Dairy-Free Breakfast Nachos

You can have nachos for breakfast - why not?

Here's the thing, too.  These don't have cheese in them.

I'm keeping it quiet, because cheese is one of my oldest and dearest friends.  And I don't want to hurt its feelings.

But you know, some foods have enough stuff going on that they just don't need cheese.

Shh!  Hear me out.

Mexican food, with its lime, its cilantro, its salsa, its guac, its raw white onion.  Leave the cheese off, you won't even notice.

Observe that the most authentic Mexican food at most only uses a sprinkling of queso cotija.  It's a condiment, a light sprinkling.

In the summer I like my dishes light (if you can call something with guacamole and a fried egg on it light).

But please don't tell cheese - we have a scheduled rendezvous coming soon, and I wouldn't want things to get awkward.

Dairy-Free Breakfast Nachos

some chips
a egg
salsa
chopped white onion
1 can black beans
cilantro, torn
guacamole
lime juice

The nice thing about nachos is you really can make them to taste.  I created the guacamole here by mashing up avocado, lime juice and salt (about 1/2 lime and a generous pinch of salt per avocado).  Put it together how you like, fry an egg and put it on top.  Ta da!  Breakfast.

Vegan Sweet Potato Guacamole Tacos

Mmmm, summer.  Is it summer yet?

The sweet peas are vining but not blooming yet.

The basil is planted and so proud of its four little leaves.

The store has apricots AND cherries, at prices I can actually afford!

It must be summer soon.

In the summer I don't like to eat meat much.  With the substantial exception of the occasional barbecue hamburger.

(There is something primal and pagan about summer barbecue.  We must partake of the fruits of the bonfire.)

But, outside of that ritual, I love to dabble in the veggies and the florals that the season presents.

Here we have sweet potato, roasted until soft, sweet, and slightly charred.

Avocado, mashed up with lime and salt to make the simplest and, to my mind, best kind of guacamole.

The kind that tastes like avocadoes, just a little enhanced.

Beans and fat green onions (from the garden!) and sweet red onions.

And check out this tofu cheese I made at home - super easy!  I made it!

I normally prefer my tacos simple: meat, onion, salsa and lime.  Oh and cilantro.  But the divergent flavors in this dish harmonized so nicely.

To veggies!

*Don't forget, I am still hosting a giveaway!  To enter, leave a comment on my previous post.

Vegan Sweet Potato Guacamole Tacos

2 sweet potatoes
olive oil
1 can black beans, rinsed and warmed with a pinch of salt and pepper
4 avocadoes
2 limes, quartered
1 block extra-firm tofu
2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 tablespoon white vinegar
salt and pepper
tortillas (about 12, I prefer corn [moistened and pan-warmed] but flour works too)
green onions, sliced
1 red onion, diced

Preheat oven to 400F.

Wash, peel and chop sweet potatoes into about 1" squares.  Toss with olive oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 30 minutes, or until slightly charred and very soft when pierced with a fork.

To make vegan cheese:  heat skillet over medium high heat, slick with olive oil (about 3 tablespoons).  Crumble in tofu block, stir in mustard, salt and pepper.  Saute until texture dry and crumbly; pour in vinegar, stir in, remove from heat.

To make guacamole:  Remove avocados from peels, mash with the juice of one of the limes.  Add in 1 pinch of salt for each avocado, about 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste).  Mix all up together.

Warm your tortillas by moistening them with a few drops of water and then heating them in a pan over medium heat until soft and steaming.

To assemble tacos:  layer with sweet potato, black beans, and tofu cheese.  Top with guacamole, green onion slices and red onion.  Mangez.

Chilaquiles Verdes

Chilaquiles are like a Mexican version of nachos.

Did you think nachos were Mexican?

*food snob moment*

Apparently tortilla chips aren't even properly Mexican!  Although I hear they're catching on.

(And I'm really not judging, just because they aren't Mexican doesn't mean they aren't delicious after all.)

But back to chilaquiles.  It's like nachos except you make your own tortilla chips and then soak them in salsa, red or green depending on your mood.

