Tostadas Compuestas

Here is another dish from the Griggs Family.  The recipe I'm using is from the La Posta Cook Book, as prepared by the late Katy Camuñez Meek, the original owner of the famous La Posta Restaurant in Old Mesilla, New Mexico.

This was the dish that everyone ordered at Griggs when they were trying to have a "light" meal.  It was the menu item that my mother always ordered.  This book says that the recipe originated at La Posta in 1939, and I suppose you could say that it might be the original "Taco Salad." It consists of a cup made from a corn tortilla, filled with Chile Colorado con Carne and beans and topped with iceberg lettuce, tomato and cheese.
 This is the first time I have prepared Tostadas Compuestas.  And to be honest,  I probably won't be making them again, (following the recipe) but I'm glad I went through this exercise, if only to make the Chile con Carne.  The next time I do this I will spray the tortillas with oil and lay them over an inverted cupcake pan and put them in the oven.
Here is what you will need:
Red Chile Sauce (see previous post about Red Enchiladas, or get a can or container of frozen)
Lean Pork cut in 1/2 inch dice.
Cumin

Oregano
Beans (see previous post)

Tortillas
Cooking oil (I used peanut)
A "wooden roller having a flat end" as says the book. ( I used a wooden muddler.)
Corn tortillas
Tomatoes
Iceberg lettuce
Grated Longhorn or Cheddar Cheese

Making the "compuestas" is one of those things that practice and experience really helps.  That, and cussing. 

First, cut four slits (the book says one inch long, I say 1 and a half) on the edge the tortillas, at 12, 3, 6 and 9.   These will help the tortilla to form the cup when frying.

Heat up some oil hot enough to fry tortillas crisp, that is HOT.  DONT USE MORE than a couple of inches of oil, it will rise up in the pot when you submerge the tortillas.  Yes, I learned that the hard way.

PUT A HEAVY OVEN GLOVE ON THE HAND THAT HOLDS THE ROLLER.  It gets hot down there.    

Pushing the wooden "roller" into the corner of the pot helped me to shape the tortillas properly.  I had to move it around some.

Compuestas finally done, fire put out, stovetop cleaned and 45 mins. later, I begin the Chile con Carne.

Katy says fry the pork "until brown" but apparently not completely cooked.  She says it continues to cook in the sauce, but we're only working with half inch pieces here.  Hmmm.

I used bacon fat and peanut oil to fry it with.  Every cook should have a canister of bacon fat, to be used sparingly.  Said my Nana, not Katy.

So then you add flour and make a roux, and then add water (or tomato juice?) and the red chile sauce.   I had some in the freezer, thank goodness!   Add Cumin and Oregano.

 Let this cook 10 MINUTES! says the book,  and you are finished.
Personally,  I think I'm going to let it simmer a while longer and try to soften up that pork a little. Also let that big blob of frozen sauce unfreeze.


The rest of the instructions say to put "two heaping tablespoons of heated chile con carne and beans*in each cupped tortilla (is that two of each? or two of the both combined?) and garnish with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and grated cheese."  She doesn't say what kind of cheese, but I remember it being cheddar.

*Here's an interesting thing from the book about beans.  La Posta Cook Book says "When beans have cooked tender, heat lard very hot and pour into bubbling beans." Wow!  Talk about the secret ingredient! Bet you didn't know that the pot beans you were eating at La Posta had lard in them (2T per cup of uncooked beans), and if they were refried, 1 T per cup more than that.   No wonder they tasted so good.

And as the book says, "A very colorful dish for a festive occasion."

Griggs Ensalada de Col, or Cole Slaw

This Post is being done as a Public Service.


One of the main things people seem to remember from Griggs Family Restaurant is the Cole Slaw.  None of that sickly sweet, mayonaisey stuff, no pickle juice, no pineapple, not for Josephine, no siree.  This was a slaw that made your taste buds stand up and salute!  Vinegar and Pepper!  Yeee-haw!

Did you know that cabbage in Spanish is col, as well as repolllo?  I didn't, until I read Mrs. Grigg's Cookbook.

So, if you've ever wondered where "Cole Slaw" came from, there's your answer.  Now, as for the word "Slaw"... ¿quíen sabe?

I also happen to think that the oil and vinegar in this recipe made for a slaw that would "hold up" as they say in restaurants.  No fears about bad mayonaise here, you could probably just jar this up and keep it on the shelf.  Just kidding...  (A little...)

So here it is:

Take a small head of green cabbage and shred it finely.  (Or you could buy the pre-shredded stuff and take your chances on "fresh").

A side note:  Am I the only person in the world whose mother had her convinced that this was just as good as candy?  And I never could convince my kids.  Oh, well...

Mix:

1/4 c. olive oil or Wesson oil (from the book)

*2 T. vinegar (white, as I remember, but apple cider vinegar would be nice.)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. coarse grind black pepper (that's not how I remember it in the restaurant, I remember fine ground pepper straight from the can)

*I have to note that I ended up adding 2T. more of vinegar.  You might want to add more, somehow I think that Mrs. Griggs didn't share everything with us on this one.  Please tell me what you think.

"After cabbage is shredded, mix remaining ingredients together.  Add to slaw, mix well and chill before serving." I used latex gloves and my hands.  This takes a lot of tossin'.

This is a fresh, healthy and zing-y accompaniment to any Mexican dish, and a great alternative to plain old shredded iceberg.  
You're welcome!

Griggs Empanadas

One of the recipes in Mrs. Griggs cookbook that I've been wanting to try is the empanadas; it's one of the many dishes from Griggs Family Restaurant that I miss on a regular basis.  Mincemeat empanadas were the perfect dessert after a plate of red enchiladas. Today seemed like a good day to try my hand at it.

