A week with Aaron Sanchez

 This week I checked out Simple Food, Big Flavor by Aaron Sanchez.  I decided to try out some of his recipes before returning to our mediterranean diet.  I am a big fan of Rick Bayless so I wasn't sure how I would like this cookbook.  He had some really good recipes, especially his empanada dough, which I have made a couple of times this week.  I really like that he has a basic recipe, then ideas on how to use it.



 Chile Colorado Sauce:  Drizzle olive oil on 3 quartered onions, 8 hulled and washed tomatillos, 4 cored and quartered plum tomatoes and 8 peeled garlic cloves and put under the broiler for about 7 min.  Cool.  In a dry skillet, toast 1 stemmed and seeded dried ancho and 2 stemmed and seeded dried guajillo peppers until fragrant < 1 min.  Soak for 30 min in warm water.  Drain.  Combine the vegetables and chiles in blender with 1 quart chicken stock and puree.  Season with salt and pepper.  (Makes 2 quarts)

Recipe 1:  Birria (Mexican stew):  Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in large pot.  Brown 1 pound cubed beef round and 1 pound baby back pork ribs.  (We used only beef).  Transfer to a plate.  Pour in 2 1/2 quarts beef stock, scraping bottom.  Return meat to pain.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until almost tender.  Stir in 1 cup chile colorado sauce, 2 dried bay leaves, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tbsp oregano and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.  Season with salt.  Serve with lime wedges.
(This was really good, very beefy.  The boys finished it off that night!)

Recipe 2:  Sauteed shrimp with creamy red chile salsa.  (I used pressure cooked chicken, shredded.  It was quite ugly, but tasty.  I think the shrimp would be better so I will give that recipe.  Use less cream than it calls for.  It dilutes the colorado sauce too much.)  Combine 1/4 cup olive oil and 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves.  Cook until garlic light brown.  Turn heat to high.  Add shrimp (2#) and cook 1 minute each side.  Return all shrimp to skillet.  Lower heat to medium.  Add 1 cup chile colorado sauce and 1/2 cup heavy cream.  Cook until shrimp cooked through.  Remove shrimp.  Simmer sauce until thickens.  Add 1 tbsp chopped cilantro and return shrimp to pan.  Reheat gently.

Salsa verde:  (this is basically a vinaigrette).  Combine 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar, 1 roughly chopped serrano, 4 whole peeled garlic cloves and 4 dried bay leaves in blender.  Puree.  Pour through sieve.  Discard solids.  Pour back into blender (I used a food processor since I don't have a blender) and add 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tbsp dried oregano.  Blend.  Using the aioli hole of the food processor add 1 cup olive oil while blending.  Salt and pepper to taste.
This is tasty on salads.  I look forward to making it in the summer to pour over fresh tomatoes with queso fresco.

Recipe 1:  Sanford used this a couple of ways the other night.  He poured it all over some pork ribs and covered them in foil and baked in the oven on 225 for a couple of hours, until tender.  Then he rubbed some more on the ribs before putting them on the grill.  They were great!

Recipe:  The same night he used the salsa verde to marinate some chicken, then grilled it, then poured more sauce on after they came off the grill.  Also, delicious.

 

Aaron's adobo:  Heat a dry skillet and add 1/4 cup cumin seeds, 1/4 cup coriander seeds, 1/4 cup fennel seeds, 1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds and 2 each pasilla chiles and ancho chiles - seded and torn into pieces.  Toast until aromatic, about 3 min.  Dump it onto a plate and cool.  Grind in spice grinder.  Put in bowl along with 1/2 cup dried oregano, 2 tbsp onion powder, 2 tbsp garlic powder and 1/4 cup Spanish paprika.  Combine and store in cool dark place.

See pork below for use.

Roasted tomato-chile de arbol salsa.  (This was very thin, almost too thin for a sauce, but we found other uses):  Broil 1 lb plum tomatoes along with (sprinkled with olive oil) until charred.  Heat a dry skillet and toast 6 chile de arbol.  Put 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 med onion, chopped, and 4 crushed garlic cloves in a pan and cook about 7 minutes.  Add toasted chiles, tomatoes and 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for about 12 minutes.  Using an immersion blender (or real blender) puree.  Add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tsp salt and fresh pepper.  Puree until smooth.  Put it through a sieve.  Chill.

Recipe 1:  Brown some chicken thighs in olive oil.  Add a 1 - 1 1/2 cups of salsa.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer, covered, for 25 minutes until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken and reduce until thickened.  This would have been good by itself, but I have been a little empanada crazy...so I heated some oil in a pan, add some cubed potatoes (precooked in the microwave), chopped scallions and cubed chicken.  Add the reduced sauce and cook a couple of minutes.  This is now ready to fill your empanadas.

Cilantro-cotija pesto:  Toast 1 cup pumpkin seeds at 400 degrees for 10 min, shaking every 3-4 minutes.  Cool.  In a food processor add 1 cup fresh basil, 1/2 bunch cilantro, 1 cup olive oil.  Puree 2 minutes.  Add the pumpkin seeds 1/2 serrano chile (chopped), 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1/2 cup cotija cheese.  Puree.  Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe 1:  Boil 1 pound potatoes until fork tender.  Drain and rinse under cool water.  Cook 1 pound green beans (in 2 inch pieces) 4-5 min in boiling water.  Drain and rinse under cool water.  Add beans to potatoes and spoon on 1/2 cup pesto.  Toss carefully.

not a hit with the kids

 Aaron's adobo.  Rub 1 tbsp olive oil on 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin.  Season with 1/4 cup adobo.  Grill.

 I made Aaron's chorizo, but it is not one of my favorites, so I won't put the recipe here.  Much to floral for chorizo in my opinion.  One thing I did learn though was that I can make my own chile powder.  This is probably obvious to most people, but I have bought my special chile powders at the Mexican market..

Just peel and seed the dried chiles (I used anchos).  Toast at 400 degrees for a couple of minutes.  Cool.  Then put in spice grinder and you have ancho chile powder

Roasted tomatillo salsa.  (I still prefer Bayless's recipe, but this is good too)  Broil 1 1/2 pounds washed and hulled tomatillos, 5 serranos, 1 thickly sliced onion and 3 peeled garlic cloves (all tossed with olive oil and salt) until charred.  Cool.  Transfer to food processor along with 1/2 cup cilantro and puree until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.

 And now for my greatest discovery from his book...the empanadas.  So easy to make.  Fill them with whatever you like...chorizo, beans, chicken.  I am looking forward to using this dough to make samosas next...

Empanadas: 

Dough:  Mix 3/4 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 cup masa, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt.  Mix.  Add 1/4 cup oil and 1/2 cup warm water.  Stir and and form a ball.  Refrigerate 20 minutes.

Make whatever filling you want.

Make a little dough ball (each batch makes 10).  Roll out to 4 inches in diameter.  Fill half and fold dough over to make half moon.  Use fork to crimp edges.  Brush egg wash over the top.

Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 25 minutes