Spicy Chicken Quesadillas with Avocado Yogurt

Regular readers have probably noticed by now that I'm not posting on my blog much anymore. I've decided to put Cook In / Dine Out in semi-retirement after 5 tasty years. I will still post occasionally, but I won't be as active either here or in social media.

That said, I do plan to post new recipes on occasion if I have something really good, and I think these chicken quesadillas qualify. I love the spicy-sweet flavor of chipotles-in-adobo here. The first time I only used one, but it wasn't spicy enough for me. How much chipotle to use will be a matter of how hot you want it. I'd call this a "medium" heat level.

Spicy Chicken Quesadillas with Avocado Yogurt

Serves 2 as entree or 4 as a starter (easily doubles too)

Quesadilla

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 lb. boneless-skinless chicken breast (recommend cutlets or tenders)
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Seasoned salt, to taste
1/2 large sweet onion, slivered
2 chipotles-in-adobo, minced with some of the sauce
Juice from 1/2 lime
6 small (fajita size) flour tortillas
4 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded and divided into 6 equal portions
Avocado yogurt (see below)
Cilantro leaves

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, season with cumin, oregano, garlic powder and seasoned salt, and sautéed until browned and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes, turning over at the halfway point. Remove the chicken from the pan. After the chicken has rested a couple minutes, chop it into 1/2-inch chunks.

2. Add the onion to the hot pan and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the minced chipotles and the chopped chicken. Squeeze the half lime over the mixture to deglaze the pan. Turn off the heat.

3. Heat a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, then sprinkle evenly with a portion of cheese. Spoon about 3/4 cup of chicken mixture on top of the cheese, spreading it in an even layer, then sprinkle another portion of cheese evenly on top before topping with a second tortilla. Cook for 90 seconds until the bottom tortilla is lightly browned, flip (recommend using a wide spatula) and cook for another minute. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into fourths. Repeat two more times with the remaining ingredients to make 3 whole quesadillas (or 12 fourths when cut). Garnish with avocado-yogurt and cilantro leaves.

Avocado Yogurt

1 ripe hass avocado, peeled and pit discarded, flesh cut into fourths
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
Juice from 1/2 lime

In a tall container, combine the avocado, yogurt and lime juice. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender (alternatively, combine the ingredients in a food processor or standard blender and pulse until smooth).

Sweet Corn and Chorizo Tacos

Sweet corn, one of my favorite summer crops, is here. Really good sweet corn needs no adornment to be absolutely delicious. Corn-on-the-cob, prepared simply boiled, is summer perfection, requiring no butter or salt.

When you get your fill of that, fresh sweet corn is amazing in lots of other dishes, and one of my favorite things to do is stuff it into tacos with some spicy-sweet chorizo and fresh garnishes. With a mixture of textures and flavors, plus a simple preparation, this is summer cooking at its table-pleasing best.

Sweet Corn and Chorizo Tacos

Serves 2-3

3/4 lb. spicy fresh Mexican chorizo sausage, removed from casings
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
kernels cut from 2 ears of sweet corn
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder (use more or less as desired for heat)
1 tsp. dried oregano
Salt, to taste
8-10 corn tortillas, warmed
Crumbled queso fresco
6 radishes, cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves


1. Heat a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is browned, about 10 minutes. Remove sausage from pan and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Remove excess grease from pan.

2. Add 2 tbsp. olive oil to the pan. When hot, add the onion, garlic and corn, then season with cumin, chili powder, oregano and salt. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked chorizo and reheat a couple minutes, then turn off the heat.

3. Serve the corn-chorizo filling in warmed corn tortillas garnished with crumbled queso fresco, matchstick radishes and cilantro leaves.

Restaurant: Mayahuel (New York, N.Y.)

[Update: Mayahuel has closed.]

Expectations can be a bitch. Have you ever had the perfect restaurant experience only to go back a second time and feel deflated because the second visit was only so-so? It's happened to us enough times that we have been tempted to never return to spots that deliver a perfect experience.

For whatever reason, Mexican food in New York is where we tend to experience this phenomenon the most. A few years ago we were wowed by Agave, but subsequent visits lacked the initial spark. Then we fell under the spell of Black Ant, but during or second and third visits there, the magic seemed to have fizzled. Late last year we had an excellent dinner at Empellon Taqueria; but our dinner last month lacked the consistency we'd noted that first time.

Were we tempting fate when we decided to try the menu at Mayahuel? Possibly; however, Mayahuel had already passed the first test last year by delivering a second-visit experience that was every bit as good as our first, if not better. Regular readers will recognize the name: it's the mezcal-focused cocktail bar in Manhattan's East Village that we visited last year and fell absolutely in love with. Prior to that, I was already familiar with its cocktails, which are well-known among mezcal fans. We went back again in December--twice actually, since we went before and after dinner--and continued to be smitten by its cool ambiance, talented staff and delicious drinks. During that visit, we also tried a plate of churros, and they were divine, leading us to conclude that we really should try make a point to eat dinner at Mayahuel.

I'm happy to say that our favorite cocktail bar is now also our favorite Mexican restaurant. Dinner couldn't have been more delicious. From start to finish, dinner at Mayahuel was among the most satisfying restaurant experiences we've ever had.

The first decision was whether to sit at the bar (which was shockingly completely empty) or the upstairs dining room. Although the dining room might have been a more traditional choice for dinner, we chose the bar, knowing that it provides the best seats in the house, since you can watch Mayahuel's amazingly talented (and super friendly) bartenders work their magic.

