Well, I'm an idjit and forgot that the foodsluts are in New Zealand for three weeks (except a few days in Fiji, which apparently have resulted in appalling meals, awkward sleep, and potential tapeworm -- they're *very* happy to be heading to the land of good tea and honey-yogurt breakfasts), so i had to eat the tamales by myself. Tallasiandude and I ate 6 for dinner the other night, accompanied by a quick salsa and a batch of this recipe for spicy chocolate black beans from 101 Cookbooks, adapted somewhat by me. It was awesome. The tamales were fabulous, I wish we had a better source for them here; I will have to scout around.
But what was somehow more satisfying, probably because of its total serendipitousness, was the lunch I had the next day. In the midst of a total crisis at work, no less, so it had to be fast and filling and joy-inducing, no small challenge given the state of my fridge. Two small corn tortillas, spread with the last of the beans, topped with slices of cheese (regular old sandwich cheddar slices) and microwaved for a minute, then topped with the salsa & some sour cream. Holy god it was yummy.
Salsa = 2-3 fresh diced ripe tomatoes, minced onion, minced serrano, juice of 3 limes, cilantro for those that like it. Very limey and tangy, nice against the sweet thick beans.
Beans = 1/2 onion & 1/2 red bell pepper, diced & sauteed in a tiny bit of olive oil with a couple cloves thin sliced garlic added once things soften. Salt, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice to taste, and fry a bit more till dry. Then add about a third of a bottle of beer - i used IPA because it was all I had, and it lent a bitter note I didn't totally appreciate, so I'd probably recommend something else, like, I dunno, Negro Modelo. *wink* Add water to thin down the beer, add a drained can of black beans, and smash the beans roughly with your spoon as they cook. Adjust spices as it cooks down. When it looks & tastes like nice spicy chunky refried beans, add 1/2 a disk of Ibarra Mexican chocolate and let it melt in and blend. You could probably use any decent dark chocolate and to be extra diligent you could add a bit extra sugar & cinnamon to get the same effect. It ends up earthy, sweet, and spicy, kind of mole-like in flavor, awesome against corn tortillas & lime-y salsa.
Posted by foodnerd at October 21, 2004 11:00 PM