Pozole

This is a recipe from Hermana Becerra, and it is enough to serve an army.  It is a fairly common food here to be served, and I am sure that there are other recipes that make less, but this one was really tasty.  Don't be afraid of the chiles, once everything has been put together, it is really tasty, and not spicy.

• 7 lbs Pork Shoulder
• 2 thighs chicken
• 2 legs chicken
• 3 cans of pozole blanco (white hominy)
• salsa
• 1 bag chile guacillo o cascabel
• 1 onion

Boil the chiles and then blend them in a blender.

 

Put the liquid chile in a large pot and add all of the meat (bones, and everything included).  Boil

 

Add salsa and pozole (hominy).

 

Makes a soup.

 

Serve in bowls.  (The natives don't pick out the bones when serving it.  You just leave the bones in your bowl after you are done eating.)

 

Top with (They just put all of these things out on the table, and let each person put what they want on their own Pazole):

• diced radishes
• shredded lettuce
• diced onions
• diced peppers (japeleno if you are brave, others if you are not)
• Limon (limes)
• crema (this is kinda like sour cream, but better, you can find it on the Mexican Aisle)
• Hot Sauce
• Tostados (You don't really put these on the soup, you just eat them with it.  The Red kind are the best!)

Habichuela Gisadas

This is a Puerto Rican recipe, and it is really tasty and not spicy at all. 

• 1 can habichuela (bush's beans)
• 1 can water (use the same can as the bush's beans for measurement)
• sazon goya (co cilantro y achiote) (these are special spice packages that you should be able to find on the Hispanic Aisle in stores)
• 1 chicken buyon cube
• some diced potatoes
• sofrito (this is a special sauce that you might be able to find on the Hispanic Aisle.  It has cilantro, onions and garlic among other things.  If you can't find it, just throw in some cilantro, onions, and garlic and it will work out.)

Put everything in a pot and heat until the potatoes are soft.

 

Serve on a bed of white rice.

 

Optional: serve with pork chops.  Season the pork chops with Adobo All purpose seasoning (again, it will be found on the Hispanic Aisle.)

 

This recipe is thanks to Hermana Luna.

 

Mofongo

This recipe is from a nice family that the elders are teaching.  They are from Puerto Rico, and so is this recipe.

• fried platinos
• ajo (garlic, the fresh kind, several lumps (can't remember what the word for these things are... :| ))
• mantiquillo (butter)
• olive oil

Put everything together, and squish and mash them really well.  Scoop some of it into a small cup and apply pressure then remove from the cup and serve (this part is kinda like the way you build a sand castle, it is just to give it a pretty shape.)

Ceviche

2 fillets of Tilapia

15 key limes

1 bunch of cilantro

1 red onion

clove of garlic (or garlic powder)

hot red pepper

palta (Avacado)

 

Cut fish to 1/4 inch chunks.

Juice limes over fish and let it sit 20 minutes or overnight, but make sure the fish turns opaque.

Chop red onion enough for one cup and rinse with water and salt.

Drain water from onions and mix with the fish.

Put of handful of cilantro leaves but mush them in your palm.

Mince Garlic and add.

1 tbsp of hot red sauce/ pepper

salt to taste

put diced avocado on top and serve.

Chicken Tamales

Many hispanic families make Tamales during Christmas time.  They are a traditional Christmas food.  This recipe comes from the Mejia family.

• boil several chicken breasts.
• Mix maseca (corn flour), a little bit of salt and the chicken broth (from the previous step) to make a dough.  Add water if necessary.  Consistency of not quite runny oatmeal.  mix well with your hands.
• Make a salsa in the blender.  (chili (pepper), aqua (water), cebolla (onion), ajo (garlic))
• shred chicken with hands
• Put dough on corn husks, smooth out to have a thin layer over the bottom 2/3 of husk.  Don't put dough on the top part of the husk.
• Put chicken and salsa in the center of the layer of dough on the husks.
• Roll up.  Fold the part of the husk without dough up
• Put water in the bottom part of a double boiler.
• Put tamales on top with the open end facing up.
• Cover, and boil for 1 and a half hours.