It's hard not to start a Mexican restaurant dinner with a round of chips and guacamole, and Mayahuel's traditional take on the avocado dip was quite tasty. But the smoked tomato salsa was an absolute revelation. Served warm, the salsa was intensely smoky due to the tomatoes having been charred over hickory chips. It was the best tomato salsa I've ever had and was the first of many good bites we enjoyed that evening.

From there, we moved on to the quinoa and avocado salad, a delightfully good mixture of texture and flavor with a touch of sweetness from the corn as well as a touch of heat. I particularly liked the sesame oil dressing, which added just a hint of Asian flair. Shortly after, the croquetas arrived. Mayahuel's are black-bean and roasted-corn fritters rolled in plantain crumbs and served with roasted red pepper coulis and crema. They were tasty; however, their comparatively mild flavor got lost amid all the other spicy dishes and drinks. I should mention that if you like heat, this is good place for you.

The main event was the tacos, and they were divine. A single order is perfect for sharing: it comes with four corn tortillas was your choice of two different meats. We opted for carnitas and chorizo, both of which were phenomenally good--meaty, tender and not greasy. Just excellent tacos. They arrive garnished simply with cilantro, radishes and lime wedges. We are big taco fans, and it just doesn't get any better than this. They even outclassed the tacos we had the next night at Empellon Taqueria, a well-known restaurant that's known for its tacos (its chef even published a James-Beard-award-nominated cookbook I wrote about recently).

Mayahuel offers only two choices for dessert, but trust me...it's a really really hard choice. Save yourself the pain order both of them. This visit we opted for the tres leches cake, which we are huge fans of (I made one for Chris's birthday this year and last). Mayahuel's version does not disappoint. I like that they use a fairly sturdy cake for its base, but the real treat here is the torched meringue on top. Most tres leches cakes I've had come with a whipped topping, so I loved this subtle but delightful twist. During our previous visit, we enjoyed the other option: cinnamon-sugar dusted crispy churros (doughnuts) with spiced Mexican chocolate sauce. As if it isn't obvious, let me point out that deep-fried donuts showered with cinnamon sugar and set next to a spiced Mexican chocolate dipping sauce are a pretty amazing treat after a few rounds of drinks.

Speaking of the drinks, they continue to be as fabulous as they were during our first and second visits.  I started the night with a Chabomba, a sherry and mezcal cocktail with jalapeño-infused tequila, pear brandy, vanilla and Galliano. I absolutely loved this drink. It's a little spicy and a little savory (from the sherry), and the subtle hint of vanilla gives the drink an almost dessert quality. Brandy Alejandro is more than just a mezcal twist on the brandy-and-cream classic. The drink features chocolate-milk-infused mezcal, cognac, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, cacao, mole and orange bitters. It's a very smooth drink, not creamy like its namesake nor as chocolatey as you might expect (which is a good thing; it's subtle).

Like heat in your drink? You gotta try the Puebla Drink with No Name. This drink is seriously spicy, made from mezcal infused with chile de arable and muscatel infused with ancho chiles. This drink was inspired by a mole that Mayahuel founder and owner Phil Ward tasted while on a trip in Mexico and fashioned a drink after it. It will be too hot for some people, but I loved its flavor. I might recommend not pairing this one with food, since it could overpower it (except maybe the churros, since the sugar will help cut the heat).

Chris enjoyed the Hidalgo, a nicely balanced smoky and bitter drink with tequila, mezcal, sweet vermouth, amaro, maraschino and Fernet Branca, and the Black Star, a wonderfully autumnal drink of tequila, bourbon, ginger, cinnamon, lemon and apple butter. It sparked a great conversation with a server, who said she used to make apple butter all the time and enjoys it on just about anything (she suggested cooking pork tenderloin with it, which is an excellent idea). He also revisited the Six Shooter, a drink we named our favorite cocktail of our last trip to New York. I'm now ready to just name it our favorite cocktail at the moment. It's an amazing drink featuring a split base of mezcal and two types of rum with touches of Punt e Mes (sweet vermouth), Rammazotti (an amaro), coffee, sugar and bitters. I so love it, that I tried to concoct something similar at home I call the Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter.

We never got to meet Chef Vincent Gonzalez, but we sure did enjoy his food. We did, however, get to enjoy the company of our bartender, Nicole, and a server, Rachel, who stopped by the bar often to pick up drinks for diners upstairs. These were two of the nicest restaurant staff I've ever met. I loved watching Nicole mix drinks and chat with her about them, and Rachel had such enthusiasm for the food and drinks. Food makes or breaks a restaurant, but service is critically important too, since good service shapes the experience into something truly special. We felt more than taken care of by these nice people.

Expectations, as I said, can be a bitch, but Mayahuel, as a restaurant, more than exceeded the high expectations set by our prior visits to the bar. For the last year, we've been telling people that it's our favorite bar in New York, and it's now also our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Mayahuel, 304 East 6th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), New York, N.Y. (East Village, Manhattan). (212) 253-5888. Reservations: Open Table.

Related

Cocktail: Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter

Cocktail Bar: Going Two Rounds in Mayahuel (New York City)

Dining Notes from New York, January 2016 (includes our second visit to Mayahuel)

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails (my first post related to Mayahuel featuring two of its drinks)

Getting Serious About Mezcal

Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! By John McEvoy

Mexican Roasted Tomato and Chorizo Pasta

Summer tomatoes are starting to arrive, which means its finally time to switch from cooking with canned tomatoes and using the fresh ones.

My first use of this year's crop involved roasting tomatoes. I bought 6 lbs. of beautiful big red tomatoes from my farmers market and roasted them in two batches (so yes, there will be a second roasted-tomato recipe soon).