I'm pretty sure that if you want to change a food from Mexican-American to straight up Mexican, just replace cheese with salsa.

Also cut the cumin.  And no sugar!  I'm looking at you, fans of sweet chicken tacos.

Geez, such a snob.  Sorry, I'll stop.

(I won't, I live for this)

Sprinkle these with queso fresco, some white onion slices, cilantro and crema and there it is.

The breakfast of your dreams!

They're wonderful for using up aging ingredients like excess tortillas or salsa.

Some people top them with fried eggs.  I didn't go so far in my endeavor.

Don't judge my messy kitchen!  This is how I live.

Go where I did not.

Chilaquiles Verdes
adapted from The Food Network

I made my own salsa but you certainly don't have to.  For a more authentic flavor that can be found in most grocery stores I recommend La Costena brand.  Of course if you have access to more locally made, go for it!

1 lb tomatillos
3 jalepeno peppers (or serranos)
6 garlic cloves
1 large white onion
olive oil, as needed
salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
10 corn tortillas, the staler/dryer the better
queso fresco, to taste
Mexican crema (sour cream works too), to taste
Sliced white onions, to taste
Fresh chopped cilantro leaves, to taste

Preheat broiler.

For the salsa:  peel and rinse the tomatillos.  Put chiles, onion and tomatillos on a baking sheet.  Season with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Broil until softened and slightly charred, about 7 minutes.  Take the tops of the chiles, put broiled things and fresh garlic in a blender with about 1/4 cup of water, and blend until smooth.

For chilaquiles:  heat 1/3 cup vegetable oil in a pan over medium/medium-high heat.  Fry dry tortillas until browned and crisp.  Drain tortillas on paper towels and wipe oil out of pan with a paper towel.  Add salsa in, bring to a simmer.  Break up tortillas into halves and quarters and toss into the salsa.  Cook together about 5 minutes.

Pour tortilla/salsa mixture into a serving bowl and top with queso fresco, creme, fresh sliced onions and fresh cilantro. 

Pulled Chicken Mexican-Type Salad with Everything

Imma break a few house rules now.

#1.  This is a salad.  Okay, I don't have any hard and fast rules against salad, but they aren't my favorite.  They just always seem sort of eh.  Unless you add an amazing dressing and toppings, but then you're just eating dressing and toppings.  Greens are for smoothies.  Why not eat something else altogether? 

And it's well known that you don't win friends with salad.

#2.  This is Mexican-style, but not Mexican.  Mexican food brings up some full-force snobbery with me, since I've had the real thing and it's ermagerd.  And then you come back and someone slops some cheddar on some refried beans and stale flour tortillas and is like, that'll be $10!  And it's just no.

This is not Mexican.  It is in the style of an American parody of Mexican.  But this time...it works.

Stay with me.

#3.  This recipe is copied from a restaurant.  I try not to do this because restaurants are usually boring.  But if you live in my old stomping grounds, living it up in the SLC, you just may recognize this as a hot-selling item from your favorite Tex-Mex-Fresh, Cafe Rio.

Not familiar with Salt Lake?  There's a Cafe Rio in the airport.  Catch it next time you fly through.

It's ermagerd.

My advice?

Get the salad.

Pulled Chicken Mexican-Type Salad with Everything
Makes 4 hearty salads

Dressing:
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream (or Mexican crema)
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tomatillos
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 jalepeno (use the seeds if you like it spicy)

Chicken:
2 chicken breasts, about 2 lbs chicken
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cups broth
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons chili flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced

Rice:
3 cups broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles or equivalent fresh
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion
3 cups uncooked white rice

Garnishes:
1 15-oz can black beans
Cotija cheese
Salsa
Mixed greens (use as much as you like)
Guacamole (for easy homemade, combine 1 avocado with juice from 1/8 of a lime and a pinch of salt, mash with fork)
Lime wedges
Toasted tortilla strips (I cheated and crumbled up corn chips, but for easy homemade brush corn tortillas with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toast in a 450 degree oven for 3-5 minutes or until crisp)

Cook all chicken ingredients together in a crock pot for about 4 hours.  Shred meat and cook an additional hour.

