Traditional New Mexico Panocha

I watched Pat Varela's video titled "La Madre Making New Mexico Panocha", where he documents his mom's method of making panocha, a porridge-like dessert often served during Holy Week, between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday.  Click here to watch his video.

His mom is so sweet and kind as she talks us through the process, explaining where she got the recipe and giving preparation tips along the way.  I took notes and was able to acquire some panocha flour so I could make it, too.

La Madre's Panocha Recipe

4 cups panocha flour

2 cups whole wheat flour (plus a little more later)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 cups warm water

1 piloncillo, shaved

1/2 cup brown sugar (she added more after she tasted it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flours and salt together and place in a large baking pan.  Add water, a little at a time, stirring well and smashing dry flour lumps.  Once this is all well mixed, add the piloncillo and brown sugar, again stirring well.  Add more water if needed in order to make a very moist batter; add a little more whole wheat flour if the batter is too wet.  Taste for sweetness and add more brown sugar if desired.

Cover pan and bake for 2 1/2 hours.  The result should be a golden brown, thick, and very moist looking.

My Version

I had only one bag of panocha flour, so I made about 1/2 of La Madre's recipe.  

2 1/2 cups panocha flour

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 3/4 cups warm water

1 piloncillo

1/2 cup brown sugar (this includes the little extra I added to make it taste sweet)

That dark brown cone is the piloncillo.  The brown sugar is not in the picture.

I used my large Dutch oven, which comes with a lid.  I mixed it with a whisk instead of a spoon, which worked well to get rid of lumps.  I just had to push some dry flour out of the inside of the whisk when I was nearly done mixing.  

I pounded the piloncillo in a mortar; the pieces needed to sit in the wet batter for a few minutes to fully dissolve.  A rubber spatula was helpful in mixing the sugars into the batter completely.

Pounded piloncillo.  I think it should have been pounded more.

Nearly ready to be baked.

When I tasted it for sweetness, I thought it needed a little more.  This is how I got to 1/2 cup brown sugar.

I wasn't sure if my batter was wet enough, but I didn't want to add any more water at that point.

It smelled good -- almost toasty -- while baking and was done in 1 hour, although I think it could have baked for less time.  See The Verdict below.

My Notes

Panocha flour is made from wheat that is sprouted and dried before it is ground into flour.  This is different from whole wheat flour, which is not sprouted at all.  An article from FlavorInsider.com states that spouted wheat flour is more nutritious than whole wheat flour because it has a higher fiber content and offers more vitamins and antioxidants.

The article also points out that whole wheat flour's flavor is slightly nutty whereas sprouted wheat flour is decidedly sweeter.  I suspect this is why both were chosen for this recipe in the first place.  

A piloncillo is a solid, dark brown cone made from unrefined cane sugar that is boiled, thickened, and poured into a mold.  Sometimes it has spices such as cinnamon or cloves mixed in.  It is different from brown sugar which is a mixture of white sugar and molasses.

The Verdict

I tried it hot out of my oven and then took the rest to a social gathering where I knew people were willing to try something different.

I felt I might have overbaked it because it had an almost bread-like crust over the entire surface, whereas I saw only a little of that around the edges in La Madre's result.  It was very moist underneath the crust, though.

Right out of the oven.  I worried it was bread!

Not bread!

The taste was lightly sweet, making me glad I added the extra brown sugar.  It was thick, sticky, and made me feel like I was eating oatmeal for breakfast, but sweeter.  I think it was the chewy wheat bits and its granular texture gave me that impression.  Instead of a smooth porridge or pudding, it had a more robust mouthfeel.

I enjoyed it as it was, as did my usual guest taster.

It was refrigerated before going to the gathering, so once I was there, I microwaved it for three minutes to get it hot again.  It was very thick, so I also added boiling water and stirred it until it was thin enough to drop off the serving spoon but not so wet that it would slump all over a plate.

The reactions I received were mostly positive.  A few people did not like it at all; the impression I got was that they disliked either the texture or the sweetness.  Some said they liked it as it was and one thought she had tasted it before somewhere.  Others had suggestions for improving it.

For example, one person who loves to cook described it as "softly sweet" and he liked it, but he would add chiles to it -- powdered or flaked -- just a little to bring the flavor over the top.  Others thought cinnamon or vanilla or both would be good.  I kept wishing to add sliced almonds and raisins.

One said it was good, but it was mostly sugar that he tasted, so after a few bites, he would not want to eat any more.  He wanted something else to make it "complete" but could not determine what that would be.

Another said he thought it was made with masa, that he liked the taste and the flavor of it.  One non-carb eater liked it in small amounts and said it had a rich flavor.

The next day I tried small amounts with other ingredients added.  It was good with cinnamon.  I liked a little vanilla in it.  I tried a little more salt but that wasn't right.  

I also tried it with raisins and some peanuts (I didn't have sliced almonds available).  That was good, too, although I'm not sure I would use peanuts again.  The raisins were a good addition.

I think, though, that my favorite combination was with cardamom and raisins.  

Success!

