Breakfast Burritos

Remember the stash of chilis from the Spanish place? I had my eye on the ancho chili this time.

In its fresh state is called a poblano chili, also called a pasilla. It is not very hot based on the Scoville scale, but packs a lot of flavor. I found a recipe for a New Mexican style chili sauce, which I thought was fit for this purpose.

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dark cocoa powder
salt, to taste
2 cloves garlic, peeled
½ large yellow onion (aprox. ½ cup) peeled and roughly chopped
2 ancho chilis
2 cups water or broth.

Directions:
I didnt' bother removing the seeds, but most recipes asked for it to be removed.
Rinse chilies briefly to dust them off.
Put them in the sauce pan with the water, garlic and onion.
Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
I saved half of the water in the meantime.

In the blender or using a hand mixer, place the hot chili mixture and add remaining ingredients and process until very smooth. Add the remaining chili water if the mixture is too thick.

So the chili sauce is sorted, time to move to the salsa verde.

I had a tin of tomatillos bought from a store somewhere in Kiama so before it reaches it best before date, it had to be given justice.

The tomatillos were roasted, mixed with half a brown onion, 1 clove of garlic, half a cup of cilantro, a bit of salt, juice of 1 lime and 2 green chilies, and blitzed with a hand mixer.

Easy.

The trickiest part was the tortilla.

1 cup of masa harina

enough water to bind the mixture into a dough

a bit of salt

Mix ingredients and knead until it becomes a pliable dough. Let rest for around 30 minutes. Most people would probably be using a tortilla press to make those perfect circles of soft bread.

I used cling film to line the counter - anti-stickiness mechanism.

reminds me of a scene in Dexter

for a similar reason - to avoid mess!

So because I don't have a tortilla press, i thought Hey maybe I'd be resourceful and use a heavy saucepan!

but them tortillas don't have those weird markings do they? so this one was balled up again!

Option 2 was to use the removable base of a springform baking tin, and use the pestle to weigh it down.

it was a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig and heavy pestle, I tell you.

BUT! that didn't quite work either so I just resorted to plain old rolling pin (duh - yeah brain was not working properly on a very early Saturday morning).

Toasted for a couple of minutes on a hot pan and voila! Home made tortillas!

must...work..on...those....perfect circles!

So the breakfast burrito was completed with some scrambled eggs, fried grated potatoes, crispy crunchy bacon, layered and served with the sauce on the side, and some cilantro leaves for garnish.

Well worth all the effort!

Morcilla

Morcilla (mor-si-yah) is the Spanish blood sausage usually with onions and spices but depending on the region the ingredients vary of course ;)

So just like any sane people who should make good use of just about every part of the pig - even its blood shouldn't go to waste! So fresh off a slaughtered pig, onto a receptacle and into the kitchen it goes to make this sausage! (or this perhaps if you want a soupier version)

can't go wrong with all that fat either!

Like the black pudding it is great simply sliced, fried, and served with brown bread!

cheddar and chorizo (the pink slice on top) are optional!

the bread in this instance is fried on the oil where the sausage has rendered its fat as well

deadly and yummy hehe

quick brekky

Tamales con Guindillas Pequenas y Especias

Tamales with Chillies and Herbs

A tamale is a Mexican steam-cooked corn dough wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves, with or without a filling. The filling can sweet or savory. This is considered a traditional dish, (so I hope that I didn't screw this one up.)

A bag of masa lista or masa harina (maize corn meal/corn flour) was also one of the items picked up from the previous visit to the Spanish store.

This same masa is used for the tortillas but I figured I'd start with this recipe picked up from Mexican Cantina Cooking, a $10 spanish cookbook randomly picked up from Borders quite some time ago :)

corn husks soaked in warm water for around 30 minutes

it's supposed to look like that!

The tamales dough is made of

125g softened butter

600g masa harina

3 cups of chicken stock

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Beat the butter until light and creamy. In another bowl mix the masa lista, baking powder and salt with the stock. Mix the butter to the masa and beat until the mixture forms a smooth dough. To check if the dough is ready, drop a little bit of it in a bowl of cold water and it should float, otherwise the dough needs to be 'beaten a bit more' :)

The filling (chillies and herbs)

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

3 green chilies (roasted, seeded and chopped - but I was lazy so I just chopped fresh ones!)

1 red bell chili

2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

a drizzle of olive oil

(the recipe also called for marjoram and some creme fraiche but i didn't have some at hand, so i just skipped it!)

Heat oil in a pan and fry onion and garlic until golden brown. Add chilies, salt and pepper, until chili is wilted. Set aside.

To assemble

Pat corn husks dry, place around 2 tbsps of the dough in the middle of the husk and flatten it. Add a tablespoon of the filling on to the dough. Take another tablespoon of the tamale dough, flatten it again ensuring it covers the filling completely. Fold the corn leaf over the parcel, fold another corn leaf around it in the opposite direction and tie with kitchen string.

(yeah big slices of chili. too lazy to mince!)

Steam for around 30-45 minutes or until completely cooked (when the dough pulls away from the corn husk).

Serve hot!

Paella

In my previous post I had mentioned about going to the Spanish store in search of a caldero – a paella pan – for my paella experiment. Here is the result of this Spanish alchemy.

