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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Tortilla soup

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As we see the icy images on television of the fierce storms sweeping the US and read of record cold (in Texas of all places!) we’re grateful for our relative warmth in Mexico. Winter still happens here, especially at our elevation of 4,600′ (1402 m). The grass was rimmed with frost this morning, but the morning sky is already brilliant blue. Chilly days call for steaming hot soup, and tortilla soup will warm soul and body on the coldest of days.

In the valley below, tomatoes, chiles and cucumbers are being harvested. Yes, winter is harvest time, and we have a friend, Profesor Pauli, who grows organic tomatoes. Ziploc bags of chopped tomato fill the freezer, enough to keep us supplied until next year’s harvest.

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This soup is basically an extremely savory tomato broth with lots of toppings. Slices of avocado, strips of crisp fried tortilla and chile, queso cotija, crema mexicana, and optional chicken pieces, if you wish to make it heartier.

With two chiles — chile pasilla pureed in the broth and chile ancho strips as a topping — you might think tortilla soup would be muy picante. Not at all. These are mild chiles. Chile pasilla literally means “little raisin”, maybe because of its color. Mark Miller, in “The Great Chile Book”, describes the pasilla as tasting of berry, grape, and herbaceous tones with a hint of licorice.

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The ancho chile is the queen of chiles in my kitchen. Ground or whole, I can’t get enough of it in soups, chocolate desserts and salsas, even in coffee and hot chocolate. The Great Chile Book describes it as “having a mild fruit flavor with tones of coffee, licorice, tobacco, dried plum and raisin, with a little woodsiness”. My hat is off to Mark if he can detect all those tastes. I can’t say that I can, but that’s probably due to my unimaginative palate. The chiles taste and smell exquisite, despite my lack of original descriptive adjectives.

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Traditionally, tortilla soup is not served with chicken, but as with all recipes, creativity is the extra salt that seasons a dish like nothing else. In other words, add whatever you fancy — corn, potato, tofu, shrimp. It may no longer be a traditional tortilla soup, but the broth is so good, it will still be delicious, a customized bowl of soup. I didn’t have an avocado to use for leftovers the next day, so cilantro gave the bowls a touch of green.

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Most likely, there are thousands of pots of soup being made today north of the border. For those still under winter’s cold spell, I wish I could deliver bowls of piping hot tortilla soup. Since that isn’t possible, here’s the next best thing, a recipe for one of the most warming, flavorful soups of Mexico. I’m hoping your casa has power and water, that you and yours are warm and dry, and that you are able to enjoy a hot bowl of soup. Provecho!

Tortilla soup 4 servings

• 4 corn tortillas, preferably a day old
• 4 ancho chiles
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) neutral tasting oil
• 2 cups (14 oz/400 g) chopped Roma (plum) tomatoes
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) chopped onion
• 2 large cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 2 pasilla chiles, seeds, membranes and stems removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cups (1185 ml) chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/2 cups cubed, cooked chicken, well heated (optional)
• 2 avocados, cubed
• 1/2 cup (59 ml) crema mexicana, or sour cream
• 1/2 cup queso cotija or queso fresco, crumbled
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

1. Stack and cut tortillas into small strips, about 1 1/4″ x 1/4″ (31.75 mm x 6.35 mm). Fry in hot oil in batches in a skillet until crisp. Drain on a paper towel.
2. Slit open ancho chiles, remove stems, seeds and membanes. Cut into small strips, 1 1/4″ x 1/4″. Fry in hot oil in batches until starting to blister, 10 – 15 seconds per side. Drain on a paper towel.
3. Puree tomato, onion, garlic, pasilla chile and oregano until very smooth.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add tomato mixture and cook until bubbling. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste.
6. Divide hot chicken pieces, if using, among 4 bowls. Ladle broth over chicken. Top with avocado, tortilla and chile strips, crumbled cheese and a spoonful of crema mexicana. Serve immediately with wedges of lime.

Notes ~

~ Leftover tortilla soup is deliciosa, but be forewarned that the pasilla chiles have had time to steep their heat into the broth. Más picante, but still so good. We emptied our bowls too soon.

~ Guajillo chiles can be substituted for the chile ancho. North of the border, look for dried chiles online, or in Mexican or import grocery stores.

~ For a vegetarian version, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

~ This is an anniversary of sorts, the 200th post for Cooking in Mexico. This post also has another distinction. While I was combining recipe, photos and text, the nuts and bolts of blogging, Russ was on the kitchen floor attempting to get the dishwasher doing its thing again. I would be in the process of inserting a photo, and he would ask for a wrench. Then I would start to rewrite a sentence, and he wanted a rag or screwdriver. I finally finished the post for tortilla soup, but he’s still working on the dishwasher. Russ has the harder chore today. He’s my fix-it guy par excellence. He’ll get it done. Or we’ll get a new dishwasher.

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Seven layer bean dip

The Super Bowl deserves something above and beyond the usual guacamole and salsa. Don’t get me wrong. Well prepared, these two standards are always welcome. But since Russ has been looking forward to this game all year, something out of the ordinary would be nice. Despite all the typical Mexican elements, Seven Layer Bean Dip is not from Mexico, originating in Texas with one of its first print appearances in Family Circle magazine in 1981. Always called Seven Layer Bean Dip, it turns out that the seventh layer is loosely defined and usually whatever you wish to use as a garnish. Some recipes add cooked ground beef and call that the seventh layer. A garnish of chopped cilantro and red onion works for me. To be honest, it’s more like a six and a half layer dip.

In our part of Mexico, it’s tomato and avocado season. We have a bounty of locally grown, organic tomatoes and avocados. The tomatoes are going into the freezer, and were eating guacamole almost every day to keep up with the rapidly ripening supply. I’ve never frozen tomatoes before, but it sounds easy. Pop into zip-lock bags, and they’re good for a year.

I have a bone to pick with most recipes that give the preparation time as 20 minutes, 30 minutes, when you know darn well it’s going to take at least an hour. Recipes are able to do this is by listing the ingredients as how they are to be prepared. Minced, chopped, peeled, refried, grated. One of the most popular recipes online states preparation time for Seven Layer Dip as 20 minutes. One look at that, and you can be assured that the clock starts once every ingredient is prepped according to the recipe list. But I don’t buy grated cheese, minced onion, sliced olives. Some of you may buy canned refried beans or salsa in a jar. But you have the option, if you have the time, of doing everything from scratch, and ending up with the freshest flavors.

Seven Layer Bean Dip serves 6-8

• 2.5 cups (16 oz/453 g) refried black beans
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (comino)
• 4 ounces (113 g) grated cheese (I use half sharp cheddar and half manchego)
• 1 cup (4 oz/113 g) sliced black or Greek olives
• 2 avocados
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 serrano or jalapeño chiles
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (237 ml) salsa fresca
• 3/4 cup (6.5 oz./184 g) sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• Tostadas or tortilla chips

1. Heat refried beans until starting to bubble. Stir in cumin. Salt to taste.
2. Grate cheese and set aside.
3. Slice olives and set aside.
4. Make a simple guacamole by blending mashed avocado, minced serrano or jalapeño chiles, lime juice and salt.
5. Make salsa or open your jar.
6. In a shallow dish (I used a glass 9″/22.86 cm pie plate) spread hot beans. Cover with grated cheese, then sliced olives, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and finally, garnish with chopped cilantro and red onion.
7. Serve with sturdy tortilla chips.

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