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Common Smut, Ustilago maydis


CUITLACOCHE RECIPES


 

TO COOK CUITLACOCHE


Cooked by the following method, cuitlacoche can be used for crepas, quesadillas, budin, or in plain tacos.

3 tablespoons safflower oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
rajas of 4 chiles polbanos
1 ½ pounds (about 6 cups) cuitlacoche
sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons roughly chopped epazote leaves

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until translucent - about 3 minutes. Add the chile strips and fry for 1 minute more. Add the cuitlacoche and salt, cover the pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time for about 15 minutes. The fungus should be tender, retaining some moisture, but not soft and mushy. Stir in the epazote and cook, uncovered, for another 2 minutes.


NOTE: If the cuitlacoche is rather dry, sprinkle on 1/4 cup water before covering; if it is too juicy, remove the lid before the end of the cooking time and reduce over higher heat.



Crepes filled with Cuitlacoche - The Maize Mushroom

1 pound of Maize Mushroom (free of cob)
3-4 tablespoons of peanut oil or a combination of sunflower and olive oil
½ onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic pressed
2 small chile poblanos - roasted and peeled - cut into strips
1 large sprig of epazote - roughly chopped
salt to taste or you may substitute fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Remove the mushrooms from the cob and chop it roughly, set aside. Heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Add the poblano chiles, the Maize Mushroom, epazote, salt or parmesan cheese over medium flame until mixture is soft and the liquid of the mushroom has evaporated. Set aside for one hour so that the flavors develop and correct the seasoning if desired. Prepare French crepes and fill them with Maize Mushroom and arrange in a casserole or individual serving casseroles. Add Creme Fraiche and heat through. NOTE: the Maize Mushroom must be thoroughly cooked - light sauteeing is not adequate. 6 servings (3 crepes per person).


Soufflé of Cuitlacoche - The Maize Mushroom & Pumpkin Blossoms

½ pound of pumpkin or squash blossoms - stems and stringy sepals removed
½ pound of Maize Mushroom
3 tablespoons of safflower oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 small chile poblanos - roasted, peeled and minced
2 sprigs of epazote - stems removed and minced
salt to taste

Remove the mushroom from the cob and chop it roughly and set aside with the pumpkin blossoms. Heat the oil and sautee the onion and garlic until transparent. Add the mushrooms and the blossoms along with the chiles, epazote and salt. Let simmer over a medium flame until the liquid of the muchrooms and the blossoms has evaporated. Cover and store the mixture for one hour in the refrigerator and correct seasoning if necessary.

Soufflé Mixture

Butter and flour a 2 quart baking or soufflé dish.

4 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of milk
½ teaspoon of salt
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of nutmeg
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons of creme fraiche
1/4 pound of Swiss cheese, grated
6 egg whites

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir constantly with a whisk over medium heat for two to three minutes. Add the cold milk. Season with salt, cayenne and nutmeg; stir until mixture is smooth and thick. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Combine egg yolks with the creme fraiche and beat them into the flour and milk mixture. Stir in the Maize Mushroom and Pumpkin Blossoms along with the cheese until well blended.
Pour the mixture into the prepared soufflé or baking dish.
Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Check the consistency by using a toothpick to assure its proper baking. Tooth pick should come out clean when done. Serve immediately. 4-6 servings.


Pasta with Cuitlacoche, the Maize Mushroom

½ cup drawn butter
6 large shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 lb. Imported dry pasta
2 lbs. Cuitlacoche
1 ear of fresh corn, shucked
1/4 cup of pignole nuts (optional)
4 chile poblanos, roasted, peeled and seeded and cut into strips
4 sprigs epazote (Mexican tea) or a combination of fresh sage and mint can be substituted
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 pint heavy cream
salt to taste

Pour 1/4 cup of drawn butter in a heavy saucepan. Add minced shallots and garlic and sauté until transparent. Add the mushroom and fresh corn and cook over medium flame until liquid begins to evaporate. Add the chile poblanos and the herbs and, if desired, the pignole nuts. Mix thoroughly, adding the salt at the very last. Adjust seasonings if necessary.

Begin boiling 4 quarts of water in a heavy pot. Add 2 large tbsp. salt to the water. When the water reaches a rolling boil, pour in the pasta and cook for approximately 6 minutes until it reaches al dente. Strain. Return pasta to pot. Add the remaining butter, the cream and pour in the Mushroom. Toss pasta thoroughly. Add the parmesan cheese and toss again. Serve immediately. 8 servings.


Cuitlacoche Ice Cream

6 oz. Cuitlacoche, the Maize Mushroom
2 tbsp. Butter
1 cup milk
3 cups heavy cream
9 oz. Sugar
3/4 cup egg yolk (9-12 eggs)
1/4 tsp. Salt
A jigger of sweet sherry


In a heavy saucepan melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Add the mushroom and cook over a medium flame until the mushroom is shiny and looks fried. Then add the salt and mix thoroughly. Place in a blender and then strain it through a fine sieve. Return the mushroom to the same saucepan; add the milk and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Beat egg yolks with the sugar until ribbony. Fold into the saucepan. Let the mixture simmer until it thickens but do NOT boil. Strain again through the sieve. Cool mixture over ice and then pour it into an ice cream machine. As the ice cream begins to thicken, add the sherry. Yield: 1 quart of ice cream and serves approximately 8. Serve with a fresh berry sauce (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or tropical fruits).


