Jesse Olivarez, or Dr. MexiMelt.

For the better part of two decades I’ve been celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a good sized fiesta. It’s taken on many different faces over the years, starting out as a sit-down dinner party when I would spend weeks — sometimes months — tracking deown hard-to-find ingredients and sharing recipes with which precious few in Oklahoma were familiar.

Then one year, I got overly ambitious with both the food and the invites and dinner ran way late. That was a pivotal year as it was also the one and only time I ever rented a frozen margarita machine. While folks were forced to wait to eat, they were not forced to wait on those margaritas and the ice-bathing cervezas. The party was such a success, the format changed the following year: enchiladas, mole, beans and chorizo rice were out; tacos were in.

Last year, I had to cancel the party because my mother fell ill a week before the big day. As rough as that was, this year’s has been even more trying.

For the second time in the last 18 months, The Oklahoman announced a reduction in workforce. Fifty-seven good folks are now out of work. More than a few I consider friends. One in particular I consider among my closest friends.

Just so happens the announcement was made on May 5, and my good friend Jesse Olivarez was among those left with no job.
Jesse might just be the Sultan of Cinco. No, not because he’s Hispanic. Because there’s no one that loves my annual Cinco de Mayo party, which rarely ever falls on the 5th, like Jesse.

Amigos

Whether putting the “water” in firewater, “helping” wrap tamales, or gently reminding we foolish gringos that Cinco de Mayo is a made-for-Budweiser holiday celebrated more north of the border than south, he’s the first to arrive and up first for migas the next morning.
This year’s fiesta is dedicated to him and the decade of hard work he gave The Oklahoman and in turn the community, including grunt work, holidays, nights and weekends for half the pay he was worth.

If there’s one stereotype of Hispanic folks born from overwhelming anecdotal evidence, it’s a propensity for loving spicy food. Jesse is the reason I know it’s a stereotype, it’s because Jesse would choose sugar over chile any and every time.
This recipe, derived from Rick Bayless’ first book, “Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico” (William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1987) for Manchamanteles, which means tablecloth-stainer, is perfect for my very good friend Jesse as it combines spicy and sweet beautifully. And I love it because I can now acquire all the ingredients needed right here in Oklahoma City.

Mole Manchamanteles

Mole Manchamanteles

Ingredients

• 6 medium dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded,
  deveined, and halved
• 3 cascabel chiles, stemmed, seeded and deveined
• 5 tablespoons lard
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2″ cubes and patted dry
• 1 pound chicken tenders, diced
• 3 black peppercorns
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 1⁄2″-long piece canela (Mexican cinnamon) or cinnamon stick
• 8 pieces dried crostini pieces
• 2 tablespoon cider vinegar
• Salt
• 1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks
• 1 ripe medium plantain, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons Agave nectar

Directions

1. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or griddle medium heat. Working in batches, toast chiles on both sides, pressing them down with a metal spatula, until aromatic, about 1 1⁄2 minutes.
2. Transfer chiles to a large bowl, cover with boiling water, weight down with a plate, and let soak, 30 minutes. Drain.
3. Heat 4 tablespoons of the lard in the skillet over medium-low. Add onions and fry until softened, 5–6 minutes. Add garlic and cook until onions are golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Remove onions and garlic from skillet with a slotted spoon and transfer to a blender, leaving lard in the skillet.
4. Increase heat to medium, add pork, and cook, turning often, until golden brown on all sides, 12–14 minutes. Drain pork on paper towels and set aside.
5. Add chicken to the skillet and cook, turning often, until golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to plate with pork and set aside. Reserve skillet with any remaining lard.
6. Put peppercorns, cloves, and canela into a mortar and crush with a pestle to a powder. Transfer spices to a blender.
7. Add 1 cup water, drained chiles, and bread and blend until smooth, 2–3 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on solids with the back of a spoon. Discard solids.
8. Heat reserved skillet over medium heat, carefully add chile mixture, and fry, stirring constantly, until thickened, 4–5 minutes.
9. Transfer chile mixture to a large heavy pot. Add pork, 2 cups water, vinegar, and salt to taste and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until pork is very tender, about 2 to 2 1⁄2 hours.
10. Add chicken and pineapple and cook, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, melt remaining lard in a medium skillet over medium heat. Fry plantains, turning often, until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.
12. Transfer plantains to the mole and stir to combine.
13. Add agave nectar and salt to taste and continue to cook for 10 minutes more.

