Tamal season is upon us everyone! I don’t know about you, but I must put on a solid 5 lbs in the month of December just on tamal consumption alone. There are so many ways to make great tamales and the amount of filling recipes out there are endless. I like to think of tamales as tacos. The masa makes for the perfect soft and decadent vehicle to get creative. I had so much fun creating this recipe and have served it at both my Christmas PJ party and Vision Board Posada. I will have to say that they were the hit of the party. The filing recipe is quick and super easy to make. I will say that if you have an extra 20 minutes to spare, feel free to roast the tomatillos before putting them in the blender for an extra sweet and smoky flavor. But trust me, the recipe is still super delish just the way it is. Also, if you love the spice, feel free to add a serrano pepper in there. I opted for Tabasco’s green salsa because of its mild flavor. My son who is 3 LOVED them. Also, sometimes jalapeños can be a shot in the dart on the spice level, so using a sauce like Tabasco’s allows you to balance the acidity and heat perfectly. Feel free to buy already made tamal masa. you can find them at your local Latinx grocer (if you live in LA, Vallarta and Northgate are my faves). I can’t wait to see your recreations of this. Don’t forget to tag me on the gram!

Skillet: ScanPan CS+ 10.25” Skillet

Cutting Board: Sur La Table Bamboo Cutting Board

INGREDIENTS:

Makes 15 tamales

1 lb Tomatillos, peeled and rinsed

½ cup onion, roughly chopped

3 whole garlic cloves, peeled + 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1/4 cup Tabasco Green Pepper sauce

1/4 cup cilantro

8 oz chicken broth

1 tsp sea salt

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 cups cooked turkey, shredded (or rotisserie chicken)

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin, ground

2 tablespoons water

2 Jalapenos, seeded and julienned

1 ½ lbs Masa prepared for tamales

15 dried corn husks

DIRECTIONS

Soak corn husk leaves for about 10 minutes in hot water until soft and pliable. You can use a plate or a mortar stone to weight them down.

To prepare your filling:

In a blender, put tomatillos, onion, 3 whole garlic cloves, tabasco green sauce, cilantro, chicken broth and sea salt. Blend until smooth. Reserve.

In a mortar, place the oregano, cumin, garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of water. Grind until you have a smooth paste consistency. Set aside.

Heat oil on a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the spice mixture from the mortar until aromatic, about 2-3 minutes. Add the shredded turkey and combine with the mixture, stirring constantly until the turkey is well coated, about 5 minutes. Pour green salsa over turkey and add julienned jalapeños. Raise the heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally to slightly reduce the sauce, about 20 minutes. Season with ½ tsp salt or adjust to taste. Remove from heat.

To fill tamales:

Pat dry cornhusks. Set one cornhusk down at a time, smoother side up and spread about ⅓ cup of the prepared masa on each husk, spread vertically with a spoon or a masa spreader. Fill up the left and right side of the husk leaving about an inch, at top and bottom. Scoop about ¼ cup of the filling and place it in the middle of the husk. Bring sides of the husk to meet over each other across and then fold the bottom part over the tamal.

Carefully place the tamales in a tamal steamer open side up, cover the tamales tightly with a kitchen towel to create steam and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 35-40 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave them covered for about 1 hour to allow the tamales to set.

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Bricia Lopez.

So my family and I are writing a cookbook. Like a real one, one with a kick ass New York publisher and all. Sometimes I find myself asking if its real. Why do we do that to ourselves so much? - Question reality when good things happen to us - It would so much better if we owned our wins, felt proud and chose to celebrate ourselves, rather than question ourselves. I think people call this ‘impostor syndrome’ and it is something I am currently working on. It’s a daily fight, but affirmations and journaling are helping tremendously.

This entire cookbook process has been life changing and I will be sharing more with all of you as the book is released. For now, I will leave you with this chipotle pipian recipe to accompany some roasted butternut squash this fall season to make yourself these fancy-ass tacos. I served these to my husband last week when I was working on the recipe. He said that they taste expensive and something you could find at these trendy taco shops. I will let you be the judge of that.

I hope you enjoy, there are countless versions of Pipian out there, this is one fun version I worked with in partnership with Tabasco. The recipe makes about 2 cups of Pipian so you will surely have left overs. Keep it and pour it over anything and everything throughout the week. Enjoy and please let me know if you decide to make them. Love seeing your versions on the gram!

