Ranchos - Tamales al Vapor, part 1 (sauce and filling), a Pinedo recipe

On page 263 of Miss Pinedo's book El cocinero español, she lists "Tamales al vapor" or Steamed Tamales.  Underneath she adds that it is the "latest novelty."  It is a tamale made in a pudding mold and is steamed.  I see the advantage:  instead of wrapping individual tamale servings, you made the whole thing at once to serve a crowd.

I wanted to make it as she might have, starting with dried chiles to make the sauce and working my way through the entire process.

Note that I scheduled an entire day to get it made!  The best part was I had a guest cook, NH, helping me along the way.  

There are a variety of recipes Miss Pinedo offers to use as guides.  I chose this recipe on page 248 for the sauce:

My translation

My Notes

I put a lot of water into my stovetop tea kettle and started heating it.

I used 12 chiles:  6 each of California and Guajillo.  To "decrown" is to remove the stem end; then I split them down a side and removed the seeds (saving some for the sauce) and any loose veins that tore out easily.

Straight out of the bag

Decrowning

Seeds and veins removed.

They went into a 250 degree F oven.  I took them out after 15 minutes because they had puffed and darkened.  

They went into a bowl of ice water for just a few minutes and then the water was drained off.  I put them in a saucepan and poured the hot water from the tea kettle over them, just enough to cover the chiles.  The lid went onto the saucepan and the chiles soaked for two hours.

Beginning of the soaking

After soaking

The water was drained off and the chiles went into the blender.  I added enough water allow the blending to proceed smoothly and I processed them until there were no big pieces but I could see tiny bits of skin.  

NH used the back of a ladle to push the pureed chiles through a coarse sieve, occasionally stopping along the way to remove the bits that didn't go through.  At first it was too thick to push through, so she added enough water to make it workable. What she ended up with was about 1 1/4 cups of chile puree.

Smooth!  No bits.

We then added 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dried and crumbled oregano, two tablespoons olive oil, and two tablespoons white wine vinegar.

This was the sauce.  Next we worked on the filling, which Miss Pinedo calls the stew.

I used this recipe on page 262 as our guide:

My translation

I had a big bag of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, so NH cut them into bite-sized pieces.  While she was doing that, I heated up a pan of water with 1 teaspoon salt in it.  

To parboil the chicken pieces, I put a handful in the hot water and stirred it to separate the pieces.  They stayed in the water (with an occasional stir) until the exterior was no longer pink (about 5 minutes per batch).  Then they were removed and drained.  We used about 2 pounds of meat, total.  As each batch finished draining, they went into the chile sauce, which was over a very low heat.

This looked like a good meat-to-sauce ratio.

Next we turned to page 261 and the recipe for beef tamales to continue making the stew.

My translation

We also referenced pages 263 and 264 on Mexican style tamales for more ideas on what to go into the filling.

My translation

We focused on the beef tamale instructions that said:

On the other hand, a lot of onion is chopped and fried in good fat; when it begins to brown, add a tablespoon of dry flour and stir and turn the sauce to prevent the flour from sticking or browning too much. Immediately, a good thick red chile sauce is added; seasoning it with salt, oregano, and some toasted and ground red chile seeds, and olives from Spain. Then place the meat in the sauce, letting it simmer over a slow and prolonged heat until it is well seasoned.

A large onion was diced and fried in olive oil, adding 1 heaping tablespoon of flour once the onions started to brown.  This was stirred a lot until the whole thing looked thick.

Meanwhile, I took the few (2 to 3) tablespoons of chile seeds I had saved and toasted them in dry, hot skillet.  It is important to keep the seeds moving while toasting to avoid scorching.

The time to stop toasting is when many or most are browner and you can smell a toasted scent.

Then they were ground in the little coffee grinder that is used just for spices.

We tasted them.  Surprisingly, they weren't really spicy.  We decided to use them because they might add a toasted flavor and possibly thicken the sauce a little.

The inspiration from the Mexican style recipe was to add garlic (1 tablespoon, chopped), black olives (about 15, chopped), almonds and walnuts (about 1/2 cup total, chopped), and raisins (1 1/2 handfuls).

Once everything was in the sauce, we tasted to adjust the seasoning.  We added another 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt.  That tasted just right.  We also added some of the broth the chicken was parboiled in to make it moister.

Then we put the stew over a very low heat, covered the pan, and let it cook for an hour or so.  

Done cooking.

