Volume 10, Issue 092 - May 9, 2006

Good Day ,

Carolyn Niethammer is a wild-food expert, a master cook, and the award-winning author of seven books, including American Indian Cooking and The Prickly Pear Cookbook. She lives in Tucson, Arizona. Today's first recipe from her cookbook, The New Southwest Cookbook contains tomatillos, an ingredient found in many Southwestern recipes.

Tomatillo:

In Mexico the tomatillo is called tomate verde, which means "green tomato". However, tomatillos are not just small, under-ripe tomatoes, but a distinct vegetable in their own right.

The size of an apricot and covered with a papery husk, tomatillos are meatier but less juicy inside than a tomato. Tomatillos are an essential part of Mexican cuisine and have been since the Aztecs domesticated them.

Most tomatillos are harvested somewhat unripe, when they have a tart, slightly lemony flavor that adds zip to salsas. As they fully ripen they turn more golden in color and become sweeter.

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Navajo Eggplant with Charred Tomatillo Sauce
Zion Lodge, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah

Mormon pioneers in the 1860s gave this area the name "Zion", an ancient Hebrew word that refers to a place of refuge. Its breathtaking scenery includes sandstone cliffs that are among the highest in the world, and the park is home to one of the last free-flowing river systems on the Colorado Plateau. At Zion Lodge, this dish is made up on individual plates. It has been modified so home cooks can make it casserole-style.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1 tablespoon salt
10 medium tomatillos
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated provolone

Zion Pico de Gallo (recipe follows)

Preparation:

Cut off the ends of the eggplant and discard. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 1/4 inch thick slices. Season with salt to draw out moisture. Let it sit uncovered at room temperature until moisture appears, about 30 minutes and then pat dry with paper towels.

Meanwhile, peel the husks from the tomatillos, cut the tomatillos in half and remove the blossom cores. Lightly blacken them on a grill or under a broiler. Watch closely while preparing them. You want the skins blistered and the flesh soft but still juicy. Combine the blackened tomatillos and cream in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

Mix the pepper with the flour. Place the flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs each in its own shallow bowl. Dredge the eggplant slices first in flour, then in egg and then in bread crumbs, laying them in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Film a heavy frying pan with vegetable oil, using just part of the oil. Working with a few eggplant slices at a time, brown on both sides over medium heat, then reduce heat and continue to cook until tender, about 5 minutes total. Repeat with the remaining slices, using more oil if needed. Drain on paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Alternate layers of eggplant slices and charred tomatillo sauce, ending with sauce, in a 9x12-inch ovenproof casserole. Sprinkle with a mixture of grated mozzarella and provolone cheese. Bake about 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Serve with Zion Pico de Gallo on the side.

Zion Pico de Gallo
Zion Lodge, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah

When visiting Zion National Park, it's hard to tear your eyes from the soaring cliffs, but it's also important to look down and enjoy the amazingly diverse ecology. With more than 800 native species, Zion National Park has one of the richest plant systems in Utah. This recipe is salsa for the chile averse - refreshing without being hot.

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped white or yellow onion
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, leaves only
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Will keep for up to 3 days.

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Southwest Seasonings: The Three C's and an E

Traditional herbs are essential for producing the definitive, sparkling flavors of Southwestern cuisine. Cilantro is used fresh, as the flavor disappears when it dries. It is usually sold in a small bunch tied with string. The others can be purchased dried and kept for several months.

Cilantro:

There aren't many people who feel neutral about cilantro - you either love or hate this stringent herb. And if you are not fond of the flavor, you will find it difficult to avoid in Southwestern cuisine. Cilantro looks similar to flat-leaf parsley, a botanical relative. But it tastes and smells quite different, stronger and more distinct than parsley.

Cilantro is sometimes called Chinese parsley, Mexican parsley, or fresh coriander, as it is actually the fresh leaves of the coriander plant. It was grown in antiquity in southeastern Europe, Egypt, and China, spread first to the Caribbean islands, and then was brought to Mexico by the Spanish colonists.

Now it has become an almost ubiquitous Mexican seasoning - essential in salsas, salad dressings, and is often used with fish or in soups.

Coriander:

Whole coriander is in the shape of tiny balls. They appear to be seeds but are in fact the dried flowers of the coriander/cilantro plant. You can produce your own by letting your cilantro plants flower. When the flower parts have turned from green to brown, pluck and dry them, then store in airtight jars. To release the best flavor, toast coriander lightly in a dry frying pan, then crush in a mortar just as you're ready to use them. Gingery-tasting coriander can be used to flavor soups, chicken dishes and stuffed poblano chiles.

Cumin:

The sharp, slightly bitter flavor of cumin is essential to the taste we expect from chile con carne, and cumin is often combined with chile in pre-packaged chili powders. It can be purchased ground or in the whole seed form that you can toast and grind yourself for more robust flavor. Cumin is a native of upper Egypt, where it has been cultivated since Biblical times. In Mexican groceries, it is often labeled comino.

Cumin is frequently used in bean dishes and in chile sauces.