Serve over rice or potatoes with plenty of warm tortillas.

SERVES 4

Source: Adapted from Rick Bayless recipe

We’ll fulfill this month’s taco recipe and honor April’s designation as National Grilled Cheese Month simultaneously by sharing a recipe for quesadillas.

Quesadillas are merely grilled or griddled cheese tacos. Start with good flour tortillas, then add a nice melting cheese or two or three and you’ve got the foundation. For this recipe, I’ve prepared a sweet and spicy bacon filling, featuring agave nectar and Salsa Ahumada, chipotle-based sauce with a smoky finish.

To amp it up, serve them with a good salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

If bacon doesn’t fit your palate but you want to introduce a protein, thin slices of grilled chicken, beef or pork work great. Avoid ground meats as they tend to make for a soggy quesadilla.

Killer Quesadillas

Ingredients

• 4 10-inch flour tortillas
• 1 cup grated queso quesadilla or blend with Monterrey Jack, cheddar or asadero.
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 8 ounces Chipotle-Agave Bacon filling (recipe below)
• Salsa Ahumada (recipe below)

Directions

Heat skillet or griddle to medium.

1. Making one at a time, melt butter then add tortilla. Immediately add a few pinches of cheese then optional proteins.
2. Using a spatula, fold the quesadilla into a taco shape and press.
3. Cook until quesadilla is golden brown.

Sweet and Spicy Agave Bacon Filling

Ingredients

• 6 slices hickory-smoked bacon
• 1 teaspoon Ancho chile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Chile de Arbol powder
• 2 tablespoons Pure agave nectar

Directions

1. Fry bacon to desired crispness, drain and cool.
2. Chop bacon and mix with remaining ingredients

Salsa Ahumada

• 1 28 ounce can Fire-Roasted organic tomatoes
• Half a small to medium white onion
• 3 to 4 cloves unpeeled garlic cloves
• 2 to 4 chipotles in adobo

Directions

1. Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle to medium high.
2. Place tomatoes and chipotles in food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times to break up chipotles.
3. Place onion half on griddle, flat side down along with garlic cloves.  Cover with the lid from another pot or pan. Roast 2 to 3 minutes until onion and garlic begin to blacken.
4. Using tongs, flip to unblackened sides and repeat.
5. Once the garlic and onion have attained some color and all sides and is fragrant, remove from heat.
6. Peel garlic cloves and add to food processor. Pulse mixture 5 to 6 times to blend garlic thoroughly.
7. Roughly slice the onion and add to food processor. Pulse 2 to 3 times for chunky consistency.

Source: Dave Cathey

When I met my first taco at Taco Bell in the mid-1970s, the taco sauce came in packets like the kind used for jelly at diners. They were sturdier, easier to open and less likely to be handled at the point where the sauce was dispenced thanks to the foil-like cover. I mention this because I developed a habit of drinking the hot sauce after my two tacos were gone. If two seems like a small number, it is. But that’s all either mom or dad would spring for back then. So, after plucking every last bit of residual meat, lettuce and cheese, I routinely peeled back the top of the taco sauce containers and drained them.

Taco Bell, pre-4th Meal and Chihuahua.

Having watched my two children and a dozen nieces and nephews navigate their sixth year without ever endeavoring to drink chile-based sauce as if it were a Kool-Aid, retrospect tells me me that this was indeed the birth of my flavor profile. I literally couldn’t get enough chile, garlic, onion and tomato puree. That really hasn’t ended.

Thus, it’s time to unveil some of my taco recipes. Starting in February, I will release one taco recipe per month. They sometimes will be Gringo-style, but mostly authentic.

Tomorrow, we’ll get started with a simple chicken taco with green sauce.

Meantime, share your taco recipes right back, and we’ll try them out.