Roasted tomatoes have such incredible flavor, both sweeter and more savory than a fresh tomato, if that makes sense. Roasting concentrates a tomato's sweetness while also caramelizing it a bit. When roasting, you want to roast the tomatoes to the point that most of their moisture has evaporated, but you also have to be careful you don't burn them. Since the risk of doing this increases as they cook, I stir the tomatoes with increasing frequency, one per hour for the first couple hours, then every 30 minutes or so, and finally every 10 to 15 minutes until they are done. They're done when they are very shriveled looking and starting to brown around the edges. Any remaining liquid with be thicker and not particularly watery. It's amazing how much the tomatoes will reduce: 3 lb. of quartered tomatoes will fill a large mixing bowl, but the roasted end-result is about 1 cup of tomatoes. Some people skin their tomatoes before roasting them, but I don't mind the skins.

Roasting tomatoes takes hours, but the dishes you make from roasted tomatoes can cook up quickly, like this spicy Mexican take on a simple pasta dish. I like to roast the tomatoes on the weekend and freeze them in batches, so I have them on hand to use during the week. Defrost the night before and you're good to go.

Mexican Roasted Tomato and Chorizo Pasta

1 lb. penne or other dried pasta
1/2 lb. spicy chorizo sausage, removed from casings
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup or so of simple roasted tomatoes, from 3 lb. of tomatoes (see below)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Crumbed queso fresco
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions 1 minute less than needed for al dente (the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce). Drain the pasta and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until cooked through.

3. Shove the sausage to the edge of the pan and add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes and stir to combine with the other ingredients. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, cumin and cinnamon. As the mixture simmers, reduce heat to medium. Stir in the pasta and cook an additional minute or two until the pasta is coated with sauce and cooked through but still chewy.

4. Serve pasta in shallow bowls topped with crumbled queso fresco and fresh cilantro.

Simple Roasted Tomatoes

3 lb. fresh tomatoes, stem end removed, cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus olive oil spray
Kosher salt, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Add the tomatoes to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to combine. Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with olive oil. Spread the tomatoes in an even layer in the baking dish.

3. Bake the tomatoes until they have reduced significantly in size, look shrived and are starting to brown around the edges, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Stir every hour for the first couple hours, then more frequently, up to every 10 to 15 minutes when you hit the 3-hour mark, to prevent the tomatoes from burning.

4. When done, remove from the oven, allow to cool, then transfer to a container to store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

8-2-Eat: Tacos Tacos Tacos

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. Monday I wrote about a tacos-focused cookbook, so it only seemed appropriate that I close the week with an 8-2-Eat featuring more taco recipes.

Carnitas Tacos. It's hard to beat this classic taco of slowly braised pork shoulder shredded in finished under a broiler to crisp up it the meat's edges. Simply perfect.

Ancho Chile Chicken Tacos with Slaw and Avocado Cream (pictured at top). Chicken tacos are great because they are so fast to cook, making them an ideal weeknight dinner. This recipe was my experiment to convey a recipe only through pictures.

Salmon Tacos. Fish tacos are often made with a white fish, but it turns out that salmon works great here too, garnished with a cabbage slaw and chipotle-lime crema.

Ramen Noodle Pork Tacos. Sure, Korean Tacos have defined Asian-fusion tacos for some time, but I wanted to put a new spin on the Asian fusion taco with this version where ramen noodles form the tortilla.

Black Bean and Avocado Tacos. Want a vegetarian taco that packs as much flavor as one with meat? I turn to black beans and melty jack cheese to fill that bill.

Chicken and Apple Tacos. Apples in tacos? Why not! The fruit adds a nice sweetness and goes great with chicken, as well as Apple Margaritas.

Steak, Egg and Smoked Gouda Breakfast Tacos. If you haven't tried breakfast tacos yet, they are a revelation. This great combination was inspired by last year's trip to Austin.

Seasoned Turkey and Corn Salsa Tacos. Still craving those old-school ground meat tacos? Update that Gen X classic with ground turkey and a custom seasoning mix.

Tacos by Alex Stupak and Jordana Rothman

Tacos may very well be the perfect food. Of course, there's a lot of room to argue this point, but it's hard to resist a warm star filling with a spicy salsa and a few garnishes folded into an earthy warm corn or flour tortilla. It's a basic formula that allows for seemingly endless combinations.

Basic, yes, but simple, not necessarily, at least not as presented in Tacos: Recipes and Provocations, the James Beard Award-nominated cookbook from Empellón chef Alex Stupak and food writer Jordana Rothman. For those who view tacos as a "quick" dinner of pre-made taco shells, pre-shredded cheese and ground meat browned for 10 minutes with a pre-mixed seasoning pack, this Tacos book is not for you. For those interested in rolling up your sleeves to create sophisticated flavors with a wide variety of interesting ingredients and homemade salsas, Tacos is a eye-opening look at the potential for how the basic foundation of a taco can be expanded upon in a myriad of ways.

Before I get into the tacos themselves, let's consider Stupak's interesting career for a moment. Born in Massachusetts and educated at the Culinary Institute of America, the young chef first made his name in the late 2000s as a modernist pastry chef working for Grant Achatz at Alinea in Chicago and for Wylie Dufresne at (the now defunct) WD~50 in New York, two of the most acclaimed modernist establishments in the country. That he would walk away from this in the 2010s to instead cook Mexican food--a cuisine from another country steeped in tradition for which he had no apparent experience--was a remarkable risk. But clearly it's one that has paid off. Empellón Taqueria was a success, followed by Empellón Cocina and Empellón al Pastor. I've been to two of these establishments and was particularly smitten with the fine cooking at Empellón Taqueria.

