Can I just tell you how delicious this yellow mole is, and how grateful we should be that Rick Bayless exists to tell us hopeless gringos how to make such things? You really, really must make this. Besides being absolutely delectable, it’s a great use for frozen green beans! Heavens! This version turned out especially well because I used fresh, extra fatty chicken broth. I’m sure it’s still good and will do less damage to your arteries if you skim your stock. Warning: four guajillo chiles (pictured below) were too much for me. Two were too few. So, um, use three, or to taste?

Chicken with Yellow Mole (paraphrased and ever-so-slightly adapted from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday)

3 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and torn into several pieces
1 pint roasted tomatoes
1/2 small white onion
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 t. ground cumin
4 c. fresh chicken broth
2 T. canola oil
2 c. cooked chicken (if you’re making broth, bingo! you’ve got chicken!)
1 T masa harina, or coarse cornmeal in a pinch
2 c. green beans (frozen are fine)
2 large or 4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1″ pieces
Salt
Cilantro

1) Combine the torn chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, cumin, and 1 cup of the stock in a blender. Puree until smooth.

2) Heat up the oil in a large, heavy pot. Add the tomato-chili mixture and cook until it looks like a thick paste. Rick says it takes about 5 minutes; I needed closer to 20. Maybe that’s because I’m using about twice the tomatoes that he recommends. In any case, dragging a spoon through the mixture should leave a track.

3) Whisk the masa harina or cornmeal into the remaining stock, then add that to the chile-tomato mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer until it starts to get thick. Add the cooked chicken (ideally shredded), the green beans, and the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender, then taste and adjust the seasonings.

Serve with warm tortillas. Hint: if it’s too spicy, eat it with yogurt. This gets better and better as it sits in the fridge, though I doubt it will last that long.

On a whim, I cut one up and stuck it in the dehydrator. I cut them into 1/3″ strips and dried them at 105°F overnight. After 15 hours, about half of them were done; the other half needed somewhere between 4 to 6 additional hours. The flavor is a little odd. I sort of like them, but my husband thinks they taste like cardboard….coral cardboard. Some foods just don’t dehydrate well on their own—my attempts at strawberries and raspberries were equally weird. If I were to do it again, I think I’d blanch them in a sugar syrup first, and maybe dunk them in coconut. Because, you know, if you’re going to fall off the local foods wagon, why not go all the way?

I do love the idea of dried papaya. Any suggestions on how to make it better?

Pumpkin Pear Soup

1 quart frozen pumpkin
1 quart chicken broth, preferably homemade, or vegetable stock if you want a vegan soup
2 T olive oil or butter, if you’re doing local
1 large onion, chopped
3 ripe pears, peeled and diced, or 1 c. dried pears, chopped
2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper
1/2 c. white wine
parsley or cilantro for garnish

1) If you’re using dried pears, soak them in hot water for 20 minutes. Then drain and set aside.

2) Put the pumpkin and the stock in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Add some salt. Simmer for at least 20 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, heat up the oil or butter in a skillet. Turn down the heat to medium low and add the onions. Cook slowly until they start to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Now add pears (dried or fresh) and the thyme sprigs and keep cooking. You want everything to be soft and delicious and slightly brown. Salt helps.

4) Puree the pumpkin/stock mixture in a blender (you can skip this if your pumpkin is very smooth). Stir in the onions and pears (remove the thyme). Pour the wine into the skillet to deglaze it and let it cook for just a couple of minutes. Then toss the wine into the pot, too. Adjust the seasonings and garnish as desired.

This keeps several days in the fridge and freezes well.

This looks more complicated than it is. You make the mussels, then you use the liquid as a basis for a stock. Then you fry up the onions, garlic, etc., and start cooking the rice. Add the remaining yummy bits (chorizo, artichokes, peas) after a few minutes and cook until it’s done. Then casually distribute the mussels across the top. You’ll want to eat all the mussels before you store the leftovers—they don’t keep well.

And so concludes the saga of the Spanish bivalves. Next week we’ll be back to our regular schedule of canning, preserving, and eating out of the freezer.

Paella with Mussels, Chorizo, and Artichokes

1 lb. mussels, cleaned
2 T olive oil
2 c. long-grain white rice
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar homemade canned tomatoes, chopped
1 small bag frozen artichoke hearts
8 oz. chorizo
1 c. frozen peas
Salt and pepper

1) Put the mussels in a large skillet with about 1/2 c. of water. Cover. Turn the heat up and shake the pan a few times until the mussels open, about 3 to 5 minutes. Throw away any mussels that don’t open. Set the mussels aside and pour the liquid through a strainer into a measuring cup. Add enough water to make 4 cups. Now you have stock!

