The Mexican Slow Cooker: Recipes for Mole, Enchiladas, Carnitas, Chile Verde Pork, and More Favorites (11 page)

Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chiles and toast on both sides, turning occasionally and pressing down with a spatula, until they soften and blister. Remove from the pan. When the chiles are cool enough to handle, tear them into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add the hot water and soak the chiles, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1½ cups of the soaking liquid.

In a blender, combine the chiles with the reserved soaking liquid, garlic, and salt and puree until perfectly smooth, scraping down the sides several times.

Place the potatoes in the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker. Layer the beef over the potatoes. Crumble the chorizo over the beef. Add the onion and oregano. Pour the chile puree and water over the meat.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, stirring several times, until the meat is tender. The sauce might begin to separate, but this will not affect the taste.

Serve hot, sprinkled with the diced onion, and dollop with
crema,
if you like.

This thick, delicious
guisado
comes from the rugged state of San Luis Potosí, where the ancient and distinctive regional cuisine is based on the local desert plants. Nopales, the paddles from beavertail cactus (also called prickly pear cactus), are readily available at Mexican markets. Buy fresh nopales, which must be boiled before eating, rather than the canned variety. Once cooked, they have a taste and texture much like cooked green beans. You can substitute pork for the beef, or Mexican calabaza squash for the potatoes, if you like.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chiles and toast on both sides, turning occasionally and pressing down with a spatula, until they soften and blister. Remove from the pan. When the chiles are cool enough to handle, tear them into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add the hot water and soak the chiles, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid.

Line the skillet with a piece of aluminum foil and roast the tomatoes on all sides over medium-high heat, until softened and charred in places. In a blender, combine the tomatoes, ancho chiles and garlic and puree until perfectly smooth, adding a little of the reserved soaking liquid as needed.

Heat the lard in a heavy skillet and brown the beef on all sides until dark brown, working in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Place the beef in a 5-quart slow cooker and add the salt and pepper. Add the chile puree to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring and scraping, until the puree is thickened and bubbling, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, stir well to combine, and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the chile mixture over the beef in the slow cooker and add the onion, tomatillos, potatoes, and oregano. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

At least 30 minutes before serving, place the nopales in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 15 minutes, then drain and rinse well with cold water. Fifteen minutes before serving, stir the nopales into the slow cooker to heat through.

Serve hot with the tortillas, with the diced onion and cilantro on the side.

They simmer instead of sizzle, but these slow cooker “fajitas” will quickly become a favorite. The jalapeños are seeded, so they are only mildly spicy, but poblano or Anaheim chiles would be a good substitute. Serve with sliced avocado, cotija cheese, northern-style flour tortillas and, of course, beans and rice.

Slice the beef into long strips about 1 inch thick. Heat 1 tablespoon of the lard in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and brown the beef on all sides until dark brown. Place the beef in a 5-quart slow cooker along with 2 teaspoons of the salt, the pepper, cilantro, the sliced garlic, and the broth.

In the same skillet, fry the white onion over medium-high heat, stirring very little, until it is dark brown, or even slightly charred. Add the onion to the slow cooker. Scrape up any small bits from the pan and add those to the slow cooker as well. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until the meat is tender.

Line a heavy skillet with a piece of aluminum foil. Add the jalapeños to the skillet and roast on all sides over medium-high heat until slightly charred and softened. Remove the stems, cut each jalapeño into 4 pieces lengthwise, and remove the seeds.

Peel the red onion and cut ½ inch off the stem and root ends. Cut in half vertically, from the stem end to the root end. Set one onion half on the root end and slice from top to bottom to create ½-inch wide crescents of onion. Repeat with the remaining onion half.

Core and trim the red bell pepper and cut into pieces ½ inch wide and 3 inches long.

When the meat is cooked, and about 30 minutes before you want to serve, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon lard or oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the red onion, jalapeños, red pepper, and epazote, and cook, stirring often, until the onions are almost soft, about 5 minutes. Season with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker, stir in carefully, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.

Top with the avocado and serve with warm flour tortillas and a small bowl of cotija cheese on the side.