Meanwhile, make dressing by putting all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend well.  Refrigerate.

When chicken is almost done, make rice by placing all rice ingredients in a pot and bringing to a boil.  Turn heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is soft.

To assemble:  Layer salad in a bed on a plate.  Top with rice (about 1/2 cup) and black beans (about 1/2 cup).  Top with chicken mixture.  Top with dressing, salsa, crumbled cotija cheese, lime juice, guacamole, and toasted tortilla chips.  Insert into face.

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos

You know what the hardest thing about being a parent is for me?

Not the sleepless nights, not the time, not the money. 

It's needing to be a good example.

No swearing.  No TV marathons.  No staying up all night (well, not by choice).

I even have to eat right.  Like all the time!  It's no good trying to slip the kid sweet potatoes and green beans when I've got a cupcake or five hidden behind my back.

He knows!  They always know.

I feel like I owe him an apology in advance for passing on all my faults.  Nothing is a better motivation to improve than seeing a tiny, adorable person do a bad thing.  A bad thing they learned from you.

Man, this post was supposed to be funny but it's just turned into mom guilt.

Mom guilt!  The enemy of all that is good and holy.

Let's just eat some tacos, eh?  We can definitely get that right. 

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos (taken from Deb, ahh sweet Deb)

When cooking and eating spaghetti squash, it is imperative that you not think about worms.  Don't think about worms don't think about worms don't think about worms don't think about worms.

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti squash
1 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 1/2 of a lime)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoons salt
8 6-inch corn tortillas
One 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 ounces crumbled queso fresco (in a pinch you can substitute this with feta)
2 tablespoons finely diced onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Hot salsa, if desired

Preheat over to 350°F. Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and roast the halves facedown on an oiled baking sheet for about 40 minutes until the squash is tender and you can easily pierce it with a fork.  When the squash has finished cooking and cooled slightly, use a fork to scrape the flesh into a bowl, loosening and separating the strands as you remove it from the skin. Discard the skin.

In a small dish, whisk together lime juice, chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt. Pour over squash and toss together. Taste squash and adjust seasonings as needed.

Heat a dry, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Warm each tortilla, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer with tongs to a platter. Sprinkle each taco with a few spoonfuls each of black beans and the squash mixture.

Top with crumbled cheese, onion, and cilantro.  Add a squirt of hot salsa if desired.

Vegan Yellow Rice and Bean Enchiladas

I haven't posted anything savory for quite some time.  If you're wondering whether that reflects my life over the past few months, yes it does.

Now I am posting something both savory and vegan (and dairy- and gluten-free!).  If you're wondering whether that reflects my life over the last week, yes it does.

I've had that thing happen again.  You know the one?  The terrible one.  Where I can't eat sugar for a while.

Oh man, the withdrawals the other day!  I was like, shivering and disordered, man.  

I'm doing a little better now.  And this won't last forever.  But the upshot is that, generally, eating less sugar is a good thing (noooo!), and it fits in with some of my February goals.

February goals!  Remember the goals I'm making this year?  In my year of seasonal eating?

I'm happy to report that my January goals have all been met.  And now it's time to up the ante, just a little bit.

Nothing too sudden in our year of seasonal eating.

February plans:
Cook three meals a week, one meat, one vegetarian, and one soup (this is the same as January, it's working fine)
Stop eating beef after the 15th of the month, but feature it in my meals until then. (Dropping pork has been pretty easy, although I miss bacon...but guess what!  They make turkey bacon!)
Run two days a week, a little further now.  About 1 1/3 miles.
Do yoga or another gentle, indoor exercise four days a week, and rest the last.

Good plans?  Good plans.  Things are going smoothly so far.  I am pleased to feel slightly more fit than I did a month ago at this time, and looking forward to being slightly more fit a month away than I am now.

We'll catch up on this in March!

Vegan Yellow Rice and Bean Enchiladas adapted from Silvana Nardone's "Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy, Delicious Meals" (great book, although sister loves the sugar)

Just have to take a minute to mention the photos here.  Uh, I'm not really proud.  In the transfer from the pan to the plate my lovely enchiladas sort of...morphed into more of a...food pile.  Don't get me wrong, I love food piles.  They go down smooth.  But not the prettiest pictures.  But please trust me...this recipe does make actual, beautiful enchiladas.  And they taste awesome.

