on baking sheets.

Notes ~

~ Ancho chiles are dried, smoked poblano chile, with a complex, smokey flavor. The powdered form is common, and is found in many salsas and moles.

~ Mole ( MOH-lay) is a classic Mexican sauce used for chicken, pork, almost any meat. I’ve even spooned it over sautéed tofu slices. The states of Oaxaca and Puebla are famous for their mole. Depending on ingredients, mole can be green, yellow, black or red, and there are more than a dozen different ways to prepare it. Fruit, chocolate, seeds, nuts and chile are typically found in mole sauces. Bottled Doña María mole sauce is the easy way to make a mole dish at home. You’ll find it in the Mexican food aisle if you are north of the border. For those of you south of the border, Doña María is in every little grocery store in Mexico.

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