The Making of Setas con Epazote. This turned out to be a lovely dish. It has some heat in it, but nice balance. The recipe was adapted from Mexico Connect. The recipe hails from Tlaxcala, and small (actually the smallest of the states) but interesting state of Mexico.

Setas con Epazote

2 lbs. setas (wild mushrooms -- I used oyster and brown beech aka shimeji mushrooms)
3 tbs olive oil
1 medium to large white onion chopped
6 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
6 serrano chiles, seeded, halfed lengthwise and sliced finely
1/2 cup finely chopped epazote
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Wash the mushrooms by rubbing them between your fingers in a bowl of water (be careful not to SOAK, they absorb water easily); drain and let them dry.

2. Heat the olive oil in a very large saute pan and saute the chopped onion until transparent; add the garlic and saute for one more minute.

3. Add the mushrooms, chiles, and epanzote and cook starting on medium high and finishing at low until reduced to 1/3 of size (minimum 8 minutes), stirring occasionally (lots of moisture so not much risk of over browning).

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 20 as an appetizer. Pairs nicely with warmed corn torillas as wrapper. Not only in taste, but in theme as Tlaxcala means "Place of Maize Corn Bread".



As you can see, I used a BIG saute pan, the mushrooms in the basket in the photo at the head of this section filled this to overflowing, but it cooked down nicely, intensifying and concentrating the flavor.



All finished and ready to go to the Supper Club!

I couldn't resist a couple add ons to the dinner from my visit to Casa Lucas, so I also brought a snack (wheat based, but made to look and have the texture of pork rinds), and some original Mexican Jarritos soda!