El Restaurante Mexicano
2002 Buyers Guide
Traditional recipes
celebrate the season
By Kathleen Furore
Editor, El Restaurante Mexicano
©2001 Maiden Name Press LLC
Food is an important part of Las Posadas (December 16-24), Christmas, New Year's, and El Dia de los Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day, Jan. 6)."During these festivities, tamales are the center of all the dishes," says Jesus Bojorquez of Azteca Milling company, makers of the Maseca used to make tamales.
Art Velazquez, owner of ¡Una Mas! in St. Charles and Evanston, Ill., offers tamales such as the sweet tamale with pineapple and raisins at his St. Charles location only in December. In Tucson, Ariz., El Charro Café celebrates with specials including Ensalada de Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Salad) and Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Bread).
Carlotta Flores
El Charro Café
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Ensalada de Noche Buena
Makes 8 to 12 servings | |||
| 18 | green apples | ||
| 18 | red apples | ||
| 12 | navel oranges | ||
| 12 | pomegranates | ||
| 1/2 | c. lemon juice | ||
| 1 | red onion, thinly sliced | ||
| 1 | green bell pepper, diced | ||
| 3/4 | c. Basic Vinaigrette (below) | ||
| 1 | c. walnut pieces | ||
| 1 | c. cubed jack cheese or other Mexican cheese | ||
| 1 | c. seedless grapes | ||
| Shredded coconut (optional) | |||
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Wash, core and cube apples. Peel and cube oranges; or cut in half, remove flesh and save empty halves to use as serving shells for the salad. Peel and separate pomegranate sections. In a ceramic bowl, combine prepared fruit with lemon juice, onion and bell pepper. Toss with Vinaigrette. Cover; set aside for 1 hour. Garnish with grapes, cheese, walnuts, more dressing and a sprinkling of coconut.
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The Basic Vinaigrette: | |||
| 1/2 | c. oil | ||
| 1/4 | c. white vinegar | ||
| Salt and pepper to taste | |||
| Shake ingredients in jar, or whisk oil into vinegar and seasoning. Variation: Add a dash of sugar and a dab of strong mustard.
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Salad and bread recipes reprinted from "El Charro Café : The Tastes and Traditions of Tucson" (Fisher Books, 1998)
| Rosca de Reyes | |||
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The cake: | |||
| 1 | lb. butter or margarine | ||
| 1 | lb. powdered sugar | ||
| 6 | eggs | ||
| 4 | c. cake flour | ||
| 1/4 | t. baking powder | ||
| 1 | t. vanilla | ||
| 1 | c. chopped walnuts or pecans | ||
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, cream together butter or margarine and powdered sugar. Add eggs and beat again, until light and fluffy. Combine dry ingredients, expect chopped nuts. Gradually add dry ingredients and vanilla to creamed mixture. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of lightly greased 9x5x4-inch loaf pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees 55 min., or until pick comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch. Cool 10 min.; turn cake onto wire rack to cool.
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The syrup: | |||
| 2 | c. brown sugar | ||
| 1 | t. ground anise | ||
| 1 | t. vanilla extract | ||
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Melt brown sugar in heavy saucepan over low heat. Add ground anise and vanilla extract. Pour warm syrup over freshly baked cake.
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Recipe from ¡Una Mas! Mexican Grill, Evanston, Ill.
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Holiday Sweet Tamales Makes 50 tamales | |||
| 5 | lbs. Maseca Masa Harina | ||
| 12 | oz. brown sugar | ||
| 2 | T. baking powder | ||
| 46 | oz. chicken broth (College Inn) | ||
| 46 | oz. pineapple, crushed, in juice | ||
| 1 | lb. raisins | ||
| 2 | oz. red food color | ||
| 1-1/2 | lbs. Manteca (lard) Armour | ||
| 50 | corn husk leaves, soaked in warm water for 30 min. | ||
| The Masa: Put Masa in bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, chicken broth, pineapple juice only, and Manteca. Work by hand 5 min. or Ôtil thoroughly mixed and texture is smooth and even. Add food color and mix until is a soft pink color. The filling: Combine pineapple and raisins in a separate bowl and mix well. The tamales: Place part of the dough in a corn husk and spread evenly, leaving 1 to 2 in. of exposed corn husk at each end and at bottom tapered end. Add 1T. of pineapple and raisin mixture in center of dough and bring sides of corn husk together, folding the dough. Tuck one side of husk under the other and roll up tamale so dough is completely enclosed inside husk. Fold bottom tapered end up and place tamale in steamer pot, keeping fold in place. Repeat for each tamale. Steam 30 to 35 min. over boiling water, adding hot water as needed to keep steam constant. Tamales are done when firm to touch but not hard, and dough comes away easily from the husk.
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