Verduras en Escabeche Conventuales

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide nonreactive stainless-steel pot or lead-free glazed cazuela
• •Kitchen spider or slotted spoon
• •Two 1-quart glass frascos with nonreactive lids
• •Clean kitchen towels for draining vegetables
• •Small Puebla Talavera bowl for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the jars

   Wash two 1-quart glass frascos and their lids with hot soapy water, rinse well, and dry completely. This is refrigerator escabeche, not shelf-stable canning. Clean jars matter because the vegetables will rest in acid and oil for days.

2. 2

   Cut the vegetables

   Cut the cauliflower into firm florets, the carrots on the bias, the ejotes into short lengths, and the onion into thick wedges. Slit each chile güero lengthwise from shoulder to tip without removing the stem. The slit lets the vinegar enter while the chile keeps its shape in the jar. El chile se queda entero.

3. 3

   Blanch by texture

   Bring the water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil in a nonreactive pot. Blanch the carrots for 3 minutes, lift them out with a spider, then blanch the cauliflower for 2 minutes, and the ejotes for 90 seconds. Spread each vegetable on a clean towel to drain. Do not cook them soft. The vinegar will finish the work overnight.

   If the cauliflower smells sulfurous, you cooked it too long. It should still look white and hold its edges.
4. 4

   Perfume the oil

   In a wide stainless-steel pot or lead-free glazed cazuela, warm the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, onion wedges, and chiles güeros. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, turning gently, until the onion turns glossy and the chiles soften slightly. Do not brown the garlic. Browned garlic fights the vinegar and turns bitter.

   The fat here is olive oil. La manteca es el sabor where the dish asks for pork fat. This preserve asks for the Spanish pantry, oil and vinegar, así se hace y punto.
5. 5

   Add the spices

   Add the bay leaves, black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, oregano, thyme, and marjoram to the oil. Stir for 30 seconds, just until the spices smell awake. This is the conventual register: canela, clavo, laurel, herbs, and restraint. Do not turn it into mole. This is escabeche.

6. 6

   Simmer the vinegar

   Pour in the white wine vinegar, vinagre de jerez, reserved blanching liquid, dry jerez, piloncillo, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves. The liquid should taste sharp, salted, faintly sweet, and perfumed with clove and bay. If it tastes timid now, it will taste flat tomorrow.

7. 7

   Finish the escabeche

   Add the blanched carrots, cauliflower, and ejotes to the simmering escabeche. Fold gently so the vegetables are coated without breaking. Add the toasted almonds and raisins, then simmer 3 minutes more. The almonds should stay firm and the raisins should plump, not fall apart.

8. 8

   Jar and rest

   Pack the vegetables, chiles, onion, garlic, almonds, raisins, and spices into the clean frascos. Pour the hot vinegar and oil mixture over them, making sure the vegetables are covered. Tap the jars gently to release trapped air. Cool uncovered for 30 minutes, then close and refrigerate at least 12 hours, preferably 24. The first day tastes like ingredients. The second day tastes like escabeche.

   Keep the vegetables under the liquid. If a piece rises above the surface, press it down with a clean spoon before refrigerating.
9. 9

   Serve as condiment

   Serve cool or at room temperature in a small Puebla Talavera bowl, with a little of the oil-vinegar liquid spooned over the top. Set it beside tortitas de camarón, pescado, roasted poultry, cold meats, beans, or picnic sandwiches. This is a sauce in the old sense: it dresses the plate, it does not pretend to be the plate. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh chiles güeros, the pale yellow-green ones, not dried mole chiles. Chilhuacle negro, chilhuacle rojo, ancho, mulato, pasilla, and guajillo belong to other conventual sauces. This jar needs a whole fresh chile that can sit in vinegar and keep its shape.
• •If you cannot find chiles güeros, fresh jalapeño cuaresmeño will work, but it is a compromise. The flavor will be greener and sharper, and the jar will look less poblano.
• •Do not cook vinegar in copper or aluminum. Acid pulls metal. Copper cazos are for chocolate, cajeta, and some sweet work, not this escabeche.
• •The vegetables must be firm. If the market cauliflower is tired and spotted, do not make this today. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado and cook what is actually good.
• •This is not a shelf-stable canning recipe. Keep it refrigerated and use a clean spoon every time. Vinegar plus confidence is not food safety.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the escabeche at least 12 hours ahead. Twenty-four hours is better because the chiles, onion, herbs, and vinegar settle into one flavor.
• •The escabeche keeps refrigerated for up to 2 weeks as long as the vegetables stay covered by the liquid and you use a clean spoon.
• •For a picnic or Easter table, transport the jar cold and let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving so the olive oil loosens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 165g)