I was meaning to go for the ‘authentic Paella Valenciana’ recipe which is primarily chicken and rabbit meat, but because a more famous dish ordered in Spanish restaurants include a wonderful array of seafood such as mussels, prawns and clams, I figured it would be disappointing from a guest’s perspective if Sunday Paella didn’t have any crustaceans in it. Hence this recipe was revised a bit to add a couple of prawns and mussels to chicken and rabbit pieces, simmered in chicken stock flavored with saffron.

The recipe was pretty much based on this , with just the addition of the seafood around 15 minutes before the heat was turned off, just thought that since the mussels and prawns were not completely submerged it may take a bit longer to cook them. I also pounded the saffron with salt (I saw it on TV!) before adding it to the mix.

bubbling away

finished product

I used Calasparra rice (a bit expensive but well worth it!) and the pan is an investment and is good for 6 servings.

The paella was pretty tasty and will definitely do more of these to get the hang of the proportions of the water/stock and the rice.

Tips that I picked up from researching prior to making this dish :

- NEVER stir the rice after you've added it in

- Let it sit/rest for around 10 minutes before serving

- It is best to cook it in an open fire rather than an electric stove to ensure better, even heat distribution. Unfortunately this is my constraint. Will probably try it over the bbq next time!

- The perfect paella has a soccarat - from the verb socarrar, which means to toast lightly - a crust of rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan. (tutong in tagalog!)

One thing is for sure - it was tastier the next day!

Liquid Bar

A random restaurant was chosen for pre-Cirque de Soleil din dins, and the lucky venue was Liquid Bar at New Quay, Docklands. With Spanish food on the menu, a selection of tapas just had to be ordered. Baby octopus, saffron rice cakes, spanish sausage and mussels were the picks of the night. None were disappointing but not overly unforgettable. Service was at hand all the time and the ambiance good for a bunch of chatty people. Check out their site.

anyway, the best part was having a glimpse of sunlight in Docklands
...on a weekday
...just a couple of minutes before the sun set!

On another note, the circus was excellent. If you've had memories of circus in your childhood (circa 80's and early 90's) this one is definitely an upgrade!

Empanadas

Empanada is a Spanish stuffed pastry. It comes from the word empanar meaning 'to wrap in bread'. This recipe was based on a recipe from the cookbook Mexican Cantina Cooking bought on sale from Borders :)

The empanada (otherwise known as a turnover) can be made with various options for the filling : chicken, beef, vegetables, cheese, or even fruit for a dessert empanada. The filling for this particular empanada is made of leftover sausages, minced so as to resemble minced meat, and cooked with minced potatoes and carrots.

To make the pastry :
200ml water
80g butter
1 egg
pinch of salt
350g plain flour (I used 200g plain flour, 150g wholewheat flour)

dough!

Put flour in a mixing bowl and set aside. Heat water with salt and butter, until butter has melted. Pour onto flour, mix until all liquid is absorbed. Add egg and stir thoroughly. Dust your worktop and knead dough until elastic. Put pastry back onto bowl, cover with tea towel and let rest for around 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling:
12 cooked leftover small sausages (chipolatas, in this instance), minced (or diced if you want it chunky)
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, minced
1 carrot, cut into small cubes
1 potato, cut into small cubes
1 celery stalk, cut into small cubes
fresh oregano, minced
2 chillies, minced
salt and pepper to taste (or a splash of soy sauce)
cooking oil (vegetable/oil/corn oil)

Heat pan and add oil. Saute garlic, onions, chilies, tomato until tomatoes have wilted and onion is translucent. Add celery, potatoes and carrots, stir until vegetables have softened. Add sausages and season, let cook for around 5-10 minutes, or until you know that the flavors have nicely combined. Throw in fresh oregano when almost done. Let cool.

While filling is cooling, get dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll into thin rounds.

Place a couple of heaping tablespoons of the filling in the center of the dough and fold dough into a semi circle.

place filling

fold other half on top of the other, creating a semi circle

fold by fingers, or fork it!

You can either fold the sides of the dough to seal it, or use a fork to seal edges. Brush with egg wash, and bake in 180C for around 25minutes. (don't forget you can also fry it if preferred!)

Serve with tomato sauce and mustard. You can use whatever meat or minced meat instead of the leftover sausages - this time around it was just a necessity to make something more exciting out of the snags!

La Plaza de Mercado

Running on its fifth year, the La Plaza de Mercado, hosted by the Queen Victoria Market, provides a lively Spanish/Latin American 'market within a market' setup, complete with a live band and the delectable Spanish treats that will is always a hit particularly for meat lovers.

which way to go?

Various stalls from Spanish/Latin American restaurants around Melbourne filled the air with the aromas of their lovely food. This stall (from Los Amates) was selling Chilaquiles - layers of softened tortillas, chicken, cheese, refried beans, topped with sour cream or salsa verde.

Was expecting a bit more heat from this dish that sort of looks like a mess -
but do not be deceived -
it was definitely delicious

Several interesting refreshments such as the hibiscus water and horchata - rice water (or more like rice milk) flavored with cinnamon were also available and could not be missed in their huge containers lined up on the table, a big splash of color promising to quench any thirst!

take your pick!

refreshing horchata

And this Spanish treat would not be complete without churros, the "Spanish doughnuts", fried dough with crisp ridged exterior, often served for breakfast in Spain.

yum!

Other delicious smelling dishes include the seafood and chicken cazuela, served in huge pots and with a wedge of tortilla ('potato omelet').

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Mi fin de semana...
fui a un fiesta "La Plaza de Mercado"
con mi novio,
amigo y amiga.
Domingo en la tarde comi chilaquiles y bebi horchata!

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