Cinco de Mayo With the Family

“I get into the spirit of things,� says Sandra Sanchez as she takes out red, white and green plates and unwraps a bundle of red, white and green napkins.

In the family room, the table that she will fill with Mexican dishes is trimmed with panels of red, white and green papel picado, the intricately cut paper banners that are strung up for parties in Mexico.

Sanchez is getting ready to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Husband Luis is playing traditional Mexican music on the sound system. Daughters Tiffany, 4, and Cynthia, 2, are hopping about in mariachi outfits that Luis bought for them during a trip to Zacatecas, his family’s place of origin. In the kitchen, Luis’ mother, Teresa Sanchez, and Sandra’s mother, Ana Herrera, are working on enchiladas, gorditas and chiles rellenos. Teresa Sanchez has also produced a fiery salsa to go with chips. Helping them is Sandra’s sister, Elizabeth Herrera.

Sandra Sanchez has made nopales salad, rice and beans. For dessert she has decided on a carved watermelon holding a bright assortment of fruit, as well as traditional candies such as jamoncillo (milk fudge), alfajor de coco, which is a white square of coconut paste, and dulce de calabaza (candied squash). Afterward, she will serve cinnamon-flavored cafe de olla.

“I was trying to come up with something that people would like,� says Sanchez as she runs through the menu. Although the dishes sound familiar, they are nothing like what you might find in Mexican restaurants in Southern California, except for the chiles rellenos, which are the same kind Ana Herrera serves at her East Los Angeles restaurant, Tila’s Kitchen.

The large family room in the Sanchez home in Lakewood looks out on a garden that could have been plucked from a resort in Mexico, adding to the illusion that all this is happening far south of the border. Fountains splash into the brilliant turquoise pool, surrounded by warm brick paving and terra-cotta figures.

The buffet table, which faces this view, is set with cazuelas and dinner plates of Mexican pottery. A sauceboat shaped like an avocado holds guacamole. Teresa Sanchez brought it from Zacatecas, along with avocado-shaped salt and pepper shakers.

In the adjacent dining room, where the family takes a break from preparations for lunch, the table is covered with a cloth from Guadalajara, where Ana Herrera’s husband, Serafin, was born. It is as traditional as the food, a collection of squares printed with brilliant flowers, held together by lacy crochet-work.

They sample the enchiladas, tortillas dipped in red sauce and rolled around tiny portions of cheese and onion. These are served as soon as they are rolled rather than baked and then smothered with sauce. The effect is light, and you want to eat a lot of them. Teresa Sanchez puts an astonishing number of chiles de arbol into the sauce, so the taste is hot, though not overpowering.

To make gorditas, she pats masa by hand into thick circles, which she cooks in a skillet until they puff, then slits the puffy part to add the fillings. “You build them like a taco,� says Sandra Sanchez. The fillings are shredded meat, beans, cheese and tomatoes. “They are super-good, those little gorditas,� adds her husband, recalling that his mother often made them for breakfast when he was growing up.

Ana Herrera makes her rellenos with fresh chiles, inserting the cheese through tiny slits at the top. She coats them with flour and an egg batter, then fries them until they are golden brown. The rellenos can be eaten plain or with any sauce. This day, Herrera has brought salsa ranchera from her restaurant, a mild-tasting combination of tomatoes, onion and strips of fresh chile.

Sandra Sanchez is a skilled cook because she worked in the restaurant for many years. Her rice is perfectly cooked and richly flavored, each grain separate. When making refried beans, she fries onion in oil until charred, then removes it, adds cooked beans and simmers them until they absorb the flavor. She makes her nopales salad with fresh cactus because, she says, the canned variety tends to be very salty. Her own touch is to add a liberal jamount olt oof lemon juice.

