Fond memories of my trip to Mexico this spring still loom large, especially recalling the many flavors we feasted on during time in Oaxaca and Mexico City.
With thanks to my friend Ruth Alegria who conducts culinary adventures in Mexico City and beyond, we knew to seek out Chef Pilar Cabrera at her Casa de los Sabores market tour and cooking class in Oaxaca. It was a great experience and I was inspired to create similar flavors once home.
It was a priority for our time in Oaxaca to experience Chef Pilar’s market tour and cooking class for my four friends and me. We chose to prepare a menu with several of our favorite items, one of which is the delicacy huitlacoche, a mushroom-like fungus that grows on corn. It is also known as corn smut in English, an unfortunate moniker in my opinion!
Led by Chef Pilar, we purchased the freshest, whole ears of huitlacoche from her preferred farmer at Mercado de la Merced, a neighborhood covered market that has everything one needs to prepare meals at home, plus enjoy breakfast, lunch, and snacks from several food, bakery, and beverage vendors.
We made her quesadilla de huitlacoche and salsa de chile pasilla Oaxaqueno con gusanito de maguey recipes when we returned to her home for our cooking adventure. Okay, there were only a few toasted maguey used in her recipe, but whilst I ate maguey and chapulines on several occasions during the trip, I will probably skip these “delicacies” at home…unless I want to spring a novel food on my family and friends!
This appetizer, side dish, or light snack was so delicious, I was inspired to devise a reasonable facsimile with ingredients available to me when I returned home. Incredibly fresh huitiacoche may be difficult to obtain except for very limited periods during the summer, so I went with a deeply flavoed mushroom we enjoy, maitake aka Hen of the Woods.
Fortunately, we have several Mexican grocers in the Bay Area so sourcing Oaxacan string cheese and fresh tomatillo is easy too. If you cannot locate these, substituting another mild, melty cheese will work, and any salsa you enjoy is fine. Just be aware the star of the show is the mushroom, so select complimentary, not competing, flavors.
The flavor combination makes these a bit addicting. We enjoyed a few iterations whilst I was testing my recipes, and once I was satisfied, we even upped the mushroom filling and began making tacos with it. So more filling, more cheese, salsa inside, along with some chopped onion and fresh cilantro.
Hen of the Woods Quesadillas with Avocado Salsa
Ingredients
For the salsa
- 1 medium avocado ripe
- 3 medium tomatillos about 1/2 cup chopped after charring, which softens them a bit
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper fresh, divided. Add another if you like spicy heat
- 1/4 small white onion cut a wedge, about 2 tablespoons roughly chopped after charring
- 1 medium garlic clove about 1 teaspoon finely chopped after charring
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and some stems, packed
- 2 tablespoons lime juice freshly squeezed from 1 medium-sized lime
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
For the quesadillas
- 6 small corn tortillas about 4 to 5-inch diameter
- 8 ounces hen of the woods mushroom about 2 medium "bouquets"; aka maitake mushrooms, ram's head, or sheep's head mushrooms; separated into 1/2" clumps
- 4 - 5 ounces Oaxacan cheese substitute any melting cheese such as Monterey jack
- 1 medium garlic clove about 1 teaspoon roughly chopped
- Remaining 1/2 of the charred jalapeno pepper sliced lengthwise into julienne strips
- 1 tablespoon neutral-flavored oil
Instructions
For the salsa
- Heat a small comal or heavy skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Char the tomatillos, jalapeno pepper, wedge of white onion and clove of garlic on as many sides that will lay flat on the comal. Char to a deep mahogany. Remove to a plate as needed. Set aside.
- Peel the charred skin from the jalapeno pepper using the back of a small knife, or with your fingers, wearing gloves if needed to protect your skin. Slice in half lengthwise to remove the seeds and any stringy membrane. Slice into thin, julienne strips. Taste for spicy-heat level to determine how much you will use in the salsa. About one-quarter to half of a jalapeno will suit most palates for heat tolerances.
- Chop the avocado, tomatillos and onion into about half inch pieces and add to a small food processor or blender. Add the garlic, cilantro and lime juice, salt and pepper. Blitz to form a smooth consistency. (If you have a molcajete use it!)
- Taste and add more jalapeno, salt and/or pepper as desired. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately.The salsa will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days if well covered.
For the quesadillas
- Unravel the ball of Oaxacan string cheese and break off in about 2-inch long pieces. Pull into shreds about 1/ 4-inch thick. The ball of cheese will be more than you need for this recipe, so only unroll what you need, rewrapping and storing the rest for other uses – to include just snacking.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tablespoon of oil and then add the clumps of mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned. Add the chopped garlic and continue cooking until the garlic just softens. The mushrooms will take on a darker hue too. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Place three tortillas onto the heated skillet (or comal) in a single layer and warm one side of each until softened and pliable. Flip each tortilla over and place one=sixth of the mushrooms, about two tablespoons of the shredded cheese and a few strips of jalapeno pepper onto each tortilla. Move the filling to cover half of the tortilla so you can fold the remaining half over the filling.
- Cook until the first side turns golden brown then turn over to brown the remaining side, pressing firmly with a spatula to help keep the quesadilla folded. This should be sufficient to melt the cheese. Remove the cooked quesadillas to a plate and repeat cooking the remaining three quesadillas.
- Serve warm with the avocado salsa.
