A Moveable Fiesta

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, my friend Jill and I attended a Mexican cooking class last weekend hosted at Ceiba in downtown D.C. It was two hours of learning, drinking, eating, and more drinking... a great way to spend lunch!

The main course of our meal blew my mind -- it was a red snapper baked Oaxacan style in an almond-chipotle cream sauce, served with arroz verde (green rice) and a crunchy, tangy radish salsita. Of all the recipes we got from the day, these were the ones I would be sure to try at home!

Our local grocery stores in Northern Virginia have a great selection of ingredients for Mexican cuisine, my favorite being the Shoppers Food Warehouse at the Seven Corners Shopping Center in Falls Church -- their ethnic food section is larger than some entire markets, and their prices are very reasonable. There you can find the Mexican crema and chipotles in adobo needed to make the sauce for the fish, as well as the poblano peppers for the arroz verde. Sadly, they didn't have red snapper when I went yesterday, so I bought some swai fillets instead and was pleased with the results.

This is a great meal for entertaining, as the arroz verde and the almond and chipotle sauce can be made in advance, and the salsita is a snap. Together, they are a whole lot of flavor for fairly little effort.

Baked Red Snapper with Almond and Chipotle Sauce

Ingredients:

(8) 4-6 oz. red snapper or sea bass fillets
4 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed
2 T. Kosher or sea salt
1 c. Mexican style cream, creme fraiche, or heavy cream
1/2 c. almonds, blanched or slivered
1 T. Mexican Manchego, Parmigiano Reggiano, or Romano cheese, grated
1 T. chipotle peppers with adobo sauce
1 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse red snapper fillets under a thin stream of cold water, drain, and pat dry. Place in a container and drizzle with lime juice, salt, and pepper. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

2. In a blender, blend the Mexican cream, almonds, cheese, salt, and chipotles until fully combined; set aside. You may refrigerate the sauce for up to a week.

3. Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter the bottom of a baking dish and place the red snapper fillets on top. Cover each fillet with 1-2 heaping tablespoons of the chipotle almond cream.

4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Garnish with toasted slivered almonds and serve.


Arroz Verde

Ingredients:

2 c. long or extra-long grain white rice
5 Poblano chiles (seeds and veins removed), cut into pieces
1/2 c. cilantro leaves
1/2 c. water
3 T. safflower or corn oil
4 T. white onion, finely chopped
2.5 c. chicken stock (or to measure -- and of course vegetable stock can be substituted)
1 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 T. Kosher or sea salt

Directions:

1. Parboil the rice: place in a bowl and cover with very hot water; let soak for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again thoroughly.

2. Place the Poblano chiles in a blender with the cilantro leaves and water, and puree until smooth. Pass this through a fine colander and reserve in a measuring cup. Measure how much Poblano liquid you have, as you will need to use enough chicken stock to amount to 4 total cups of liquid. Save that pulp, though, because you will throw it back into the rice later.

3. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan and fry the rice over high heat. Stir softly for 1-2 minutes. Add onion and stir. Saute until rice changes color to milky white, 4-5 minutes.

4. Add Poblano liquid (and pulp) and let it cook and season for 4-5 minutes, until the green color has darkened and the liquid has thickened and is almost absorbed.

5. Add in chicken stock, lime juice, and salt, and stir. When the liquid comes to a rapid boil, cover the pot, lower heat to low and continue cooking for about another 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked through and liquid has been mostly absorbed. If rice diesn't seem soft and cooked through, add a bit more chicken stock or water and let cook for another 5 minutes or so.

6. Turn heat off and let sit covered for another 5-10 minutes. FLuff with a fork and serve.

Green rice can be made ahead and reheated later the same day. Before reheating, add 1 tablespoon of water and heat covered over the lowest possible heat.

Once it has cooled down, it can be kept in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.


Crunchy Radish Salsita

Ingredients:

8-10 radishes
2 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed (or to taste)
1 tsp. Kosher or sea salt (or to taste)
1 T. cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 serrano chile (seeding is optional), finely chopped
4 T. safflower or corn oil

Directions:
1. Rinse the radishes, cut them in half lengthwise, and slice them thin. (I just snip off the root and run them whole over my mandoline.) Set them aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the lime juice, salt, cilantro, and Serrano chile. Slowly whisk in the oil.

3. Pour mixture over radishes, mix, and let macerate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

The salsita may be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
Fresh, easy, yummy!

Koshari

Koshari and Orange and Radish Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette

Cooking Light touts this recipe as a staple of Egyptian street food, but I challenge any of you to make this in a cart. When all was said and done, my postage stamp-sized kitchen looked like Sur La Table exploded inside of it. The end result, however, more than made up for the heap of cookery carnage left in the wake of this dish. The fire of the tomato sauce plays against a pillow of starchy delights (rice, lentils, and vermicelli) and a mound of sweet caramelized onions.

A couple of tips on the preparation...

Notice that the recipe calls for cooked rice, so make it ahead of time. It isn't even imperative to keep it warm, since you will stir it into the warm lentil/vermicelli mixture.

Also, I followed this recipe very linearly: I made the tomato sauce first, then I sautéed the onions and made the koshari. Thus, my tomato sauce simmered for about an hour on the stovetop, and the pepper really lit up. Those who are not chile-heads may want to dial the spice down a bit, so either make the sauce while the lentils are simmering or add less pepper if you know the sauce will be on the burner for a while.

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

Koshari:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups thinly sliced onion
• 1/2 cup uncooked vermicelli, broken into 1-inch pieces
• 5 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups dried lentils or yellow split peas
• 2 1/2 cups hot cooked long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation

1. To prepare sauce:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
• Add chopped onion to pan, and cook for 15 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally
• Add garlic; cook for 2 minutes
  
• Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, peppers, and tomatoes; cook 10 minutes or until slightly thick
• Transfer tomato mixture to a food processor; process 1 minute or until smooth. Keep warm. Wipe skillet dry with paper towels.

2. To prepare koshari:

• Heat 3 tablespoons oil in pan over medium heat
• Add sliced onion; cook 15 minutes or until deep golden brown, stirring frequently
  
• Remove onion with a slotted spoon to several layers of paper towels; set aside
• Return pan to medium heat. Add vermicelli; sauté 2 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.

• Combine 5 cups water and lentils in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.
  
• Remove from heat; add vermicelli, stirring well to combine.
  
• Wrap a clean kitchen towel around lid, and cover lentil mixture; let stand for 10 minutes or until vermicelli is tender.
  
• Add rice and 1 teaspoon salt to lentil mixture; fluff with a fork. Serve immediately with sauce and onions.