The Baker and The Chef

So our 15 year old had a craving for, of all places, Chipotle.  Baffled by this, I asked him, "why Chipotle"?  He said, "their corn salsa is sooooo good".  Now, I don't necessarily think Chipotle is bad, but a $10 burrito?  Surely, I thought, I could do it better.  And so a challenge arose to see if I could produce a corn salsa better than Chipotle's.  It's the middle of October here in Chicago, and unfortunately there is no fresh sweet corn to be had.  If there was, I would have used that instead of canned corn and thrown it on the grill to impart a smokey-ness for this recipe.  This is such a versitle recipe.  Use it on fish, grilled meats, chicken, pork, even burgers.  We used it not only for our burritos, but for the "Little Fatties" that The Baker made for dinner.

  Roasted Poblano and Corn Salsa

yield: 6 cups

• 1 poblano pepper, Roasted (recipe follows)
• 1 medium size red onion, small dice
• 6 large size Roma tomatoes, small dice
• 1 med size can of corn, drained (approx 12oz) 
• 1-2 limes
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Roasted Poblano Peppers

1. Wash peppers under cold water. Pat dry and set over open flame until skin is completely charred and black, turning as needed. Place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 15 minutes.
2. Peel away charred skin of peppers with fingers, discard skin. Slice pepper in half and remove stem and seeds. Cut pepper into small dice.
   

Assembling the Salsa

1. Combine the roasted diced poblano pepper, onions and tomatoes into medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Add corn, juice of 1-2 limes, cilantro, cumin, and garlic. Stir to combine.
3. TASTE! Add salt and pepper to taste.

-The Chef

The other day in the mail I received the newest copy of “Food & Wine” magazine.  Maybe it’s the time of year, or the fact that I’m still nursing, but everything in there looked delicious!  I dog-eared several of the pages of recipes I want to try out, but the first one I decided to make were the gorditas.

We had decided to make burritos for dinner and these looked like the perfect accompaniment.  I’m so glad I made them, because they were fabulous and so easy!  I’ll definitely make them again, and if we ever need to make appetizers for anything this will work beautifully.  (If you do decide to make these for appetizers, you will probably want to make them smaller than the 3 inches the recipe calls for, but you know your friends better than I do, so make them as big as you’d like!)  Gorditas literally means “little fatty” in Spanish, which is exactly what these are.  They were wonderfully crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with a nice corn flavor.

You can top them with pretty much anything that sounds good to you, but we made a fresh corn salsa and roasted some cumin seasoned chicken and served each one with some queso fresco, sour cream and a squirt of fresh lime juice.  My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Don’t confuse these with the Americanized “gorditas” Taco Bell served (serves?).  Those gorditas more closely resemble a very thick tortilla or pita.  These are much more like the toasted bread you serve bite sized appetizers on, like a piece of bruschetta.

When you make these, don’t get all hung up on the specific sizes stated in the recipe.  I figured if these are being made successfully in a remote Mexican village with a very rustic kitchen I probably couldn’t mess them up because I don’t own a comal!  It’s a very simple recipe, so don’t over-think it.  Just mix the dough until it sticks together and use your eyes to guide you when you cook them.  Don’t set a timer for two minutes and remove them from the pan because the timer says so but they’re not brown.  In culinary school, when someone asked, “how long do I cook it?” our chef would always answer, “until it’s done”.  That’s your guide here. GORDITAS

recipe from Food & Wine magazine, November 2009, page 162

yield 10 - 3” gorditas

• 2 C masa harina (they recommend Bob’s Red Mill, but I used Maseca)
• 1 1/4 C water
• 1/4 C vegetable oil, plus more for frying
  

1. In a large bowl, mix the masa harina with the water and the 1/4 C vegetable oil.  Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a 10” log; cut into 10 equal pieces.  Using a 3” round biscuit cutter, mold the pieces into flat disks a scant 1/2” thick.
2. Heat a large griddle or comal (a round, flat griddle).  Add the gorditas and cook over high heat, turning once, until lightly browned in spots, about 2 minutes per side.  Using the back of a spool, lightly press an indentation in the center of each gordita.  (This took a lot longer than 2 minutes to get the nicely colored brown spots that you’re looking for. I also didn’t bother to press an indentation into each one. There is a natural lip that is formed when you press the dough into the round cutter so I just left it alone.)
3. In a large skillet, heat 1/4” of oil until shimmering.  Add the gorditas and fry over high heat until golden and crispy, about 2 minutes per side; drain on paper towels.  Top with your choice of toppings.  (The frying also took longer than the 2 minutes they recommend.  You just want them to turn a nice light golden brown, but not too dark.)

Hints:

The uncooked gorditas can be refrigerated in an airtight container, between sheets of wax paper, overnight.

-The Baker

Delicious pancakes. Although I’m a lifelong cook, and I went to culinary school, and I worked in restaurants and bakeries I still couldn’t make a good pancake.  It was embarrassing.  It should be so simple!  But, it wasn’t.

I’d get up on a Sunday morning craving some delicious homemade pancakes.  I’d envision some buttery, fluffy and delicate pancakes dripping with butter and syrup oozing down the side of the stack and pooling on the plate.  What would I end up with?  Disappointment, to say the least.  My scratch pancakes were always rubbery and tough.  I was relegated to, sigh, mixes!  To be honest, I wouldn’t mind using a mix if I could find one that actually resulted in a tasty pancake, but I never found one.

So my hunt continued… until I found this recipe.  (This is another of my pre-blogging recipes and I don’t know exactly where I found it or how much I tweaked it.  If this is your recipe let me know so I can give you credit!)  The pancakes are slightly sweet with crispy edges and delicate insides.  Complimented perfectly with softened butter and warmed real maple syrup.

PANCAKES
yields approximately 9 - 5" pancakes

• 1 C AP Flour
• 1/4 C Sugar, granulated
• 1 t Baking Powder
• 1 t Baking Soda
• 1/4 t Salt
• 1 C Whole Milk
• 1/4 C Vegetable Oil
• 1 Egg
  

1. In a bowl whisk together all dry ingredients
2. In a glass measuring cup whisk together all liquid ingredients
3. Combine the dry and liquid; let stand for a few minutes; pre-heat pan over a medium flame while batter rests
4. Oil pan and ladle batter in; leave the pancake alone until the surface is covered in small bubbles; then gently flip
5. Add fruit or jellies when the first side is almost cooked, just before flipping

Notes:
You can use skim, 2% or whole milk.  The higher the fat content of the milk the richer the pancakes will be.  I’ve even used reconstituted powdered milk when I ran out of fresh milk.  If you don’t like the idea of using oil you can use butter, but for best results it should be clarified butter.

-The Baker