Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

This was inspired by the dressing on the Apple Glazed Parsnip Salad at Feast. I don't think that dressing had tahini in it, but I thought it might make a good base.

1-1/2 Tablespoons tahini
1/4 cup water
1 small garlic clove, minced
1-1/2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
Scant 1/2 Cup olive oil
salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

In a blender, combine the tahini, water and garlic and process until throughly combined. Add the vinegar and mustard and process briefly until combined. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a stream. Correct the seasoning as necessary with salt, pepper and/or lemon juice. The first time I made this, I found the dressing a tad on the sweet side until I added the lemon. Hasn't been the case subsequently.

Green Sauce - Salsa Verde

1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds tomatillos
3 or 4 poblano or anaheim chiles, roasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, quartered
chopped cilantro to taste
salt and pepper to taste, if necessary

Husk the tomatillos, rinse them and cook them in simmering water for five to ten minutes until they are soft and have lost their bright green color. With tongs, remove them to a blender. Reserve the cooking liquid. Add the chiles, onion and garlic to the blender and process until well combined.

Put the sauce in a non stick frying pan. Add about a cup of the cooking water to the blender and process briefly to get the bits sticking to the sides of the blender. Add the water to the frying pan, stir to combine. Simmer the sauce for about ten minutes, until it is the thickness you want and the onion and garlic have lost their raw taste.

NOTE: Traditionally this sauce would be sauteed in lard or butter. If you want a richer sauce you can melt butter in the frying pan before adding the liquid ingredients, but I don't think it's necessary. The roasted peppers give the sauce a rich, smoky taste.

Add cilantro, and salt and pepper if necessary. I find that salt and pepper are usually unnecessary. The salsa is best if used promptly but will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator.

Mole Verde de Cacahuate - Green Mole with Peanuts

This is adapted from a pork recipe in Diana Kennedy's 1978 cookbook Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico. The original recipe is from Veracruz state.

5 ounces shelled peanuts, unroasted, unsalted
1-1/2 pounds tomatillos
1/2 white onion
4 cloves of garlic, whole
1 bay leaf
6 sprigs of cilantro
jalapeno or serrano chile(s) to taste, seeds and stems removed
salt and pepper to taste


Toast the peanuts in a 350 degree oven until golden.

Husk the tomatillos and rinse them in cold water. Put them in a saucepan along with the onion, 2 cloves of garlic and bay leaf. Cover generously with water and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tomatillos are done.

Transfer the tomatillos, onion, and garlic to a blender, reserving the cooking liquid. (The sauce will puree more easily in the blender if you chop the onion and garlic a bit. If you are using a food processor, this isn't necessary.) Add the remaining 2 cloves of garlic, the cilantro, the jalapeno or serrano pepper(s) and the roasted peanuts. Add 3/4 to 1 cup of the cooking liquid and process until smooth. If it seems too thick, add a little more cooking liquid. The sauce will keep for a few days in the refrigerator and it freezes well.

I use this with faux chicken, either Trader Joe's or Morningstar Farms. Cut the "meat" strips in uniform sizes, and saute briefly in butter or oil in a nonstick pan until they are just starting to brown. Remove from the pan. Add more butter or oil and saute some white onion (sliced, slices cut in thirds) until it is becoming translucent. Add some of the mole to the pan along with a cup or more of the tomatillo cooking liquid (or broth or water if you are using mole from the freezer) and simmer the sauce and onions for about 15 minutes. Just before serving, add the "meat" and cook just to heat through. Serve over rice.

If you prefer not to use faux meat, this is also good with sauteed mushrooms, garbanzo beans, or both.

Tucson Style Salsa

The salsa in Tucson has more garlic in it than salsa I've had elsewhere. I attribute this, perhaps erroneously, to the influence of Monica Flin, the original proprietor of El Charro Cafe, and the daughter of two French parents. Opened in 1922, El Charro Cafe is still in the same family and is the oldest continuously operating Mexican restaurant in the country.