Cuitlacoche with Corn and Zucchini

2 tablespoons of safflower, peanut or olive oil
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
½ medium onion finely chopped
2 ears of corn - shucked
1 ½ pounds of maize mushrooms
10 leaves of fresh sage lightly chopped
2 chile poblanos - roasted, seeded and peeled
4 small zucchinis thinly sliced

Saute the garlic and onion until transparent. Add the corn and zucchini until slightly soft. Add the Maize Mushroom and fresh sage until mixture is well blended and liquid is evaporated. Add salt to taste. Garnish with Chile poblano. This recipe can be used as a wonderful filling for an egg dish.


Maize Mushroom - Cuitlacoche Pate with Tomato Mascarpone Sauce

Pate
3 tablespoons butter
½ medium onion chopped
1 clove garlic
1 chile poblano, roasted, seeded and peeled
1 pound maize mushroom
salt to taste
1 ear of corn - shucked
1 cup whole milk
1 3/4 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 cup chicken broth

Sauce
1 cup mascarpone (italian cream cheese - available in gourmet stores)
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1 large tomato - not overly ripe
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a large skillet and saute onion and garlic for two minutes. Cut chile poblano into strips and add to pan. Cook together until onion is tender. Add Maize Mushroom and cook 15 minutes over low heat. Season with salt and let cool.

Scrape kernels from corn and blanch 1 minute in milk. Drain and set aside.
Sprinkle gelatin over chicken broth - set aside.
Process maize mushroom mixture in blender or food processor until smooth and blend in corn kernels. Add gelatin mixture into well buttered 8 x 4 inch loaf pan and refrigerate well.

To make sauce, cut tomato in half and squeeze out juice, pit and seeds. Using the large hole side of a hand grater - grate tomato flesh. Beat mascarpone until smooth and liquidy. Combine grated tomato, mascarpone, lemon juice, vinegar and salt and pepper. To serve - unmold pate and cut into 8 slices. Place slice on dish and spoon 2-3 tablespoons of sauce on side.


Cream of Huitlacoche Soup

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1-2 jalapeno chilies, seeded and minced
1 cup fresh or defrosted frozen huitlacoche
2 tablespoons minced fresh epazote or cilantro
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup cream, milk or evaporated skim milk
fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion for about 2 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic and chilies and saute 1 minute more. Add the huitlacoche and minced epazote or cilantro. Add 5 cups of the stock, bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly. Puree with an immersion blender, or in one or two batches in a food processor. Add the milk or cream and salt and pepper to taste. Add more stock to thin, if desired. Serve hot in small bowls. Yield: 8 servings.


Crepes filled with Corn Fungus

1 ½ teaspoons unsalted butter for greasing dish
12 5-inch crepes
1 recipe cooked cuitlacoche - kept warm (see recipe below*)
1 ½ cups creme fraiche (not sour cream)
3 chile poblanos, charred, cleaned, and peeled
1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) sea salt
4 ounces grated Chihuahua cheese or medium-sharp Cheddar
rajas of 2 chiles poblanos, sauteed

*Cooked cuitlacoche
3 tablespoons safflower oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
rajas of 4 chiles polbanos
1 ½ pounds (about 6 cups) cuitlacoche
sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons roughly chopped epazote leaves

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an ovenproof dish into which the crepes will just fit in one layer. Put some of the filling along the center of each crepe, roo loosely, and place on buttered dish. Blend the cream and whole chiles until smooth and a pale green color (this must be done at the last minute). If the cream is too thick to blend easily, then add a little milk, but just enough to allow the blender blades to function. Stir in the salt: this must be done at the last moment because it tends to curdle the sauce. Pour the sauce over the crepes and bake, loosely covered with foil, until the sauce is bubbling - about 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, decorate with the chile strips, and return to the oven only to melt the cheese, not to brown it. Serve immediately, either alone or with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.


Corn Fungus with Tomato

3 tablespoons safflower oil
½ cup finely chopped white onion
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
½ pound (about 1 large) tomato, finely chopped, unpeeled
3 chiles serranos, finely chopped
1 ½ pounds (about 6 cups) cuitlacoche
1 teaspoon (or to taste) sea salt
3 tablespoons roughly chopped epazote leaves


Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and garlic, and fry gently until translucent but not browned-about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and fresh chiles and cook over medium-high heat until some of the juice has evaporated, stirring from time to time - about 8 minutes. Add the cuitlacoche and salt, cover the pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring and turning the mixture over from time to time, for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, stir in the chopped epazote, and cook for 5 minutes longer-the cuitlacoche should be tender but not soft and the mixture moist but not too juicy. If the latter, reduce a little over higher heat. Makes 5 cups.


