The Recipe

Source: Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons, if necessary
1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds refreshed salt cod or fresh fish
all-purpose flour for dredging fresh fish
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato concentrate, extract, or paste
3 sweet red peppers, roasted and peeled
½ small fresh hot green or red chili, roasted and peeled
2 tablespoons golden raisins, soaked in hot water to plump
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons pine nuts
½ cup minced flat-leaf parsley

In a medium skillet, heat ½ cup of the olive oil over medium heat until it has reached frying temperature (360 F).

While the oil is heating, cut the fish into 1-inch pieces. Pat refreshed salt cod dry with paper towels. If you’re using fresh fish, pat it dry, then dredge it lightly in flour, spread on a plate. (Do the drying and dredging right before you’re ready to fry; otherwise the coating will get gummy.)

When the oil is hot, add the fish pieces to the pan a few at a time and fry briskly until golden on all sides, transferring the finished pieces to a rack spread with paper towels to drain.

When all the fish pieces are done, lower the heat to low. Discard the oil, wipe the pan out, and add 2 tablespoons of fresh olive oil. Add the sliced onions and cook gently over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft. Add the tomatoes, raise the heat slightly, and cook vigorously. As the tomatoes yield their liquid, stir in the tablespoon of concentrate. Continue to cook the tomatoes until they have disintegrated into a chunky sauce.

While the tomatoes are cooking, slice the peeled peppers into long 1/2-inch-thick strips. Chop the chili coarsely. Drain the soaking raisins.

Lower the heat under the tomato sauce again, then taste and add salt and pepper, keeping in mind that the salt cod my be very salty. Stir in the peppers, raisins, and pine nuts. Finally, fold in the pieces of fried fish. Cook the fish in the sauce over low heat for about 10 minutes to meld the flavors together, then serve immediately, garnished with the minced parsley.

The Recipe

Source: Rosa’s New Mexican Table by Roberto Santibanez

Make the Ranchera Sauce:

3 pounds ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled, and cored
2 serrano chiles
2 large garlic cloves
a 2-inch piece of Mexican cinnamon stick
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 ½ teaspoons salt, or as needed
1 teaspoon sugar, or as needed

Working in batches if necessary, combine the tomatoes, chiles, and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth. Center the cinnamon stick on a 6-inch square of cheesecloth and tie the corners of the square together to make a neat bundle. (Mexican cinnamon will fall apart during cooking and the pieces can be difficult to remove from the finished dish. Wrapping the cinnamon in cheesecloth makes it easy to remove it all after cooking.)

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the pureed tomato mixture and bring to a boil. Stir in the salt, sugar, and cinnamon bundle. Adjust the heat so the sauce is simmering. Cook until lightly thickened (just enough to coat a spoon), about 30 minutes. If the sauce thickens too much before that time, lower the heat slightly and add water, a tablespoon or two at a time.

Remove the sauce from the heat and check the seasonings, adding more salt and sugar if you like. The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate. Reheat over low heat, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary to return the sauce to the right consistency.

Prepare and Stuff the Poblanos:

seven 6-ounce bags (or six 7-ounce bags) baby spinach or 2 ½ pounds loose baby spinach
¼ cup mild olive oil
½ cup raisins
½ cup pine nuts
salt
2 cups Ranchera sauce [above recipe]
6 large poblano chiles (about 1 ¼ pounds), roasted and prepared for stuffing
½ cup crema, crème fraiche, or thinned sour cream
half an 11-ounce log plain goat cheese, cut into 6 slices
¼ cup coarsely chopped epazote or cilantro

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach a bagful at a time (or in 6 or 7 batches) and cook just until bright green, about 1 minute. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle.

Working in batches, squeeze as much water from the spinach as possible (be very serious about the squeezing!). Coarsely chop the spinach. There will be about 2 very tightly packed cups.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach, raisins, and pine nuts and cook, stirring to break up the clumps of spinach, until the raisins are puffy, the pine nuts are starting to toast, and almost all the liquid has evaporated. Season the spinach with salt, then pour in ¾ cup water and cook until the water has evaporated. (It may seem odd to add water after taking the time to cook off the liquid, but there is a sound reason: the addition of water helps carry the salt evenly throughout the dense spinach mixture.) Remove from the heat and let cool.

Pour the sauce into an 11 by 9-inch baking dish or other baking dish that will hold the stuffed chiles snugly. Divide the filling among the chiles, filling them loosely. Put them opening side up in the baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake until heated through, about 25 minutes.

Drizzle the crema over the chiles while they are still in the baking dish, then transfer them to serving plates, spooning some of the cream-enriched sauce over and around them. (It is not necessary to blend the cream completely with the ranchera sauce; in fact, the plates will look nicer with a streaky sauce.) Top each chile with a round of goat cheese and some chopped epazote, and serve.