2) Heat up the olive oil in an even bigger skillet that also has a lid. Sauté the onions with some salt for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and some more salt and cook another 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir until it’s thoroughly coated. Now add the stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook 5 minutes.

3) Take the lid off. Scatter the artichokes, peas, and chorizo across the top and put the lid back on. Cook for another 20 minutes.

4) Turn off the heat and place a towel in between the skillet and the lid to absorb extra water. Let it sit about 5 minutes, then remove the lid and add the mussels.

Eat!

Now, a word on cooking with shellfish. As you might have gathered from the goats, I’m originally from the Midwest, which means that I’m always anxious when cooking any kind of seafood other than catfish. Here’s what you do with mussels. First, make sure they’ve been stored on, or, preferably in, ice. Look for bags with large mussels, mostly closed, that smell like salt water. Take them home and put them on ice in your refrigerator. About an hour before you’re ready to cook them (hopefully the same day you purchased them), put them in ice cold water. Change the water several times to release any dirt or sand. Scrub the shells and remove the “beard.” Throw out any shells that smell bad or that are cracked. It’s OK for the shells to open up  in the bowl, but living mussels should be skittish and try to close up when tapped. If not, that means they’re dead, and you don’t want to eat them.

Mussels are best treated simply. Just steam them in some wine, with some aromatics, then eat them with a bit of lemon. Have some good bread on hand to sop up the sauce, and you’re set. If you want to get creative you could boil the liquid down after the mussels have opened, or add some butter or cream (tarragon and cream is a classic combination). They don’t keep, so only make as many as you and your mussel-loving friends can eat in one setting…which might be a lot, depending.

Mussels with Garlic and Parsley

About 1 lb fresh mussels, cleaned
1 c. white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of parsley, chopped
1/4 c. dehydrated cherry tomatoes
salt

1) Put everything but the mussels, plus 1 c. water, in a large skillet with a lid. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

2) Carefully add the mussels and put the lid back on. Jiggle the pan while the mussels steam. Within 3 to 5 minutes, most of the mussels will have opened—that means they’re done. Turn off the heat and throw away any that don’t open.

3) Transfer the mussels to a bowl and pour the broth over them. If you’re worried about sand and/or grit and don’t mind losing your aromatics, strain it. Squeeze some lemon over the mussels and eat!

This is a fairly basic salt cod stew from Simon and Inés Ortega’s wonderful 1080 Recipes. If you haven’t seen this book and are curious about what Spaniards eat at home (as opposed to in tapas bars), you’ve got to check it out.  Part of what I love about it is that the translation to English is pretty much limited to language and measurements—I can think of few things less likely to appear in an American cookbook than “Lambs’ feet fritters” or “Pickled Partridges.” Other recipes, though, are eminently doable and made for improvisation. I was very, very happy with this recipe. The stew turned out sort of like a Spanish bouillabaisse, or maybe a thin Manhattan chowder, and the cooked salt cod ends up with a texture not unlike lobster.

Salt cod may be a bit hard to come by in certain parts of the country, but I’ve had good luck finding it in ethnic groceries, urban supermarkets, and Philadelphia’s Italian Market. Unless you’ve made your own salt cod, no points here for seasonal or local, but the rest of the ingredients are more virtuous.

Salt Cod Stew (paraphrased and lightly adapted from 1080 Recipes)

1 lb or package of boneless salt cod
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint home-canned tomatoes or roasted tomatoes
springs of bouquet garni herbs: lavender, thyme, parsley, and a bay leaf
2 lbs potatoes, in thick slices
6 c. fish stock (optional)
pinch of saffron
handful chopped parsley

1) The night before you make the stew, start soaking the salt cod in a tray or dish. Change the water at least four times—the more you change the water, the less salty it will be.

2) Cook the onions in the oil in a soup pot for about five minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and stir 30 seconds more. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook another 5 minutes. Add about 6 cups of water or fish stock, the herbs (except the saffron), and the potatoes. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and start simmering.

3) Meanwhile, crush the saffron in a small bowl, then dissolve it in a bit of the hot stock. Add the mixture to the pot and simmer about 20 minutes.

4) Cut the salt cod in about 1″ pieces, removing any stray bones. Transfer to the soup pot and cook another 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning—it most likely won’t need salt, but a little pepper is nice. Throw in some chopped parsley for garnish.

I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t be able to make this in the crock pot, except that it might get too salty if you didn’t soak the salt cod properly. If anyone has tried that successfully, please let me know!

Libby, over at Cafe Libby, is the lucky winner of the strawberry lemon marmalade (random number 34). But don’t worry: I’ve bought two dozen 4-oz jars just so I can start giving more of these tasty treats away. Stay tuned for February!