Pans Used: SCAN PAN CS+

USA Pan: Sur La Table Half Sheet Pan

Nonstick Griddle: All Clad Grande Griddle

Molcajete: IMUSA

INGREDIENTS

For Chipotle Pipian

2 dried guajillo chiles

1 cups boiling water

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small white onion, peeled and thickly sliced

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

2 plum tomatoes (or heirloom), charred

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cloves, ground

3 allspice, ground

3 tablespoons TABASCO® Chipotle Sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon light brown sugar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

For Butternut Squash

1 3-4 pound butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut in small cubes

5 thyme sprigs

1 tbsp light brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp tablespoon freshly ground pepper

For Assembly

10 corn tortillas, warmed

Baby greens, such as baby arugula, for garnish

Queso fresco, for garnish

Roasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish

PREPARATION

For Chipotle Pipian

Remove the stems from guajillo chiles and discard seeds. Set a skillet over high heat and wait until skillet is hot, about 5 minutes. Add the chiles. Toast until they are darkened and fragrant, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Place them in a bowl, cover with 1 cup of boiling water, and set aside to soak, for about 15 minutes until they have softened. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chiles into a blender.

In a skillet, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Fry onion and garlic until onion is translucent and garlic has browned. Remove onion and garlic, and transfer into same blender

In the same pan, add pumpkin seeds and stir constantly until seeds have popped and are lightly browned. Remove pumpkin seeds and add them to same blender. Add sesame seeds to the pan and fry slightly, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove add to blender

In the blender, combine the chiles, cooked onion, garlic, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds. Add charred tomatoes, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, TABASCO® Chipotle Sauce, and chicken broth. Blend until smooth.

In the pan, heat up the remaining tablespoon of oil and pour in the blended mixture. Stir until boiling. Lower heat and add salt, sugar and vinegar. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Keep warm.

For Butternut Squash

Preheat oven at 425°F.

While the sauce is simmering, place the butternut squash on a sheet pan, and sprinkle butter, thyme, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, checking halfway through to shake up the butter and sugar mixture. Once the squash becomes golden brown, set aside and discard thyme sprigs.

Serving Suggestion

Spread the Pipian sauce on a tortilla. Place roasted squash on top, and garnish with baby greens, queso fresco, and any leftover roasted pumpkin seeds you may have.

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Bricia Lopez.

Brunch was never a 'thing' growing up in Oaxaca. In fact, the word 'brunch' doesn't exist in the Spanish language (at least I don't think it does). I remember the first time my dad took us to Big Boys buffet in Los Angeles. I was about 11 years old and the first time I was introduced to the all-you-can-eat concept. It was breakfast and lunch all at the same time. I could not believe it. I fell in love with brunch right there in then. Brunch made me feel American, it allowed that little girl from Oaxaca like to feel welcomed in this country. Food has the power to do that, doesn't it? It brings people and communities together.

So with the brunch spirit in mind, I created these delicious chorizo and squash quiche muffins. You can make the dough for your crust the night before to save time. But believe me, these are worth every step. Please don't forget to tag #moleandmore on your re-recreations!

INGREDIENTS:

For the crust:

1 3⁄4 cups plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1⁄2 cup plus 7 Tbsp spelt flour

1 1⁄4 tsp. sea salt

2 sticks (16 tbsp) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes

1 1⁄2 tsp. Tabasco Chipotle

For the filling:

2 cups Spanish Chorizo, diced in ¼ inch cubes

4 baby zucchinis, thinly sliced

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp plus 2 tbsp Tabasco Chipotle

½ cup Shredded Mozzarela cheese

1 cups creme Fraiche

1 cup whole milk

1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1 ½ tsp sea salt, plus ½ tsp

1 tsp fresh ground pepper, plus ½ tsp

DIRECTIONS:

Make the crust:

In a large bowl, whisk flours with the salt. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flours until it forms mid size crumbles. Dissolve chipotle tabasco sauce in ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of ice cold water and slowly drizzle in. With your fingers, work the dough for a minute until it comes together. Separate the dough into 2 equal sized disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 400°. On a lightly floured work surface, separate the dough into 12 same-sized circles. Roll each into 4-5” circles.

Flour your muffin pan and fit the circles into the bottom and up the side of the muffin pan. chill for 30 minutes. Using a fork, prick the dough all over. Bake until lightly browned at the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack, let the now muffin crusts cool.

Make the filling:

Reduce the oven temperature to 300°. In a pan, season the zucchinis with olive oil, 1 teaspoon tabasco chipotle, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, add chorizo and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Separately, In a blender, combine the creme fraiche, milk, flour, eggs and yolks, remaining tabasco chipotle, salt, and pepper, purée until smooth. Layer the cooled muffin pan with the cheese,chorizo and zucchinis. Pour the custard over, and bake the quiche until set and lightly browned on top, about 45min. Transfer to a rack and let cool to room temperature before serving. If you have any filling leftover, line a separate muffin pan with buttered parchment paper and pour individually to create egg bites.

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Bricia Lopez.