Blanched Garlic Paste Food

FRESH BASIL PASTE

Steps:

• Rinse the basil well and pat dry. In a food processor, puree basil with garlic until coarsely chopped. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle in the oil and process until finely pureed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• USES: Grill or broil some sword fish and each portion with a tablespoonful or so of basil puree. Spoon a tablespoonful or so into each portion of canned vegetable soup.

BEEF FILLET MARINATED IN CHOLULA HOT SAUCE WITH TAMALE AND ACHIOTE PASTE

Steps:

• To prepare the marinade, combine all of the ingredients together in a large container and marinate the beef for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Once the beef is marinated, sear the beef on both sides in a saute pan for approximately 10 minutes or until desired doneness.
• To make the tamale filling: In a saute pan, add enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan and heat. Saute the peppers, garlic, onion, and hot sauce. Cook until the peppers are tender and set aside.
• To make the tamales, use a mixing bowl and combine the corn flour, vegetable shortening, chicken broth, achiote paste, and salt and pepper. Mix until a dough starts to form. Place the banana leaves on a flat surface and spread the tamale dough in the center of each leaf. Add the cooked peppers and fold the banana leaves around the tamale. Steam the tamales for 20 minutes.
• To serve, slice the tamales or cut them open and place in the center of each plate. Place the beef fillets to the side and serve.

ROASTED-GARLIC PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic. Cut off the top third of each head to open the cloves. Put the heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish and pour the olive oil over them. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly, place in the oven and roast until about 3/4 cooked (about 45 minutes).
• Uncover and return to the oven until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown (about 15 minutes). Let cool. When cool enough to handle easily, squeeze the roasted garlic into a small bowl. Press firmly against the skins to extract all the sweet roasted garlic you can. Add the oil from the baking dish, the Parmesan cheese, rosemary and a pinch of gray salt. Mix well until a paste forms. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

GARLIC: BLANCHED, POACHED, ROASTED, OR TOASTED

Steps:

• Blanching: Bring a small saucepan of water to a low boil. Separate the cloves from 1 head of garlic, leaving the skins on, and drop into water for 5 minutes. Remove and drain. Store, skin on, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
• Poaching: In a small cast-iron pot, bring 1 cup olive oil to a very low simmer on a grill or in a wood-fired oven and drop peeled cloves from 1 head of garlic in to cook for 10 minutes. Remove, drain, let cool, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Reserve the poaching oil and use as a flavoring or finishing oil.
• Roasting: Garlic is easy to roast and develops much more flavor in a wood-fired environment. Simply cut the top off a whole head of garlic to expose the cloves and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Place in a small clay cooker or cast-iron pot or an aluminum-foil packet and place in the wood-fired oven or on a covered grill to roast until soft to the touch, about 20 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
• Toasting: Toast the skin-on cloves from 1 head of garlic in a dry skillet over high heat until the skins are slightly browned. You are toasting but not cooking the garlic. Slice or mince the garlic as called for in the recipe. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.