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Lo Mexicano's Recipe of the Month

The following recipes, a salsa, entrée, and rice are both interesting and easy to prepare. The salsa is a traditional salsa borracha, or "drunken" sauce that is used with barbecued meats, but is also good with tortilla chips. The entrée, Pork Vampiro, is an excellent example of nueva cocina mexicana, Mexico's new style of cooking, that uses traditional ingredients and techniques in creative, new ways. This dish can be prepared ahead of time and reheated in either a conventional oven or microwave, so it is a good choice for entertaining. The rice dish is one used throughout Mexico, most often to accompany rich, spicy entrees, and goes well with similar dishes from other cuisines. The rice can also be reheated in a microwave.

This website will soon feature a list of reliable mail-order ingredient sources, but in the meantime both the pasilla and ancho chiles may obtained from the Santa Fe School of cooking, at 1 (800) 982-4688, or (505) 983-4511 or at their website: www.santafeschoolofcooking.com. The tomatillos for the sauce are available fresh in most southwestern super markets and in Hispanic groceries in other parts of the country. Although, not as desirable, canned tomatillos may be used. Good versions of Mexican cheeses are being made and widely distributed in this country by companies like Cacique. However, if you cannot find the cheese called for in the sauce recipe, simply omit it. Buen provecho, JIM PEYTON.

For Other New Recipes - Click Here

Lo Mexicano's Recipe of the Month - March 2000
PORK LOIN VAMPIRO

In Mexcio, probably the most popular way of drinking tequila is to take it straight with a chaser of sangrita, which is a combination of orange juice, grenadine, chile powder and sometimes tomato juice. When the tequila is mixed directly with the sangrita and topped with soda water the resulting concoction is called a vampiro. Here these ingredients are combined to produce a succulent roast pork that is perfect for entertaining.

3 medium-sized ancho chiles, stems, seeds and veins removed
2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup grenadine
1/2 cup tequila
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1 cup sliced white onion
3 pound, lean boneless pork loin, (either a single loin or two loins tied together)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons lard or olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Toast the chiles on a skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side, but do not allow them to scorch. Tear the chiles into pieces, place them in a bowl, cover them with boiling water, and allow them to rehydrate and soften for 15 minutes. Drain the chiles and place them in the bowl of a blender. Add the orange juice and lime juice and blend for 1 minute. Strain the mixture through the fine blade of a food mill, then add the grenadine, tequila, salt, thyme and onion, and reserve.

Salt and pepper the pork. In a Dutch-oven or heavy baking dish, heat the oil over medium high heat until it is very hot but not quite smoking. Add the pork and sear it, turning as necessary, until it is golden brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate and the pot from the heat and allow it to cool, briefly. Add the chile mixture, stirring well to incorporate any caramelized pieces of pork and juices from the bottom of the pot. Put the pork back in the pot, fat side up, replace it on the burner and heat until the sauce just begins to bubble lightly, but do not bring it to a complete boil. Place the pot in the preheated oven and bake, uncovered, until pork reaches an internal temperature of between 145 and 150 degrees, (about 30 minutes per pound for a roast with two loins tied together, or a total of about 1 hour for a single loin) spooning some of the sauce over it every 15 minutes. Remove the pork from the pot, and allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then slice it into servings. While the meat is resting you can reduce the sauce if it is too thin.

Spoon some sauce on each of 4 serving plates, and top with a slice of pork. Mexican style white rice and sauteed nopalitos or squash go well with this dish.

Serves 4-6

Recipe from: Jim Peyton's New Cooking from Old Mexico, featuring the history of Mexican cooking illustrated with traditional recipes, and introducing nueva cocina mexicana, Mexico's unique and elegant contemporary cooking style.

For information on Mexican cooking and culture connect to Jim Peyton's Lo Mexicano at: http://lomexicano.com

SALSA BORRACHA

This sauce is traditionally served with barbacoa (pit-cooked lamb or goat), but makes a great all-purpose salsa, as well.

5 ounces (5 or 6) tomatillos with the husks removed
2 - 3 pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded and broken into small pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/4 cup beer
½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 bay leaf, broken into pieces
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ounce queso cotija or añejo, grated

Simmer the tomatillos in water to cover until they are very soft, 5 - 10 minutes, and place them in a blender. Simmer the chiles in water to cover for 15 minutes, drain and place them in the blender. Add the garlic, beer, oil, vinegar, bay leaf, oregano and salt, and pulse 10 - 15 times, or until the ingredients are well chopped but not pureed. Stir the cheese into the sauce and serve.

Recipe from: Jim Peyton's New Cooking from Old Mexico , featuring the history of Mexican cooking, illustrated with traditional recipes, and introducing nueva cocina mexicana, Mexico's unique and elegant contemporary cooking style.

For information on Mexican cooking and culture connect to Jim Peyton's Lo Mexicano at: http://lomexicano.com

ARROZ BLANCO

This Mexican-style white rice is often served as a course in the comida, as well as with rich complex dishes for which it is the perfect foil. Its pilaf-style preparation, with the addition of small amounts of onion and garlic insures that is has both more flavor and a smoother mouth-feel than plain steamed rice.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups long grain rice
1/4 cup minced white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups chicken, turkey or pork broth, or water
1 teaspoon salt

Place the oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 - 4 minutes. The rice should not be allowed to brown. Add the onion and garlic and cook one minute more, stirring almost constantly. Stir the salt intothe broth, add it to the rice, bring to a boil, cover the pot, turn the heat to very low, and cook for 15 minutes. Stir the rice, carefully, replace the top, turn off the heat and allow the rice to steam for 10 - 15 minutes.

Serves 6 - 8

Recipe from: La cocina de la frontera, Mexican-American Cooking From the Southwest , featuring the different Mexican cooking styles found in Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico.

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