DIA DE LOS MUERTOS MEAL
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la comida: el dia de los muertos
ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH MOLE POBLANO, TAMALES DE RAJAS, SALAD OF MANGO AND FIG, FLAN AND PAN DE MUERTO WITH CITRUS CREAM
For the sake of a mood I offer you an exploration of food for comfort and spirits. October and long nights. We celebrate the dead. In my family it is often with chicken pot pie as the tradition for costumes and candy is of a playful sort. All Hallows Eve and a pot pie is simply sustenance for a night out. But this meal I offer here today is of a different sort. Inspired by the idea of offering and comfort. Food for those who have passed on and those who remember.
El Dia de los Muertos is a day of remembrance, ritual, offering and food. It is a day to celebrate the dead, challenge death, and embrace the cycles of life and passings with food and family.
The food prepared on this day reflects the sentiments of ancestors and the rich culture developed through the mixing of traditions. I touched on this on the recipe page for Pan de Muerto as the bread of the dead is deeply rooted in ritual and gratitude for the deceased. This respect can also be reflected in the making of mole which requires patience and dedication. It’s flavors are deep and rich and reflect the well of emotions that can be felt on this day. Tamales are for comfort. Another involved process that takes time and many hands. The work is often shared between families and different generations. It is a community effort that stresses the importance of working and being together to honor those who have passed. Flan is offered to represent the sweetness of life.
Although you may not partake in making every aspect of this meal, maybe you will touch on a piece of it. Perhaps the tamales with friends or a flan for fun. Maybe you will explore the depths of the mole sauce for your roast hen with a few slices of mango to of set the it’s heavy nature. And I hope very much that you try to make the Pan de Muerto. It will set the mood for the season of spirits, decorative and sweet.
cornish hen with mole
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cornish hen with mole 〰️
This is a version on Mole Poblano I found in an old Saveur Magazine from 2012. It looked intimidating at first but I often find long recipes seem difficult until you read them all the way through and find they are quite simple in fact. Recipes such as this often times deal with a bit of preperation and forethought but once the plan is in place and the supplies are gathered, it is rather smooth sailing.
Regarding the cornish hen and the timing of the roast, I would have my mole started before the hens go in the oven. Chiles toasted, soaked and pureed. Tomatoes, garlic and onion broiled or charred and pureed. I would have all of my ingredients gathered and scaled out. Then begin prepping your hens for the roast.
Roasting Cornish Hens is like roasting a chicken or a turkey or any other such bird. I have walked you through this before with the Basic Roast Chicken, but I will give another quick run down here.
ROASTING CORNISH HENS:
You will need your cornish hens. They are small and run the size of a medium hand. I would say one hen could be consumed by 1-2 people depending on how hungry your guests are. You will want a good roasting pan or perhaps a nice cast iron skillet, which I find to be fabulous for roasting meats and vegetables.
You will need lemons, lemon juice, thyme, butter, olive oil and salt and pepper. I also recommend some cotton kitchen twine to tie your birds legs together so they sit stout and contained in your roasting pan.
Prep you birds by rinsing them with water, pat dry and set them on a board. Juice your lemons and stuff the rind inside the cavity of the bird along with some springs of thyme. Tie back the legs and place the birds in the roasting pan. With soft butter, butter the top of you bird, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Salt and pepper the bird generously and sprinkle copious amounts of thyme leaves across the top. Roast in an oven at 400 degree F. Every so often baste the birds with the juices in the bottom of the pan. Once the hens are golden browned, with crispy skin and juices running clear, they are ready to be pulled from the oven.
MOLE POBLANO
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MOLE POBLANO 〰️
FOR THE MOLE: Your list of ingredients and process. The video above is less of a tutorial and more of an eye on process as I put the pieces together for the meal. You will find some elements that may help you visually understand some aspects of the process, although it is not a play by play. Give it a watch.
