Rancho Canyon Cookbook

Mussels, garlic linguine with white wine and chiles

2011-08-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

One item that is hard to find in Patzcuaro is fresh mussels, so each time I get my hands on fresh sea food like clams or mussels I always will buys some.
Here is a very simple but tasty recipe you can toss together in less than 20 minutes.
You could also add chopped Italian Panchetta or even Chorizo to add additional flavors.

Linguine with Mussels, Garlic and Chilies

Yield: 4 servings as a main pasta course

1 pound linguine
1 large shallot onion, finely minced
1/4 cup chopped celery
5 or 6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red chilies
1 to 2 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and rinsed and de-bearded
2 cups dry white wine
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped, to yield 1/4 cup

Bring six quarts of water to boil and add 3 tablespoons salt.

In a large sauté pan, sauté red onion, celery and garlic over medium heat until onion is very soft and onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Put the garlic in first and be careful not to burn it with excessive heat because it will make the garlic bitter. Bitter is bad......

Add hot chilies, mussels, white wine and butter and bring to a cover. Cook until all mussels have opened, and then set aside.Usually about 3 minutes or less. Do not overcook because the mussels will become rubbery and tough.

Boil linguine according to package instructions. While softened but still firm ( al dente), drain in colander over sink and toss into plan with mussels and stir gently to mix. This will finish cooking the pasta and infuse the sauce into the pasta. This should still be a little broth-like. Add chopped parsley, pour into warm serving bowl and serve.

Easy Leftover Chicken Salad

2011-03-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so what do you do with leftover chicken? You can make some tacos or perhaps mix it in your scrambled eggs, but from time to time I make a chopped salad, and today It felt like it was about time to do one.
You really can use a lot of leftovers, two nights ago I made chicken and green beans, so both of those went into the salad.

First the dressing.

Into a small food processor toss in a half of a Granny Smith Apple and puree.
Add,
3tbs cider vinegar
3 tbs H2O
2tbs Marsala or dry sherry
1 1/2 tea seasoning salt
1 tea sugar
1/2 tea paprika Hungarian is best
1/4 tea garlic powder
2 tea Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 tea Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil, drizzle in while the processor is working.

This is the basic vinaigrette dressing I used today, sometimes I will add honey instead of sugar, and change the vinegar for maybe a raspberry one.....

For the salad take and chop into 1/4 or dice:

1/2 red bell pepper (seeded of course)
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/4 of red onion, place the chopped onion in water for 15 minutes first to remove the heat then drain and dry with a paper towel
1/3 cup green beans chopped to 1/2 inch
1 cup, left over chicken chopped into 1/2 cubes
1 head of romaine lettuce with outer leaves removed, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 chopped jicama 1/4 inch dice
2 hard boiled eggs

Toss in large bowl add about 1/3 cup dressing or as you like, serve with a chopped hard boiled egg on top

Fast and Easy Lemon Chicken

2011-03-21T23:47:00.000-07:00

Photo before sliding it into a 400 degree oven.

I haven't been posting lately just because I am lazy. Half way through making something I finally tell myself I should have shot some photos and written it down....so today I did that.

This is easy because there is little prep, you toss the pan in the oven and come back in 30 to 40 minutes, plate and eat. My kind of dinner prep nowadays, I only do long complex dinners when guests come which is not as often as it use to be.....

Smash and chop fine one head of garlic, add 1/4 cup of good olive oil, let the garlic sweat for about 2 minutes, on very low heat. Add the herbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper, wine and let seat for about 5 more minutes on low heat.
Wash Chicken breasts, and remove any excess fat or skin, pat dry with a paper towel. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees or about 225 Celsius.
Take the chicken and put into the pan, with a large spoon spoon the sauce over the chicken, toss the used up lemons into the pan, slide it into the oven.....

After 30 minutes check and see , the skin should be crispy, you can either stick a instant read thermometer and see for 155 of 160, or by touch.
Remove and tent with foil while you make the other stuff .

Tonight I made some plain Jasmine rice and steamed Green beans which were tossed with a little butter and salt.
To plate, put about a 1/2 cup of rice in the middle of the plate, place the chicken breast on top, spoon some of the olive oil sauce from the pan onto the rice....

Stuff you will need:
2 or 3 Chicken breasts, with the ribs removed. Remove excess fat or skin
1/4 cup olive oil
1 whole head of garlic, paper removed, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 tea fresh ground pepper
1/4 tea red pepper flakes
Juice of 2 lemons
zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

Yes I know there is a thigh and leg in there....you can use all the parts of the chicken if you like!

Crusty Chicken Thighs with huitlacoche sauce

2010-09-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

My wife doesn't doesn't like chicken too much, but if she has it she desires to have it crusty. An easy way to have crusty skin is do it on a rotisserie. That's a lot of work, sticking it on the spit etc, for a weekday dinner.

This recipe will have you super crunchy crispy skin and great taste since it uses the more moist thighs. It only takes about 20 minutes and is pretty easy, not too many items so it's something I do once every month or so.

The neat thing is that you cook this in a skillet, skin side down so the end result is a crisp, dry and nicely browned skin.

You can make any sauce or gravy for it if you like, this one is using the special fungus that grows on ears of corn. It has a mild taste and has some similarities to truffles, kind of an earthy hint.

Preparing the chicken

Take the chicken thighs and with a sharp paring knife trip any excess skin that is not directly under the meat. The take and cut meat off each side of the bone, so what you have left is the meat on one side with bone in the middle without any meat on the top or sides of the bone. So when finished you will have the thigh opened, skin side down, and the meat separated from the bone all around the bone except for the side that is on the bottom. This method leaves the bone for flavor and flattens out the meat for more even cooking. Otherwise the thigh would be too thick and not cook in 15 minutes.
You can watch a video of the chicken trimming away from the bone here.
(Hey it is my first attempt at video)

Dust the thighs with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper . ( both sides)
Preheat a non stick skillet to medium high.
Place the thighs on the skillet skin side down. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to medium.
Check the thighs after about 8 or 9 minutes , you should see signs of browning on the skin side. Do not turn the thighs. Leave them on the skin side, cover and cook for another 8 or 9 minutes.
If the browning is getting too dark after 8 or 9 minutes reduce the heat some more to low, cover and continue to cook for another 8 minutes or so.
At about 18 minutes remove the chicken and put in a warm oven, place the skin side up on a plate, do not cover, otherwise the chicken skin will soften.
(You don't want soften chicken skin)
Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan, toss in the onion, garlic and huitlacoche , and sauté over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper, about 1/4 teaspoon each, and the wine. If there are any juices on the plate in the oven from the resting chicken, add them to the juice, stir once more, on high heat to reduce to sauce consistency.

Plate the thighs and top the thighs wtih the sauce and serve.

Stuff you will need:

4 to 6 chicken thighs with skin on
salt
pepper
1 cup diced white onion
1.5 tbs finely chopped garlic
2 cups huitlacoche (can find in Mexican mercado and also available in a can in Mexican stores
1/3 dry white wine
1/2 cup cream* optional for the sauce.

Easy Cucumber Salad, 3 ingredients

2010-09-06T13:43:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite salads and easy to make is the cucumber salad. You have to use the English hothouse cucs, or the Armenian ones, or any cucumber that is not used for making little pickles.
The cuc needs to be about 5 to 8 inches long.

Wash and peel the cucumber, you can test it and determine if the skin makes it bitter or just peel it, using one of those peeling gadgets, takes about 15 seconds each

I use a mandolin for speed but you can use a plain old kitchen knife. The idea is to have uniform slices. The whole thing takes less than 5 minutes

Once peeled slice the cuc into equal rounds, I cut them into about 1/8 inch or thinner pieces.
Remove the outer skin of a red onion, slice as thin as possible.

Toss in a bowl or fixture that you will store them in with a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of seasoned vinegar.
Let stand at room temp for about 30 minutes, toss again.
Serve as a side salad or top some shredded lettuce.
That's it.

Stuff you will need:

One large Red Onion
2 to 3 Long cucumbers
6 oz seasoned rice vinegar

Summertime and the living is overwhelming

2010-08-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

With garden squash like zucchini and great tomatoes. This recipe is a tad more time consuming, but worth the difference since you don't get an overly gloppy result at the end.

The recipe works because you remove about 3/4 to 1 cup of moisture from the veggies, which makes and concentrates a lot of the flavor in the end result. This is a vegetarians dream, except from maybe the Parmesan cheese.

Cut the squash into 1/4 inch thick rings. Cut the ends off since they will not cook evenly, remove the stem portion of the tomatoes and also slice into 1/4 rounds.

Salting the product, allows it to draw out excess moisture, in a large bowl, toss about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, use both hands to toss to be sure the squash pieces are all coated. You will see that after about 30 seconds of tossing, water will start beading out of the slices. Transfer into a large colander and put into a larger bowl to drain for at least 45 minutes. Half way through toss the cut pieces to allow more moisture to escape.

Take the tomatoes slices and places them on a paper towel ( at least 2 layers) on a cookie sheet and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt on the top side of the tomatoes, leave for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, the towel will be all wet, place two layers of paper towel on the top and with your flat part of your hand push down firmly but not with enough pressure to destroy the integrity of the slices.
Take a 12 in skillet add 1 Tbs of olive oil and caramelize the onions, this will take about 30 minutes on medium to low heat. Salt and pepper the slices onions as you toss them into the pan. You want them brown and full of carmelization, that will bring some nice sweetness to the dish. Once caramelized remove from heat for assembly later.

After 45 minutes to an hour, go ahead and also remove the squash and do the same on top of several layers of paper towels, you can use a little more pressure. Go ahead and throw away the drained liquid.

Take a 9 by 11 Pyrex dish, coat with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and toss all the squash onto the pan. Arrange the cut pieces so they are somewhat even, and distributed at a even level. The take the onions and place them on top of the squash pieces. Level out a little, now take the drained tomatoes and those arrange evenly with a little overlapping of each piece. The idea is to cover the dish with the tomatoes.

Stick it in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Make the topping.

Take couple of slices of bread or a bun so that you can pulse it in a food processor to make some rough bread crumbs. Add the garlic, cheese and herbs, and oil, blend to make it even.

Remove the dish from the oven and evenly and carefully distribute the bread cheese mixture to cover the tomatoes , crank up the heat to 450 and return the dish to the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes until the bread topping starts to darken and the cheese melts.

Remove, let cool for about 5 minutes , put some chopped parsley or basil on the top and enjoy

Stuff you will need;

1 lb summer squash cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 lb zucchini cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1.5 lbs ripe tomatoes ( 3 or 4 large) sliced 1/4 inch rounds.
2 yellow onions sliced, about 3 cups
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tea salt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 shallots minced 1/4 cup
basil leaves
1 large slice of bread or bun
1/4 cup
6 tbs olive oil

I'm sorry.... a few will be OK.

2010-07-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

While the wife's away, I get to eat food that otherwise I would not eat.

One of the ways I lost my weight was to stop eating all fast food.

I now try and eat healthy stuff, but as Julia Child said everything in moderation is ok........

I think she was saying that when she was putting in about a pound of butter into some recipe.

The Sonoma County Fair started this week and one of the items I have always enjoyed has been the Hot Dog on Stick.

Being in Mexico I haven't been able to fetch one of those puppies in a few years, so this was a perfect opportunity to check out the fair and to grab a dog or two.

The first thing I wondered is how much were they going to cost. The last time I had been at the fair, they were $1.75 and $2.00 dollars.

You paid a premium of a quarter if you bought one on the main walkway. If you went to one of the other walkways you would have the same item but a tad less.

Anyway, I read that senior day was Tuesday so that would save me 10 dollars, so with the parking and a few bites, I could get away for less than 20 bucks.

The cord dogs are now $ 5 dollars and 4 dollars respectively.
So in less than 10 years the prices have doubled.

I had one of the dogs, and about half way through I peeled off the corn coating and just ate the hot dog. The coating was actually thicker than the size of the meat.....
I guess that's one way to keep the profit margin up.

I came home disappointed and decided to make my own.

Here is an easy recipe and they taste good. I wish that Mexico would have decent sausages, but their idea of good hot dogs is pretty sad.

So here you go,

Stuff you will need.

1 cup Flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp bacon drippings
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 lbs hot dogs ( buy the best you can get, usually I get either Nathans or Hebrew National
1/2 cup corn starch
wooden sticks ( you can use chop sticks, or thick bbq wooden skewers

Directions:

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour , cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in melted bacon drippings. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, buttermilk and baking soda,mix until everything is smooth and well blended. ( kind of like making pasta)
To make things much easier pour the batter into a tall drinking glass. This will make it easier to dip the hot dogs.
Pat the room temperature hot dogs dry. Insert wooden sticks into the ends. Roll in cornstarch, tap off excess (helps the batter stick to the hot dog). Dip the hot dogs in the batter one at a time, shaking off the excess. Deep fry a few at a time in the hot oil until they as are brown as you like them (2-3 minutes) Drain on paper towel & serve. You can hold these in a 200 degree oven until you finish the whole batch.

If you have any batter left over, cut up some zucchini or carrots, so you will at least feel someone healthy eating fried food......

A big party means

2010-06-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Having lots of fun items to feed people with.

We use to have lot of parties years ago. As the time went on , people seemed to get less time to stop and enjoy the better things in life.

Family, Friends and Food.

We run into people and it's "we need to get together"
Well we did just that this week.

My wife birthday was last week and I was able to put together a surprise birthday party for her, which many of our friends from Northern California and her family could attend.

La Senora ( Marlin ) loves piggies.
So I ordered a 25 lb suckling pig, a full prime rib roast, Two bags of Washington Oysters, a box of white corn and her birthday cake, her favorite, Tiramisu cake.

Having cooked about a dozen pigs in my life time, this one was special. This one was small in relationship to the others.

There are a few ways to cook a whole pig, one is on a spit, the other is in a ground oven like a Imu, like the Hawaiians do, or like I did this time is simply slide it in the oven. m( The Imu is a pain to do...trust me, unless you want the show aspect of it....)

I have cooked a few in the ground and quite frankly there is not much difference in the taste or the texture of the meat as it falls off the bones.

Here is what you need:

One small piggy.
1/2 cup granulated garlic
1/2 cup granulated onion
1/2 cup Lawrys seasoning salt
1/4 cup course ground pepper
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 ground sage
1 cup olive oil

Mix the items together and with your hand rub the mix first on the inside cavity and then on the outside.
Place a small piece of wood or a lemon, into the mouth to keep it open.
take some aluminum foil and cover the ears and tail
Slide into a 300 degree oven
Place a large piece of foil on top of the pig and remove the last 30 minutes to crisp up the skin.

After about 2.5 hours check the temperature with an instant read thermometer in to the thigh.
It should read about 150-155.
Remove the foil covering the top and roast for another 25 -30 minutes, remove let sit covered for about 10 minutes
The let the guests devour the beast.

The difference between .......

2010-04-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Many friends that I enjoy cooking for, sometimes ask why the food tastes so good. Is it the meat?
Or where do you get your ingredients?

Well let me share a little secret.

It's spicing the food, folks?

There are other things that will effect food other than salt and pepper.
Why is it that people are so afraid to toss some spices on their food?

Oh.....tooo spicy?

What's too spicy?

Spice it to your liking......figure out what you like and enjoy something besides unseasoned bland food.

Here is a little very simple seasoning that I use about 50% of the time. You can add or subtract to the basic mix depending on your liking. But at least try......eh? Will ya?

Dry Adobo rub

In a heavy 12 inch skillet toss in 3 Tablespoons of Cumin Seeds and on medium flame, heat until they start releasing their aroma. Keep the skillet moving so that they do not burn......Burn Bad!
As soon as you start smelling the aroma, about another 30 seconds more and that is about done. Take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
In a container, ( I use a zip lock bag for this) toss in the following:

4TBS of garlic powder
4 TBs of onion powder
1 TBS salt
1 TBS fresh ground pepper
1 TBS red chili pepper flakes.

\Now that the seeds have cooled, either grind them in your spice grinder, You do have a spice grinder don't you? or toss them in a molcajete and grind down to a fine power.

Toss into the bag and shake or mix well until thoroughly mixed.

This dry rub works great on pork, chicken, beef steaks, fish and almost anything you can thing of.....

Here is an easy beef steak recipe.
You can use pretty much any cut of steak that you like.

Take two steaks, run about 1 Tbs of the rub thoroughly on each steak, put into a shallow glass dish.
Squeeze the juice of a few limes on the steaks, then add about 1 cup of cider vinegar to the dish, after about 15 minutes turn the steaks so that the other side is in the liquid.

After 30 minutes remove, dry and toss on the grill and cook to your liking. After you remove from the grill remember to let the meat rest for at least 4 minutes otherwise the juice will flow out of the meat as soon as you cut into it.

Enjoy!

Capirotada , well almost, Bread Pudding

2010-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

Ah, Bread Pudding. Some people say that it's origins are from British Cuisine. Maybe so, what a better way not to toss out your old bread. You could make Kvass, which is a old Russian alcoholic beverage that uses old bread, some yeast and sugar..... that's another post.

Capirotada is the Mexican version that uses cheese combined with the bread and sometimes nuts, etc. My friend Mexico Bob has the complete history and a recipe for an more authentic Capirotada on his blog site. Go to : Capirotada to check it out and get a great history lesson to boot!

I made this for a dinner last night and failed to take the picture before we served it, so my apologies for not showing the play by play of making it, but after you read this you will see it is so easy that the remaining shot of the pudding in the bowl will still convey the story.

My bread pudding uses everything. Old bread, but it is best when using old sweet bread. Take anything you can find, old donuts, bear claws, snails, crullers, conchas, orejas, any danish pastry and even old regular baguettes etc and chop them up into about 1 inch cubes.

Take a bowl and place all of it and coat with about a half a cup of milk mixed with about 1/4 cup of your favorite booze.

I use rum or brandy.

In another bowl combine 4 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, cinnamon and combine until totally Incorporated. You can use a hand mixer if you like, sometimes it is just as easy to just whisk it, than finding the mixer and the after use cleanup.
Once you have the custard ( yep that is what it is at this point) pour it on to the bread and place it into your dish that you are going to bake it in.

I will sometimes add about a 1/2 cup of raisins soaked in rum ( overnight ) into the stuff at this point.

Place into a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Check it after about 45 minutes and see if the center is jiggly. It should just be leaving the jiggly stage, pull it out and let it cool. ( I love the word jiggly)

That's it!

Oh, there is one thing you can add that makes it really good. Actually two things. Before you slide it in the oven cut about half a cube of butter into 1/2 inch cubes and put them in between a few of the bread pieces in the dish, before putting it in the oven. The added butter will richen up the dish ( Like it needs more richness )

The second is..........
Whiskey or Booze sauce which you drip on generously on the pudding as you serve it.
To make the sauce, melt 1 cube of butter, in a sauce pan, add 1 cup of confectioners sugar and whisk it to incorporate it into the butter, and carefully ( as not to spill it and cause a fire) add about 1/2 cup of rum, or whiskey or brandy, and whisk it in,
that's it, spoon over the pudding and tell everyone what a low calorie dessert this is.

Stuff you will need:
Old bread , donuts etc, to fill a 8 cup measuring cup.
1 cup of milk,
1 cube of butter* optional
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins.

Whiskey sauce
1 cube of butter* not optional
1 cup of confectioners sugar
1/2 whiskey or booze of your choice.

I have made this for large crowds, 200 people or more and it is an easy make ahead, pretty inexpensive and with the addition of the Whiskey sauce a killer dessert. You just need to be carefull about the quantity of butter.... well you can try......

How about an Arugula Salad?

2010-02-21T16:44:00.001-08:00

It's pretty difficult to get Arugula or Rocket ( as it is called in Europe) in Mexico.

I got use to it as a nice peppery green for use in a nice light salad along with other baby greens.

A few people have mentioned an interest in growing it, so here it is again. I have done a lot of my salad greens in boxes. This one is made from 3 boards, filled with dirt, and seeded. As you can see the Arugula has sprouted and is about a 1/2 inch high. I have taken the 7 ft long box and run two rows. The first 3rd of the box is Arugula, the middle is red leaf lettuce and the last is
romaine.
I run two rows, and will plant about 3 to 4 boxs for the season, seperated by about 3 to 4 weeks. This will allow a constant supply of delicious greens for salads and gifts to others who appreicate these tender "weeds".

It is easy, this time I bought some casters and put them on a board the same size as the wood for using the box. This will allow me to move the boxes to catch the sun or to move it away if it gets too hot or bright in direct sun when the plants are not ready for the direct sun.

Planting lettuce now is a great time since if it get too hot it will bolt . You can plant it for a hot climate , you just will have to harvest the leaves right before they bolt, otherwise they can become bitter.

This batch was planted last Tuesday, even with it raining for two days, this is what the result is in just 5 days!

Have fun!

Really Really Really Quick Bread

2010-01-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago I listed a recipe for sourdough bread that was easy, well this one is easy and fast. Let's say someone shows up unexpectedly and you want some appetizers or bread with dinner.
This bread will be ready to serve in 15 minutes or less.

You don't believe me?

Try it, you may like it!

In a medium bowl, Mix, flour, salt, baking and water together to make a gloppy dough. Be sure all the flour is incorporated, not hard since the dough should be the consistency of peanut butter.

Once mixed, scrap it out of the bowl, onto the 10 inch non stick skillet to which you have added about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Turn up the flame to medium.

With an rubber spatula that you have dipped in the excess olive oil that the bread plopped into, so it doesn't stick, spread out the dough so it is as evenly spread out in the skillet, thickness wise.
By this time the olive oil should be starting to sizzle the bread.

Add two tablespoons of water onto the oil, try to get it on to the skillet not on the bread. If you do get some one the bread, it is not a big deal.
Immediately cover the skillet with a cover.
Walk away for about 8 minutes.

Take the top off and with a non stick utensil life up one edge of the bread and see how it is doing.
It should be a nice golden brown.