I realized that my wish for almonds and raisins was based on how much it felt like eating oatmeal for breakfast.  I believe that panocha is a form of comfort food -- that if you were raised on it and your memories are of your mother or grandmother making it, then eating it brings back those warm and comforting feelings.  

I found other versions of this recipe which include cinnamon and/or vanilla, but were still called "traditional."  That is probably what the recipe author grew up with or even made on their own.  Wonderful!  I would not want to mess with someone's beloved tradition, but if it makes it an even better experience for you and your family, I encourage you to try it.

One final note.  Pat Varela mentions that "[i]n days of old, it was made in an old lard tin and later it [the tin] was thrown away because it is hard to clean", which doesn't surprise me.  Cooked starches tend to be sticky like glue and become rock solid when dried.  I kept this in mind once the panocha was baked.  When the Dutch oven was empty and the panocha in a serving bowl, I immediately started soaking the Dutch oven in soapy, hot water, as were the utensils that had touched the panocha.  

Even with occasional scrapings, it took soaking the Dutch oven overnight before I could get all the baked panocha off the sides and bottom of the pan.  Don't let it get cold or dry!  Start cleaning it right away!

Costillas de carnero panadas -- Breaded Mutton Ribs, a Pinedo recipe

This particular Pinedo recipe appealed to me for several reasons:  it was a main dish using lamb (which I love) and it looked so simple -- just three ingredients!  I know the recipe says "mutton", but I could only obtain lamb, so I did my best.

I obtained a rack of lamb that was small, given that only two of us to eat the meal.  

Original recipe, pgs 86-87:

My Translation

Breaded Mutton Ribs

    Butter is melted and the ribs are put in it for a quarter of an hour. Before serving they are put over a very live fire, being careful to turn them when they have browned on one side.

    They are arranged in the shape of a crown, set aside and sprinkled with breadcrumbs on both sides, taking care that they are well covered.

    They are immediately placed in a platter, with breadcrumbs on top and bottom, and a quarter of an hour before serving they are put on the grill over a very active fire, being careful not to cook or burn the bread. 

 

My Redaction

1.7 pound rack of lamb's ribs

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter (I used salted)

1/2 to 3/4 cup dried bread crumbs

That's all, folks!

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a pan wide enough to hold the rack of ribs.  

Place the ribs in the melted butter over medium-low heat.  I had it just hot enough that the meat in the butter had bubbling going on.  Set the timer for 15 minutes.

At 7 1/2 minutes into the cooking, flip the ribs to cook on the other side.  

Remove the ribs from the butter.  Place them over a hot fire on the grill to cook them further and to brown them.

Remove from the grill, roll them into a crown with the rib ends up, tying it with a string to hold the shape.

Coat them thickly with all the breadcrumbs that will stick to the meat.  Take back to the grill to cook them more, allowing the heat to turn the crumb coating into a crispy, golden crust, but not burned.

Serve and enjoy!

My Notes

My thought was that most of the cooking was done in the butter, since the fire on the grill was supposed to be "lively", i.e., hot.  That is why I kept the temperature low enough to keep from cooking the outside too quickly.  My meat did brown, though.

Before cooking in the butter.

After 7.5 minutes.  One side browned.

Fifteen minutes was not enough to cook the thickest part of the meat, but it did cook it about halfway into that thickness.  

I was confused by her wording as I wasn't sure if the ribs would be cooked twice on the grill or not.  I chose to cook them twice because I thought that otherwise there would not be enough time for the meat to be cooked.  My goal with the first time on the grill was to get the meat browner and to cook the meat further.

Goal achieved!

My rack was too small to roll into a crown shape.  On the other hand, it was easy to coat with the breadcrumbs.

As many crumbs as would stick.

When I returned the meat to the grill, I turned the heat down so as not to burn the crumbs and to give them a chance to change from dried crumbs to something else.  The crumbs absorbed the butter and the fat in the meat to make a crust. 

Mmmm.  Look at that crust.

I think I probably rushed the second grilling, not giving it a full 15 minutes (timing it was a challenge while I was fixing other dishes for the meal).  I wish I had given it more time as I could see some pink to the meat.

The Verdict

I cut the rack into individual rib pieces and served it with flavored couscous and a sliced tomato salad.

And a nice pinot noir.

Some of the meat was rare, which my guest taster and I like, and some was very rare, I would saw raw, which my guest taster likes but I am not fond of.  I mostly served the rare pieces and set the raw bits aside for reheating (and thus more cooking) later.

The flavor was amazing.  For all that it was just meat, butter, and breadcrumbs, it was wonderful.  I think the salted butter was the right choice, even for someone like me who is not a big salt eater.  It bumped up the taste enough to make it more than "just meat."

The crumb crust added a lovely crunch to each bite, the butter was a subtle background flavor without being greasy, and the meat was tender and ... meaty ...  

We enjoyed our meal, and my guest taster said he would eat this dish any time I wanted to fix it.  We each cut the meat off the bone with our knives and forks, but had no restraint about holding the bones with our fingers to finish nibbling off the last bites.  

Success!  And put a bowl on the table to hold the discarded bones.