This is the end of part one.  Part two is posted next.  This is making the masa and assembling the entire dish.

Summary of what we used for the sauce and filling:

12 chiles

2 lb chicken thigh meat 

olive oil

1 large onion

1 heaping tablespoon flour

15 olives

1/2 cup total chopped almonds and walnuts

1 1/2 handful raisins

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 - 3 tablespoons chile seeds

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons salt + 1 more teaspoon for the parboiling water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Ranchos - Manchamanteles, a Pinedo recipe

My first recipe for the Ranchos era is Manchamantel, "stains the tablecloth".  Ms. Pinedo's book lists two recipes, this one and one that uses chicken, pineapple, and peaches (both on page 157).  (See details about her book here.)

A translation of the second recipe is at the bottom of this post.

I used Dan Strehl's translation from page 108 of Encarnación's Kitchen which he titles "Manchamanteles, The Stew that Stains the Tablecloth":

ISBN 0-520-23651-3

Manchamanteles  -- The Stew That Stains the Tablecloth

Take some ripe tomatoes and remove the seeds.  Grind them with soaked, toasted dry chiles, cinnamon, and pepper.  After they are ground, fry in lard, mix with warm water, and add chickens or pork, cooked sausages, olives, vinegar, salt, a lump of sugar, yams, or peanuts.

My Redaction

2 ounces dried California type chiles

2 pounds, 9 ounces Roma tomatoes

1 scant teaspoon peppercorns

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 ounces beef chorizo

1 pound, 6 ounces braised boneless pork

1 pound, 2 ounces yam

1/2 cup chopped peanuts, roasted and lightly salted

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped black olives

And the chiles.  See below.

My Notes

The tomatoes, chiles, pepper, and cinnamon form the sauce in which all the other ingredients simmer to make the stew.  My challenge was learning how to handle the chiles.

You can read the details of how I chose my chiles here.

And the details of how I prepared them for this sauce are found here.

While the chiles soaked, I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

I removed the stems and seeds of the tomatoes and cut them into big pieces.  Then I processed them in the blender to make four cups of puree.

Once the chiles were ready, I put them into the blender along with some of the tomato puree and the cinnamon and pepper.  I blended them until the mixture was smooth.  I poured some of it out and added in the rest of the tomato puree so it was all well mixed.  The taste was of raw tomato with a mild chile bite.  I could taste the spices but they weren't overwhelming.  

The sauce went into my Dutch oven that was heated and had about 1 tablespoon olive oil in it (I was out of lard).

I decided that "frying it in lard" really meant to heat the sauce and cook it a little before the other ingredients went in.  I brought it to bubbling over medium heat and then let it simmer over a lower heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The braised pork chunk was cut into bite-sized cubes, the yam was peeled and diced, the chorizo was cooked in the skillet and then drained of its fat.  The whole olives were sliced and the peanuts were coarsely chopped.  

Once the sauce was ready, all the other ingredients were added and the mixture was stirred.  It looked too thick so I added a little hot water so it stirred easily.

I adjusted the heat to low, covered the pot, and let it simmer for about an hour, which is what it took to make the yam cubes soft.  Occasionally I stirred it.

The Verdict

I served it with a garnish of chopped peanuts and with warm flour tortillas on the side.

My guest taster and I were a little wary because neither of us are experienced hot chile eaters.  We both knew - intellectually - that I had chosen mild chiles but the chorizo certainly had a kick.  

So we took experimental bites and were pleasantly surprised at the flavor.  The chile heat was mild enough for us but it was there.  The pepper and especially the cinnamon were good background support flavors.  The chunks of ingredients -- pork, yams, olives, and peanuts -- were tender and had absorbed enough of the sauce flavors to be interesting.  The yams came across as slightly sweet.  The raw tomato taste was gone and the spices and other flavors had blended into a nice balance.

The sauce itself had a light sweetness to it, which we enjoyed.  We both decided it needed more vinegar, although we liked it as it was, too.  We ended up putting some aged balsamic vinegar on top and that was wonderful.  I think I would increase the apple cider vinegar to 2 tablespoons and perhaps put the second tablespoon in just before serving it.

The flour tortillas were a good accompaniment and actually the historically correct choice.  Ms. Pinedo lived in Northern California where it was easier to grow wheat than corn.  We each tore off pieces of the tortilla and spooned the stew onto it.  

