Adventures in Mole

I am a big fan of Rick Bayless. In case you don't know who he is, he has travelled extensively in Mexico over many years, immersing himself in the cuisine through street vendors, home cooks and restauranteurs. He has a show on PBS and won Top Chef Masters last year cooking what he loves - Mexican food. I would love to jump on a plane and blissfully dine in his Chicago restaurants. Perhaps
I will. I have cooked several recipes from his Mexican Kitchen book; I swear his Mexican rice is the best I've ever had. The chipotle peanut mole is unlike any mole I have ever tasted (in a very good way) and the jicama salad is crunchy, refreshing and full of flavor. I could go on but I won't.

Last weekend it was our turn to host our gourmet cooking club and I wanted to have a Rick Bayless dinner. Not only that, I was going to make a red mole, with 26 ingredients and it wasn't going to get made in one day. Rick does recommend breaking such a big undertaking up and I planned accordingly, starting with the shopping.

I'm going to tell you right now, I decided to go with real lard as my cooking fat. I'm sure you're horrified at the thought, but let me share some statistics with you about pork fat that I got from Fat, An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient... by Jennifer McLagan. Generally pork fat breaks down to 39% saturated fat, 45% monounsaturated and 11% polyunsaturated.The low level of polyunsaturated fat means the fat is more stable, which makes it great for cooking. Do I plan to use lard regularly? No, but I felt it was important to this experience. I rejected the lard packaged up in boxes; just look at the ingredients. Partially hydrogenated oils right from the jump! I went to El Dorado Market on South El Dorado (1 block north of Charter Way) and asked for lard. I rejected the packaged crap and asked for manteca de puerco hecho aquí. I don't know if it was rendered there but the butcher went in the back and returned with a pint of lard in a styrofoam container. It cost me $1.29. It smelled like animal fat so I'm trusting it was the real deal. It's totally worth driving to a Mexican market for lard. I tried rendering lard once last year, and it was a smelly, yucky experience and not very energy efficient.

I spent the next evening splitting and seeding peppers. I saved the seeds, which were toasted and turned into a spice mixture with several other ingredients, like a grated avocado pit!!! I can't believe I bought an avocado just for that, but I was determined not to swerve. Sitting at the dinner table with the tv on makes it seem less like an endless task.

The next evening I spent THREE HOURS frying the chiles, and nuts and seeds, in the lard. Man, I used a lot of lard. And paper towels to soak up the lard. I used my Vita Mix blender to blend up the chiles and strain (I hate straining) and then the spice paste. (As an aside, the Vita Mix works so well that there was very little in the strainer.) By the end of the night I was fried; seriously. But the worse was over, honest.

I took a night off and on Thursday I cooked the chiles mixture (in a little lard) and added the spice paste and cooked some more. Here's where it gets dangerous. If you've ever cooked cornmeal on top of the stove, or hey, even mole, you may have experienced the popping and splattering that goes with it. Well this mole popped and it got me good. I have a lovely 2nd degree burn on my
wrist which is still tender and looks worse than it feels. What's funny is the mole only popped and spattered while I was stirring it, and you're supposed to stir it. Frequently. I just got a hot tip on burns today which beggars belief. Squirting yellow mustard on the burn stops the pain cold. I don't know how long to leave it on; evidently it starts hurting again if you wash it off. Please let me know if you try this; better yet don't burn yourself. I'm going to pledge not to burn myself either.

One more tip: if you decide to take the plunge and make mole, wear clothes that you don't care about. An apron doesn't give enough coverage. I wore my chef coat and it is now permanently stained from spilling some spice paste on it. And oh, from popping and splattering.

I'm sure want to know, was it delicious? Worth the trouble? Yes, it was excellent, you won't get that kind of mole around here except in the home of a great cook. It is rich, moderately spicy, with complex flavors from 2 kinds of chiles and 24 other ingredients like almonds, peanuts, tomatillos, tomatoes, on and on. Worth it? Well, I like a challenge to get my juices flowing and I'm happy I made it. Plus, I have lots left over resting in the freezer right now. And oh, I served it with roasted Cornish game hens. (Sorry I wasn't able to get a good picture, I was plating up birds for 8 and didn't take my time. And Yikes! I served the little blighter back side up!) Any, it was yum.

Here's the bad news, depending on how you look at it. I can't give you the recipe, it's copyrighted, but if you want a fabulous Mexican cookbook get Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen. It's totally worth it. If you want free recipes, go to Rick's website, it's loaded with great recipes. He won't mind.

I have plans to try one more mole, the mole negro. A while back I wrote about my pending chile garden, which will have the chiles required for the said mole negro. Recently my box of chile plants arrive and they are in the ground, looking happy. It will be some time before I will have chiles, and get them dried for cooking. So I have time to forget what a big job this was. And I may be willing to do it again.

Little Necks the Slanted Door Way

The Slanted Door at the Ferry Building in San Francisco is one of my favorite restaurants. The food is basically Vietnamese, but it's nothing like anything served in Stockton. It is Gourmet and unambiguously wonderful. When the server told us the clams were a special that day there was no hesitation. They were served as an appetizer in an earthenware bowl, with steaming broth that packed a flavor punch. Spicy, citrusy, basily, garlicky, you get it. When the bus persons came by, trying to take the bowl away, I threatened them with cement shoes. Instead I asked for big spoons so we (by that I mean I) could spoon the delicious broth and not waste a bit. I asked our server if I could get the ingredient list, lest I die. Later she brought me the list, scribbled on a scrap of paper.