Now , if you are a somewhat seasoned certified skillet tosser, you can flip the bread in the skillet to the other side.
If you are not, just use two spatulas.
Immediately cover the pan.
Let cook another 7 minutes or so.
Take a look see after 7 minutes and check to see, or thump the bread and it should sound hollow.

Remove, set on a wire rack for about 5 minutes or if you want, cut right away and serve
Do not leave it on a flat surface since it will come soggy.

Now.......if you want to add a twist to the recipe, use sesame oil instead of olive oil and it will have a nice flavor.
Or, put some chopped onion on the skillet (remove the bread before turning it) and put the uncooked bread on top of he onion, and just keep checking it so it doesn't burn....and your result will be an onion bread.

Pretty easy!

Enjoy!

Stuff you will knead.
(No kneading involved)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda.
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
1 cup water
2 TBS of olive oil.

With your coffee....

2010-01-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

My wife has to have something to nosh on with her morning coffee.
We usually will buy some conchas, and I started buying the orejas, for myself.

The orejas just seem a little lighter, nothing to do with the butter in between all those layers of pastry....Ok, they are only a 1/4 of an inch thick so they have to be less fattening than those big conchas.

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about a concha is a Mexican sweetbread made to look like a sea shell, usually enough for about two days worth of coffee. The orejas is a puff pastry which is some times called elephant ears or Palmiers

Well, anyway back to the story here, Lots of times the bakeries do not have fresh conchas or orejas so I started making the Italian Biscotti. They last almost forever and are great for trips on the road. If you buy your coffee at a Starbucks, Biscotti are usually about $1.50 each....unless you get the one dipped in chocolate, those are 2 bucks.

I love them, since they can be made pretty easy, you can add health thing into them like almonds, or other nuts, plus raisins, and the zest of lemons or oranges.
Here is a easy recipe for my orange almond Biscotti. I usually make a double batch, the photos are of a double batch. They are also called twice baked and some people dip them in their coffee sometimes.....

Orange zest Almond Biscotti.

Preheat your oven to 350.
Take the almonds and toss on a cookie sheet and toast them for about 10 minutes, let cool, set aside.
In a large bowl put in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix to incorporate.

In a smaller bowl, mix the sugar and melted butter until smooth, then toss in the eggs, ( out of their shell) add the almond and vanilla extra, mix. ( You can use an electric hand mixer to froth up the mixture if you like)

Now add the wet to the dry bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until all mixed. You might, just might have to add a little water or milk if your flour is real dry. No more than about 2 TBS of liquid.

Add the almonds then flour your hands and work surface. Mix and knead the mix until it is one whole glob.
It should hold together but almost crumbly. Not like bread or cake dough.
Divide the glob into two parts. Shape it into a 12 inch long by 1 1/2inch log. put on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and once on the sheet push down a tad so it is about 1/2 inch high.

Slide it in the oven
In about 15 minute it should be starting to be gold brown. Remove and lit sit for about 2 minutes.
Take a serrated bread knife and slice into 1/2 inch diagonal pieces, separate on the cookie sheet and put it back in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and prop open the oven door about 2 or 3 inches so they will cool slowly.
When totally cool, put in a zip lock bag and they will last about 3 weeks or until scarfed up!

If you double click on the photo you can see the strands of Orange zest in each cookie.

Enjoy.

Stuff you will knead.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almonds, roasted, not salted
1 cup sugar
4 TBS butter melted or softened
2 eggs beaten with 1 tbs of water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest from a large orange or two small ones, chopped medium
2 -3 TBS milk, enough to moisten dough

Bread of the Magi

2010-01-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

If you arrived here from our other site, then you need no explanation otherwise, go to: http://ranchocanyon.blogspot.com/2010/01/dia-de-los-reyes.html

For the whole story on Rosca de Reyes Bread!

To get started.

Proof the yeast by adding it to the warm water and let sit for about 10 or 15 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast water, flour, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, cinnamon, anise seed and vanilla extract. Mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then cover and let rise in a warm area until dough is doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Punch dough down and shape into a wreath. You can do this by simply rolling it into a log shape then bending the ends around to form a circle, or you can make three thinner strips and braid them, then put the ends together. The wreath should be about 12-14 inches in diameter. Lift up one area and insert the toy by pushing it up through the bottom. Smooth out any lumps or tears.

Add the dried fruit by laying it across the top and pressing it in slightly. Let it rise until doubled. Brush top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

If you want to make it look real good, put something in the middle of it to keep the dough from getting misshapen during cooking. I usually have either a metal 1 cup measuring cup or a sutable ring mold ( metal ) that I put in there to keep it's shape while cooking. DO NOT put anything plastic or nylon in there, since it will melt......

Stuff you will knead

1/3 cup warm water
1 packet of yeast
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
A small figurine or toy ( preferable something resembling the Christ Child) and something that will not easily melt!
Candied Fruit (about 2 cups of assorted fruit cut into strips such as figs, orange, lemon, mango or cherries)
1 egg beaten (egg wash)
1/3 cup sugar (topping)

Enjoy!

Some nice cold Mexican Chocolate

2010-01-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

I use my frozen dessert machine for lots of stuff, but Margaritas in December is just a tad too cold. But a Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream with some nice Hot Chocolate is a great dessert. You would be surprised on what you can toss into the machine and have it make in about 15 minutes. This one has a special taste because of the Ibarra chocolate.

Stuff you will need;

9 oz of Ibarra Chocolate, chopped in small chunks
One vanilla bean
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
3 cinnamon sticks
6 egg yolks
1/2 sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Take the vanilla bean and split it down the middle, then scrap out the seeds, in a small saucepan on medium bring the milk, cream and chocolate to a simmer. Toss in the vanilla seeds and the bean and add the chocolate.
Let simmer for about 5 minutes, stir now and then remove from heat and let steep for about half and hour.
Meanwhile, toss the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a mixer and whisk at medium to high for about 3 minutes until the sugar has incorporated and the mixture looks a pale yellow. Or if you have Mexican chickens, a nice yellow color.
Strain the milk/cream mixture through a fine strainer and remove the bean. Discard the cinnamon sticks. With the mixer running on medium, slowly pour the cream into the egg mixture. Be sure that the milk has cooled otherwise you will have some nice scramble eggs......
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and return to the low heat. Mix with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens up a tad...and the temperature reaches 170 . Do not overheat.
Remove from heat, pour mixture into a cold bowl, and stick it in the fridge. Every 10 minutes or so, stir it around so it doesn't form a skin on the top After it has cooled , (1 hour ) cover with plastic and chill for another hour, or at this point you can keep it in the fridge for a day or so, until you are ready to make CHOCOLATE Ice Cream!

When ready, process the mix in your ice cream maker, once done, place in freezer to harden up more.
That's it!

Feedback with a photo

2009-12-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

It is nice to get feedback on some of the recipes I post. Today I got one from a reader and this time they sent a photo.
The reason I am posting it, is because the photo and the end result seems better than mine!
Bravo!
There is nothing better to see that someone has taken the recipe and put their signature on it!
That is what cooking is all about!

Here are his comments:

Great recipe! We had left over cornish game hens which was enough to make six enchiladas; we each ate three.

Chili sauce was great and easy to do. I reduced all by 1/4 to match quantity of meat and I used the last 5 minutes on broil to get the cheese browned a little.

Recipe is a keeper.. Great with margaritas and Pacifico.

Chicken Enchiladas with Chili Sauce

2009-12-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

I usually do not like dishes with gobs of sauce because first they are high in calories and second they can sometimes mask the flavors in the main ingredient. Therefore most of the time I will simply make a vinaigrette type or stock reduction with some other ingredients tossed in for effect.
But not this time, I had a hankering for some enchiladas swimming in a nice tasty thick sauce.
This recipe is pretty simple , basic Bechamel sauce shredded chicken and cheese, bake let cool and eat.

Béchamel is one of your basic sauces to which you add lots of things to , so if you do not know how to make it, here it is. ( I think I am repeating myself in a previous listing ) 6- 8 oz of unsalted butter 2 cups chicken stock 2 cups whole milk 1/2 cup all purpose flour Take the butter toss it into a 4 qt pan, melt it, when melted stir in the flour until totally coated. In another pan heat milk and stock until almost boiling. When ready ladle in the liquid while whisking it in, until all is accepted. Stir more to be sure there are no clumps or lumps. ( I just had to say that, kina ryhmes) Once all incorporated, let thicken and reduce flame to low simmer and let it bubble away for a few minutes. Be sure you stir it now and then to keep it from burning. After 5 minutes remove from heat and set aside.

Now depending on the flavor you like the best, chili wise, roast up a couple. I used the Poblano Chili and roast on the open flame of the eye of the stove. Turn to roast evenly

After the chili is totally blistered ( about 5 minutes ) remove from heat, put in a paper bag and seal, wait about 10 minutes, it will steam in the bag. ( Good thing )

Remove from bag, remove with your fingers the charred skin, cut it open in half, remove the seed and the top of the pepper.

If you do not have to run it under water so much the better, but if you wish and need to , rinse with a little water as possible ( Flavor goes with some of the water ) then slice into strips.
( This is what is called Ristras )
Toss into a blender, take about half of the Bechamel and put it in the blender. Now, you can do one of two things here.
Keep going or add another flavor.
For this recipe I added Spinach. I have also used Watercress (Berro) Wilted Chard, Sauteed Leek Whites, If you want corn flavor you could add a corn, etc....You get the idea?
I added a large handful of washed Spinach, into the blender and blend away for about 2 or 3 minutes until it is all blended up!
Return to the Bechamel pot, stir, and season.
Ok, what do you mean season?
You are the one who is going to eat this, so how would you like it?
I would put in about a teaspoon of Kosher Salt. About a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or maybe some Cayenne.
If you don't want it too salty, omit the salt, keep the pepper,
If you don't like it to spicy, omit the pepper, keep the salt.
Got It?

Ok,

Take the chicken and be sure it is shredded, ( stringy) This is great for chicken leftovers. Or if you are doing this without chicken a Deli Rotisserie Chicken is perfect.
Discard about half the skin ( unless you like fattening delicious skin)
Put into a bowl and add about one cup of the Green Sauce.
Mix to cover well.
Take a 9x12 ovenproof dish. Take about a cup or so, to cover the bottom of the pan with the Green Sauce.
Take and warm some corn tortillas, in a oven so they are pliable, or if you have fresh tortillas direct from a tortillaria, this is when I usually make this so it eliminates the warming step.
Take the open tortilla, spread about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture and roll up the tortilla and place the seam end down on to the bed of delicious green chili sauce.
After you have roll up about a dozen of these big cigars, you should be finished with the chicken. If not, make yourself a chicken taco.
Put the rest of the sauce on top of the formation of rolls, spread the sauce to be sure it covers all of them.
Now, if you like, this is optional, take about a 1/2 to 1 cup of cheese and top all along the top with cheese, slam it into a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling or the cheese is totally melted and starting to brown.
Remove , wait until you can eat it without burning your mouth.
Enjoy.

Stuff you will need:

2 or 3 Poblano Chilis ( Chili Negro in some areas, Pasillo in the states )
1 Cup packed greens ( Spinach, Watercress, Cilantro )
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
6 oz butter
1/2 cup flour
Salt and Pepper
4 cups shredded chicken, or one whole small, Pollio Rostizado)
12 corn tortillas
4 garlic cloves smashed and sauteed in the butter.
Hand full of shredded cheese, like Asadero or Chihuahua, or Monterrey Jack.
Cilantro and Green Onion for garnish.

Turkey leftovers , one more idea...

2009-11-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

Turkey Vegetable Soup with Cornmeal Dumplings

I usually will make a nice savory soup, with bits of turkey, rice, celery and maybe even the stuffing in a nice chicken stock, but.....here is a nice variation of what to do with some leftover turkey.

If you like a spicier broth, stir in a little sauce from a can of chipotle chile en adobo (chipotle chiles in sauce)

To start by

preheating broiler. On a foil-lined baking sheet, broil the tomato and poblano chile until blackened and blistered all over and softened.

Let cool. Meanwhile have a glass of wine or a shot of your favorite libation. 10 minutes while the chili and tomato blackens....

Then,peel, core and seed the tomato, then puree in a blender. Peel and seed the chile, then dice.

Heat the oil in a large pot over moderate heat.

Add the onion and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute briefly to release it's overpowering smell of a Italian restaurant.

Add the oregano, crumbling it between your fingers, then add the tomato. Saute, stirring, for about 5 minutes to develop the flavor.

Add the carrots and the broth. Bring to a simmer.

Simmer gently 5 minutes, then add the zucchini, chard, poblano chile and turkey. Remove from the heat while you prepare the dumplings.

For the dumplings:

In a bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, butter and egg to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and stir just enough to moisten all the dry ingredients.

Return the soup to moderate heat and bring just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Drop spoonfuls of batter about the size of a walnut onto the soup's barely simmering surface, spacing the dumplings evenly and leaving room for them to double in size. You should have enough batter to make at least 12 dumplings. Depending on the diameter of your pot, you may run out of space before you run out of batter. Cover and adjust heat to maintain a bare simmer; you do not want the soup to boil. Cook 20 minutes. Divide broth and dumplings among warm soup bowls.

Stuff you will need

1 large ripe tomato
1 large poblano chile
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
2 carrots, diced
2 1/2 quarts Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Stock (see recipe above)
2 small zucchini, diced
3 large chard leaves, ribs removed, in 1/2-inch ribbons
2 cups shredded cooked turkey

Cornmeal Dumplings:
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/8teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt you could also use crema

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 large egg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

This makes about 4 healthy, hefty servings or about 6 normal servings

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

2009-11-21T23:34:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my most memorable holidays, because it was a way that my grandmother and mother would spend all day and usually the day before cooking and getting the house ready for family and friends to come over.

I miss the hustle and bustle of the holiday, since now the family is gone, and usually we will wind up going to friends for the dinner.

I do a Russian Easter dinner sometimes, but usually it has dwindled down from family and friends to a few close friends.
Gone are the wild and crazy days of a Russian table of 20 or so, to now maybe 6 or so Russkies.
Gone are are days of tipsy Russians, notice I say "tipsy" Not drunk.
That is being politically correct.

Anyway, during the holidays I usually will make a least one of not two Pumpkin items. The last few years I have made pumpkin cheesecakes, with gingerbread crust. This year I figured in doing some ice cream.
In the plaza in Patzcuaro have some of the better home made ice cream makers, so why do all the rigmarole of making home made?
Because they don't have PUMPKIN, thats why.

So here it is.
Pumpkin Ice Cream
( Makes about 1 quart)

Adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco & Mindy Fox

If using canned pumpkin, make sure to find one that's 100% pumpkin. Often you'll find cans of pumpkin pie mix. That has spices and sugar and crap you don't want. You want your own spices and crap! So open the can and press the mixture through a fine mesh strainer before freezing, as directed.

Pumpkin can be slightly grainy and straining the custard is a good idea to help smooth it out.

Stuff you will need:

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) whole milk
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (95 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon freshly-grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup packed (60 g) dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier, rum or brandy

3/4 cup (180 g) canned pumpkin puree (100% pure), or homemade

1. Make an ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl and nest a smaller metal bowl (one that will hold at least 2 quarts, inside it. Set a mesh strainer over the top.

2. In a medium saucepan mix the milk, cream, granulated sugar, ginger, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, and salt.

3. Warm the mixture until hot and the edges begin to bubble and foam.

4. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl and gradually whisk in about half of the warm spiced milk mixture, stirring constantly.

5. Scrape the warmed yolks back in to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read between 160º-170ºF (71º-76ºC).

6. Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl nested in the ice bath. Mix in the brown sugar, then stir until cool, then chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

7. Whisk in the vanilla, liquor (if using), and pumpkin puree. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Variations: Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups (250 - 320 g) white or milk chocolate chips, crushed caramel, chopped up Skor or Daim (toffee) bars, or chopped toasted pecans or walnuts. A bit of chopped candied ginger would be nice, too.

Leftover bits of crumbled gingersnaps or gingerbread, or even toasted bits of brown bread or gingerbread could also be folded in, or crumbled on top for serving, which was suggested in the book.

It will usually take about 20 minutes in my machine, which will then require putting in your normal house freezer to get it down to "freezing"

The ingredients are not vital, unlike baking, it is hard to screw up!
After you do it a couple of times, you will try to make ice cream out of lots of stuff.
I have made Chai, Green Tea, Ibarra Chocolate, to name a few.

Enjoy!

I had a couple of emails asking what kind of a ice cream machine I used. The one I use is made by Kitchen Aid, but unfortunately is no longer made by them. Any ice cream machine will work, just remember to finish off the freezing in the freezer. You may be able to find a used on , on Ebay or other used appliance site.

Huitlacoche pick of the season, NOW!

2009-10-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days during my wanderings at the mercado, I have seen the most abundant crop of Huitlacoche that I have ever seen in my years of bumbling around the mercado.

Last year I took some guests to peruse the market and there was only a few ears displayed by the Indian ladies.

Today I would guess that about 75 % of the private vendors had great assortments of the fungus.

When people look at it, the first reaction is eeeechh.

Funny they don't do that when looking at a Portabello or Oyster Mushrooms, so why the disdain?
Well maybe because they haven't tasted it.

What I usually do is make a sauce or dish with the FUNGUS and not tell them what it looks like, only after I will bring out a ear with it on.

Varied response.

Don't do that unless you know the people real well or are willing to loose a friend or two.

I usually will ask beforehand if the people that are going to feast on this delight, enjoy truffles.
If they say yes, then it's a no brainer. If they say no, then I ask them if they like mushrooms.

So far, I have only had one meltdown. Same person didn't like Stake Tartare, and Escargots.......

This is a easy recipe for a great filling. I usually will make it as an appetizer and make a nice corn or cream sauce depending on what flavors I want to feature.

To make the filling.
Add 3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil to a medium size skillet over medium heat.
Toss in the onions and sweat until translucent. Add the garlic.
Add the chopped huitlacoche, combine and add the crema or ricotta cheese.
Let simmer for about 5 minutes season with salt and pepper.
Set aside.

Stuff you will need.

3 -4 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup chopped white onion
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced.
1 1/2 cup of chopped Huitlacoche.
(canned is available if need be)
2 TBS finely chopped epazote, (leaves only)
pinch of thyme
1/4 to 1/3 cup of Mexican Crema

For the Crepes

4 eggs
3 cups milk
420 grams of flour
1 small stick of butter
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon honey

Combine the above ingredients, (reserve 1/3 of the butter for the skillet) in a blender and whirl away for about 1 minute. Let rest for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile back at the stove, get your best non stick 10 inch skillet
Take a small ladle full and spead on the hot skillet, turn the skillet so that the batter evenly coats, Put back on burner and wait about a minute or until the edges start crisping up or browning.
With a silicon spatula, or if you are a seasoned cook, you fingers, you quicly flip it and let it finish cooking on the other side, usually about 45 seconds.
Hold the crepes in a warm oven until all are done,
When ready fill with the filling, top with sauce and enjoy!

Pavo Con Pulque

2009-10-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

My first experience with Pulque was about 10 years ago, driving between Guadalajara and Morelia. At one of the Autopista toll stations we would get inundated with several roadside vendors running along side the car with some kind of wicker bottle of "stuff".
One time we pulled over to use the restroom or to take the dogs for a walk and this guy came over to sell me some Pulque.

What the hell is Pulque?

It is an juice from the Maguey plant that is combine with some fruits and left to ferment. It has a very noticeable pungent ( nice word for it ) odor or smell......

Depending on which fruit is used, commonly pineapple, strawberries and prickly pears are used with the slimy sap from the plant, then left to ferment and sugars are added and your have
Pulque!

Cooking with Pulque is more like marinading with a wine or combine sauce where you use an alcohol liquor.

There are lot of stuff that you can cook with, this recipe uses Duck, but you could substitute the old other plain bird the chicken, for Pulque con Pollo.

The trick to this dish is the sauce, so the duck has the delicate taste and texture, but the sauce give it the extra flavor and is a little time consuming but worth the effort!

The Pulque adds a distinct and delicate nuance to the dish. Try it you may like it!

Pulque is a concoction that goes back to pre Columbian times and can be compared to moonshine or other home made booze.

To start:
Take the whole duck and place breast down in a baking dish. Season with Salt and Pepper, cover with pork lard, garlic and onions, the bay leaves and some of the thyme. Add water to cover the duck and put into a 350 F oven and cover with foil.

After about one hour, remove the foil and turn the duck over so that the other side gets exposed.
Cover with foil and return to the oven for one more hour. During the last 15 minutes remove the foil.

After 2 hours, remove and let cool, discard the water and fat, I usually will put it in another pot and stick it in the refrigerator so it solidifies, which make the disposal easier.

Carefully remove the bones with leaving the meat intact. Set aside.

Now make a Roux. Melt the butter in a 4 qt saucepan, and flour and stir incorporating the flour, on medium heat, be sure and keep stirring so the flour will not burn, when a light brown add some caldo de pollo about one teaspoon, incorporate and set aside.
To assemble the sauce

Take half of the duck bones and cover with water, bring to a boil in a sauce pan. Add the celery and carrot along with the onions, cook for about 30 minutes on medium. This will make a nice broth.

Take the remaining bones, vegetables and the cut tomato and place into a regular pan, do not use a non stick pan since the items will not caramelize properly. Place into a hot oven, until well browned but not burned 450-500 degrees.The will stick to the pan and form a fond. Remove from the oven, put on medium flame, add the Pulque and scrape the bits from the pan and squeeze the vegetables, to emit their juices. Reduce by half.

Add the broth and strain. Then add the liquid to the roux, to combine. Heat, season to taste, and cover the duck on individual servings with the sauce.

You can serve this with white rice, so that it will absorb the sauce.