Success!  I was pleased I handled processing the chiles well and that I didn't blast out our taste buds with too much heat.  If you want more heat, you could use the entire 9 ounce roll of chorizo or you could choose hotter dried chiles, like a pasilla ancho or more.  I bought some pasilla anchos for more experimenting.

For the record, my table did not have a tablecloth, so it was not stained.   

We had the leftovers the next day and found it was even better.  No more vinegar was needed; all the flavors had melded and balanced.  It was excellent.

Here is the translation of the second recipe, "Manchamanteles de gallina":

Chicken Stain the Tablecloth

A wide chili is deveined and toasted, then cooked, soaked, and ground with garlic, cumin and tomatoes. This is half fried in little lard and then mixed with cooked onions, pineapple, sweet potato, peaches and chopped peanuts.

(I assume you would add pieces of chicken with the onions and etc.)

Ranchos - Preparing Chiles

I have been reading through Jacqueline Higuera McMahan's book, California Rancho Cooking and also Encarnación's Kitchen, Dan Strehl's translation of the quintessential Californio/Rancho cookbook published in 1898 by Encarnación Pinedo titled La Cocina Español, "The Spanish Cook."  Published in Spanish, it is the earliest known collection of Californio recipes.  Encarnación's Kitchen contains a  sampling of the more than 800 recipes Ms. Pinedo published, and I have to admit that many of them look really good.

Both books emphasize the use of chiles.  In particular, the use of dried chiles in sauces.  As I mentioned in a previous post, "Ranchos -- Choosing Chiles", I am a "chile-cooking newbie" and realized I needed guidance on properly preparing them.

Many of Ms. Pinedo's instructions are "grind dried, toasted chiles" with other ingredients.  I had to wonder how I was supposed to toast dried chiles.  What is the technique?  What is the goal?

Ms. McMahan's book provided me with the initial instructions on page 121:  "Toast the chiles on a griddle or in a heavy cast iron pan.  Keep turning so they soften, but do not burn."  FineCooking.com's article, "How to Toast Dry Chile and Spices" added more details:

Heat a heavy-duty skillet (such as cast iron) over medium-high heat until you can feel the heat radiate from the surface. Working with one type of spice or chile at a time, add it to the skillet. Flip or stir frequently for even toasting, until browned for spices or lightly charred—not scorched—for chiles. Immediately transfer to a cool container.

FineCooking also suggests to vent the fumes well because "chile smoke is irritating and may cause you to cough and sneeze."  

Now I knew what to do and what to look for.  I opened my bag of dried California chiles (considered mild for my inexperienced palate) and heated up my heavy cast iron skillet.  

Right out of the bag.  The red highlights don't show well here.

Once the pan was radiantly hot, I placed one chile on it and watched it carefully as I turned it over again and again with tongs.  I noticed that the chile right out of the package was stiff and dry and flat.  Once it was on the heat, it became obviously softer and flexible.  After it was on the heat longer, the chile started to puff up.  

Out of the bag:  flat and stiff

Puffy from the heat

Puffed and toasted

It was hard to tell if the chile was toasting or not -- it started off dark with some red highlights.  I thought I saw some dark brown spots but wasn't sure they were new.  But it puffed and I decided it was done toasting, so I put it on a plate and got another chile.

Once I had toasted several individually, I started recognizing the changes of color:  the surfaces that were in contact with the skillet became darker and looked a little crispy.  I felt more confident about my timing.  I began to toast two and even three at a time, turning them often and taking them off the skillet when they puffed and looked darker.  One smaller chile with the stem fully intact puffed so much that it popped.

I toasted the entire 3 ounce bag.  A few little pieces of chile ended up in the pan and appeared to be scorched, which helped me realize that I hadn't scorched any of the chiles that I was toasting.  And while I had the venting fan on over the stove top, I did not encounter any fumes or smoke that bothered me. 

The next step for preparation was soaking.  Ms. McMahan gives more instruction on page 121:  "Rinse well to remove all the dust and grit.  Break each chile into two or three pieces, removing stems and seeds.  Place in a large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Soak for 1 – 2 hours."

I decided to soak 2 ounces of my toasted chiles.  At first I wasn't sure how to remove the seeds.  The chiles had cooled so they were stiff again instead of pliable.  I broke the top off that contained the stem and noticed that many seeds were there.  I tried using a little spoon to scrape out the seeds but that meant I had to break the chile into bits in order to get the spoon inside.  

