Solo Para Los Hispanoparlantes

He recibido varios comentarios y mensajes pidiendo que escriba mi blog en español. Quiero decirles que mis posts también están en español. Bueno, no todos pero muchos si. Todos los post que tienen titulo en los dos idiomas están traducidos al español y podrán leerlos en su idioma predilecto (ingles o español). Solo tienen que buscar el link en español que se encuentra al final de cada post y que dice "Para Español pulsar aquí". Continuare con las traducciones que me faltan para que puedan disfrutar de todos mis post. Muchas gracias a todos los que me visitan y me dejan comentarios y me mandan mensajes de email. Les agradezco sus atenciones y sus sugerencias.

Un caluroso saludo para todos.

Spill the Beans / Suelta la Sopa

Native to the New World, beans are loaded with nutrition and protective benefits. They are rich in protein, fiber, B-vitamins and several minerals.  Beans are delicious, easy to cook, easily available, and inexpensive. There is also a great diversity of beans with a wide range of tastes and colors.


Pinto beans is what I grew up eating. There is always a pot of beans cooking on the stove in my childhood memories. My father wouldn't forgive my mom if beans were not served with every meal - he loved beans and so do I!  Up until last year pinto beans were the most used in my kitchen, and on occasions, I cooked black beans but that was it. I didn't use any other beans. Last year I visited a Farmers' Market in Tucson and I discovered a lady that was selling different kinds of beans. Since then I have been trying all kinds of new varieties, at least new to me.


The beans I cook now are not just any beans. I buy them at a very special place and they come from very special seeds. They are from Native Seed/SEARCH which is a nonprofit conservation organization based in Tucson, Arizona. They conserve and distribute  diverse varieties of agricultural seeds from southwest USA and northwest Mexico. "Ancient Seeds for Modern Needs..." is their motto. Some of their work includes Community Seed Grants and Renewing America's Food Traditions, both of which are very important initiatives in these times when food security and loss of healthy eating habits are a huge problem in America. Their work also touches me in a more personal level because, being born in Mexico and married to an American, I feel this kind of work brings my two worlds together. Through the food of my ancestors I can share my Mexican traditions and history with my American husband and his family. But to the beans! As my husband would say; "Stop rambling and spill the beans."

There are many recipes for beans but I like mine very simple so I can enjoy their individual flavors. However, there is a soup that I like so much -Tortilla Soup- but since it is traditionally made with chicken, I can not prepare it for my vegetarian husband. So, I created a Tortilla Soup made with bean broth instead of chicken. It is very simple but we love it.

First the basic recipe for pot beans:

Frijoles de la Olla

(Pot beans)

1 lb. dry beans, your favorite variety

1 medium onion, cut in half

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 sprig of epazote (if not available use cilantro)

Salt to taste

Clean the beans by picking out any dirt or pebbles and rinsing in cold water several times until the water come out clean. (Some people soak the dry beans for several hours before cooking them. I don't. You can soak them or you can do as I do and skip this step.) Place beans in a large pot (olla) and cover with at least 6 cups of cold water, add onion, garlic and epazote and bring to a rapid boil. Reduce heat to very low and simmer until they are fully tender, 1 to 2 hours. After 40 minutes check the water level and, if low, add boiling water as needed (we'll need 4 cups of broth for our tortilla soup). When the beans are completely cooked, season with salt to taste, remove onion, garlic and epazote, and the beans are ready to serve as is or to use in other recipes.

Bean Tortilla Soup

2 C. pot beans 

4 C. bean broth 

1/2 C. vegetable oil for frying 

4 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips and fried

2 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

1 T. cilantro, finely chopped

1 t. lemon juice

Salt to taste

1/2 C. shredded cheese (preferably queso cotija)

For garnish: 1 avocado, diced

In a large pot heat beans and broth and keep them hot. In a separate pan heat about 1/2 inch of oil and fry the tortilla strips a few at a time until crispy. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain. In a bowl, mix all the vegetables together, add lemon juice and salt to taste. Distribute the vegetables, cheese and tortilla strips among 4 individual bowls. Ladle the hot beans and broth into each bowl and garnish with diced avocado. 

