Mexican Christmas Traditions

Name: Rajas con crema
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 5-6 poblano chiles, roasted, skinned and cut into strips; 1/2 of a large white onion, sliced into rings and then cut in half (to make half moon strips); 2 tablespoons salted butter (do not substitute margarine); 5 ounces crema Mexicana; 1/2 of coarsely shredded Chihuahua cheese; A pinch of kosher salt, or more to taste

GUAYABAS EN SANCOCHO (AKA GUAYABAS EN ALMÍBAR)

66 · Mar 11, 2010 · 11 Comments

Guayabas en sancocho, also known as guayabas en almíbar, is a delicious dessert of guavas stewed in a cinnamon and piloncillo syrup.

I love the smell of ripe Mexican guavas. Their creamy white flesh and tropical fragrance are simply intoxicating. They remind me of this one particular little stall that sells fruits at the Mercado Coyoacán where my mother-in-law likes to shop. Whenever I visit Mexico City, I’m always eager to tag along with my suegra when she needs to grab something from the mercado because I love walking among the vendor stalls discovering new things.

José also likes the smell of guayabas–but for a different reason. You see, as a big brother, José has always dabbled in a serious form of sibling rivalry. My cuñada, on the other hand, can’t stand the smell or taste of guayabas. The smell actually makes her wretch. A few years ago when we were visiting around Christmastime, we bought a big bag of guayabas for making ponche navideño. I’m sure you can guess what happened next.

RELATED RECIPE: Ponche navideño...

Sopa de fideo

456 · Mar 8, 2010 · 27 Comments

I'm sharing my sopa de fideo recipe because this tomato-broth and noodle soup is a comfort food for me that evokes one specific fond memory.

After more than a decade of dreaming about visiting Teotihuacan, I finally made the 40-kilometer trip northeast of Mexico City in 2009 with my suegro and my cuñada. I yearned to visit this archaeological site since I first learned about it in history books as a kid. The Aztec pyramids fascinated me and I never dreamed I’d be able to travel there, let alone make it all the way to the top of the Pirámide del Sol.

RELATED RECIPE: Tomato chipotle soup with star pasta...

Ya tenemos 6 meses!

2 · Mar 1, 2010 · 4 Comments

I can't believe last week I passed the six month mark since I began The Other Side of The Tortilla. It feels like only a short time ago that I started contemplating how to share my quest for Mexican culinary and cultural nirvana in the kitchen. Thank you so much to those of you who have become big fans along the way; I appreciate your loyal support, feedback and passing my site on to friends and family via word of mouth (or email...or tweet...or Facebook).

My goal with the site is not just a personal one to chronicle all I've learned from family, friends and cherished cookbooks about traditional Mexican cooking in order to someday pass the wisdom down to my own children; I also want to help educate others about Mexican cuisine and culture. I'm always open to suggestions for improvement or new elements you'd like to see, so please hit me up via the comments or by emailing me by clicking on the contact section to the right if you'd like. I frequently get comments via email in both languages, which I think is so cool. Thanks to all you wonderful readers, I've already gotten some great suggestions on how to enhance your experience here on The Other Side of The Tortilla. You can expect to start seeing a little bit of video here and there very soon. One note: I do moderate the comments only for purposes of keeping my site free of spam, but I make a conscious effort to approve legitimate comments as soon as possible so we can have a lively discussion.

To commemorate this little 6-month milestone anniversary, I created a graphic using words that have commonly appeared in my posts since I started back in August 2009. The more frequently a word appears in posts from the last six months, the larger the font size. I hope you have as much fun looking at it as I have!

When it's quiet around here, it can only mean one of two things: I'm either busy in the kitchen or writing and revising new recipes. Lately, I've been busy with a bit of both. If you follow me on Twitter, then you already know that I often post photos taken on the fly in the kitchen; if you didn't, you do now, so head over and follow me there if you'd like some sneak peeks every now and then. Most commonly, people have been telling me I'm making them hungry, so I must be doing my job well, right?

Here's what I'm currently working on in the Tortilla Test Kitchen that you can expect to see coming up soon (in no particular order–to keep some element of surprise!):

champurrado
salsas rojas
sopas
carnes
flan
guisados

Also, I've recently been asked to write a guest post about why native foods are such an important element of cultural bonding (both in adult-to-adult and adult-to-kid relationships) at SpanglishBaby.com, a parenting site for raising bilingual kids. I'm very excited to be able to contribute over there and will cross-post my article here on the Tortilla later this month. They found me thanks to someone passing on the word about the blog. I'm also honored to have been mentioned on The Tiki Tiki Blog in their weekly El Buzz section as a blog to watch a few months back and hope to contribute a thing or two over there in the coming months.

