“‘I built my home on the West Mesa, so I could watch the sun rise in the morning,’ Ben said. ‘From there, I watch the city. A man never runs out of stories to tell when he has a city like this.’”
— Alburquerque, Rudolfo Anaya
After nearly three years of doing this cooking challenge, I consider myself a competent cook. But any time you embark on a new skill, particularly a creative one, you’re gonna make mistakes, and some of mine have been doozies.
There was the time, a few months ago, when I was cleaning up too quickly after deep frying zucchini and tipped a pan of hot oil on my foot. What I learned from that: Since then, I’ve used Fry Away to clean up after frying anything and I don’t move the pan until it’s absolutely cool.
And then there was this weekend, when I attempted to toast dried chile peppers for enchilada sauce, and ended up creating what I can only describe as a homemade smoke bomb.
One minute, I was toasting the dried ancho, guajillo and arbol chiles, as the recipe said, and the next, the air turned so spicy, I couldn’t stop coughing. My fiance grabbed a couple of medical masks (thanks, 2020), while I turned off the stove and opened all the windows. We ran the air purifier all night to get rid of the spicy atmosphere in the house, and I vowed never to touch a dried pepper again. The peppers were burned and bitter, the sauce inedible.
What I learned from that experience, I’m not sure yet. Don’t toast dried peppers inside your kitchen, even if a recipe tells you to? Maybe don’t do it at all? If anyone has tips on how to toast peppers without causing bodily harm, please tell me.
I went to bed feeling like a failure, but the next day, I found two much easier recipes for enchilada sauce that didn’t involve dried peppers and tried again. So maybe that’s the lesson: If at first you don’t succeed, change your approach and try again. Also, don’t believe every recipe you read on the Internet.
The second batch of sauces turned out much better, and Saturday night dinner was saved. To accompany this meal, I read Alburquerque by Rudolfo Anaya.
The book
I enjoyed the writing of this novel, particularly the descriptions of New Mexico, the landscapes and the rich Chicano culture. The title is intentionally misspelled. Albuquerque is named after the Duke of Alburquerque in Spain; the extra R was dropped from the American spelling over the centuries. There are several references to the original Duke of Alburquerque through the novel, particularly regarding one character, who believes he is descended from the duke.
The story follows several characters — a young boxer learning about his true parentage; three politicians all vying for election, all making promises for land and water rights; an author looking for a story and a Vietnam vet battling his hallucinations. However, some characters’ stories were more powerful than others, and unfortunately all the female characters fell flat to me.
The food
Anaya features several Chicano and New Mexican dishes in the novel; enchiladas are mentioned, which sounded like an easy, delicious crowd-pleasing dish.
I’ve made enchiladas before, but since this is a cooking challenge, I attempted making my own sauce.
While the first attempt turned out awful, my second attempts at sauces were, if not exactly authentic, much better. For the red sauce, I used this recipe, which only calls for dried spices from the pantry, flour and chicken or vegetable broth. For the green sauce, I used a recipe that includes canned green chilis, jalapenos, onions, garlic and broth. Both sauces came together in less than an hour.
I used corn tortillas and filled the enchiladas with shredded pork. Cover in sauce and cheese, then bake.
The verdict? The first sauce recipe left a bitter taste in my mouth, literally and figuratively, but mistakes aside, I liked my second attempt at these. The recipes only used pantry ingredients, making them quick and accessible. My fiance prefers flour over corn tortillas, so I might try those next time.
Next week: Halloween