Machetes de la Guerrero

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large cast iron comal or flat griddle (at least 18 inches long)
• •Heavy-duty rolling pin
• •Large zipper bag, cut open, or two sheets of thick plastic
• •Two long spatulas or a long metal bench scraper for flipping

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the masa

   In a wide bowl, combine the masa harina and salt. Add the softened lard and rub it through the dry flour with your fingertips until it disappears. Pour in the warm water and bring it together with one hand. Knead for five minutes inside the bowl. The masa should feel like soft, cool earlobe. If it cracks at the edges when you press it, it needs more water, a tablespoon at a time. If it sticks to your palm, it needs a little more masa. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 20 minutes. The masa needs to hydrate fully or it will crack the moment you try to stretch it two feet long.

   The lard is not negotiable. It gives the masa enough elasticity to stretch without tearing. Water-only masa cracks. La manteca es el sabor and here it is also the structure.
2. 2

   Prep the huitlacoche guisado

   Heat one tablespoon of lard in a skillet over medium. Add half the diced onion, half the garlic, and cook until translucent, about three minutes. Add the huitlacoche and cook, stirring, for eight to ten minutes until the liquid releases and reduces back into the pan and the mixture turns inky black. Stir in half the chopped epazote in the last minute. Salt to taste. Set aside. Huitlacoche without epazote is unfinished. The two are a pair. Pregunta a las senoras del mercado de Jamaica si no me crees.

3. 3

   Prep the flor de calabaza guisado

   In the same skillet, heat the second tablespoon of lard over medium. Add the remaining onion, garlic, and the minced serrano. Cook three minutes. Add the squash blossoms in handfuls, letting each wilt before adding the next. Cook five minutes total, just until the petals collapse and turn deep gold. Stir in the rest of the epazote. Salt to taste. Pull off the heat. The blossoms should still have body, not turn to mush.

4. 4

   Warm the chicharron prensado

   Heat the chicharron prensado in a small pan over low heat for five minutes, just to loosen the chile sauce and warm it through. This one is already seasoned by the carnicero who made it. Do not add salt. Do not add anything. Set aside in a warm spot.

5. 5

   Stretch the first machete

   Divide the rested masa into four equal balls. Take a heavy-duty zipper bag and cut down both sides so it opens like a book. Lay one piece flat on the counter. Place one ball of masa in the center. Press it down with your palm into a thick oval. Cover with the second sheet of plastic. Now use a rolling pin to stretch the masa into a long, narrow oval, about 20 to 24 inches long and 5 inches wide. Work from the center out, rolling lengthwise. The shape is the dish. A round quesadilla is not a machete.

   If your comal is shorter than 20 inches, stretch the machete to fit your largest pan. The puestos in Guerrero have custom comales built into the stalls. At home, you work with what you have. Just keep the long, blade-like shape.
6. 6

   Heat the comal

   Set a large cast iron comal, a flat griddle, or your widest cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Let it come up for five full minutes. A flicked drop of water should dance and skitter, not sit and steam. A cold comal sticks. A hot comal releases. This is the difference between a machete and a tragedy.

7. 7

   Cook the masa, fill the machete

   Peel the top plastic off the stretched masa. Flip the masa onto your free hand, then lay it gently onto the hot comal. Peel off the second plastic. Cook for about 90 seconds, until the underside has light brown freckles and lifts easily. Flip with two spatulas or a long bench scraper. Immediately scatter a quarter of the Oaxaca cheese down the center third of the machete, lengthwise. Layer on a quarter of one filling, this is your machete de huitlacoche, or chicharron, or flor de calabaza. One filling per machete. Do not mix them. Each machete is its own dish.

8. 8

   Fold and crisp

   Using two spatulas, fold one long side over the filling, then the other, like closing a book lengthwise. Press gently with the back of the spatula. Cook two more minutes per side, lowering the heat slightly if the masa is browning faster than the cheese is melting. The outside should be deeply freckled and crisp. The inside should be molten. When you press the top of the machete, it should give and then spring back. Asi se hace y punto.

9. 9

   Serve to share

   Slide the finished machete onto a long wooden board or a hand-woven mat. Repeat with the remaining three balls of masa and the other fillings. Bring all four to the table at once. Tear them apart with your hands. Pass the salsa verde, the salsa roja, the raw white onion, and the lime. A machete is not a single-person dish. It is built for a group, the way the puestos on Calle Zarco serve them at midnight after a long shift or a long night.

Chef Tips

• •The fillings here are the CDMX classics, but the machete carries any quesadilla guisado you would put inside a regular one: tinga de pollo, picadillo, papa con chorizo, rajas con crema. Make one of each filling and your guests can choose. That is how the puestos do it.
• •Huitlacoche and flor de calabaza are rainy-season ingredients in Mexico, July through September. Outside of season, frozen huitlacoche from a Mexican market works. If you cannot find squash blossoms, do not substitute zucchini. Make a different machete. Cook what the market is selling today.
• •Quesillo from Oaxaca is the cheese. Not mozzarella, not Monterey Jack. The way it strings and melts is the texture of the dish. If you absolutely cannot find it, low-moisture mozzarella is a compromise, and you should know it is a compromise.

Advance Preparation

• •The masa can be mixed up to four hours ahead. Keep it covered with a damp cloth at room temperature. Do not refrigerate raw masa, it dries out and cracks.
• •All three guisados can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat in a skillet with a little lard before filling the machetes.
• •The salsas should be made the day of serving for the brightest flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 395g)