Serves 8

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, 1 smashed and 2 finely chopped
2 tablespoons chile powder
2 cups dry red wine or broth
1 28-oz can tomato puree
3 cups water
Salt
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
8 corn tortillas
1 15-oz can black beans, drained
1 cup corn kernels
2 ripe avocadoes
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and finely chopped garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the chile powder and toast for 1 minute (smells so good!).  Add the wine or broth and bring to a boil; simmer until reduced, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomato puree and 1 cup water; cook for 15 minutes.  Season with about 2 teaspoons salt.

In the meantime, in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the smashed garlic, rice, cumin, turmeric, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and remaining 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.  Take off the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes; fluff with fork.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Grease a large baking dish.  Dip the tortillas, one at a time, in the chile sauce and place in the dish.  Fill each one as you go with 2 heaping tablespoons rice, 1 heaping tablespoon of black beans, and 1 heaping tablespoon of corn kernels.  Roll it up and place seam-side down in your prepared dish.  Brush them with olive oil and bake, uncovered, until golden and crisp around the edges, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the guacamole, mash together the avocados, lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons cilantro.

To assemble, pour the remaining sauce down the middle of the enchiladas (I also poured on the remaining rice, beans, and corn...thus the food pile) and top with the remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro and the guacamole.  Serve immediately.

Kale Coconut Cabbage White Bean Tostadas

It was too sunny when I took these photos.  Well that's a new problem.

Skitter skitter skitter.

Scoot scoot scoot.

My baby is on the move.

He hardly sleeps anymore, he has so much to do.

Light switch!

If you squint real hard in the center of this kale you will see a pirate ship.

Car antenna!

Neighbor's dog!

Kitty tail!

He's so busy, he practices crawling in his sleep.  The other night I heard him fussing after bedtime, and when I went in the room he was up on all fours, not quite sure how he got there or why.

In fact I just got off putting him to sleep, and it's taking a lot longer these days.  The more I lay him down and try to scoot away, the more he curls in close and mooshes his face up against any portion of my skin he can find.

Death by snuggling!

It's so delicious.

Not unlike these...veggie tostadas!  (seamless transition!)

Kale Coconut Cabbage White Bean Tostadas (borrowed from Joy the Baker.  I know it's non stop with me and Joy lately, right?  I'll try to branch out, but she's pretty amazing.)

12 tostada shells (or make tacos with corn tortillas)

1 lime cut into wedges

1 heaping cup shaved purple cabbage

1 bunch of radishes sliced

1 bunch kale

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (or use sweetened, that's probably good too)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

red chili flakes or sriracha sauce

1 14-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Rinse kale leaves.  Tear the dark kale leaves away from their stem and tear into bite-sized pieces.  Place in a bowl with coconut, olive oil, soy sauce, and a bit of chili flakes or sriracha sauce.  Toss together with your fingers or a fork to ensure that all of the leaves are lightly coated.  Arrange on the baking sheet in a single layer, and place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until wilted and crunchy.  Remove from the oven and place in a serving bowl.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together beans, olive oil, chives and parsley.  Stir until warm and heated through.

Serve warm kale and beans with the tostada shell and garnish with chopped veggies and lime juice.  Enjoy! 

Chiles en Nogada

This dish is quite possibly the strangest, most complicated, and most delicious thing I have ever made or eaten. It was invented to celebrate Mexican independence, and as such has the colors of the Mexican flag, red, white, and green. It consists of a chile poblano grilled and hollowed, then stuffed with a mix of ground beef, nuts, chopped apples, and pears, dipped in egg and fried, coated with a creamy pecan sauce that sometimes contains brandy (nogada), and topped with pomegranate seeds and fresh parsley.

We made this last week. I will certainly make it again.







