7.11 – Tonight was Rick Bayless Mexican night. We had Goridtas with Classic Shredded Beef, Classic Guacamole, and Brown Rice with Black Beans & Cilantro. Our favorite Mexican meal ever! The rice dish was a Cooks Illustrated and probably not traditional Mexican but was perfect with this meal.
Gorditas (Corn Masa Pockets) with Classic Shredded Beef
As usual I was terrified of making the bread and called Denis to the rescue. We used this recipe but…...the masa I bought was 1 pound so since that’s what the recipe called for I poured it in the bowl and mixed the water in. When I reread and it said 1 pound was 2 cups I knew something was off. Denis came in, we poured out all but 2 c. of the flour and added everything else in. They turned out absolutely fantastic. With the shredded beef filling and condiments we were in love!
Yields: 0 servings
Ingredients
1¼ pounds boneless beef chuck steak, cut into 4 pieces
3 small white onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus oil to a depth of ½-inch for frying
1 (28-ounce) can good-quality whole tomatoes in juice, drained and chopped or 2 cups chopped ripe tomatoes
Fresh hot green chiles to taste (2 to 3 serranos or 1 to 2 jalapenos) stemmed, seeded and very finely chopped
Salt
1 pound (2 cups) fresh, smooth-ground corn masa for tortillas or 1¾ cups powdered masa harina mixed with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
1 scant teaspoon baking power
About ⅓ cup grated Mexican queso anejo or other dry grating cheese, such as Romano or Parmesan
About ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
Directions
The shredded beef filling: In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the meat with 2 quarts salted water, about ⅓ of the onions, and half of the garlic and simmer until the meat is very tender, about 1½ hours. Strain, reserving the broth for another use. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it into coarse strands with your fingers or 2 forks. Don’t worry that there are bits of onion and garlic mixed with the meat.
Wash and dry the saucepan, set it over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When the oil is hot, add half of the remaining onions and cook until golden, about 6 minutes, then stir in the remaining garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and chiles and cook until most of the juice has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Stir in the shredded meat and simmer for a few more minutes, then taste and season with about ½ teaspoon salt. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Forming, filling and griddle-baking the gorditas: Heat a well-seasoned or nonstick griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Knead the masa (fresh or reconstituted) to make it pliable, adding a little water if necessary to achieve a soft-cookie-dough consistency. Knead in the flour, baking powder, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Divide the dough into 10 portions and roll into balls; cover with plastic to keep from drying out. Line a tortilla press with 2 pieces of plastic cut to fit the plates (to be on the safe side, cut them from a food storage bag; the thicker plastic usually works better for beginners). Gently press out a ball of dough between the sheets of plastic to about 4 inches in diameter (it’ll be about ¼ inch thick). You’ve now made a gordita, which is what you call a fat tortilla. Peel off the top sheet of plastic, flip the gordita, uncovered side down, onto the fingers of 1 hand, and gently peel off the second piece of plastic. In one flowing movement, roll the gordita off your hand and onto the heated griddle or skillet. Bake for about 1½ minutes, then flip and bake for another 1½ minutes on the other side. The gordita will be lightly browned and crusty on the top and bottom, but still a little uncooked on the sides. Remove to a plate. Continue pressing and griddle-baking the remaining gorditas in the same manner.
3. When you’re ready to serve, warm the shredded beef. Rinse the remaining onions in a small strainer under cold water and shake to remove the excess moisture. Have the cheese and cilantro at the ready.
In a deep heavy medium skillet or saucepan, heat ½-inch of oil over medium to medium-high until the oil is hot enough to make the edge of a gordita sizzle sharply, about 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. One by one, fry the gorditas, turning them after they’ve been in the oil for about 15 seconds, until they’re nicely crisp but not hard, about 45 seconds total. When they’re ready, most will have puffed up a little, like pita bread. Drain on paper towels.
Once they all are fried, use a small knife to cut a slit in the thin edge of each one about halfway around its circumference, opening a pocket. As you cut them, fill each gordita with about ¼-cup shredded meat and a sprinkling of the onions, grated cheese, and cilantro.
Line up the filled gorditas on a serving platter and pass them around (with plenty of napkins) for your guests to enjoy.
Working ahead: The shredded beef can be made several days ahead (cover and refrigerate), but the gorditas themselves are best griddle-baked on the day they are served. Most definitely, you’ll want to fry them at the moment before they’re to be served.
BROWN RICE WITH BLACK BEANS AND CILANTRO
Great recipe! Next time around I would change the rice to beans ration. Either reduce the amount of rice or double the beans. I used Goya Black Beans which were really good. They are smaller than the canned beans I usually buy and were really tender.
To bump up the flavor of our basic brown rice recipe, we made a few easy additions. Caramelizing onions in a Dutch oven before stirring in the rice and incorporating chicken broth into the cooking liquid had a positive impact. Fresh herbs and a squeeze of citrus just before serving brightened our brown rice recipe.
Yields: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1 green bell pepper , chopped fine
3 garlic cloves , minced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2¼ cups water
1½ cups brown rice , long-grain (see note)
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans , drained and rinsed
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 lime , cut into wedges
Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
2. Add broth and water; cover and bring to boil. Remove pot from heat; stir in rice and salt. Cover and bake rice until tender, 65 to 70 minutes.
3. Remove pot from oven, uncover, fluff rice with fork, stir in beans, and replace lid; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and black pepper. Serve, passing lime wedges separately.
Classic Guacamole
Makes about 2½ cups, serving 6 as an appetizer, 8 to 10 as a nibble.
Love guacamole made this way. I used 1 jalapeno and 1 serrano.
Yields: 0 servings
Ingredients
2 serrano chilies, stemmed
½ medium white onion, finely chopped
2 plum tomatoes
¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
3 ripe avocados
2 T fresh lime juice
Directions
1. Roasting the Chiles. Lay the chiles in a small ungreased skillet set over medium heat. Turn them every minute or so until they have softened (they’ll darken in spots), 5-10 minutes. Mash them into a coarse puree, using a mortar, or finely chop them. Place in a large bowl.
2. More Flavorings. Scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water; shake off excess water and add to the bowl with the chiles. Chop the tomatoes into small bits – skin, seeds and all is my preference. You should have a scant cup. Add to the bowl along with the cilantro.
3. The Avocados. To cut an avocado in half, you have to negotiate the large egg-shaped pit in the middle. Make a cut down the length of one avocado straight through to the pit. Continue cutting all the way around the pit until you wind up where you started. Twist the two halves in opposite directions and pull them apart. Scoop out the pit (the hueso, or bone, in Spanish) with a spoon. Then scoop out the avocado flesh from the skin and add to the bowl. Do the same with the remaining avocados. Use an old-fashioned potato masher or the back of a large spoon to mash the avocado flesh into a coarse pulp, mixing in the other ingredients as you go.
4. Seasoning the Guacamole. Taste the guacamole and season with salt, usually a scant teaspoon, then add some of the lime juice and taste again. Continue seasoning with lime until the guacamole has enough zip for you. Cover with plastic wrap, placing directly on surface, and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Serving. Unless you’re serving guacamole dolloped on tacos or the like, the classic way to present it to your guests is in a Mexican lava-rock mortar (molcajete), sprinkled with chopped onion and cilantro. Sliced radish, if you have it, looks pretty here, and to the Mexican eye completes the very popular, patriotic red-white-and-green motif.
5. Working Ahead: Guacamole is good when freshly made, but, in my opinion, it tastes better when the flavors are allowed to mingle for about half an hour before serving. If well chilled, it’ll keep for several hours. After that, the flavors get out of balance and the avocado starts to brown.
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