gone fishing

so apparently ive gone fishing...will be back soon! stay tuned for flan, pork with nopales in mole, etc

Bistec con papas y salsa

Bistec con papas y salsa!

 

You will need:

1 ½ pound of bistec de bola (top round steak)

1 med onion

1 potato

2 tbsp of oil

About 2 cups of salsa (refer to salsa picante recipe) You can substiture Salsa El Pato or no salsa at all if the spice is too hot to handle.

A few tbsp of flour to mix with salsa for thickening

 

I originally purchased the bistec/steak from my local Latin grocery store with the intentions of making breaded steak but due to the lack of bread crumbs and eggs….. I decided to prepare the meat a different way.

 

So I cut the meat to about 1 inch or so.....You can have your butcher do this for you.

 

Put oil in cooking pan. Season meat and then add to oil. For the seasoning I used Adobo all purpose seasoning with pepper. They do sell it without pepper if you don’t care for black pepper. I highly recommend buying this seasoning. Its fudging awesome! I use it on pork, beef, chicken, and on some veggies too. Even on ice cream... well okay not really but it is awesome.

 

So as the meat starts cooking I dice up the potato and onion.

Then add that goodness to the meat…..Like:

Cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Mix salsa with the flour with a whisk and add to meat. Let meat with salsa simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.

If you don’t want to make salsa or lack ingredients to make some use Salsa El Pato which is mainly a spicy tomato sauce. This sauce is really good. In fact I usually use it when making this dish but decided to use homemade salsa instead.

 

Serve bistec con papas y salsa as tacos or with rice and beans. Enjoy! If you try this recipe out or put your own twist on it please do share.

 

Pork Stew

This recipe I came up with when I was in the mood for chili but didn’t have all the ingredients to make it. So I looked in the pantry and looked at a few food sites and came up with the following:

 

 

You can top off with crackers, cheese, diced avocado or pour over some mashed potatoes or white rice. All by the way SUPER yummy! So to create you will need the following:

 

1 ½ pound of boneless pork loin

1 can of corn

1 can of black beans

1 can diced tomatoes

6 chile guajillos

1 package of hot chili mix

 

First remove seeds and stems from guajillo peppers and rinse. Put the peppers in water and boil with about a tsp of salt. Once peppers are tender pour peppers and water into blender and blend.

 

 Next cut boneless pork loin about one inch. Spray pan (I used my cast iron deep pan) with cooking spray and toss in meat. Sprinkle some salt over meat and sear for about 10 minutes.

 

 

Once meat has a nice crisp on it add in all canned drained rinsed goods. Well don’t rinse the tomatoes. Duh…. You can even chop up some fresh tomatoes…but I was kind of winging the recipe as I went along. So next add in your mole sauce….BUT use a food strainer to catch seeds and whatever like……

 

 

Then add in hot chili mix. You can use mild chili mix if you are weak. Let simmer and enjoy!
Pictured below over mashed potatoes....

Salsa picante!

Salsa in Latin culture...well at least in my upbringing is like the sixth food group. I eat salsa with almost everything...even cereal. Well not really but you get the point. In this recipe I used jalapeno peppers, serrano peppers, tomatoes and a garlic clove. I used two kinds of peppers because that’s what I had on hand. You can stick to just one type…but let me warn you serrano peppers most of the times have more of a kick than jalapenos.

 

You will need the following:

2 Jalapenos Peppers

5 Serrano Peppers

4 Roma Tomatoes-any tomato should work just watch my ratio of 2 peppers to every 1 tomato. If using large slicing tomatoes use 3 peppers.

1 garlic clove

¾ tbsp salt

Yields: 3 1/2 cups of salsa that is tastier than the jar kind!!!!!

 

“So how do I know what is a jalapeno and what is a serrano pepper?” you may ask. Well I am a fudging pepper expert that’s why… well maybe expert is a slight embellishment but I know my chiles. But pictured below are a serrano pepper (top) and a jalapeno (bottom).

 

 

There now you are the pepper expert!
Dont let the size of the serrano pepper fool you. They pack a nice punch.

 

Here is the before picture:

 

So obviously wash your fruit. Yes tomato and peppers are fruit. Well I Googled jalapenos and it’s a fruit. I didn’t know that… thanks google now I can stop losing sleep wondering is it a fruit or a vegetable. Why must you torture me you dam pepper? Why? Now I must roast you….

 

 

So roast your peppers on a comal/griddle until blackened all over. Whiles you are roasting the peppers put tomatoes and garlic in pot and bring to a boil. Once everything is nice and roasted/boiled toss in blender with salt and blend. OOOOPPPPPSSSS i forgot to mention reserve about 1/2 cup -3/4 cup of the water you boiled your tomatoes in and add in blender too.

