Recipe Source: Bayless, Rick. Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen. Scribner Press, New York, 1996 pp. 156 - 7.
This dish probably has absolutely no resemblance to the original. Usually I make substitutions because of personal preferences or because of ingredient unavailability. I did make a couple of changes along those lines here, but that's not the main reason I made most of the changes I did. I made most of those changes to minimize the time spent in the kitchen.
Some of you, those who either know me personally or who read this site often, are probably saying, "Minimizing time in the kitchen? Oh Fearless, did you fall and hit your head?" No, I did not fall and hit my head. For those of you who don't know, we have a beautiful solarium right off our kitchen. We've been making use of this sunny space to start our vegetable plants for our garden. Instead of nasty chemical fertilizers which trigger my asthma, we're using this kind of fermented fish goo substance. It does not trigger my asthma. It does, however, stink to high heaven. The day I made this my husband had just mixed up a big, big batch of Stinking Fish Goo. In, over my objections, the kitchen. And he left a big gob of Stinking Fish Concentrate, undiluted, in the sink. It smelled so bad I couldn't even wash dishes. I did everything in this recipe with a view to minimizing my exposure (and that of the food) to the Stinking Fish Goo.
For those of you who are curious, the Stinking Fish Goo has worked wonders on the seedlings. The
tomatoes have been especially happy and are threatening to eat everything in the sunroom. So I highly recommend Stinking Fish Goo, just not in the house. Be firm on this one, ladies.
Anyway. I increased the amount of garlic but did not toast it. I couldn't find pasilla chilies in my local Whole Foods, so I used canned chipotle chilies instead. I increased the cumin and used feta for the queso anejo that I could also not find at my local Whole Foods. Oh - and lacking chicken or beef broth, I used white wine, which probably resulted in the distinctly lower amount of sauce than expected. The dish was still pretty tasty, though, and both my husband and I were disappointed that there wasn't more.
Chipotle Mushroom Tacos (serves 4; approx. $3.55/serving)
10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 canned chipotle chiles, plus a little of the adobo from the can
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
12 tortillas
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 white onion, finely diced
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
Equipment:
- Food processor
- Dutch oven
- Saucepan
- Bamboo steamer
- Combine the garlic, chiles, adobo, garlic, oregano, pepper and cumin in the food processor. Process to a smooth puree.
- Heat the oil int he Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add all the chile puree at once.
- Stir for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the wine, then add the mushrooms and cilantro.
- Partially cover and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are soft. This should take a little less than 15 minutes.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, put some water in the saucepan and bring it to a boil. Put the tortillas in the basket of the steamer and steam until done, about 5 minutes.
- Add the salt to the mushrooms.
- Scoop into a serving dish and add the onions and feta. Serve with the tortillas.