While putting together the posole recipe for this week, I was able to try a couple of potential Christmas gifts for foodies.
I used the apple-shaped Dutch Oven by Lodge and served it in the Bobby Flay Chili Service.
The first positive for the Dutch oven is its appearance. It’s the first cast-iron pot that’s met with the wife’s approval. She has proclaimed a pot such as that is worthy of a permanent spot on the stove’s back burner, whether it’s filled with posole, gumbo or chili.
It’s also got an enamel inner coating, which helps prevent sticking and is tremendously useful when it’s time for cleanup. I was also pleasantly surprise at how the “stem” didn’t overheat. I was able to remove the lid with easily, without an oven mitt. I do have concerns that the stem handle might not last long, but that’s just a guess.
Couple of down-sides: It’s not real big. I had to brown the pork in batches. So dishes where browning is called for, like Boeuf Bourgingnon, are not optimal. On the other hand, I did cook eight quarter-pound Italian-style meatballs in a separate endeavor. In that experience, the only problem was overcooking, which falls on the cook. It’s easy to look at that shiny enamel coating and think “nonstick!” But it’s not. The same rules apply to this pot as its cast-iron brethren. It heats more quickly and thoroughly than its lighter-weight cousins. Bottom line, this is a great gift for the foodies with a sense of style.
The other item I used was the Bobby Flay Chili Service. This is a handsome collection of crockery for a dish that often gets short-shrift when it comes to presentation. The main pot and bowls match, but each bowl has a different yet complimenting color. For the chili-lover like me, this is a fantastic gift idea.
The only thing I would change for this service is the main pot. It’s not heatproof, thus can’t be used to cook the chili. That said, I certainly woudln’t turn one down if it ended up in my freakishly large Christmas Stocking.

And now for the obligatory Posole Playlist:

1. Banditos/The Refreshments
2. The Hanging Garden/The Cure
3. David Watts/The Kinks
4. Meantime/The Futureheads
5. From a Buick 6, Bob Dylan
6. Working Girl/The Members
7. Paper Planes/MIA
8. Radio, Radio/Elvis Costello
9. Girls & Boys/Blur
10. Train in Vain/The Clash

Now hear this, all tacos are $1. Sold? Of course, you are. You read the papers, errr, whatever it is people are reading these days to get their daily allowance of newsformation.
Where? The Iguana Mexican Grill, 9 NW 9 St.
The original Iguana Lounge on Western was one of my favorite haunts during the 1990s. The brainchild of Kurt Fleischfresser and Chris Lower, who did all the heavy lifting to lay the foundation for the culinary landscape we now dip our forks into.
The food was good, the drinks were great, the atmosphere was priceless.
Then along came a little concept called Mango that split the personality. An already old building became downright decrepit and suddenly all the assorted lizards painted in and out of the space were living in a haunted house. The old sign still stands as the Haynes brothers feverishly work to refurbish the old spot next door to Hideaway into a concept their not quite ready to divulge.
In the summer of 2008, Steve Mason drew Robert Painter, who managed at the original, and chef Ryan Parrott to breathe life into the Iguana concept in an unlikely space just east of Automobile Alley.
The new spot exceeds the original in atmosphere. The regular menu drew inspiration from the original with a few new flourishes.
But the big enchilada has turned out to be Taco Tuesday.
With Parrott’s unparalleled skill as Grand Pooba of OKC’s social media society, Friday night comes three nights early every week.
And the tacos are the real deal. Parrott offers basic beefs and chickens for the palate-meek, there’s also fish and occasionally he’ll toss some cheek meat or tongue into the mix.
Parrott, like most late-working chefs, long ago found inspiration in the taco vendors on the city’s south side, who peddle their goods to the verge of dawn and do it with simple fillings and killer salsas.
While Big Truck Tacos is fusing gourmet techniques into gringo-friendly portions, Parrott’s intacrotations are an even true homage to the humble street taco: small, cheap and tasty.
Both are delicious and welcome additions to the Oklahoma City food scene. Pass the coralsnake salsa, por favor. Oh, and the roasted vegetables are the best side on the menu. They mix perfectly with literally everything.

I like to make a batch of enchiladas and serve them as a side dish with steak, guacamole and rice or potatoes.

  Ingredients:

12 corn tortillas

2 cups grated cheddar cheese, preferably Tillamook

1 small onion, diced

1-2 chopped serrano chiles, optional

1½ cup enchilada cup sauce (recipe below)

½ cup vegetable, canola or corn oil

Sauce ingredients

Two cups chicken stock or premium chicken broth

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon chile powder

1 tablespoon ground red chile like chimayo or any other pure red chile

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon onion powder

*½ teaspoon white pepper

*½ teaspoon cumin

*½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

Combine cheese, onion and chiles.

Prepare the sauce.