Stupak addresses his amazing transformation in the book's introduction, noting that despite his Massachusetts upbringing with "Old El Paso taco nights," he later became fascinated with more authentic Mexican food while living in Chicago. With a Rick Bayless cookbook in hand, Stupak became obsessed with learning his hand at the cuisine. A trip to Los Angeles solidified his affinity for freshly made tortillas, his first of which he names as one of his three defining moments as a cook.

Empellon's website defines "empellón" as meaning to "to push or jostle" and "to break through." Both are apt words for describing how the Empellón restaurants have helped elevate the status of Mexican cuisine while also allowing Stupak to reinvent his position in the restaurant world. Stupak brings this up in the introduction to explain his approach to Mexican. He's not interested in simplifying a foreign cuisine for American palates (and patience or lack thereof).

So, as I mentioned above, don't go into this book expecting simplicity. You know how experienced cooks always recommend reading through a recipe first before beginning it? You'll definitely want to do that here, as you'll need to consider the time for making not just the taco in the recipe but also the accompanying salsa. Many of the recipes require cooking times of multiple hours. These are not recipes to break out for dinner after a full workday.

Chicken Tacos with Kale and Salsa Verde

I tried three of what I perceived to the book's simpler recipes, and even these were pretty involved. First I made the Chicken Tacos with Kale and Salsa Verde, a wonderful dish mad with roasted chicken thighs and a raw salsa verde that the kale is cooked in. The tacos are garnished with queso fresco, diced raw onion, cilantro and lime. In total, it took me about 2 hours to make this dish, and the tacos were delicious. (Note that I did not make my own corn tortillas for these or any of the other tacos here. Stupak includes a recipe for them, and I have made my own tortillas in my past, but I went the store-bought route here as I could find masa marina).

Cheeseburger tacos

Next up, I tackled the cheeseburger tacos. They may sound like a bad Tex-Mex idea, but Stupak says they are actually found in Mexico City (inspired, of course, by American cheeseburgers). This one is actually doable on a weeknight, as the only cooking really is browning the ground beef and the accompanying salsa roja is not difficult to prepare. In a sense, this is the closest the book comes to those "Old El Paso" tacos Stupak references in the introduction, although I think this is far more interesting. I included my own little twist to the recipe: the addition of sweet pickles, which I think nicely offset the spicy salsa.

Salsa Roja

And yes, this salsa is pretty spicy, but it's also amazingly good. The spicy-sweet salsa, which has a touch of vinegar, serves as the "ketchup" in the cheeseburger tacos. The salsa is made with dried guajillo chile peppers--10 in the book but I dialed that back to a still-quite-spicy 5. It's a tomato-based salsa that is probably the pureed red salsa marked "hot" that you see at taquerias. Unfortunately, I found an error in this recipe, but it's a simple one to fix, and I think most cooks will realize what to do. The first step involves roasting tomatoes, which are then cooled, peeled and set aside--to then never appear again in the instructions (I assume they should be added to the blender along with the soaked chiles, garlic and spices).

Mashed Pea Tacos (with bacon)

Lastly, wanting something green, I tried the Mashed Pea Tacos, which are perfect for spring. This recipe is also fairly simple and less time-intensive. The only cooking involved is blanching the peas, which are then whirled with parmesan in a food processor until smooth (I added a little water to give the choppy puree a smoother texture). Vegetarians will abhor the other change I made: I added bacon. I know, it's meant to be a vegetarian recipe, but the bacon and pea combination was really quite good here, so I don't feel any shame in suggesting it.

The James Beard Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards are tomorrow night, where Tacos will compete for the Single-Subject Book award with A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood by Diana Henry and Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto by Marc Vetri with David Joachim.

Cheeseburger Tacos with Salsa Roja
Adapted from recipes in Tacos by Alex Stupak and Jordana Rothmans

I adapted this recipe by using fewer chiles and omitting the chipotle chile in the salsa roja and substituting canned roasted tomatoes for fresh plum tomatoes. I also reduced the amount of cheese by half, substituted guacamole for sliced avocado and added sweet pickles to the tacos.

Makes 12 tacos

Salsa roja:

5 dried guajillo chiles (split open with stems and seeds removed)
1/2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1/8 tsp. cumin seeds
5 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
1 cup fire-roasted diced tomatoes (from a 15 oz can)
1/4 cup water
Large pinch of kosher salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Cheeseburger tacos:

1 lb. ground beef (I used 85 percent lean)
Salt, to taste
4 oz. shredded mild cheddar cheese (note: the original recipe called for 1 lb. grated Chihuahua cheese; I divided the amount of cheese in half and substituted cheddar and muenster)
4 oz. shredded muenster cheese
12 flour or corn tortillas (I used flour)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
Bread and butter sweet pickles
1/2 medium sweet onion, diced
Fresh guacamole
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves


Make the salsa:

1. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles and toast for about a minute. Transfer chilies to a bowl, cover with hot tap water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain chiles and chop into smaller pieces. Set aside.

2. Add the oregano and cumin seeds to the hot skillet and toast until fragrant, about 15 to 30 seconds. Remove from the pan, transfer to a spice grinder and grind into a fine powder.

3. Add the garlic cloves to the hot skillet and toast in the pan until browned in places, about 6 minutes. Remove the garlic and allow to cool, then peel the garlic cloves.

4. Combine the drained chiles, ground spices, garlic, tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and vinegar in a food processor. Puree until the mixture is smooth (note: the original recipe calls for straining the mixture with a fine-mesh sieve, but I kept it chunky). Transfer to a container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use (the salsa will keep for up to 3 days).

