Quick Pickled Onions

I don't normally post recipes for garnishes or condiments, but this one is good enough to deserve attention.  Sometimes the right condiment can make a big difference in a finished dish as a contrast to the other flavors and textures, but it needs to have big flavor to stand out.  In this recipe red onions are pickled for just a few hours so they retain some crunch but pick up a vinegary pop and complexity from the whole spices.

I first discovered this recipe as a recommended garnish for fried rice of all things, but I've noticed that chef Rick Bayless often recommends pickled onions as a garnish for Mexican dishes such as tacos, enchiladas, tortas and meatballs.  I've used pickled onions as a topping for burgers and find them to be much better than regular onion, and they also work well in rice bowls and noodle bowls.  And they're the perfect accompaniment for any grilled or barbecued meats such as pulled pork or ribs because the vinegar cuts through all that fatty richness.  Finally, hot dishes that are creamy also benefit from a garnish of a few pickled onions for contrast.

Basically, they go with pretty much everything so I find myself making them often.  They're extremely easy to make and marinating them for just a few hours ensures the onions don't get too soft.  If you have barbecue or burgers or Mexican food on the menu, do give them a try.  They're worth it.

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 Quick Pickled Onions

Serves 6-8

½ red onion, thinly sliced

½ cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar

½ cup water

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ tablespoons sugar (or honey or other substitute)

1-2 teaspoons whole spices, optional (any combination of whole peppercorns, fennel seed, cumin, caraway seeds, coriander)

  

Place the vinegar, water, salt, sugar and whole spices in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Simmer 2-3 minutes, stirring.  Remove from the stove and let cool completely.

Place the onions in a jar and pour over the liquid and spices.  Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour and up to 6 hours before use, shaking occasionally.

The pickled onions may be kept in the refrigerator for several days.

Chile Rellenos (Baked Not Fried)

Last Year's Post: Strawberry Basil Lemonade

I love chile rellenos (and all Mexican foods) but so many are fried and heavy in fat and calories.  I know, you say, but that's what makes them taste good.  My latest challenge was to find a recipe that it just as delicious but better for you so of course I turned to Rick Bayless, one of my all-time favorites chefs, for inspiration.  I like Rick Bayless for his tireless dedication to Mexican food authenticity.  He has two restaurants in Chicago that share a common wall (Frontera Grill, his original restaurant, and Topolobampo, which is more upscale).  If you're ever in Chicago be sure to try Frontera Grill.  We went there for the first time a year or two ago and it was one of my best restaurant meals of all time.  They don't take reservations and people wait in line for an hour before the restaurant even opens which tells you how popular it is.  Even so, it was more than worth the wait.  Rick has several cookbooks as well as a line of Frontera Grill salsas and other foods in grocery stores.  You can also catch his cooking shows on PBS.

I was happy to find this recipe for baked chile rellenos from Rick, in particular because it includes chorizo and goat cheese.  I love the combination of slightly spicy chorizo with creamy, tangy goat cheese and the roasted poblano chiles are the perfect flavor counterpoint to them both.  Because Rick's recipes are authentic, they're not always quick to prepare.  Be aware that this recipe contains a couple of steps that require cooling time so plan ahead - the good news is that the entire dish can be made in advance and refrigerated.  For perspective, he calls this recipe "quick and easy".

The interesting technique in this recipe is roasting, peeling and seeding the chiles which is an essential step in softening them and giving them a wonderful flavor.  Start with beautiful fresh poblanos and then blacken them over an open flame or under the broiler.

Let them sit a few minutes in a covered bowl, then peel the skins off.  This was actually easier than I thought it would be.  You want to handle the softened chiles carefully during this process so they don't tear open but if a little tear happens don't worry, you can use that as the start of the next step.

You make a long lengthwise cut and a short crosswise cut to form an elongated "T" shape on the side of each chile, then remove the seeds with your hand, rinse and set aside.  Then you make the chorizo filling and let cool before adding the goat cheese.  Remember that Mexican chorizo is completely different from Spanish chorizo, which looks a lot like pepperoni.  Mexican chorizo is crumbly and is sold like this or in a styrofoam container like ground beef.

This picture shows what the cuts look like in the chiles, and the amount of stuffing in the pan.  After I was done stuffing the chiles I had a lot of stuffing left.

