Molcajete Soup | Recipeish | Gustus Vitae
Everyone's got their own take on molcajete, and even then, it comes down to whats on hand - too much shrimp? Got a ton of tomatoes you have to deal with? These are good problems to have, and these good problems go into what makes molcajete great. Starting from such a delicious base, and served in such an appealing and communal way, there's no wrong way to do it, just a lot of right ways. This recipe was from what we had on hand the night we made it, but molcajete welcomes innovation and improvisation, so make it your own, each time you make it.
- Yield: Serves 4
- Time: About 4 hours, 3 unattended.
- Storage Notes: Best enjoyed same day.
- Difficulty: Medium.
Ingredients
- 1.5Lbs or so whatever seafood you have on hand. The more of a mix the better. We used some shrimp, squid, and a couple mussels.
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 white onion
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3 Tbs Everything But The Taco Seasoning
- 2 Tbs Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 3 Tbs Everything But The Gourmet Chili Seasoning
- 6 limes
- 3 lemons
- 1/2 stick butter
- 10 Tbs cooking oil
- 1 jalapeno
- 2 guajillo chilis
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 shallot
- 1 small bunch cilantro
- Tortilla strips and a radish for garnish
- Bring a large pot to the boil with 3 cups of water and 2 cups of chicken stock, then reduce to a simmer.
- Finely chop onions, shallots, and garlic, and add to a large saucepan with a couple Tsps of oil on medium high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown - around 8 minutes. Add to pot.
- Return to heat, adding some more oil as you do.
- Rough chop tomatoes, and add to saucepan. Cook for around 10 minutes until they are somewhere between mushy and roasted, then add to pot.
- Add paste to pot.
- Finely mince guajillos, and add to pot.
- Return saucepan to heat, adding the last of your oil as you do.
- Empty the entirety of your seafood (or work in batches if need be), and cook until everything is cooked as if ready to serve, and add to pot.
- Juice lemons and limes over the pot, being careful not to drop any seeds.
- Add Everything But The Taco Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, and Everything But The Gourmet Chili Seasoning.
- Drop in butter, over pot, reduce to a low simmer, and let it do it's thing for 3 hours.
- When you're ready to serve, prep whatever else you plan on enjoying: we're partial to refried beans and Spanish rice.
- Preheat oven to 200, and pop the molcajete in there for at least 20 minutes to get nice and toasty.
- Rough chop cilantro, cube avocado, and dice radish and jalapeno.
- Remove molcajete from oven, and begin ladling in soup, starting from the bottom to scoop up all the best bits.
- Garnish with avocado, cilantro, radish, jalapeno and tortilla strips. Serve and devour.