Mushroom Sopes Recipes

SOPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• Put the masa harina in a large bowl, pour in the water and get in there with your hands, kneading until you have a uniform dough. It should take only a minute or two. You want a nice, moist dough, so work in a little more warm water if it's dry. If it's sticky, work in a little more masa harina.
• Break the dough into four equal pieces and roll each one into a ball. Put the balls on a plate or cutting board and cover them with plastic wrap to keep the dough from drying out. One at a time, roll them out with a rolling pin or clean wine bottle until they're a thin circle about 1/4-inch thick. Brush a little of the vegetable oil on a skillet or comal and heat it over medium-high heat until it's good and hot. Carefully add the first sope and cook it until little brown blisters appear on the bottom, about 45 seconds. Flip it over with a spatula and cook for another 30 to 45 seconds. Flip it over again, count to 10 and transfer to the towel-lined baking sheet. Keep it warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining 3 sopes (adding a little more oil if you need to), and keep them in the oven until you're ready to serve them.
• Pour a couple of tablespoons of the oil into a skillet and add the chile, garlic and onions. Set the skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the huitlacoche (or mushrooms) along with a good pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the huitlacoche is heated through, about 5 minutes (or until the mushrooms are a little browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes). Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the cilantro.
• Arrange your sopes on a platter. Cover with a thin layer of Roasted Tomato-Chile de Arbol Salsa, the huitlacoche or mushrooms, a drizzle of the crema fresca and a sprinkle of queso fresco. Serve the remaining salsa on the side.
• Preheat the boiler.
• Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet and broil until the tomatoes are nice and charred, 10 to 12 minutes. Take the tomatoes out, let them cool just until you can handle them, slip off the skins and cut out the tough cores. Transfer the tomatoes to a big bowl (don't you dare forget the tomato juice that has leaked out and reduced to awesomeness on the baking sheet), and then roughly chop them.
• While the tomatoes are broiling, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and toast the chiles (in batches, if necessary), flipping them over occasionally, until they just begin to smoke, about 5 minutes. Set them aside in a bowl.
• Put the olive oil, garlic and onions in a saucepan, set it over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Add the toasted chiles, tomatoes and 2 cups water, bring to a simmer and cook for another 12 minutes, so the flavors come together. Let it cool a bit.
• Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender. Add the cilantro, salt and pepper and puree until the mixture is very smooth. Pour the mixture through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Store the salsa in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to a week, or in the freezer for a month.

BEST EVER MUSHROOM SOUP

Steps:

• dice onion small.
• clean and halve mushrooms.
• fry onion in the butter and oil for 2 minutes.
• add mushrooms for a further 4 minutes.
• sprinkle flour into pan and stir well to remove lumps.
• add half of the stock.
• stir and scrape cooked flour off bottom until thickening.
• add half the milk stirring all the time.
• continue to add stock and milk in turn until all added.
• adjust seasoning and add plenty of pepper.
• simmer very gently for 20 minutes.

MUSHROOM SOPES

Steps:

• Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions, chiles and garlic; cook 2 min., stirring frequently. Stir in mushrooms; cook 15 min. or until all liquid is released, stirring occasionally. Stir in ham. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
• Mix masa harina, salt and water until mixture forms soft dough. Divide into 10 pieces; flatten each to 5-inch round. Heat large skillet on medium-high heat; cook dough rounds, in batches, 2 min. or until lightly browned on both sides, turning every 30 sec. Use your thumb and forefinger to make 1/4-inch-high rim around edges of sopes.
• Fill with mushroom mixture; top with cheese.

MUSHROOM SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a large saucepan and cook the onions and garlic until soft but not browned, about 8-10 mins.
• Add the mushrooms and cook over a high heat for another 3 mins until softened. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to combine. Pour in the chicken stock, bring the mixture to the boil, then add the bay leaf and simmer for another 10 mins.
• Remove and discard the bay leaf, then remove the mushroom mixture from the heat and blitz using a hand blender until smooth. Gently reheat the soup and stir through the cream (or, you could freeze the soup at this stage - simply stir through the cream when heating). Scatter over the parsley, if you like, and serve.