You can't spell Mole without...

And that's how it goes sometimes.  You make a plan, and you think you've got it all under control.  You've already gone to get your ingredients first thing in the morning and you're about to tackle the big one.  That ambitious project.  

But something isn't right.  You start down the path and something doesn't feel bang on.  You didn't have your daily cup of coffee. You're wearing mismatched socks.  The ghost of Rick Bayless is trying to pull a fast one on you.  And before long, your Easy Slow Cooker Mole is making you think about hanging up your tortilla press for good.  So make the jump and check out the post-mortem.  

Pollo Pulquero is a dish best served in the dark

Look at those beans!  They're sitting there because Pollo Pulquero is ugliest tasty dish you've ever seen.  Rick doesn't even put a picture of it in the book!  It's sort of symptomatic of being cooked in a slow cooker for six hours, so what can you do.

The prep on this one is silly easy.  You put things in a slow cooker, and then you come back.  So I'll be economical with my words.  Write a to do list, get some groceries and make the jump.

Pickled Chicken Comes Full Circle

800 million years ago when we started this blog, we posted about cajeta and the dessert we made with it.  As a footnote we mentioned that we made "Pickled Chicken" with little more than a blurry photo.  Now that the blog has fallen into a routine of witty comments and slightly better photography, it's time to revisit that dish.

It still lives on page 204 in Fiesta at Ricks, and that page is amazingly still attached to the rest of the book.  I also banged out some roasted tomato salsa, home made black turtle beans, and fresh corn tortillas.  Attach the drool guard to your keyboard and make the jump!

Soup N' Salad

That photo makes me want to lick my screen!

Every week here at FNM we're pushing boundaries and trying new things.  This week it's Tortilla Soup and Ceviche Salad (Mexican Everyday).  The last time we did fish it turned out quite well and this week's guest is responsible for turning me on to all of the AYCE sushi restaurants in Ottawa, so ceviche seemed more than fitting.

But man cannot live on fish alone, so I made sure that the tortilla soup had lots of chicken in it.  So tighten the straps on your straight jackets and let's see what happens!

Check out the grill on that fish

Hot off the tasty success of last week's achiote experiment, we decided to go for round two with a completely different cast: Fish and Chicken.  We were also heading up to the cottage for this one so we knew we could get some real grilling done.  No more faking it under the broiler!

So fill your propane tanks and stock your cupboards with achiote as we dive into Grilled Fish (and Chicken) in Tangy Yucatecan Achiote with Green Beans (plus Chayote and Asparagus) and Rustic Roasted Tomato Salsa.

Enchiladas: Reloaded

Due to the long weekend we took Friday Night Mexican on the road.

Playing the game from the visitor dugout has its challenges, but nothing that we couldn't overcome. We did bring the cast iron and the tortilla press along. Everything else was completely foreign.  Except for the meal. We revisited enchiladas this week but through the pages of Rick's Mexican Everyday:  Tomatillo-Sauced Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms. The link here goes to the recipe hosted at Martha Stewart's site and even has a video of her and Rick knocking out the first half of the instructions.

Enchiladas - No assembly required

For some reason I felt like enchiladas this week.  Since we've been making our own tortillas, everything that we've eaten has been a vertical build on a horizontal substrate. Sometimes it's just easier to eat something if it's in a nice little parcel.  It also means that our guests don't have to go through the trouble of assembling their own dinner.

And so we dive headlong into Enchiladas Verdes!