Salsa Verde Pizza With Goat Cheese And Chorizo Rick Bayless Food

SALSA VERDE PIZZA WITH GOAT CHEESE AND CHORIZO (RICK BAYLESS)

Steps:

• For the sauce: Roast the tomatillos, chile(s) and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until blotchy black and softening (they'll be turning from lime green to olive), about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side.
• Cool, then transfer everything to a blender, including all the juice that has accumulated. Add the cilantro or parsley and 1/4 cup water, then blend to a coarse puree. Scoop into a serving dish.
• Rinse the onion under cold water, then drain well to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon.
• For the crust: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt. Measure in the water and beer. Stir to combine everything into a rough-looking mass. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
• After the dough has raised, heat the oven to 500°F.
• Generously oil a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet (a half sheet pan). Use a rubber spatula to gently deflate the dough and scrape it out onto the baking sheet. Gently coax the dough into a mostly even rectangle about 9 by 13 inches.
• Spread on 2/3 cup roasted tomatillo salsa (save the rest for snacking later), leaving a 1-inch border around the outside. Scatter on the cooked chorizo, sliced red onion and crumbled goat cheese. Bake in the middle of the oven until puffy and brown, about 25 minutes.
• Sprinkle with queso anejo and cilantro or parsley leaves, cut in squares and serve.

SALSA VERDE: GREEN TOMATILLO SALSA

Steps:

• Whether you choose the verdant, slushy, herby freshness of the all-raw tomatillo salsa or the oil-colored, voluptuous, sweet-sour richness of the roasted version, tomatillos are about brightening tang. The buzz of the fresh hot green chile adds thrill, all of which adds up to a condiment most of us simply don't want to live without.
• For the All-Raw version: Roughly chop the tomatillos and the chiles. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos, chiles, cilantro and 1/4 cup water. Process to a coarse puree, then scrape into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually a generous 1/4 teaspoon.
• For the Roasted version:
• Preheat a broiler.
• Roast the tomatillos and chiles on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until darkly roasted, even blackened in spots, about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side, 4 to 5 minutes more will give you splotchy-black and blistered tomatillos and chiles. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos and chiles, including all the delicious juice that has run onto the baking sheet. Add the cilantro and 1/4 cup water, blend to a coarse puree, and scrape into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove the excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually a generous 1/4 teaspoon.

SALSA MEXICANA (FRESH TOMATO AND CHILES)

Steps:

• Toss tomato, jalapeno, onion, garlic, and cilantro together.
• Add salt and lime juice (or cider vinegar).
• Stir, and let stand 30 minutes before serving.

SALSA VERDE: GREEN TOMATILLO SALSA (RICK BAYLESS)

Steps:

• Roughly chop tomatillos and the chiles. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos, chiles, cilantro, and 1/4 cup water.
• Process to a coarse puree, then scrape into a serving dish.
• Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove the excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt.

RICK BAYLESS' MEXICAN PAELLA WITH SHRIMP, MUSSELS, AND CHORIZO

Steps:

