2023 Vuelta España - Champion’s Meal.
Well, that’s a wrap…and not just in an ordinary, end-of-the-race, or typical end-of-the-culinary-ridealong season. This is a wrap on the blog as we’ve grown accustomed to over the past three years. It all started out of sheer boredom and the ensuing joy that sports had returned to a pandemic-tainted world. The world has changed, life has changed, my job has changed. I am now involved in my children’s sports activities roughly 5 days a week. My “new position” that I’ve been in the past year takes up more of my day. I play hockey, have hobbies, and there is a life to live outside of my kitchen and in front of my computer! I look forward to teaching my girls how to cook and just being more available to do random things now that this blog is going to take a back seat.
Of course, I will still cook and blog, but it won’t be averaging a post every couple of days. I will continue the “Christmas in…” tradition as the girls love that. While I may make a stage specific meal here-or-there for one of the grand tours, it won’t be a daily dish. I can’t believe I kept up this pace actually. I started the blog 1,118 days ago and have posted roughly 600 recipes and provided all of them to you for free with no sponsorship, nor annoying ads on my blog, nor lengthy posts (aside from this one!) to scroll through to get to the damn recipe. It was fun, and challenging, and rewarding, but also difficult, and grueling, and sometimes a burden. When I photographed the last dish for this year’s Vuelta, there was a great sense of relief to finally be done. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
Speaking of “the ride”: congrats to the winner of the 2023 Vuelta España, Sepp Kuss. Sepp is the first American to win one of the grand tours since 2013, when Chris Horner won that year’s Vuelta. More importantly, this is the first time I have actually been able to find out one of the winner’s favorite meals/cuisine. I have always searched for articles on the winners, but can never seem to find one that listed their favorite food, so I would make something regionally specific to where they lived or were born. Sepp hails from Durango, CO and while he primarily lives in Spain and loves a stew of chickpeas and tripe, he also loves Mexican food. So, I found this recipe from Rick Bayless and it is a home run. Fire-roasted poblanos filled with chicken, mushrooms, and corn, smothered in a homemade tomato sauce covered in crema. Enjoy!
Chiles Rellenos from Mexico, One Plate at a Time, Rick Bayless
Sauce
2 white onions, diced fine
Two 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup beef broth
Filling
4 oz mushrooms, stemmed & sliced
Kernels from two ears of corn
2 tsp cider vinegar
3 cups of shredded smoked chicken (or from a rotisserie)
⅓ cup of chopped fresh cilantro
Peppers
8 medium poblano chilis (flat and long as possible, non-twisted)
Crema
Prepare the sauce. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large pot. Sauté the onions with some salt, over medium heat, until softened. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until browned.
Meanwhile, puree the cans of tomatoes in a blender. Once the onions are browned, pour in the pureed tomatoes, along with the cinnamon, black pepper, and season with salt.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium and cook uncovered until thickened, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes.
While the sauce reduces, char your poblanos over an open flame (if you have a gas stove or grill) or under a broiler. You want to cook until the skin boils and blackens; just the surface, not burn the entire pepper through. Place on a tray and cover with a towel and let sit.
Once the sauce has cooked for about 20 minutes, sauté the mushrooms in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large non-stick skillet. Once they have browned, about 5 minutes or so, add in the corn, vinegar, and half of the prepared tomato sauce and continue to cook, stirring frequently until the sauce has thickened up so much that the filling holds the form of a spoon (about 15 minutes).
While the skillet ingredients cook, add the broth to the remaining sauce in the pot and continue to simmer, partially covered, over low heat for about 45 minutes, and stir occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Once the skillet mixture has reduced, stir in the chicken and cilantro and set aside until the sauce is ready. Taste for any final seasoning needs.
Return to the charred poblanos and rub away the blackened skin. Then, using a sharp knife slice them open, leaving a ½ inch gap at the top and bottom. Once all have been skinned and sliced, use your index finger to rub the seeds loose from the top of the inside of the pepper. Then rinse out the seeds using gently flowing water. You can rub off any additional charred skin at this time as well.
Place the poblanos on a work surface and stuff with the chicken and corn filling. Place them into a 13x9 pan and cover with the sauce, followed by some crema.
Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the crema is beginning to brown. Serve right away.
______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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