Chiles en Nogada

2 cups roughly chopped almonds and pecans
2 - 3 cups pomegranate seeds
9 fresh chiles poblano
1.5 c chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
olive oil
2 c ground beef and or pork
1 c chopped fresh parsley
2 - 3 tomatoes
2.5 c crema (to be found in Mexican groceries) or sour cream
1 c chicken stock
salt
2 t bouillon powder, chicken or beef
1 apple
1 pear
one third cup of raisins
2 T milk
2 handfuls chopped pecans
2-3 T brandy (optional)
6 eggs, separated

1. Grill or broil chiles just until tender and flesh starts to blister. Set aside to cool.

2. In medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium high. When warm, add 1 c onions and 2chopped garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally. When onions begin to sweat, add ground meat and cover, lowering heat to medium or even medium low. Cook, stirring occasionally.

3. While meat cooks, work with the chiles. First remove black or charred parts of the skin. Then make a slit and get out the core, as well as as many seeds as possible. Extra seeds make it spicy, which is generally not desirable for this dish. Keep the slit as small as possible, about 2-3 inches long (needless to say I butchered mine but oh well).

4. Put 2 - 3 tomatoes, 2 T crema, 1 c chicken stock and half an onion (chopped up) in the blender. Cover and blend, about 50 seconds.

5. Add some more olive oil to the meat mixture, about 2 T, plus a generous pinch of salt and 2 t bouillon powder for flavor. Strain tomato mixture into meat mixture, stirring as you go. When all is blended, salt to taste and continue cooking on medium.

6. Peel and chop 1 apple, add to meat mixture. Peel and chop 1 pear, add to meat mixture. Add chopped nuts, one third cup of raisins. Lower heat to medium low.

7. In (clean) blender, add 2 c crema and 2 T milk. Throw in 2 handfuls of pecans and blend. You can add a few T of brandy here if you wish. Blend until smooth, then set aside.

8. Beat egg whites in (clean) blender until frothy, then add the yolks and beat again until frothy.

9. Finally, it is time for assembly. Heat a layer of oil in a skillet, or a deep fryer is even better. Take the chiles and stuff them with the meat and fruit mixture. Then dip them in the frothy egg mixture. Then fry them in the hot oil.

10. To serve, put on a plate and drizzle (more like pour) the creamy nogada over the top. Finally, sprinkle with the fresh chopped parsley and the pomegranate seeds.

11. Now EAT!

This recipe makes nine. If you do not, for some unfathomable reason, want nine chiles en nogada, adjust accordingly. Good luck!

Tarugos - Tamarind Candies

Oh, Mexico. I am almost done here - this will be my last week of teaching classes, and then Justin and I will spend one week backpacking around Guanajuato before kicking it back to the old Ciudad del Lago Salado. I am excited to get back, but here are a few things I will miss:

Falling asleep to the angry/hilarious sounds of baahing sheep. It is oddly soothing now.

Picking fresh pomegranates and figs off of trees (discreetly, of course).

Swimming in the local natural water holes, warmed by hot spring water.

Agave plants so big they look like dinosaurs.

Dulce de leche treats (hopefully featured in an upcoming blog entry)

Food parties with my classes - these are days where I have the kids bring food, which we eat while translating some popular English song. These have been great - they bring tamales, cookies, arroz con leche, quesadillas. I bring nothing! Suckers!

Anyways, it has been a time. I recommend Mexico to anyone interested in visiting a cheaper and more delicious version of Southern California. They tell me it is dangerous, but this is my second backpacking trip here and I have yet to have any trouble. Might help that my husband is a six foot tall sasquatch.

Anyways, here are some delicious tamarind candies we made! Anyone out there like tamarind? It is a novel flavor for the American tongue, particularly when sprinkled with chili powder! But they grow on you, they really do. Also, this is a particularly good recipe to do with kids, with all the hand smooshing. You can always leave out the chili powder if they (or you!) don't like it.

Enjoy!



Love Arranza's face in this one.



Oddly mirror like quality in this one, this is Mariana, my current hostess/mama.







