Mexican Food Made Simple
Last weekend I picked up a new cookery book that I had been looking forward to for some time, ‘Mexican Food Made Simple’ by Thomasina Miers, the Masterchef winner and co-owner of Wahaca. Her ethos, both on television and in her restaurants, is to try and bring simple Mexican street food to a grateful public. From personal experience at Wahaca I would definitely say that her goal has been reached.
I’ve made quite a few Mexican dishes before, but was excited to get home and try some from the book. I set off for the supermarket, extensive list in hand, and returned home relatively successful. That said, anywhere without a solid supply of coriander these days is seriously doing it wrong.
I tried to follow the recipes as much as possible, but due to missing ingredients and giving myself way to much to do, I veered off course frequently. Inspite of that, I and my fellow diners were pretty pleased with the outcome, and it’s a good first step down the path of delicious Mexican gastronomy. These recipes, therefore, are not perfect but should hopefully give you some good ideas to play with.
Roast tomato salsa
I’m sure that everyone has made plenty of salsa before, but I’ve never roasted the constituent parts before. It gave the salsa a really pleasant deep smoky tang and the added heat seemed to help the flavours meld together. This version has no chilli in it at all, purely because the supermarket was all out of them. You could add as much or as little as you want, but make sure to toast the chillies whole in the same way as the tomatoes and garlic for that smoky depth of flavour.
Ingredients
- 6 plum tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- handful of chopped coriander
- half a red onion, finely chopped
- juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Heat up a dry cast iron skillet and add the whole tomatoes and peeled garlic cloves
- Dry roast until all sides are nicely blacked and the flesh is softening slightly (the garlic will take much less time so take it out earlier)
- Move the tomatoes and garlic to a pestle and mortar, season with flaked salt, add the lime juice, and smash to your desired consistency
- Mix in the coriander and red onion, move to a bowl and then chill in the fridge until you’re ready
Guacamole
Not the most complicated recipe, that’s for sure, but it never hurts to have it down. This, again, is a chilli-free zone, but that’s personally how I prefer my guac: smooth and soothing, slathered on anything and everything!
Ingredients
- 4 ripe avocados
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- handful of chopped coriander
- half a red onion, finely chopped
- juice of 2 limes
Instructions
- Scoop the flesh out of the avocados and smash up in a pestle and mortar with some flaked salt
- Add the chopped garlic, lime juice, red onion and coriander, mix and chill
Press cling film right down onto the top of the guacamole to stop it from browning.
Coconut ceviche
Ceviche is a delicious dish whereby the fish is cooked using an acid, lime juice in this case, instead of applying any kind of heat. It leaves the fish very soft and juicy. I served it up on tostadas, which are small tortillas deep-fried until crispy and golden.
Ingredients
- small bowl of home-made roast tomato salsa
- 400g firm white fish (I used coley)
- 1 tbsp coconut milk
- juice of 4-5 limes
- 1 avocado
- 2 tomatoes
- handful of chopped coriander
- 2 slightly stale tortillas
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Put the diced fish into a bowl and cover with the coconut milk and lime juice, then cling film and refrigerate for 45 minutes
- Leave the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute, then remove and peel off the skins, deseed and dice
- Get the flesh from the avocado and dice
- Use a small ramekin or pastry cutter to cut circles out of your tortillas about 5cm across
- Heat about 2 inches of oil in a saucepan until it shimmers, then deep fry the tortilla rounds until golden, drain on paper towel and keep warm
- Drain the fish in a colander, then toss with the tomatoes, avocado and coriander with a little lime juice and some salt to season
- Plate up by spooning a small amount of salsa onto a friend tortilla round, then top with the fish, tomato and avocado
Mushroom quesadillas
Quesadilla means “small cheesy thing”, which in itself is ace. You can fill them with pretty much anything you like, but thick juicy mushrooms work rather nicely and were personally requested by my better half, so who am I to argue?
Ingredients
- 1 flour or corn tortilla
- 3 large portobello mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- handful of white crumbly cheese (Cheshire works brilliantly)
- small handful of chopped coriander
- squeeze of lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C
- Slice the mushrooms thick and fry in a little olive oil, making sure that they get nice and brown to bring out the nutty flavour, season well with salt (under-season if using an overly salty cheese like feta)
- Once the mushrooms are cooked, add the garlic and coriander, cook for a further minute, squeeze in the lime juice and take off the heat
- Heat up a dry cast iron skillet and brush one side of the tortilla with a little olive oil
- Put the tortilla oiled side down in the skillet, cover one half with the mushrooms, and top with the cheese
- When the cheese begins to melt, fold the tortilla in half, turn it over, and put in the oven to finish
- Once the quesadilla is brown, crunchy and full of melted cheese, cut in two and enjoy!
Potato and chorizo
This was the dish that suffered slightly whilst cooking, partly due to a cast iron skillet that hadn’t been seasoned well enough, and partly because I was doing about twenty other things at the same time whilst trying not to burn myself! It tasted okay in the end, albeit a little ‘caramelised’ in places, but got good reviews from the less-critical folks present.
Ingredients
- 3 waxy potatoes
- 100g chorizo
- 2 red onions
- generous pinch of thyme
Instructions
- Dice the potato into 1cm cubes and fry in a good slug of olive oil, making sure to season well with salt
- Slice the red onions and add to the potatoes once they are beginning to brown
- When the onions are mostly cooked, dice they chorizo and add to the potatoes and onions
- Once everything is browned and cooked through, mix in the thyme and cook for another minute or two
- Serve up in a bowl ready to be spooned into tacos
