Recipe Tweak
On a Mexican Tangent with Chef Mike
Jan 25, 2010
One of the features I'd like to start on a semi-regular basis on the Radio Kitchen is a recipe tweak. Take a classic recipe, an old standard and kinda tweak it a bit. We might put some well-known dishes on their ear. We might just throw in a late-breaking curve in the ingredients or preparations. Whatever. We'll be looking for your input on this as well. What have you done to change-up an old chestnut recipe? Let us know.
First up , I do a tweak on Sopes. Sopes originated in Mexico and are a variation on a tortilla. They are thicker and smaller than a traditional corn tortilla and made with a pinched ridge around the outside that makes a perfect vehicle for filling with meat, cheese, vegetables, salsa or ALL OF THE ABOVE!
Sopes are usually made with Masa Harina (corn meal flour), in my variation, I make it with cooked sweet potato and masa. There are a couple of nice benefits from using sweet potatoes in this recipe, one is the elimination of the fat in the original recipe. The sweet potato makes a nice binder. Next, well… sweet potatoes don’t wear a red cape, but they are a Superfood, packed with vitamin A and beta carotene. And finally, these sopes have a wonderful color, when they are cooked.
Once made, the topping options for your sopes are only limited by your imagination. I've made these recently for a small pot luck party where I filled them with a bit of goat cheese, topped with a sweet pepper relish and cilantro. Or I made them for dinner with a roasted tomato salsa, pork and Queso Fresco.
Now while we're on the subject of Mexican food, I have been on a tangent lately. The other night my housemate told me she had some heirloom beans that she wanted to use, so I suggested chilequilles. Chilequilles are like souped up nachos. When I was working at the Pleasanton Hotel, one of the prep cooks would occasionally make them for the family meal. (At a restaurant, family meal is the meal break made just before service. Usually the job rotates among the kitchen staff to make the meal for everyone.)
It's a fairly simple dish, just beans, tortilla chips, salsa, lettuce, queso fresco, sour cream, and cilantro. I also like to roast some chicken breasts and cut them into strips for laying on top. So you basically have a Mexican Salad/Nacho dish in the end.
I like to make a quick batch of Spicy Carrot and Radish Pickles as a garnish as well.
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