• The broth and flavorings. In a large (12-quart) stock pot, combine the broth and salt. Measure in 1 gallon of water, cover the pot and set over medium-low heat.
• Roast the fresh tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a preheated broiler until blackened and blistered, about 6 minutes per side. Cool, then peel (if you wish). Scoop the tomatoes (fresh roasted or canned roasted) into a blender or food processor, along with all their juices. Puree and set aside.
• Roast the poblanos over a gas flame or 4 inches below a preheated broiler, turning frequently, until blackened all over, about 5 minutes for the open flame, 10 minutes under the broiler. Collect in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. When cool rub off the blackened skin and pull out the stem and seed pod, then tear the chiles open, scrape out the seeds and rinse briefly under cold water to remove stray bits of skin and seeds. Chop into ½-inch pieces.
• Brown the chicken. Sprinkle the skin side of the chicken thighs with salt. Set the paella pan over the burner or wood fire-the burner set on high, the wood fire stoked to an impressive blaze. Give the pan a minute or so to heat up, then add the olive oil. Tip the pan to distribute the oil, then immediately start laying in the chicken, skin-side down. Sprinkle with salt. Fry-move the pieces around as necessary to ensure they're not sticking and that they are cooking evenly-until the skin is deeply golden, about 10 minutes. Turn the chicken thighs over (I like to do this with a pair of tongs), and fry until browned and cooked through (juices from a small cut at the thickest part will run clear), 8 to 10 minutes longer. Remove to a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in a low oven.
• Cook the flavorings. Immediately add the onion and chorizo to the pan. Stir (I use a long-handled grilling spatula), breaking up lumps of chorizo, until the chorizo is cooked through and the onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes and poblanos, and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the mixture is very thick and the oil has separated from it, 7 or 8 minutes.
• Start cooking the rice. If using wood, make sure you fire is still stoked to burn very hot. Add the rice to the flavorings, stir to combine, and keep stirring for 4 or 5 minutes, until a good portion of the rice has turned from translucent to milky white. Pour in the broth mixture and set a timer for 12 minutes. Stir once a minute, slowly and thoroughly scraping across the bottom of the pan and moving the rice from edges into the center. At 12 minutes, the rice should have absorbed enough liquid to look like risotto. Check a kernel of rice: it should be getting soft, but still have a tiny bit of chalkiness at the center. If the rice doesn't look or taste ready, let it cook another minute or two.
• Add the chicken and shellfish. Working quickly (I usually ask for help from a guest at this point), nestle the chicken thighs into the center of the rice, lay the shrimp in a ring around the chicken and arrange the mussels in the rice around the edge of the pan. Cover the pan with two pieces of heavy duty foil (it's typically 18 inches wide) or with a folded-up tablecloth. Turn the burner to its lowest setting or remove the burning logs from under the paella (but leave the embers). Let stand for 10 minutes to cook the shrimp and mussels and finish cooking the rice.
• Serving the paella. Uncover the paella and sprinkle with the peas, parsley, and, if you're using it, the tequila. Using a large serving spoon, gently fluff the mussels and shrimp into the rice mixture. (You can do the same thing with the chicken, but it's more difficult.) You can breathe a sigh of relief. You're ready to serve.

POTATO-CHORIZO TACOS WITH AVOCADO SALSA

Steps:

• In a medium (3- to 4-quart) saucepan, bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Dice the potatoes into ½-inch cubes, and heavily salt the water (you''ll need about 2 teaspoons). Simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are fully tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
• (Note: Chef Bayless uses a quarter of a large onion, but this recipe calls for half of a small onion.) Finely dice onion and place in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and immediately add the chorizo. Cook, breaking up any lumps of chorizo, until the onion is soft and the sausage cooked through, about 10 minutes. If the chorizo has rendered more than a light coating of fat over the bottom of the skillet, pour out the extra.
• As the chorizo cooks, make the avocado salsa: Roughly chop the husked, rinsed tomatillos; chop the garlic clove; chop the chiles. In a food processor, combine the tomatillos, garlic, and chiles, and pulse until finely chopped (scraping down the sides of the processor as necessary). Add the peeled and pitted avocado, season with ½ teaspoon salt, and pulse until everything is well blended; the sauce should be the consistency of a light mayonnaise. Salt to taste, then scrape the sauce into a serving bowl and set aside.
• Use a slotted spoon or strainer to drain the potatoes thoroughly; add them to the skillet with the chorizo mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until the potatoes begin to brown, 7-8 minutes. As the mixture cooks, coarsely mash everything together with the back of a spoon or a spatula, scraping up any crusty bits of potato, so that it roughly holds together (it will look a little like hash). Cover and keep warm over the lowest heat.
• Serve the potato-chorizo mixture with the avocado sauce and warm tortillas. (To reconstitute or reheat store-bought tortillas, wrap the stack in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave on full power for 1 minute.)

RICK BAYLESS SHREDDED BEEF

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the meat with 2 quarts salted water, about 1/3 of the onions, and half of the garlic and simmer until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Strain, reserving the broth for another use. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it into coarse strands with your fingers or 2 forks--don't worry that there are bits of onion and garlic mixed with the meat.
• Wash and dry the saucepan, set it over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil is hot, add half of the remaining onions and cook until golden, about 6 minutes, then stir in the remaining garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and chiles and cook until most of the juice has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Stir in the shredded meat and simmer for a few more minutes, then taste and season with about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Remove from the heat.