My guess is that Rick stuffs his chiles more than I did, but they were plenty stuffed for us.  I refrigerated the leftover mixture and used some in quesadillas on a weeknight and some in scrambled eggs served over toasted french bread for Sunday breakfast.  Both were so delicious that next time I'll do the same rather than cutting down on the stuffing.  Anyway, the final step after baking is to add a crispy topping and serve.   They are absolutely delicious and I think much better than traditional fried chile rellenos.  Serve with some Mexican rice for a complete and very satisfying meal.

I am giving you my slightly adapted recipe in this post, but also wanted to give a link to the original recipe on his website here.

printable recipe

Roasted Poblanos Stuffed with Chorizo, Goat Cheese and Zucchini

Serves 4

4 large (about 1 ¼ lbs total) fresh poblano chiles, not twisted or deeply indented

1 pound Mexican chorizo

2 cups diced white onion

salt

1 large zucchini, diced

6 ounces goat cheese

¼ cup panko crumbs

¼ cup finely chopped sliced, slivered or blanched almonds

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley

Roast the chiles directly over a gas flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly until the skins have blistered and blackened on all sides, about 5 minutes for open flame and about 12 minutes for broiler.  Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let stand 5 minutes.  Carefully peel off the skin, then cut an incision in the side of each chile, starting ½ inch below the stem end and continuing to the tip.  Make a small crosswise cut (approximately 1 inch in length) just under the stem at the top of the lengthwise cut to form an elongated “T” shape.  Carefully open up the chiles and remove the seeds with your fingers, trying not to extend the cuts any further.  Rinse the inside of each chile and drain on paper towels, cut-side down.

Crumble the chorizo into a large skillet set over medium-high heat.  Cook for 5 minutes, using a spoon to break up any large pieces, until brown and cooked through.  Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, zucchini, and 1 teaspoon salt.  Stir to combine, then cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables have softened.  Remove from heat and cool completely.

Once the mixture has cooled, crumble in the goat cheese and stir to combine.  Stuff each chile with the mixture and then fold the chile around the sides of the filling leaving a gap in the center.  Place the filled chiles in a 13x9 inch casserole lined with parchment and wrap tightly with aluminum foil.  Refrigerate until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine the panko crumbs and almonds.  Spread the mixture in a small baking pan and place in the oven for a few minutes until golden brown, watching closely so it doesn’t burn.  Remove and cool.  Add the baking dish with the chiles to the oven on the middle rack and bake for 30 minutes.

While the chiles are baking, stir the chopped cilantro or parsley and ¼ teaspoon salt into the cooled panko/almond mixture.  Remove the casserole from the oven, place the chiles on a serving dish and sprinkle with the topping.  Serve immediately.

Smoky Peanut Mole with Pork Tenderloin

Mole (molay) is a sauce that originated in Mexico's colonial period that typically contains one or more types of chiles, ground nuts, tomatoes, spices, and sometimes chocolate.  (The word "mole" actually means sauce in Nahuatl so saying "mole sauce" is actually saying "sauce sauce".)  A mole can have 20, 30, or even more ingredients and is one of the classic sauces of the world.  I've tried mole a few times and was never that fond of the chocolate element in the sauce, plus some moles can be very heavy and smother the meat flavor. But I was watching a food network special the other day on "the best sauce I ever had" and Michael Chiarello (a famous chef from the Napa Valley) chose the mole served with pork at Rick Bayless' restaurant Frontera Grill in Chicago as his favorite sauce.  I'm a big admirer of Rick Bayless' Mexican cuisine so I was immediately curious.  After a few minutes of surfing I found the exact recipe and was happy to discover his version didn't contain chocolate and it "only" had 16 ingredients.  And it was served over grilled pork tenderloin, one of my favorite meats.  So I had to try it.  Of course.

First you should know that this sauce took a little over 90 minutes to prepare so plan accordingly.  It wasn't at all hard, it was just time consuming.  Thirty minutes are occupied with letting some chiles soak in water and another 45 minutes are spent letting the sauce reduce and stirring it once in a while.  I would estimate active prep time at around 40 minutes. Having said all that, it was SO worth it.  The sauce has a warm smoky richness without being heavy or overly spicy.  It complemented the grilled pork perfectly but it would also be great with chicken or turkey.  Rick Bayless scores again!