Epazote:

Epazote is traditionally used in the cuisines of southern Mexico. The name is derived from the Aztec word for the plant. Cookbook author Diana Kennedy calls it "the most Mexican of the culinary herbs". When tasted separately, the flavor is pungent - some say it tastes medicinal. Like cilantro, it is not universally relished, but it does impart a special flavor note to beans, especially black been dishes. It's frequently used with beans because it contains compounds that reduce the gas that many bean dishes cause.

Although epazote is easy to grow, it's sometimes hard to find it in fresh form. The best bet is a Mexican grocery store; one teaspoon of dried epazote is the equivalent of about seven fresh leaves.
 

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Sweet Potato-Chicken Patties with Poached Eggs and Green Chile Hollandaise
Bryce Canyon Lodge, Bryce, Utah

Bryce Canyon is home to more than one hundred species of birds, annually drawing flocks of birdwatchers who get up early - and are hungry when they finally make it in for breakfast. And this dish fills the bill. There is just the right amount of chile kick in the patties and in the hollandaise to give this dish a Southwestern flavor without overwhelming your mouth.

This is also an excellent brunch dish for entertaining, as you can make the patties up to one day ahead. You will have to make the hollandaise fresh, however, and if you have never made hollandaise sauce, don't try for the first time while you are greeting your guests! Read detailed instructions in a basic cookbook and practice, practice, practice.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato-Chicken Patties:

2 large sweet potatoes
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
1 large canned chipotle chile
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil

Green Chile Hollandaise:

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 large poblano chile, roasted, peeled, seeds removed, and finely chopped (see below)
pinch of ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Poached Eggs:

3 cups water
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 eggs

Preparation:

For the Patties:

Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. In a small saucepan, cover the cubed potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer just until tender, about 7 to 9 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat a medium saucepan with about 4 inches of water until just simmering. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper and place in the simmering water; add more water to just cover if necessary. Poach chicken until just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from water, drain and, when cool enough to handle, cut each breast into 1/2-inch cube.

Finely chop the chipotle chile until it has a purée consistency. You should have about 1 tablespoon.

Combine potatoes, chicken, chipotle purée, scallions, cilantro and honey in a large bowl and mix gently, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Form into 4 patties, each about 1 inch thick and 3 inches across. At this point you can refrigerate the patties for up to 24 hours. Remove them from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to bring to room temperature.

Heat olive oil on high in large skillet until just starting to smoke, then turn down heat to low. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Cook patties until lightly browned and crisp, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to plate and keep warm in oven.

For the Green Chile Hollandaise:

Combine egg yolks and lemon juice in top of a double boiler, or in a medium stainless steel bowl that you can set over a pan of water. Whisk eggs until frothy. Place over simmering water (do not let the bottom actually touch the water) and continue whisking the yolks until pale yellow and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes, making sure they don't get too hot. Gradually add the melted butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until incorporated.

Remove eggs from heat and fold in poblano chile, cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste. If the sauce gets too hot it may separate, if so, put it into a blender to reincorporate. Keep the sauce warm over hot water or in a warm oven while you poach the eggs.

For the Poached Eggs:

Heat water and vinegar in a deep skillet until simmering. Break an egg into a teacup and then gently slip the egg into the water. Repeat with remaining eggs. Poach 4 to 5 minutes, or until the whites have set and the yolks are still a bit jiggly.

To Serve:

Place the patties on 4 individual plates and set an egg on top of each. Drizzle with Green Chile Hollandaise and serve immediately, with extra hollandaise available on the side.

How to Roast and Peel Chiles and Bell Peppers

The skin of fresh chiles and bell peppers is rather thick and waxy. In some recipes, this doesn't matter, but other recipes call for the skin to be removed, usually through roasting. Roasting chiles or bell peppers also adds a wonderful smoky flavor to them, essential to many Southwestern dishes. It is important to keep a close eye on the process, however. You want to stop the roasting at the point that the skin is charred but the interior flesh is still succulent. Here are several methods:

In the Oven:

Arrange whole chiles or halved bell peppers on a baking sheet (cut side down) and bake at 400 degrees F until they blister and the skins darken.

Under the Broiler:

Arrange whole chiles or halved bell peppers (cut side down) on a baking sheet and broil about 4 inches from the heat until the skins are blistered and charred. If roasting whole chiles, turn over with tongs once the top side is blistered.

On the Grill or Gas Burner:

Put whole chiles or whole peppers over a grill set to medium-high heat. Use tongs to turn until all sides are blackened. You can also spear individual chiles or peppers, or hold with tongs, directly about the flames of your gas stovetop, rotating until charred on all sides.

Once the chiles or peppers are blackened, transfer to a paper or plastic bag to steam for a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, the skins should easily peel off. An alternative to steaming is to immerse then in cold water before peeling. If you have difficulty removing the skins after roasting, hold under cold running water, then try again.

For some recipes, you will be cutting off the stems and pulling out the seeds before using the chile. If you want to modify the heat, also carefully slice or tear off the veins, as this is where the heat is concentrated. For rellenos and some other dishes, you will retain the stem and, instead, carefully make a slit in the side of the chile to clean out the seeds and veins.

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