After sampling and approving their work, the group ends with fruits like those in the watermelon--blackberries, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi and grapes. Teresa Sanchez brings out a plate of cookies. These are an experiment. She is trying to copy a cookie made with masa that she has tasted in Zacatecas. This, her third attempt, is successful. The texture is smooth and light, rather than heavy with masa flour.

Sandra Sanchez says that younger generations of Mexican Americans are losing touch with traditional Mexican cooking. This is not happening in her large family, thanks to women like Teresa Sanchez and Ana Herrera. Herrera was born in San Salvador but cooks Mexican food as if she were born to it. “With everything, I put in more flavor,� she says.

Not only do these women and their daughters cook well, they also scout out the best places to buy ingredients, the freshest chiles, the finest masa, the best pan dulce, the best bolillos, so that when they organize a dinner, the food is always spectacular.

Teresa Sanchez’s Gorditas

Active Work Time: 1 hour * Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours

JALAPENO SALSA

5 jalapenos

2 plum tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Combine the jalapenos, tomatoes, garlic and water in a saucepan. Boil 10 minutes.

Remove the stems from the jalapenos, and place the jalapenos, tomatoes, garlic and water in a blender. Blend at medium speed until pureed. Add salt to taste.

GORDITAS

3 cups instant masa flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup shortening

3 cups water, at room temperature

Salt

2 cups shredded cooked beef, chicken, carnitas or any meat

2 cups refried beans

2 cups shredded cheese, such as Jack, anejo, cotija or ranchero

2 tomatoes, sliced

Combine the masa and all-purpose flours, shortening, water and salt to taste in a mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until the dough can be formed into a ball. The dough will be slightly sticky.

Heat a skillet until very hot, then reduce the heat when ready to cook the gorditas. Take 1/4 cup of masa and pat it between your hands until it resembles a thick tortilla, about the size of a large cookie. Place the gordita in the skillet and cook it until the dough puffs slightly, 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Open the gordita as if you were making a pocket to fill. Add a small amount of meat, beans, cheese and a tomato slice, as if building a taco. Repeat the steps until all the dough has been used. Serve the gorditas with Jalapeno Salsa.

18 gorditas. Each gordita: 290 calories; 446 mg sodium; 24 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 3.71 grams fiber.

Teresa Sanchez’s Enchiladas

Active Work Time: 45 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour * Vegetarian

For a hotter sauce, use more chiles.

SAUCE

4 dried California chiles

2 dried ancho chiles

20 to 45 chiles de arbol

3 cups water

1 clove garlic

Salt

1 tablespoon corn oil

Wash the California, ancho and chiles de arbol in a saucepan and add the water. Partially cover the pan and boil the chiles about 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the chiles stand 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove as many chile stems as possible. Place the chiles and liquid in a blender, add the garlic and blend at medium speed 2 to 3 minutes. The sauce should be very smooth and have an almost watery texture. Add salt to taste.

Heat the oil in a clean saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sauce and boil about 10 minutes. Keep the sauce warm.

ASSEMBLY

2 cups shredded anejo or cotija cheese

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup corn oil

12 corn tortillas

Sauce

Combine the cheese and onion and set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet. When the oil is very hot, lift a tortilla with tongs and place it in the oil for 4 seconds a side. Submerge each tortilla in the warm sauce briefly, working with your hands or tongs. Place a tortilla on a plate, spread about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture on top and roll. Place on a serving platter. Repeat with the tortillas until all the enchiladas are completed, then sprinkle them with the remaining cheese, about 1/2 cup.

Makes 12 enchiladas. Each enchilada: 267 calories; 258 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 7.02 grams fiber.

Salsa Ranchera

Active Work Time: 40 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 11/2 hours

Ana Herrera uses this sauce with chiles rellenos, huevos rancheros, chilaquiles and other dishes.

2 to 3 fresh California chiles

7 cloves garlic

4 1/2 cups water, divided

1 large or 2 medium onions, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes

8 jalapenos, stems removed

1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder

Salt

Roast the chiles over a stove-top flame or a few inches beneath a broiler until charred, 4 to 5 minutes. When the chiles have cooled, peel off the skins and remove the seeds. Shred the chiles and set aside.