So again, thanks for reading. I hope you will continue to enjoy my adventures in the kitchen and will share the site with a friend or two.

If you like the wordle image above, you can make your own by going to wordle.net. The custom color palette was created with colors from photographs that appear or are scheduled to appear here on The Tortilla.

Rajas con crema

238 · Feb 8, 2010 · 20 Comments

Rajas con crema, a hearty dish made with poblano chiles, onion, crema mexicana and a little bit of cheese, is a favorite in my house. As one friend put it, "anything that comes out of your kitchen at least once a week has got to be good."

Rajas are particularly popular in central and Southern Mexico, and are so versatile I've seen them served as breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can't speak for all of Mexico, but at least in Mexico City when someone is talking about rajas, they are usually talking about strips of poblanos or this dish specifically.

According to my husband, José, rajas con crema are the best when the poblanos have a spicy bite, but they're not too hot. Usually you can tell how hot the poblanos are when you're removing the seeds after roasting because the heat will burn your skin and if you breathe in too deeply, you might cough. In that case, you may want to soak them in a solution of vinegar and water so they're not too spicy. If those two things don't happen, sometimes I skip the vinegar and water soak after roasting the chiles. However, f you soak them too long, the chiles are a little sweet rather than spicy but still delicious nonetheless.

If you've never prepared rajas before, you'll want to first read my tutorial on how to roast poblano chiles before you skip to the directions below.

Some rajas con crema recipes call only for cream, and lots of it; others call for so much cheese that it's more of a queso fundido in disguise. Mexican sour cream isn’t actually sour like American sour cream; it has a less acidic taste and a thinner consistency. The cheese should melt slowly and not be gooey, and it should be barely visible once incorporated. It's really more of a bonding agent so the cream doesn't get soupy.

My version, based on a recipe José grew up eating, strikes a perfect balance. Some people like to eat rajas con crema over rice, or as a side dish with meat like carne tampiqueña (a grilled filet or skirt steak) or cecina (a thinly-cut aged salted beef). In our house, as you may already be fully aware if you're a regular reader, the taco is king. However you decide to serve it, though, I guarantee it won't be long before you're making it again.

RoastedPoblano WEB — chiles poblanos asados

We like to serve rajas in corn tortillas as tacos. Sometimes I make cecina to accompany the rajas but they can stand up as a vegetarian meal on their own or as a hearty side with rice, beans, meat or whatever else you'd like.

RELATED: How to roast poblano chiles

Rajas con crema

Author Maura Wall Hernandez

Yield 12 servings

Rajas con crema is a hearty dish made with poblano chiles, onion, Mexican sour cream and a little bit of cheese. It's used as a taco filling or served as a side dish.

Ingredients

5-6 poblano chiles, roasted, skinned and cut into strips
½ of a large white onion, sliced into rings and then cut in half (to make half moon strips)
2 tablespoons salted butter (do not substitute margarine)
5 ounces crema Mexicana
½ of coarsely shredded Chihuahua cheese
A pinch of kosher salt, or more to taste

Instructions

Roast poblano chiles. Allow them to sweat for 15 minutes, then peel off the skins, remove seeds and cut into strips.
Using a deep skillet, melt the butter and cook the onions in the butter on medium-low heat until they start to change color and caramelize a bit (slightly transparent and a little brown). Turn off burner and remove pan from heat.
Add the chile strips (rajas) in the pan with the onion, stir to coat well with the remaining butter, and warm over medium heat until the rajas are warm and a little wilted.
Add about 5 ounces of crema and stir in well. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and then reduce heat to low and add a half cup of coarsely grated Chihuahua cheese (if you can't find cheese labeled Chihuahua, any cheese labeled "queso para fundir" will do). The cheese should melt slowly and not be gooey, and it should be barely visible once incorporated. It’s really more of a bonding agent so the cream doesn’t get soupy. Once the cheese is melted, turn your burner as low as it will go, just so it is on to keep the rajas warm.

Notes

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and reheated on the stove over medium heat or in the microwave at 30-second intervals.

How to make ponche navideño

41 · Jan 30, 2010 · 6 Comments

It's not the holidays in Mexico without ponche navideño. This Mexican Christmas punch is served during las posadas, Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) and at holiday parties, and is often spiked with brandy or rum.

This recipe gives me such warm, fuzzy feelings and memories of being back in Mexico with our family for Christmas. Typically, this is a holiday punch, but in my house we sometimes drink it all winter long if we can find all the ingredients. ...