Que Viva Oaxaca!
My sister, Josie and myself just returned from Oaxaca. Our goal was to experience the best food Oaxaca had to offer. We learned that Oaxaca specializes in "Mole" "Chocolate" "String Cheese" "Grasshoppers" and Mezcal.
We dined at "La Olla" that served "Mole Negro" referred to as king of the 7 moles, and enjoyed "rose petal" sorbet for dessert. We were convinced it was the best tasting mole ever. Josie bravely attempted to ask for the recipe, but to no avail, they were not about to give up their prized mole recipe.
The highlight, of the Oaxacan experience was attending a cooking class, offered by Casa Crespo's head chef, Oscar Carrizosa. The day began with a trip to the local market, to select fresh ingredients, to prepare mole, fresh tortillas, plantains, flor de calabza soup and quesadillas, and Oaxacan chocolate ice cream for dessert. Oscar expertly instructed the class in an open air courtyard setting. We learned the secrets of the perfect mole, and flor de calabaza cream soup. Casa Crespo's cooking school was also reviewed by Bon Appétit magazine, describing the experience as "transferring humble flavors of the Oaxacan market into brilliant dishes". We agreed, were in culinary heaven.
To our delight, Oscar, and his business partner, Jose Luis Diaz, also own a restaurant called "El Teatro Culinario". Later that same evening, we dined in the there comedor, located in the Centro Historico. The menu offering masterfully combined both traditional ingredients, with gourmet cooking techniques. For example, our first course "Nopalli", strips of cactus pads with hibiscus flowers, figs, ginger, pureed ricotta cheese, squash blossoms and lime-flower. Followed by our main dish, "Cochinita Pibil" slow roasted pork, with avocado sauce, cilantro oil, spicy bits of red onion, fried amaranth and browned garlic. Get the picture?
Along with tasting café & street vendor food (some good, some not so good) we took a tour that ventured out of the main town of Oaxaca, and into the smaller surrounding pueblos. In a small town called "Culiacan de Guerero" we had the opportunity to taste all 7 moles at a buffet style restaurant. My favorite continues to be mole Negro, though the mole Verde was a runner up.   Nopalli Plate Mole Negro
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Rose Petal Sorbet
By Pilar Cabrera, owner of La Olla Restaurant
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
4 cups milk
1 cup dried Castilla roses
1 cup sugar
¾ cup peeled almonds
drops of red food coloring
Preparation:
1. Bring to a simmer the milk, roses, and sugar; let simmer for 15 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes, strain mixture and put in freezer until half frozen and some ice crystals form. Remove from freezer and blend in the almonds.
3. Add the food coloring and pour and pour the entire mixture into ice cream machine or a traditional nieve maker.
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Mexican Pumpkin Empandas
Empanadas are a pastry crust, filled with ham and cheese, beef and vegetables, chicken or sometimes seafood but you can eat them with sweet fillings too. Empanadas can be baked or fried. This is how to make pumpkin empanadas it's really quite simple and taste also good.
For the Empanada Dough:
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup water
4½ teaspoons dry yeast
3 cups flour
¾ cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
For the Filling:
½ cup sugar
15 oz can pumpkin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Mix together the sugar, water, baking powder, yeast, salt, and cinnamon. Blend in half the flour, using an electric mixer. Add the shortening and mix well then add the rest of the flour and blend again. Divide this dough into 4 portions then make four dough balls from each portion. Flatten the dough balls with floured hands, then roll them on a floured surface until they are 1/8 inch thick and about 4 inches in diameter.
Combine all the filling ingredients to make the filling, and then put about a tablespoon and a half of filling in the middle of each dough circle. Fold the circle over and use a fork on both sides to seal the edges. Bake the empanadas on greased cookie sheets for 18 to 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Keep an eye on them after 15 minutes because they can burn quickly.
These Mexican empanadas can be served hot or cold.
(Serves 16)
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Events! Come by, and say hola. |
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La Fina Cocina will be attending the following events:
I will have a majority of the products available for sale.
Nov. 7 & 8th James Lick Hgh School San Jose CA 10am -5pm
Nov. 14 & 15 Evergreen High School San Jose CA 10am-5pm
Dec. 3 Latina Coalition Boutique- Bella Mia's Downtown San Jose 6pm
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Mi cocina, es su cocina,
Rosa
La Fina Cocina |
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