Corn Fungus Pudding

3 tablespoons safflower oil
8 4 ½ inch tortillas
1 ½ cups cooked tomato sauce (recipe below) kept hot
2 ½ cups cooked cuitlacoche (recipe below) kept hot
1/3 cup grated chihuahua cheese or medium sharp cheddar
½ cup creme fraiche

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Have ready a warmed, shallow ovenproof dish that will accommodate two stacks of tortillas side by side, plus a try lined with paper toweling. Heat a little of the oil-enough to coat the surface-in a small frying pan. Fry the tortillas lightly until heated through thoroughly but not crisp around the edge - about 3 to 4 seconds on each side-adding more oil as necessary. Drain. Dip 2 tortillas into the hot tomato sauce-it should be thick enough to coat them-and place side by side on the ovenproof dish. Spred about 1 heaped tablespoon of the cooked cuitlacoche over each tortilla; cover these with 2 more tortillas immersed in the sauce, and so on, until you have two stacks of 4 tortillas, with the filling between each pair. Pour the remaining sauce over the top tortillas, cover loosely with foil, and bake until well heated through - about 10 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with the cheese, and return to the oven just long enough to melt the cheese-not to brown it. Just before serving, cover with the creme fraiche and cut into wedges. Serves 4-6.

Tomato Sauce
1 cup mascarpone (italian cream cheese - available in gourmet stores)
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1 large tomato - not overly ripe
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

To make sauce, cut tomato in half and squeeze out juice, pit and seeds. Using the large hole side of a hand grater - grate tomato flesh. Beat mascarpone until smooth and liquidy. Combine grated tomato, mascarpone, lemon juice, vinegar and salt and pepper. To serve - unmold pate and cut into 8 slices. Place slice on dish and spoon 2-3 tablespoons of sauce on side.

Cooked cuitlacoche
3 tablespoons safflower oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
rajas of 4 chiles polbanos
1 ½ pounds (about 6 cups) cuitlacoche
sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons roughly chopped epazote leaves

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until translucent - about 3 minutes. Add the chile strips and fry for 1 minute more. Add the cuitlacoche and salt, cover the pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time for about 15 minutes. The fungus should be tender, retaining some moisture, but not soft and mushy. Stir in the epazote and cook, uncovered, for another 2 minutes. NOTE: If the cuitlacoche is rather dry, sprinkle on 1/4 cup water before covering; if it is too juicy, remove the lid before the end of the cooking time and reduce over higher heat.


Corn Fungus Soup

3 cups cooked cuitlacoche - omitting chiles and epazote (recipe below)
4 cups chicken broth
2 chiles pablanos, charred, cleaned and cut into strips
2 leafy stems of epazote
sea salt to taste
6 large tablespoons creme fraiche

Put ½ cup of the cooked cuitlacoche and 1 cup of the chicken borth into a blender jar and blend until smooth. Transfer this puree to a saucepan. Add the rest of the cuitlacoche, the remaining broth, the chile strips, and the epazote; simmer for about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Before serving it, put a large blob of creme fraiche into each bowl. Serves 6.


Cooked cuitlacoche
3 tablespoons safflower oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
rajas of 4 chiles polbanos
1 ½ pounds (about 6 cups) cuitlacoche
sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons roughly chopped epazote leaves

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until translucent - about 3 minutes. Add the chile strips and fry for 1 minute more. Add the cuitlacoche and salt, cover the pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time for about 15 minutes. The fungus should be tender, retaining some moisture, but not soft and mushy. Stir in the epazote and cook, uncovered, for another 2 minutes. NOTE: If the cuitlacoche is rather dry, sprinkle on 1/4 cup water before covering; if it is too juicy, remove the lid before the end of the cooking time and reduce over higher heat.


Cuitlacoche stuffed eggs
(Mexican mushroom deviled eggs)

Ingredients
10 boiled eggs
1 can of cuitlacoche (or prepared fresh cuitlacoche)
1 head of lettuce
2 sliced tomatoes
Traditional Vinaigrette

Sliced the boiled eggs in half and remove the cooked yolk. Stuff each half with Cuitlacoche paste bathed in traditional vinaigrette. Garnish the stuffed eggs with the sliced tomatoes, lettuce and the yolks.



Stuffed Chicken breast with Cuitlacoche San Miguel

Ingredients
8 Chicken breasts
200 gr. of cream
1 Kg of cuitlacoche San Miguel
2 garlic heads
salt, pepper
2 Big onions
epazote
Chicken thigh and legs
Eggs
Aluminum paper

Prepared the Chicken breasts with salt and pepper. To prepare the stuffing, grind the raw chicken thigh and legs with epazote leaves, eggs and fine sliced cuitlacoche. Save half of the cuitlacoche to prepare the sauce.
Lay out the aluminum paper, enough to wrap one chicken breast. On top of the aluminum paper place one leave of epazote, on top of it, lay the chicken breast covered with the stuffing. Wrap each chicken breast and cook them for 25 minutes in a chicken soup made with the chicken bones.

Sauce
Mix and grind the onions, garlic and cuitlacoche in order to obtain a homogenous paste. In the blender mix the paste with the chicken soup. Boil it adding the cream.

Serve the Stuffed Chicken Breast covered with sauce.

 

 

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Department of Crop Sciences
College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign