LTH Mexican Kitchen & dinner at Sol de Mexico - Mon. Nov. 5

What: The LTH Mexican Kitchen - Let's provide the foundation for an LTH Mexican Restaurant. I'm not talking simple, fresh tomato/tomatillo based salsas here. Preferably moles (negro, poblano, verde, manchamanteles, amarillo, coloradito, peanut, rojo . . . I could go on and on) or other complex sauces that can be used to accompany meats or other mains (e.g., pasilla, roasted fall vegetable sauce, etc.). But don't let me steer you away from a really good roasted salsa - no more than a couple of these though. And hey, a great picadillo filling would be great too (but not pre-stuffed into a chile). The idea would be something that would at least get us to the following weekend and of course, a good mole lasts even longer.

Where: Sol de Mexico | 3018 N. Cicero, Chicago

When: Monday, November 5 at 7:00pm

How:
• RSVP here with what you plan to make. (Please feel free to reserve here and announce your contribution later.)
• Bring nine labeled portions to trade – use your best judgment on what you believe a reasonable portion to be. It will inevitably vary based on what you prepare.

Who: A total of 10 spots available for the exchange portion, but 14 spots in total for dinner (so at least 4 plus ones permitted).

Exchange participants:

1. BR - Smoky peanut mole
2. laikom - Salsa negra
3. boudreaulicious - Green bottle salsa a la La Chapparita
4. Jazzfood - Mole Poblano de Guajolote
5. stevez - Red mole
6. fropones - Mole amarillo and Mole verde

Additional dinner guests

1. Teresa
2. GAF

TOTALLY IN! Plus a guest (teresa).

In

Although I do not cook Mexican cuisine, I will be happy to be an additional dinner guest. I realize that +1s will take priority, but if there are spaces, I would like to attend.

GAF - you'll be first for additional seats.

Also, please note new date - Monday instead of Wednesday.

I would join you.

Come on now LTH. We're off to a good start, but I know there must be more people who like to prepare Mexican food. And just think of what you'll be taking home to add to the leftover turkey! On top of that, dinner at GNR Sol de Mexico. There's still plenty of room, so I hope others will join in

Also, if you'd just like to go to dinner, it's still looking like there will be room for you so feel free to indicate your desire to attend (although I also encourage you to perhaps participate in the exchange).

BR wrote:Come on now LTH. We're off to a good start, but I know there must be more people who like to prepare Mexican food. And just think of what you'll be taking home to add to the leftover turkey! On top of that, dinner at GNR Sol de Mexico. There's still plenty of room, so I hope others will join in

Also, if you'd just like to go to dinner, it's still looking like there will be room for you so feel free to indicate your desire to attend (although I also encourage you to perhaps participate in the exchange).

BR,

I'm a little confused. Are you asking people to just bring a Mexican sauce of some sort, or would a complete dish be in order?

stevez wrote:

BR wrote:Come on now LTH. We're off to a good start, but I know there must be more people who like to prepare Mexican food. And just think of what you'll be taking home to add to the leftover turkey! On top of that, dinner at GNR Sol de Mexico. There's still plenty of room, so I hope others will join in

Also, if you'd just like to go to dinner, it's still looking like there will be room for you so feel free to indicate your desire to attend (although I also encourage you to perhaps participate in the exchange).

BR,

I'm a little confused. Are you asking people to just bring a Mexican sauce of some sort, or would a complete dish be in order?

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not suggesting composed, final dishes. Instead I'm suggesting the foundation for dishes - moles, other sauces, roasted salsas . . . I also suggested that if someone wanted to make a chile filling, like a picadillo, that could work too.

Mole does typical accompany turkey in mexico for special occasions. (so i've read). I guess during Christmas rosemary may be added. Sounds interesting.

I'm really surprised more people aren't signing up for this!

As for what i'm planning on making. I really would love to try to make a respectable version of the Salsa Negra from the La Pasadita empire. But then with this few people and the request for not so many salsas, I am hesitant. I'm also interested in trying my hand at a mole, though haven't thought in detail about which type.

I'd love to hear what other people are thinking, to get ideas drumming up.

laikom wrote:I'm really surprised more people aren't signing up for this!

As for what i'm planning on making. I really would love to try to make a respectable version of the Salsa Negra from the La Pasadita empire. But then with this few people and the request for not so many salsas, I am hesitant. I'm also interested in trying my hand at a mole, though haven't thought in detail about which type.

I'd love to hear what other people are thinking, to get ideas drumming up.

Don't let me dissuade you from the salsa negra - that would be awesome. I'm planning on a mole, leaning towards manchamanteles because I've never made it before, but definitely ruling out negro, poblano and amarillo.

Laikom--please make --not sure I've ever had it. I'll be bringing something using tomatillos...

Count me in. I'm going to attempt to make a red mole using a Bayless recipe.

i'm interested; but still unclear about how much we'd need to bring. assume 10 of us, including ourselves. if we're bringing moles (for example), that's not a single serving item. should we assume that everyone will be making an entree for 2, or for 4, and need enough mole for that size entree? or for 6, 8??? and doesn't that assume that we're all looking at the same recipes? maybe we should bring a recipe that uses our preparation to give along with the sauce. for example: i make a pumpkinseed mole to the specifications of a particular diana kennedy recipe and bring 9 copies of the recipe to hand out. there's no requirement , obviously, that everyone follow the recipe, but at least everyone would have a viable option. just a thought.....

justjoan wrote:i'm interested; but still unclear about how much we'd need to bring. assume 10 of us, including ourselves. if we're bringing moles (for example), that's not a single serving item. should we assume that everyone will be making an entree for 2, or for 4, and need enough mole for that size entree? or for 6, 8??? and doesn't that assume that we're all looking at the same recipes? maybe we should bring a recipe that uses our preparation to give along with the sauce. for example: i make a pumpkinseed mole to the specifications of a particular diana kennedy recipe and bring 9 copies of the recipe to hand out. there's no requirement , obviously, that everyone follow the recipe, but at least everyone would have a viable option. just a thought.....