PROCESS:
In a skillet over medium heat, toast the chiles in batches. Two minutes per side. Transfer chiles to a bowl and pour over 5 cups of boiling water. Let the chiles soak for 30 minutes. Drain and reserve the steeping liquid for later. Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles, keeping roughly 1 teaspoon of the seeds. Move chiles to a blender or food processor, add 1 cup of the steeping liquid and blend until smooth. Set the chile and remaining liquid aside for later.
Either prep an oven rack close to the broiling element in your oven or find yourself a skillet from you stove top. Broil or char your tomatoes, garlic and onion. Move vegetables to a food processor and puree. Set aside.
Heat butter in a skillet or sauce pan over medium heat. Add the reserved chile seeds, cloves, all spice, coriander pepper corns, anise seeds and cinnamon. Cook, stirring until lightly toasted and fragrant. Add banana or plantain, stir until lightly browned, roughly 10 minutes. Add tortilla, stir until lightly toasted, around 5 minutes. Add almonds and sesame seeds and cook, stirring until lightly toasted, 5 minutes. Add the chile puree and vegetable puree. Add the bread crumbs. Bring to a boil and cook 10-15 minutes until everything is softened together. Remove from the heat and pour into a blender with the remaining 4 cups of steeping liquid. Puree until very smooth.
Returnthe saucepan or skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. When hot add the pureed mole and fry, whisking until slightly thickened. Add chocolate, brown sugar and salt. Cook until chocolate and sugar have dissolved, roughly 10 minutes.
Once your hens have been roasted and you are ready to eat, pour the mole over your bird and garnish with sesame seeds and rose petals. If you find you mole to be thick you can always add more liquid to thin it out for a smooth pour.
Tamales de rajas
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Tamales de rajas 〰️
I found this recipe years ago in Diana Kennedy’s cookbook “My Mexico”. I made it to accompany a pot of Mew Mexican Pork Chili I was taking to a farm dinner. I found that the combination of simple tomato sauce with the strips of serrano chile and gouda cheese made for a lighter take on the normally heavy tamale. It is also vegetarian if you make your masa with the vegetable shortening and not lard and substitute the chicken broth for veggie broth or water.
PROCESS:
Before mixing you masa give the corn husks a nice soak in water.
MIX YOUR MASA: You can do this by hand but it is easier and less time consuming in a mixer.
Put the vegetable shortening in a mixing bowl. Whip the shortening by mixing it for roughly 20 minutes. This takes some time but is necessary to create a soft, fluffy shortening that will give the masa a lighter texture.
Add in your masa, baking powder and salt. Mix until masa resembles wet sand. Then slowly add in the broth until fully incorporated. This may take up to 15 minutes of mixing. The masa is ready when you can drop a small sized ball of masa into water and it floats. If it is not floating then you have to continue to mix and test again. You can adjust by adding a bit more liquid if it feels necessary. I find that this is one of those recipes and processes that you only fully understand and master by practice and observation. You can keep the masa at room temperature for a few hours or in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
MAKING THE FILLING: Char or broil your tomatoes and garlic. Blend together in a food processor with salt to taste.
Prep out your serrano chiles by removing the stems and seeds and slicing into strips. Cut you gouda cheese into strips. Gather some cilantro leaves.
ASSEMBLE YOUR TAMALES: Watch the above video for a demo. Smear masa over the wide end of the corn husk. Add a tablespoon of tomato sauce, a couple strips of chile, a couple strips of cheese and some cilantro leaves. Fold over the sides of the husk and then the bottom up and tie with a strip of corn husk.
STEAM YOUR TAMALES FOR ONE HOUR. YOU CAN USE A PROPER TAMALES STEAMER OR A BAMBOO RICE STEAMER OR GET CREATIVE WITH POTS AND WATER.
A SALAD
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A SALAD 〰️
Something easy and quick, but rather essential. To balance the depth of flavor of the Mole, I suggest the mango. To make it fancier, I would throw in some avocado and autumn figs. Perhaps you might even want the pop of red from pomegranate seeds. This is where you can play with color and fresh cooling flavors. You can rest it all on top of some greens or radicchio and toss it with a splash of lime or lemon vinaigrette with honey.
