We are confined to a smaller lifestyle. There are limitations to what we can do, where we can go, who we can see. Many of us are suffering loss of income, family contact, financial well-being. Some of us don’t know if we can keep our homes or make the next rent payment.
I yearn for Oaxaca. I yearn to take small groups of travelers into indigenous villages in pursuit of understanding and to explore the textile traditions. I perfected a cornbread recipe in Oaxaca where I went to my local mill down the street to buy organic meal. They grind the finest cornmeal and I could not find it here — until now!
For now, I’m stuck in Durham, North Carolina until it is safe to travel again. Many of us are stuck somewhere, physically or metaphorically. (There are worse places to be stuck!) For solace, I turn to cooking — that great leveler of creative output. This falls into the category of comfort food.
At the Durham Farmer’s Market (I go early when it is safe and there are fewer people), I discovered Red Tail Grains from Mebane, NC. I’ve been using their fine stone ground corn meal for several months. It makes the finest cornbread, perfect for my lactose-free and gluten-free diet. It yields a cake-like texture with a fine crumb. I season it up like a spice cake but add Hatch Chili powder for a Mexico-style kick. Great with morning coffee, too!
Ingredients/Recipe:
1 C. Red Tail Cateto Orange Heirloom Flint Corn
1-1/2 C. Gluten-Free Flour (almond flour or King Arthur brand)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Hatch chili powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. ground turmeric
2 T. finely grated fresh ginger
1-1/2 C. almond milk or other plant-based milk
1 tsp. white vinegar
7 T. unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, large
1/2 C. sugar
Note: To make this VEGAN, use butter and egg substitutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine all dry ingredients and grated ginger in a mixing bowl. Make a well. Combine milk and vinegar and let it sit to clabber for at least five minutes. Beat together eggs and sugar. Add all liquid ingredients to the well and mix until thoroughly combined into a cake-like batter — the consistency of pancake mix.
Prepare a baking pan. I use a 10″ cast iron skillet, well-seasoned, lined with parchment paper. You can also use an 8″ x 8″ square glass baking dish, greased. I would also recommend lining same with parchment paper.
Pour batter into baking pan. Put onto middle rack of preheated oven. Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool. Cut into squares. Will keep refrigerated for one week or you can freeze successfully.
For the life of me, I could not find a buttercream frosting recipe that uses real, homemade Oaxaca chocolate, the kind made here in the village. Oaxaca chocolate is a dietary mainstay. The cacao beans are roasted at home and then taken to the molino (mill) to grind along with cinnamon, cane sugar, vanilla bean, almonds and perhaps chiles. Each family has their own recipe handed down by the abuelas.
During the grinding, it comes out of the mill as a warm, thick paste and is poured into pans where it solidifies, then cut into two-inch or three-inch cubes large enough to make a pot of hot chocolate (with water, of course) — an early morning and late evening staple, perfect for dipping conchas.
I decided to adapt chocolate buttercream frosting recipes I found online. Most of them call for dark semi-sweet chocolate, or cocoa powder, or chocolate chips. None included Oaxaca chocolate. I know from years of being in the kitchen that it is the cacao butter in chocolate that makes it creamy. With Oaxaca drinking chocolate, you taste the sugar granules. So, I decided to combine four cubes (about 8 ounces) of traditional Oaxaca chocolate with about four ounces of Oaxaca-made Mama Pacha artesanal chocolate for eating — the amount I had on hand. (Here’s how to buy Mama Pacha.)
Swirls of Oaxaca chocolate buttercream frosting
Making a buttercream frosting is easy. It takes about ten minutes once the chocolate is melted. You just need a hand-mixer, a spatula, a spoon, a Pyrex measuring cup and a mixing bowl. The secret is to melt all the chocolate, but cool it to the touch before adding it to the creamed butter. If the chocolate is too hot, the butter will melt and your frosting will be ruined.
Ready for chocolate cake and my homemade pumpkin pie with cornmeal crust
How to Melt the Chocolate: put all the chocolate in a 2-4 cup Pyrex measuring cup. Microwave the chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring and cooling for several minutes between each 30-second zap. The chocolate should be combined, soft and paste-like. Put a finger deep into the center to be sure the mixture is not hot.
Ingredients:
8 ounces of cubed Oaxaca chocolate
3-4 ounces of artisanal 70% cacao semi-sweet chocolate
2-1/2 cups of powdered sugar (azucar glace´)
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
2 T. almond milk, plain or vanilla flavored
1/4 t. pure vanilla extract
dash of salt (omit salt if using salted butter)
Directions:
Melt chocolate as described above.
Put butter into medium size mixing bowl. Cream with mixer until smooth and fluffy. Color should be a creamy beige.
Add cooled chocolate and continue to combine into creamed butter with electric mixer.
Add 1/2 the amount of powdered sugar and stir into the chocolate butter mix at lowest speed of hand mixer. Add remaining powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl until all is mixed.