Prepare sauce. Heat a sauce pan on high heat and add canola oil. Add a little flour at a time and whisk into hot oil. Make sure the color stays light brown.  Once all the flour is whisked, slowly add half the stock and stir. Stir in the remaining ingredients, then the rest of the stock.

Continue at a steady boil until the sauce is reduced to a 1½ cups. Make sure the sauce isn’t too thick as it will bake with the enchiladas.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle with a rim and add enough oil to cover the bottom thoroughly.

Have a paper plate or paper-lined plate ready plus a 9 by 12 baking dish.

With a pair of tongs or a heat-resistant spatula, put a tortilla in the hot oil. Flip after 1-2 seconds, just long enough to make it limp. Drain and set on paper plate. Do the same with two more tortillas.

Using the first tortilla you cooked, place a two heaping spoonfuls of the cheese mixture on one side and roll up, making sure the mixture is evenly dispersed inside. Place the enchilada seam-side down in the dish.

Repeat until your supply of tortillas is exhausted, adding oil as needed. Reserve any remaining cheese, onion and chile.

Pour sauce over enchiladas, top with any remaining cheese mixture and bake for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling.

*To do the sauce justice, use whole black and white peppercorns and cumin seed. Toast them in a hot cast iron for about four minutes and grind into powder in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but it’s really pretty simple and the difference is dramatic.

Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa

Avocado gives the usually tart tomatillo a nice creamy finish. I like this salsa very spicy, so dial it down by using fewer chiles. When picking out tomatillos, look for those with rich, green color and healthy-looking husks.

1 pound tomatillos, stemmed, rinsed and husked

Half a white onion

4 serranos chiles or 3 jalapenos

3 cloves garlic, peeled

Half a bunch of cilantro, some sprig is fine

4 cups water

 1 large ripe Hass avocado

Bring the water to a boil and add all ingredients accept the avocado. Boil 4-6 minutes, until the onions, chiles and tomatillos are blanched.

Strain ingredients, reserving 2 cups of water.

 Remove from heat and let cool while you set up your food processor.

 Place ingredients, including avocado, in food processor with 1 cup of water and blend until smooth. Add remaining water a little at a time to thin the consistency if need be.

Place in freezer an hour before serving, or make a day or two ahead and store in the refrigerator. This works best well-chilled.

Salsa Roja

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 large clove garlic, peeled

2-5 fresh serrano or jalapeno chiles

¼ cup cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon salt

Half an onion, chopped

Black pepper to taste.

Place onion in food processor and chop. Remove to folded towels and wring out any liquid. Combine remaining ingredients in a food processor. Mix salsa with onions in a bowl, adjust salt and pepper.

Salsa Chile Arbol

1 pound roasted roma tomatos

2 cloves roasted garlic

8 Chiles de arbol

1/4 pound roasted tomatillos

2 teaspoon salt

1 teasooon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon toated cumin seed, groung

Black pepper to taste.

 Juice of one lime or 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Roast tomatoes, garlic and tomatillos whole, until black on all sides. This can be done on a hot cast-iron skillet or griddle, in the broiler or on the grill.

Combine ingredient in a food processor and pulse to desired consistency.

Guacamole is only as good as the avocados that you use. Find dark green, Haas avocados from California. Gently squeeze the bottom of the fruit in the palm of your hand. You want just a little give if you making it that day. If it’s mushy, move along. If it’s firm, save it in a brown paper bag for a couple days. If you want to slow the maturity of an avocado, put it in the refrigerator.

Serves 4-6

2 avocados

1 clove garlic

1½  teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice

Half a Roma tomato, diced

¼ red onion, diced.

Splash of orange juice

1 serrano or jalepeno chile, diced. (optional)

1 tablespoon minced cilantro leaves (optional)

Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with the salt until it turns to paste, the consistency of applesauce.

If you like your guacamole chunkier, halve the fruit and cut the meat crosshatch into small cubes. Scoop out with a spoon.  Otherwise, simply scoop it out into a bowl and mix it with the garlic paste other remaining ingredients. Adjust seasonings and amounts to suit your taste.