BR wrote:What: The LTH Mexican Kitchen
• Bring nine labeled portions to trade – use your best judgment on what you believe a reasonable portion to be. It will inevitably vary based on what you prepare.

With mole's and sauces, I don't personally follow a recipe when eating them. I simply plan to cook up a protein, reconstitute the mole in a stock, and have at it. For my contribution, I expect I'll make a portion comparable to the size you'd find in the store. For a mole, that would be about 6 to 10 oz each, dried (pre reconstitution). That's just me. If your mole is particularly difficult to make or expensive to produce, then I'm sure a smaller size would be acceptable. I'm sure they'll all be great, and as excited about the mole's as I am, I hope to get a couple meals out of each!

I plan to bring what I consider to be a reasonable portion for each person participating, I'm not able to quantify it right now, but my mole will be a finished mole ready to go. Not a paste.

stevez wrote:I plan to bring what I consider to be a reasonable portion for each person participating, I'm not able to quantify it right now, but my mole will be a finished mole ready to go. Not a paste.

Same here - I will be bringing a finished mole, divided into the necessary portions (tbd depending upon the final number). I think we'll each have to decide what a reasonable amount is, but I intend to bring enough of a portion for each person to use as a sauce for at least two people, maybe more for dipping.

As for recipes, if you follow a written recipe and wish to share it, that's up to you. I certainly intend to use a recipe as a base, but I'm sure it will serve more as an outline as I adjust for flavor.

Joan, please let me know if you're definitely in and I'll add you to the list.

I'm making a big batch of stock today in preperation for making the red mole next weekend. I wish a few more people were coming to this event. It should be a lot of fun.

BR wrote:

stevez wrote:I'm not able to quantify it right now, but my mole will be a finished mole ready to go. Not a paste.

Same here - I will be bringing a finished mole,

The only problem with everyone bringing a finished mole is that what was an item that would be refrigerator stable for a year, now becomes something in need of using up within a week. With only 2 moles currently on the roster it's not a huge concern, but I wanted to speak up about it in case the event fills up and I have 7 or 8 moles I need to eat within a week. Another, must less of a concern is that some of us may want to try other recipes with the powder/paste. Mole sauce is not the only thing it could used for.

Since stevez is making a red mole, I have decided to make a smoky peanut mole for some contrast.

laikom, I would be happy to not finish with stock, but I still think it will have a very limited refrigerator life. I have frozen prepared moles with a lot of success though, saved for months, thinned slightly with stock. I thought people would prefer the finished sauce, and it would require less effort down the road because it will have been mixed, blended and strained. But if people disagree, please let me know - I also made stock this weekend, but I'm not preparing the mole until next weekend

I'm totally flexible to go with the group consensus, just wanted to weigh in my opinion, and certainly don't want to cause any difficulty to anyone.

Regarding refrigerator life, I was basing my statement solely on the fact that I keep my favorite store bought (teloloapan) moles in the fridge for very very long times, having kept them for more than a year. A quick google search reveals that these mole pastes can be kept unrefrigerated for months as well. They don't seem to have any preservatives listed in the ingredients. It comes very nearly dry, it's less of a paste and more of a slightly moist powder. I have never noticed any if much flavor degradation.

Please don't change your workflow on account of me, just want to discourage everyone from doing a fully prepared mole if it's not much trouble. I certainly won't complain about what i get, i'm sure they're all going to be awesome!

I think I'm going to be making the salsa negra afterall.

This will be my first attempt at making a mole from scratch. Looking at the recipe, I'm not sure it ever gets to a shelf stable paste stage like a commercial mole one might buy at a market and reconstitute. I'm going to stick to my plan of bringing the finished sauce with the idea that it can be frozen for storage if not used within a few days.

stevez wrote:Looking at the recipe, I'm not sure it ever gets to a shelf stable paste stage like a commercial mole one might buy at a market and reconstitute.

I have the same thoughts since I will be using garlic and tomatoes. But I have frozen completed moles for close to a couple of months and have noticed no degradation in quality. But yes, if refrigerated I would use within a week.

Going to do Mole Poblano de Guajolote.

Just an FYI that I'm going to cut off entry at 6pm Wednesday because I will be making a reservation. If it's okay with everyone, I plan to ask them to prepare Chiles en Nogada, always a delight. Other than that, we can order from the menu.

If you've already signed up (exchange or not), you're officially in - very excited to see what's being prepared so far, but hoping for even more!

i'd love to come to dinner, if there's room, but i'm taking a pass this time on making a mole. joan

justjoan wrote:i'd love to come to dinner, if there's room, but i'm taking a pass this time on making a mole. joan

You're down, but note that you don't have to make a mole - that was just a suggestion (see OP) - so please let us know if you change your mind and wish to participate in the exchange portion too.

BR wrote:

justjoan wrote:i'd love to come to dinner, if there's room, but i'm taking a pass this time on making a mole. joan

You're down, but note that you don't have to make a mole - that was just a suggestion (see OP) - so please let us know if you change your mind and wish to participate in the exchange portion too.

And I might add, PLEASE PARTICIPATE! We need more people to exchange with, I made a whole lot of salsa to give away!

Why not, I'll join as well. I'm thinking either a mole - manchamanteles, verde, or amarillo (provided I can find hoja santa leafs on short notice) - or homemade chipotles in adobo. I'm open to suggestions/requests.