Author Notes
I used to order this dish at a place in Cancun called Los Almendros. 20 years ago it was a sort of funky little place in the shade of a giant almond tree, across from the old bull ring. I looked on Trip Advisor and apparently it's fancied up and moved -- but the pavo is still a weekly lunch special. As for the recipe, well -- I am working from memory here. I read the description on their menu and found another description in the reviews of Spirit Of The Earth on Amazon. I went from there to reconstruct it (I can't remember my anniversary or what I am supposed to accomplish at work tomorrow but those flavors are burned in my memory -- maybe burned isn't the best word). Anyhow, this is the kind of food and cooking that I love. It's considered peasant food -- simple ingredients combined and treated in a way that makes the whole much much tastier than the sum of its parts. Nothing here is expensive or fancy, but this is a meal to remember for you and a bunch of your friends and/or family. You can also very easily double this if your guest list grows. The Xni-Pek is a key condiment -- it is fresh and bright and lifts the entire dish to a new level. Xni-Pek means Dogs Nose in Mayan -- it it tart and sweet and spicy and will leave you with a shiny nose. —aargersi
Test Kitchen Notes
WHO: As the winner of Your Best Thanksgiving Turkey, we're starting to think that aargersi is a poultry pro.
WHAT: A pleasantly unusual, hearty meal reminiscent of Mexico.
HOW: This dish is all about the condiments -- roast a turkey in a complex sauce, whip up the Mexican equivalent of polenta, and make a bright, zippy pineapple salsa to top it all off.
WHY WE LOVE IT: We can't get over the Kol Indio -- making a unique porridge like this is now the newest trick up our sleeves. And once you assemble all of the parts, everything plays together perfectly. —The Editors
Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
- Pavo En Kol Indio
-
one 2.5-3 pounds
turkey breast - bone in, skin on
-
2 cups
yellow onion (one medium onion) peeled, halved and sliced into thin moons
-
2
large cloves garlic, minced
-
1/4 cup
olive oil
-
2 teaspoons
salt
-
1 teaspoon
pepper
-
3
guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped (can sub anaheim, cascabel, or one ancho -- these are all dried peppers)
-
3 cups
good poultry stock
-
1 teaspoon
ground cumin
-
1 teaspoon
dry oregano
-
6 ounces
tomato paste
-
1 tablespoon
ground chili powder
-
1
juicy lime
-
2 cups
chicken broth
-
1 cup
corn meal
- Xni-Pek
-
1 cup
minced sweet onion
-
1 cup
minced pineapple
-
1/2 cup
minced jalapeno (remove seeds, stem and pith)
-
1/2 cup
chopped cilantro
-
Juice from one lime
-
1/2 teaspoon
salt
Directions
- Pavo En Kol Indio
-
Heat the oven to 325. Heat the oil to medium-high in a large Dutch oven. Season the turkey all over with 1 tsp salt and the black pepper. Brown the turkey to golden brown on both sides -- when it is golden, remove it to a plate.
-
Add the onions into the pot and cook them for a few minutes until they just start to brown. Add in the garlic, cumin, chili powder and chilis and cook for just a couple more minutes until they are fragrant. Add in the tomato paste and cook that until it starts to darken. Now add in the stock and juice from the lime and stir everything together. Put the turkey back in, spoon some liquid over it, cover and stick it in the oven. Let it roast for an hour or so then flip it over. If the liquid is greatly reduced, add a cup of water. Continue to cook at least another hour, or two if you have the time.
-
When the turkey is completely tender, pull the pot out of the oven. Take the turkey out and put it in a big bowl. Remove the skin and chuck it. Shred the meat with two forks and discard the bones. Pour a couple ladles full of the liquid over the shredded turkey and toss all of that together.
-
Now add the 2 cups of broth to the Dutch oven and bring it to a simmer. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal and cook for 25-30 minutes until it resembles a sort of thick porridge -- think Mayan polenta. You may need to add additional water to keep it from getting too thick. Cook it until the cornmeal is very soft. This is the Kol Indio. Serve that into a bowl, top with Pavo and then the Xni-Pek.
- Xni-Pek
-
Mix all of the ingredients together, and let them hang out in the fridge while the Pavo cooks.
Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop
See what other Food52ers are saying.