Mod Mex

Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home

by Scott Linquist, Joanna Pruess

Price: $24.95
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-6865-1
ISBN-10: 0-7407-6865-4
Format: Hardcover
Size: 7 1/2 x 11 in.
Page Count: 224 pages

Old Mexico meets modern cuisine with delectable results in Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $24.95). Mod Mex is the creation of award-winning chef Scott Linquist of the highly successful Dos Caminos restaurants of New York and cookbook maven Joanna Pruess.

In Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home, Scott brings authentic Mexican flavors and secrets from the kitchens of Dos Caminos to home chefs everywhere. The techniques and more than 125 fresh and easy-to-prepare recipes draw from Scott’s more than 15 years of studying Mexican food and culture, highlighting regions from Baja and the Yucatán to Oaxaca. As Scott says:

“My cooking reflects these experiences and the enormous diversity of regional specialties throughout the country. Many dishes are updated traditional preparations. Others are originals inspired by Mexican techniques and ingredients that I combine with my classic culinary training.”

The result is approachable, exciting, delicious food that satisfies any appetite. Beautiful four-color photographs, informative head notes, and sidebars throughout Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home complete the picture.

A sampling from Mod Mex:

• Recipes for dishes from appetizers to main courses (including breakfast and brunch), desserts, and beverages. They include Scott’s famed guacamole; Chorizo, Potato, and Goat Cheese Sopes; Tuna Ceviche with Mango and Serrano Chile Salsa; Chocolate Layer Cake with Morita Chile Mousse; and Chipotle Bloody Maria.
• Basic techniques for making essentials from salsa to masa
• Vital information about chile peppers (how hot is hot?)
• A list of useful, uniquely Mexican cooking tools, from molcajete to tumbada
• A helpful glossary and list of mail-order and Internet sources for ingredients
• Tips on day-before preparation, recipe variations, cultural insights, holiday dishes, and cooking techniques. Learn why lard isn’t necessarily a dietary no-no, how to cut an orange into segments, the qualities of red papayas and plantains, and much more.

If you’re hungry for a taste of old Mexico with a generous dash of the 21st century, serve up some Mod Mex from Scott Linquist, who knows how to please the palates of today’s food-savvy diners.

Before Dos Caminos, Scott Linquist made his mark working with chefs in some of the top Mexican-inspired kitchens in the country. He was the man behind popular television chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger at Border Grill, the Santo Family Group’s Arizona 206, and Buzzy O’Keeffe’s latest project, Pershing Square. Now he is in the spotlight as the executive chef of Dos Caminos Park Avenue, Dos Caminos Soho, Dos Caminos Third Avenue, and the upcoming Dos Caminos Las Vegas.

Even though Scott has done his share of French and American cuisine, he has a natural affinity for Mexican ingredients. A Los Angeles upbringing only fueled the fires of his taste buds. As part of his Culinary Institute of America education, he externed at Border Grill and City restaurants in Los Angeles with Mary Sue and Susan. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the women who would eventually become the Too Hot Tamales. While an extern, Scott filled in as their chef, quite a feat for someone who had not yet graduated from culinary school.

After graduation, Scott worked at Boulevard in San Francisco with Nancy Oakes and at Lutece and Gotham Bar and Grill in New York. When Mary Sue and Susan asked him to become chef of Border Grill and help them expand their restaurant empire, Scott went back to California and stayed for two years. He then became chef at the groundbreaking Southwestern restaurant Arizona 206 in New York and spent two years creating upscale dishes using Mexican and Southwestern ingredients. From there he took a teaching position at the California School of Culinary Arts, returning to a restaurant kitchen when Buzzy called from Pershing Square in New York.

Scott received favorable reviews for his contemporary cuisine but felt it didn’t define him as a chef. He missed the vibrancy and flavors of Mexican ingredients. As luck would have it, Stephen Hanson was looking for a chef to take over the stoves at the newly opened Dos Caminos, and through mutual acquaintances the two men met. Now Scott feels he has a home and a vehicle to showcase the food he loves. Vibrant flavors and colorful ingredients presented simply and beautifully are what diners can expect when experiencing Scott’s cuisine at the most exciting Mexican restaurant in New York. For more about Dos Caminos, see www.brguestrestaurants.com.

