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

Paella on Thursday at Chichén Itzá

What a gorgeous dish of paella (above), and you can have it every Thursday at the Yucatecan restaurant  Chichén Itzá in the Mercado La Paloma.

It's paella as might be made in Mérida, Yucatán, but authentic to Spanish tradition. Chef/owner Gilberto Cetina says the two essentials are Spanish saffron and bomba rice, which is a short-grain rice ideal for paella because it doesn't become mushy.

Paprika dusts the shrimp on top of the rice and the edges of the plate. Nuggets of chicken are mixed in along with peas, making this a hearty dish.

Cetina's touch is the grilled bread at the side. In Spain, he says, bread is not part of paella. Too bad for the Spaniards. Here, it's a wonderful addition. Brushed with rosemary-flavored olive oil, the slices are rich and toasty. Both the bread and the olive oil are made at the restaurant.

Another difference: A container of habanero salsa comes with the paella. That would never happen in Spain.

Thursday's drink special was atole de coco, a warm coconut drink. This would have been nice on a rainy day, but it was impossible to pass up cool green agua de chaya (above), made from the leaves of a shrub native to the Yucatán Peninsula. The demand for the drink is so great that the restaurant runs through pounds of chaya leaves every day.

The restaurant also produces baguettes of pan francés--French bread as made in Yucatán--and sets them out for sale. You can see the loaves in the photo above, beneath the sign that announces the specials of the day.

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

Cilantro Soup--Straight from Mexico

The next time you buy a bunch of cilantro, don't use it all in salsa. Set some aside for this fragrant soup, a recipe straight from Mexico. 

Pick up some bolillos at a panadería or Mexican market, make a salad with baby greens and avocado, and you have a lovely, light supper.  A crisp, cold Sauvignon Blanc would make it even better.

SOPA DE CILANTRO Y PAPA
Cilantro-Potato Soup

1 poblano chile (about 8 ounces), roasted, peeled and seeded
1 russet potato (about 8 ounces), peeled, boiled and quartered
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon chicken seasoned stock base
Salt
Cilantro leaves for garnish

Prepare the chile and potato before starting the soup.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly until tender. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.

Gradually stir some of the broth into the flour mixture until smooth. Then add the chile, cut into strips; the potato, the remaining broth, the milk, cilantro leaves and chicken base.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes. Taste and add salt as needed. Puree with a hand blender, or cool and puree in a blender container.

Reheat the soup and serve in warmed bowls, garnishing each serving with a cilantro leaf.

Makes 5 cups soup, or 4 to 5 servings.

Killer Cornbread at Mercado La Paloma

There's lots of corn at Mercado La Paloma, in tortillas, in tamales and in atole.

Now there's killer cornbread too. It's not where you would expect, at the Mexican restaurants Chichén Itzá and Taquería Vista Hermosa. You'll find it at the Village Market Place produce stand, which opened in the mercado last fall.

There you can buy heirloom tomatoes, sweet potatoes, leeks, guavas and other crops from local farms, all of it organic.

The stand sells prepared foods too, such as tomato sauce, infused balsamic vinegar and fruit jams. Profits go to support the youth training programs of Community Services Unlimited. 

The cornbread had just been introduced the day I was there. Light, sweet and crumbly, it's a three-corn bread, composed of corn flour, cornmeal and fresh corn. Instead of eggs, it's put together with yogurt.

The stand was offering it as a blackboard special, along with black-eyed beans and green salad. That sounds like a delicious lunch, with a choice of two drinks, orange mint tea or ginger coffee. 

Village Market Place, Stand C-9, Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007. 

How to Make Really Great Rajas

Love chiles and cheese? Then the dish for you is rajas, where you get even more in the mix--corn, onions and Mexican crema.

At the top you see rajas as served for breakfast at Villa del Palmar resort near Loreto in Baja California Sur. 

Breakfast there can be a handsome plate, with rajas only part of the picture. Look at the other goodies--refried beans in a tortilla shell, chilaquiles at the left and behind the beans, a tamal wrapped in banana leaves.

How to make rajas? Easy. Alejandra Gutiérrez Camarillo (left), who is on the staff at the resort, gave me her own recipe, which is much more interesting than the usual version of this dish. 

She likes to use two types of green chile, poblanos and fresh California chiles--usually you only get one. And she puts in cream cheese as well as Mexican crema to make the flavor even richer.

Instead of oil, she cooks the chiles and onion in butter. If the chiles are too hot, don't worry. Just add more crema she says. And if the mixture becomes too thick, thin it with a little milk. 

ALEJANDRA'S RAJAS

1/2 pound poblano chiles, roasted and peeled
1/2 pound fresh California chiles, roasted and peeled
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 small onion, sliced crosswise into strips
3/4 cup drained canned whole kernel corn
1/2 cup crema agria (Mexican style sour cream)
3 tablespoons cream cheese
Salt
Milk, if needed

Discard the stems from the chiles and rinse out the seeds. Cut them in halves crosswise, then cut lengthwise into strips.

Heat the butter in a medium skillet. Add the onion and cook until it starts to become tender. Stir in the corn, then add the chile strips and stir gently to combine. Cook until heated through.

Stir in the crema. Push the mixture to one side. Add the cream cheese to the empty space in the pan and stir until it melts, then combine with the chile mixture. Season to taste with salt. If too thick, thin with a little milk.

Serve as a dip with tostadas or totopos (tortilla chips), or fold into soft warm corn tortillas and eat like a taco.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups, or 4 to 6 servings.