Day 26: Guest Chef from Nopalito!

Today we had Chef Gonzalo Guzman from Nopalito come and make some classic Mexican food for us. Honestly, this night was like magic - he was like a wizard in the kitchen, moving at top speed but always in control of everything. The food he cooked was simple and utterly delicious. He said that growing up, his village didn’t have access to running water or electricity, so they made everything from scratch - there weren’t any shortcuts available. That’s the ethos he brings to Nopalito. They make everything in-house, with organic ingredients, and locally sourced where possible.The night focused on Mole Poblano - I’m not the biggest fan of Mole Poblano, but watching him make it was like watching an artist at work. It’s full of these deep, dark smokey flavors that come from burning, literally, many of the ingredients. E.g., he deliberately put a flaming corn tortilla in a sauce pan with toasting chile seeds, let those become charcoal black, rinsed them, and then added those into the sauce. The sauce was also essentially made from toasting a ton of different nuts, seeds and chillies, along with everything from plantains, to some fried bread (and of course at the end, chocolate!)             He didn’t really use any specific recipes, but here are some of the methods to a few of the knockout dishes of the evening:

Pork Carnitas

• Cook pork shoulder with a lot of lard! Enough for the pork to be almost completely coated
• Going to cook over medium high heat for a while - after about 30 minutes, you want even browning. Add about a cup of brown sugar, 1 orange cut in half, 5 cloves of garlic, half a white onion, a few bay leaves and one cinnamon stick (all wrapped in a cheese cloth).
• Reduce the heat to cook evenly for the next 30-45 minutes, Then add 3 oz beer and a half cup of milk
• Turn off the flame and let it rest in the sauce!

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Delicious Green Salsa 

This salsa is fresh and bright and so flavorful. The color is also gorgeous You'll want to dump this one on everything.

• Mix 1 jalapeno, 4 tomatillos, a bunch of cilantro with the stem, and 1 garlic clove in a blender. Puree and add salt to taste!

Delicious Red Salsa 

This salsa is basically the opposite of the previous one, but no less delicious. It tastes almost creamy from the olive oil and is SO FREAKING TASTY. You'll also want to put it on everything

• Brown a few cloves of garlic in oil (use more oil than you would think)
• Add 10 arbol chilis and brown them (want them fully browned, but do not let them turn black)
• Add 2 roma tomatoes. Cover and cook until tomatoes are cooked down
• Puree and add salt to taste!