Stuff you will need:

One large or two small ducks
1/2 lb lard
one onion cut into 8 pieces
1 head of garlic cut into half.
4 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme

For the Roux
1 1/2 oz butter
1 1/2 oz flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chicken dry caldo

For the sauce
1/2 leek in pieces, washed and cleaned
2 stalk of celery chopped
1 carrot diced
1 large onion chopped
1 large tomato chopped

Quick and easy Talapia with tomatoes

2009-10-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

We have a few "fresh" seafood places in Patzcuaro, one is on the Periferico and it sells both fresh and frozen shrimp and fish. They also have frozen Talapia which is a pretty common cheap fish in Mexico.
This recipe uses everything that is easy found locally and pretty much everywhere.

To start,
Add olive oil to a pan , heat to medium heat, and toss in the onions and fennel, stir on heat for about 6 or 7 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Stir in tomatoes, garbanzos, grated lemon, olives, cumin,turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer, lay the talapia fillets over the vegetables, cover and let cook for about 10 minutes, half way through carefully turn the fish over once.
I usually make a couscous or pasta like orzo to use with this dish. You could even use rice.

Stuff you will need:

1TBS Olive Oil
1/2 of a medium white onions chopped fine.
1 head fennel, without stalks. sliced thin.
1 14 oz of stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, or you could use fresh
1 1/2 Tbs freshly ground lemon zest.
1/2 cup pitted black olives, chopped.
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumino
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, if using regular table salt, reduce by 40%
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 tbs fresh chopped parsley (Italian preferable)
Couscous, Orzo or Rice.

Beef Tongue or Easy Lengua

2009-10-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

When you first mention beef tongue, lots of people's response is oooooh yuk!

It is probably safe to say that those people have never had a really good taco made from lengua!

Why is it so disgusting for so many people?
The taste that it has, is really good. Besides being my favorite taco choice, I will make it about 5 or 6 times a year to use for tacos or thinly sliced on a nice bagel or bun, some slivered red onion a little mayo, yuuum!

Here is a simple way to make it!

Buy a nice sized tongue that will fit into your pot.

Make a brine of Kosher salt and water. 1 CUP Kosher salt to 2 quarts of water. Soak for about 3 hours. Drain and remove, meanwhile,

Bring your pot to a low boil, add the onion, garlic and salt and spices.

Place the tongue in the water, and return to a low boil. During the next 2 hours go ahead and skim off any foam that may rise to the top.

After about 2 hours, keep at a low simmer. Be sure the meat is covered with water at all times.

Halfway through you can also turn the meat so the previously expose top is now in the bottom.
After 3 hours, remove the tongue.

At this point you can either make it for use as slicing meat or continue for making it in a sauce.

Once the tongue is cool enough to handle, take a sharp knife and remove the skin from the meat.

If you take your time you will not remove too much of the tender meat underneath the outer skin.

Once done, clean up the end, usually you will just cut about 1/2 inch and it will expose the non fat tender meat. Slice thinly and enjoy.

( some people prefer to strip off the skin, you will have to use pliers in order to grab it, I find just trimming it off much easier)

To make the sauce.

Either degrease the broth, remove the onions and stuff strain. I will usually remove all the large stuff floating in the pot with a spider, and put the pot in the fridge. The next day I can remove the fat with a fork or spatula.
Take the broth and reserve about 4 cups, place into a sauce pan, in the pan add 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, one small onion, 1 TBS vinegar, and a slice of day old bread. Cook for about 15 minutes until reduced about 1/2, process with a stick blender or in your blender, season the sauce with salt and pepper (salt if needed)

The broth is now degreased, take the tongue and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place into a baking dish and overlap the tongue meat in the pan, take the broth and pour in on top of the meat, place into a hot oven 350 or so, for about a half hour.

To serve, place on plate or shallow bowl, top with chopped cilantro and chopped white onions.
A dash of your favorite hot sauce is also nice.

Enjoy.

Stuff you will need:

One Beef Tongue 2.5 to 3 lbs.
1 large white onion quartered
1 carrot cut into 1/2 inch rounds
3 Bay leaves
1 TBS peppercorns
1 1/2 cup Kosher Salt

Oatmeal Raisin Cooking Day

2009-10-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's currently 64 and a light rain is attacking the tile outside. Perfect weather for some cookies....No?
Here is a simple but tasty recipe for Oatmeal cookies. This recipe was one that I got while at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco about 20 years ago. I am sure that there are tons of recipes, this one always was good and people seemed to enjoy the end result. (at least that what they said)

Using more oatmeal than normal it brings a more chewy texture and nut like flavor.
Oven to 375,

Then while it is heating up, in a Kitchenaid or similar mixer toss in the ingredients first starting with the butter, then brown sugar. Since this recipe has come out I have substituted Splenda* Brown sugar mix, this allows me to have an extra cookie or two without overdoing my diet.....

Process until well blended, add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and incorporate all.
Sloooooowly add the flour mixture, then the oats and raisins. Add the cinnamon and allspice and process for another minute.

On baking sheets, place some parchment paper or just butter or grease the sheets. Again I prefer parchment paper, saves on the calories.....

Drop by the tablespoon, or if the dough is a tad heavier I usually flour my hands, use a wooden spoon to grab a glop of dough and roll it like a meatball in my hands and then place it on the sheet. This allows for more even cookie flow, and you always want even cookie flow......it's a Zen thing!

Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes depending on your oven and rack placement. You want them just lightly browned.

Cool on wire racks. eat one, save the rest or give them away so you don't eat all of them the same day!

Enjoy.

Stuff that you will knead......

1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Get the real stuff not imitation!)
2 Cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 Cup raisins (Be sure and break them apart so they are not big clusters of raisins)

Makes about 3 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies or 18 3 inch ones......

Enjoy

Gotta have my Dills

2009-08-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Dill pickles that you buy at the store are awful. Most of them have oodles of vinegar and taste unnatural.

Solution........... Make you own

Start with growing picking cucumbers, they grow real well especially in grow boxes. I have about 5 plants, and can get a batch within 4 or 5 days enough to make them. If I have too many I make a batch and give them away to people that have the hankering for sour pickles.

Here is what to do.

Get some small to medium cucumbers, scrub and wash real good in clear water. Pour in 1 gallon of water into a stock pot add a 3/4 cup of Kosher salt, heat until dissolved.
Let cool completely, while water is cooling take skins of garlic cloves or smash with wide chefs knife until skins fall off.
Pack the cucumbers tightly into wide mouth jar, add garlic and spices, distribute the spices evenly through out the jar, pour on the cool salted water and be sure all the pickles are covered with at least a half inch of head room.
Leave in cool place for at least 3 to 4 days, you can skim off the foam daily. After 3 or 4 days you can then place them in the refrigerator and enjoy.
I like mine with lots of garlic, so you can adjust it for your preference. They will last in the refrigerator for about 2 months. ( But they never last that long)

Stuff you will need.

20-25 small cucumbers ( choose only firm, fresh, unwaxed) better grow your own!
3/4 cup Kosher Salt
15 whole garlic cloves unpeeled
1 Bunch of fresh dill
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons whole black pepper
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
6 Bay leaves
1 or 2 hot dried small peppers
1 gallon of water.

The end result

Zukes that's good!

2009-07-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is a spin an old Russian recipe which was called "Poor Man's Caviar" It is usually done with eggplants, onions and tomatoes.

Well when you have tons of zucchini, squash, eggplant, onions you can only do so much zucchini bread and sauteed vegetables.

So when you want to use up a dozen or so squashes give this one a try.

This one, used up about half dozen crookneck squashes, 3 green zucchinis, 4 Japanese eggplants and about a half a dozen doorknob squashes, I don't remember the real name for them (maybe, pan squash) but they look like doorknobs anyway.

Wash and cut the squashes, dice into 1/2 inch cubes, if round squash, slice into 1/4 inch rounds.

Chop onion into same size pieces.

Heat up 2 TBS of olive oil in large skillet, toss in onion and cook until soft, ( 5 minutes )
add all the zucchinis etc.
Add ketchup,
Add salt and pepper, stir to cover all the cut veggie's with the ketchup.
Cook over medium to low heat for about 1 hour, then take the lid off, check to see that the pieces are soft. Stir with the cover off until some of the liquid is evaporated. Taste and season.
Remove from heat, cool, and that's it!

It is good both hot, room temperature and cold!

Stuff you will need.
1- 1 1/2 cup ketchup
12-16 cups of chopped squashes
1 large yellow onion chopped.
2 tomatoes chopped.
3 to 4 cloves of garlic minced or crushed.
Salt and Pepper

Sourdough Starter

2009-07-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Starter is simply a growth of the yeast culture which develops first with just plain old bread yeast but it develops it's own unique taste because of the bacteria in the air and water in your own locale.
That is why the sourdough in San Francisco has a unique taste as opposed to a sourdough from Poughkeepsie.

The starter will give you the flavor not necessarily the rise, so for example on the bread recipe before where you let it sit for 18 hours, you would add lets say one cup of the starter to the beginning mix anyway, for the flavor not for really anything else. Ok, a little rise but not much.

You can take out one cup of the dough that has bubbled for 18 hours, that essentially is a starter. It went through all the work to grow and mature, or you can make some starter by scratch to use as starter and not part of the bread reciepe.
Here is a way to make starter, which you could use into the bread reciepe as part of the mix to bring to the table the flavor which keeps on devopoing.

Keep in mind that when you replenish the starter with the milk and flour, use the same kind as before to keep it consistant and not inroduce something you will not be able to recreate.

1 package of active yeast (1/4oz or 7 grams)
1 cup warm (105 -115) water
1 cup warm (105 - 115) non fat milk
2 cups flour

Sprinkle the yeast over water in a bowl, stir until mixed, then mix in the warm milk.
Add the flour, mix to blend, the beat with spoon until smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a 2 quart glass, enamel or stainless steel container. Cover tightly and let stand at room temperatrue (75 to 85) until mixture smells sour. (Usually 24 to 48 hours). Stir it down frquently, it is now active and will be bubbly.
This is starter.

To use it, you stir it down again and remove one cup, add the cup to your bread reciepe. You now need to replenish what you took out. For example if you used 1 cup of hte starer in a reciepe, blend in 1 cup of flour and warm milk, Cover the starter and let it stand in a warm place for several hours or overnight until it is active and bubbly again.
Between uses, refirgerate the starter in a tightly covered container. Always bring the starter to room temperature beore usin git again. Leaving it out overnight before you will need it for baking is usually the easiest.
If you use your starter regualrly, at least ever 10 to 15 days, it should last indefinitely. Some sourdough starters are passed on from one generation of a family to another. I worked in a restaurnat that had a bubbling 5 gallon eartheware crock that was the starter for all the breads they made. It was the job of the new guy to feed it all the time, interesting task to say the least.

I hope that sort of answers the starter question, you will get a hang of it, it's not hard once you figure it out and start using it.
Have fun!

Simple Sourdough Bread, Real Simple perfect for me!

2009-06-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

I would have loved to have had the opportunity to be a intern at some bakery.
There are nuances and feel of the dough an pastry that I just would have enjoyed getting the experience on. My whole education of baking was about 4 days, between portion control and special dietary requirements and allergic reactions....

You can feel the correct elasticity of the dough, you can see that it has risen sufficiently to put in the oven.

You know how to roll out the dough just right, or you know and are not afraid to tackle stretching dough in order to make strudel......

Over the years I have been somewhat successful at making bread, but I do not have the patience to make it turn out to be consistent, time over time over time.
Until I found this one recipe.

This is so simple that it would really take somebody real special to screw it up. But it did take me two times to get it right....or shall I say to get it perfect!

There are only 3 ingredients, not counting water...how simple can you get?
And you don't have to kneed it or process it in any way!

Stuff you will need.......get it? Knead!......

17 oz of bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast
3 - 4 tablespoons cornmeal ( optional )
12 oz water.

Get a big bowl and toss in 17 oz of flour. By weight.
add the salt and yeast, and mix to homogenize
add the water and stir into a dough.

If need be you can add just a tad, like a teaspoon or two of water if you need to incorporate all the flour into one mass. This may or not be required depending on your moisture content of your flour. Humid climates may require less water. The whole result should be a dough ball, just wet enough to have picked up all the dry flour. If you still have some flour in the bowl with the 12 oz of water, just a tiny bit, to pick it all up. The other way to accomplish the same, is to hold back a little of the flour and add it at the end. It is quite easy and don't be intimidated by it! The end result is worth it!

After you have made a ball and there is no more dry flour to be absorbed, remove the mixing spoon and cover the bowl with some plastic wrap.
Set aside in a draft free or semi warm place. Room temperature ( 70-95 )
Wait
Wait
Wait
Wait
after 18 hours, yep 18 hours, remove the plastic and flour your hands and punch down the down, flour the dough as you are punching it down , using the flour will allow your hands not to become too sticky, and let it rest for about 15 to 20 minutes.

After you come back, flour your hands remove the dough from the bowl and fold it down on itself folding the seam to be on the bottom , sort of making a nice dough ball while squeezing any trapped air, sort of massaging the dough ball, if it is sticky add a little more flour.

Meanwhile find a kitchen tea towel and lay it out on a flat surface and dust it with half the corn meal, place the dough ball on the middle of the dusted towel, the dust the top of the bread with a little more, fold the towel over on top gently as not to totally trap the soon to expand dough. Set it back into the old bowl with the towel wrapped around it.

Set it in a warm place, room temp. for about 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
One hour into the waiting process fire up your oven to 425.

Get a sheet pan or if you have a baking stone even better, and put some parchment paper on the sheet pan, sprinkle some corn meal on the stone.

When the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the resting bowl, you will now have the bread in sort of a towel sling. Gently roll it out of the towel onto the sheet pan or stone.
Wait for about 45 to 60 minutes until the crust has become dark golden brown and if you thump the loaf it sounds hollow.

Cook in the oven until your desired doneness.

I like mine about an hour long.

Remove , let cool on a raised wire rack for 20 minutes.
Turn the oven off.

Get some room temperature butter,
slice, butter and enjoy.....

The hardest thing about this recipe is figuring out the time you need to start it so you have the finished product at your desired time......

Enjoy!

Also, I might add. This has worked at both 8500 ft and sea level. It takes a little less time to do the 2nd rise at higher elevation. But still a no brainer!

Note: The picture of the dough in the bowl, is how it will look after 18 hours of fermenting.
Also be sure the water does not have any chlorine in it, with the small amount of yeast being used, it will kill the yeast! ( use non-chlorinated or spring water, bottled or distilled water)

Roasted Rack of Lamb, with basil mustard crust

2009-06-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

I love lamb and although a little bit hard to ferret out sometimes , the Morelia Costco has it from time to time.
Never when we have someone invited for dinner, seems like always a couple of weeks later.
I hate twice frozen anything, being spoiled having fresh lamb a lot.This is a very common recipe, but for you who would like another one, and may not have it here it is.
You can add or subtract your own particular favorite spices and herbs
This one I load up with basil and garlic, you could substitute rosemary and thyme for it or add it in.... it is pretty foolproof, especially if you have a instant read thermometer or a remote probe one, otherwise you can tell when there is some juice sizzling in the pan or the meat has folded back a tad.
Once you cook this a few times you will be able to know it is ready by touching and felling the spring back of the meat.

Preheat your oven to 450

One thing to cooking or roasting anything is to be sure it is room temperature before tossing it into your oven. If it is something from your fridge, it is usually around 40 degrees (or at least it better be), when you put it in a hot oven it will not cook correctly no matter what you do, so always let the product come up to room temperature. Don't let it sit there all day, but you don't want to have it too cold.

Wash and dry the rack, If it is already Frenched, then take a knife and slit the membrane on the back between the bones or if you are real handy remove it completely. This lets the herbs and spices flavor the meat better.
Take some two day old bread, toss into the food processor along with a hand full or two of fresh basil leaves and 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled.,Put in the salt , pepper and any other seasonings at this point.

Pulse the food processor until the bread crumbs are the consistency you corn meal or something manageable for you.

Coat the rack with your favorite mustard, NOT plain yellow mustard, use some stone ground Dijon or spicy mustard something with a flavor. You don't want the lamb to have the flavor of a ball park hot dog do you?

Ok, maybe you do, but DON'T

After you have put a nice even coating of the mustard sprinkle the bread mixture on the bottom and gently form the bread , pushing as you go until the whole thing is covered in the bread mixture.

Take a little olive oil and lightly sprinkle it on the top so it will brown even better. Put the meat in or on a Pyrex dish or oven proof dish of some sort.

Gently slide it into your hot oven.

Reward yourself with a nice drink.

For rare you will want to look at it somewhere abouts 15 to 17 minutes, Medium rare 18 to 25 minutes, medium 25 to 30 minutes.
Or jab a instant read thermometer into a center portion about half way in. For medium rare you want to see about 135.
Pull it out, tent with some aluminium foil and let rest for at least 8 minutes.
Cut, into servings and enjoy

Stuff you will need:

One 7 or 8 bone rack of lamb.
3 -4 TBS mustard
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/3 tsp onion power
1 hand full of basil leaves
6 cloves of garlic, skin removed
1/2 tsp coarse ground salt
1-2 TBS olive oil
450 degree oven
plates, knifes, appetite

Short Ribs Braised with Chile

2009-06-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

One of my favorites easy, make and forget dish that is easy and makes for great warm up left overs and freezes well is Short Ribs.
The flavor actually gets better a day or two after the initial cooking. This recipe can be modified if you like to make the dish more astringent, simply add some apple cider vinegar and a little more sugar, but not too much otherwise it will turn out like a sweet BBQ style.
I like the heat from the chipotles, of you are sensitive to heat, just leave them out!

To Start

Soak the Ancho chile's for 20 minutes in some boiling hot water. Clean by removing the stem and and seeds then coarsely chop. Toss into the food processor the carrots, onions, garlic, tomato paste, chipotle. Quickly pulse 5 or 6 times until you come up with a thick paste.

You may have to add some water to the mix to homogenize. .

Cost the ribs with salt and pepper. Take your dutch oven and put on the stove, crank up the heat and some oil and brown the ribs. Remove and save.

Fry the bacon in the pan you browned the ribs. When the bacon has rendered most of it's fat put in the seasoning paste you just made.

Cook for about 5 minutes then add the rest of the water, cumin, molassess or piloncillo ,salt and pepper.

Now add the seared ribs, Cover and stick into a preheated oven at 325 for about 5 hours..

Remove from heat, let cool on the counter until it is cool enough to put into fridge so that the fat will solidify on top for easy removal. They are better the next day anyway. If you must, go ahead and skim the fat off the top and use the same day.

I usually service this on some exotic rice like jasmine or basmati.

Stuff you will need:

3-4 medium dried ancho chiles
1 large onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
5 garlic cloves chopped
2 tablespoons of chipotles en adobo plus 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons molasses or one piloncillo crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cups of water
2 slices of bacon chopped
1 cinnamon stick
6 pounds of short ribs

Sopa De Platano

2009-06-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

My wife's staple is Plantain, so this is a soup I made that even I enjoy now and then. As all soups it is pretty easy to make, and after the first serving, you can add stuff to it and have it transform itself into a totally new taste, until you finally run out of it!

Heat your pot, drop in the olive oil and sweat the onions, carrots , celery and garlic until they become a little soft.
Add the chicken stock, the plantain , cumin and your mandatory bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and let it go for about an hour or until the plaintains are soft.
Remove from heat, let it cool down a little, if you have an immersion blender, you do have an immersion blender don't you?
They are much better and faster than a blender, less to clean and make a great noise while you swirl away inside the pot. OR you can use it as a light saber if there are any kids around.....
Remove the bay leaf, and puree to your desired consistency. Touch up with salt and pepper to your taste and serve with some of the chopped cilantro. If you use a really expensive serving bowls and zigzag some diluted sour cream or creama it will take a whole bunch better........guaranteed!

Stuff you will need:

2 Large Plantains or Platanos machos peeled and cut into 1/2 rounds.
1 TBS olive oil (without Popeye) Anyone younger than 50 will not get that!
1 large carrot , chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
1 cup of chopped celery
5 cups of home made chicken stock, remember the lesson a few weeks ago?
1 handful of fresh cilantro chopped fine, try and remove the thicker stems
1 Bay Leaf (remove the Bay leaf just before you blend the whole shebang)
1 tbs cumin
Salt and Pepper

So you want to build a garden box, eh?

2009-06-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ok you asked for it!

The good thing about raised beds is that even if you have lousey soil, or no soil in some cases like a concrete yard... this will make gardening easy. Especially for old folks who don't want to be on their knees or bed over a lot. I built this box a little higher than you really need so that I would be able to reach all over the place with it. Once you fill it with soil mix, it will provide the excellent drainage needed to grow picture pperfect vegetables and flowers most of the year!

You can build the basic raised bed in a few hours, then add versatility by mounting PVC pipes inside to hold hoops that elevate bird netting, or in colder weather plain old plastic to either start the seedlings early or just cover the crops for better production, sort of like a mini greenhouse.

For best results orient your bed north-south for maximum sun exposure.

It is preferable to use redwood or cedar ― both are beautiful and rot-resistant. But here in Mexico, most likely you can only get Pine, there are some regional woods that also are rot-resitant,so ask your local lumber monger.

You’ll need a table or power saw to cut the wood; after cutting, paint the wood on all sides with an oil-based sealer or stain or left over deck sealer, almost anything will work. I would not use house paint since you don't know what stuff is in that. I chose to paint it a redwood color stain.

The first box I built was only 12 inches high, as shown on the photos. the 2nd one I

doubled it, to be 24 inch high. I personally like the bigger box because I do not have to lean over or ben

d over as much. The downside is that you will use twice as much wood, screws, and soil mix. You can start with the shallow box first and see how you like it, then change it. The construction is simple and you can adjust the size to fit your particular space and requirements.

Have fun!

An electric drill is helpful, though not required.

