Mexico City summer weather is strange. It’s sunny, but only sometimes. The other half of the time it’s chilly and rainy. If you forget your umbrella around 2 p.m., you’re screwed. Unless you enjoy sheets of water falling on your head.
If I were still living in Dallas — where it is supposed to hit 104 today — I would currently have the oven under lock and key. I’d be whipping up a panzanella salad with heirloom tomatoes, or quinoa with baked tofu, roasted red peppers and feta. (Quinoa fairy, please send me some in Mexico City. Kthankxbai.) Here, though, the whole “light summer meal” thing is kinda not applicable. I want stews. Soups. Hot, hearty things.
So this weekend I whipped up a batch of chili, which used to be one of my go-to winter meals, because it took like 30 minutes.
This time it was not so easy. I had to buy and soak my own beans, since the supermarket doesn’t carry canned pinto or kidney. Ground turkey doesn’t exist, either, so I randomly selected a package of ground beef, wondering whether it was lean or not. (What does “angus” mean? Twenty percent fat? Thirty?) I added onion and chipotle, and my favorite brand of canned tomatoes in Mexico. Then I simmered the darn thing on the stovetop for nearly three hours. THREE HOURS.
The result was fantastic, though. At the last minute I decided to make some skillet cornbread, too, using cornmeal I brought from the States. This now means I’m out of cornmeal, but hopefully I can figure out how to buy some from a tortilla press. (“Maiz de grano”? “Elote de grano”? “Maiz molido”? Anyone?) My local supermarket doesn’t carry it.
Anyway, if you also happened to be looking for cool-weather food ideas, the recipe is below.
Americanized Mexico City Chili
1/2 c. dried black-and-white “vaca” beans, soaked overnight in cold water
1/2 c. dried small pink beans, soaked overnight in cold water
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. tomato/chipotle puree (basically boxed tomato puree mixed with chipotle chiles — it’s concentrated and super hot)
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 480g can of Cirio Whole Tomatoes (This is my favorite Mexican tomato brand. Hunt’s blows.)
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 to 2 tablespoons ground cumin
pinch of cayenne
sprinkle of chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish:
Chopped jalapeño
Cilantro
For chili:
Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a dutch oven. Add your onion and cook for five minutes or so, until soft. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Then add ground beef and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. If you bought “angus,” like me, you will have a lot of fat. Drain it off and continue. Your meat now drained, add the tomato puree, beans and tomatoes, and enough water to cover everything by three inches.
Bring to a boil, then simmer until beans are tender, skimming off fat from the top and adding more water if the mixture gets too thick. This will be about three hours if you live in DF. About twenty minutes before the chili is done, add your spices. Serve with chopped jalapeño and cilantro. And, if you’re lucky enough to find cheddar cheese at your local market, add a sprinkle of that too.
Skillet Cornbread
(Adapted from Joy of Cooking’s “Northern Cornbread” recipe)
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 450F. Grease your iron skillet with vegetable or canola oil. Then whisk together in a large bowl:
1 1/4 c. stone ground cornmeal
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 to 4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Whisk together in another bowl:
2 large eggs
2/3 c. milk
2/3 c. buttermilk (I make my own buttermilk, since I can’t find it here.)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until just moistened. Fold in two to three tablespoons of warm, melted unsalted butter.
Batter will be really wet. Pour it into the pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
We’ll see if the quinoa fairy can set something up when you’re here next month…
And, yes, it’s hot. Painfully so.
Leslie (http://recipesbyleslie.blogspot.com/) participated in a comment thread on Rancho Canyon Cookbook (http://ranchocanyoncook.blogspot.com/) and said that she uses Maseca all the time as a substitute for cornmeal.
She said she has a hushpuppies recipe but I think I might ask her if she has a cornbread one. There’s a box cornbread out here in Mazatlan with the brand Pronto and it is pretty good in a pinch but sweeter than I like.
Thanks Nancy! I’ll try it. But what if I want to make polenta? If only I could find coarse-ground yellow cornmeal somewhere…
Today was the second time in 2 weeks this summer that I’ve made chili. Cincinnati chili, that is. The weather seemed just right for it. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who felt that way.
I have never seen quinoa, in fact I have no idea what it is, but pinto beans can be found at Walmart.
🙂
I think the closest thing you could get to cornmeal at a corn mill would be “harina para tamales”. It would be a little moist, though, so you might reduce the liquid in the recipe by a tablespoon or two. You would not want it sieved (the normal procedure) so you’d ask for it “sin tamizar” (I think).
I just came across your blog, and I love it! I have spent lots of time in Mexico, in Guanajuato, Puebla and el DF, and I am becoming increasingly “homesick” for Mexico with each post I read! Enjoy your time there, and if you can swing it, treat yourself to a fancy dinner at Aguila y Sol in Polanco. It’s worth it.
Thanks Ami! Glad you’re enjoying the blog. I think Aguila y Sol might have closed? (Unless it’s reopened again since last I heard.) If it’s open again, I’m going!
Leslie said she uses Maseca in any recipe calling for cornmeal, so that is cool! I think I’ll give your recipes a go! Thanks very much.
yo lesley
i think you can get cornmeal at superama, “harina de maiz” i would say
i think in mexico its more of a “south american specialty” (for arepas, etc.)
You can find imported corn meal and quinoa (from time to time) at The Green Corner on the corner of Mazatlan and Montes de Oca in Condesa. I think Mexican cornmeal for totillas has been soaked in lime, which gives is a decidedly tortilla-ish taste.
Thanks newintown! I’ve bought “inflated” quinoa (basically puffed like cereal) at Green Corner before, and I was so sad that they didn’t have regular quinoa, I never went back to check. Will have to run in there soon.
But Mario, you’ve given me an idea… Since it’s a South American speciality, I wonder if Mercado Medellín would have it? They specialize in South American goods. Been wanting to check that place out anyway, so now I have an excuse.
Can you please give us the quinoa with baked tofu recipe?!?!?!? I love quinoa and am always trying new ways to use it. I use the red quinoa and eat it like cold cereal with sliced almonds and dried cranberries. LOVE IT! Thanks, Amber
Hey Amber! Actually, I didn’t use much of a recipe. (Sorry if that’s annoying.) I was inspired by this red quinoa salad from Chocolate and Zucchini. Have you seen her blog? It’s pretty amazing. I pretty much use whatever veggies I might have on hand — tomatoes, peppers, whatever. Roasted cauliflower would be fabulous. (I can eat that stuff like candy.) Ooh, roasted sweet potatoes would be good too. Anyway, once you have your veggie/quinoa mixture, you can add your tofu. Clotilde from C&Z likes smoked tofu, but I can never find that anywhere, so I just bake mine. You can marinate it in soy sauce — a few suggestions here and here — but just make sure you press it under a book and drain it first, to firm up the texture. I’d actually love to come up with a non-soy-sauce marinade, but that’s going to take some research, I guess. Maybe apple cider vinegar, a little sugar and some dijon mustard… hmmm… gonna think on that.