You can also just boil peppers and all but the roasting adds a nice flavor to salsa. And how cool is it to roast anything....ummm super cool! You will enjoy the roasted pepper aroma as well. Win win!

 

Here is the after picture:

 

 

Taste to ensure correct salt usage. It’s best if you add more when it’s hot so it blends well with salsa. And you now have salsa…. Serve on tacos, burritos, and/or cereal. Enjoy!

Hand over the chocolate and no one will get hurt!

If you want to be my friend…just hand over the chocolate!

Many of you that know me well know that I “have an unhealthy obsession with chocolate” (as I was told at work). Hey there’s no arguing with that statement. Ever see that commercial that asks ‘"Do you dream in chocolate?"

When I see that commercial I always reply
“I WISH”! But I probably would wake up trying to eat my pillow.

So if you want to never be on my shit list here is a little insight to make this sugar and spice and everything nice not hate u…

Hersheys with almond

Turtles-Last xmas my brother Carlos gave me two boxes of this. Best gift!

Milky Way Midnight Dark

Dove Dark chocolate

Worlds Finest Chocolate-Almond

Frangos-Mint

Ferrero Rocher

Silver Dipper’s ZANZIBAR ICE CREAM

(Note the SHOUTY<-not a real word I know-capitals, but I mean real business) Zanzibar ice cream…I mean ZANZIBAR ice cream is a gift from heaven. By far the best chocolate ice cream EVER!!!!

So yeah the above chocolate I can’t resist. But believe me I do not discriminate I LOVE all chocolate except for white chocolate. When Hershey's came out with Cookies & Cream, I had like a marathon of eating those. So its my least favorite, unless drizzled on pretzels.

And I know you are probably wondering…..Do they pay her to name all those chocolates? Does she moonlight as a chocolate sales representative? What is her problem anyway?

No they don’t but if the offer ever came up I would suggest my payment be solely in chocolate. I guess now my secret is out to the masses I am obsessed with chocolate. Lucky for me my name is not Hansel nor Gretel and the cottage is constructed of cake and candy not solely chocolate.

~ME

I’m sure this will not be the last you will see a post about my “unhealthy obsession with chocolate”

Chile Rellenos

Chile Rellenos/Stuffed poblano peppers

I love me some chile rellenos! MMmmmmm I am craving these again as I get this recipe down. So here is what you need for some yummy in your tummy chile rellenos:

Poblano Peppers

Cheese for stuffing (I used the same combo used in my enchilada recipe)

 1 cup of oil

Eggs separated (about 1 for every 2 peppers)

1 tsp salt

1 cup of flour

 Poblano Pepper

So first you will heat up your comal or griddle. We are going to roast the poblano peppers.  If you don’t have either and have gas range stove you can put the peppers right on the flame. We have an electric stove which blows but you get use to it. So roast peppers until almost black all over.

Once all peppers are roasted I put them in a pot and cover pot. This will make the peppers easy to handle for the next step. After about 5 minutes or 300 Mississippi’s remove the lid and start peeling the outer skin and removing seeds from peppers. Leave stem on. I suggest wearing gloves some peppers can be very deceiving and then burn your hands even after about 30 washes. And under no circumstance touch your eyes. Don’t ask! So peppers should look like the following:

Okay peppers are ready to stuff. So stuff your chiles with the cheese mixture. You can also use different filling. I have used chorizo with potatoes once and they were fucking delicious! Anyhow so I use a toothpick to maintain pepper shut so the deliciousness won’t fall out. I then place the stuffed peppers in the fridge to chill them and this makes them easier to handle for the next couple of steps too.

So next put oil over heat at about med heat. Then beat your egg whites until fluffy add salt and then the yolks and beat again.

Take peppers out of the fridge and roll in flour. This can be challenging. I usually bust out my fine street talk to get the peppers to cooperate here! I suggest the same.

Once the peppers are floured up dip in egg fluffiness and insert in oil until golden brown and flip. Note my chile relleno station to repeat process. 

And drum roll please…..

Top off with favorite salsa. Sometime I sautéed onions and green peppers and add a can of Salsa de Pato (spicy tomato sauce) and top off my stuffed chile with that. Serve with rice and beans if you like. Enjoy!

Enchiladas so good - makes hubby postpone the abandonment of his home, wife, kids and family jewels…

So I decided to make enchiladas today. The norm at my home is the cheese filled ones. But the filling can be whatever you want. Perhaps worms & eyeballs! Just a suggestion

As I made my last few enchiladas my phone rang. The person ringing was my husband and our conversation is as follows:

Me: Hello!

Vic: Hello, what you doing?

Me: Oh you know cooking up a storm, you?

Vic: oh nothing (he said it sarcastically, he is at work)

Me: are you almost coming home?