Serapio’s Tortilla Factory‎,

5024 SW 36 St., 942-2086‎

Tortilleria & Rosticeria Islas‎, 2404 SW 29 St., 632-5382‎

Tortilleria Lupita, 235 SW 25th St # B, 232-2760

Jose’s Tortilleria, 712 N Virginia Ave. 236-5382‎

Chelino’s Tortilla Factory,

2101 S Robinson Ave. 632-8830‎

Salpicon

1 12 pound brisket

1 onion

6 cloves garlic

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

2 cups beef broth

1 stick butter

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 cups olive oil

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 7 oz. can chipotle in adobo

Juice of 1 lime

2 cups diced cheddar cheese

1 cups diced green onion

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Place brisket fat side up in a roasting pan with onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Put the stick of butter on top of the brisket and seal the top with foil. Cook 10 hours or until internal temperatures is 180 degrees. Let cool an hour then shred into fine ribbons.

Mix oil, vinegar, chipotle and lime into a vinaigrette.

Combine all ingredients and serve in warm tortillas, tortilla cups or wonton cups.

Chicken and brie quesadillas

16 oz. brie, peeled and diced

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1/4-inch cubes

2 green onions

1 teaspoon chile de arbol powder

Half a stick of butter, sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

¼ cup of dry white wine

1-2 tablespoons chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

6 large flour tortillas

Fry the chicken in butter on high heat until it’s browned. Add green onions and soy sauce and cook down liquid. Add broth and cook down. Add salt, pepper and chile, then deglaze pan with wine. Mix well and set aside.

Heat a griddle to medium high heat. Melt a slice of butter on the griddle and spread. Place a tortilla on the griddle, placing a large spoonful of chicken and several cubes of brie on one side. When the cheese begins to melt, fold the uncovered half over the covered half. Flip once the bottom is golden brown. When the entire tortilla is golden brown, remove and set aside. Continue until you’ve run out of filling. You may want to keep warm in the oven. Slice the tortillas into wedges and serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Salsa Roja

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 large clove garlic, peeled

2-5 fresh serrano or jalapeno chiles

¼ cup cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon salt

Half an onion, chopped

Black pepper to taste.

Place onion in food processor and chop. Remove to folded towels and wring out any liquid. Combine remaining ingredients in a food processor. Mix salsa with onions in a bowl, adjust salt and pepper.

Salsa Verde

2 lbs tomatillos

1 full bunch of cilantro, stalks and all.

3-8 serrano or jalapeno chiles

Juice of 1 lime

3 sliced green onions

Salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot, boil tomatillos 10 minutes and allow to cool. Cut out stems and combine with remaining except for onions ingredients in a food processor. Important: Store overnight in the refrigerator and add onions before serving the following day. Tomatillos need a little more time to blend with other ingredients. Onions are best added just before serving as they can overpower when left in too long.

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

2 peeled garlic cloves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ of an onion chopped

1 roma tomato chopped

Juice of half a key lime

Optional ingredients: fresh chiles, chopped cilantro leaves.

Using a mortar and pestle, mash salt and garlic into a paste. Peel avocodos and scoop into a bowl with garlic paste remaining ingredients. Adjust seasonings to suit your taste.

Smore Bars

Crust:

14 whole graham cracker boards, crushed (2 1/4 cups crumbs)

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted

Brownie:

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

Topping:

1 jar (7.5 ounces) marshmallow cream (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup mini chocolate kisses

3 whole graham cracker boards, broken up

Heat oven to 350.

Crust: Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt and melted butter in small bowl until the graham crackers are moistened.  Press evenly in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.  Refrigerate until the crust sets.  About 30 minutes.

Brownie: Combine bittersweet chocolate and butter in bowl and microwave on high 1 minute at a time until melted.  Stir until smooth.

With a hand-held mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the eggs and sugar until well blended.  Reduce speed to medium and gradually add the melted chocolate-butter mixture to the egg mixture, beat until smooth, scraping the side of the bowl occasionally.

Stir the flour and salt into the egg mixture.  Stir in the vanilla until smooth.  Scrape brownie mixture into the crust lined pan.  Bake at 350 oven for 30 minutes. 

Topping: While the brownie layer is baking, whisk together the marshmallow cream and the milk in a small bowl until well blended and smooth.

Once the pan is cool enough to handle, pour marshmallow topping over the brownie layer and spread or tilt the pan to cover the top completely.

Sprinkle the mini kisses over the marshmallow topping.  Then scatter the crumbled graham crackers all over the top.

Dark Chocolate Gravy

12 oz. dark chocolate chips

1-½ sticks butter

½ cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

Heat syrup and cream to 180 degrees, mix in chocolate until thoroughly combined. Fold in butter.