Cinco de Mayo is such an odd party day in the U.S. At least it is to me. It celebrates the Mexican army’s victory over France in 1862 at the Battle of Puebla. It is a ho-hum sort of day in Mexico compared to what we do up here. Kind of “yippee” compared to “YAHOO!”
Last weekend I tried out some Mexican recipes, and I will modestly say that they were fabulous — really, really good. I had tinkered with cooking Mexican rice at home without a recipe and it was good. I just substituted chicken broth and crushed tomatoes for water and added a little cumin, chili power and sauteed onion to it. However, for company I sourced a recipe that took this from good to “this will be a staple.” The secret was to saute the rice until toasty and golden.
One of my favorite blogs is “The Runaway Spoon” written by Perre Magness Coleman. If you missed her at the the Columbus Library’s April Table Talks, you missed a treat as she discussed her recent cookbook, “Pimento Cheese, The Cookbook.” She had a recipe on her site last week for chicken tinga served with avocado crema and pickled onions. All three of these were pure perfection. The sauce base for the chicken could be used for so many other things; it was so fragrant with layers of flavor. Check out therunawayspoon.com for these recipes and more.
In addition to the chicken tinga and Mexican rice, I also served carnitas. So much flavor in every slightly crispy bite. It is not hard and slow cooks for several hours before the finishing steps.
Salud, amor y pesetas. Y tiempo para gastarlas.
CARNITAS
Serves 6
Pork
1 (3 1/2-to 4-pound) boneless pork butt, fat cap trimmed to 1/8 inch thick, cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt and ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small onion, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons juice from 1 lime
2 cups water
1 medium orange, halved
Tortillas and garnishes:
18 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
Lime wedges
Minced white or red onion
Fresh cilantro leaves
Thinly sliced radishes
Sour cream
(Source: cooksillustrated.com)
RESTAURANT-STYLE MEXICAN RICE
Serves 6 to 8
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup neutral cooking oil, such as canola or safflower
2 cups long-grain white rice
1 to 2 chile peppers, such as jalapeno or serrano, seeded and minced
4 to 5 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
Juice from 2 limes, plus additional wedges for serving
(Source: thekitchn.com)
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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