Use cilantro in the preparation of this dish and as a garnish.

Cilantro is a great way to add a touch of green to a dish, for St. Patrick’s Day or just when you want a fresh color. In this recipe, you can use it while cooking and as a garnish at the finish.

The best part of this recipe is that it goes together in minutes, though it takes hours to cook in your slow cooker. You can play around with this, too, serving it over sautéed shredded cabbage or glass noodles instead of rice. You could add minced red pepper either to the sauce or as a garnish for extra color

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Thighs

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 (16-ounce) jar cilantro salsa (or any salsa you prefer)
½ cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
2 teaspoons ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons lime juice
Garnishes: Cilantro, scallions, jalapeño slices, crushed peanuts, minced red pepper, lime wedges

Put chicken, salsa, peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce and lime juice in slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Stir once or twice during cooking; add more soy sauce or salt, to taste. Toward the end of cooking, add red pepper or sriracha, if you want to kick up the heat. (Don’t add hot ingredients early on or the heat will intensify.)

Garnish with your choice of cilantro leaves, scallions, jalapeño slices and peanuts.

Serve with jasmine rice made with half coconut milk and half water (1 cup raw rice, 1 cup water, 1 cup coconut milk).

Adapted from food.com

Epazote flavors this Caldo de Hongos (Clear Mushroom Soup)

Q. What is epazote?

—Lori

A, Epazote (eh-pah-ZOH-tay) is a Mexican herb that has people almost as divided in their opinions as cilantro. Some people love its aromatic qualities, others think its taste reminds them of gasoline, slightly off geranium leaves or camphor.

It’s used in a host of Mexican dishes. In fact, Rick Bayless thinks it’s an indispensable part of Mexican black beans. It is also used in soups, salads and moles.

It goes by a list of other names you may know better: wormseed, Jesuit’s tea, Mexican tea, and herba sancti Maria. Some have also said skunkweed and pigweed are names for epazote, but both are used to describe many plants, including those weeds that are likely making you sneeze this time of year.

According to About.com, “Although epazote is poisonous in large quantities, it has been used in moderation to help relieve abdominal discomfort (gassiness) that can come from eating beans.

Fresh epazote is always best, and it can be found at most Mexican markets. Central Market, 4821 Broadway, has it on occasion, as does Whole Foods in the Quarry, 255 E. Basse Road. Or you can plant your own. Seeds can be ordered from Amazon.com.

There really is no substitute for epazote in cooking, because it’s flavor is so unique, chef and instructor Iliana de la Vega said at the recent Culinary Institute of America’s Latin Flavors, American Kitchens symposium.

But if you don’t have any on hand, try another herb like cilantro or culantro. That rule certainly applies to the Caldo de Hongos (Clear Mushroom Soup) recipe, which epazote. When I made it, I didn’t have any on hand, so I used cilantro instead. The flavor was different, but the soup was still delicious.

I have long been a fan of Portugal and its bounty of seafood, its spectacular cheeses and olives, its nuts, fruits and vegetables, and its rustic breads. The food may be peasant in origin, born out of its citizens’ poverty, but there’s no denying the ingenious ways in which its cooks use the simplest ingredients to create the most memorable meals. Think of steamed clams mixed with bits of pork and garlic. Or a bowl of bread-thickened soup with large chunks of lobster swirled in like surprises.  The array of desserts made with little more than egg yolks and sugar staggers the mind and overwhelms the taste buds.

So I was eagerly looking forward to the publication of David Leite’s “The New Portuguese Table” (Clarkson Potter, $32.50) to find out if he captured the spirit of this remarkable cuisine with the same exhaustive intensity as Anya Von Bremzen’s “The New Spanish Table” of a few years back. Leite’s book is a little slimmer than Von Bremzen’s and a little more photo heavy. But the recipes tested largely succeed, making it a worthy companion.

Leite, creator of the foodie site www.LeitesCulinaria.com, was a good one to tackle the job as he is of Portuguese descent, though that’s something he freely admits he disavowed in his youth. “Let me set the record straight,” he says at the beginning of the book, “for the first 32 years of my life, I wanted nothing to do with Portugal, its food or its culture. For anyone else, that wouldn’t have been a problem, considering that during the 1960s and 1970s Portugal wasn’t exactly on most people’s radar. But coming from a Portuguese family, I was hard-pressed to ignore my heritage.”