Nancy's Salsa

Making salsa is one of the easiest things ever, and most of the natives have a slightly different approach to making it.  This Salsa was very good, so I thought that I would share it with y'all.

 

fry dried "chili de arbol" in oil for a little bit.

tomatoes, chili, oil, oregano

blend.

Atoli (also known as Champurrado)

This is a hot chocolate type drink that is typically served with Tamales. This comes from the Mejia family.

• agua (water)
• canela (cinnamon) sticks
• chocolate (the Mexican chocolate used for making hot chocolate, Abuelita is the best)
• azucar (sugar)
• maseca (corn flour)
• leche (aqua)

This recipe makes approximately 4 gallons.

 

1 part water, and 3 cinnamon sticks.  Heat on stove, until the water is red.

 

Add 2 chocolate pieces.

 

1 part water, and 1 part maseca. Mix together with a whisk in a separate bowl, then add to the pot on the stove.

 

Add 1 part milk.  Continue to whisk the Atoli regularly.

 

Add approximately 4 cups sugar to taste.

Tex-Mex Sandwich

1 hoagie roll

refried beans

lunch meat ham

1 hot dog cut into 8ths (1/2 the short way, and 1/4 the long way)

1 slice american cheese

lettuce

sliced avocados

sliced tomatoes

mayo

Queso Fresco Burritos

• corn tortillas
• queso fresco (this is the most wonderful kind of cheese ever.  I never had it until I started eating with Hispanics, but it is so wonderfully marvelous.  Y'all should try it)
• shredded lettuce
• fresh diced tomatoes
• potatoes
• optional: salsa, limes

Lightly grill the potatoes, and lightly fry the corn tortillas.  Wrap the tortillas around queso fresco.  Place 3 or 4 on a plate, and top with lettuce, then tomatoes and potatoes.  Serve with rice and black beans. 

Queso Fresco Burritos should really be called Queso Fresco Flautas, and they are attributed to Hermana Requena.

Tuna Tostado is attributed to Hermana Rameriz

• fresh diced tomatoes
• fresh diced onions
• 1 can mixed vegetables (the kind with potatoes in it)
• tuna fish
• mayonese
• hard corn tostado shells

 

Mix everything together (except for the shells :D).  Serve cold on tostado shells.

 

Es muy muy bueno y muy rico!

Pineapple Drink

Blend up pineapple, sugar and cold water.  Yum!

Yummy Fruit Salad - Hermana Yamilet Cruz

3ish tablespoons sour cream

sweetened condensed milk (some)

sliced strawberries

rasberries

sliced bananas

 

mix together.  yum.

 

So this recipe isn't very exact, but it was super yummy!

Authentic Enchiladas (Hermana Rameriz)

Ok, so the enchiladas that we are all used to where you roll stuff in tortillas and bake in the oven, is really Tex-Mex, and not authentic Mexican enchiladas.  This is what Mexicans think of when they make enchiladas.

 

Chicken:

Boil some chicken breasts in chicken broth until they can be easily shredded.

 

Sauce:

1 part Chile (peppers, Hermana Rameriz used Cerano Peppers)

3 parts tomatillo (green tomatoes)

chicken broth

 

Heat a little bit of oil in a large pan.  Put chiles, tomatillos and chicken broth into a blender and liquify (seeds and all).  Add liquified chiles and stuff to the hot oil, and sizzle it for a bit.

 

Enchiladas:

Use corn tortillas and fry them a bit in another pan.  Then dip them in the sauce and fold them in half and place two or three on a plate.

 

Top with shredded chicken, chopped rabanos (raddishes), chopped cilantro, chopped avocado, sour cream, lechuga (lettuce), and queso fresco.

 

Serve hot!

Queso Fresco

Queso Fresco is seriously the most amazing cheese in the world, and I can't imagine why I have never had it before.  But here is a recipe for you to make some for yourself.

 

8 cups milk

1/4 cup vinegar

4 tablespoons salt

 

Heat it all together just until it boils.  Drain through cheesecloth and form into a cheese clump.

