[CP: This recipe is really flexible. I made it with zucchini and summer squash (sauteeing rather than baking), and substituting the farmer’s cheese for crumbled feta, and it came out great.]

Ingredients

• 6 large poblanos (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 large butternut squash (4 pounds total)—peeled, halved, seeded and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely chopped thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
• 3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon coarsely chopped oregano
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 8 ounces farmer cheese (crumbling, dry cottage cheese style cheese)
• Toasted pumpkin seeds, for serving

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400°. Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning, until they are charred all over. Transfer the chiles to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let them cool. Peel, stem and seed the chiles, then cut them into thin strips.

Brush the butternut squash with 6 tablespoons of the olive oil and spread it on 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes, until the squash is tender, shifting the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Increase the oven temperature to 425°.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the sliced onion, garlic, oregano and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of thyme and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Add the poblano strips and cook until they are very tender, about 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the crème fraîche and season the poblano mixture with salt and pepper.

Spoon half of the poblano mixture into a large baking dish and top with half of the butternut squash and half of the Monterey Jack and farmer cheeses. Repeat with the remaining poblano mixture, butternut squash and both cheeses. Bake in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until the gratin is golden and bubbling. Let the gratin rest for 10 minutes. Garnish with the pumpkin seeds and serve.

Food & Wine

Ingredients

• 16 tortillas de maiz
• 800g (1.5 lbs) pork butt
• 1/2 pineapple
• 1 lg. onion
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 8 limes
• salt

For the axiote marinade:

• juice of 2 oranges
• 300g ground axiote (powder)
• 10 dry chiles guajillos
• 1 medium size onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp white pepper
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 stick of cinnamon

1 recipe salsa taquera

Preparation

1. Make a cut into the side of each chile guajillo, and devein them (rip out the stem and the guts) and soak them in hot water. Once they’ve hydrated and they’re soft, remove from water and place in blender. Add the vinegar, the juice of two oranges, chop up the medium sized onion and add that too. Add your garlic cloves, the cinnamon, and blend it a little. Then add the axiote, the white pepper, then blend. Then add salt to taste. Once the mix is ready, pour into a big bowl you’ll use to marinate the meat.

2. Cut your pork hiney into half steak pieces. Try to make them uniformly thick, but they don’t need to look pretty at all because we’re going to chop them all up before the end to serve in the tacos.

3. Cover each “steak” in the axiote marinade and then refrigerate them all for as long as you can afford to (at least three hours).

4. When it’s time to make dinner, start be preheating the grill.

5. Slice your 1/2 pineapple into “disks” just a bit over 1cm thick (about 1/2″). You can just cut the slices across the entire pineapple, and you don’t have to peel the outside of the pineapple off before you grill it, either.

6. With a hot grill, throw on the now-marinated pork steaks along with your pineapple pieces until both have been cooked. This should take about eight minutes, maybe a touch more. You know you’ve cooked the pineapple enough when it has become soft throughout. It’s alright if the pineapple slices get charred a bit, but do your best to keep them from burning, otherwise they will not taste good.

7. Now peel the pineapple rings off and chop the pineapple into small little cooked pieces.

8. Mince the onions, chop up the cilantro, then mix them together with the pineapple in a bowl. Take a lime and squeeze its juice into the mix and add salt to taste. Sample it to see if you need to add more lime juice.

9. Chop up the pork into little strips and pieces for filling your tacos with.

10. Make the tacos: add the meat to the tortillas first, then your pineapple-cilantro-onion mix, and then top off with your delicious authentic salsa taquera.

Authentic Mexican Recipes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
• 3/4 cup corn flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 red or green jalapeño, seeded, finely chopped
• 1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears of corn)
• 3/4 cup grated cheddar (about 3 ounces)
• Grapeseed or canola oil (for frying)
• Lemon wedges (for serving)

Preparation

Whisk together sour cream, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp. salt; set aside for serving.

Whisk flour, baking powder, Old Bay seasoning, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a large bowl. Whisk egg and buttermilk in a medium bowl, then add to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Stir in scallions, jalapeño, shrimp, corn, and cheese.

Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium. Working in batches and adding more oil in between, drop 1/4-cupfuls corn mixture into skillet, flattening slightly, and cook until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer fritters to paper towels to drain; season with salt and serve immediately with sour cream sauce and lemon wedges alongside.

Epicurious

Ingredients

• 2 15 ounce cans cooked small fava beans
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 4 cloves garlic, mashed
• ½ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Pour the cooked fava beans with the liquid into heavy saucepan. Add the mashed garlic, the cumin, the salt and the pepper. Bring to a boil. Using a potato masher, mash the fava beans partially and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice, the olive oil and half of the chopped vegetables. Stir, adjust the seasoning and remove from the heat. Spoon the foul moudamas into shallow serving dish and top with the rest of the chopped vegetables.

Sanaa Cooks

Ingredients

• 1 lb. thick macaroni
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• 2 vegetable stock cubes (optional)
• 1 lg. onion, finely chopped
• 1 lg. clove garlic
• 2 lb. minced meat (half pork and half beef, or lamb, etc.)
• 2 tsps dried mint, rubbed
• 1 tsp oregano
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup pureed tomatoes
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 heaped tbsp butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup grated Halloumi (or other dry, hard) cheese

For the white sauce:

• 8 cups milk scant
• ½ c. corn flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp grated cheese
• zest of 1 lemon

Preparation

Macaroni:

Grease a shallow baking dish (15x13"). Break the macaroni in half (this will enable you to arrange the cooked pasta better in the baking dish later). Add macaroni to a large pan of boiling water, together with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 vegetable stock cube (optional). Boil, uncovered, until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain well and put aside in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp butter to the pasta, 3/4 cup of your grated cheese, the beaten egg and 1tsp dry mint. Mix well and set aside.