He overcame that feeling in time and has rendered a rich array of recipes that will delight and intrigue. To explore the book, I got together with the friends I’d last traveled to Portugal with, and we made more than a half-dozen recipes, ranging from a Green Olive Dip laden with anchovies and cilantro to Pork Tenderloin in a Port-Prune Sauce (see recipe below). Other dishes on the menu included Grilled Shrimp With Piri-Piri Sauce (see recipe below), Spinach With Toasted Bread Crumbs, Sweet-Sour Carrots, Sweet Lemon and Black Olive Wafers, and Baked Custard Tarts.

All but one of the recipes was a keeper (more on the exception later), and most were easy to make. The shrimp skewers gained immeasurably from grilled lemon wedges as well as the spicy sauce in which the shrimp were marinated. The soft spinach gained contrasting textures and greater depth of flavor from toasted breadcrumbs and garlic. The lemon and olive wafers were a winning – and yes, odd – combination of sweet and savory ingredients that worked better than I can begin to describe.

After the end of the meal, I wanted to dive deeper into the book to try Seared Skate in Garlic-Pepper Oil, maybe, or the Green Soup made with kale or collards and, of course, more garlic. There are plenty of traditional favorites, such as clams in the flying saucer-shaped cataplana and several suggestions on what to do with bacalhau (salt cod). The hot sauce, piri-piri, is used liberally, and everything seems to be sprinkled with cilantro, just as the Portuguese do.

But there are a few revisions that don’t work as well as the originals – and require more, unnecessary work. The beauty of Cilantro Bread Soup With Poached Eggs is its ease of preparation, the way in which you can make a nourishing soup with boiling water and a paste made of garlic and salt plus the addition of cilantro, stale bread and a poached egg. Adding chicken stock, or even vegetable stock, dresses it up into something it’s not and makes the flavors a little less pristine.

Even worse is Leite’s fussy version of Baked Custard Tarts, or Pastéis de Nata, which betrays a bit of Portuguese culinary history. You see, when the Portuguese explorers sailed to Asia by way of Africa, they didn’t bring back such New World foods as vanilla or chocolate; and neither figure much into traditional Portuguese desserts. Leite’s version includes vanilla and lemon zest, both of which distract from the heavenly simplicity of a dessert that is little more than egg yolks, sugar and cream baked in puff pastry. (I have to admit his version is not bad. I ate four, but I ate those four remembering how much better other recipes have been.)

If those two had been the only recipes I tried, I would have had my reservations about “The New Portuguese Table.” But on the basis of every other recipe tried, this is a cookbook worth returning to time and time again.

Pork Tenderloin in a Port-Prune Sauce

Taste the sauce once it has been processed, once again after adding the salt and pepper, and finally upon completion. You’ll be surprised at how it changes each time.

2/3 cup pitted prunes
1 cup ruby port
1/2 cup beef stock
1-inch thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon honey
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, fat and silver skin removed
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Place the prunes into a small saucepan, add the port, beef stock, ginger and honey, and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let steep for 20 minutes.

Pour the prunes and liquid into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Season both tenderloins well with salt and pepper and sear one at a time, turning occasionally, until brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and set the skillet aside.

Roast the pork until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers just under 150 degrees, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the tenderloins to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.

Pour off all but a thin film of fat from the skillet. Lower the heat to medium, toss in the garlic, and cook until lightly colored, about 2 minutes. Add the port-prune sauce and stir to pick up the browned bits stuck to the skillet. Pour in the vinegar, and any accumulated juices from the pork, and cook to meld the flavors, 2 to 3 minutes. If the sauce seems thick, add more beef stock. For an elegant take, strain the sauce through a sieve.

Cut the tenderloins on the diagonal into 1/2-inch slices. Divide the slices among six plates, drizzle with the warm sauce and sprinkle with cilantro.

Makes 6 servings.

From “The New Portuguese Table” by David Leite

Grilled Shrimp With Piri-Piri Sauce

2 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 cup piri-piri sauce (see recipe below), plus more for serving
2 lemons cut into wedges
Kosher salt, to taste

Combine the shrimp and piri-piri sauce in a large resealable freezer bag and toss to coat. Place the bag in a shallow dish and marinate in the refrigerator, turning a few times, for at least several hours, or, preferably, overnight.

Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium.

Thread the shrimp and lemon wedges on skewers and season with salt. Grill the shrimp over indirect heat, turning several times, until just opaque, 5 to 6 minutes. For an extra spike of flavor, brush the skewers with fresh piri-piri sauce just before serving.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

From “The New Portuguese Table” by David Leite.

Piri-Piri Sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
6 to 8 fresh red chile peppers, such as cayenne, Tabasco, or pequin, to taste, stemmed
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of kosher salt

Mix the garlic and vinegar in a small bowl and let steep for 20 minutes. Drop the peppers (including their seeds) and the garlic mixture into a food processor and pulse to chop. While the motor is running, pour in the oil, sprinkle with salt, and whir until smooth.

Pour the sauce into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and let steep in the refrigerator for at least several days, preferably 1 week. Strain the mixture, if you wish. The sauce will keep for about 1 month in the refrigerator. Shake well before using.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

From “The New Portuguese Table” by David Leite

The produce section of my neighborhood supermarket has been flooded with fresh fruit lately. And I can’t seem to say no to any of it.

This morning, peaches were 88 cents a pound. And while they may not be Fredericksburg’s finest, they have had good flavor, especially if I wait a couple of days before cutting into them.

Mandarin oranges were under $1 a pound, and while the bing cherries have slipped up a little in price from a rock-bottom under $2 a pound, they were still a bargain.

Watermelon is a staple in my house, as are lemons and limes.

What do you do with all of that fruit? Cobblers? Fruit salads?

I like to make fruit salsas. Oranges chopped up with radishes, mint or fennel. Watermelon with Kalamata olives and feta cheese. Lime juice and a pinch of salt make a perfect dressing when needed.

Here are a few recipes I’ve chopped up recently and a couple I’ve planned for the near future. The first two are adapted from “Salsas: The Santa Fe Cooking School Series,” by Susan Curtis and Kathi Lang. The remainder are inspired by the way the flavors and textures in those recipes have been layered.

Mango Salsa

Great with grilled tuna or salmon as well as fish tacos. Or make a fish salad by added 1 pound of grilled tuna or salmon to the recipe.

2 large ripe mangoes
1/2 English cucumber, cut into ¼-inch dice, or 1 medium cucumber, seeded, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and cut in ¼-inch dice
1/3 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 jalapeño or 2 serranos, minced
Lime juice, to taste
Salt, to taste

Peel the mangoes with a mango cutter or a small sharp knife. Cut the flesh away from the large flat pit in two pieces, then cut it from the narrow edges of the pit. Cut these pieces into ¼-inch dice.

In a medium bowl, combine the diced mango, cucumber, onion, red pepper, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice and salt. Toss gently.

Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Makes 3 cups.

Adapted from “Salsas: The Santa Fe Cooking School Series,” by Susan Curtis and Kathi Lang

Bing Cherry-Pistachio Salsa

Serve this with quail, game, duck or good to garnish a cold soup of melon or cherries.

8 ounces fresh bing cherries, stems and pits removed, or 10 ounces frozen bing cherries, thawed
½ cup shelled, toasted, roughly chopped pistachios or ½ cup toasted pine nuts
¼ cup cilantro chiffonade
1 tablespoon juice from chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
Pinch of coarse salt, to taste
Pinch of sugar, to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, to taste

Roughly chop cherries and stir in pistachios, cilantro, chipotle juice, salt, sugar and lime juice. Serve.

Makes 1 ½ to 2 cups.

Adapted from “Salsas: The Santa Fe Cooking School Series,” by Susan Curtis and Kathi Lang

Peach and Jicama Salsa

This would be good atop simply sautéed white fish or roasted pork loin.

3 freestone peaches, peeled, seeded and cut into ¼-inch dice
½ cup peeled and cubed jicama
1 medium red onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 tablespoon mint, cut into chiffonade
1 jalapeño, minced
Lime juice, to taste
Salt, to taste

Combine peaches, jicama, onion, mint, jalapeño, lime juice and salt. Let sit 20 minutes.

Cucumber-Lime Salsa

This would be good on white fish or as a side salad.

1 English cucumber, cut into ¼-inch dice, or 1 1/2 large cucumbers, seeded and cut ¼-inch dice
1 red onion, chopped
Salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes, or to taste
¼ cup flat Italian parsley chiffonade, sorrel chiffonade or mint chiffonade (or a combination of any of the three), divided use
Juice of 1 lime
Zest of 1 lime

In a bowl, mix cucumber, onion and a sprinkling of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Drain any juices. Mix in chile flakes, all but 1 tablespoon of herbs and lime juice. Let sit for another 10 minutes for flavors to settle. Garnish with lime zest and reserved herbs.

