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Molcajete Preparado

How to prepare a Mexican restaurant hot molcajete preparado!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 2 Servings

Equipment

  • Large Molcajete should hold at least 2 or more cups of liquid
  • griddle or comal
  • Blender

Ingredients

  • 4 spring onions trimmed, sliced open
  • 2 serrano pepper
  • 2 jalapeño pepper
  • 2 large cactus paddles(whole nopales) or 4 small ones
  • 6 oz Semi soft queso panela or shredded Chihuahua cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • avocado oil

Salsa Verde

  • 1 lb tomatillos
  • 1/4 section white onion
  • 2 serrano peppers stems removed
  • 2 jalapeño peppers stems removed
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • handful of cilantro
  • 3/4 cup cooking water
  • Salt, to taste

Pan Seared Shrimp

  • 1 lb med or large shrimp peeled and cleaned
  • 1 tbsp chile cascabel powder or mix 1/2 chile ancho and 1/2 chipotle powders
  • 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • avocado oil

Instructions

Stove top grilled ingredients

  • First! While your grill pan preheats at medium, prep your ingredients. They should be sliced and diced to desire size. Slicing the bottom of cactus paddle prevents it from curling up while it grills. Also adding a light sprinkle of salt onto cactus(nopales) ahead will pull out some of the baba(sticky liquid) from the cactus before grilling.
  • Lightly coat the vegetables with oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Place on hot grill pan and avoid touching them for 3-4 minutes or until you see some grill marks, Don't overcrowd the pan or the vegetables will just steam. Turn as needed. Place in shallow baking pan or on a plate. Loosely cover with foil. Set aside. if you have a lot of vegetables, you may have to cook them in batches.

Salsa Verde

  • Remember, multi tasking is the key to finish this recipe in a timely manner! Transfer peeled and washed tomatillo to a pot with the onion. Cover with water. Bring to a light boil and cook just until tomatillos turn color 3/4 of the way.
  • Preheat a small skillet to medium for a few minutes. When ready brush lightly with oil. Place the jalapeños and serranos in skillet. Roast for 20 minutes, turning as needed.
  • Drain out 3/4 of the water from the tomatillos and transfer to the blender. Also to the blender add the roasted chile peppers, garlic, cilantro and salt to taste. Blend on high until mostly smooth. Taste for salt. Transfer to medium pot. Set aside.

Shrimp

  • Hold off cooking the shrimp until the molcajete is hot enough. After about 45 minutes or so. Season the cleaned shrimp with seasoning listed. Drizzle with enough oil to coat evenly. Set aside.
  • Preheat skillet to medium/high heat for a few minutes.
  • Add a single layer of shrimp in preheated skillet. Drizzle 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of oil over shrimp. Turn shrimp as needed. This is a quick cook. About two minutes. Very important that you don't overcook the shrimp. Transfer the shrimp to a resin tortilla warmer(if you have one) or covered dish. Set aside.

Assemble the molcajete

  • Take the reserved salsa in a pot and heat on medium/high. After a few minutes, salsa will begin to lightly simmer. Reduce heat to low.
  • Using two thick pot holders, carefully flip the extra hot molcajete over onto a thick sturdy board. If you are adding some ingredients to the bottom(sauteed onion, roasted poblano strips, cheese), add them now.
  • Pour in just enough salsa to go up 1/2 of the way up the molcajete. Add the previously cooked meat or seafood in the center. If adding longanizo or chorizo, add it to one side. Fill spots with semi soft cheese(panela or queso fresco or melting cheese), cebollitas, drape nopales over the side. Top with grilled chile peppers(chiles toreados), fresh avocado or your favorite grilled ingredients. The ingredients in the center will be extremely hot! Serve with warm corn or flour tortillas and extra salsa. Serves 2 as a meal or 4 as an appetizer.

Notes

For roasted poblano strips, place washed poblanos six inches under the preheated broiler set to high. Broil  for 8-10 minutes per side or until skins bubble and blister. Remove from oven and place peppers in plastic bag for a few minutes. After 20 minutes. peel blistered skins. Remove stems and seeds and slice into thin strips. The rajas, strips can be combined with sauteed onions.