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Little Boats
1 pound skinless snapper filet
2 cups adobo sauce (see recipe, below)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped onion
12 corn husks (tamale-style)
Cut snapper filet into strips approximately 1/4 inch by 2 inches.
Marinate strips in adobo sauce for 5 minutes. Remove from marinade
and mix fish with cilantro and onion in bowl. Spoon equal portions
of snapper mixture into each corn husk, close tightly, and tie ends
with strips of husk to form boats. Steam in covered sauté
pan with 1/2 inch of water 10 to 15 minutes, until fish is firm.
Open boats and serve with remaining adobo sauce and garnish with
mango-jicama salsa (see recipe, below). Serves
4.
Adobo Sauce
6 ancho chiles
10 pasilla chiles
2 cups hot water
1 1-inch cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
6 black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon cumin
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons mild white vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups chicken stock
Toast chiles in shallow pan in a 300-degree oven until slightly
charred, 4 to 5 minutes, watching carefully and turning occasionally.
When cool enough to handle (wear latex gloves if skin is sensitive),
slit and remove seeds. Soak in hot water 20 minutes. Transfer
chiles and 1 cup of the water to blender. Add all ingredients
except vinegar, bay leaves, sugar, and stock. Blend well. Combine
with remaining ingredients in saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes,
until sauce thickens.
Mango-Jicama Salsa
1/2 cup shredded jicama
1/2 cup chopped mango
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Mix ingredients in glass bowl with wooden spoon, adding oil last.
Make sure oil coats everything. Let stand 2 hours in refrigerator
before serving.
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Cafe Noche
2409 Montrose
Houston, Texas
For millennia, Mexican people have used corn husks as cooking
vessels. Alan Mallett, the executive chef at Houston's Cafe Noche,
has adapted the technique for the restaurant's signature Little
Boats because, he says, the ingredients "steam in their own
juices and retain all their flavor and texture." Three variations
on the theme -- cabrito, pork, or snapper, seasoned with fresh
cilantro and onion -- may be sampled at Cafe Noche. Not only is
the food a work of art but the restaurant itself is a gallery,
its long dining room displaying colorful paintings against stark
white walls. To cook Little Boats at home, try the snapper version,
accompanied by a sweet-hot adobo sauce and a mango-jicama salsa.
Meat & Dairy
1 pound skinless snapper filet
Produce
cilantro
onion
6 ancho chiles
10 pasilla chiles
garlic
1 jicama
2 mangoes (or canned to equal 1/2 cup)
lime
orange
1 jalapeño
Grocery
12 corn husks (tamale-style; sometimes sold in produce section)
1 1-inch cinnamon stick
cloves
peppercorns
thyme
marjoram
cumin
mild white vinegar
bay leaves
sugar
2 cans chicken stock
vegetable oil |
