Recado Conventual para Estofado

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Volcanic stone metate with tejolote
• •Dry comal for toasting chiles and spices
• •Heavy barro rojo cazuela or enameled Dutch oven
• •Wooden spoon
• •Fine-mesh sieve if using a blender
• •Clean glass jars for resting the recado

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the chiles

   Open the ancho, mulato, and pasilla chiles with kitchen scissors. Remove stems, seeds, and veins. Wipe the skins with a damp cloth if they are dusty. Do not rinse them under running water. You paid for chile oils, not for the sink to take them away.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chiles one at a time, pressing each piece flat for 10 to 15 seconds per side until the skin softens, darkens slightly, and smells sweet, like raisins and tobacco. The pasilla is thin, so watch it. If a chile blackens, throw it out. Burned chile makes bitter recado and the convent nuns did not spend saffron money to hide your mistake.

   Ancho gives the main body. Mulato deepens the color. Pasilla brings a lean, dark edge. This is a Puebla balance, not a random chile drawer.
3. 3

   Soak gently

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Set a small plate on top to keep them submerged and let them soften for 25 minutes. Drain, saving 1 cup of the soaking liquid only if it tastes clean and not bitter. If it tastes harsh, use light chicken broth instead.

4. 4

   Toast the nuts

   On the same comal, toast the almonds until pale gold in spots. Toast the sesame seeds separately, stirring constantly, until they turn golden and smell nutty. Then toast the raisins just until they puff. Keep each ingredient separate. They brown at different speeds, and a serious recado is built by control, not by dumping everything together.

5. 5

   Brown the thickeners

   Toast the torn tortilla and bread on the comal until dry, spotted, and crisp at the edges. They are not filler. They give the paste body so it can cling to meat during the estofado. If they stay soft, the recado turns loose and weak.

6. 6

   Roast the vegetables

   Roast the tomatoes, onion slices, and unpeeled garlic on the comal until the tomatoes blister and collapse, the onion has dark brown edges, and the garlic is soft inside its skins. Peel the garlic. Do not scrape away every charred spot from the tomato. That bitterness, in the correct amount, belongs with the sweetness of the raisins and almond.

7. 7

   Wake the spices

   Toast the saffron threads for a few seconds in a dry small skillet, just until fragrant, then crumble them into the jerez. Toast the cloves, peppercorns, allspice, and canela for 30 to 45 seconds, moving them constantly. Grind them with the thyme, oregano, and nutmeg. Spices this expensive deserve attention. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.

8. 8

   Grind the paste

   On a metate, grind the toasted spices first, then the almonds, sesame, raisins, tortilla, and bread. Work in the chiles a few pieces at a time, followed by the roasted tomato, onion, garlic, and saffron-soaked jerez. Add only enough soaking liquid or broth to keep the paste moving. The finished recado should be smooth, glossy, and heavy, closer to wet clay than salsa. El metate es la regla.

   If you use a blender, blend in small batches and strain the paste through a fine sieve. That is the compromise. The goal is the same: no skins, no gritty almond, no lazy texture.
9. 9

   Fry in lard

   Melt the lard in a heavy clay cazuela or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the recado carefully. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon for 12 to 15 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the paste darkens from red brick to deep garnet and the fat begins to shine at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will cook it. Lard will make it taste like Puebla.

10. 10

    Simmer slowly

    Stir in the remaining broth or clean soaking liquid, the salt, and the grated piloncillo. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring often, until the recado thickens again and leaves a clear trail when you drag the spoon across the bottom of the cazuela. Taste for salt. It should be assertive because it is meant to season meat later, not sit politely in a jar.

11. 11

    Rest two days

    Cool the recado completely. Pack it into a clean glass jar, press a small spoonful of melted lard over the surface, cover, and refrigerate for at least 48 hours. Two days minimum. On day one the clove and saffron shout. By day three the chile, almond, jerez, and spice have learned to work together. Así se hace y punto.

12. 12

    Use for estofado

    For estofado, rub 3 to 4 pounds of chicken, pork, kid, or beef with 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the recado and let it sit overnight before braising. Thin the remaining recado with stock in the cooking pot. This recipe gives you the sauce base only. The celebration dish it dresses belongs in the estofado recipe, not here.

Chef Tips

• •Buy dried chiles from a vendor with turnover. At La Merced or Mercado de Sabores Poblanos, the anchos should be flexible and smell like dried fruit. If they crack like old paper, leave them there.
• •Use true Mexican canela, the brittle Ceylon-type bark sold in thin rolls. Hard cassia cinnamon tastes blunt here and pushes the clove too far forward.
• •Jerez is part of the conventual register. If you cannot use alcohol, use light chicken broth and a teaspoon of good vinegar, but know what you are losing: that dry, old-cellar note that makes the sauce taste criollo.
• •Do not add chocolate. This is recado para estofado, not mole poblano. The almond, saffron, sesame, and jerez are doing the old convent work.
• •A blender is acceptable when the cook respects the texture. Blend long, strain well, and fry the paste until the fat separates. A shortcut that keeps the principle is useful. A shortcut that removes the principle is laziness.

Advance Preparation

• •This recado must be made at least two days before the estofado. The flavor is noticeably better on the third day.
• •The finished paste keeps refrigerated for 10 days if covered with a thin cap of melted lard.
• •For longer storage, freeze in 1-cup portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and fry briefly in lard before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 60g)