TUCSON-TOSTADA(A)        USENET Cookbook        TUCSON-TOSTADA(A)
TUCSON TOSTADAS
     TUCSON-TOSTADA - A toasted cheese tortilla snack 
popular in
     southern Arizona
     I first discovered this recipe in 1978 when I went 
to Tucson
     to visit my prospective in-laws. Such visits are 
often
     tense; Loretta's parents knew that I liked Mexican 
food, so
     they took me to their favorite restaurant, Casa 
Molina. The
     appetizer, a toasted cheese tostada, was so good 
that I for-
     got my nervousness and just chowed down on serving 
after
     serving. I think that her parents remembered from 
that visit
     more about my appetite than my personality.
     I tried several times to make Tucson tostadas, 
but they
     always ended up tasting like pizza. Then a recipe 
appeared
     in the April 1986 issue of Sunset magazine, and 
after read-
     ing it, I was able to reconstruct this replica 
of the Tos-
     tada Casa Molina. The secret is to use Mexican 
cheeses.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)
     3         medium flour tortillas (buy the largest 
flour tor-
               tillas that will fit in your biggest 
frypan)
     1/2 lb    Oaxaca cheese, shredded
     1/2 lb    Monterey jack cheese, shredded
     1/3 lb    anejo cheese, grated
     1/2 lb    poblano peppers, sliced (or any other 
mild chili
               pepper)
     1/4 cup   fresh coriander, chopped fine
               lard or oil for frying
PROCEDURE
          (1)  Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
          (2)  If you are using fresh poblanos, roast 
them and
               remove their skins and seeds, If you 
are using
               canned poblanos, wash and drain them. 
Slice the
               peppers into thin decorative slices.
          (3)  In a big frypan, fry a tortilla in lard 
or oil
               until it is golden brown. Remove to paper 
towels,
               drain well, then place on a baking sheet 
or pizza
               pan. Although lard is bad for you, the 
grim truth
               is that tortillas taste very much better 
when they
               have been fried in lard. Live dangerously.
          (4)  When the tortilla has cooled and hardened, 
cover
               it with a thin layer of Oaxaca cheese, 
then with
               the jack cheese. Crumble anejo on top 
of those
               layers, then sprinkle finely-chopped 
coriander on
               top of that.
          (5)  Arrange the pepper slices in a geometric 
pattern
               on top of the cheeses. Bake for 5 minutes, 
or
               until the cheese has melted but not browned.
               Remove from the oven, and use a pizza 
cutter to
               slice into individual portions. Serve 
immediately.
NOTES
     Oaxaca (pronounced "oh-HOCK-a") cheese 
is a Mexican string
     cheese. You can substitute any Mexican cheese marked
     "asadero" (melting cheese). If you're 
desperate, you can use
     Armenian mozzarella, which has the right texture 
but the
     wrong flavor.
     Monterey jack is a bland American cheddar; you 
can substi-
     tute good-quality Muenster.
     Anejo cheese is somewhat like Parmesan, dry and 
crumbly. You
     can substitute Mexican cotija cheese, but that 
is probably
     pointless, because a store that carries cotija 
will probably
     also carry anejo. Fresh-ground parmesan will do 
in a pinch,
     though it is not the right flavor. In one of my 
many
     attempts to get this recipe right, I tried a mixture 
of
     Greek feta and cow's-milk romano cheese. It tasted 
very
     interesting, though not at all authentic.
RATING
     Difficulty: easy once you have found the ingredients. 
 Time:
     10 minutes each.  Precision: no need to measure.
CONTRIBUTOR
     Brian Reid
     DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto, Calif., 
USA
     reid@decwrl.DEC.COM {ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax,sun,pyramid}!decwrl!reid
     Path: decwrl!recipes
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     Newsgroups: alt.gourmand
     Subject: RECIPE: Thanksgiving leftover turkey soup
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     Date: 15 Nov 87 05:55:48 GMT
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