The setup of Erick’s Tacos is different. The part of the kitchen where you get your tacos is housed in a mobile unit on one side of the dining area. The other part, where you order your raspas and licuados, is on the other side.

In between is a former garage with no fourth wall or door. That means you are sitting in the heat of the day while you eat some incredibly spicy tacos. Only a few overhead fans keep the air circulating.

Yet no one seems to mind.

Maybe it’s because the tacos are so good. Maybe it’s because the Mexican Coke is almost as icy as a raspa. Maybe it’s because the scene feels just right.

Whatever the reason, I found myself looking forward to a return visit almost as soon as I had finished the first.

On that discovery day, I encountered a slight language barrier as the cook spoke no English and my Spanish was a bit rusty. I somehow managed to get the plate of tacos al pastor on small corn tortillas that I had wanted. The appearance was dazzling to the eye, as the tacos arrived showered with an abundance of cilantro and onion.

With a squirt of lime juice and a squeeze of fiery green salsa, they tasted even better than they looked, and the tortillas were so hot they singed my fingertips.

The heat of the seasoned pork and a welcome touch of grease made each bite reveal depths of flavor that went beyond the usual world of Tex-Mex. I washed it down with a Mexican Fresca made with real sugar instead of corn syrup or nasty chemical-tasting artificial sweeteners. The zing of the soda’s grapefruit flavor was a perfect complement to chiles.

Who needs air conditioning with food this good?

I was so pleased with the meal I returned with a friend the next night. This time it was for tacos made with a mixture of chorizo and bifstek while he had tacos al carbon covered with crumbled white cheese. We ordered the dinner plates for $5.50, which came with four mini-tacos, grilled onions and one of the hottest cooked jalapeños in some time.

The tacos al carbon were pristine compared with the others, dripping in chorizo juices. Yet I wasn’t sorry with my order.

While some might blanch at the mention of the grease in a few of the tacos, it helped me understand the popularity of Erick’s. The place is busiest, one employee told us, after midnight, after folks have been partying and need a little fortification to face the next day. The tacos de cabeza are probably a big seller then. On weekends, you’ll sometimes find people there after 4 a.m.

The tamales we tried — chicken, instead of the pork that we’d ordered — were plump, full of meat and moist without being greasy. A bit of the cilantro-heavy red salsa added a welcome bite.

Lime and chile proved an unbeatable combination whether we were ordering a fruit cup laden with fresh mango and watermelon or a corn in cup with sweet kernels just cut from the cob. The later was also slathered in mayonnaise, offering a tantalizing balance of sweet, sour, hot and spicy.

Most everything at Erick’s Tacos is eaten with your hands (you can get a spoon if you need one). But good food needs no pretense.

Erick’s Tacos
12715 Nacogdoches Road
(210) 590-0994
Hours are 11 a.m. until at least 3 a.m. daily.
$

$ = $10 or under per entrée
$$ = $10-$20
$$$ = $20-$30
$$$$ = $30 and up

This refreshing ceviche has a light Asian touch, thanks to the addition of coconut milk and cilantro.

3/4 pound sushi A-grade yellowfin tuna
2 medium shallots, peeled and minced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into fine dice
1 serrano chile, trimmed, seeded and cut into fine dice
1/2 bunch scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced on a diagonal
Fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
Juice of 1 lime
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk (see note)
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves removed, cut crosswise into fine ribbons (chiffonade)
2 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves removed, cut crosswise into fine ribbons (chiffonade)

Trim away any sinew from the tuna. Cut the tuna into neat 1/4-inch dice, and put in a medium stainless bowl. Add the shallots, pepper, chile and scallions. Season well with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Add the lemon and lime juices, coconut milk, cilantro and mint and combine gently. Marinate for 2-3 minutes. Check seasoning. Serve immediately.

To make ahead, simply refrigerate the tuna until guests arrive. Have the vegetables ready (store the serrano separately from the others). Toss, then create the marinade and stir it fresh for your guests. Serve with pita crisps or a sturdy corn chip, if serving as an hors d’oeuvre.

Note: Because the tuna is cut in a small dice, it marinates very quickly. It doesn’t have to sit for a long time, as a more traditional method of preparing ceviche requires. Unsweetened coconut milk is available at Asian groceries.

Wine suggestion: Viognier

Adapted slightly from “The Manhattan Ocean Club Seafood Cookbook” by Jonathan Parker