Stuff you will need:

One 6-foot-long 4-by-4
6, 8 foot long 2x6's
1 10ft long 1 inch PVC water pipe
2 10ft long 1/2 ich PVC pipes
1/2 gallon semitransparent exterioir oil stain
32 3 1/2 inch #14 wood screws
16 1/2 inch #8 wood screws
1 roll of 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth. total of 4x10ft
If you are putting this on top of concrete you do not need the hardware cloth
I used it because I didn't want mole, gophers, rats and other things digging into
the box.
8 1 inch conduit straps
32 cubic feet of soil or mix.

Here you can see one of my boxes with Beets, Carrots, Snow peas and strawberries.

Carrots Vichy.

2009-06-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

I like carrots, and they like me. Here is a picture of some of my crop, the skinny ones are the ones that I have to pull so that the big ones will have room to grow up nice and big , strong and tasty!

This variety are called, Nantes.

Here is a simple recipe. This was one of my most popular items on my catering menu. It is also one that you should learn since it's easy. I usually love to make for formal dinners.

I would suggest that you cut the carrots on the bias, it looks a lot better than just chopped in rounds.
To prep, take the carrots , wash and peel, cut on the bias in about 1/8 inch thickness.
Place the carrots in a 12 inch skillet or saucepan, cover with Vichy or soda water, toss in the salt, cook until tender usually about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the freshness of the carrots.
Drain,
Toss in the butter, toss the carrots over medium heat until all the butter is melted and the carrots are heated through. Then add the sugar, toss, salt and pepper to taste, top with chopped wide leaf parsley...serve.
See I told you it was easy!

Stuff you will need:

About 5 cups yield of carrots peeled and sliced 1/8 thick
Vichy or Soda water
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4cup butter
2 TBS sugar
1 TBS chopped parsley.

That's it!

Pear Tart on a tortilla

2009-05-28T23:09:00.000-07:00

This is a really simple desert which you use a premade flour tortilla, kind of like cheating, eh?
Preheat your oven to 400 F. Lightly spray tortilla with cooking spray and place the sprayed side down on a baking sheet.
Meanwhile back at the counter peel, core and slice into lots of thin slices or just even slices so that they are all the same size so they cook evenly. You should be able to use one pear if it is a large one otherwise it may be two small ones.
(Apples will also work on this)

Take some butter and cut into thin pats and place over the top spacing evenly as possible.
Take some cinnamon sugar and sprinkle on the top.
Place into your hot oven and cook for about 15 mintues until you see the sugar bubbling and carmelized.
To make the glaze, take some jam and put it in a small dish, add the water and zap in the microwave to heat up, stir while doing it a couple of times. Remove and use to glaze the top of the pie.
To cut, use a long Chef's knife in one down motion otherwise you will tear the pieces. Serve warm with a scoop of your favorite ice cream.

Stuff you will need.

1 or 2 Pears.
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS butter into small pieces
2 TBS jam, Apricot or Orange

Keep in mind that it is not the best looking piece of dessert, since it is fast and quick. You could make it so all the pieces are perfectly cut, using a mandolin slicer. Or you can hire a food stylist to put it together for you. Then it will look like this photo.........
I never said I was a neat cook......

Basic Chicken Stock! Don't throw those bones out!

2009-05-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Chicken stock is probably the main stock that you can use since you always seem to have chicken laying around with bones left over and is pretty easy to make.

What I usually do is toss the pieces that you do not use, pieces like the feet, chicken wing ends, neck, back and any other pieces or bones that you do not use. Once you get a bag full it's time to make stock!

Cut the onion into quarters, wash the celery and wash the carrots and cut into 3/4 inch pieces. Place the bones, and vegis into a stock pot add salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil, once boiling reduce heat to simmer, cover and let it simmer for a hour or two.

Take a slotted spoon or mesh strainer and either remove all the boiled items or just strain the liquid into another pot or bowl.
Discard all the used up stuff.

You now have chicken stock.
Now if you want to make it clear, which is the mark of a serious cook, you first let it cool in the fridge overnight. Once the fat has solidified on the top, remove with spoon. You could use the fat for cooking if you like, or just toss it.

Next heat up the stock and strain through a cheesecloth lines strainer, if you are satisfied with the clarity your'e done.
If not, then separqate an egg and reserve the egg white ( use the yolk for some flan or scrambled eggs) mix cold water , the egg white and crush the egg shell into small pieces, add that to the liquid egg mix. Add the mix to the stock.

Bring the stock to a boil, remove from the heat and let it stand cooling off for about 10 minutes.
Strain again through a stainer lines with cheesecloth.

Your stock that is left should be very clear.

Use the stock for soups, one thing I do is freeze it either into small zip lock bags, flat in the freezer and the later use for soups and sauces. Some people will fill ice cube trays and then when frozen put them in zip lock bags.

Stuff you will need.

1 to 2 lbs of chicken parts
one large white onion
2 to 3 stalks of clery with leaves
1 Large carrot
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
6 to 8 cups of water
1 egg with 1/4 cup of cold water

You can also make a super stock from your left over turkey after Thanksgiving!

Basic Stocks, from whence the soup is born.....

2009-05-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Stocks are necessary for Good Taste

Stocks provide the foundation for a variety of dishes. They are very versatile and depending on how you make them they can be used in an infinite number of applications and recipes.
You have to use stocks as the building block to add more flavors for soups, sauces, and braises. Stocks are also used in poaching or steaming, a flavorful alternative to water in rice and polenta, and sometimes a substitute for oil in some pestos and vinaigrettes.

Stocks are made by cooking meat, poultry or fish bones, vegetables, herbs, and other aromatics in plain water for a real long time. When you finish you have a very flavorful and complex liquid. While the ingredients that go into a stocks may vary, the techniques used to make stocks and the mix of ingredients are basically the same.

It is extremely important not to allow stocks to boil as they cook.

This often causes impurities and fat to be dispersed in the liquid.

The fat is extremely difficult to remove after the stock is finished. And adds a lot of time to first chill the stock, remove the fat and then heat it up again to use it.
Instead, a stock should be simmered over a medium to low heat and every so often you should skim the top to remove anything that is floating on the top of the liquid.
The most popular stocks Light White, Rich Brown and Vegetable Stocks.

Light White Stocks

White stocks are made from bones that are blanched before they are combined with other ingredients. Blanching allows the impurities, which makes a stock cloudy, to be leached out before the bones are used. Usually only pale colored vegetables are used so no dark colors get into the stock (No beets here!)

Rich Brown Stocks

Brown stocks are like white stocks, but the bones and vegetables are roasted before they are put in the water and aromatics. Usually brown stocks have some tomato product and better brown stock has a rich and deep color and flavor.
Most of the time the stock making process is a long several day affair, with you removing the pot cooling it down completely, removing the fat which solidifies on the top, putting the pot back on the heat to reduce down and enhance the flavor even more.
The end product is usually a gloppy gelatinous syrupy mix, especially when cold, and has a potent concentration of flavors so that when you add a spoon or two to a soup , or sauce you can tell of it's lengthy beginnings! The Glop is called a Glace.
Glaces are often used as a sauce themselves or sometimes with a some other ingredients added to balance it out forming an nice rich sauce.

Hearty Vegetable Stocks

Vegetable stocks are often made from left over end pieces, peelings, and scraps from any combination of vegetables used in the kitchen. One thing a serious cook does is never toss out any trims, cuttings, tops, peelings of any vegetables. The simply was is to have a bin that after your cooking session ends, you take the trims, place them in a zip lock bag and freeze them. When you are read to make a vegetable stock you have oodles of stuff to which you fill the pot with. The only thing to be careful about is that you have a good balance of flavors, and not overwhelmed by one thing or another. A good vegetable stock has a little of everything not just 10 lbs of potato skins.....
The normal mix you should look for is onion, carrots, greens of some sort and some basic root vegetable. Do not use seeds as they impart sometime strange flavors.

Next Chapter, some basic stock recipes........

Frijoles charros, Cowboy Bean Soup

2009-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

I enjoy making soups because they are so easy to make and taste so good. They are also a good way to use up left overs, like chicken, meat cuts, left over steak or hamburger just lots of stuff! Most all soup start out the same, chopped onion then stock then the flavor and that's it. This soup is pretty basic, feel free to add your personal spice touch.

In a large stock pot toss the cut bacon on high heat and cook the bacon until crisp.

Reduce heat and add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft ( about 5 minutes)

Add the uncooked beans and water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cover.

Go do something for about 2 to, 2 1/2 hours.

Add the chilies, salt, and tomatoes. Increase the flame a little and continue cooking until the beans are fully cooked and tender, about another 30 minutes.

Check the seasoning and serve.

I usually will add a dollop of cream to the top and dig in.

Stuff you will need:

4 or 5 slices smoky bacon cut into 5 or 6 pieces per slice
3 cloves garlic, sliced into fine pieces
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 cups dry pinto beans , washed and checked for small pebbles etc
3 mild chilies like poblano, (fresh) or Ancho (dried) cut into 1/4 inch strips.
3 tomatoes, peeled and diced. ( if not peeled, not a big deal )
1 teaspoon salt.
8 cups water or chicken stock.

Chile info....
If you are using a fresh chile then roast it, on the flame until the outside skin chars, then put into a plastic bag for 15 minutes to steam. Remove from bag and under a running steam of water, peel the charred skin off. Remove seeds, remove stem and cut into pieces.

If hydrating a dried Ancho chile, put into hot water to cover and let sit for 30 minutes, then cut and use. Also remove seeds etc.

Red Pepper Chicken

2009-05-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

My wife is picky when it comes to chicken dishes, she only likes it Rostisado or Beer Can chicken or a dish that the chicken doesn't taste like chicken....
This is one, and it is a tad more complex then just throwing a chicken on the grill, it takes a few extra steps but taste good. Total time about 40 minutes more or less. Less if you have do your advance prep.

Take the chicken and cut the breast into 1 by 3 or 4 inch strips, dust with seasoned flour, saute until brown on all sides, remove and tent with foil to keep warm.
Add a little more oil or butter, dump in the onions, mushrooms and peppers. let cook until the mushrooms have reduced. Add the sausage, in pieces after removing the casing.
Add the wine and chicken stock.
Reduce until the sauce develops ( or add corn starch)
Return the chicken to warm up, for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Serve on rice or Orzo, or with wide egg noodles.

That's it, not too bad.

Stuff you will need:
One whole chicken breast with bones removed. Remove skin also.
3 chopped shallots
1 Red Bell Pepper or your favorite chili pepper, roasted and skin remove, seeds remove cut into ribbons.
half pound mushrooms
Italian sausage or chorizo, as an optional flavor

Pork Chops , Grilled, real moist and juicy!.

2009-04-26T16:27:00.001-07:00

You brine the pork chops in a brineing solution ........

If you enjoy dried out tasteless pork chops then go ahead and hit the return button, however if you like moist pork chops that are flavor full and moist, here is a recipe that is easy and works every time.

You have probably read my other recipes which use brineing. I always brine chicken, turkey and any meat that you have to cook a little longer and still require juiciness.

Now I know, you are going to tell me that you have to cook all pork to well done......if that is the case there is nothing that I will be able to tell you to convince you otherwise.

These chops you pull off the grill when the internal temperature is 120.
Yes, 120........but you are saying that 120 in beef is rare...........really rare.............

Will you give me a chance?

You pull it off the grill at 120 , tent it with aluminum foil and the internal residual heat will continue cooking it to about 135.

When you cut into it, there will not be any raw or real pink places unless YOU did something wrong. And if you are that sensitive, toss it on the grill for another 2 minutes..no more!

To make the brine, heat some water to real warm, put in the salt and sugar, with liquid smoke, Stir to dissolve and put in the chops and let them swim around for at least 2 or 3 hours. If the chops are cold you don't have to put it in the fridge. If they are not or it is real hot in the room you can put them in the fridge, remember to remove them 30 mintes before grills so they get to room temp for more even cooking.

Heat your grill to normal cooking temperature on one side and low on the other side. After brineing, remove from the brine and quickly rinse off the brine, and pat dry with paper towels.
Season with fresh ground pepper and anything else you may like at this time. (garlic powder, bbq seasoning etc)

When the grill is ready put on the grill, then for those fantastic grill marks turn the chops 90 degrees after about 2 minutes, then after about 4 minutes turn to the other side, and repeat for the grill marks about 2 minutes later.

Then put into the lower part of the grill and tent with foil, for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Now grab your instant read thermometer and jab it into the middle through the side half way between front and back and read the temperature.
It should be very close to 120, when the chops are at 120 turn the grill off and tent it with foil for a few minutes while you are preparing your plates for service.

That's it.

Stuff you will need:

3 or 4 pork chops 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup Kosher salt if using regular salt reduce by 33%
2 quarts water.
salt and pepper.

Easy Low Cal Dessert

2009-04-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

We are going over to some friends house this afternoon for Easter Dinner, and I volunteered to bring a dessert.
Knowing that there are nice pears available , and some of the people are watching their caloric intake, I needed a low cal offering

You might see a trend here now some times, sometimes not, but in the last couple of weeks it has been on "EASY". I get into ups and downs into the amount of time I want to spend making something, maybe the weather , maybe the season, maybe the appetite, maybe the lack of specialized ingredients.....eh who knows?

This will take about 45 minutes to make but it looks great and better yet tastes great.

It is simple, basic, and easy.
Braised Pears..........
Sort of Poached Pears,
Anyway they are pears that you let swim in shallow waters for about 30 to 40 minutes until ready, let cool, then serve either cool or at room temperature.

First of all you need some firm pears. You need firm ones because if they are real ripe or starting to get mushy after 30 minutes of a bath, they WILL become mushy..........mushy pears not a good thing, unless you are 95 years old and lost all your teeth.......not there yet, myself!

Wash the pears, and remove the center cores. You probably have a pear or apple de-coring device. It's the one that is waaay back in the junk drawer, sort of looking half way between a peeler and a device to remove cheery pits......
If you don't have one you can make one from a short piece of 3/4 inch copper water pipe, or just spend the 2 bucks and buy one. Who knows you may like the recipe and will want to make it again!

So, peal the pears with a vegetable peeler, be careful not to remove more than you need, then remove about 1/4 inch of the bottom of the pear so it will sit vertically in a pan without falling over etc, and then plunge the corer into the middle, twist and remove the core.
If you mad one out of a 8 inch piece of pipe you will need to ram a handle of a wooden spoon to remove the core from inside the pipe.

Yes you could use a 9/16 wooden electric drill bit and drill it out, but it becomes messy because of the speed of the drill and it flinging the pear parts all over. I have seen this done before and it is doable but the clean up takes 5 minutes.......

Now that you have all the pears, cored , sitting flatly on their flat bottoms, you are ready to make the bath water ( so to speak).
Take two to three cups of red wine, any will do, preferably something left over from a few bottles something that you will not use anymore, and toss that into a skillet.
Turn on medium heat and toss in 1 CUP of sugar, white or brown is fine.
One the sugar is combined with the wine and bubbling, place the pears into the bath, and start covering the pears with the bath juice. Do this once every 3 to 4 minutes .
You will notice that the liquid will start to thicken and become more and more like syrup.
Thant's the plan........
After about 25 minutes the syrup will start to be about right, and the pears should have taken on a nice garnet color.
Keep basting the pears.
Test one to see if it is become soft, by sticking in a small knife somewhere in the lower section, if soft then turn off the heat, let cool and that's it!

TO serve,
Place one pear onto a small dish or dessert glass, use the thick syrup to drizzle over, since it has cooled the syrup should be very syrupy.......
If you want toss some chopped nuts over it, or just add a little chopped mint........
Nice dessert, no butter, no flour, no fat just a little calories from the sugar, but very little.
Lots of nice taste........

Stuff you will need:

4 to 6 pears depending on # required.

2-3 cups of red wine
1 CUP of sugar

* you could add a dash of the following spices if you like for complexity.

Cinnamon
cloves
all spice
black pepper

Fast and Easy Fish

2009-04-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Lots of times I just don't feel like spending more than about 10 minutes to throw dinner together. This is fast and easy. You do need an oven, so if you are ovenless , sorry!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the cloves of garlic, fine chop the parsley, roll the lemon up and down on the counter to loosen it to get more juice out.

Wash the fillets and dry with paper towels. Into a 9 x 12 ovenproof dish, spray some non stick pan coating or brush the bottom with butter. Place the fillets into the dish, brush with butter, toss garlic and parsley on top, dash of salt and pepper and one final brush of butter. drizzle with a little of the lemon juice.

Toss into the hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the fish is flaky.
Remove and squezze more lemon, and serve.

Stuff you will need.

2 talapia fillets
3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 handful parsley
2 TBS melted butter
salt and pepper

2009-03-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is a super easy recipe that does result in great tasting BBQ style ribs that the meat falls off the bones.

It is a two step process. The secret is that you first make a spice rub to massage into the meat, let sit for up to a day or two, then you can smoke them for a few hours and then finish them off in a low oven.

To prepare the meat you need to remove the membrane that is covering the bones, usually you will see it and it is easy once you are able to pull of the membrane of the first rib, use either a paper towel to grip the membrane or I use a pair of long nose or regular pliers to pull it off. Pulling off the membrane allows the spice rum to permeate into the meat better.

Take and make the rub, and generously rub it into both sides of the ribs, then cover with plastic or foil and put back into the fridge until ready to use.

If you have so aromatic wood chips like apple, mesquite or hickory soak the chips in water for at least 2 hours.

Make a small foil pan for which to hold the wood chips. If you are using a gas grill place the chips directly above the hottest burner, if you are using charcoal, start the coal and when there is a grey ash, separate into two spots, one for the wood chips and the other for the indirect heat.

Once the chips are smoking put the meat on the area without the heat underneath, let sit while the chips smoke for about one hour or until the smoke stops. The meat should almost be cooked but not all through. Then remove and place into a shallow pan or like a cookie sheet on top of some foil. Slather with some sauce, pour about 1 cup of Cola into the bottom of the foil and seal and place into the oven.
Let roast for about 1 to 2 hours, in 1 hour, carefully remove and open the foil and see how much meat has receded from the bone, and check for doneness.

That's it.

Stuff you will need.
One or two sides of ribs

Stuff for rub

2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Tsp Celery Salt
1 TBS Paprika
1 TBS Dry Mustard
1 Tsp Cayenne pepper
2 TBS Brown Sugar
2 TBS Chile Powder
1 Tsp ground Pepper
1 Tsp Seasoning Salt

BBQ Sauce

1 1.2 C Ketchup
1/2 cup Molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup cola
1/4 tsp liquid smoke

Easy turnovers

2009-03-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

Now that WalMart in Morelia has frozen puff pastry sheets, you can whip up a fast impressive dessert in about 10 minutes of preparation. You can fill it with lots of stuff, this recipe uses some creamed cheese and a guava paste which is readily available. The combination of a savory salty taste with a sweet,not too sweet guava paste makes it an great combination.

To Start

Bring the pastry sheets to room temperature, dust your rolling surface with an ample amount of regular sugar, roll out to expand the sheet about 20 % more. The rolling will push the sugar into the dough which will add sweetness to the pastry.
Cut the dough into 4 equal squares.
Each square will be about 5 inches.
Prick on triangle half with a fork so it will not raise while cooking.
Use the egg wash and paint the two edges that will fold on itself.
Place the cheese and guava paste into the middle.
The fold over and seal the edges onto the egg wash. If not even you should be able to pull the dough and or press the cheese guava mixture down to center it.
Crimp the edges with the fork.
Place two small slits to allow the steam to escape on the top
Brush the top with the egg wash
Place on parchment paper on sheet, place into preheated oven set at 375. for 12 to 15 minutes until a nice golden brown color, remove, let cool and enjoy.
Optionally you could paint or drizzle some sugar glaze.

Stuff you will need.

Puff Pastry Sheets.
One Package Philadelphia cream cheese, cut into 8 equal pieces
Guava paste, cut into 1x2x1/2 inch pieces
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar

For Sugar glaze

1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
2 TBS milk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

One Sheet will make 4 turnovers, 2 sheet pack makes 8. Above quanities are for 8 pieces.

Huevos Albañil

2009-03-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Serves 5-6 people

One of the things that I look forward to when we have guests is to go out for food! Yes, I enjoy cooking will will usually do about 50+ % of the cooking, but when we go out it gives our guests and visitors and exposure to the regions' food.
The Hotel El Camino in Santa Clara del Cobre, is one of my favorite places to have breakfast. Although expensive, by local standards it is pretty decent and worth the pesos.
When I find a dish that I like, I will usually keep ordering it, and this dish is easy and tasty.
I will show you how to make it both the easy and then the traditional way.

Huevos Albanil is basically scrambled eggs in a salsa. Albanil translates into a brick or stone mason.
So this must have been a recipe that was easy to do, or at least the salsa makes it look like that.

First the hard way.

Place tomatillos and onions , chilies,garlic into small sauce pan, cover with water about 3/4 of the way, bring to boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool.

Take the tomatillos , onion garlic and toss into a blender or food processor.
Split a Serrano chile and if you can stand the heat , chop fine with seeds and add to blender. If you can't stand the heat, carefully remove the seeds and membrane and toss in. ( Be sure and do not rub your eyes or any other sensitive parts of your body after doing this)

Process to homogenize, about one minutes, you want some rough chunks but not totally smooth.
For the last 15 seconds toss in the cilantro.

Remove from blender and put into skillet with about 2 TBS of vegetable oil and cook for 15 minutes or until mixture is reduced to a syrup consistency. Add salt and pepper and adjust seasoning.

Take the eggs and place into buttered skillet, scramble and cook until all set. Try not to over cook the eggs, since it will make them dry. Break into chunks about the size of 1/4 slices of bread. Take the salsa and cover the eggs and let warm up another minute or so.
Place into shallow soup bowl, swimming in the salsa and enjoy!
You can also add some grated cheese of your liking or I have added some red salsa as shown on the picture.

Things you will need:

.5 kilo of tomatillos, husks removed and washed, quartered.
1 small white onion , outer skin removed, quartered.
4 small cloves or garlic, skin removed, chopped fine.
2 Serrano Chiles, chopped fine. (remove seeds for heat control if you like)
2 Tbs vegetable oil.
8 to 10 eggs.
salt and pepper.
One large hand full of cilantro leaves, washed and chopped.

