Yesterday, Wednesday, was the day when all my weekend plans came to fruition!! Well, two of them anyway. I had my cooking lesson with my Uber driver's wife, and I got a job with an artist!!!!
First, the chiles rellenos. I had never had these (unless you count stuffed bell peppers, which I don't, and you'll see why) and didn't know what to expect from the cooking lesson. Her name is Vero and she kept saying that she's not really a cook, not as much as her older sisters. But she worked deftly and with complete confidence, which tells me that this is a woman who regularly cooks homemade food for her family, which is what I'm looking to learn. Plus she was fun to talk to :)
Recipe for chiles rellenos, from memory, to be edited when she sends me her written up version:
Ingredients:
The chiles themseves:
chiles poblanos--however many you want to stuff and eat. pick ones that are straight and smallish (they have less tough skin)
queso pamela--a specific kind of cheese you can find her, but I've never used. Its kind of soft and sold in a block
toothpicks--not for eating
eggs, separated--the number of them seems to depend on how many chiles you are battering. we used four eggs for four chiles
flour--just a little bit is needed
Char the skin of the chiles on an open flame, taking care not to let them burn. when the whole of the skin is bubbled and blackened, put them in a bag (the plastic one that you bought them in works fine) and tie it up and wait for fifteen minutes until they cool off and the skin loosens.
Use your hands to rub off the skin and then break open the pepper in one long slit (don't make other holes or the cheese will melt out when cooking). Use gloves to pull out the seeds and inside stuff (or alternatively, run them under cold water while you do it and wash your hands after). Let them dry.
Stuff chiles with slices of pamela cheese and pin closed with a toothpick.
Make batter by beating the egg whites into a thick froth and adding the yolks back in to make a nice yellow froth. Heat a frying pan with enough oil to fry stuff in. Like, a quarter inch deep layer on the pan. Dust the stuffed chiles with flour (it will help the batter stick). Dip them into the frothy egg batter one at a time, as you have space to fry them, and lay them in the hot oil. Use a spoon to ladle hot oil over the battered part of the chile around the stem, where it will never lay directly in the oil. You don't want that part to be uncooked. Flip the chile until all sides are browned nicely, then remove to a towel-lined plate to blot off extra oil. Repeat with all chiles.
If you have extra cheese, slice that up, and batter and fry that! And don't forget to fry all the extra batter into a fluffy omlet!
The tomato sauce:
Plum tomatoes--those are the kind she likes best for this, and we used maybe five
onion--only a small chunk is needed, plus another tiny bit chopped
garlic--one clove
chicken broth--she brought some chicken pieces that are usually not eaten (a neck and part of a ribcage, plus two wings) and boiled them up with a small chunk of onion and a clove of garlic to make her own instant chicken broth!
chicken bullion--maybe half a cube
Chop tomatoes roughly and add them plus the onion and the garlic to a blender with maybe a cup of water. Blend thoroughly. Like, longer than you think. The result is a frothy pink/red liquid-y liquid.
Fry some onion in some oil in a deep sided frying pan until they go a bit translucent. Then add the tomato liquid (careful of the oil splattering). Add some chicken broth and bullion. She just ladled a bunch in, so I have no idea about amounts... it'll make a nice deep tomato bath. Lay the fried up stuffed chiles in the liquid and simmer for a while. Until they are done, basically, which probably just means heated through.
White rice with veggies:
white rice
chicken broth--see above
chicken bullion--a cube
garlic--a clove, chopped
a handful or two of fresh peas
one medium carrot, chopped into pea-sized pieces
one cob's worth of fresh corn
(I loved how she used fresh veggies for this; it wouldn't have occurred to me for some reason)
Rinse the rice and let it dry a bit. Put oil in a big enough pot and add the rice. Stirring constantly, fry the rice until is evenly golden colored, adding the chopped garlic about half way through. Then add the chicken broth (she eyeballed the amount, but I'd say going with the tried and true 1:2 rice:liquid ratio is a good bet), chicken bullion, and the veggies. Cover and simmer until it's done!
Second, I got a job! For reals, an artist named Karima Muyaes is having me help her catalog and organize all her works of art to prep them for her book, The Color of the Spirit! I'm super excited as she seems very nice and wants to be able to rely on me to keep her in line with her goal of finishing the book by the end of this year. And then, BONUS, her daughters are super creative and not far from my age and one of them makes historical costumes and is an actress and the other loves the same classic books I love, and I think we will be friends!!
I went to their home yesterday to discuss everything and as I was leaving they said to think of them as my Mexican family <3 <3 <3
Basically, yesterday felt like the antithesis of the week before, when I was so low and lost. I am so grateful for the bits of my mother that are in me and enable me to talk up Uber drivers and shop owners/artists. I've started finding my way!