Tarugos (Tamardind Candies)

1 kilo of tamarind (available in bulk in Mexican stores and most grocery stores)
Water
Unrefined sugar (refined would probably do as well)
Chile pequin (that bright red, very fine chili dust you buy in the Mexican section)
Limes
(sorry about the undefined quantities here - it is very much a recipe 'to taste')

Boil a quart of water. While waiting for it to boil, peel the tamarind so you have only pulp and seeds. When boiling, put in tamarind. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain, and put boiled tamarind mush into a bowl. Cover with sugar, then cover with chili pequin. Mash together with hands (wait until cool enough to do so, of course). Keep adding more sugar and more chili, tasting as you go, until it gets to where you like it. Take out strings and threads from tamarind pods. You can take out the seeds too, but not everyone does. We didn't, and it was fine, you just spit them out later.

When mixed in with a nice flavor and a sticky texture, roll into balls (it will still be sticky, so they don't have to be perfect) and then roll balls first in sugar, then in more chili powder. Leave to set for an hour or two (or skip it, they are just as delicious at once, if more likely to fall apart). Spritz on lime juice if you like it that way, and eat!

Enjoy!

Atole de Piloncillo

Swimming to the surface again to say hello. When I go to work in the mornings I see lazy dogs sleeping in the street, chickens in the grass by the side of the road, and old ladies selling tamales and atole. Back in the old days before the espanoles came and mucked it all up, people in Mexico ate corn all the time every day. This pretty much has not changed.

One of my favorite corn-based foods is called Atole (I capitalized it cause every time I tried to put it in quotes this crazy forren computer stuck an accent on it!). It is a thick, sweet drink made with corn masa (tortilla dough) as a base. It. Is. Delicious. And perfect for summer rainstorms.

I hope you enjoy! Thanks again to Lupita and her girls! (and Justin, who helped with all the stirring...)


cinnamon sticks


hunk of piloncillo sugar (it is like raw sugar)


raw masa


abuelita brand chocolate!


mooshing the masa with water


piloncillo melting...melting...


nutella break! sometimes on the way to chocolate you need to stop for chocolate.


I look like a giant person.


Lupita says she has been making this since she was a little girl, and her grandma made it when she was a little girl, and her grandma made it when she was a little girl...


many hands makes it easier.


action shot! stirring!


finished product. mmm it is like hot chocolate but thicker, like a meal. mmmm.


highly recommended with tamales.


bangarang.

Atole con Piloncillo

2 - 3 c raw masa (can be bought at Mexican stores my favorite in SLC is Rancho Markets)
1/2 cone piloncillo sugar (can be bought at Mexican stores, or Winco, usually in produce section for some reason)
Water
1.5 cinnamon sticks
4 - 5 oz dark chocolate
3 - 4 liters milk (like, a gallon and a half probably)

Put piloncillo in 1.5 - 2 c water and heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until piloncillo is dissolved. When sugar is dissolved, turn heat to low to keep it warm until you need it later.

While sugar is heating, put masa in a bowl and cover with water. Mush together with your hands until the masa is more or less dissolved and there are no large chunks. It will not be completely smooth, some parts will be heavy and float to the bottom, but it is okay as long as it is chunkless.

Put cinnamon sticks in a large saucepan (very large, this will be the main cookpot) with about 2 inches of water. Heat on medium or high. When boiling, add masa mix through a strainer, stirring all the while, and turn the heat to medium. Stir and stir and stir, until it boils. This may take a while, but keep it up, it's worth it. It will thicken as it goes because of the corn starch in the masa.

While stirring (it is okay to take small breaks, but not too big or it will burn!), add dark chocolate to 3 - 4 c milk in another pot. Heat this through, whisking constantly (you will need both hands for this recipe :)) until chocolate is melted and well incorporated. If you want it really frothy you can use a special Mexican chocolate mixer, or just pop it in the blender after it's melty. This isn't necessary though, as long as you whisk it up good.

Meanwhile, when masa mixture starts boiling, add the warm sugar mixture, stirring all the while. When it boils again, add milk, stirring all the way.

Continue stirring until it boils once more, and then finally add the chocolate mixture, stirring and/or whisking it so it's nice and frothy.

Take it off the heat and serve! Maybe with tamales? The double serving of corn is considered a good thing. :)

Enjoy!