The Easy way.

One Jar Herdez green chile salsa.
cilantro
8-10 eggs.

Take the salsa and add about 1/2 cup of water to a saucepan, heat with contents of the jar.
Cook the eggs as above, chop the cilantro, top the cooked eggs with the heated prepared salsa, add the cilantro and serve.

Potato - Ginger white sauce

2009-03-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

This sauce goes really well with the Salmon recipe (prior to this one)
It is pretty easy to make and can be used on stuff like the fish or vegetables.

Take the potato and cut into quarters and boil in water until tender. About 10 minutes at boiling.
Remove from heat, rinse in cold water and let drain and dry.

Meanwhile , back at the cutting board....

Take a piece of ginger and remove the skin, mince fine, in a small sauce pan, combine the shrimp stock, olive oil, ginger and 2 tbs mayonnaise. Bring to a low boil and let it simmer for a few minutes, add the cream ,whisk and let simmer 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Taste and season with salt and white pepper.

Back at the cutting board, remove the skins from the potatoes, if you used white potatoes you could leave the skin on, but the presentation is better sans skin.
Cut the potato into 1/4 inch dice. Set aside until service.
Cut chives into tiny 1/8 inch pieces, set aside until service.

Just before the fish is ready ( If using the salmon recipe) put the pan back on the heat, toss in the potatoes and reheat to serving temperature, adjust seasoning one more time.

Plate the fish, put the sauce half on the fish and half off. Top with chopped chives and Serve!

* You may have to add a little more cream if the quantity of potatoes absorbed the liquid, to your desired constancy.

Stuff you will need:

1 Large potato to yield 1 cup fine diced potato.
Knob of fresh ginger..
1/2 cup shrimp stock or caldo de camarones.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 - 1/3 cup cream
2 tbs mayonnaise
2 tbs chopped chives

Tender Salmon

2009-02-28T22:21:00.001-08:00

This is a real simple recipe for the people who always think oven roasted salmon has to be dry and require gobs of sauce to make it palatable. Not so, even though it uses a lot of butter, the butter is not really absorbed into the salmon so it is a pretty low calorie dish, so to speak.

Pre Heat your oven to 250. Take your salmon fillet and cut into proper serving size usually 6 oz is perfect per person size, but I'll leave it up to you.
Melt 2 TBS of butter in a 12 inch pan, generously season the cut salmon pieces with salt and pepper. Place the fish into the melted butter and turn all sides to put an even coating of the butter. Then sprinkle to tops of the fish with the remaining salt and pepper.
(Be sure and take the salmon out of your refrigerator so that it comes to room temperature)
Put the ovenproof pan into the oven.
Every 5 minutes quickly remove the pan, so the heat from the oven doesn't escape and with a brush take the melted butter that is in the pan and paint the individual fish pieces ( A nice aqua will do).
Do this one more time about 13 minutes into the cooking time and at that time check the fish for doneness. Depending on the oven, I usually will find the fish is perfectly cooked at about 15 to 16 minutes.
It will not hurt to leave it in for a few more minutes, since the low cooking temperature will not over cook the fish or rather dry it out.
Remove from the pan, plate it on some warm dishes, put some sauce on it, and there you go!

Just a note, When cooking items you want to be sure that the product is brought to room temperature. All recipes take into that into account. Why? Becuase let's say if the fish has an internal temperature of 40 degrees , which is what it should be if it is in a properly working refrigerator and you put it in the oven, first of all it will reduce the temperature of the oven down a few degrees, just like opening the door and letting the heat escape. It will take an extra 5 to 8 minutes or more depending on the thickness of the fish to overcome the cold inside the fish......The result would be that a piecie of fish, lets say our salmon, would be cooked ok on the outside but undercooked inside. That is why it is probably the most important thing you can do in anykind of cooking, like outdoor grilling, with steaks, or oven roasted etc. to equalize the temperature of the item you are going to cook.

Stuff you will need:

Salmon fillets or whole side cut into serving pieces
butter,melted to brush on the fish
salt and pepper.

Moist and Tasty Salad de Camarones

2009-02-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

One of sad things a lot of people do when they cook shrimp, prawns or camarones common with a lot of recipes, is they inadvertently wind up cooking the moisture out of the poor little fish.

It doesn't need to be that way.

Here is a great recipe that has taste, great texture and is not a mayonnaisey salad with some seafoody meat chunks.

The trick whether your cooking prawns into a pasta recipe or using them for salads, DO NOT OVERCOOK them, for they will reward your heat escapade by turning into little rubbery chewy things.

So, take a pound or half kilo of 21-25's ( frozen are good, most of the time better than fresh shrimp, because they have not become mushy)
thaw out in a bowl of water for a few minutes, usually about 20 minutes or so.
Make a poaching liquid.
Put the shrimp into the liquid and let poach, DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL!
remove, dry or reserve for use the next day or just before you want to make the salad.
Once dry cut the shrimp in half lengthwise, then into quarters.
Toss into the mayo mix, place on lettuce or into a warmed soft bun and you have a superior tasting sandwich. Otherwise place on several leaves of butter lettuce, and enjoy.

Stuff you will need:

For Poaching liquid.
1/4 cup for fresh squeezed lemon juice
One small handful of cilantro leaves, chop fine
One small handful of parsley leaves, chop fine
1 tsp, whole peppercorns
1 tsp regular sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups water

To make poaching liquid, take a 2 quart sauce pan and put the lemon juice, peppercorns, sugar, salt, water, the squeezed lemon parts, half of the chopped cilantro, half of the chopped parsley and stir to combine, put the cleaned and deveined shrimp in, turn on fire to low, and watch. Check the temp with an instant read thermometer, it should stay around 170. Stir once or twice to be sure all the shrimp have become pink, then remove and put into a ice bath to stop the cooking. Remove only the shrimp, toss all the poaching stuff away. Drain shrimp on paper towels and either reserve for final assembly or continue.

To make the dressing

1/4 cup of your favorite Mayonnaise.
I small shallot chopped very fine.
1 small stalk of celery chopped fine.
remaining half of the finely chopped cilantro
remaining half of the finely chopped parsley.
salt and pepper to taste.

Take the dried shrimp pieces and combine, let sit, and use on bread or as a salad.

Not Plain old Black Bean Soup

2009-01-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

One easy soup I make about once a month is Black Bean soup. My recipe is a little more detailed than the ones I see around but it tastes better at least to me! It is easy to make and you can either use it for just plain old beans or puree it for a great soup.

Always wash and pick through the beans. About half the time I find small rocks or garbage in the bean sack. Some sources allow their beans to be dried on the ground on tarps so it is not uncommon to find stuff that is not 100% bean material, and besides if you use a food processor or immersion blender, one pebble can dull your sharp expensive blade pretty quick.

I find that soaking the beans does little for them, unless they happen to be very old bean, eh Old Bean?

After you have washed and picked through set aside.
Into the bowl of your food process toss in, chopped cilantro, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Blend until you have almost a puree.
In a large stockpot add the oil heat and toss in the puree, let it cook on medium for about 7 minutes. Add the cumin and oregano, stir to distribute. Add the washed beans, two quarts of chicken stock, 3 bay leaves and a smoked ham hock. If you don't have a ham hock, get one! Otherwise, toss in two cut up pieces of smoked bacon.
Now depending on your heat tolerance I will toss in a pepper or two.
Take a Serrano or a Habanero and cut it down the center straight down, do not remove the seeds. Toss that in, you will later remove it along with the bay leaves.

Cover and let simmer for 2 to 3 hours. If too much liquid has left the room, (like Elvis) just add a cup or two of water so that you are back to the same level you started with.

Remove the ham hock, let cool, throw the sink out, pick the meat off the bone , dice and return to the beans.

At this point you can do a couple of things, first fish out the pepper and bay leaves and discard.
If you drain the water which is tasty, you can just use the beans, otherwise continue on for soup.
Remove about 1/3 of the beans less the liquid, reserve.
With an immersion blender whirl away inside the pot, until fairly smooth.
Put back the beans, and add salt. This will be to YOUR taste. I usually will add about 1/2 a teaspoon. This will depend on if the used ham hocks or bacon, and how salty the chicken stock was. If you used a dry chicken soup base, etc,etc,etc.
That's it!

When serving I usually will top it with some sour cream, crema or yogurt. To make the crema, just zest the lime and mix with the cream stick it into a squeeze bottle and make a zigzag or logo on top of the soup after you have plated it in a bowl.

Stuff you will need.

1 lb of beans, a little more is OK.
1 large white onion chopped
5 garlic cloves with skin removed
1 green bell pepper
1 cup of cilantro chopped
4 TBS olive oil or vegetable oil
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp of dried
2 tbs ground cumin
1 large smoked ham hock
1 Serrano or Habanero Chile, split down the center
2 qts of chicken stock
Salt and Pepper
3 Bay leaves

For the Crema

1 Cup sour cream, plain yogurt or crema
zest of two limes
2 TBS of very finely chopped cilantro

Ok, some Russian food , Meat Piroshki

2009-01-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

Every culture has their dough stuffed with stuff pocket hand held food item. For Mexicans it is the Empanadas, the Chinese have their Cha Siu Baau The Polish have their pirogi, and the Russian have the Piroshki.

Guess which ones I like? Well actually I like them all, but I know how to make really great Piroshki!

Piroshki were not a daily food for me growing up , they were a special once in a while food that took my mother or grandmother seemed to take half a day to make.

It is not a difficult process but it is worth the effort. I make them when I know that someone is going to come over and visit, I have yet to find anyone that doesn't enjoy them. Sometime I just make them because I want to reward myself and why not. I can hold back on the foie gras another time.....

There are lots of varieties of them, whether they are fried or baked or stuffed with meat, potatoes, cabbage or fish and rice noodles.

This one is my normal meat one.

You will first need to make the filling, then the dough, the filling can be made up a day or two ahead thus making the assembly on the final day pretty easy.

Take a 12 inch skillet and place on the heat on medium, while adding the hamburger or ground meat, try and break it up into the smallest chunks, it will make it easier in the end. While browning the meat, add the chopped onion, egg and dill. Once it has cooked 5 to 10 minutes remove from heat and let cool a little, add the pepper and salt. If you never have had them before , taste your salt as you add it, to your comfort taste level.

Let cool, and I usually tilt the pan on something damming up the meat to one end to let the grease run off, then I dab it with a paper towel removing the most.
It is at this point you can transfer it to a plastic tub with a cover and stick it in the refrigerator until needed.

The dough

There is the "from scratch" method and the "easy". I will give you both.

From Scratch.

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, (not over 110) add sugar and enough flour to make a consistency of sour cream, maybe a tad thicker. Cover with a towel put in a warm place and let it rise until it has almost double in bulk. The when it is ready punch down and add the rest of the ingredients. and enough flour to make it soft but not sticky dough.
Cover again and let it rise in a warm place.

Once the dough is ready, lightly flour a surface and foll out the dough to 1/8 of an inch thickness.
If you are having a problem with getting it that thin, you can roll it out to 1/4 then cut it smaller and roll out the dough circle to workable thinness.
Now I like to make decent sized Piroshki. Some people like small ones, to me it is easy to make them larger, that way you make fewer ones, and eat less dough. Or at least the theory goes.
You need to find a round object to use as a cutter, I like a 6 inch coffee can, it has decently sharp edges, to use to press the dough in order to cut the circle.
You could use almost any object that will give you a impression in the dough good enough to cut through or you may have to finish it off with a sharp knife.
So now you have a lot of cut pieces of dough.
If you left the dough thicker, now would be the time you could roll it out a tad thinner, but remember to keep the dough in a circle or as round as you can. The thicker the dough is the more doughy the end product will be, because the dough will puff up during the cooking process!

Final assembly.

Take the dough disk, and in the middle of it place enough meat to fill about 1/3 of the circle. If you use a spoon to do it, you will have the meat be loose and the ratio of meat to bread will be higher.
What I like to do is take the cold meat and form it into meat "pods" the size of what I want to place into the dough. Naturally you cannot do it immediately before since your hands will be greasy and it will be a mess. You can do it in a prior step kind of like making meatballs, just form them and press them tightly together as tight as possible, then let them rest, ready to use.

So...back to the dough. Place the meat in the center of the dough and then pick up the edges of the dough and bring the two opposite side together. The dough will stretch if your did it correctly and you will also judge the amount of meat that is correct for the circle you cut. Once you have the dough together, you pinch the seam together with your fingers, keeping the meat inside and not in the seam. The end result will sort of look like a large almond, with the dough completely surrounding the meat, evenly crimp at the seam,. Once you have it all crimped you can lift it up and rest it on a piece of wax paper on a sheet, I usually will let it rest on the seam, this makes sure there is no pressure trying to pull the seam apart. Lightly press the meat pod to flatten it while it rests.
This process will take a little practice but it really is easy after you do, a couple.

Once they have rested, you can let them rise for about 10-15 minutes.
Get the oil in a fry pan ready, heat enough oil so that it will cover at least half of the Piroshki
fry until the dough is a golden brown, turning it half way to get the other side, then remove and drain on a paper towel and then eat!
Once you bite into the steaming hot piece of dough you may want to season it more with either salt, pepper or I will dash some soy sauce into it, but most often if you seasoned the meat correctly it will not need anything else.
Be sure and serve them hot they are the best that way!

The easier dough method, if you have available at your store, Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix. This comes in a box and usually I need two boxes to make a batch of Piroshki. Any excess dough can be fried up and make a great buttered bread for breakfast. ( Not a low fat product)

Stuff you will need:

Filling:
1 lb of ground beef 10% fat
1 small onion chopped 1/4 dice
2 hard boiled eggs chopped as onion
3 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS flour
3 TBS chopped fresh dill or 1 TBS dried
salt and pepper to taste

Dough:
2 cups lukewarm water
1 package dry yeast
1/2 sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
2 egg yolks
dash of salt
5-51/2 cups of flour

Once you have mastered the process you will find it quiet easy to put together. Or you can find a Russian Delicatessen and pay anywhere from about 2 to 4 dollars each, and they will not taste as good. They are usually a lot more breadier and have little meat filling!

I'm too tired to cook tonight nite.

2009-01-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

Whats more trouble to go change clothes get into the car and go find somewhere to get some no frills eats or just throw something together at home.
Well at least at home I can walk around in old tattered clothes.
Well I can do that to a restaurant too, and maybe they will feel sorry for me, you think?

Here is a less than 5 minute throw together dish that will work great on an old flank steak, even better on a New York or other steaks. Or if you add one other ingredients in the recipe will do wonders for chicken.

Combine all the stuff in a food processor, pulse a couple of times so it has been mixed good, do not over process since that's not good, at least for this recipe.

Toss the steak into a zip lock bag, throw into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours,
then remove from the refrigerator at least one hour before tossing it on the grill or grill pan.

That's it!

Oh, this also make a great salsa to put on meat or fish that you didn't season before cooking, just adjust the amount of oil to your desired consistency!

And here is some totally useless information and a quote from Miguel de Cervantes, the writer of Don Quixote.

La mejor salsa del mundo es la hambre
or to translate it is, Hunger is the best sauce in the world!

Stuff you will need.

One or two portions of steak, or one large flank steak or one or two strips of skirt steak. A New York steak is pictured above.
3 cloves of garlic peeled
1/2 an white onion, chopped roughly
juice from 3 small limes or 2 lemons
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
1 large hand full of cilantro rough chop
1 Serrano chili, seed removed rough chop
1/2 tea fresh ground pepper
1 tea Kosher salt
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce (or for a better flavor, toss in 4 or 5 anchovy fillets)
1/2 cup apple cider ( use this only on the chicken)

Real Easy, really really easy bread

2009-01-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love to do is bake bread. Almost more than spreading some butter on it after about 10 minutes when it has come out of the oven. If you have never baked bread because you felt it was to hard and pain to make this recipe is for you!

You don't need anything special, no mixer , no special pans, nada!

You can even pre make the dough , put it in to a refrigerator, take it out 12 hours later bake and eat.

Place the warm water into the pot, add the salt and flour. Then add the yeast. Take large spoon and stir in the pot to be sure everything is mixed well and there are no dry flour spots. The dough will look almost too soupy unlike a ball that you normally would knead. It will have quite a bit of moisture. That how you want it.
Cover with plastic or another pan or lid.....
Wait until it bubbles up and increases in size almost double.
Take the spoon then and punch it down, stirring once or twice, no more. Now be sure your pot is a non stick type otherwise you will have some difficulty in releasing the bread. You can also after you punch down the dough the second time transfer it to a standard non stick loaf pan or one that has been buttered. That way you will have a standard loaf size for sandwiches etc.
The you want it to rise again, it will take about 2 hours, in a nice warm area. Then
Preheat your oven to 400
When the oven is hot, stick it in , preferable in the middle rack
Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes.
The way to tell if it is ready is take it out of the oven and with your finger give it a thump
If it sounds hollow, it's done!
Take out, let cool for about 20 minutes, it will shrink down a tad, turn the pot over and the bread will fall out, cool or cut and enjoy!

Stuff you will knead.......
4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cuts warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp honey or brown sugar

Easy Spiced Salmon #2

2009-01-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

This one is another throw quick no fuss reciepe, but takes use of a blender, so go out and buy a blender if you don't have one! Soriana has them for about 20 bucks now that they are all made in China, just image what it really cost to make them when you consider shipping, profits etc,etc.

Take two cups of cilantro , and toss in 2 cloves of garlic with the paper removed. If you have a chance to roast some garlic, so much the better it will give a much better flavor, put in 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Put in the juice of one lemon.
Start the blender,
add about 1/2 cup of olive oil, preferred if you don't have it vegetable oil will do.
Whirl away until all is smooth and green.

Rinse the salmon fillets or steaks, pat dry with a paper towel.
Let the fish swim in a shallow dish in the sea of cilantro marinade for at least one hour.

Get your cast irongrill skillet ready or if you are going to grill it, get that going.
If you are going to use the skillet, preheat your oven to 375. I also use a plain sheet pan with a cookie cooling rack place in the sheet. Spray the rack with PAM or other oil spray for a easier release.
Test doneness after about 15 minutes.
Depending on your oven, it will be ready, either check it with the touch method or cut and separate the middle of one of the fillets to see.
If you are grilling, put it on a well oilied place on a hot part of the grill, then carefully lodge a metal spatula after about 4 minutes then turn it onto the grill again and cover it with on old tin pie plate or the plate from a store bought pie that you bake in the oven.

(This is an old restaurant trick when drilling fish on a medium to hot grill, so that you don't over cook and dry the fish out)

The reason you need to do that is most of the time the fish will need more heat to surround it than the grill will provide. This way you are using a pie plate to make a mini oven.

Check it in about 4 minutes and it should be ready.
Oh, use some tongs to remove the pie plate over the salmon.

I usually service this with some pasta of some sort, linguine or fettuccine cooked then tossed with butter and some roasted garlic and a little salt.....
Enjoy.

Stuff you will need:

One fresh bunch of Cilantro
2 to 6 salmon fillets, thick cut if possible 1" ( if thinner adjust your cooking time)
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 olive oil
Juice of one lemon
2 Garlic cloves, skin removed, Roasted preferred.

Easy Spiced Salmon #1

2009-01-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe that I will use when I just need to throw something together without spending a lot of time in the kitchen, which is becoming more and more.

The best way is to grill the salmon steak on the grill or parilla. But if you don't want to fire that up, use a grill pan or grill plate. Everyone show own one of those for quick and fast preparation of steak and fish. Whats a grill pan?
It a cast iron pan usually about 12 inches in diameter and instead of being perfectly smooth on the bottom, it has raised lines on it, so that when you have it hot and place meat or fish on it, the grill marks appear from the lines , it cooks the meat without touching all of it, using radiant hear AND it provide great grill mark caramelization for super flavor.

Take about 4 TBS of Achiote paste into a small bowl, to that add the juice of a lemon. About 1/4 of juice or just enough to be able to mix the paste into a free flowing sauce like consistency.You can add a little olive oil also. Make the sauce liquid enough to cover the fish not like a paste though.
Take the Salmon steaks and coat withe mix.
Let sit at room temperature for about 1/2 hour.

Lesson.
Before you cook meat, or even seafood, let it come up to room temperature from the refrigerator so that when you place it on the grill, it doesn't have to unthaw or have a large temperature difference between the outside and inside. This will provide better cooking control for you, so that you have medium rare steaks that are hot all the way, instead of done correctly on the outside but cold on the inside. With fish it allows even cooking so that the fish is not overcooked on the outside but undercooked inside. Overcooked fish, BAD......perfectly cooked GOOD!
This also pertains to Chicken also.

Then take the Salmon and place it on the grill or grill pan, cook for about 3 to 4 minutes per side, carefully run a metal spatula to release the fish from the metal and carefully turn, finish cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes until touching the fish with your finger offers some resistance......(learn how to tell doneness by feel)
If you don't have a grill you can place it in to a hot preheated oven. Preheat to 375, place on either foil or grill rack. You will need to cook it for about 12-15 minutes if convection, a few more if not. If you would like to use an instant read thermometer, pull the fish at 140.

Stuff you will need:

Achiote Paste
juice from lemon
salt and pepper
Salmon Steaks

Chicken with Huitlacoche

2009-01-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

This is a complex recipe that takes about a total of 2 hours and is not a simple throw it together dish. I make this one for special occasions because of the ingredients that are a little hard to get. The Huitlacoche is very hard to get in the US, but look for it as a canned product under the Monteblanco and Goya brand. It is available in some of the ethnic markets in a 460. g or 14 oz can. Here in Mexico you can find it seasonally in the mercados.
Huitlacoche is a fungus growth that attaches itself onto corn cobs. It is considered a delicacy and is worth the effort to do this dish. It really looks weird, sort of like spoiled or moldy corn kernels, but indeed tasty with a distinct flavor.

To prepare the stuffing.

