Traditional Mexican Foods Menu

Drink: Rice Water
Appetizer: Green Chalupas with Tomatillo Salsa (Green Sauce)
Main Course: Chicken or Pork Loin with Red Mole
Side: Beet and Cucumber Salad
Dessert: Fried Plantains

Rice Water

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rice
• 3 cups milk
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken and slightly toasted in frying pan/skillet
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 cups water

Soak rice in enough water to cover it for at least 3 hours. Drain the water and puree the rice with the milk and cinnamon. Strain the mixture and discard the rice. Dissolve sugar in the water and combine with rice water. Serve chilled with ice.

Green Chalupas (serves 4 or 8 appetizers)

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 pounds Masa Harina (dried flour for tortillas)
• 6 tablespoon soften butter
• 1 breast, seasoned with salt and lime, grilled and shredded
• 1/3 pound anejo cheese or parmesan
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

Green Sauce

First make the tortillas. Add just enough water to the Masa Harina make into a workable dough. Create 8 thin oval shaped tortillas. Cook one side on a griddle. Remove it. Pinch the boarders of each tortilla so they can hold a filling.

Return to the griddle to cook the other side. Top each chalupa with a teaspoon of butter. Top with tomatillo salsa, or green sauce (described below), chicken, cheese and onions.

Tomatillo Salsa (Green Sauce or Salsa Verde) Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 15 tomatillos
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 serrano chiles
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon softened butter

You can't have traditional Mexican foods without a salsa!

For this "salsa verde" puree all the ingredients except the butter. Heat the butter in a frying pan/skillet and add the puree. Saute until the flavors have blended and the sauce has thickened.

Chicken or Pork Loin in Red Mole Sauce (8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of cooked chicken or pork loin
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt
• Red Mole Sauce

"Mole" really means "sauce" in Spanish; so Mole Sauce is a little redundant -- but does communicate to the English speaker: this is one of many wonderful Mexican Sauces. This should be distinguished from "salsa" which does not actually refer to "sauce" but rather to "spicy."

For this mole, combine the meat, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and salt in a sauce pan and add enough water to cover. Cook until the meat is tender (about an hour).

Drain and reserve the broth. Let it cool slightly and slice.

Mole

Ingredients:

• 8 ancho chilies
• 8 guaillo chilies
• 3 tomatoes, roasted and peeled
• 8 allspice berries, or substitute 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
• 3 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 ripe plantain banana, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of soften butter
• Salt
• 1 teaspoon tarragon, (Mexican or French)

Slightly roast chilies on a griddle. Remove seeds and soak in hot water for 20 minutes. Puree the chilies with the water and strain. Puree the tomatoes, spices, 2/3 of the sesame seeds, and the plantain. Strain.

Saute the onion in the butter until translucent. Add tomatoes mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Add tarragon, salt to taste, and enough of the meat broth to make a medium-thick sauce.

Cook for an additional 10 minutes, until sauce is just a little thicker. Add meat and cook for 10 more minutes. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the top as garnish.

Beet Cucumber Salad (8 servings)

• 2 beets, cooked and sliced
• 2 cups cauliflower, cooked with florets removed.
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1 cucumber, peeled and diced

Arrange all vegetables in a salad bowl and dress with vinaigrette (ingredients below).

Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon of mustard
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon of honey

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake vigorously.

Mexican Dessert Recipe: Fried Plantains

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe plantains
• 4 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar
• 4 tablespoons of butter

Peel and slice plantains on the diagonal. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Fry in a frying pan/skillet with butter, turning only once after the sugar has caramelized on each side.

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