Make the tacos:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the beef and cook until browned, breaking up with a wooden spoon as the meat cooks, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, to taste. Add the shredded cheese and stir until the cheese is combined with the meat and melted, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

2. Warm the tortillas and divide among 4 plates.

3. Assemble the tacos: spread1 tbsp. of mayonnaise on each tortilla, then divide the meat-cheese mixture evenly among each tortilla. Top with a generous spoonful of salsa roja, a few slices of sweet pickles, a sprinkle of diced onion, a spoonful of guacamole and a few cilantro leaves.

Mashed Pea and Bacon Tacos
Adapted from Mashed Pea Tacos with Parmesan Cheese from Tacos by Alex Stupak and Jordana Rothmans

Note: I adapted this recipe by adding bacon and omitting freshly squeeze lime juice as a garnish.

Makes 6 tacos

2 dried pasilla chiles, split open with stems and seeds removed
4 oz. hickory-smoked thick-sliced bacon (note: this is not in the original recipe)
12 oz. shelled English peas
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano (parmesan) cheese, plus more for serving (note: I used pre-grated parmesan for mixing with the peas and a block of parmesan I grated with a microplane for finishing the tacos)
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of kosher salt
6 corn tortillas
18 pea tendrils or 1 cup of pea shoots (the original recipe calls for pea tendrils, but I used pea shoots, since that's what I could find)

1. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles and toast, turning occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer chilies to a bowl, cover with hot tap water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain chiles and chop into smaller pieces. Set aside.

2. Add the bacon to the skillet and cook, turning the bacon occasionally, until the bacon is cooked through. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate to cool. Break the bacon into 1-inch pieces.

3. Heat about 3 inches of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add peas and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain peas and set aside.

4. Add the chiles, peas and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan, olive oil and kosher salt to a food processor. Process until the mixture forms a smooth puree (add 1 or 2 tbsp. of water if needed to smooth it out).

5. Warm the flour tortillas and divide between two plates. Place a few tablespoons of pea puree on each taco and a handful of bacon crumbles. Top with a small handful of pea tendrils or shoots and a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan.

Related:

Dining Notes from New York, January 2016 (includes my review of Empellón Taqueria)

Smoked Cashew Salsa (a recipe from Empellón Cocina)

Spicy Pistachio Guacamole (a recipe inspired by the guacamole served at Empellón Cocina)

8-2-Eat: Favorite Mezcal Cocktails

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. This week I've focused on mezcal, my favorite spirit, with a trip to D.C.'s new mezcal- and Oaxaca-focused restaurant, Espita Mezcaleria and a look at a book all about the spirit, Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! Finishing the week, here's 8...or rather 17...great cocktails made with mezcal.

Margarita. Starting with something familiar, a margarita is a great way to get a first taste of mezcal, since it's in a familiar setting of the tart and sweet classic, but just a bit smoky. Dave Arnold's Smoky Frozen Margarita, from his book Liquid Intelligence, plays on mezcal's affinity for chartreuse. The Margarita on Fire plays on mescal's affinity for heat with Bittermens Hellfire habanero shrub (since, after all, where there's smoke, there's fire). The Smoky Pear Margarita drops the margarita's usual orange flavor in favor of pear. Lastly, Mom's Mezcal Margarita, which I found in John McEvoy's Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! book that I wrote about earlier this week, is a wonderful variation on a mezcal margarita with brandy and Peychaud's bitters.

Oaxaca Old Fashioned. This modern classic from Death & Co is where mezcal really gets a chance to shine. It's an elegantly simple (brilliant really) play on the classic Old Fashioned where tequila and mezcal sit in for whiskey and agave replaces simple sugar.  The bitters is a good place to get creative--Angostura is in the original recipe, and many, including me, like it with Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters for yet another nod to Oaxaca. The original recipe has 3 parts tequila to 1 part mezcal, but as you drink this cocktail more, I think you'll appreciate upping the proportion of mezcal (in fact, I like now with all mezcal).

Division Bell. Mayahuel in New York is our favorite place to drink mezcal. I wrote about the bar after our first visit last September and again this January. A few years ago, before I'd ever stepped foot inside, I had already heard about the bar's reputation for crafting excellent cocktails like Jacko's End and the Smoked Palomino. It was after our first visit that I shared their recipe for the Division Bell, a great example of a summer mezcal cocktail that isn't a margarita, its smokiness playing off the sunny-citrusy Aperol with just a touch of maraschino liqueur (it only takes a touch of that stuff). Another good mezcal and Aperol combination is Naked and Famous, developed at Death & Co as play on the Last Word where the drink's four components are in equal proportion.

Broken Oath. Citrus and agave flavors are hallmarks of margaritas and play well with mezcal too, but here's a drink that goes in an entirely different direction, marked by darker, bitter and savory flavors of sherry, coffee and sweet vermouth. Of course, it's another winner from Death & Co.

6666 Miles. Also with coffee liqueur, although much simpler than the Broken Oath, this is my attempt at a sort of homage to the Oaxaca Old Fashioned by recreating an existing classic--in this case, a Black Russian--with mezcal. The name comes from the distance between Moscow and Mexico City.

Sweet Lips. This is also from McEvoy's Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! book, a fantastically sweet and spicy drink made with fresh serrano chile peppers (for some serious kick) and homemade vanilla syrup. While I enjoyed all three of the cocktails I made from the book, this was my favorite.

The Lightsaber (pictured at top). Mezcal has featured prominently in my Oscar-themed cocktails over the years. My Star Wars: The Force Awakens-themed drink, The Lightsaber, was one of my favorites this year, a smoky take on a swizzle drink made with mezcal, cachaça, crème de cacao, blue curaçao and lime. Other mezcal-based favorite Oscar drinks include Whiplash, The Red Planet (The Martian, pictured at right) and The Market Fizz(led) (The Big Short).

Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal. I'll finish this list with a dessert cocktail, a wonderfully Mexican take on boozy hot chocolate with mezcal, cinnamon, mole bitters and habanero shrub.

Restaurant: Espita Mezcaleria (Washington, D.C.)

"Espita" is Spanish for "spigot," and, if you're at D.C.'s newest Mexican restaurant, Espita Mezcaleria, that spigot is pouring our some pretty amazing mezcal. Get ready to drink up.

I've made no secret of my love for mezcal. I'll have several posts about it this week (including a look at John McEvoy's excellent book, Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal!). And mole, the spicy-rich Mexican chili sauce that often contains a long list of ingredients such as chocolate and nuts, is amazing. When I learned that a restaurant would be opening in D.C. focusing on both mezcal and mole, I could barely contain my excitement. These are two of my favorite Mexican things--a really good reason for why I should visit Oaxaca, the southern Mexico state that's known for producing the best of both these.

Let's start with the drinks. If you like drinking mezcal neat, Espita stocks over 70 bottles. That's an amazing variety, far more than at any U.S. liquor store I've ever visited. Mezcal is distilled from agave, and with over 70 choices here, there's a nice variety of agave present: 20 are made from espadin agave, the most common variety for mezcal; 40 are made from other agave varieties; 8 are ensembles, which are blends of different agaves; and 5 are pechugas, which are traditionally made with a raw chicken breast (seriously, there are three such examples here, plus one made from turkey and another with corn).

Looking to go beyond mezcal? You can, of course, have tequila, of which they have 10 varieties, but you can get that anywhere. Instead, why not try a sotol, raicilla or bacanora? Not familiar with them? These are three other varieties of Mexican spirits--the latter two of which are also made from agave (sotol is made from desert spoon, an agave cousin). Espita may not be the first D.C. bar to stock these other spirits, but they are not very common, and I know of no D.C. liquor store that is currently stocking sotol (although Ace will order it for you). By my count, that's more choices than you can get at Mayahuel, New York's mezcal-focused bar we raved about last year. Flights are available for trying a mix of these great spirits. Credit for this amazing selection goes to Josh Phillips, Espita's master mezcalier (like a sommelier is to wine, Philips is to mezcal).

Left: Mayahuel; Right: Smiling Rabbit

If, like us, you're more into cocktails, you'll be happy here too. Beverage director Megan Barnes has assembled a thoughtful cocktail menu sorted into three categories: refreshing highballs, citrusy shaken drinks, and high-powered all-liquor cocktails. I began the night with La Llorona, an impressively dark mix of mezcal, bitters, vermouth and Mexican fernet. The licorice fragrance of absinthe is noticeable in the Quiet Rebel, but it doesn't overpower this concoction of mezcal, cognac and sweet vermouth. Looking for something more like a margarita? Try the Mayahuel, a tart mezcal cocktail with triple sec, lime, agave and a rim of sal de gusano (not sure what that is? it's a type of salt, but you might want to look it up first). My favorite drink of the night was the Smiling Rabbit, made from bitter Suze, lemon, pineapple and cinnamon adorably garnished with two pineapple leaves arranged to look like bunny ears. Cute and tasty!

Espita's menu should please most Mexican food fiends. Like the drinks, the menu focuses on the flavors of Oaxaca, developed by executive chef Alexis Samayoa, an alum of WD-50 and Empellon Taqueria, the latter of which recently won us over as our current favorite Mexican restaurant in New York. Mole and tacos are the star attractions, with 7-8 choices of each. Moles range from starter-size portions like the Mole Poblano served with carrots and parsnips to the larger Mole Negro with lamb neck, which our server explained is really meant for two. Tacos come in a nice variety of vegetarian, seafood and meat choices.

Skirt Steak Tacos

Those taco fillings are folded into some of the best corn tortillas I've ever had. They are amazingly good, fragrant with masa and the perfect thickness to keep from disintegrating while not coming across as too chewy. Our sever explained that a woman comes in early each day to grind the corn and cook the tortillas. They also fry their own chips from these tortillas, and they are the best tortilla chips I've had in a restaurant. An order of freshly made guacamole, served in the traditional manner with jalapeño, onion and cilantro, is a must, simply to have an excuse to munch on these amazing chips. The guacamole itself is pretty special too, giving Oyamel a run for its money as the city's best avocado dip.

Kale Salad

Another early arrival to the table was the kale salad. I'll admit, this wasn't a priority order. I wanted something green so we didn't feel like complete pigs. But man, if that salad didn't turn out to be one our favorite items of the evening. It was really good! The kale was chopped into nicely manageable pieces and served with candied walnuts, queso fresco, pasilla chiles and a sweet agave vinaigrette.

Next up was our taco order. We limited ourselves to one (one order of two tacos that is--orders come with your choice of two or three tacos) and went with the skirt steak. I could have eaten this all night. It was amazing. The tender chunks of grilled steak had a nice char around the edges and were garnished with cilantro and a spicy salsa. On my next visit, I must make a point of ordering the grilled tilapia tacos with pickled carrot, cabbage slaw and chipotle mayo, as that sounds pretty amazing also. Word is that the lamb barbacoa tacos are also excellent.

Mole Coloradito

Our moles arrived as our main course. While good, this was probably the least exciting portion of our dinner. Perhaps our expectations were too high, but we found both of the moles we ordered to be fine but not exceptional. The Coloradito features pork belly fanned above a dark mole made with ancho and guajillo chiles, roasted tomatoes and plantains and garnished with breakfast radishes. I really liked the pork belly, but I wish there had been more mole sauce and less garnish. Our other mole was the Pipian, pork ribs smothered with a green tomatillo mole. This mole was really good, and those incredible tortillas are perfect for sopping up some of that sauce, but our pork ribs were surprisingly dry, perhaps overcooked. Everything else we ate was so amazing that I was rather surprised the moles didn't impress us as much.