First, the chiles rellenos. I had never had these (unless you count stuffed bell peppers, which I don't, and you'll see why) and didn't know what to expect from the cooking lesson. Her name is Vero and she kept saying that she's not really a cook, not as much as her older sisters. But she worked deftly and with complete confidence, which tells me that this is a woman who regularly cooks homemade food for her family, which is what I'm looking to learn. Plus she was fun to talk to :)
Recipe for chiles rellenos, from memory, to be edited when she sends me her written up version:
Ingredients:
The chiles themseves:
chiles poblanos--however many you want to stuff and eat. pick ones that are straight and smallish (they have less tough skin)
queso pamela--a specific kind of cheese you can find her, but I've never used. Its kind of soft and sold in a block
toothpicks--not for eating
eggs, separated--the number of them seems to depend on how many chiles you are battering. we used four eggs for four chiles
flour--just a little bit is needed
Char the skin of the chiles on an open flame, taking care not to let them burn. when the whole of the skin is bubbled and blackened, put them in a bag (the plastic one that you bought them in works fine) and tie it up and wait for fifteen minutes until they cool off and the skin loosens.
Use your hands to rub off the skin and then break open the pepper in one long slit (don't make other holes or the cheese will melt out when cooking). Use gloves to pull out the seeds and inside stuff (or alternatively, run them under cold water while you do it and wash your hands after). Let them dry.
Stuff chiles with slices of pamela cheese and pin closed with a toothpick.
Make batter by beating the egg whites into a thick froth and adding the yolks back in to make a nice yellow froth. Heat a frying pan with enough oil to fry stuff in. Like, a quarter inch deep layer on the pan. Dust the stuffed chiles with flour (it will help the batter stick). Dip them into the frothy egg batter one at a time, as you have space to fry them, and lay them in the hot oil. Use a spoon to ladle hot oil over the battered part of the chile around the stem, where it will never lay directly in the oil. You don't want that part to be uncooked. Flip the chile until all sides are browned nicely, then remove to a towel-lined plate to blot off extra oil. Repeat with all chiles.
If you have extra cheese, slice that up, and batter and fry that! And don't forget to fry all the extra batter into a fluffy omlet!
 |
| ...and the leftover batter omlet! |
The tomato sauce:
Plum tomatoes--those are the kind she likes best for this, and we used maybe five
onion--only a small chunk is needed, plus another tiny bit chopped
garlic--one clove
chicken broth--she brought some chicken pieces that are usually not eaten (a neck and part of a ribcage, plus two wings) and boiled them up with a small chunk of onion and a clove of garlic to make her own instant chicken broth!
chicken bullion--maybe half a cube
Chop tomatoes roughly and add them plus the onion and the garlic to a blender with maybe a cup of water. Blend thoroughly. Like, longer than you think. The result is a frothy pink/red liquid-y liquid.
Fry some onion in some oil in a deep sided frying pan until they go a bit translucent. Then add the tomato liquid (careful of the oil splattering). Add some chicken broth and bullion. She just ladled a bunch in, so I have no idea about amounts... it'll make a nice deep tomato bath. Lay the fried up stuffed chiles in the liquid and simmer for a while. Until they are done, basically, which probably just means heated through.
 |
| Quick and easy homemade chicken broth! |
White rice with veggies:
white rice
chicken broth--see above
chicken bullion--a cube
garlic--a clove, chopped
a handful or two of fresh peas
one medium carrot, chopped into pea-sized pieces
one cob's worth of fresh corn
(I loved how she used fresh veggies for this; it wouldn't have occurred to me for some reason)
Rinse the rice and let it dry a bit. Put oil in a big enough pot and add the rice. Stirring constantly, fry the rice until is evenly golden colored, adding the chopped garlic about half way through. Then add the chicken broth (she eyeballed the amount, but I'd say going with the tried and true 1:2 rice:liquid ratio is a good bet), chicken bullion, and the veggies. Cover and simmer until it's done!
 |
| DELICIOUS!!! |
Second, I got a job! For reals, an artist named Karima Muyaes is having me help her catalog and organize all her works of art to prep them for her book, The Color of the Spirit! I'm super excited as she seems very nice and wants to be able to rely on me to keep her in line with her goal of finishing the book by the end of this year. And then, BONUS, her daughters are super creative and not far from my age and one of them makes historical costumes and is an actress and the other loves the same classic books I love, and I think we will be friends!!
I went to their home yesterday to discuss everything and as I was leaving they said to think of them as my Mexican family <3 <3 <3
Basically, yesterday felt like the antithesis of the week before, when I was so low and lost. I am so grateful for the bits of my mother that are in me and enable me to talk up Uber drivers and shop owners/artists. I've started finding my way!
doing some youtube research: one lady adds some flour and corn starch to the egg mixture so that it doesn't get disturbed or unstick from the peppers while frying them. Maybe I'll try that. Mostly for aesthetic reasons ^^ https://youtu.be/pk0J04UqK1Q <--her video
ReplyDeleteOh! And she adds the omelet and the fried cheese too!
Delete