Saute the Huitlacoche in the skillet over low heat with butter for 3 to 4 minutes or until it starts to release it's juices. Throw in the garlic and serrano chilies and simmer for 8 more minutes, if it starts to dry out, add some chicken stock or water so that is doesn't scorch.
Add the marjoram and saute for another 5 or 6 minutes or until almost dry.
Take the skillet off the heat and let it cool completely.
Meanwhile remove the kernels from one large ear of sweet corn, or if regular corn, use that but add 1 tbs of honey and dry roast in another skillet, use a wooden spoon and stir it so that it doesn't burn.
Add the red pepper , cook for a minute or two, remove from heat and set it aside.

Take the corn bread into a medium bowl and toss in the cooked huitlacoche, corn mixture, scallions, hoja santa and epazote.
Toss in the salt and pepper and add the stock and egg whites. Combine all but try not to over mix, stir only enough to coat the ingredients totally.

Stuffing the Bird.

Put the breasts on a cutting board and make an incision lengthwise through the center of each breast. With a small paring knife carefully widen the incision and try not to cut through the breast.
With a spoon or zip lock bag with the end cut off, stuff the breasts until plump. Put into the refrigerator for an hour or two before cooking.

To cook the dish

Don't cook the dish, cook the chicken in stead.
preheat the oven to 425.
Season the breasts with some salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet,until hot over medium high heat.
Place the breasts skin side down in the skillet.
Immediately reduce the heat to medium and saute until lightly browned.
Remove any excess grease from the pan and place it into the oven.
Be sure your skillet handle can withstand the heat of the oven otherwise you will melt the handle and chicken with a melted handle isn't a good thing.......
Roast the breasts in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes and test with an instant read thermometer for 135.
Remove the breasts and tent with foil.
Meanwhile......deglaze the pan with the vinegar. When you have deglazed the pan and the vinegar has been reduce by half, add the tomato salsa and sugar.

Taste the hot sauce (carefully so you don't burn your tongue) and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

To serve
Ladle the warm sauce onto 4 warm plates that you have preheated, nap the plate and be sure it is covered , remove the breasts from the foil, and with a serrated knife cut into 4 even slices with the goodies inside and place them on top of the napped plate and serve.

I usually will serve this with whatever fresh vegetables that are in season, spinach, kale, asparagus all do complements to the chicken.

Stuff you will need

1 Cup Huitlacoche
3 cloves of roasted garlic chopped*
2 roasted serrano chiles, diced with seeds
1/2 tsp chopped fresh marjoram or 1/4 tsp dry
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup crumbled up corn bread
1/4 chopped scallions
1 tsp chopped fresh hoja santa or 1 tsp chopped terragon
1 tbs chopped fresh epazote
1 egg white
1 tbs butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup chicken stock
4 whole chicken breasts with skin on without bones
4 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup apple cider or wine vinegar
1 cup roasted grilled tomato salsa*
1 Tbs sugar

* Salsa recipe
8 medium sized Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 tsp olive oil
1 whole chopotle chile with adobo
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tbs sugar
juice from 1/2 lemon

Roast tomatoes on hot oiled pan in very hot oven, or blacken them on open flame or with propane torch. You want the flavor of the caramelized tomato skin. Saute the onion in the oil until the onion starts to brown or caramelize. Throw all into a blender or a molcajete and blend or grind until smooth. Add lemon to taste. Adjust the seasoning to taste, possible add another chili if not sufficiently hot for your taste.
(Recipe from Santa Coyote in Guadalajara)

To roast garlic

Cut garlic bulb in half width wise. Coat with olive oil, place into aluminum foil and place into 350 oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, remove the roasted soft garlic from the bulb. Use this in recipes and it is great spread on bread!
Remove and cool, scoop out the roasted garlic and use on bread or recipes.

Indian Pudding

2009-01-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is one of those recipes that is very cheap and once you stir it you can leave it on top of a warm oven for hours until dinner etc.

If you have fresh fruit you can use that to top it along with some fresh cream otherwise,you can add some flavors to it or just glop some vanilla ice cream on the top of it.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toss the cornmeal onto almost boiling milk, (scalded) and start stirring. Be care full not to have the heat on too high since it could burn. Burnt cornmeal doesn't taste too good.
Cook until mixture starts to bubble, keep stirring for another 5 minutes or so.
Remove from the heat, (eye) put in the molasses, spices, salt and butter.

Take 2 TBS of butter and grease up a cazuela or 1 1/5 qt baking casserole.
Pour cornmeal mix into the dish and add 1/2 cup of hot milk and mix gently.
Bake for 2 to 3 hours. Serve with flavored cream or vanilla ice cream while it is still hot and melts the ice cream.

Flavored cream, would be if you take 1/2 cup whipping cream, add Kahlua or other liquors like raspberry or cherry.
You could also make some caramel and top it with that also.
Enjoy.

Stuff you will need.

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal ( or polenta)
3 cups milk, scalded
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 tsp. fresh ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp.salt
2 Tbs butter for coating the dish
2Tbs butter for the cornmeal mix
1/2 hot warmed cream or scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Tongue or Lengua

2009-01-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, first of all some of your are going eeeeuuuuggg.
Well have you ever tried it?

If you haven't you owe it to yourself to try it first before whining about it!

It's pretty easy to make although a little time consuming it is great both served warm and cold. One of my favorite tacos is Tacos de Lengua which is tasty and loaded with tender tongue meat.....umm.

To Start:

Fill a large pot with water enough to cover the meat, add a onion some peppercorns and put on the stove over medium heat.

When it boils, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and go read a book.
Or you can even take a nap.
After about 2 hours, take a look and check it. If the water has been reduced too much go ahead and add a little more water in order to cover the meat again.

To check to see if it is done, take a serrated steak knife and jab into the thickest parts.
IF the knife goes in easy it is done, if it offers some resistance then let it cook some more.

Once cooked you can drain the pot and let the tongue cool so that you can work with it.

Take a shape knife and trim the outside skin off the whole tongue. You will see that the outside skin is extremely tough like leather. It is pretty easy to remove with a sharp knife.

After you have trimmed the outside skin off, you can slice it into serving pieces of about 1/2 inch thick.

Stuff you will need:

2 lb beef tongue
1 onion
1 tbs peppercorns
2 tbs salt.

Cilantro Tartar Sauce

2009-01-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

I love fish, usually all the fish needs is a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice, maybe a little soy or salsa and that's it!
Occasionally there is just something that the fish needs or whatever...you know what I mean. In that case a little fat sauce will help.
Yep you can just throw a dollop of mayonnaise on it, but why? This is a simple recipe that adds some flavor and justifies the mayo.

To Start:
Place all the ingredients into a small food processor or blender and whirl away until all is combined.
Process until all is smooth,
Pour the stuff into a squeeze bottle, you know the kind mustard comes in, and stick in the refrigerator until needed.
To use,
take the bottle out, give it a shake or two and then squeeze your favorite design all over the fish.

Stuff you will need:

1/2 cup of Mayonnaise ( Best Foods or Hellman(east of the Rockies) )
1 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
1TBS finely chopped while onion
1 TBS finely chopped dill pickles
1/2 TBS finely chopped capers (drain and rinse)
1 TBS chopped fresh basil
1 TBS fresh Italian Parsley
1 to 2 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice ( To taste)
1/2 tsp salt

Green Chile Corn Bread

2009-01-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is an easy throw it all in the pot and throw it in the oven recipe. You can add some sweet corn kernels to the top as decoration when finished , if you have them available, but otherwise it is pretty plain.

Preheat oven to 325.
If you have a Dutch Oven this is perfect otherwise find a 9 inch square baking pan. Generously butter the Dutch Oven or pan.

In a bowl beat the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time beating after each egg. And the chilies, corn and cheese and homogenize all. In another small bowl, mix the cornmeal, baking soda, flour and salt. Once mixed, throw that into the egg mixture and mix until all the lumps are out, well the majority of them at least.

Put in the oven, close the door, go read for about an hour.
Find yourself a wooden match or skewer, jab it in the middle of the bread, if it comes out clean then remove from the oven, let rest and enjoy. If it comes out still clinging on to some corn meal particles, give it another 10 minutes or so, until the stick comes out clean. That's it!

Stuff you will need:

4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 TBS. Baking powder
1 1/2 cups creamed corn
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup roasted, seeded and diced green chilies ( you can use canned if you must)
1/2 cup grated Monterey or Chihuahua Cheese

Yam Flan

2009-01-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite twists on the flan, this adds a nice texture to the flan but keeps the caramel on the bottom of the custard, as usual.

To start, find a pan glass or ceramic to coat the caramel and put the custard in. I usually will use a 9x11 Pyrex dish, or one that has about the same surface.

To make the caramel,
Take the sugar and put in a saucepan on medium high heat.
Add the water and stir ONCE.
Then let it cook until the sugar water mixture turns a dark amber, go ahead and swirl the pan to be sure it is all mixed. Be sure and do not let the mixture turn much darker because it will burn and you will have a hard time cleaning out the burnt sugar.
Take the hot caramel and carefully put it into the glass dish, be sure and swirl it around to coat the whole dish and up on the sides a little.
Be very care full because it is very hot and will burn very bad should you get it on yourself..... ( Caramel lesson #1)

Set the pan to the side or into the refrigerator.

TO make the custard-flan.

Put cream into a medium saucepan add the vanilla extract and cinnamon sticks. Turn on the heat to a medium a and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let the cinnamon soak for at least one hour. Strain out the cinnamon.

Find a pan that you can put the glass dish into and have it be surrounded with water half way up the Pyrex dish with the caramel in it. (This is called a water bath or bain marie.) This is done so that the cooking heat will be even and gentle while in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 325degrees.

Boil some water, enough to fill the bigger pan.

In a large bowl, add the now cooled cream , sugar, crushed yams allspice, cloves, eggs rum and Kahlua.
Take a whisk and combine into a homogenized mixture.
Pour into the glass dish.
Put the dish into the oven, immediately put the hot water which you boiled, so it it comes up halfway up the dish with the custard in it.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour, open the oven door and shake the inside pan a little to see if it has firmed up. If your oven runs hot, it may be done, otherwise it can take anywhere from about 15 to 30 minutes more.

When the center is kind of firm but jiggles a little, remove from the oven and let cool.

When cool, cut or scoop into serving dishes, you can top with whipped cream flavored with Kahlua or just plain whipped cream and sugar. Or not.

You can use sweet potato in place of yams if you only have Sweet Potatoes.

You also could take some canned pumpkin , the kind you buy to make pumpkin pie, and substitute it for the yams, the flan will then become a Pumpkin Flan........

Stuff you will need:

for the Caramel

2 Cups sugar
2 cups water

For the Flan

4 Cups half and
half or Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Cinnamon Sticks (whole)
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar (packed firm)
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1TBS ground allspice
1 TBS ground cloves
5 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup dark rum
1/4 cup Kahlua
1 lb baked Yams, peeled and pureed or canned.

Rocket Man

2008-12-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

Some of my salads that I enjoy use a green, called Rocket, or in this continent Arugula.

Our last trip to London, they had tons of salads made with Rocket. Rocket?

I wonder why it's called Rocket, Maybe I'll look it up and let you know......................

Anyway it is not easy to find, so just grow your own. It's really easy, it grows as quick as weeds.

Seeds are easy to get, and please do not buy the seeds in a hardware store!

You will pay like you won't believe $2.89 for 2.5 grams, but if you go to a farm supply you can get 100 times that for $3.00

After all, could you imaging a farmer paying 2 bucks for 2 grams, I don't think so, and even then for 3 bucks it is probably cheaper if I was purchasing several pounds of seed. Here is a package that costs 3 bucks.........This package will last me a year or two, enough to share, enough to have them grow like weeds!

Anyway, I grow my Arugula in a box I made, especially for growing lettuces and leaf stuff for salads. The idea is to grow them in long thin boxes so you can pick at will as the leaves get to the size you want for your fresh salads. The boxes I built are also cheap, take 3, 6 or 8 ft long boards , like fence boards, the thickness can be from 3/4 of an inch .
Nail or screw the 3 boards to form a U, so you have two boards on the sides with one on the bottom.
The nail the ends on them, fill with dirt and that's it. I fill it with a dirt and sand mix, so it's is easy to germinate the seeds.
I am able to plant two rows, spaced about 3 inches apart lengthwise.

I would suggest planting about 1 to 2 feet every two weeks, this way you will always have emerging small plants ready to get picked!

If you can't find the seeds, have friends who live near a farm supply purchase them for your and send them to you. The hardware store packages contain about 100 seeds which is enough for one planting.

Great vinaigrette for Arugula salad:

Put the Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and acid (lemon juice or vinegar) into a medium bowl. Pour in the oil while whisking the whole time until combined. Take about two tablespoons and put into a new bowl, toss in the Arugula and toss and coat, plate and eat!

Stuff you will need;

1/2 tea Kosher Salt
1/4 tea fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice or your favorite vinegar, like sherry or red wine vinegar
2/3 cup oil, like peanut oil or corn oil. Olive oil is to strong of a flavor, although you could use half olive oil and half peanut oil.

A different Bread Pudding not Capirotada

2008-12-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

The main difference between regular bread pudding and Capirotada is that in the Capirotada it is often done with cheeses and nuts, sometimes even piloncillos.

This one is not.

This is more of the traditional old standard that is super easy to make.
It's also great for large crowds. I catered a "New Orleans" style picnic a few years ago for about a 100 people and this was one easy fix ahead dish.

In catering you try and do stuff that you can do ahead of time and just heat up or do one last thing on site and the result will make you appear to be a master!

The secret, oh oh, I am giving my secret away, which is different from all other bread pudding recipes is this.

You have to promise to to tell anyone about it, and you too will have some great accolades to this dish. ( send cash in unmarked bills to secret address)

The secret is to use day or two day old pastries instead of stale old bread. Not that you can't make a good bread pudding with stale bread, this makes it unique to the point where people will ask what the secret is.

The hardest part is finding day or two day old stuff you can use. I usually will go to my local bakery that has pastries and buy their "on sale" items. What you buy is not as important so just buy halfway decent stuff.
A mix of doughnuts, bear claws, cream filled or jam filled snails or danishes are great.
Old raisin or cinnamon bread is also fine, the more diverse the items the better it will be.
In a pinch if no old stuff is available I will buy croissants, muffins, banana bread, almost anything that has some flavor. I wouldn't mix stuff like Jalapeno bread or Rosemary Ciabatta for this dessert. Once you get the hang of these recipe you can experiment with lots of other stuff like throwing in tart apple slices or even peaches. Once I made it with bananas and instead of the vanilla extract I used Banana extract, it turned out really good.

To start.

You will need to make a custard mix, which is pretty easy, take the eggs, cream, (or milk) cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and beat together until all is homogenized. add the milk, your slurry should look like thick egg nog.

Take the pastry and break apart by hand into 1 inch chunks or pieces. Place the bread into a 1/2 hotel pan or a pan about 12x12x3inch casserole dish, cover with the custard mix, be sure all the bread is wet and soggy, let soak for about 1/2 hour, just before placing in the oven take your butter and toss the butter pats all over the bread mixture, then place into a 350 oven and cook for about 45 minutes.
While cooking the bread will puff up, check it after about 35 minutes, stick a wooden matchstick or skewer into the middle and see if it comes out clean. if it does, pull it out and let cool, if not, leave in the oven for another 10 minutes and check again. I would not leave in the oven longer than one hour, even if it is a little under set, it will still have moisture, better than all dried up!

Stuff you will need:

8 large eggs. Beaten
10 to 12 cups pulled apart old pastries
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract or Almond extract
1 teas ground cinnamon
1/2 tea ground nutmeg
1.5 cups sugar
3 cups milk or half and half
1 cup raisins ( for better flavor soak in rum overnight)
1 stick of butter

Whiskey Sauce.

I would omit this if you are trying to stick to some kind of a health diet or don't want a heart attack after eating this. This sauce on top of old cardboard would make it taste great!

2 sticks of salted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (or so) bourbon whiskey ( or rum if you like the taste of rum better)
1/4 cup whipping cream

Melt butter, add the sugar and mix until all melted and mixed, add the cinnamon and cream, mix and then add the bourbon, you MUST keep this warm otherwise it will harden and turn into a glop.( A tasty glop but still a glop)

Serve the bread pudding then ladle a spoon of the sauce on top of the bread pudding.....Not too much it is very rich. If it cools simply warm up again in an oven or double boiler.

Hot Dessert, not Mexican though....

2008-12-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

Lots of people ask what my favorite dessert is. Well I have a few. I love fresh fruit. Any kind, but hey it's winter, and I am not a fan of paying high prices just to have something flown in from Australia or Chile. Remember not that long ago you only got seasonal fruit.It was trucked in that week, and it tasted a hell of a lot better than the stuff they sell to you now.

OK, here are my favorites, in order. Fresh Fruit, Cheese Cakes, Tiramisu, Cremes, like Flan and Creme Brulee and lastly, fried dessert.

Now almost anything you fry is going to be good and bad. The taste will be good, but the calories or fat will be bad.

But as Julia Child said, Everything in moderation is good! That's my girl, Julia!

That's why I only have Foie Gras two or three times a year...............

Here is one of my favorite "bad" desserts, simply because it is easy, Sopaipillas are made from a pressed dough, like a Tortilla, made of flour, baking powder, salt. and fat .

Although I think these were more from New Mexico and Texas, they are not too popular in Mexico for some reason.

The dough is deep fried, just like a donut. the baking powder causes it to puff up, and then freeze in a puffy condition, becoming crisp with a void inside ready to pour your best yummy concoction like honey or creme anglaise.

Now, in New Mexico they even use these for lunch and fill them with stuff like re fried beans, cheese, chili or even meats like hamburger or even shredded chicken.

We Ruskies have a similar item that are called Piroshki.

Piroshkis are filled with ground meat, onions and dill.

The Polish have their Pirogis, The Salvadorians have Pupusas, etc....

This one is for sweet stuff. Sopaipillas are usually for sweet stuff. Usually.

To Start.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. stir until totally mixed.
Stir in oil, cream, and water.
Knead to make a soft dough then turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead lightly. Dough will be a bit sticky. Cover with moist dish cloth or plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.

Ready to fry?

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a heavy saucepan or deep fryer to 375 degrees.

Roll dough into a rectangle , you want the end result to be about 1/8 of an inch thick.
Cut into 3-inch squares. Carefully place the dough into hot oil, 2 or 3 at a time. Be sure and press them down into the oil so they'll puff.
Fry until golden brown, turning once.
Remove carefully without deflating them and place on either a paper towel or drip rack to drain.

To serve, you have a couple of options.
You can use confectioners sugar to sprinkle on them and you will almost have the New Orleans treat the beignets from Cafe Du Monde, otherwise use some cinnamon sugar on top,or honey or I sometime will take one end off and pour either honey or a sweet cream inside.
That's it!
Enjoy!

Stuff you will need:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup warm water
cinnamon sugar
honey
oil for frying ( corn oil or lard)

Nothing better than Soup! Tortilla Soup.

2008-12-23T12:09:00.001-08:00

I have always enjoyed soup because it is so easy to make.
Same basic ingredients to start.
This one is easy to make especially if you top it with avocados, it will look even better.

Saute in a large pot the onions until translucent. Add the celery cook for 5 minutes more over medium heat. Toss in the garlic & tomatoes and salt. When the other items are soft toss in the tomato puree, combine, take the chicken stock and slowly add the Maseca. Add the chicken base or the chicken bouillon cubes.
Be sure and stir so that no dry pieces remain and that it is all incorporated otherwise you will have lumps...Lumps are bad....
Stir.Toss in the Pasilla Chili, and let cook for about 20 minutes, on very low heat. Let simmer, it should thicken up a bit.

Meanwhile..............

In a separate pan, add the vegetable oil and put on medium high heat.
Take the corn tortillas and stack one of top of each other.
With a sharp knife, chop 1/4 inch strips so that you end up with about 30 or 40 thin ribbon strips of tortillas.
Take about half a tortillas' worth and toss into the hot oil, cook until crisp, remove and drain on a paper towel, cook the rest the same way.
To serve...
Put in individual bowls, take and place two avocado slices on top of the soup, take some sour cream or creama about a tablespoon dollop and place on the top of the soup in the bowl, then take about 8 to 10 fried tortilla strips and place on the top. You also could grate some cheese on the top. Enjoy.

Here is a trick to make the soup look like it was made in a very expensive restaurant.
Take a squeeze bottle, the kind that you see in hot dog stands, you know, the yellow one for mustard and a red one for ketchup. They sell them in the kitchen departments. Fill it with the creama or sour cream. They you can use it to make a zig zag decoration on top of the soup, instead of the dollop.
That's why they charge more in a restaurant......

Things you will need:

1/2 cup chopped white onion or leek
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped Roma tomatoes or 1/2 of a 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups tomato sauce or 1 cup puree with 1 additional cup of stock
3 corn tortillas to cut 1/4 inch strips for frying
1/2 cup Meseca
1 cup sour cream or creama for topping
1 garlic clove smashed and minced
1 Pasilla chili
1 avocado cut into 1/8ths, lengthwise.
1 cup vegetable oil or lard in which to fry the tortilla strips
Shredded cheese like Monterey Jack or Chihuahua (optional for topping)

The next best, man's best friend

2008-12-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

Yes the Olla(crock pot) is suppose to be the best thing since sliced whole bread, and if you maintain a traditional oven outside fed with logs and stuff it probably is. I however grudgingly pay the price to CFE to generate enough power to fuel my Sunbeam Crock Pot.

What I like about the crock pot is that is mirrors my twisted life. "Set it and forget it" or "Low Maintenance"

I started using the damn thing years ago, when I wanted a decent meal without having to come home early and fool around in the kitchen. After hours of toil in the office and in the field (not the wheat fields) the last thing I wanted was to stand for an hour creating something to eat for the two of us.

Enter the crock pot.