Tres Leches Cake

The kitchen came roaring back with dessert though. The selection here is limited--there are just two choices--but the tres leches cake was dynamite good. This is one of our favorite desserts (I make it myself sometimes), and this version, served with apples, caramel sauce and caramel ice cream was the sweetest perfection.

Service at Espita was very good, surprisingly good actually given that the place was packed and I was worried our server might not reappear as needed, as sometimes happens at really busy places. But she showed up just in time to get us more drinks and more tortillas. Other servers who appeared to take plates and fill our water glasses were equally friendly. We felt we taken care of here of.

Between courses, take a moment to pause and enjoy the restaurant's colorful murals, which were painted by Oaxacan street artist Yescka. I didn't snap a good picture of them, but my friend Jessica of The Dining Traveler got a good shot when she visited. The interior has a wonderful vibe and yes, it's a bit noisy, but that's pretty common these days.

Given my love for Mexican food, and mezcal and Oaxacan cuisine in particular, my expectations for Espita were pretty high. I'm glad to say that we were definitely satisfied with our first experience here and plan to visit again soon. The food and drinks were excellent, as was the service. D.C. is sadly underserved when it comes to good Mexican food. Espita definitely does its part to help fill that void.

Espita Mezcaleria, 1250 9th St. NW (on the corner at N Street NW), Washington, D.C. (Shaw, across from the Convention Center). (202) 621-9695. Reservations: Open Table.

8-2-Eat: Go Cra'y with Mole

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction.Earlier this week, my friend Laura, who blogs at Mother Would Know, shared her recipe for Not-Quite-Homemade Chicken Mole, which looks delicious and got me thinking about all the dishes I've made with mole sauce or inspired by its flavors--that wonderful combination of spices, chiles, nuts and chiles that is so amazing good. Here's a rundown of all the delicious possibilities.

Mole Chicken Enchiladas. Chicken Enchiladas con Mole Poblano is probably the most common way that mole sauce is used in Mexican restaurants in the U.S. One of the reasons mole may seem daunting to many cooks is the look list of ingredients, but this recipe from Robb Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook pares the ingredient list down to the basics.

Pressure Cooker Mole Chicken Chili. Don't have all afternoon to simmer something in a rich mole sauce? Use a pressure cooker to speed up cooking time. This recipe, adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Pressure Cooker Perfection, is done in an hour and change.

Mole Brined Roasted Turkey Breast. Departing from the traditional mole "sauce," here I've used the flavors of mole in a brine to infuse turkey breast for a flavorful Thanksgiving entree.

Thanksgiving Mole Gravy. To go with that turkey? Naturally, you'll need mole gravy. This isn't mole sauce, but rather gravy with some mole sauce mixed in plus the drippings from the aforementioned turkey.

Sweet Potatoes with Mole and Queso Fresco. Because I apparently can't get enough of mole at Thanksgiving, I created this sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving last year, but you could easily serve this any time of year. Here, I went with a longer, more traditional list of ingredients for the delicious mole sauce, but it's really just a case of "a little it of this, a little bit of that." It's not complicated.

Mole Cookies. Yes, cookies. I created this for the 2014 Dallas Holiday Bakeoff with Dallas Decoder, representing Judith, the conniving whore-house-running matriarch of the Ewings' rival family the Rylands in the recent Dallas reboot. I got the idea for this realizing that many of the ingredients of mole work well in a dessert. Yes, they're a little bit spicy, but that's part of their allure.

Improved Tequila Cocktail. Now we're going to drink mole, or rather Xocolatl Mole Bitters, which was the first product created by the amazing bitters producers Bittermens. This drink is a nod to the late 19th Century "improved" cocktail but updated with tequila, which I don't believe was fashionable in the U.S. at the time.

Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal. Another cocktail with mole bitters, this one is perfect for winter--a mezcal cocktail riff on Mexican hot chocolate. I didn't specify the mezcal at the time I posted this, but you can't go wrong with Del Maguey Vida mezcal in this recipe.

More Gift Ideas: Books about Food and Drink

More and more I read books on my Kindle or iPad, but I still buy cookbooks in paper form. There's just something to said about leafing through a cookbook or cocktail book--pausing to look at the photos, dog-earing the pages you want to return to--that's not replicated on an e-reader. Any of these eight books, would make an excellent gift for someone who loves to cook or make cocktails.

The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock. Classic cocktails are back, and this is a classic among classics when it comes to cocktail recipe books. Harry Craddock, an American bartender who worked at London's Savoy Hotel, wrote this book first published in 1930, which is considered one of the best (if not the best) collections of prohibition-era cocktails. Given its age, there are many editions kicking around, some of which include a new section at the front with "new" cocktails that I don't really care for. Go for a facsimile of the original 1930 edition.

American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye: A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit by Clay Risen. I read that whiskey recently surpassed sales of vodka (in dollars, not volume) in the United States, fueled by a resurgence in popularity of bourbons and ryes, our homegrown “brown” spirits. For any American-whiskey lover, Risen’s guide is essential. The user-friendly format has full-color photos, tasting notes and price information for each whiskey, organized in alphabetical order by brand-name. The new 2015 edition includes 300 bottles, up 50 percent from the 200 in the 2013 version.

Tasty by John McQuaid. Pulitzer Prize-winner Maryland-based author John McQuaid published this fascinating look at how taste works earlier this year. A wonderful read for those who enjoy the scientific side of the eating experience.

