This week on Cooking with Chef Johnny Vee, The New Mexican's online cooking school, the featured dish is Eggplant Adovado, served with Homemade Flour Tortillas.

"Red chile is too good to use only with meat," John says, and this vegetarian alternative to carne adovado can be eaten on its own, or used as a filling for burritos, tacos, taquitos or tamales. The cooked-down eggplant and red-chile sauce — both abundant in markets at this time of year — looks and tastes like a delicious pork or beef filling.

Both recipes are easy and economical to prepare, delivering a lot of flavor for relatively little effort.

Let John Vollertsen show you how to do it all on his newest cooking video at www.etaste
santafe.com.

EGGPLANT ADOVADO
(Serves 6 as a side dish)

1-2 whole eggplants (enough to make 3 cups diced)
1/4 cup crushed chile caribe
2 tablespoons ground mild chile
2 tablespoons ground hot chile
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon toasted and ground cumin seed
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water
Juice of 1 lime
Vegetable oil for frying eggplant
Tortillas for serving

Peel and dice eggplant into 2-inch cubes. Place in colander and allow to drain for
20 minutes.

Heat vegetable oil in large saucepan and, when very hot, fry eggplant until golden brown. Drain eggplant on paper towels.

Place chiles, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, lime juice and water in a blender and process until smooth.

Scatter eggplant in large baking dish and pour chile mixture over it. Stir and allow to marinate for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover dish of eggplant and bake at 400 for 30 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and coated eggplant.

Serve with grated Cheddar cheese, sour cream, sprigs of fresh cilantro and tortillas.

HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS
(Makes 12 eight-inch tortillas)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup chilled lard or non-saturated vegetable shortening
1-1/2 cups warm (not hot) water

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Break up lard or shortening into small pieces with your fingers and rub it into the flour mixture, combining it until it resembles coarse meal.

Add the water, a little at a time, until a soft and manageable dough forms. Knead for 3 minutes and then allow dough to rest, covered, for 20 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 golfball-sized balls. Roll each ball out on a well-floured board to create an 8-inch circle that's about1/8-inch thick.

Cook each tortilla on a lightly oiled griddle for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until small brown spots appear. Add a small amount of additional oil to the griddle for each new tortilla.

Cover and keep tortillas warm until ready to serve. To freeze them, separate each cooled tortilla with waxed paper and place in a large zip-lock bag.

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