What is this about?
Tomorrow, I will be making croquettes de huauzontle.
What the heck is huauzontle you ask? (Pronounced u-a-u-zont-lay, but quickly. More like wow-u-zont-lay).
Huauzontle is a green vegetable that grows here, in Mexico, and is considered a weed in the US. Not so chicos.
Like the “weed” called purslane, or verdolagas, here, verdolagas, as well as huauzontle are much a part of the indigenous cuisine of Mexico.
I am determined to learn how to make a decent meal of the huauzontle plant. This is what it looked like before I removed the thick stem, and brought it down to just the “florets”, if you will.
When I finished removing the stems, and was left with the florets, this is what I will use to make the croquettes.
I must tell you that it smells very ”green”, meaning that it smells very
green.
I will be mixing it with crumbled cheese, onion, and garlic powders, a bit of AP flour, S&P, and a couple of eggs. I will form small handsful of said greens into small rounds, and fry them in about a teaspoon of a neutral oil.
Before all of the above, I will be making a salsa de pasilla chiles, using tomatoes, onion, and garlic, all toasted on a very hot comal, (coe mal), or griddle, and dried pasilla chiles, rehydrated in boiling water. When everything is toasted, and/or rehydrated to my liking, I will put everything in the blender, blend it up, and then fry it in a teaspoon of oil for a few minutes. This will be the platform on which the croquettes will sit. I am hoping for the best outcome.
Neither of us has ever tasted huauzontles, and have no idea what it will taste like, but, according to the “likes” associated with the recipe, it should be good.
By the time you read this, we will already have made, and eaten the above. I will definitely let you know how it tasted. Looking forward to the challenge.
Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.