The Cocktail Chronicles by Paul Clarke. This was my favorite new cocktail recipe book this year (which I reviewed in July), a wonderful look at the modern cocktail renaissance's love of classic and contemporary drinks.

Chesapeake Bay Cooking by John Shields. Regional cookbooks are a wonderful way to immerse yourself in recipes that are beloved because they represent the ingredients and traditions of a particular place. When it comes to honoring the Chesapeake Bay region, John Shields clearly knows his stuff. The chef of Baltimore's Gertrude's released the 25th anniversary edition of this book this year, a collection that, naturally, has a lot of seafood, but much more as well. Of course there are recipes for Maryland crab cakes, including variations, but have you heard of St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham? It's a southern Maryland tradition, and it appears in Shield's book as well.

Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi. This book came out in 2011, but I suspect is getting more attention in D.C. these days since pastry chef Christina Tosi and her Momofuku business partner/cherfDavid Chang opened their first D.C. restaurant and bakery, Momofuku CCDC and Milk Bar. Lines for Milk Bar have been rather long since it's opening last month, so skip the line and make your own crack pie and blueberry & cream cookies at home with this cookbook.

Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach. I've been a fan of Lucky Peach magazine for years. The publication was created by Momofuku restaurant titan David Chang and Peter Chang, the latter serving as its editor. The book does a good job adhering to its "easy" promise--the most difficult thing might be finding some of the ingredients, which aren't necessary staples of the mainstream grocery store (but worth seeking out).

Mi Comida Latina: Vibrant, Fresh, Simple, Authentic by Marcella Kriebel. I came across this gorgeous book at the downtown D.C. holiday arts fair this year. Kriebel, a D.C. local, assembled the recipes in this book from her notes traveling through Latin America. The book itself is entirely hand-written and illustrated by her, making it not just a wonderful collection of recipes, but a piece of art unto itself.

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Still need more ideas? Check out today's other holiday gift ideas story.

Sweet Potatoes with Mole and Queso Fresco

Yes, there are three chiles in this recipe, but they are relatively mild, making this a wonderfully spicy but not hot Mexican-inspired side for Thanksgiving. Yet another example of how sweet potatoes work wonderfully in a savory preparation.

The mole sauce can be made in advance and stored in the fridge, which I would definitely recommend doing if you want to make this for Thanksgiving. Mole has a lot of ingredients, but it's not complicated.

Sweet Potatoes with Mole and Queso Fresco
Mole sauce adapted from multiple recipes, including Braised Chicken with Oaxacan Chocolate Mole Sauce, Food & Wine

2 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
1 guajillo chile, stems and seeds removed
3 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste
1/4 cup almonds
3 tbsp. golden raisins
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 star anise pod
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
2 cloves
12 black peppercorns
One cinnamon stick
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed
6 oz. can tomato paste
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 cups water
1 cup crumbled queso fresco

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Soak the chiles in hot water for 30 minutes while preparing other ingredients.

3. Combine the cubed sweet potatoes, olive oil and salt in a large bowl and toss to coat. Spread potatoes in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft and very lightly browned.

4. In a 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the sesame seeds, star anise, cumin, coriander, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon stick. Toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to a spice grinder and allow it to cool then grind the seeds and spices to a fine powder.

5. Return the 4-quart saucepan to the stove, add the vegetable oil and increase heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the almonds, raisins and pumpkin seeds and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the ground spice mixture, tomato paste and bittersweet chocolate, then add the chiles and water and stir until the ingredients are well combined. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then puree the mixture using an immersion blender or transfer to a food processor and puree in batches. Transfer mole sauce to a container and store in the fridge until ready to use (reheat in the microwave as needed). Makes about 3 to 4 cups.

6. In a large bowl combine the roasted sweet potatoes with about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of mole sauce and stir to combine. Top with crumbled queso fresco and serve immediately.

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Thanksgiving Central

Steak, Egg and Smoked Gouda Breakfast Tacos

As I mentioned on Monday, one of the greatest discoveries of our recent long weekend in Austin was breakfast tacos. They combine breakfast-oriented foods like eggs, sausage and potatoes with typical taco fillings and garnishes. There are taco joints all over the city that served them.

Our favorite breakfast tacos were from Taco Joint, a small taco restaurant just north of the University of Texas campus. I imagine a lot students make themselves regulars there, and who could blame them. The tacos are cheap, filling and delicious.

Our favorite combination there was the steak, egg and smoked gouda cheese taco, which I've attempted to recreate with this recipe. I garnished the tacos with some chipotle cream, which went beautifully with the gouda and steak.

Steak, Egg and Smoked Gouda Breakfast Tacos
Inspired by Taco Joint in Austin, Texas

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 lb. ribeye steak
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 large eggs, lightly scrambled
1/2 cup sour cream
Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce, to taste
8 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese

1. Heat oil in a sauté or grill pan over medium-high heat. Season steak with salt and pepper and add to hot pan. Sear the steak on both sides for 2 minutes each, then reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking steak, flipping every 2 minutes, until it is light pink in the middle, about 8 minutes total for a medium steak. Set aside on a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes, then slice against the grain into thin strips.

2. Heat 1 tbsp. butter in a medium nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring occasionally, as the egg forms small curds. Season with salt and pepper and, when cooked through, remove from the pan.

3. Add the sour cream to a small bowl and stir in hot sauce until it reaches a desired level of heat and taste.

4. To assemble tacos: place a double layer of corn tortillas on a plate or taco holder. Add a few slices of steak, a couple tablespoons of egg, a sprinkle of shredded cheese and a couple spoonfuls of chipotle sour cream. Serve immediately.