Blend the garlic and 1/2 cup water until smooth. Set aside.

In a large pot, cook the onion in oil over medium heat until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. The mixture will be thick.

In a blender, combine the tomatoes with their juice, the jalapenos and bouillon powder and blend until pureed. Add to the onion mixture. Add the garlic mixture, the remaining 4 cups water and salt to taste. Boil about 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes, add the shredded chiles.

8 1/2 cups. Each 1/2 cup: 57 calories; 208 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 0 saturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 1.80 grams fiber.

Sandra’s Mexican Rice

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 40 minutes

2 tablespoons corn oil

1 cup rice

2 cloves garlic, 1 clove finely minced

1 tomato

1/2 small to medium onion

2 cups water

1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder

1 teaspoon tomato paste

Salt

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the rice and stir until it’s dark golden in color, 8 to 10 minutes, adding the minced garlic while browning.

In a blender, combine the remaining clove of garlic, the tomato, onion, water, bouillon powder and tomato paste. Blend until smooth. Add to the rice along with salt to taste. Cover and cook at very low heat until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.

4 to 5 servings. Each of 5 servings: 142 calories; 90 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.88 gram fiber.

Ana Hererra’s Chiles Rellenos

Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour * Vegetarian

8 fresh California or poblano chiles

Oil

1 pound Jack cheese, cut into 8 pieces the size of the chile cavities

Flour

4 eggs, separated

2 cups corn oil

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Wash and dry the chiles. Place them in a baking pan and drizzle them with a little oil. Roast them 20 minutes, turning them over after 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely. Carefully remove the peel from each chile, leaving the stem ends intact. Gently cut a small slit at the top of each chile and carefully cut off the seed cluster. Place a piece of cheese inside each. Place 1/4 cup of flour on a dinner plate. Dredge each side of each chile until completely covered, adding more flour to the plate as needed.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour to the whites and beat. Add the yolks all at once and blend until well mixed.

Heat 2 cups of oil in a heavy skillet until very hot. Submerge the chiles in the egg batter, holding them by the stems, 1 at a time. When they’re completely coated, place 2 to 3 chiles at a time into the hot oil; do not crowd them. When golden brown on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes, turn the chiles over and cook the other side until golden brown. Drain them on paper towels. Serve the rellenos plain or with a sauce.

8 servings. Each serving: 793 calories; 348 mg sodium; 154 mg cholesterol; 76 grams fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 19 grams protein; 4.12 grams fiber.

Sandra’s Ensalada de Nopales

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 40 minutes

You can buy nopales already peeled and cut at Latino markets.

2 pounds peeled, diced nopales

Salt

2 tomatoes, diced

1 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Juice of 1 lemon or large lime

Place the cactus in a saucepan and cover it with water. Add salt to taste. Boil 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and cool the cactus completely. Drain the cactus and place it in a salad bowl. Add the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, oregano, lemon juice and salt to taste. Mix the salad until it’s well combined.

12 servings. Each serving: 19 calories; 40 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 0 saturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 1.82 grams fiber.

Teresa’s Salsa Verde

Active Work Time: 10 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 35 minutes

As a variation, add chopped onion and cilantro after the salsa is blended.

10 jalapenos

4 tomatillos, husks removed

1 1/2 cups water

1 clove garlic

Salt

Place the jalapenos and tomatillos in a saucepan. Add the water, bring to a boil and boil about 10 minutes over medium heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the ingredients cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the stems from the jalapenos and place the jalapenos, tomatillos and garlic in a blender. Blend on high 3 to 4 seconds. If the salsa seems too thick, add a little of the cooking water. Add salt to taste.

2 cups. Each 1/4 cup: 8 calories; 203 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 0 saturated fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.46 gram fiber.