It’s that time of year again. It’s the blissful period where school is a far-away thought on the mind of children and many parents. Some people stay at home to celebrate the 4th of July and others hit the road to visit relatives. Wherever you’re going this summer, the Dancing Chefs want you to bring Salsa and Salsa with you!
When you travel in Mexico, whether it’s by boat, bus or car, you will invariably find ‘antojitos’ on any street corner or at any bus stop. Antojitos literally translates to ‘little cravings’. It’s a variety of snacks that are quick to eat and ready to take away. Antojitos are street and market food and most are made with masa, dough made of corn flour and water.
The tortilla is made of masa and serves as bread, plate and cutlery at the same time. Quickly baked on a hot griddle or comal, folded with creamy cheese in between, become a quesadilla. Tacos, soft tortillas, are served with beans, chicken, mole or Poblano chili as well as the crunchy tostadas. Thick stuffed gorditas and panuchos or sopes: their rims folded upwards to keep the filling inside or delicious enchiladas: there’s too much to choose from!
Wherever you eat antojitos, you can find gigantic containers filled with agua fresca: refreshing drinks of mixed fruits with water. Bright-green colors of limes, orange colors of melon or mango are lined up to extinguish the fire after a plate of tacos with salsa! There are two favorites that never miss: agua de tamarindo made from the sticky tamarind pods and the deep-red agua de Jamaica made from hibiscus flowers.
Queso fundido con champiñones y chile poblano
(Melted cheese with mushrooms and poblano chili)
Queso fundido is a tasty appetizer in many Mexican restaurants world-wide. It’s usually served in shallow clay plates with soft flour tortillas. You can use Mexican chorizo too and don’t forget to prepare some spicy Red Salsa!
1 Poblano chili: roasted, skin and seeds removed, cut in slices
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper
2 oz. or 60 grams mushrooms, sliced
9 oz or 250 grams grated Chihuahua cheese or Monterrey Jack
10 – 12 flour tortillas
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet and shortly fry the poblano chili slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and remove from skillet. Heat another tablespoon of butter in the same skillet and bake the mushrooms until softened. Also sprinkle with salt and pepper and remove from skillet.
Grease the inside of 2 cazuelitas or small oven dishes. Place half of the cheese and half of the strips of poblano chili in one dish and the other half of the cheese and half of the mushrooms in the other dish. Cover with aluminum foil and place under a broiler for about 3 minutes until the cheese has melted. Remove the aluminum foil and heat for another 2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Add the remaining mushrooms and chili to the dishes.
Serve warm with flour tortillas, so the cheese can be used to make tacos. This is a very tasty snacks with Pico de gallo.
SERVES 6 PEOPLE
The Original Salsa And Salsa 