Add vanilla extract and almond milk. Mix in thoroughly.
Chill for a few minutes.
Will frost an 8-10″ layer cake or 12-18 cupcakes.
The Cake:
In Oaxaca we have a Mexican supermarket called Chedraui. The best one is in Colonia Reforma. It has a complete selection of imported products, too, including those that are gluten-free. I am experimenting with a gluten-free and milk-free diet, so I did buy a Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate cake mix and substituted almond milk for cow milk. It turned out to be delicious.
My Zapotec friends raved that this was the best frosting they ever had, too! I confess it doesn’t look like much. Not smooth as silk (because of the granulated sugar). But it is delicious.
Posted onSunday, January 23, 2011|Comments Off on Soup Kitchen With a Bite: Vegetarian Leek and Potato Soup
Friends are coming to dinner tonight. The pond is frozen and it’s a chilly 23 degrees in North Carolina. In four weeks, I’ll be back in Oaxaca. Meantime, it’s supposed to snow on Tuesday! I wanted to prepare a delicious, healthy, warming soup tonight to serve in mugs, no spoons needed, as a first course while we sit in front of the fire, sip wine and catch up.
I looked around the kitchen and in the mud room. Stephen has stored the organic Yukon Gold potatoes he dug up in the fall in a galvanized bin tucked under the laundry tub. There, I found the last of them. Along with the potatoes I had two aging leeks. From that, I went to the cutting block.
Norma's Spicy Leek & Potato Soup: Total Vegetarian!
The potatoes add body; the carrots add color; the garlic and leeks add a savory goodness; the cayenne and turmeric add bite; the honey adds sweetness. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
6 small white potatoes, skins on, cleaned and boiled whole until soft
1/2 tsp. dried basil (we grow ours in summer, dry it and store it)
1/4 c. honey
6 cups water
Add olive oil to a 4 quart stainless steel or anodized aluminum sauce pan and heat until hot. Add garlic, leeks and carrots. Sautee until tender on medium heat until soft and glazed, stirring periodically so that veggies cook evenly. Add whole cooked potatoes and stir. Add 2 cups of water to the mixture and stir to deglaze the pan. Put all ingredients into a food processor. Add salt, pepper, herbs and spices. Process on high heat until smooth. Add honey. Process for 30 seconds. Add water slowly to thin to the consistency of heavy cream. Taste. Add more salt and pepper if desired.
Why We Left, Expat Anthology: Norma’s Personal Essay
Norma contributes personal essay, How Oaxaca Became Home
Norma Contributes Two Chapters!
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Norma Schafer and Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university program development experience. See my resume.
Study Tours + Study Abroad are personally curated and introduce you to Mexico's greatest artisans. They are off-the-beaten path, internationally recognized. We give you access to where people live and work. Yes, it is safe and secure to travel. Groups are limited in size for the most personal experience.
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Oaxaca has the largest and most diverse textile culture in Mexico! Learn about it.
1-Day OaxacaCity Collectors Textile Tour.Exclusive Access! We take you into the homes and workshops of Oaxaca State's prize-winning weavers. They come from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Mixteca, Mixe, Amuzgos and Triqui areas and represent their weaving families and cooperatives here. For collectors, retailers, buyers, wholesalers, fashionistas.
1-Day Oaxaca Textile Walking Tour When you visit Oaxaca immerse yourself in our textile culture: How is indigenous clothing made, what is the best value, most economical, finest available. Suitable for adults only. Set your own dates.
2022 Going Deep, Not Wide--Extended Tours
July 25-31, 2022. Oaxaca Textile Adventure Tour: Sierra Norte Mountains. Visit two remote mountain villages where silk and cotton are woven into glorious cloth and dyed with natural plant materials. Come early or stay later for Guelaguetza! Not too late to join!
October 28-November 4, 2022: Women’s Creative Writing Retreat in Teotitlan del Valle — Memory and Tradition. Click this link to read about it. ONE SPACE OPEN FOR SHARED ROOM.
October 29-November 4, 2022:Day of the Dead Culture Tour. We meet locals and visit 4 villages to experience this mystical pre-Hispanic observance, awesome and reverent. Still space for a few more!
February 5-13, 2023: Bucket List Tour: Monarch Butterflies + Michoacan. Spiritual, mystical connection to nature. Go deep into weaving, pottery, mask-making and more! We haven't offered this tour since 2019 and we anticipate it will sell out quickly. TWO SPACES OPEN
February 21-March 1, 2023: Chiapas Textile Study Tour--Deep Into the Maya World Based in San Cristobal de las Casas, we travel to distant pueblos to meet extraordinary weavers --Best of the Best! Just a handful of spaces open.
Stay Healthy. Stay Safe. In Oaxaca, wear your mask. Questions? Want more info or to register? Send an email to Norma Schafer.
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Dye Master Dolores Santiago Arrellanas with son Omar Chavez Santiago, weaver and dyer, Fey y Lola Rugs, Teotitlan del Valle
