[meteorite-list] El Charo and Guacamole

From: MARSROX_at_aol.com <MARSROX_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:04:52 2004
Message-ID: <46.27e19afd.2a1fb615_at_aol.com>

Buenos Dias los todos!

In today's USA Today ("Life section, p. 3) Tucson's famous "El Charro"
Mexican restaurant is featured in an article "Grab a Taste of America....."
El Charro was last February's scene for the "Meteor (sic) Mayhem Birthday
Bash celebrating the compleanos (twirl over the "n" please) of list members
Geoff "Senor Limey" Notkin and Steve "El Presidente" Arnold. USA Today has a
photo of a "plato tipico" of El Charro's food which is inspirational enough,
even in B&W, to cause me to plan on making margaritas and chile rellanos for
dinner tonight. Many visitors at El Charro are charmed by the "Guacamole
Girls" that stroll the aisles and make your Guac tableside with mortar and
pestle. There's nothing THAT difficult about guac. Kids, you can do this at
home, and here's a recipe:

Guacamole

1 slightly soft Haas avocado (Haas has superior butter-nut flavor)
1/4 of a small onion
2-3 tablespoons leaves of fresh cilantro
teaspoon chopped garlic

squirt of lime, dab of mayo, hot sauce all optional

In a blender or Cuisenart pulse the onion, cilantro and garlic til the pieces
are tiny. Add the two halves of the avocado and pulse until "chunky" smooth.
Wait five minutes for flavor to meld. Dip away with......

Real Authentic Tortilla Chips

Slice any size fresh tortillas (wheat or corn) into quarters or eighths. Heat
up oil in "Fry Daddy" or, if you don't own one, 2mm (1/8") of any oil (but
not olive oil) in a frying pan. Add sliced tortillas a few at a time,
flipping after a couple of minutes and cook til they start to brown. Drain.

and of course we need some.......

Salsa Rica

1 tomato
1/4 small onion
2-3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon chopped green pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
freshly ground pepper to taste
pinch salt

Hot sauce, 1 whole habenero pepper, a 1/2 slice of canned pineapple (trust
me) optional

Clean your blender or Cuisenart and throw in all-of-the-above ingredients.
Pulse til perfect. Note - No cooking required for this.

Getting hungry? Here's easy........

Chile Rellanos

2 poblano peppers - choose long plump ones and (danger! danger!) REMOVE ALL
SEEDS (hungarian or less-flamable type peppers can be substituted - poblanos
can be "hot")
1 package (224 gms/ 8 oz.) soft Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar or Swiss (yum)
1 tbsp. chopped onion
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon "plumped" raisins (nuke for 30 seconds in a little water)
 
Carefully core out the seeds from the peppers trying to leave shoulders
intact, place peppers in bowl and nuke for 3-5 minutes on high to soften.
When cool, fry in olive oil until skin starts to darken to add flavor.
Peppers should be delicately flexible. Remove and set aside to cool.

In bowl, mix cream cheese, shredded cheese, onion, cilantro, cumin, garlic
and raisins.

Stuff mixture equally into the peppers and place in oiled baking dish. Cover.
Bake at 175*C (350*F) for 30 minutes. Pour on sauce and serve. What sauce?
This sauce that you were making while the peppers baked....

Chile Rellano Sauce

2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
1 tspn. beef buillon powder (or 1 smashed cube)
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. mole from jar OR mix of 2 tbsp.minced chocolate, dash of powdered
cinnamon, dash of powdered nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. rum
1 tbsp. toasted pine nuts
Optional - if you can find any canned chipotle peppers, a little of this
added to the sauce will make everyone say OLE!

In small pan melt butter and fry garlic over medium heat, stir flour into
butter until pasty (rue). Add milk and stir til slightly thickens. Add mole
(or chocolate/cinnamon/nutmeg), beef boullion powder and rum and allow to
thicken a little more. Separate Chile Rellanos onto two plates. Pour sauce
over Chile Rellanos. Sprinkle on the toasted pine nuts and serve with a
garnish of chopped lettuce, whole black olives, and a green onion with a glob
(sorry, not metric equivalent) of sour cream on the side. A couple of fresh
mango slices on the other side of the plate will thrill.

Let the Mariachi Music Play On!

Kevin Kichinka
Received on Fri 24 May 2002 11:28:21 AM PDT