I wanted to pass along a few things I learned along the way.  First, the recipe doesn't specify whether the peanuts should be salted or not, and whether the chicken broth should be low-sodium or not.  I always err on the side of less salt so I used unsalted peanuts and unsalted broth.  You add salt at the end and I found 1 teaspoon to be the right amount with the unsalted products.

Second, I found dried ancho chiles in my regular store with other dried chiles.  You might also check the Mexican food aisle.  They look like this.

The recipe tells you to stem and seed the chiles, then tear them into flat pieces so you can toast them briefly in a dry skillet to develop a smoky flavor.  The torn chiles look like this.

The other chile in the recipe is canned chipotles in adobo, which is readily found in most stores' Mexican aisle.

The final tip I wanted to pass along is my new favorite "how did I ever live without this" gadget called a Thermapen.  I stumbled across it on another food blog and learned it's the instant thermometer of choice for most competitive BBQ enthusiasts and many professional chefs, so I had to have one. What makes it so great is the really thin probe that can measure the temperature of even the thinnest piece of fish, plus the fact that it reads temperature in 3 seconds flat.   The Lawyer uses it every time he grills and thinks it really helps take the guesswork out of grilling.  He used it for the pork tenderloin in this recipe and it came out absolutely perfect - tender, moist, and slightly pink in the center. 

The thermometer turns on when the probe is opened, then turns off when it's folded back into the body for storage - couldn't be easier.  If you're a serious food person or you've ever had trouble deciding whether a chicken or turkey or roast was done, you need this.  You might not know it, but you do.  You can check it out at http://thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/.   I don't receive anything by endorsing it but I highly recommend it anyway. 

Try the mole.  It's one of the famous, classic dishes of the world, and rightly so. Now is a good time if you have tomatoes in your garden, plus it's another one of those food adventures we like to have.

* * click here for a printable recipe * *

Smoky Peanut Mole with Pork Tenderloin
Serves 6

2 medium dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ small white onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
8 ounces (1 medium-large round or 3-4 plum) ripe tomatoes
1 cup dry roasted peanuts, plus additional chopped for garnish
2 slices firm white bread, torn into pieces
2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, seeded
½ teaspoon cinnamon, preferably freshly ground Mexican
1/3 teaspoon allspice, preferably freshly ground
About 3 ½ cups chicken broth
½ cup fruity red wine
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
Salt to taste
2 (1-lb) pork tenderloins
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cilantro for garnish


Tear the dried ancho chiles into flat pieces. Heat an ungreased skilled over medium heat and add the chile pieces. Briefly press the chiles down with a spatula. Listen for a crackling noise and watch for the color to change. Do not allow the chiles to start smoking – a burnt taste will significantly change the flavor of the mole. Place the toasted chiles in a small bowl, cover with hot water, and let soak for 30 minutes. Pour off the water.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add white onion and garlic cloves. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions and garlic are browned, about 10 minutes. Scoop the onions and garlic into a blender.

Preheat the broiler with a rack at the highest level. Remove the core from the tomatoes and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Place under the broiler for 5 minutes, turn the tomatoes, and broil for an additional 5 minutes until the skin of the tomatoes is blackened. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off and place the entire tomatoes, juices included, into the blender.

Add the peanuts, bread, chipotles, drained ancho chiles, allspice, and cinnamon to the blender. Add 1 ½ cups chicken broth and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add a little more chicken broth if the blades of the blender aren’t running smoothly. Put the mixture through a medium-mesh strainer into a bowl.

In the same large saucepan used to cook the onion and garlic, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the peanut puree. Stir continuously for about 5 minutes as the mixture thickens and darkens. Stir in 2 cups chicken broth, red wine, cider vinegar, and bay leaves. Turn the heat down to medium-low, partially cover the pot, and let the mixture simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring regularly.

Taste the mole and season with salt (1/2 – 1 ½ teaspoons) and sugar. Remove the bay leaves. Keep warm.

Preheat the grill to high heat. Rub pork tenderloins with olive oil and season generously with kosher salt and pepper. Place on the grill and sear each side, about 2 minutes per side. Turn the heat down to medium-high and cook for an additional 7-12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145-150 degrees. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve several pieces of the pork with the mole sauce and garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro.