In search of Cajeta

So we've been getting a lot of mileage out of Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's cookbook but occasionally we get stumped by one or several of the ingredients. The one that's been causing the most public humiliation is Cajeta which Rick describes as "goat milk caramel". Try explaining that to every grocery store clerk you can find in Toronto; you get some weird looks.

We finally realized that the recipe to make the stuff from scratch is right on Rick's website. However, having now made it from scratch, we'll continue to look for it in the GTA as it is not a small task.

You stir and stir and stir. And then stir some more.

And when you're done stirring, you've somehow turned two litres of goat's milk into half a litre of caramel. So it was literally two hours of stirring, all so we could make Impossible Cake in our brand new 25cm round cake pan. The previous outing where we used an equivalently sized spring pan didn't fair so well. You put your cake pan into a larger pan and pour water into the larger pan when it goes into the oven. While our spring pan is cake tight, it is not water tight.

So here is the cake coming together. The flan is in the blender and the chocolate batter is hanging out in the Sunbeam.

So the reason it's called impossible cake is that the flan and the cake change places while the whole mess is in the oven.

 

Observe: into the bottom of the pan goes a layer of cajeta, followed by the chocolate cake batter, with the flan on top.

At this point it's going into the oven and we're pouring the water around it; the switch is already starting to happen.

But at the end of it all (the cake is now upside down) the layer of cajeta is on top, followed by the flan, and the chocolate cake is on the bottom.

Salsa

On page 218, Rick has a recipe for Roasted Tomato-Habanero Salsa which we've pounded out a few times, in a slightly modified version; we can't find fresh habaneros peppers. So we default to jalapenos which our local grocers seem to have no shortage of. One recommendation I have is to cut up the pepper yourself with a knife. If left to the food processor, the peppers are still whole by the time the tomatoes are the right consistency. Blending until the peppers are thoroughly diced will turn the tomatoes into liquid, which I don't find satisfying to jam a tortilla chip into.

Don't do this, cut up the pepper yourself.

Tortillas

On a recent trip to Washington DC we picked up a tortilla press from Sur La Table which is a pretty awesome kitchen store. We just went in for a tortilla press and ended up spending about $80 on random things.

On the first use though, the thing snapped right in two. Who would've thought you could use a doughy ball of corn flour to kill cast iron? After placing a call to Sur La Table (which has an excellent return policy, as long as you're in the US) they determined that they would just send us a brand new tortilla press. Woot! In the mean time, I screwed both parts of the broken one down to a big piece of red oak. Seems to have done the trick.

So job one is to go out and buy some masa harina. We've been using Maseca brand instant corn masa mix which we've been getting at our local price chopper. It's quite refreshing to actually find some of the thing we need without having to go to the ends of the earth. All you have to do is follow the directions on the back of the bag, and you're in business. One sheet of wax paper, one ball of dough.

One more sheet of wax paper

And then give'r. What I've found is that the press closes flush at the lever end, but not quite at the hinge end. So what I end up doing is not quite pressing the hell out of it on the first press, but giving it a modest press, and then flipping the tortilla end for end. I'll give it another press and then rotate it 90 degrees, press it and flip and press again.

Once you've got your tortilla pressed out, pull the wax paper right back against itself; that's the best technique I've developed to prevent any tortilla tearing. Once you've denuded it, slap it down into your hot skillet. No grease is necessary - amazing. You'll have to work out your own timing with your own stove. We've got a GE with the front burners labelled as "Hi Output" which means "You're going to burn everything you cook during the first month" and I do one minute per side with the dial on 5.

Once they come out of the pan, make sure you stack them in between layers of a folded napkin. If you stack them straight, they'll sweat and get slimy. And nobody likes slimy tortillas.

Alas, dinner is served. The tortillas were deep fried into tostadas, we've got Rick's "Pickled Chicken" (p. 204), sour creme and cilantro, the salsa in the salsa chiller, hard boiled and sliced eggs, guacamole and everybody's favourite, refried beans. Watermelon Mojitos as an added bonus.