You can see from the recipe that it's simple enough, in fact, sparse in the instructions, but I like the economy.  If you don't have a jar of mincemeat and have instead, as I did, a box of the kind that needs to be reconstituted, you ought to do that first.  Then:

Mix 2 cups of flour,  1 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. baking powder by sifting it together.   Cut in 2 tablespoons of "shortening" which I took to mean Crisco into the flour.   Then the recipe says, "Add only enough milk to make a medium dough."

Well.  Hmmm.  I thought about that, and decided 1/2 cup of milk would probably work,  and luckily I was right.  I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and went out for a while to play with the pup.

About 30 minutes later I rolled it out, as instructed, very thin.  This is important!  I found out why when I fried them.



She said to cut them in circles 3-4 inches in diameter.  I found a saucer that seemed about right, and cut 5 out of the first rolling.  Then I took the scraps and rolled it out again for 2 more, so I had seven in all.  I think if I had rolled it just a little bit thinner I could have done 8.

 When you fill them, paint some water on half of the inside edge and put a tablespoonful of filling in it.  Close it up by pressing the edges together and then crimp the edge with a fork.
Do not poke any vent holes in the crust, you don't want the filling leaking out into the hot fat.

Yes,  I said fat!  Mrs. Griggs says fat, which I take to mean lard, and that's what I used.  And I learned something about frying in lard.  First of all, it makes a beautiful brown crust, and two, it cooks really, really fast.  This isn't like frying chicken, where you can toss in the chicken and turn away for a couple of minutes.  This will burn very fast if you let it!
Empanadas cooked perfectly brown in a minute or so on one side, then the other.  If your dough was too thick it would be raw on the inside.
A shake of powdered sugar on top, and they are ready to try.

Yep.  Just like I remembered.  Mrs. Griggs surely has a winner there.

 

Griggs Empanadas

Sift the following:
2 C. AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1tsp. salt

Cut in
2 T. Crisco

Mix with 1/2 C. Milk until it forms a ball
Rest the dough 30 mins.
Roll out very thin.
Cut into circles 3 to 4 inches diameter.
Brush water on half of the edge of the circle.
Place a heaping Tablespoon of filling slightly off center.
Fold long side over and press closed, then crimp with fork tines.
Fry in hot lard until golden brown.
Dust with powdered sugar.
Serve warm.

Griggs Table Salsa

Okay, so if you look at this recipe, you will realize that it is NOT Griggs Table Salsa, the one we all could not wait to start shoveling into our mouth on freshly fried tostadas with butter the minute we sat down in the restaurant.  That recipe is not in this book! And when I realized that, I grabbed the book and tried to chew it to smithereens.  Okay, so that was Josephine when she was a puppy.  But wait...

Bridget Griggs was kind enough to share their recipe for Salsa with me one day as we were leaving church.  And she just told me, she didn't write it down, but it's so surprisingly easy, I've always remembered. 

 

First, you are going to need San Benito Whole Peeled Tomatoes.  I made a batch with a can of different tomatoes and it was just not the same.  These are the the specific ones that Bridget told me to get, and I see why.  Yes, it's a pain to get this huge can, and I wish someone would let me know where I could get smaller cans, but you can get these at Sams. (edit 5/18-- no longer available at Sams.)

Then you need some Jalapenos.  I use two smaller ones per batch and here's the key: Boil the jalapenos.  Boil them for about 5 minutes,  then slice off the stems.  You don't need to remove the seeds, just put them in the blender with the whole tomatoes...

and add the juice of 1/2 a large lime or one whole key lime, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp. of salt and a pinch of sugar.  The pinch of sugar is not what Bridget told me but what I was told years ago about canned tomatoes, which was to always add a pinch of sugar to "get rid of the can."  Then blend it up.  I think it's better after it's been refrigerated overnight.

Of course, to serve this properly, you need freshly cooked tostadas, and butter, preferably restaurant pats with paper on top (just for old times' sake) but if not, a stick of salted butter will do.  Some childhood habits are just too good to give up.

Mrs. Griggs' Cookbook

I have culled my cookbooks down quite a bit lately.  One that I do treasure is "A Family Affair", subtitled,  "A Few Favorite Recipes of Mrs. Griggs" by Josephine C. Griggs and Elaine N. Smith.
Going to Griggs' Restaurant after church Sunday was a tradition my family enjoyed, as did many others in our part of the world.
Edgar and Rita Griggs were such gracious hosts to everyone who walked in the door.  All the kids were sent out the door with a Tootsie Roll.  And what great food!  It was consistant and delicious every time.  Antiques, works of art, and the Billy the Kid Museum to see.  And of course, La Posta in Old Mesilla, which was also a Griggs Family restaurant was equally delightful and had such charm.  The birds!  The piranha swimming around in the huge aquarium!  The warren of little rooms, connected with thick plastered arches. The Garden Room! 
So, the matriarch of all the wonderful Griggs family restaurants published a few favorite recipes.  One of the things that I love about these recipes is their economy.   Short and sweet and to the point with no foolishness.  Empanadas, for example, has 5 ingredients and two short paragraphs of instructions.  Refried Beans has 2 ingredients, beans and lard.  She also is crystal clear about what's good.  "The taste of reheated beans is enhanced by adding lard." And that's that.  (It does crack me up that Mrs. Griggs used "Velvetta" (sic) and "Fritos".)
So I'm going to cook up a few of my favorite recipes from this treasure and see how they stand up to my memory and aging taste buds.  Starting with...(drum roll)...The Salsa.