Pan de Muerto
“The Mexican . . . is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it; it is one of his favorite toys and his most steadfast love.” –Octavio Paz
The dead need their daily bread too. It’s November 1st and like many Mexican households I am remembering and celebrating my dearly departed. As it is believed that today and tomorrow are the easiest days for mis muertos queridos to visit and take pleasure in earthly delights, I have lit candles and set out fragrant Marigolds to guide their way, baked delicious Pan de Muerto to satisfy their stomachs and set out a glass of water to quench their thirst.
I hope all of the saints and all of the souls enjoy this Pan de Muerto. (I baked few extra loaves to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea and plan on slicing a loaf or two for French Toast.)
Pan de Muerto is a sweet egg bread (think a crumbly brioche) that can be flavored with fragrant anise,orange zest and cinnamon and is decorated with bone shaped pieces of dough and sprinkled with sparkling sugar.
Ingredients
4 c. flour (3 3/4 c. flour +1/4 c. flour)
3/4 c. sugar + 1 Tbs. Sugar
1/2 c. unsalted butter’1/2 Tbs. yeast
3/4 c. milk
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
zest of one orange (optional)
1/2 tsp. anise seed (optional)
plus 1 egg for a wash, and extra sugar for dusting
In a large bowl combine milk, yeast, orange zest, 1/4 c. flour and 1 Tbs. sugar. Let stand for 30 minutes, then add the three gently beaten eggs.
In a separate bowl combine 3 3/4 c. flour, 3/4 c. sugar, salt, cinnamon and anise. Add this flour mixture to the wet mixture, kneading with you hands (at this point the dough will feel very sticky, kned until it is only slightly sticky. You may add an extra teaspoon of flour at a time if needed.)
Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Add the butter to the dough working it until fully incorporated. Shape into a ball, grease and lightly flour. Place in bowl and cover with a damp towl to rise for 2 hours.
Separate doug into 6 parts. Shape 5 into balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Decorate the tops of the rolls with the remaining dough by rolling the dough into coils and strips that look like bones.
Allow the bread to rise for an additional hour in a warm place. brush tops of bread with egg white and dust with sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Apologies to Internet Explorer Users
Dear Internet Explorer Users,
Sorry for the mess. We’re working on fixing this formating fluke and the site shoud be Explorer friendly very soon!
To all of our Firefox, Safari, etc. users….please let us know what you think of the new format. Alex has worked so hard to code this thing from scratch. Didn’t he do a beautiful job?
New post: Pumpkin Empanadas will be up very soon…stay tuned!
xogabriela
Not Mexican but a Culinary Feat Nonetheless
The adventure I sought, like so many other foodies and cocineras alike, was the Julie & Julia famed Pate de Canard en Croute. My collaborator was Zoe of Strictly Platonic . Boning commenced at 11:30 am, we sat down to dinner at 7:30 pm . Here are some of the images from the day:
The duck we purchased in Chinatown
Alex uses he man skills to debone the duck.
The duck stuffed with ground pork, ground veal, pork belly and seasoning.
Sewing and trussing. Thanks grandma for those summer sewing sessions.
Browning
Alex and Zoe wrap the duck in a pastry shell.
Egg glaze.
A slice of the final product.
This project was a great test of stamina (flexing those muscles for Thanksgiving and Christmas!) as well practice in cooking with someone who has a very different style than me. I don’t remember the last time I followed a recipe without adding more of one thing, less of something else or adding something new all together…although Zoe gracefully acquiesced to tweaking the dough the second time we made it. Go team! Not even one spat the entire day!
Our conclusion….it was a lot of work to what amounted to what Zoe so aptly called a glorified meatloaf.
I’m going to do duck again, but next time it’ll take 30 minutes of prep-time and it’ll have a Mexican twist, that’s just my style.
Lo Siento means I’m sorry
I owe my readers the sincerest of apologies. I set a deadline for the re-launch of Gabriela’s Kitchen, announced it and then didn’t follow through! I have (several) good ideas as to why I’m so behind.
Molletes (bolillos from a panaderia) and Mock New Mexico Soupy Green Chile
Perhaps it’s a result of my web designer moonlighting as a second year law student at an Ivy. Or maybe I can fault the bloodthirsty bedbugs that invaded our apartment on Labor Day weekend (a tremendous horror for a girl who keeps a tidy home, apparently it’s unavoidable in NYC!). Or better yet, I’ll blame it on the recent arrival of a new family member, a little Cairn pup name Bolillo (Boh-LEE-yoh).
Nonetheless, lo siento mucho and I promise the new site will be up soon. Crossmyhearthopetodie it’ll be worth the wait.
Until then, here’s my recipe for Mock New Mexico Soupy Green Chile, a link to a recipe by Homesick Texan for homemade bolillos, the namesake of mi perrito, Boli.
Bolillo! Don't ya just want to butter him up and eat 'em!
New Mexico Hatch Green Chile season is in full-swing… pobrecita yo…living so far away in New York City, I’m missing out! Per the advice of other food aficionados I went to Whole Foods (sinful, I know) to buy some. But to no avail, they were sold out! So I did the only thing I know how to: experimented!
This recipe is no Grandma Ida’s Soupy Green Chile, but it’s robust flavor, subtle spiciness and porky rich broth pair wonderfully with eggs and tortillas in the morning or molletes for lunch. This recipe yields about 20 servings, so I split mine and freeze half.
Mock New Mexico Soupy Green Chile
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork roast
4 large cloves of garlic diced
1 large yellow onion diced
1 large green bell pepper
1 large red bell pepper
3-5 jalapeños (3 for mild-5 for spicy)
6 tomatoes
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Tablespoon salt
8 cups water
Wash the jalapeños and bell peppers and pat dry. Stab each pepper with a fork evenly around each pepper two or three times. Roast over an open flame or on a comal on high heat, turning occasionally, until blistered brown. Remove from heat and cool.
Rinse pork roast and pat dry. Cut roast into bite-size (1 centimeter) chunks. In a cast-iron skillet or non-stick pan heat olive oil on medium. Add garlic, onions and pork. Stir occasionally until onions are transparent and pork is browned. Remove from heat.
Remove stems and seeds from the peppers. Finely chop the jalapeños and julienne the bells into strips. Chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, peppers, pork, onions, garlic, oregano, salt and water to a 6 quart pot with lid. Simmer on medium-low heat for thirty minutes so the flavors meld.
Serve a soup with toasted bolillos, tortillas or crackers on the side. It’s also delicious as a enchilada sauce, mixed with whole fresh beans or poured over eggs!