You can toss almost anything, in any order, put the top on and walk away only to return to a house smelling of a delicious concoction worthy of freezing and eating at another no labor meal.
Now I cherish the leftovers which are plucked from the thick clay pot. Now I enjoy throwing the thick plastic envelope into a cauldron of boiling water, waiting about 7 or 8 minutes to cut open a warmed up lunch or dinner that I know took hours to prepare.

So here is a quick and easy meal.
I'll do a couple of them for you, you can then do others on your own./....It's really easy after the first one or two.

Peel the onion , and then toss into the bottom of the pot. Rinse and paper dry the meat. Add a tablespoon of oil into a cast iron skillet and heat to medium high. When the oil starts shimmering put in the meat and let brown for 3 to 4 minutes a side.
Place the meat on top of the onions in the pot, toss in the veggies. toss in the onion soup mix, add the wine, cover with spices, put the whole dried chili ancho one top of that and put the top on, turn the pot to low, go away for 4 to 8 hours.

Upon returning, take a big spoon and stir the pot, remove the meat and a couple of the larger pieces of potato and carrots. Take the chili out with a slotted spoon, cool remove the seeds and finely chop, return to the stew.
Take you immersion blender and whirl away until all is smooth.
taste and fix the seasoning by adding additional salt and pepper to taste.

take the meat and cut it up into serving size.
Grab some pasta or rice, top the starch with the meat, ladle on 4 oz of the sauce
sit down and eat.

Things that you will need.

One Large White Onion, chopped
2 Large potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks or
10 or 12 small potatoes, like fingerling or baby potatoes
1 envelope of Onion Soup Mix
2 or 3 Large carrots, pealed and chopped into 1" pieces
2 or 3 stalks of celery cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 to 8 ripe Roma tomatoes crushed, or one 24 oz can of stewed tomotoes.
1 cup of cut mushrooms (optional)
One or two ancho chilis
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup red wine
salt and pepper
herbs de province

Need a Hot Toddy?

2008-12-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

One of the things I enjoy about winter is having a hot toddy on a cold night by the fireplace!

Forget the TV, get a book, your reading glasses, a comfy chair and a nice glass with your favorite drink.

Here are a couple of my warm ones..................

Irish Coffee

1 1/2 oz Irish Whiskey
Hot Coffee

Pour whiskey into a mug rimmed with sugar. Fill 3/4 of the way with coffee. Fill the rest of the mug with whipped cream until it is even with the rim. Now one neat thing in Mexico is the Cream that is called Crema para Batir. It is so much better than the stuff sold in the US, It is close to Manufacturers Cream that is sold for restaurants and bakeries etc. It is supper rich and a small amount goes a long way. It make a great topping for that Irish Coffee.....

Mexican Coffee

1 oz. Dark Rum or Tequila your choice
1 oz Kahlua
Coffee
Sugar to Taste

In a footed mug add the rum, Kahlua and sugar. Fill with coffee and stir gently. Top with a bit of whipped cream if you have sweet tooth.

If you think it will keep you up then: How about a Hot Brandy

Hot Brandy

1 cube Sugar
1 piece Orange Peel
2 oz Brandy ( my Fav is E&J) but use a good one!
1 oz Boiling water

Fill glass with hot water, add sugar, add brandy , twist the orange or lemon, stir with spoon for a few seconds, and enjoy.

The Hot Brandy does wonders for a lot of ailments. It seems to help my sore throats, and flu symptoms. Or at least after one or two, I don't seem to care that it's cold outside...................

And for a traditional group punch bowl drink,

Egg Nog

3 Cups Gold Rum
1 Cup Dark Rum
2 Quarts Half & Half
1 Cup Sugar
12 Eggs
4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Nutmeg

In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs until light.
Add the sugar, then the half & half, rums, and vanilla. Cover and chill over night.

Take out of fridge about 1/2 hour before serving.

Serves 20

Pico de Gallo with Avocado Salad

2008-12-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

Getting good varieties of lettuce is somewhat difficult down here, but growing your own is not!
Have some friends pick up a mesculin mix in the states and bring it down for you.
Instead of buying a 1/16 oz of seed in a small envelope for 2 bucks, you can buy 1 or 2 oz for 3 dollars if you go to a farm and feed supply store.
I purchase enough seed to equip a small army for dollars instead of hundreds...unless you absolutely positively can only get them in that size. I grow both Romaine, butter and two or three other varieties all year round. They sprout in about 1 week and I pick them off as they get to 5 or 6 inches high.
I will usually plant a batch once a month, that way there is always a new batch ready to pick almost any time. Here is a nice quick throw together salad.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice and the olive oil.

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, cilantro and pico de gallo.

Toss in the salt and pepper into the dressing. Take a couple of firm to medium avocados and cut them in half, remove the pits.

There is an easy way to remove the pit, be careful unless you understand the concept. With a sharp knife with the middle of the sharp blade edge, whip it downward into the middle of the pit. The idea here is to have the knife blade enter the pit, in the middle and set itself into the pit deep enough. Once the blade is in, then with your hand that you were holding the avocado with, twist it while holding pressure against the blade until the pit turns, once it turns then you can pull out the pit, if you did everything correctly the pit will pull out stuck in to the knife edge. The simply give it a reverse swing and throw it off the blade. (Again please be care full or if you have any hesitation about this or do not understand the mechanics of this, do not do it!)

Once you have 4 halves of the avocado, you can take a small paring knife or even a butter knife and cris-cross lines up and down into the halved portions of the avocado to form 1/2 inch cubes, once you have run the lines up and down, then you can tale a spoon and scoop out the cut pieces, (This takes a little practice but it is easier than cutting it out of the shell)

Once you have the avocado cut into small dice, toss into the bowl with the lettuce, dressing and service immediately.

If you have other greens like watercress (berro) or baby spinach leaves, you can also toss them in, use any non bitter leaves, they are all good!

Stuff you will need

2 Ripe large avocados

¼ cup juice from lemons
¼ cup olive oil or peanut oil
2 large heads boston bibb lettuce, shredded or combination of arugula, (rocket) or romaine.
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup fresh pico de gallo or your favorite home made salsa
salt and pepper to taste

Cheap eats! Ground Beef with Refried Beans, Salsa and Grilled Zucchini

2008-12-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I get tired quite often about sort of getting into a rut of making tacos with leftovers. Some time I'll make a soup, and the trick is to extend the food and not toss it away.

Occasionally I'll throw something together that I want to make from scratch and not have the same stuff morphed from something earlier on in the week.

This is cheap, fast and different.

Preheat your grill, and toss the cut zucchini in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with some salt and fresh ground pepper. Then throw on the grill on opposing grill rails otherwise some of them will fall through the grate. (waste of product and oil)

Grill over moderate heat for about 4 or 5 minutes until soft and tender.

Add oil to 10 or 12 inch pan over medium hot heat, throw in the ground beef.

Add some salt and more pepper, cook and break up any clumps of meat so that it is separated as much as possible. When cooked through add the refried beans, salsa and chicken stock. Mix so that everything is combined and bubbling hot and everything is cooked and homogenized.

Grab some tortillas and prepare the way you like, either frying in some oil, then bending them to form a pocket, drain, then stuff or toss in some hot oil to moisten the tortilla to heat and bubble up, then remove when hot and soft, then load the filling.

To finish, load the grilled zucchini on the middle of the tortilla, 4 or 5 of them then top with the rest of the filling.

That's it........you could top with some chopped cilantro, white onion , lettuce , chopped tomato , creama, sour cream, guacamole, etc,etc,

or not.

Stuff you will need:

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 zucchini, cut into strips 1/3 in thick lengthwise

salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ pounds ground beef, Do not use super lean beef, don't forget the flavor is in the fat!

2 cups refried beans (you do know how to make refried beans don't you?)

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 Cups salsa fresca or fresh salsa of choice

6 large tortilla shells, or fresh tortillas to warm etc.

Makes 6 generous portions

Empanadas De Platano Banana Empanadas

2008-12-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Almost every nationality has a pocket filled with stuff!
Russians have delicious one called Peroski, which is filled with meat, and was the cause of my girth for many years. Now I make them about twice a year......
These are with a sweet filling, but you can make them with chicken, pork, beef, vegetables, almost anything you can make and put into a folded piece of dough.

Here is a quick way to make a nice dessert if you use some cream or even as an appetizer if you omit the cream toppings. (You can also add a lot of different fillings etc)

The best and easy way is if you can get your hands on puff pastry. We are able to get it at the local bakery in Morelia (Trico) it is the stuff they use to make Orejas. The bakeries should be able to sell it to you by the kilo, otherwise it is available in the states as Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Sheets, or other brands also.
Making Puff Pastry is a very time consuming job, and unless you have one of those super duper machines, it is not worth the effort. BELIEVE ME!

In a real pinch you could use a pasta machine, but it would only allow you 6 inch sheets, which for most recipes is not wide enough.

In a medium bowl, combine the banana, walnuts, the sour cream/heavy cream (crema ), and white sugar. Set aside go have a glass of wine for a minute or two.

If you have a frozen sheet take it out and let sit for at least 20 minutes so that it is workable without breaking.

On a cutting board, unfold one of the puff pastry sheets.

Using 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 4 circles from sheet.

Brush each with a beaten egg.

Slightly off center of each circle, spoon 1 tablespoon of banana mixture.

Fold one side over the filling and crimp the edges together to seal.

Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining filling and circles.

In a deep saucepan, heat 3 to 4 inches of oil until it registers 350 degrees F on a deep fat frying thermometer.

Working in batches, fry the empanadas, turning them over so that they will cook evenly during the cooking time, until crisp and golden brown (5 to 10 minutes).

With a slotted spoon or spider, transfer empanadas to a rack over paper towels to drain. (I use a paper bag (kraft paper type) which actually absorbs residual grease better than a paper towel)

If you want a lower grease alternative, you could bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. Be sure and place them on some parchment paper on the sheet pan.

Stuff you will need:

1 banana, peeled and sliced thinly
1/8 cup walnuts chopped
1 teaspoon crema (or sour cream mixed with heavy cream, see below) or even yogurt
1/4 teaspoon white sugar
1 package puff pastry, thawed
1 large eggs, lightly beaten

Topping to spoon on top of, you can also use some ice cream if you like.

creme fraiche or heavy cream/sour cream mixed
shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
raspberry sauce - Pureed Frozen Strawberries
coconut ice cream 4 fresh strawberries, halved

use to top the unit after you let it cool for awhile. be careful do not bite into it unless it has cooled.

You can dust the top of them with raw sugar or turbinado sugar, if you brush the outside with the egg wash then throw the sugar on top.

This makes 4 empanadas, per sheet. The box usually comes with 3 sheets and I make a bigger batch, just triple the stuff above.

Spinach makes you live long! Or Not?

2008-12-12T11:36:00.001-08:00

Popeye Died today, survived by his beloved Olive Oil
upon news of the tragic loss Miss Olive Oil wept in sorrow stating ,
"He's strong to the finish because he eats his spinach"

Popeye was loved and adored by millions around the world,
memorial services being held this Friday.

Chipotle Corn Bread

2008-12-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

One of the items that I miss down here is a variety of breads. Both artisan and normal types.

I've tried to make the French Style baguettes with mixed results and also bagels. I have to do special things to compensate for the high elevation here. But breads like corn bread are easy and pretty simple, never having had one fail yet! And it's pretty easy to make.

I love making corn bread because you can toss a lot of different stuff into it to have a variety of outcomes for all occasions. This one is nice to use with dinner when cooking the Steak Recipe with chili from the ranch cookbook.

First find a suitable vessel either a Pyrex pan or even a cazuela that is about 2 or 3 inch high. Butter the sides and have at it.

To start preheat your oven to about 375F. Or 190 C.

Use the middle rack of the oven.

Mix the cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking soda and power and salt in a large bowl. Next stir in the Chihuahua cheese, in another bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, crema, melted butter and chopped chipotles.

When mixed well, combine it to the dry ingredients and stir just enough to blend. The less you mix the better it will be.

Throw the mix into the buttered pan.

Put it into the oven.

Go make yourself a cup of coffee or a margarita.

Return to the oven in about 25 minutes and find yourself a wooden match or I use a wooden kabob skewer. You can also use a wooden toothpick or whatever you have around.

Jab it into the thickest part of the pan (not the pan actually but the corn bread mix that's baking in the pan)

If it comes out clean, the bread is done.

IF it comes out with bits of mix on the sides of the wood, put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes, then repeat the test until it comes out free of residual cornbread mix. (oven temperatures may be different, so an average is about 30 minutes.)

Let is sit around to cool for at least 1/2 hour.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan, just to be sure. You can either cut it into serving pieces in the pan or turn the pan over and see if the bread drops out on to the counter. If it does you are ready to serve it.

Stuff you will need.

1 cup cornmeal or polenta.

1 cup all purpose flour

¼ cup brown sugar

2tea baking powder

1tea baking soda

1tea salt

½ cup grated Chihuahua cheese

½ cup whole milk

½ cup crema

5 TBS melted butter

2 seeded and then chopped fine chipotle chilies (without adobo)

3 eggs

Also this is one of the recipes that you can add stuff and experiment. Like, raisins, corn kernels, chopped dates or nuts, this is also great with pine nuts, (toast first) other items like chopped pimentos or red bell peppers, dried onion bits, bacon bits, chocolate bits, scallions,etc.

Now, if you have left over Chipotle Corn soup, you could add that instead of the milk, but still keep the creama. IT will taste even better!

Emergency Dessert Torte - Chocolate

2008-12-08T07:27:00.001-08:00

We were having some company come over and my mind was vacant of any ideas for dessert that I had not done before. I always enjoy making a Tiramisu, which is pretty easy and has great end results.
I didn't have any Mascarpone cheese and besides I think that the visitors have been subjected to my Kahlua version prior.
What can I do with what I have.
Tarte-tatin?
Banana Foster? No I know they had that, and I didn't have the vanilla ice cream.
Maybe a frozen dessert?
No too much effort to clean out the machine and besides it makes a lot of noise. Maybe next time when I find some really go over ripe fruit.

How a bout a chocolate torte? Everyone always like one of those.
There was an old Russian recipe that my Grandmother made for me that I always liked. It was thin layers of a flat bread layers of filling interspersed. Yeah! that's it! I'll make a twist on that!

Flat bread........Tortillas!.....that's it!

Start by melting some chocolate.

Take the chocolate and melt either in the microwave or just throw it in a mixing bowl, put in the oven or leave in the car while with the windows rolled up. ( Always worked before)

Add 6 to 8 oz of either sour cream or the creama like we get down here. Mix the chocolate together with 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Place the first tortilla on the plate, take a spatula and spread a even coat of the chocolate mix on the top. Run the cream all the way out to the sides. ( dole out about 20% of the total mix, so you won't run out)
Stack the next tortilla , spread the chocolate evenly then stack the next one, continue until you have 4 or 5 tortillas high. (depends on how much chocolate you have left and how thick you were laying it on).
Leave the chocolate off the top, of the last top tortilla. Take the remaining cream add the Kahlua and sugar, mix well. This will be the topping.

Use the Kahlua cream to frost the top of the top tortilla, take your vegetable peeler and scrape long curls off of the chocolate bar, to the top of the cream top.

Put it in the refer for 4 hours.

Before serving, remove and use a serrated knife dipped in hot water to cut, or if you have a sharp long chef's knife, place the knife on the top and chop downward in even cuts.

The only thing to watch is that you don't have a sharp knife you may dislodge the layers. Another reason to have sharp knives around!

That's it!

Things that you will need.

2 Cups, sour cream or heavy creama. ( You could substitute yogurt ) Do not use the real runny, soupy one. If you don't find it use Whipping Cream , Sour cream or Yogurt.
8 oz semi sweet chocolate. Save a little for the top or just use a new one, eat the rest!
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 TBS fine sugar
2 TBS Kahlua
5, 8 to 10 inch flour tortillas. 8 or 9 inch diameter.

And if you feel like getting out of your comfort zone:

Add various flavors to the cream mix, you can do stuff like Mint, or Banana liqueur, any berry cordial,
You can also top the tort with berries, strawberries, black berries, blue berries, I would omit the Kahlua if your go the berry route, to confusing of flavors.
Also you could slice bananas real thin and place them in between the layers, or mix dried banana chips into the cream mix, you can add nuts.
Or to the cream add some almond or vanilla extract, tad more sugar, soak some raisins in rum or brandy mix them into the cream inside the layers. You could use some broken or smashed cookies for the coating on the side of it or sprinkle them on the top instead of the chocolate.
You also could soak the tortillas in rum, or brandy, before stacking them......ummmmm I like that one. ( non more than about 2 minutes)
You also could bake the tortillas for about 20 minutes in a 350 oven, to dry them out, this will give a completely different texture to the torte!

enjoy!

It's Chocolate Time-- Ibarra Mousse Pie

2008-12-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

Mexico is know for it's deep chocolate history. What better use of the tasty Ibarra chocolate than to make a rich deep dark mousse pie.
You've seen, well I hope you've seen the Ibarra chocolate on the store shelves, haven't you?

It comes in a a funny yellow octagon round package with 4 or 5 round paper wrapped disks of hard chocolate. Anyway, the chocolate has a distinctive flavor that is synonymous with Mexican hot chocolate drinks. It is pretty sweet and already has cinnamon in it so you will not need to add may other spices into the mix. I mix regular dark semisweet or bittersweet chocolate otherwise the texture of the Ibarra is very coarse.

I usually will spend a few teaspoons testing the mix just right, no, I think it needs a little more sugar, then taste, well maybe a tad more, another taste.......huuumm Ok, just right, but I better be sure just in case.........

You will need a spring form pan, the kind you use for making cheesecakes. You do make cheesecakes don't you? (very easy) by the way, so if you don't buy a pan it will make it a lot easier to unmold the pies and cheesecakes...( I'll give you some easy cheesecake recipes later). Now, if you don't have a spring form pan, don't fret. You can make this in a regular pie pan either glass or metal, but you will have to adjust the ingredients to compensate for the quantity. This recipe will have more stuff than what a glass pan will accommodate, you actually can probably make two pies since the glass pan is only about 1/1/2 high and a spring form pan runs up about 3 inches. So make two and give one away!

Lightly oil the sides of a 10 inch spring form pan. Throw the cookies into a food processor and pulse a few short times until the crumbs are about the size of small peas. Kind of like, about 1/8 of an inch particles. This will make it easy to mold the crust into the pan.

Next throw in the melted butter and the crumbs into a mixing bowl and combine , toss into the springform pan and press into the bottom and sides (up about 3/4 of the up, if you can get it up all the way (no pun intended) do so, that will be even better.
Gently press all the sides and bottom, the more even you get it the better the end result will be.

Gently put the pan full of pressed cookie crumbs into the fridge.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot but not boiling water, stir to be sure all of it melts. This may take a little time depending on how hot your water is. Some times I will put the pan into a warm oven 150 degrees before to get it going.

If you do not have a double boiler you can take a regular pan of water, like a 3 or 4 quart pot fill it with about a inch of water and then find a stainless steel bowl that will rest on the pan so that the steam from the boiling water will warm the bowl. Be sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pan.

While the chocolate is melting, whip 2 cups of cream combined with 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. When the chocolate is all melted, remove from the heat and add two whole eggs and 5 yolks. Mix this very well. And be sure that your chocolate is not too hot otherwise it will scramble the eggs. Not good for mousse pie.....
Take the whipped cream and fold in the cream into the chocolate mixture.

Beat up the egg whites and fold them into the chocolate mixture now. Do not beat it in, FOLD it other wise it will not make this light. ( and collapse the whites)
Pour this mixture into the chilled and eagerly waiting crust. Put back into the fridge and chill out!

You're almost done!

Leave in the fridge overnight or at least 5 hours.

Whip up the rest of the cream and sugar, with the Kahlua and spread about half of the whipped cream on top of the pie.

Carefully unmold the pie.

The best way is like this.....pay attention.........

Take a thin knife. Something very thin, and dip it into some very hot water to warm it up!
Jam the knife between the pan and the cookie crust and carefully run it around the inside rim of the pie. Then carefully release the spring on the pan............

Now if you want to be fancy and have a pastry piping bag, you can fill the bag with the remaining cream put on a star tip and pipe the remaining cream around the edge .

If you don't own one , why not?

Ok, take a zip lock bag, put all the rest of the whipped cream inside the bag, and cut the bottom corner of the bag, about 1/4 inch, curl up the bag so that you are putting pressure on the bag and the cream is squirting out the hole. Take the squiring bag of cream and make some foolish designs or swirls, curly cues, write your name, your pets name whatever makes you happy!

The last thing to do before eating it.

Grab some regular sweet chocolate or semisweet bar chocolate and take your potato peeler. Scrape chocolate shavings all over the top of the pie. Eat the rest of the bar or save it for the weekend.

Cut the pie with a hot knife. After every cup dip the knife into the hot water and wipe off any excess. ( This will allow the cut pieces a nice clean cut edge)

Enjoy.

Stuff you will need:

1 or 2 packages of Nabisco chocolate wafers, or take the Oreo cookies separate and scrape of the icing, use that as the cookie base. You can also use pretty much any chocolate cookie that is a hard cookie to make the crumbs. You will need at least 3 cups of crumbs to make the pie.
4 cups whipping cream
5 eggs, separated
1 cup powdered or confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 whole eggs
5 oz butter
1/2 lb Ibarra chocolate
1/2 bittersweet chocolate

Roasted Corn and Chipotle Soup

2008-11-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year when it starts getting nippy. It allows me to make soups and stews. After all it's a little hard to make a nice hearty soup when the sun is out and its 85 degrees most of the day. But when you smell the smoke from the fireplace and you hear the popping of the wood as it spews embers on to your area rugs that you place too close to the hearth, it just brings a nice warm fuzzy feeling to enjoy some homemade soup!

Soup is one of the easiest things to make! Period!

Once you learn the basics, you can add any and many items to it with delicious results. You always need couple of basic items.