Enjoy!

Sorrow Tastes Better with Bread / Las Penas con Pan son Buenas

June has been one very difficult month for me and my family. We have suffered the surprising death of Ray, my beloved brother-in-law, and two weeks later the death of my beloved father-in-law, Meredith, who was a second father to me. And as if that wasn't enough, I almost lost my mother who suffered two heart attacks in one week and was hospitalized while we were on needles and pins.

There's a saying in Spanish that goes, "God squeezes but he doesn't suffocate." I believe it because my mother survived and is recovering at home and I can breathe easier, now. Another saying says, in translation, "Sorrow tastes better with bread." So for my brother- and father-in-law, we will remember them with love while sharing meals of the foods they loved to eat.

My brother-in-law loved Honey Nut Cheerios. He also loved refried beans and guacamole dip. In these last days and weeks I have cooked beans for the family and the other night Rich and I had Honey Nut Cheerios to remember Ray. We ate them from big bowls with milk, in the kitchen, standing up as he used to do. It was a homage to our dearest Ray in the last day that his body was in this world. He was cremated that morning. 

My father-in-law was an expert at preparing pancakes. I have a small recipe book that he wrote including several recipes of pancakes. Surely, Rich and I will enjoy them - while remembering him - for many years at our Sunday breakfasts. In his last months my father-in-law enjoyed desserts very much; sweet dishes were sometimes all he would eat. A few weeks ago Rich and I prepared a cake of crepes with ricotta cheese and a blueberry sauce that he would have loved. We didn't have time to share it with my father-in-law but I am sure that whenever I eat a dessert I will remember him with love.

Thank God my mother and mother-in-law are still with us. But because of her heart condition my mom's diet has to be more strict and she cannot eat too many sweets or foods high in fats or salt. So, I have prepared a very healthy recipe for her that is perfect on these warm summer days. I'm sharing the recipe here.

Tomatillo Salad with Mango and Orange

3 Large tomatillos, cleaned and thinly sliced

1 Mango, peeled and chopped

3 Small oranges, peeled and segmented

1 Tablespoon orange juice

1-2 Tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil

2 Tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl. Serve at room temperature.

Black Garlic / Ajo Negro

I love shopping at my Farmer's Market. I can find new ingredients almost every week. Rich and I have been looking for new foods to try. We have been walking slowly through Farmer's Markets in search of new ingredients and especially a new variety of garlic, the edible bulb that gives so much flavor to our dishes. 

Most supermarkets in San Diego only carry three major varieties of garlic; the white-skinned strongly flavored American garlic, Mexican and Italian garlic, which have purplish-colored skins and milder flavors, and the white-skinned mild flavored elephant garlic, which has very large cloves. Fortunately we can also find these varieties at our favorite Farmer's Market plus, we can find green garlic, too. Green garlic is young garlic before it begins to form cloves. We have tried all these varieties from the Market and I am now growing garlic chives in my garden. I like to eat the young chives and even the flowers. I add them to mashed potatoes and omelets. 

Last week I found a new kind of garlic that I had never seen before - black garlic. I didn't get this at the Farmer's Market though. I got it at a Whole Foods store. It was packed in a see-through plastic bag and it didn't look much different then an American garlic, except that its skin color was darker, not black, just a little darker. It looked interesting so I bought it. I used it for the first time last night. It was very surprising to see that the peeled clove is black in color. I have never seen anything like this before! Black garlic is not strong in flavor or odor as other garlics. Its flavor is sweet like a dried plum and its texture is soft and sticky like a prune. I read that this garlic goes through a fermentation process that changes its texture, flavor and appearance. What is great about this is that nothing is added to it, it just needs a month of fermentation at high temperatures to become this delicious ingredient. Black garlic is becoming popular across the United States but it is still a little pricey ($3.99 for 2 bulbs). It can be purchased in specialty stores or on line. I prepared a lemon-butter sauce for pasta in which I used some of this garlic and I really liked the flavor that it gave to my pasta sauce. 

