Cooking Class: A Recipe You Can Make at Home
What began a few years ago as a friendly get-together for foodies who care about well-sourced ingredients and proper meal preparation has blossomed into the Cooking Class, one of the most popular facets of Q Life’s Flavors pillar enjoyed by Quivira’s residential owners. (Resort guests are also welcome to join the class). These interactive culinary demonstrations are scheduled every Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Organic Orchard at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort.
The Cooking Class invites participants to an open-air kitchen in the resort’s delightful Organic Orchard. Together with the executive chef, guests are encouraged to select and prepare vegetables and herbs for each selected dish. The chef then teaches guests how to prepare regional Baja cuisine.
Once completed, a gourmet lunch prepared by the class is paired with Mexican wines and served at a communal table set beneath market umbrellas. Oftentimes the executive chef will give students a historical background in Mexico’s ancestral foodstuffs, such as corn, maguey, cocoa, chilies and avocado. Due to its presence at all levels of existence and society, food is one of the most deeply rooted cultural manifestations. The veneration and cultivation of essential foods played a role in the development of the Mesoamerican culture. The Cooking Class gives participants the opportunity to perpetuate this great tradition.
Among the authentic dishes created during the Cooking Class is one that is easily reproduced in a home kitchen:
Mexican Sopas
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups corn flour (white or blue corn)
- Lard or vegetable oil
- Water
- Salt
- 1 Bay leaf
- 200 gr. (7 oz.) refried beans
- 1/2 white onion
- Garlic clove (peeled)
- 6 T sour cream
- 100 gr. (3.5 oz) Mexican soft cheese
- 1 Chicken breast
- 4 Lettuce leaves for garnish (optional)
PREPARATION
1. Cook the chicken breasts in a saucepan with hot water, salt, bay leaf and the clove of garlic (peeled) until no longer pink.
2. Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the onion.
3. Crumble the cheese.
4. Wash, drain and shred the lettuce leaves for garnish. Set aside.
5. Drain the chicken breast. Shred with two forks or dice it.
6. Prepare the dough. Mix two cups of corn flour with one and a half cups of warm water.
7. Knead the dough until well combined and smooth.
8. Form little balls. Place one at a time in a plastic bag and flatten with a tortilla press or rolling pin. (Sopes are thicker than tortillas).
9. Heat a griddle or skillet on medium high, add a little lard or oil. Cook each sope for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. On the side you cooked first, pinch from the inside of the sope to the edge to form a rim all around the sope, shaping it like a little pot or "ollita" typical of these Mexican snacks.
10. To assemble, fill the sopes with refried beans; add diced onion and shredded chicken.
11. Garnish with shredded lettuce, if desired.
12. Finally, sprinkle the sopes with crumbled cheese and top with sour cream.
Now for Mexico’s pre-meal salutation: ¡Buen Provecho!