Meat Sauce:

Heat the rest of your oil in a large frying pan; add your chopped onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add the mince and cook until well browned. Add the pasata and the tomato paste, the sugar, oregano, dried mint, cinnamon, the stock cube dissolved in 1 cup of hot water, the salt and the freshly ground black pepper. Towards the end, add the parsley and remove from the heat.

White sauce:

Dissolve your corn flour in 1 cup of milk, then and1 tsp salt. Add the egg (lightly beaten), and the finely chopped parsley and lemon zest. In a big non-stick pan add the remaining 7 cups of milk and bring almost to the boil. Gradually whisk the dissolved corn flour and egg mixture into the hot milk, stir well over the heat until the mixture boils and thickens; mix until smooth and remove from heat.

Next steps:

Add half of the macaroni into your greased dish. Top the macaroni with the meat sauce and spread evenly. Add rest of the pasta over meat sauce. Pour over ¾ of the white sauce and use a fork to make sure that some of the white sauce goes through the pasta to the base of the dish. Now add the rest of the white sauce and smooth the surface, then sprinkle the breadcrumbs and cheese on top. Spread several nobs of butter equally along the surface of the dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden brown. Leave to stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, quartered
• 1 small carrot, halved
• 1 celery rib, halved
• 12 ounces farro (1 3/4 cups)
• 5 cups water
• Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 small seedless cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Preparation

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the yellow onion, carrot and celery, cover and cook over moderately low heat until barely softened, about 5 minutes. Add the farro and stir to coat with oil. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until the farro is barely tender, about 10 minutes; season with salt. Cover and simmer until the farro is al dente, about 10 minutes longer. Drain the farro and discard the onion, carrot and celery. Let cool completely.

In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 1/3 cup of olive oil with the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the farro, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Food & Wine

Ingredients

For ribs:

• About 6 cups vegetable oil
• 2 racks baby back ribs (about 1 pound each), cut into ribs
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups panko

For mustard sauce:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 Kirby cucumber, coarsely grated
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preparation

Make ribs:

Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat 3/4 inch oil to 325°F in a deep 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, season ribs with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Put flour, eggs, and panko in 3 separate shallow bowls. Dredge ribs in flour, then coat with egg, letting excess drip off, and panko.

Fry ribs in batches, turning once, until golden brown and cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer first batch to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven. (Return oil to 325°F between batches.)

Make sauce while ribs fry: Stir together sauce ingredients. Serve ribs with sauce.

Gourmet, October 2008

Ingredients

• 1 rack of lamb
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preparation

Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. While it’s heating, rub rack of lamb with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. When the pan is sizzling hot, sear lamb until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes total. Place browned lamb on a cutting board to rest until completely cool, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil; mix well. Spread mixture on a plate. Coat cooled lamb with Dijon mustard then roll in seasoned bread crumbs. Press crumbs evenly into lamb, creating a nice, thick coating.

Place lamb on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 120 degrees F, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. If the crust looks like it’s getting too dark toward the end of cooking, loosely tent with foil.

Remove lamb from oven and rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before carving into chops and serving.

D’Artagnan

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 c. chopped onion
• 3/4 lb. potatoes, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1 - 1 ½ serrano chiles, minced
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• ½ head cauliflower, florets (4 c.)
• 1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes, blended until nearly smooth
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 1 (15oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz. frozen peas (about 1 1/2 cups)
• ¼ cup heavy cream or coconut milk

Preparation

Toast curry powder and garam masala in small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until spices darken slightly and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove spices from skillet and set aside.

Heat 3 tbsp. oil in pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and potatoes start to brown. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining tablespoon oil, garlic, ginger, chile, and tomato paste; cook 30 seconds. Add toasted spices and cook 1 minute longer. Add cauliflower cook until well coated, about 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes, water, chickpeas, and 1 tsp. salt; increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil. Cover and simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in peas and cream or coconut milk; continue to cook until heated through, about 2 minutes longer.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lentils
• 1 onion
• 5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ lb. Spanish chorizo
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 3 tbsp. parsley
• 7 c. water
• 3 tbsp. sherry vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Preparation

Place lentils and 2 teaspoons salt in pot. Cover with 4 cups boiling water and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain.

Finely chop three-quarters of onion and grate remaining quarter. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add chorizo and brown, 6-8 minutes. Transfer chorizo to plate. Reduce heat to low and add chopped onion, carrots, 1 tbsp. parsley, and 1 tsp. salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft but not brown, 25 to 30 minutes. If vegetables begin to brown, add water.

Add lentils and sherry vinegar to vegetables; increase heat to medium-high; and cook, stirring frequently, until vinegar starts to evaporate, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 7 cups water, chorizo, bay leaves, and cloves; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low; cover; and cook until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

Heat remaining 3 tbsp. oil in small saucepan over medium heat. Add paprika, grated onion, garlic, and ½ tsp. pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute longer. Remove chorizo and bay leaves from lentils. Stir paprika mixture into lentils and continue to cook until flavors have blended and soup has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. When chorizo is cool enough to handle, cut in half lengthwise, then cut each half into ¼-inch-thick slices. Return chorizo to soup along with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley and heat through, about 1 minute. Season with salt, pepper, and up to 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar to taste, and serve.