Scott’s flair for flavor has been praised by Food & Wine, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, New York magazine, and more. He has appeared on CBS and CNBC.

Award-winning cookbook author Joanna Pruess has written eight cookbooks and is consistently praised for her clear prose and well-tested recipes. She lives in the Bronx, NY.

For great guacamole, use a lava-stone molcajete and prepare the guacamole just before eating. (If you don’t have a molcajete, use a bowl and the back of a spoon.) Use the freshest possible ingredients and pound them all together into a chunky-smooth texture.

The basic guacamole recipe can be varied easily by gently folding a few of the following extra ingredients into the mixture before serving:

Lobster Guacamole

Meat from 1 (1-pound) lobster, steamed, cooled, and coarsely chopped, or 4 ounces cooked lobster meat
Japanese pickled ginger, for garnish

Chipotle–Goat Cheese Guacamole

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)
2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles

Mango Guacamole

1 large ripe mango, peeled, seeded, and diced (Any fruit, such as fresh berries, seedless grapes, or papaya will also work.)

Artichoke Guacamole with Toasted Pine Nuts

1 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
¼ cup toasted pine nuts

This ceviche comes from the tropical region of the Yucatán, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Gently steamed lobster meat is marinated in a lush, tasty blend of coconut milk, citrus juices, chiles, and ginger. It is perfectly paired with a colorful pico de gallo made with mango, red onion, bell pepper, cilantro, and mint. Each portion may be divided in half for twelve appetizer portions. At the restaurant we like to garnish this dish with crispy fried green plantain chips.

Ceviche

¾ cup canned coconut milk
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
½ habanero chile, seeded, membrane removed, and cut lengthwise
1 tablespoon peeled and chopped fresh ginger
Kosher salt
6 (1-pound) lobsters
2 green plantains, peeled, thinly sliced lengthwise, and fried, for garnish

Mango Pico de Gallo

2 cups diced mango
1 cup diced red onion
½ cup diced red bell pepper
½ cup diced poblano chiles
1 habanero chile, seeds and membranes removed, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Serves 12 as an appetizer or 6 as an entrée

Make the Ceviche: In a nonreactive bowl, mix together all of the ceviche ingredients except the lobster, season with about 1 teaspoon of salt or to taste, cover, and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring at least 6 quarts of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the lobsters, cover the pot, return the water to a boil, and cook the lobsters for 7 minutes more, or until the shells are bright red. Do this in batches if the pot is not large enough to accommodate all of the lobsters. Remove the lobsters, wrap each in aluminum foil, and let cool. Cut the lobsters in half down the back and remove the tail meat. Reserve the tail shells. Break off the claws and knuckles, crack the shells, and remove the meat. Chop the meat into bite-size pieces.

Make the pico de gallo: In a medium-size bowl, stir together the ingredients for the Mango Pico de Gallo and set aside.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the lobster meat with the other ceviche ingredients. For an appetizer, put ½ lobster tail shell in the center of each chilled plate, and fill with lobster. Garnish with Mango Pico de Gallo and crispy fried green plantain chips, and serve.

The most difficult part of this delicious recipe is actually finding the huitlacoche (also spelled cuitlacoche). This corn fungus, also called “Mexican truffle” or “Mexican caviar,” is greatly revered in Mexico. The kernels have a smoky-sweet flavor. It is best fresh or frozen, but it is also available canned from some online Mexican food suppliers. Your best option is to purchase it frozen, but even that may be hard to find. Otherwise, try a trip to Oaxaca in the fall! If you can’t find the mushrooms listed here, use portobellos or any combination of mushrooms that you like.

Sope dough (masa)

1 ¼ cups corn flour for tortillas
2 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening
½ cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa
½ ripe avocado peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 cup salsa verde

Mushroom-Huitlacoche Filling

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup mixed sliced mushrooms (such as shiitake, cremini, and oyster mushrooms, but any variety may be used)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ to 1 teaspoon ground arbol chile powder
½ cup huitlacoche
1 tablespoon chopped fresh epazote or a combination of flat-leaf parsley and oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup crumbled queso fresco
¼ cup crema or sour cream
3 radishes, trimmed and cut into thin strips

Makes 12 (2 ½-inch) sopes

Make the Sopes: In a large bowl, mix together the corn flour, lard, water, and salt, and knead gently until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes. Roll about 3 tablespoons of masa into a ball, and then flatten the ball using your thumb and the palm of your hand to form a 2 ½-inch-round disk, approximately ¼ inch thick. Repeat until you have 12 disks. Set aside while preparing the salsa and filling.

