Chanfaina Conventual Poblana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal for toasting chiles and tomatoes
• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy 5-quart Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the organs

   Rinse the heart, liver, and kidney under cold water and pat them dry. Put the kidney in a bowl with cold water, the white vinegar, and a pinch of salt for 20 minutes, then drain and rinse again. Remove every bit of the white kidney core. That core is where harshness lives. Leave it in and the whole pot will tell on you.

   Ask a serious butcher for lamb organs from the same animal if possible. Fresh organs should smell clean and mineral, never sour. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
2. 2

   Blanch the heart

   Bring a small pot of salted water to a simmer. Add the heart pieces and cook for 8 minutes, then drain well. Heart is muscle. It needs a head start before it meets the chile broth. The liver does not. The kidney does not. Treating all organs the same is how cooks ruin chanfaina.

3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho and chile mulato one at a time, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until the skins soften, darken slightly, and smell sweet. Do not blacken them. Burned chile turns bitter and bitterness will sit in this stew like bad gossip.

4. 4

   Soak the chiles

   Place the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling. Let them soak for 20 minutes until pliable. Drain them, saving 1 cup of the soaking liquid only if it tastes clean and not bitter. Taste before you use it. The chile vendor at La Merced would tell you the same.

5. 5

   Build the sauce

   In a blender, combine the soaked chiles, roasted tomatoes, toasted bolillo, toasted almonds, toasted sesame seeds, cinnamon, cloves, oregano, and 1 cup of warm broth. Blend until completely smooth. Take your time. A convent sauce should be polished, not gritty. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and press firmly on the solids.

6. 6

   Brown the organs

   Heat 2 tablespoons of manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the blanched heart first, 4 to 5 minutes, then remove it to a bowl. Brown the kidney for 2 minutes and remove it. Brown the liver last, only 60 to 90 seconds per side. Liver toughens when you bully it. The goal is color, not full cooking.

7. 7

   Fry the aromatics

   Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of manteca. Add the onion and cook until soft and golden at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. La manteca es el sabor. Olive oil belongs elsewhere today. This is Puebla's convent pot, and the fat carries the chile.

8. 8

   Fry the chile paste

   Pour the strained chile mixture into the cazuela. It will sputter, so stand back and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the sauce darkens to brick brown and the fat begins to show at the edges. This frying step is where the sauce stops tasting raw. No me vengas con atajos.

9. 9

   Braise the stew

   Return the browned heart and kidney to the cazuela. Add the bay leaf, raisins, olives, capers, piloncillo, vinegar, remaining 2 cups of warm broth, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover partially, and cook for 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until the heart is tender and the sauce coats the spoon.

10. 10

    Finish with liver

    Add the browned liver and simmer uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes more. Taste for salt and vinegar. The finished sauce should be deep, slightly sweet from the raisins and piloncillo, sharp from the capers and vinegar, and rounded by the chile ancho. Fish out the bay leaf, cinnamon, and cloves if you see them.

11. 11

    Rest and serve

    Let the chanfaina rest off the heat for 15 minutes before serving. Organ meat tastes better when the sauce settles into it. Spoon it into a talavera serving bowl, scatter parsley only if you want that old convent green on top, and serve with warm corn tortillas. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use lamb organs if you can. Beef heart, liver, and kidney will work, but they are stronger and need a longer soak. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not skip the olives, capers, raisins, almonds, cinnamon, and clove. Without that Old World pantry, you have a chile offal stew. With it, you have chanfaina conventual poblana.
• •If your chile ancho is brittle, dusty, or smells like cardboard, leave it at the store. Good ancho should bend a little and smell like dried fruit, tobacco, and warm earth.
• •Serve this with corn tortillas, not flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. Puebla's table wants corn.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile sauce can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Fry it in manteca on cooking day so the flavor opens properly.
• •The finished chanfaina is better after resting overnight. Reheat gently with a splash of broth, never at a hard boil, because liver toughens fast.
• •Clean and cut the organs the morning you cook them. Do not leave cut liver sitting for days. It turns metallic and punishes the sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 375g)