Adapted from a recipe in The Organic Kitchen Garden calendar (June)
While Jan and Eilene were in Hopi, I made a large pile of tamales for later meals. I served them for Father’s Day dinner and I decided to make two sauces to pour over the somewhat dry tamales. At Miriam’s request I made a mole. While I was deciding on the second sauce, Jan noticed a recipe on the kitchen calendar. As usual, I could not follow the recipe, but had to make “improvements.”
Karl’s Blackberry Salsa
Filed under California Fusion, Sauces and Spices, Vegan, Vegetarian
Several years ago, I tried to make an authentic mole. This is a Mexican sauce—like many others—with no set list of ingredients. Basic ingredients include chilies, fruit, some kind of seeds or nuts, one or more herbs and/or spices, and frequently chocolate. Just about every family, in Mexico and beyond, has their own variation—some with as many as 30 ingredients.
Karl’s Simplified Mole Poblano
Filed under California Fusion, Sauces and Spices, Vegan, Vegetarian
23andMe is a powerful, but dangerous tool. Jan has assumed she had one father, when in fact there were two. According to her genes, Jan’s ancestry is ¼ Iberian and ¼ Cora—although they refer to themselves as Naáyarite—an indigenous tribe that lives in the mountainous region of along the Jalisco / Nayarit border of north Pacific coast Mexico—although much of Jan’s extended family has moved to the coast.
Karl’s Corn, Poblano and Crab Tamales
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood
Some assembly required. Many cultures have a festival dish that is something wrapped in dough that can be stored and then cooked quickly (so the moms can enjoy the festivals). The Hispanic countries have tamales, the Asians have jiaozi (pork dumplings) and the Eastern Europeans have perogi. However the price for this festival freedom is sometimes days of preparation. Making the dough, the filling(s) and assembling the final product are painstaking tasks. Usually this is made easier by making it a group activity. In China we would be treated to jiaozi parties. Our host would bring over the prepared meat and dough and then everyone would pitch in to make (and eat) the jiaozi. For a fun idea of how the Mexican culture does this, I recommend the children’s book Too Many Tamales! (for the hearing impared.)
Jan and I were watching Triple D and one of the featured restaurants was a Mexican place that always has 15 different moles. Jan loves mole and the show expanded my mind on what was possible in the way of mole and how to use it. One of their signature dishes was tamales with mole.
Karl’s Pork Tamales with Mole Poblano
Karl’s Green Mole Rice
Karl’s Refried Beans II
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 