Then it occurred to me that since I needed to rinse the "dust and grit", I could use water to help rinse out the seeds.  What ended up working was breaking the chiles open, using my fingers to pull out most of the seeds and the veins, then rinsing out the rest of the seeds.

The chiles went into a bowl and were covered with boiling water.  I let them soak for one hour and a little more.

After a little soaking time

The soaked chiles were then drained.  I noticed they were soft, pliable, and smelled good.

Drained, softened, and ready to go.

There were still a few seeds among the pieces but I didn't worry about them.

At this point, the chiles were prepared and ready to be used in a recipe.  Their use is for another post.

Ranchos - Choosing Chiles

I have lived in Southern California for most of my life, so I already knew something about chiles, but I have to admit that I don't cook with them often, so I don't know much about how to prepare them or use them.

One aspect I feel the need to point out is the spelling.  "Chili" is a stew-like dish that is typically tomato-based, often with beans and/or meat, with a dominant flavoring that comes from "chili powder."   This is a spice blend, containing ingredients like onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, and some cayenne pepper for "heat."  (Reference:  Chili Powder)  I like to put in sauteed onions, corn, and bump up the umami levels with cocoa powder.  

A "chile" is the fruit of the plants in the Capsicum genus, which are well-known for their hot, spicy taste.  Wikipedia says they are one of the oldest cultivated crops in America, having been part of the human diet since about 7,500 BC.  They all originated in the New World, but they are grown worldwide today.  Other names are "chili pepper", "chilli", "chile pepper", "chilli pepper."  (Wikipedia, "Chili pepper")  And, of course, "Chile" is the country located in South America.  

For clarity, I will make it a habit to refer to the stew as "chili" and the fruit as "chile."  

I needed to learn about how chiles were used during the Rancho period, so I turned to Jacqueline Higuera McMahan's book, California Rancho Cooking.  (McMahan, Jacqueline Higuera.  California Rancho Cooking. The Olive Press. Lake Hughes, CA. 1983)

ISBN 0-9612150-0-3

Ms. McMahan is a descendent of the Berryessa family, original settlers of the Santa Clara area in Northern California and considered a prominent Californio family. (Wikipedia, "Berryessa family of California")  Her book contains recipes she learned from her Californio ancestors as well as stories of her time at the family rancho.

She gives this insight: 

The original settlement of California was the unrivaled civilizing center for a coastline stretching a thousand miles.  At the heart of the early cuisine were chiles, part of the culinary treasure borrowed from the ancient Indian culture of Mexico.  They simply could not live without chiles and so chiles found their way into many dishes. (pg. 95)

Although chiles were the mainstay of this wilderness diet in Early California, foods advanced, … but the red chile puree remained a staple in all rancho kitchens to be kept on hand for making sauces, enchiladas, carne con chile, beef tamales and other traditional foods.  (pg. 96)

She also provides guidance for selecting and preparing chiles.

Many of the traditional dishes require various types of the red, dried chiles and you must familiarize yourself with some of the most frequently used so you are not at the complete mercy of their whimsical identification in the different ethnic areas of the United States. (pg. 96)

I took excerpts from pages 97-98 to identify which types to purchase:

Distinguishing Types of Dried Red Chiles

California or Anaheim

Pale red with a smooth, shiny skin. … These long, pointed chiles, popularly known as “red chiles”, are the dried version of the green California or anaheim.

New Mexico

… similar to the Anaheim or California chile, except it hotter.  It is difficult to distinguish between the California and New Mexico chile, but the New Mexico seems to have a more brittle, papery skin.

Ancho or Pasilla

Deep red-brown with a wrinkled, dusty appearance.  These are the dried version of the poblano chiles, known in California as the pasilla chiles.  Mild to medium picante.  They may also be called pasilla anchos in some markets.

Japonés

These are ripened, dried serrano chiles.  Very hot.

Pasilla Negro or Pasilla

About 6 inches long and 1 inch wide.  These chiles are long, slender and almost black, giving the characteristic, almost black ochre color to traditional mole poblano of Mexico.

Mulato

This chile is the same shape as the pasilla ancho and it is difficult to tell them apart unless they are side by side, but the mulato is the darker brown, rather than the dark red of the pasilla ancho.

Considering I am a chile-cooking "newbie" and one whose taste buds prefer flavor over fire, I decided to start with California chile with possibly enhancing the heat levels by including some pasilla anchos, depending on what I can find in the stores.  I know I can enjoy the green anaheim chiles without worrying about the heat, so my hope is this will be a good introductory chile.