EatMx: Real Mexican food, at home and on the road

Mexican Chicken Cooked in Clay

Cooking in clay--that's traditional in Mexico, where old fashioned pottery cazuelas are said to lend special flavor to the guisados cooked in them.

Now two worlds meet with the Romertopf clay cookers. The latest models are manufactured near Guadalajara from clays obtained both in Mexico and the southeastern United States. (They're unglazed and lead-free, so no worries there.)

These cookers work differently from Mexican pottery.  The top and bottom must be soaked in water before each use. And they aren't intended for cooking on top of the stove. The contents are covered, then baked at high heat, starting from a cold oven. 

If you're cooking chicken, you're supposed to get a moist and delicious bird that doesn't have to be basted and fussed with.

Still, I thought the procedure might be tricky, the cooker would be hard to handle and the food would turn out dry and unpalatable.

But I gave it a try anyway. Because the cookers are made in Mexico, I decided to experiment with a Mexican dish--chicken with a creamy sauce of corn and poblano chile strips (at top).

There's nothing like that in the Romertopf instructions, so I worked out my own recipe. The chicken turned out so well that I made it again, with the same delicious results.

Clean-up was easy too. The interior discolored, which is normal, but nothing crusted onto it, so all I had to do was wipe it out, then let the cooker dry thoroughly before stacking the two parts together.

Another plus: no spattering in the oven like you get from an open roasting pan. 

CLAY COOKER POLLO CON RAJAS 
Chicken with Poblano Chiles, Corn and Cream

4 chicken leg quarters, about 3 pounds
2 poblano chiles, roasted and peeled
1 small onion or 1/2 larger onion
Kernels from 1 ear corn
1 large clove garlic, minced
Salt, pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup Mexican crema, warmed

Soak the top and bottom of the clay cooker in water to cover for at least 15 minutes.

Remove the skin and fat from the chicken legs. Wash and pat dry with paper towels.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles, then cut into strips. Cut the onion in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise. 

Drain the top and bottom of the clay cooker. Line the bottom with the onion slices, then make a layer of chile strips followed by the corn kernels. Sprinkle with the garlic.

Place the chicken legs on top of the vegetables and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the chicken broth along the sides.

Cover the cooker and place in a cold oven. Set the heat to 400 degrees. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes.

Remove the cooker and place it on a heat proof surface. Uncover the pot and remove the chicken to a plate.

Stir the warmed crema into the mixture in the cooker. Put the chicken back in the cooker. Cover and cook 10 minutes longer.

Serve with the vegetables spooned on top. 

Makes 4 servings. 

Chamorro Adobado: It's New at La Casita Mexicana

The inventive chefs at La Casita Mexicana seem to come up with something new every week.  

Here's a recent addition to the menu, a spicy meat dish accompanied by an interesting salsa from Jalisco, the home state of chefs Jaime Martín del Campo (above left) and Ramiro Arvizu.

It's chamorro adobado, beef shank in a glistening dark red guajillo chile sauce (above). The lively Jalisco salsa on the side blends chiles de árbol, fresh lime and red onion.

You also get rice and a dish of the reddest beans in town (above), colored with three types of dried chiles.

Then you can finish with another invention, flan de cacao. The flan is flavored with cacao beans and sits on a dark cacao layer instead of the usual syrupy caramel.

By the way, the restaurant serves wine now. The chefs' pick to go with these dishes was a Private Reserve Chardonnay from L.A. Cetto in Baja California.  

La Casita Mexicana, 4030 Gage Ave., Bell, CA 90201. (323)773-1898. 

Breakfast of the Week: Sausage and Eggs

The sausages are Yucatecan longaniza, and that's what makes this egg plate different. 

You can get it at Chichén Itzá in the Mercado La Paloma in downtown Los Angeles. The longaniza is made there, duplicating the famous longaniza of the city of Valladolid in Yucatán. 

The plate includes frijol colado--black beans cooked to a soft puree--rice, Yucatecan pickled red onions and tortillas.

Spoon some of each into a tortilla, add habanero salsa, fold and enjoy, along with a cup of the restaurant's cafe Maya.

And if you like the longaniza, buy some to take home. it's $10 a pound. 

Chichén Itzá, 3655 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007. (213) 741-1075

A Mango Margarita--It's Really Cool

The heat continues, and I can't stop drinking--water, cranberry juice, cool Thai drinks, even ugly tasting water from a commercial drinking fountain.

But when night falls, I drink something else, like this mango margarita. It really brightens up an overheated evening.

MANGO MARGARITA

1/2 Mexican lime
Sugar
Red chili powder
2 ounces tequila
1 ounce canned mango puree
3/4 ounce triple sec

Moisten the rim of a margarita glass with the cut lime. Then dip the glass into a small amount of sugar combined with a few grains of red chili powder--not too much, unless you want it really spicy. 

Squeeze the lime into a cocktail shaker. Add the tequila, mango puree and triple sec.

Add ice, shake well and strain into the prepared glass.

Makes 1 serving.

Note: You can find canned mango puree in Indian markets. 

What to Drink When It's Really, Really Hot

An August heat wave has hit Los Angeles. To keep from getting dehydrated, it's important to drink as much as possible, they say, meaning water, juices and sports beverages. But when the cocktail hour arrives, this is what I'll have.

It's a gorgeous watermelon drink put together by Miguel Tafoya (at right), bartender at the Hotel Capella Ixtapa.

Tafoya did some excellent mixology during a tequila seminar that was part of this spring's food and wine festival in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo.

Notice how he has added basil to the drink instead of the usual mint. 

WATERMELON WINNER
From Miguel Tafoya, Hotel Capella Ixtapa

3 ounces strained pureed watermelon
2 ounces white tequila
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 or 3 basil leaves, plus 1 for garnish
Ice

To prepare the watermelon, measure a heaping 1/2 cup watermelon chunks, eliminating the seeds. Puree this in a blender, then strain through a fine sieve to eliminate any remaining seeds and pulp. Measure 3 ounces and pour into a cocktail shaker.

Add the tequila, agave nectar and lime juice and stir. Taste and adjust the agave nectar and lime juice if needed. Add the basil leaves, torn into shreds.

Add ice cubes and shake well. Strain into an old fashioned glass, adding fresh ice cubes, if desired. Garnish with a basil leaf. 

Makes 1 serving. 

Coming Soon--15-Minute Tamales

Make tamales in 15 minutes? Sounds impossible, but it's happening at La Casita Mexicana in Bell.

Chefs Ramiro Arvizu and Jaime Martín del Campo have come up with a clever method--I won't tell what it is, because it's their secret. And they'll soon introduce these speedy tamales at the restaurant.

I watched in the kitchen as they made the tamales--that's Martín del Campo mixing herbs into the masa above--and tasted a couple of samples. The idea is simple. It's the perfect solution if you need to make tamales from scratch and serve them in a hurry. 

The ingredients are the same as for any tamal--prepared masa, a filling such as chicken and mole (at top), salsa, cheese and either a corn husk or a section of banana leaf for the wrapper.  

The tamales are formed in the traditional way, by spreading masa on the wrapper, adding the toppings and folding the wrapper securely around the contents. 

The cooking method is different, very different. That's all I'll say. But the results are delicious.

La Casita Mexicana, 4030 Gage Avenue  Bell, CA 90201. (323) 773-1898.