Tinga de Pollo Tostadas

 

Tinga de Pollo Tostadas

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Entrees
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 6

Ingredients

For cooking the chicken

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 bay leaf

For the Sauce

  • 3 medium tomatoes If you use canned tomatoes, omit the blackening step.
  • 3 chipotle peppers in adobo Adjust the chipotles for more or less heat.
  • 1/2 C chicken stock
  • 4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 white onions, halved and sliced thinly
  • 1/2 lb pork chorizo
  • 1 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded Retain 1 cup of the lettuce for topping
  • Salt and pepper to taste

To Serve

  • Corn Tostadas
  • Cotija Cheese, crumbled

Instructions

Mise en Place

  • Measure out spices
  • Mince garlic and mashed garlic
  • Peel and slice onions
  • Slice tomatoes in half

Cook

  • Place chicken in a saucepan over medium heat covered by 1 inch water. Add smashed garlic, whole cloves, and a bay leaf. Simmer 20-30 minutes until the meat pulls apart easily.
  • While the chicken cooks, add tomatoes to a pan over medium-high heat and blacken on all sides, about 6-8 minutes.
  • Blend the tomatoes with chipotle peppers, chicken stock, cumin, and nutmeg until smooth.
  • In a large skillet, cook onions, minced garlic and chorizo over medium heat until softened and rendered, about 10 minutes.
  • While chorizo cooks, remove the cooked chicken from the water and shred with two forks.
  • Add the shredded lettuce to the chorizo mixture and saute a few more minutes.
  • Add blended tomato sauce and shredded chicken to the skillet and cook stirring until any excess liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Plate

  • Often, refried beans are used as a first layer on the tostadas which adds great flavor and an anchoring base for later ingredients. Either way, pile the tinga onto your tostatas and top with crumbled cotija cheese and remaining shredded lettuce. Other great topping include avocado slices, chopped cilantro, mexican crema, and your favorite salsa.
    Alternately, Tinga can be served as tacos, in a burrito, on sopes, as a torta... anywhere delicious meat would feel at home.

Notes

Jamie Kelly is an American marketing professional turned gastronaut. She is eating her way through a full-spectrum exploration of food culture in Spanish-speaking lands and staging ambitious re-enactments of her finds in her own kitchen. To join the expedition, follow at FB: gastro-curious, IG: jamie_gastrocurious and www.gastro-curious.com.

Verdolagas en Salsa Verde con Carne de Cerdo (Purslane in green sauce with pork)

 

Verdolagas en salsa verde con carne de cerdo

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 20 minutes
Course: Entrees
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

  • Chef knife
  • Dutch oven/stew pot with lid
  • Blender

Ingredients

  • 900 g verdolagas, thick stems removed and washed Check your Mexican and Middle Eastern markets from late Summer through Fall.
  • 1 Kg port shoulder or butt
  • 40 g salt
  • 15 ml olive oil

Salsa Verde

  • ½ kg tomatillos, husked and quartered
  • 4 Serrano chiles, halved
  • ½ onion
  • 6 g minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
  • 1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped
  • 500 ml beef stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Mise en place

  • Clean the verdolagas removing thick stems.
  • Trim the pork, cut into palm-sized pieces, and salt liberally on all sides

Make sauce

  • In a blender process the tomatillos, onion, garlic, chile, and cilantro on high speed until smooth.

Cook

  • In a deep dutch oven or stew pot, sear the pork to brown on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • Pour the sauce in the hot pan to deglaze the fond from the surface.
  • Add the broth to the pan and place the meat back into the liquid. Seal tightly and simmer on medium-low for 1 hour.
  • When the meat begins to pull apart, add the verdolagas. Cook until meat is easily pulled apart with a fork (about 30 min.)

Notes

Serve the stew in a bowl with black beans and flour tortillas grilled "ribeadades."
Jamie Kelly is an American marketing professional turned gastronaut. She is eating her way through a full-spectrum exploration of food culture in Spanish-speaking lands and staging ambitious re-enactments of her finds in her own kitchen. To join the expedition, follow at FB: gastro-curious, IG: jamie_gastrocurious and www.gastro-curious.com.

Pasta with Clams or Fish in Salsa Verde

 

Pasta with Clams or Fish in Salsa Verde

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Entrees
Cuisine: Basque

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 cloves minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 5 tbsp dry white wine
  • 1 liter fish stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 ounces dry spaghetti
  • 24 clams (Littleneck or Manila work well) or 24 ounces of a mild white fish.

Instructions

Mise en place

  • Mince garlic
  • Chop the parsley leaves, discarding stems
  • Wash and purge clams, if using

Cooking

  • Set a large covered pot of salted water on high heat to bring to a boil for the pasta.
  • Heat oil in large saute pan over low heat
  • Add garlic. Saute until the garlic floats in the oil. Do not let it brown.
  • Add parsley and stir, cooking for 20 seconds.
  • Sprinkle the flour across the pan and stir, making a thick paste (roux) and cooking for 30 seconds.
  • Add the wine and stir to incorporate and cook off the alcohol.
  • Add fish stock, a cup at a time to incorporate the paste without lumps.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste and let simmer.
  • Place pasta in the boiling water stirring to break up clumps. Cook according to package directions.
  • Place the clams or fish into the simmering sauce for 5-10 minutes. If using clams, covering the pan will speed the opening process. Discard any unopened clams.
  • Using tongs, pull the al dente pasta from the water and put it into the sauce pan to cover with sauce.

Plating

  • Place pasta in shallow bowls. Top with 4-5 clams or 6 ounces of fish per person and ladle salsa verde over the pasta. Serve with french baguette to sop up the salsa.
  • Consider adding quartered hard boiled eggs and peas to the sauce - the Basque way!
  • Pasta is truly optional, but it stretches the seafood farther and makes a satisfying meal.