Jalisco Turkey Stuffing (Relleno de Pavo)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal or heavy skillet for toasting chile ancho
• •Wide heavy skillet for the pork and fruit mixture
• •Large mixing bowl
• •3-quart cazuela de barro from Tonala or Tlaquepaque, or a heavy baking dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the bread

   Heat the oven to 325F. Spread the birote cubes on two sheet pans and toast for 18 to 22 minutes, turning once, until dry at the edges and lightly golden. Do not brown them hard. You want bread that can drink broth without collapsing. Soft sandwich bread will turn to paste. No me vengas con atajos.

2. 2

   Toast the ancho

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the chile ancho pieces for 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until they darken slightly and smell sweet. Do not let them blacken. Burned chile makes bitter stuffing, and no amount of fruit will fix it.

   Chile ancho is dried poblano. It brings raisin-like depth, not aggressive heat. Not all Mexican food is hot. Learn the chile before you use it.
3. 3

   Soften and chop

   Place the toasted ancho in a small bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. Drain well and chop it finely. Do not use boiling water. Boiling roughens the skin and brings out bitterness. Hot water softens the flesh cleanly.

4. 4

   Brown the pork

   Melt the lard in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the ground pork and cook for 7 to 9 minutes, breaking it into small pieces, until the meat loses its raw color and the fat begins to shine in the pan. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil gives you grease. Lard gives you flavor.

5. 5

   Fry the aromatics

   Add the onion, garlic, and celery to the pork. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is translucent and the celery softens. Add the chopped ancho and roasted tomato. Cook for 3 minutes more, until the tomato tightens and the chile stains the fat a deep brick red.

6. 6

   Add fruit and tequila

   Stir in the apple, pear, raisins, almonds, olives, capers, tequila, Mexican oregano, canela, clove, salt, and black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. The tequila should lose its sharp smell and leave the fruit brighter. This is Jalisco speaking, not a bottle being poured for decoration.

7. 7

   Moisten the bread

   Put the toasted bread cubes in a large bowl. Scrape the pork and fruit mixture over them. Add 1 1/2 cups warm broth and fold gently with a wooden spoon. Let it sit 5 minutes, then taste the bread. It should be moist through the center but still hold its shape. Add the remaining broth only if the cubes are still dry.

8. 8

   Bind the relleno

   Fold in the beaten eggs and parsley. Mix only until the bread is evenly coated. Do not mash it. The eggs set the dressing so it can be spooned from the cazuela in soft pieces, not shoveled out like wet cement. Taste for salt now. Broth varies, and a holiday dish should not be shy.

9. 9

   Bake in barro

   Raise the oven to 375F. Grease a 3-quart cazuela de barro or heavy baking dish with lard. Spoon in the relleno without packing it down. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the top is crisp in places and the edges are browned from the pork fat.

10. 10

    Rest and serve

    Let the relleno rest for 10 minutes before serving. The bread finishes absorbing the juices and the fruit settles into the pork. Set the cazuela on the table beside the turkey, with a spoon big enough for people to serve themselves properly. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Birote salado is the bread of Guadalajara. Its firm crumb and salty crust make the best relleno. If you cannot find it outside Jalisco, use day-old bolillo. That is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it works.
• •Use tequila blanco from Jalisco, not a sweet liqueur and not aged tequila that tastes of barrel. The point is brightness and a clean agave note.
• •Do not stuff this inside the turkey unless you know how to manage food safety and temperature. In many Jalisco homes the relleno is baked separately in a cazuela, which keeps the bread from turning heavy and lets the top crisp.
• •Apple and pear should be firm. If the fruit is overripe, it will melt into the bread. At the mercado, pick fruit that smells good but still resists your thumb.
• •Parsley appears here because colonial holiday tables in western Mexico absorbed European herbs into Mexican technique. Do not replace it with cilantro just because the dish is Mexican. That is lazy thinking.

Advance Preparation

• •The bread can be cubed and toasted up to 2 days ahead. Store it uncovered overnight, then loosely covered, so it stays dry.
• •The pork, chile, fruit, and tequila mixture can be cooked 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Warm it before mixing with the bread so the fat loosens and coats the cubes properly.
• •The assembled relleno can be covered and refrigerated up to 12 hours before baking. Add an extra 10 minutes to the covered baking time if it goes into the oven cold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 245g)