But my favorite salsa in Tucson is made by Rosa Ortega of Rosa's Mexican Restaurant, which has been in business since 1970. Rosa is 75 now and the restaurant is run by her children, but she's still often on the premises. I've heard that not even her daughters know the recipe for her award-winning salsa. If that's really the case, I hope she's stashed the recipe in her safe deposit box.

I've bought vats of Rosa's salsa in an attempt to reverse engineer it. ("Good luck!" snorted one of the daughters when I admitted what I was up to.) This isn't exactly the same as Rosa's (it's less salty for one thing), but it's close, and it's damn good salsa if I do say so myself.


28 oz can of tomatoes
1/2 head of garlic, cloves peeled and chopped
1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 small bunch cilantro
1 to 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano*
1 cup of water
1-1/2 teaspoons of salt
several generous grindings black pepper
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
Scant 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of chipotle puree, or to taste

Chop one cup of the tomatoes fine and reserve in a large nonstick frying pan.

Combine the garlic, onion and 1/2 cup of water in the blender and puree.

Remove most of the stems from the cilantro and chop coarsely. Add the herbs and tomatoes (except reserved tomatoes) to the mixture in the blender and puree. Transfer the mixture to the frying pan with the reservec chopped tomatoes. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, oil and red wine vinegar. Mix well to combine.

Add the chiplote puree. Start with half a teaspoon and take it from there. The salsa should be *very* hot, but not painfully so and not so hot that you won't be able to taste whatever dishes are to follow. And the mixture should be a rich reddish brown. (If you decide you've undershot the mark on the heat, you can always add a little more chipotle puree at the very end.)

Add the cup of water to the now empty blender to get whatever is left clinging to the sides and add that water to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook until the mixture has lost its raw taste, about ten minutes. Bring to room temperature. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. This will keep in the refrigerator for a week or more. The recipe makes a little over a quart.

*Use 2 teaspoons if oregano is from chain store, 1 teaspoon if it is very fresh from bulk importer, such as Pacific Foods International.

Carrot Pickle

This first time I had carrot pickle was twenty five years ago at Kilimanjaro, an Indian restaurant, now defunct, in the Punjabi Market/Little India district of Vancouver. The restaurant was housed in an old cowboy diner and bar, and it retained the incongruous wild west decor. The owner was of Indian ancestry but had lived in East Africa before coming to Canada. He claimed to have the best samosas in Vancouver, and he may well have, but it was the pungent, garlicky carrot pickle that most impressed me.

I've tried many carrot pickles in the years since, some forgettable, some pretty good, but none as good the carrot pickle at Kilimanjaro. I certainly don't claim this carrot pickle reaches Kilimanjaro's heights, but I like to think it comes pretty close.

1 pound of carrots, about 1/4" to 1/2" dice - they will shrink

10 cloves of garlic, or more to taste, minced

1 serrano pepper, seeded, ribs removed, minced fine

1/4 cup of mustard seeds

2 teaspoons fenugreek

3/4 teaspoon of cayenne

heaping 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup olive oil

Put the carrots, garlic, and serrano pepper in a bowl. Grind the mustard seeds and fenugreek together in a spice grinder and put them over the vegetables. Add all the rest of the ingredients except the oil. Toss everything together until it is well combined. Allow the mixture to rest at room temperature for three or four hours to allow the carrots to begin to soften.

Put the mix into a glass jar or jars. Heat the oil until it is very hot -- almost at the smoking point, then allow it to cool until it is lukewarm. Pour the oil into the jar(s). Put the lid(s) on the jar(s) and shake to combine the ingredients. Put the jar(s) in a sunny spot for five to seven days until the carrots are soft. You can set the jar(s) outside in the sun during the day. Shake the jar(s) at least once a day. Once the pickles are done they will keep in the refrigerator for several months, but I doubt they'll stick around that long. I find myself needing to make a batch every couple of weeks. I not only use them as a condiment with Indian meals, I think they are a fabulous addition to a salad.