Cazueleja de Queso Chiapaneca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Six 5- to 6-inch oven-safe clay cazueletas, or one 10-inch oven-safe clay cazuela
• •Cast iron comal for softening banana leaves
• •Large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dough hook
• •Pastry brush
• •Sheet pan for carrying the cazueletas

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the clay

   Set a comal over medium heat. Pass each banana leaf square over the hot comal or a gas flame for 10 to 15 seconds per side, just until the leaf turns glossy, darker green, and flexible. Grease six oven-safe 5- to 6-inch clay cazueletas with manteca de cerdo, then line each one with a softened banana leaf square. Let the leaf edges rise over the rim. The leaf keeps the dough moist against the clay and gives the bottom that green southern aroma. This is Chiapas, not a paper bakery cup.

   Use only oven-safe barro. If the cazueletas are new or unseasoned, soak them in water for 20 minutes, dry them, grease them, and set them on a sheet pan before baking. Thermal shock cracks clay.
2. 2

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the warm milk, active dry yeast, and 1 teaspoon of the dough sugar together in a small bowl. Let it stand for 8 to 10 minutes, until foamy. If it stays flat, the yeast is dead. Throw it out and start again. No me vengas con atajos.

3. 3

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, crushed anise seed, and the remaining dough sugar. Add the yeast mixture, the 2 eggs, and the melted manteca. Mix with your hand or a dough hook until a shaggy dough forms. Add warm water 1 tablespoon at a time only if the dough feels dry. It should be soft and slightly tacky, not stiff. Clay baking firms the edges, so the dough must begin tender.

4. 4

   Knead until supple

   Knead by hand for 8 to 10 minutes, or with a dough hook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and still a little tacky. Do not bury it in extra flour. A dry dough gives you a dry cazueleja, and then the cheese has nothing to soften. La manteca es el sabor, and here it also gives the crumb its tenderness.

5. 5

   Let it rise

   Grease a clean bowl with a thin film of lard. Set the dough inside, turn it once to coat, cover, and let it rise in a warm place for 60 to 75 minutes, until doubled and puffy. In a cool Comitán morning, it may take closer to 90 minutes. The dough is ready when a finger pressed into it leaves a slow dent. The clock obeys the dough, not the cook.

6. 6

   Mix the cheese

   Reserve 2 tablespoons of the crumbled queso fresco for the tops. Mix the remaining queso fresco with the thick crema, egg yolk, and 1 tablespoon sugar. The filling should be thick and clumpy, not runny. If the cheese is wet, let it sit in a strainer for 10 minutes before mixing. Queso fresco softens in the oven. It does not disappear, and that is what you want.

7. 7

   Fill the cazueletas

   Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 larger pieces and 6 smaller pieces. Press one larger piece into each lined cazueleta, pushing the dough across the bottom and slightly up the sides. Spoon the cheese filling into the center. Flatten a smaller piece of dough and lay it over the cheese, pinching the edges gently into the bottom dough. Leave a few natural cracks where the cheese can peek through. The women who make this by hand do not make it look machine-cut. They make it hold.

8. 8

   Proof and glaze

   Cover the cazueletas loosely and let them rise for 25 to 35 minutes, until the dough looks puffy and sits close to the rim. Beat the egg with the 1 tablespoon milk. Brush the tops lightly, then scatter with sesame seeds and the reserved queso fresco. Do not puddle the egg wash. You want shine, not a slick.

9. 9

   Bake and rest

   Heat the oven to 375F. Set the cazueletas on a sheet pan and bake for 28 to 35 minutes, until the tops are deep gold, the sesame seeds are toasted, the cheese is bubbling in the cracks, and the bread pulls slightly from the banana leaf. If using one 10-inch cazuela, bake 40 to 45 minutes. Rest 15 minutes before serving. Hot cheese needs to settle. Serve the cazuelejas warm, still in their clay, with atole de pinole or café de olla. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy queso fresco de Chiapas if you can find it. It should smell like fresh milk and taste clean, not sour. If your market only has rubbery supermarket queso fresco, ask the women at the market where they buy cheese. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •Feta is too salty. Cotija is too dry. Mozzarella is wrong. Outside Mexico, a good Mexican queso fresco mixed with thick crema is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it will behave in the dough.
• •Do not replace the manteca de cerdo with vegetable oil. Oil makes the crumb flat and greasy. Lard shortens the dough, carries the dairy flavor, and gives the bread that tender pull. La manteca es el sabor.
• •There is no chile here. Leave the jalapeño out. This bread is dairy, wheat, lard, clay, and leaf. This is a 32-state cuisine, and not every state speaks through chile.
• •If your banana leaves crack, you did not soften them enough. Pass them over the comal until they turn glossy and bend without splitting. Raw leaf fights you. Softened leaf works.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can do its first rise overnight in the refrigerator. Cover it tightly after mixing and kneading, then bring it to room temperature for 45 minutes before shaping.
• •The queso fresco can be crumbled and drained one day ahead. Mix it with crema, egg yolk, and sugar only when you are ready to fill the cazueletas.
• •Baked cazuelejas keep at room temperature for one day or refrigerated for three days. Reheat in a 300F oven until the crumb softens again. Do not microwave them unless you want tough bread and rubbery cheese.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 215g)