My first task was to find roasted chili paste. On my second Asian grocery store stop I found roasted chili paste with shrimp powder. I was dubious but bought it anyway, you know, just in case. On my third stop I found straight chili paste. My Eureka experience was at the New Cambodia Market at 4753 N. Pershing Ave. in Stockton. It's in a strip mall on the nw corner of Pershing and March Lane, facing the Pershing side. It's kind of a cool little market and if you live near there it's definitely worth a try if you're looking for an obscure Asian ingredient.

When we ate our clams I tasted a definite citrus flavor; so even though lemongrass wasn't on the paper scrap, I used it anyway. The basil is cut in a chiffonade, which just means stacking a few leaves, rolling them up and slicing them into ribbons.

In my last article on clams I forget to tell you how I get them ready to cook. Put the live clams in a bowl of cold salted water (I add ice) and let them soak 30 minutes. Drain and rinse and repeat. This is supposed to make them spit out the sand in their shells.

It took me two tries to get this right. The first time I used one whole teaspoon of roasted chili paste. Paul and I were breathing fire but it was good so we ate it anyway. For the second try Paul begged me to use just 1/4 teaspoon and he was right. Maybe a little too hot for Goldilocks but for us it was about right. The flavors were good and we ate every bit. It came very close to what we experienced that day so I'm ready to call it good. For now.

Little Necks A La Slanted Door

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, mashed and minced
1/3 or more jalapeño, seeds removed, minced
1 quart chicken broth
4 stalks lemongrass
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon roasted chili paste
2 tablespoons ginger, coarsely chopped
1 slice bacon sliced crosswise 1/4" thick
1 1/2 pounds little neck clams
1 tablespoon basil, chiffonade

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the shallot and jalapeño and sweat until tender and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds to release its aroma. Pour chicken broth into saucepan and heat over medium setting.

Start adding next four ingredients to the broth. Cut the lemongrass into approximately 2 inch pieces and mash to release flavor by whacking them with the flat side of a chef's knife. Add the fish sauce, chili paste and ginger; simmer gently with lid on for about half an hour to infuse the broth with all the flavors. Turn off the heat and let sit while you cook the bacon until nice and brown. Roll bacon strips up in a paper towel to soak up fat and set aside.

Strain broth into a large measuring cup and pour back into saucepan. Keep warm over medium low heat.

Cook the clams: ladle a quarter cup or so broth into a saute pan and heat up over medium high heat. Add the clams and cover with a lid. Remove the clams as they pop open (a glass lid really makes it easy) and divide them into two serving bowls. When all clams are cooked, top with bacon and basil chiffonade and then the rest of the hot broth. Eat and enjoy.

One last thing, I have switched fish sauce brands to Tiparos. It has half the sodium of the brand I was using. And that's a good thing.

Behold the Delicious Clam

I have loved clams all my life, beginning with my Grandma Kaloutsis' clams and rice dish, which as I recall had a tomato base and was absolutely reeking of garlic (as did we, after dinner). My dad had to take bicarbonate of soda after our Friday night dinners but my brothers and I had no problem eating that dish. The clam dish I'm writing about now is also Mediterranean, but distinctively Italian. This recipe is a little different from the usual; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

First of all, a clam isn't a clam isn't a clam. I particularly like littlenecks, such as Manilas or the beautiful cockles with green shells. Steamer clams, such as the ones I just used are fine. Get small to medium clams, alive and snapped shut tight. I usually use generic dried linguine pasta but this time I tried Trader Joe's Garlic Herb Linguine, which was tasty but has a softer texture. I love lots of clams so I make this recipe heavy on clams and lighter on pasta. I thought I was still hungry but about 20 minutes after eating I felt full. However, if you are a big eater and not eating light like me, pile on the pasta.

Since I wanted to lighten up this dish, bacon is conspicuously absent. If you want it I recommend pancetta (unsmoked Italian bacon), cut into medium dice and cooked until browned, then adding the rest of the ingredients.

Linguine & Clams

Serves 2

1/2 to 1 full jalapeño, split lengthwise and seeded
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon minced garlic cloves (or use a garlic press)
2 shakes red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pounds fresh, live clams in their shells
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 ounces dry linguine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped flatleaf parsley
juice and zest of one lemon
shredded fresh parmesan
cheese, if and as desired

Heat oven to 400° and brush your jalapeño with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake on a sheet for 10 to 15 minutes, until pepper is soft. Let cool and chop finely. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the linguine according to the package instructions, preferable to al dente (Goldilocks style - just right).

Meanwhile, heat your large nonstick saute pan with the oil and and saute the jalapeño, garlic and pepper flakes for 1 minute. Turn up the heat and add the clams and wine and cover. Remove the clams to a bowl as they open so they won't overcook and become mushy. Your pasta should be just about done so add the butter, parsley, lemon zest and juice to the pan along with
the clams. Mix in the drained pasta and parsley. Divide up into two plates and dig in.

I confess I have never served this to company, not sure why. But if you want to serve four clamophiles, up your clam count to about 3 pounds and use a pound of linguine. Add a little more butter, maybe a little more wine and you're good. Just don't forget the lemon.

Dessert-to-die-for alert: last month Paul and I took my mother to Filoli Mansion and Gardens in Woodside for a fun birthday outing. We took the two (yes, two) hour tour of the mansion and amazing gardens. So worth the trip over the San Mateo Bridge and a wee bit farther. At the end of our tour our docent (tour guide) told me we must go to Buck's in Woodside for the boysenberry cobbler. Since she said it was to die for I signed us up. Woodside is an extremely small place and Buck's is no problem to find. I told our server we were there for the boysenberry cobbler experience and she confirmed that it was the smart thing to do. It was served very warm, in a crock, with lots of crusty bits, and a slab of vanilla ice cream on top. The three of us shared it without too much fighting and pronounced it excellent. I look forward to going back. I just won't drink the coffee again.