July 2020 – Cooking in Mexico

Enfrijoladas are basically hot tortillas dipped in a bean sauce, and topped with garnishes of cotija cheese, cilantro and onion. That’s it, a simple, satisfying desayuno or almuerzo — breakfast or late morning meal. In southern Mexico, black beans are seasoned with chile cola de rata, rat tail chiles, so called because of their shape, and toasted avocado leaves. Since I have neighbors with avocado trees, their leaves are easy to come by, but if your Mexican grocery store doesn’t have dried avocado leaves in stock, they can be ordered online.

Enfrijoladas are more common in Oaxaca and southern Mexico, and are made with black beans, frijole negro. I also use frijole perujuano, because they are the common bean here in Jalisco, but use what you have.

Enfrijoladas

3 cups cooked beans, with their broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, thickly sliced
2 cola de rata chiles, broken in half and seeds shaken out if you prefer less heat
4 cloves garlic sliced in half
4 large avocado leaves, toasted and crushed, stems and veins removed
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Salt to taste
10 -12 corn tortillas
shredded, cooked chicken, optional
Cotija cheese, cilantro and chopped onion for garnish

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, garlic and chiles. Cook until onion is translucent and starting to color.
. Puree onion mixture with oregano and crushed avocado leaves (don’t use stems and veins) in a blender with 1/2 cup water.
Add beans and blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary for a thick, cream-like consistency. Pour into a skillet and keep warm over a low heat. Adjust for salt.
Brush tortillas lightly with olive oil, and cook in a hot skillet for about 10 seconds per side, just long enough to soften. One at a time, dip each tortillas in the bean sauce, fold into quarters, and serve garnished with cotija cheese, chopped onion and cilantro.
As an option, enfrijoladas can be filled with shredded chicken and folded in half (below).

Notes ~

~ Only Persea drymifolia, the native Mexican avocado, has the characteristic anise flavor. The leaf should release an anise aroma when toasted and crushed. Toast the leaves in a dry skillet or over a gas flame.

~ Cola de rata chiles are also known as chile de árbol or bird’s beak chile. Rating between 15,000 to 30,000 Scoville Units, they are considered very hot.

~ Traditionally, enfrijoladas are made with lard, but my tastes run more toward olive oil. If you don’t object to using animal products, by all means use it. Without getting into all the details, lard was greatly discredited to promote Crisco, but has regained favor. The culinary world values its high smoke point, high melting point and flavor.

~ Cotija cheese, hard, dry and salty, is used as a garnish on bean dishes, enchiladas, chilaquiles and much more. Well stocked supermarkets in the U.S. carry it (I don’t know if it’s common in Canada). Substitutions would be queso ańejo or feta cheese.

It’s peach time in the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. Small cling peaches — duraznos — are coming down to roadside stands in Mascota, a treat we look forward to every summer. Juicy and flavorful, we mostly eat them out of hand, but they also are wonderful in quesadillas, popsycles and galettes.

I’m having a hard time with desserts in Mexico lately. Often they are super sweet, which is not agreeing with my move toward consuming less sugar. The trinity of classic Mexican desserts — flan, rice pudding and pastel de tres leches — are all overly sweet, but that’s just my opinion. It’s easier to get away with using less sugar in a fruit dessert. The fruit lends its own sweetness, without the need of excess sugar.

Galettes are more forgiving than pie crusts. Pressed out either by hand or a rolling pin, their rustic, free-form shape leaves no doubt they are homemade, a good thing these days when many of us have abundant time to spend in the kitchen and want to admire our efforts. And show off on Instagram how we are spending our time at home!

Peach Galette

Crust

1 1/2 cups (180 g) whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
1/3 cup (70 g) cold, solid coconut oil or butter
1/3 – 1/2 cup (80 ml – 120 ml) ice water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

4 cups (1 liter) sliced peaches
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon cream, milk or almond milk and 2 teaspoon coarse sugar for pastry wash
1 tablespoon agave syrup, or strained, warmed apricot jam to glaze peaches

Mix flour and salt.
Cut cold coconut oil or butter into chunks, and blend into flour with a pastry cutter or in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Add 1/3 cup ice water, until mixture comes loosely together. Form into ball by hand. Add more water if it seems too dry to form a ball.
Flatten into disc about 5″ (12 cm) across, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing filling.
For filling, mix cornstarch with sugar, then combine with peach slices and almond extract.
Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 C)
On a floured surface, roll out pastry into a circle about 12″ (30 cm) across. Ragged edges are OK, in fact, they are preferable.
Spoon peach slices into center of pastry, leaving a 2″ (5 cm) edge clear of fruit.
Working in a circular motion, fold pastry edge over fruit.
Brush folded pastry edge with almond milk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. I use the unrefined, light brown sugar common in Mexico, azúcar estándar.
Bake on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper 25 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is starting to color slightly and peaches test tender with a paring knife.
While still warm, brush peach slices with agave syrup or apricot jam.
Cool. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or plain yogurt.

Notes ~

~ Azúcar estándar is the common sugar in Mexico. Made from sugar cane, it is coarse and light brown, and slightly unrefined. Years ago, we were puzzled to find it in the produce section of grocery stores, probably located there because of its plant origin.

~ Whole wheat flour is common in Mexico, and my favorite brand is Espuma de Chapala. Its high protein content makes it a good choice for bread baking. If you find whole wheat flour bitter, it is not fresh, the oil in the germ having turned rancid. Toss it out.