Water, an onion or two, salt and pepper, some butter or oil.
The your flavoring stuff.
And that's it!

If you have a soup base or stock that will make it even better.

Here is a quick recipe for chicken stock.

1 Put the leftover bones and skin from a chicken carcass into a large stock pot (8 quart) and cover with cold water. Add veggies like celery, onion, carrots, parsley. The quantiy of veggies is not that important. The more you use the better it will taste. You can even use parts of the veggies that you would discard. Like onion tops, celery leaves and tops, carrot ends etc. If you absolutely need a quantity to make this work, then start with a cup of celery, onion, and chopped carrots, and a 1/2 cup of parsley.

2 Add salt and pepper, about 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of pepper.

3 Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to bring the stock to barely a simmer.

4 Simmer uncovered at least 4 hours, occasionally skimming off the foam that comes to the surface.

5 Remove the bones and strain the stock.

6 If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce the stock by simmering a few hours longer to make it more concentrated and easier to store.

7 I usually will take and freeze the stock into a zip lock bag. This way it lays sort of flat in the freezer and I can take it out, 1 quart bag out at a time as I need it. Some people just use ice cube trays and freeze them as cubes, then place them in a zip lock bag to avoid getting freezer smell etc.

8 You can make beef stock the same basic way. Then you can use this stock as your soup base.

9 If you think this is too much trouble and you want a easy way to get stock almost as good, you can buy dried soup base, like Knorr bouillon cubes or jars of Caldo de Pollo etc.

10 Or if you have access to a restaurant supply store you can get small tubs of soup bases. They come in all flavors such as ; beef, chicken, clam, ham, vegetable, tomato, lobster, shrimp and crab.

The only problem that you will have with commercial stock bases is that they are usually contain quite a bit of salt, whereas your own home made stock would not.

Back to the soup........

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F

Then remove the husks from 3 or 4 ears of corn, lightly coat the ears with some vegetable oil and place on a piece of foil into a moderately hot oven (400 degrees.)
Let the corn roast until light brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove the corn, let cool so you can touch it and work with it.
Then take the browned corn off the cob, either by scraping a knife down the cob or just cutting downward keeping the kernels whole as much as possible.
Put into a small dish and hold for awhile.

Then find a nice vessel, pot or kettle something that will hold enough so that you can throw it all in and not spill stuff over the side.
If I am making it for a couple of people and want to have left overs then a 4 to 8 quart pot is ideal.

take the onion and chop it to a reasonable size, this depends on if you are going to puree the soup later or leave it sort of chunky. That's up to you. Usually about 1/2 inch dice is fine.

Put some butter or oil into the pot and toss in the chopped onion.
Mix it around so the oil ( or butter) coats it, put on medium heat and cook it for about 10 minutes or until the onion gets translucent or just starting to brown.
Add the chopped garlic.
Add the pureed tomatoes or better yet if you can find the stewed tomatoes that's better.
Add the salt and pepper and stock, bring to a simmer.
Let simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add the roasted corn and chipotle chilies, simmer for 10 minutes , taste and serve.

That's it!
Pretty easy.

OK, now here's another lesson.

Instead of where you added the tomatoes and stuff, you have the makings of a basic soup base. You can add stuff like: More onions or leeks, potatoes and make a potato leek soup if you blend it and add some cream.
You can make it a vegetable soup if you add, some squash like zucchini or yellow squash, or other root vegetables. You can roast eggplant instead of the corn, less the tomatoes and make a great eggplant soup. Or add chicken and some small pasta and make a great chicken noodle soup. mushrooms and have a mushroom soup. then also you can add shellfish, etc, etc, etc. You can just experiment with the main flavors when you add them to the water, onion, salt and pepper and a soup base or stock and you have it!

Stuff you will need:

2 cups fresh corn kernels (from the 3 or 4 ears of roasted corn, removed)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil or melted butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 large can or 28 oz of tomato puree
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper ( use white so it looks better, if you have it)
4 cups chicken stock
2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, chopped fine, (to taste depending on your heat tolerance) you can also add the adobo if you like but be careful and add a tiny bit first, stir, then taste.

( Mexican corn is not as sweet as corn in the US, but you can find it. If not, you can sweeten up the soup and still have the great corn flavor by adding some honey to taste. Usually about 1 to 2 TBS.)

Once you get the program down on how easy it is to make soups, you can do wonders with them. For example, you make a vegetable soup one day, with the left overs you can them add meat to it or noodles and have a completely different soup.
Make a potato leek soup one day, couple of days later you can add shrimp or prawns to it with a touch shrimp base and you have a great shrimp chowder. Or clams, etc etc......

Garlic Poblano Rack of Lamb & Provance

2008-11-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

It has been difficult if almost impossible to get decent lamb down here.
When you were able to get it you would get a minuscule rack that looked like it came from a malnourished animal.

But now we have the scourge of box stores, Costco in Morelia carries pretty decent racks.
Not as good as CK Lamb that SonomaChef.com in California has.
They have the Sonoma raised lamb that Wolfgang Puck buys to supply his eateries. If you are in the states they ship overnight! It's great for a special dinner etc.

The trick to good lamb is not to overcook it and to infuse some flavors into it.
One common recipe is to chop up garlic, rosemary and make a covering using day old bread saturated with Olive Oil. The simply roast it until it is medium rare. 140 degrees.

This recipe is nice because it imparts a subtle chili flavor and still retains some good garlic flavor.

Take the rack and remove the skin that covers the back of rack. Not the top with the fat but the bottom. You may need some kitchen pliers to help you pull the skin off. If it has a lot of fat on the top you could trim some of it off but careful not to take too much off. Leave at least 1/4 inch on the top.

Score the bottom of the rack with a knife with 1/4 inch cross ward cuts.

Make the coating, it should be the constancy of gloppy oatmeal, not too runny.

Massage the coating into the rack especially on the bottom where you made the cuts.
Coat the top and sides with the coating, place in a shallow pan, cover with plastic and let rest in your refrigerator overnight.

Next day remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours or until it comes up to room temperature. (this is done so that the rack will cook evenly when it is placed in the oven)

Pre heat your oven to 450 degrees.

take the plastic off the rack place into shallow Pyrex or other type roasting dish.
If the coating has fallen off, take a spoon and slap it back on, you could use your fingers too if you like.

When the oven is hot, place the dish in the middle rack. ( with the lamb in it)
Close the oven door, reduce the heat to 400.
Go read a magazine for 10 minutes or fix the dinner table so it looks real nice, eh?

Now, how do you tell when it is done?
If your oven temp is accurate, pull it out in 12 minutes for medium rare.
If your oven is not, then you better have an instant read thermometer!
13-14 minutes for medium.

Two ways. If you have an instant read thermometer, which you can pickup cheap at Walmart or other place, you jab it carefully into the middle of the rack, avoiding thrusting it into your hand at the same time (just kidding) and see what it says.
You should be sure that the end of the probe is in the center of the meat and not hitting the bottom of the pan.
If it reads 135 then pull it out, place a little roof of aluminum foil on top of it to trap the residual heat while you open a bottle of wine , get the table ready and eat your salad. The second way to tell is to look at how much the meat has receded from around the rib bones. It should be coming back about 1 inch or so, if they are Frenched ( separated and meat removed between the bones) and when you push on the top of the meat it should offer just a little resistance. If your oven is accurate, about
The meat needs to rest for at least 10 minutes.
Why? I want to eat it now!
OK,, cut it and ruin your rack!

Ken's lesson #688 All roasted meat like, roasts, leg of lambs, prime rib anything that has some volume to it, including roasted chickens, ducks, etc,etc,etc, needs time to stop cooking and redistribute the juices back inside the volume of the meat. Believe me! OK if you don't do this. Buy two identical roasts, ( Beef preferably because it is more expensive and you may learn better when you waste a lot of money) Cook them for the normal time until the thermometer registers 130 degrees for rare, 135 for medium rare. Take both out, place both on a cutting board, tent one and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut the other one immediately up and leave the cut meat on the board. On the other side of the board, cut the other after it has rested. See all the juices that have run OUT of the one that didn't rest? See less of the juice running out of the one that did rest? If you want a tough dry, tasteless piece of meat, guess which one it is? OK, so now you know!

Back to the rack........
After it has rested, go ahead and cut it into serving pieces. I like to cut it into individual chops and fan them out on the plate on top of a seasoned rice or other grains.
You could cut the rack in half and provide mini racks for two people.
You can cut it any way you like and be rewarded with a delicious rack of lamb. And it is pretty easy to do.
I have also wrapped racks in puff pastry, and made mini lamb wellingtons, also tasty.

Stuff you will need:

One full rack of lamb ( feeds 2 to 3 people)
1 Ancho or Poblano chili, soaked overnight, the chopped in a blender with 1/4 cut of chicken stock.
1 Full Chopotle chili thrown into the blender at the same time ( if you don't like the heat, eliminate this step)
3 two day old Bolillios, smashed up to the constancy of mush
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine.
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper
2 TBS of stone ground mustard

Place in large mixing bowl, use your hands to mix all the ingredients into a oatmeal mush consistency. It needs to be firm enough to stick to the rack but not to dry to keep falling off. You can taste the mix at this time to see if you want to add anything more to it. ie, cumin or more hot pepper, etc.
After mix is done, cake the mix onto the rack, cover and hold in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours before cooking.
Roasting is best, you could grill it, bu the a lot of the coating will fall of that way.
Enjoy!

I had a couple of emails asking for some more info on the rack of lamb. Some people didn't want lamb with Latin flavors, so here is one that is more Italian, (which is sort of Latin). Enjoy.

Make the Make the bread coating with the following ingredients then mold it around the rack. Also if you like and you or you guests are really hungry you can cut the rack in half so each portion will be 4 bones, it will also take the breading easier.

5 or 6 pealed cloves or garlic
4 TBS herbs de Provence
3 to 4 bagels, bolillios, or slices of bread. cut into small pieces, 1 inch or so.
1/4c to 1/2c olive oil./
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh basil leaves or 2 TBS dried basil

(now if you put in rosemary and omit the Herbs de Provence it will be another recipe.)

Ist put the garlic into a food processor and pulse until chopped. Next put in the basil, and bread , salt and pepper and herbs, pulse until the bread is the size by half. Continue to pulse while you add the oil, try not to over process. The idea is to make a dry paste kind of mix , something that is moist enough so that when you pinch it, it will hold the form. If it falls apart you need to add more oil to moisten it. If you are using fresh basil , the moisture will help bind the breading also.
Of you add too much oil it will be too runny,ad some more bread to it.

Once you have the breading the right consistency, season the racks with a little salt and pepper, then lay down a pad of the breading the same size as the rack and press the rack into the bread. Then take the rest of the breading and coat the sides and back.
Gently place onto a cooking pan, any breading that has fallen off just press back on to the lamb. The whole idea here is that it needs to have enough moisture to keep it's own form around the rack. I also then spray some cooking oil like PAM etc, to help coat the breading after it is on the lamb to help keep it moist.
Let rest for 10 minutes then put into a hot oven 450 for about 10 minutes then reduce to 400 until the instant read thermometer reads 135. for medium rare, pull , tent with foil and let rest, for at least 8 minutes then serve!

Camarones con Tequila

2008-11-16T12:58:00.001-08:00

Muy Sabroso!

I guess my mentioning that I had a recipe for Tequila Prawns brought out a couple of emails asking for what my twist on this was. So here it is, it is pretty forgiving, and if you understood the way I cook, you can get pretty creative and interpret the basics pretty easy without fail.

Remember that cooking is easy, all you have to do is look at the big picture and imagine the end product and that's about it!

Clean the shrimp and devein if you like, I find that the sand some times detracts from the dish and besides your guest will figure out that you didn't want to take the time to clean them, if you are cooking for yourself than you could eliminate the step but get in the habit if doing the best you can at all times and you will not be disappointed. ( ken's rule for the day)

Clean the shrimp, mince half the garlic and chop the rest. take 1/3 cup olive oil and put on low heat throw in the garlic and let it steep for about 1/2 hour, be sure and keep the heat low so they do not turn brown or get cooked, burnt garlic is muy malo, since it will impart a bitter aftertaste.

Then strain the oil, reserve the garlic bits for later. (this is also a very good way to make some garlic infused oil, which you can keep around for all other recipes)

Take a couple of shallots and dice fine, if you can't find shallots, take a 1/4 of a sweet white onion and mince that.

Take some Italian Parsley about a large hand full and chop finely, take the same amount of cilantro and do the same.

If you are using culantro, reduce the amount by 1/2, since it is much stronger.
Heat a large skillet 12" to medium high heat(you can use the same pan if you like with the reserved oil) when the oil starts to shimmer, you know it is ready.

Toss in the prawns, be sure and do not over crowd them otherwise they will steam and you don't want that. If you have to do it in two batches. Cook each side for about 2 minutes, turn and cook the other side until pink.
Then toss in the chopped parsley and cilantro, use a wooden spoon and mix totally, toss in the butter, swirl the pan to incorportate and NOW

Take the taquila, and toss it into the pan. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SPLASH THE TEQUILA OTHERWISE IT CAN IGNITE FROM THE BURNER FLAME.

If you are careless, clumsy or just not a great coordinated person, you can just remove the skillet and toss in the Tequila, away from the flame, for about on minute.

Then you can bring it back to the flame and gently kick the pan so that the flame touches the edge of the pan to ignite, or (use a lighter)

and whoosh, your running around the kitchen in a massive fireball...............
Just kidding.

The alcohol should have been cooked off after one minute so the flambe will not be spectacular, unless you are doing thing to impress some friends. If thats the case then you should practice this, a couple of time so that you look like you have complete control and not screaming that the pan is on fire!

Once the flame has diminished, add the butter, salt and pepper and serve immediately. If you like squeeze some fresh lime or lemon on top.(optional)

Things you can add to improve the flavor:
Chipotle pepper flakes
Oregano
Chili Powder
Coriander (ground)
Brandy or Rum

Play with it and have fun, once you get the drift, you can do some nice Flambe desserts like Bananas Foster....recipe to follow.

Stuff you will need:

1 to 2 lbs of prawns. 16-20's or 21-30's work the best, head off, shell removed.
6 cloves of garlic, half chopped, half minced
1 hand full of Italian Parsley
Two small shallots minced or 1/2 small white onion
1 hand full of cilantro
1/2 cup of good tequila. If you won't drink it, don use it to cook with.
3 tbs of butter
salt and pepper
lime

Y0u can serve this on top of a saffroned rice or buttered pasta noodles like linguine or fettuccine.

Green Chili Steak al la parrila

2008-11-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Green Chili Steak

Want something a little tastier than just tossing a steak on the grill? Perfect grill marks only go so far….. This easy recipe make great steak taste better and mediocre meat taste better.

You start with a couple of New York cut steaks, trim or don’t trim the fat, (don’t forget there is a lot of flavor in some of the side fat). Coat with some of the chopped garlic and olive oil, pepper and place in a zip lock bad then place in the refrigerator for a day or two.

The day of cooking, remove from the refrigerator and let sit to get to room temperature. (This allows better even cooking on the grill )

In a skillet, place the butter and oil, then toss in the chopped onion and chili. Cook until totally limp and reduced. (10-20 minutes) moderate to low heat.

In a second skillet, put in the butter and add ¼ of the mushrooms at a time, so as not to crowd the pan, otherwise they will steam themselves. Add the rest, little by little until all have been in there for awhile and reduce to minimum and are dark brown. (Do this on low heat since all you want to do is sweat the mushrooms and reduce them to intensify their flavor with the butter)

At the end, throw in a pinch of salt and pepper, and hold until serving.

Heat the grill to very hot, let the grill get hot, when ready place the steaks on the grill and watch…..watch…..for about 30 seconds, then turn the meat 90 degrees on the same side for that perfect grill mark.

Keep watch for another 3 to 4 minutes on this side.

Then, flip the meat over and do the exact same thing except for the last 3 to 4 minutes.

Depending on the heat of the grill the finish may be as short as 2 minutes or longer depending on the grill. For medium rare, probably around 4 minutes will be average, for medium about 5, for well done 6 to 7 minutes. (You really should not do well done, if you want any kind of flavor from the meat)

Then ……you should have the dinner plate all ready, place the cooked meat on the center of the plate and immediately top with the mushrooms and onion chili mixture. Top with Chopped Cilantro and Present to the table and that’s about it!

Stuff you will need;

Steaks, New York or Rib Eye, cut about ½ to ¾ inch thickness (2, 3, or 4 depending on the # of servings you need)

Two or three garlic cloves, chopped fine.
One Large White onion, chopped.
Two green chilies, your choice depending on your heat tolerance. ( I often purchase the green chilies en escabiche and remove the chilies and chop them up tossing out the other stuff.
One chipotle chili, chopped fine with seeds.
Salt, pepper, butter, olive oil.
1 cup chopped Cilantro.

Chicken you can eat without the need of Salsas

2008-10-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know why people overcook chicken. Must be because unless you cook it until it is one step before jerky you can't be sure that it will kill all. Yes you can be sure it will kill all, all the flavor, the taste the moisture and any possible hint at fantastic nuances of delicious chicken that actually is better than the birds in the US.

The nice golden yellow birds here in Mexico are loaded with flavor. Please don't cook the hell of of them. It is a little tricky to cook them, but with your understanding and skill the end result will greatly be appreciated by not only you but your guests! Assuming you have invited guest to savor your new recipe!

First of all, if you purchase a chicken, whole (entero) you will need to cut it up into pieces. The easiest way is to chop off the little wings, use the wing tips for stock or take the wings of and freeze them until you have a couple of dozen of them so you can make buffalo wings, or you can cook them if you like but take them off early. ( because they are small and don't cook at the same time)

Cut the thighs and drumsticks off the bird, then take some kitchen sheers and cut the back out, save for stock, then what is left is the breast. Take a sharp knife and thrust it into the breast bone and cut that in half. (unless you want to debone the breast, thats another lesson) Besides, the bones add a special flavor to the meat that is noticeable.

So now you have a cut up chicken, right?

Make a brine.

Whats a brine?
A brine is a water solution that you will let the chicken swim in for from 2 to 20 hours. What it does is allows the flavor of the brine to permeate into the meat cells and add not only moisture but flavor.
This is especially good with dry tasteless Turkeys.....thats another lesson also.

Take one quart, (4 cups of water, add 3/4 cups of salt and 1.5 cups of sugar, dissolve and mix until all is absorbed. Get youself either a couple of plastic zip lock bags or a vessel of some sort to let the chicken swim in. Place the chicken in there, submerge and let it sit in the refrigerator for the time.

At this point you can if you wish, you can add stuff to the brine.

Stuff? Like what?

What every you would like to have a hint of the flavor in the bird. ( this is optional)

Something like: Liquid smoke, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, basil leaves, epasote and oregano, tomato sauce or smashed garlic cloves, whatever, this is your time to experiment as much as you want or not at all. Don't be intimidated, this stuff is not rocket science!

Ok, next THE FIRE

IF you have a charcoal grill or gas grill you will need to do the following. Separate the cooking area into at least two or three levels of heat.
Why?

Because I said so.

Chicken pieces cook at different times, the thighs cook differently than breast parts, so if you want the whole chicken to be done more or less at the same time you have to do this!

Trust Me!

Drain and dry the chicken. Paper towels will work best, don't use a hair drier, there are too noisy. ( if you don't drain and dry the chicken will not have crispy skin, and you want crispy skin don't you. Other wise it will sort of steam cook, .....bad )

Ok, Back to the bird.

Make the fire in three areas, since the breasts have varied thickness they will take the longest to cook. All other pieces are about average.

Take an place all the pieces over the hottest part of the grill, to sear until you see some darkening of the skin, you don't really want to burn the meat since burnt meat tastes bitter, do you?

Once you have made nice grill marks and browned the pieces, (anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes) go ahead and move all the pieces over to the medium area. Keep an eye ( not really just look at it now and then) to be sure that your fire is not too hot so that you don't have a 3rd alarm blaze under the chicken.
If you do, just move it to the colder part of the grill. Or pick up the phone and summon the fire department. Then you will need more chicken because they are usually very hungry!

Take the pieces after3 or 5 minutes and turn them, let them sit there for about the same time, then move all of them over to the area where either there is no coal or the flame on the gas is at it's lowest and you do not have any flare up.

Go find yourself an aluminum pie plate, and place it on top of the two breast pieces, and finish cooking.

That can take anywhere from about 5 to 15 minutes depending on the heat level and if you have a top to the grill.

Do not coat the meat with any sauces while they are cooking, they will just burn and not taste too good.

The last 3 or 4 minutes is the time if you are going to suffocate the meat with your special secret sauce. Or some nice salt and pepper will do nicely at this point.

To test the chicken for doneness, take a small sharp steak knife and stab it into the breast. ( I 've always wanted to say that) and see if the meat is all white, there should be no hint of rojo (red) and the juice will escape should be clear, not cloudy (rain tomorrow) .

The other way restaurants do, is to grab the meat off the grill after the initial searing , grill marks and smoke etc, then they place the meat into a dish and throw it into a 350 degree(F) oven for holding. It can hold there for 10 minutes if you need.

You will have to experiment with your grill, obviously one that you have placed 20 kilos of carbon will cook faster than one with 4 twigs of ocote, so be reasonable here, it's not really rocket science.

With this recipe you will have consistent good chicken, but be sure and do not give the secret of the brining, let's keep that our secret.

Happy Cooking!
Chef Ken

Yes, Ken can cook!
I have heard it before!

Stuff you will need.

3/4 cup of sugar , just plain sugar, not raw, not confectionery, not sweet and low. Sugar!
1.5 cups table salt. I don't know what they call it table either.
One or two chickens, you will have to cut them up or ask the market guy to do it. (chicken)
One quart of water.
couple or one zip lock bag.
misc herbs and spices ( if you want)
salt and pepper--Always on almost everything.
Time, we have plenty of that here.
Charcoal or gas.....