Make the Salsa: In the jar of an electric blender, combine the avocado and salsa verde, and purée until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.

Make the filling: Heat ½ tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add the mushrooms and ½ tablespoon of the butter and sauté until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, turning often. Transfer the mushrooms to a small bowl.

In the same pan over high heat, stir in the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil along with the onion, garlic, and remaining ½ tablespoon of butter. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté until the onion is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chile powder, huitlacoche, and epazote. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Return the sautéed mushrooms to the pan and cook just to heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 or 3 masa disks and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, turning once, just to firm them slightly. Remove the disks from the pan, let them cool slightly, and then gently pinch the edges to resemble a small tart shell. Return them to the griddle, and continue cooking for 5 minutes more. Remove, wrap in aluminum foil, and keep in a warm oven.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa onto each sope, and then add 2 tablespoons of warm mushrooms. Top with 1 teaspoon of queso fresco, a dollop of crema, and a sprinkle of radishes. Serve warm.

Tamales are steamed dumplings made with coarsely ground corn flour. The flour is blended with either chicken stock or warm water, and lard or other fat, to make dough, or masa (see page 8), and generally wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves. The tamales are filled and then steamed over water. Although quite simple, these pork tamales, made with tender pork with salsa verde spooned on top, are vastly superior to commercial varieties. They may be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and even reheated in a microwave oven for lunch.

Salsa Verde

10 tomatillos, husked
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic
2 jalapeño or serrano chiles
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup corn flour for tortillas

Tamale dough (masa)

2 cups corn flour for tamales
2 cups warm water or chicken stock
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons lard (see Glossary) or vegetable shortening
6 tablespoons unsalted butter

12 dry corn husks, soaked in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes until soft and pliable

Roasted Chile Rajas (page 22), or strips of roasted pepper, for garnish

Makes 12 tamales

Make the salsa verde: In a medium-large saucepan, bring about 12 cups of water to a boil. Add the tomatillos, onion, garlic, and chiles and simmer for 5 minutes, and then drain. Transfer the mixture to the jar of an electric blender along with the cilantro and lime juice, and purée until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return the mixture to a saucepan, simmer gently for 15 minutes more, taste to adjust the seasonings, and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Season the meat on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat a medium-size pot or roasting pan over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and the pork and sear until the meat is golden brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, turning often.

Pour in the prepared salsa verde and the chicken broth, cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil, and bake for about 1 ½ hours, or until the meat is very tender. With a slotted spoon, remove the pork from the liquid, let it cool, and then tear it into small shreds. Reserve the liquid.

Strain the cooking liquid into a clean pot, return it to the stove over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, stir the ¼ cup of corn flour together with the remaining ¼ cup of water until smooth. Starting with about half of the flour-water mixture, gradually whisk it into the sauce, adding more until a smooth, creamy texture is achieved, stirring continuously, and slowly simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, return the meat to the pan, and brown it lightly, and then stir in 1 cup of the thickened salsa verde to moisten the mixture. Season to taste and reserve for the tamale preparation.

Make the tamale dough: While the pork is cooking, combine the corn flour, water or stock, baking powder, salt, and lard or shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the tamale masa mixture becomes light and fluffy. Or turn out on a board with a little extra corn flour and knead until smooth.

For each corn husk, spread about ¼ cup of masa into the center, and spoon about 3 tablespoons of pork into the center. Fold the corn husk according to the photos.

In a medium-size pot, bring about 2 cups of water to a simmer. Put the tamales in the water, standing each on end with the folded side down, cover, and cook for 1 hour.

Turn off the heat, and let the tamales rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm with plenty of warm thickened salsa verde and garnish with Roasted Chile Rajas or strips of roasted red pepper.