 

Queso Fresco is a crumblying cheese.  So rather than shredding it, or slicing it, serve by crumbling in your hands and topping on top of everything!

This recipe is attributed to Hermana Aguilar.

Tuna Tostadas & Queso Fresco Burritos

Tuna Tostado

• fresh diced tomatoes
• fresh diced onions
• 1 can mixed vegetables (the kind with potatoes in it)
• tuna fish
• mayonese
• hard corn tostado shells

 

Mix everything together (except for the shells :D).  Serve cold on tostado shells.

 

Es muy muy bueno y muy rico!

 

Queso Fresco Burritos

• corn tortillas
• queso fresco (this is the most wonderful kind of cheese ever.  I never had it until I started eating with Hispanics, but it is so wonderfully marvelous.  Y'all should try it)
• shredded lettuce
• fresh diced tomatoes
• potatoes
• optional: salsa, limes

Lightly grill the potatoes, and lightly fry the corn tortillas.  Wrap the tortillas around queso fresco.  Place 3 or 4 on a plate, and top with lettuce, then tomatoes and potatoes.  Serve with rice and black beans. 

 

André's Famous Fudge

While, I am writing up recipes, since I made fudge for the ward talent show, many people have been asking me for this recipe, so I decided to put it up here.  This also marks the first time I try to put pictures (or rather power point slides) on the blog.  But since I made a beautiful slide show, I figured it deserved some credit.

You do not want to skimp on the chocolate chips.  Nestle works the best.  Do not get great value brands or even Hershey's.  And make sure that you get semi-sweet, because milk chocolate will make your fudge way too sweet.

A trick is to put the butter in the pan, and then use the wrappers that the butter came in to butter the 9x13 pan.

This takes some practice, but the best results come when you buy one candy thermometer and always use the same thermometer so that you know its quirks.  Each candy thermometer is calibrated a little bit differently, so just get to know yours.

If you have two pots and two candy thermometers, you can make both batches at the same time, and then swirl them together before you pour into the pan.  Don't swirl two much, though, or you will end up with just one combined flavor instead of two flavors swirled together.

Rumbi Rice

So, lately I have been cooking without a recipe, nothing big, just soups and casseroles and stuff, but I think that it is cool to be able to make a meal using the supplies that are available.

Anyways, we have had this can of coconut milk sitting around the apartment for ages, and I decided that I would use it to make some Rumbi Rice, as made by Rumbi Island Grill.   It turned out really well and is quite easy.  I decided that there may be others who would like to make it, so I wrote up a recipe for it online.

2 cups uncooked white rice
3 cups coconut milk  (The vanilla coconut milk that comes in a carton, sold by the soy milk at Walmart works the best)
1 cup water (I like my rice to be nice and fluffy and we don't have a lid to boil it in, so I use more liquid up at school than I did at home.)
half a can of black beans
frozen vegetables (I like cali veggies)
two pork chops
Olive oil
Teriyaki Sauce
1 tsp ginger  (I never measure spices like this, I just add it until it feels right, but if I had to guess how much I added, these would be the amounts.  Feel free to get fancy with your spices.  If you have a love for garlic or rosemary or cilantro or something else,  it is perfectly acceptable to add them in addition to or instead of ginger.)
1.5 tsp seasoning salt
1/8 tsp Seasoned Meat Tenderizer

Boil rice in the coconut milk until fluffy.  Add ginger and seasoning salt.  (When most of the moisture has boiled off, add water to the pot to prevent it from burning, and to keep the rice fluffy.)  Wash black beans in water, drain.  Add black beans to the pot. Stir.

Cut uncooked pork into cubes.  Sprinkle pork with Seasoned Meat Tenderizer.  In a separate pan, fry in olive oil until fully cooked (sides will be a light golden brown).

In a separate pot, boil the frozen veggies until soft.

Add 1/4 of the rice mixture to a bowl.  Over half the bowl place 1/4th the pork on top of the rice.  On the other half the bowl place 1/4th the veggies on top of the rice.  Drizzle with Teriyaki Sauce to taste.

Makes four servings.