Pasta with Black Garlic-Lemon-Butter Sauce and Rainbow Chard

1/2 lb. whole wheat angle hair pasta

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. unsalted butter

4 black garlic cloves, sliced

1/2 t. red crushed pepper

1 t. lemon zest

1 T. lemon juice

1 bunch rainbow chard, cleaned and roughly chopped (I picked this from my garden!!)

Salt to taste

In a large pot cook pasta in salted boiling water for 6-8 minutes or following the direction on the box. While pasta is cooking heat the oil and butter in a large skillet. Add the garlic and pepper flakes, cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Stir in lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the rainbow chard and cook for a couple of minutes. Add salt to taste. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet, toss to combine. Serve hot sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Maize-A Prehistoric Food / Maíz-Un Alimento Prehistórico

Corncobs

Maize, or corn, started as a wild grass. History tell us that the domestication and development of corn was done in diverse areas of southern and central part of México. This was a result of the creativity and wisdom of the indigenous people that occupy this soil since prehistoric times. Its domestication dates back between 5,000 and 10,000 years B.C.

My cousin Rosa, who owns a huge farm in Jalisco, México, told me corn can be cultivated in almost all climates and almost all soils. She grows corn in her farm in Mexico and she also has grown corn here in the back yard of her San Diego home. My dad also used to grow corn in our back yard. I loved to grab an ear from the plant when it was very tender, I would eat it raw...mmm, so good!

Corn grows quickly, it is easily stored and keeps well for a long time; its preparation is simple and does not require complex equipment to be consumed. There is only one species but corn has a large number of varieties which differ widely from each other. This is reflected in the size of the plants, in the number of leaves and the number of ears, in the size of these, the quantity, the color (white, yellow, red and blue or black) and type of grains. There are as many dishes that can be prepared with corn as there are varieties of it (tortillas, tamales, pinole, sopes, pozole, etc.), even more! I love corn and the many delicious foods I can prepare with it. Pozole is one of my favorites.

This pozole is an unconventional one. It was inspired by a recipe from the book, Al Calor del Sabor, but I use my own sauce and prepared my own nixtamal with blue corn. Using chanterelle mushrooms instead of meat makes this pozole a treat that even my vegetarian husband can enjoy. 

Chantarelle Pozole


1 lb. blue or white nixtamalized corn (I made my own nixtamal from dried corn but it can be bought already made; it is called hominy or pozole)

1 medium white onion

5 garlic cloves

2 sprigs fresh oregano (or 1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano)

Salt to taste

3 guajillo dried chiles

5 red New Mexico dried chiles

3 garlic cloves, with peel

1/2 medium white onion

1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano

1/2 tsp. cumin

Salt to taste

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 lb. chantarelle mushrooms, cleaned and coursely chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

For garnish:

Sliced radishes (I used black radishes but any kind will be good)

Shredded green cabbage (or iceberg lettuce)

Chopped red onion 

Lemon juice

Hot Sauce (your favorite)

Clean the nixtamal, place in a large pot and cover with water. Add onion, garlic, fresh oregano and salt. Slow cook for approximately 2 hours or until the corn has grown in size and has become soft. Add water as needed to keep corn covered.

In the meantime prepare the sauce. Clean the dried chiles, cut in half and remove the seeds and veins. In a dry cast iron skillet toast the chiles about 3 seconds on each side until aromatic. Take care not to burn them or they will be bitter. Soak the chiles in a bowl of boiling water for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile roast the onion and garlic in the same skillet until they are blackened, about 3 minutes. Peel the garlic. Transfer the onion and peeled garlic to a blender, add the oregano, cumin and salt. With tongs lift the chiles from the soaking water and add to the blender. Taste the chile water, if is not bitter add 1/2 cup of this water to the blender plus 1/4 cup of plain water. If the chile water is bitter just add 3/4 cup of plain water. Purée to a smooth sauce. Pass the sauce thought a strainer or a food mill into a bowl and set aside.

In a large dutch oven heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and mushrooms until well caramelized. Add the sauce and cook for a couple of minutes. Removed the onion, garlic and sprigs of oregano from the nixtamal and discard. Add the cooked nixtamal with its water to the mushroom mixture. Correct seasoning and cook together for about 10 more minutes until all flavors had incorporated. 

Serve hot topped with desired garnishes.