Vic: No I’m calling to tell you that I’m not coming home anymore! (More sarcasm)

Me: Well that’s too bad I’m making enchiladas. Guess I will have to eat them all. (my turn)

Vic: Mmmm….well I guess I will come home one more time

So enchiladas have officially saved my marriage! The secret to saving many marriages:

For the sauce:

8-10 Chile Guajillo

4-6 Chile de Arbol-To make sauce spicier use more of these. The small chiles.

1 bay leaf

2 whole cloves

1 dash of black pepper, oregano and like a mini dash (perhaps even less than that) of cinnamon (Grandma Isidra’s secret)

¾ tbsp of salt

2 tbsp of flour

The chiles are the following:

First take stem off chiles and remove seeds. Rinse chiles and then put in stainless steel bowl and add water till it covers the chiles and bring water to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes. Warning: wash hands real good after handling chiles. Or don’t listen to me and rub your eyes, pick your noise, and handle your baby. 

Now will be a good time to heat your comal or griddle if you lack a comal(above). Sorry my lighting sucks.

After chiles are tender put in blender along with the water cooked in. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. After chiles and other ingredients are well blended pour mixture over a food strainer basket into a deep pan. The pan should at least be large enough to fit a tortilla in. Put pan over heat at low temperature to heat sauce. Taste to ensure no more salt is needed. More salt can be added if so desired. 

Okay let sauce cook. In a different pan put about ¾ cup of oil over heat too. You will use this to fry your tortilla. The comal is used to heat the tortilla too but this method is used to make the tortilla soft and pliable before inserting in oil.

So whiles we wait for the sauce and oil to heat up….Its cheese time or filling time if you are not using cheese. I use two kinds of cheese. I use a crumbly kind Queso Fresco(left) and a melting kind Queso Quesadilla(right).

 If you don’t want to use these kinds of cheeses I bet mozzarella or coby jack will work. I have to crumble the Queso Fresco and I purchased the shredded kind for the other. Mix the cheese.

Now to your enchilada station: Again lighting sucks....

Sauce and oil are almost hot!!!

So put tortilla ( I use tortillas blancas meaning white corn tortillas) on comal to heat up slightly. Next put tortilla in oil and flip the tortilla to cook other side. Tortilla may bubble a little. Just lift using your fingers NO NOT your fingers use tongs and let excess oil drain.

Then insert tortilla into sauce and cover tortilla in sauce. Lift tortilla and place on plate and put filling and roll.

Oh my gosh this is exhausting…. But worth it! Repeat the above tortillas steps. I transform a few tortillas into enchiladas as I go to monitor my filling usage. I make enchiladas until I run out of filling or sauce.

And…..drum roll please!

I made 16 enchiladas with this recipe and had some left over sauce that I can use to marinate some pork or beef at a later time. ENJOY!

Worms & Eyeballs

Warning! If you are easily grossed out by the thought of devouring worms in a bloody eyeball sauce then don’t read the following.

Who does not enjoy a plate full of worms with a dollop of bloody eyeballs? It’s one of my zombies favorite dishes. The recipe is as follows:



Sauce/Blood

2 28oz cans of crushed tomato

2 garlic cloves-finely chopped

5 fresh basil leaves-finely chopped

½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp olive



In a dutch oven (or any deep pan) heat olive oil and add garlic and chopped basil.



If you are not sure how to finely chop the garlic here is a fine how to video:

Take a moment and close your eyes. Enjoy the aroma! Mmmmmm garlic and basil!

I’m in Sicily, Italy. Taking a stroll accompanied by my bodyguards and come across this beauty in a purple dress with ribbons in her hair. I’m rendered speechless. Suddenly I see a small part of my life unfolding before my eyes in just 2 minutes and 54 seconds. It plays out like the following:

Alright back to cooking! So hopefully if the garlic is not fudged up by the distraction of taking my mind to Italy, you can now add the cans of tomatoes and sugar. Let simmer!



Meatballs/Eyeballs

1 pound of ground chuck. Sometime I like to mix meats but settled for grd. chuck.

2 eggs

1 garlic clove minced

1 tsp salt (rough estimate I eyeball all the seasoning)

¼ finely chopped onion-small onion (sometimes I use minced onion)

1 tablespoon of dried basil

¼ cup of breadcrumbs



Mix the above ingredients and form into one inch balls….eyeball size if you will.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Once done toss into sauce and continue to simmer. Top your favorite spaghetti pasta or worms with this delectable bloody eyeballs sauce. For the pasta I used “Garden Delight Enriched carrot, tomato & spinach pasta blend”. Delicious!



Once meal is done beware of the zombies that it attracts.

Bon Appétit!

and so it begins

So where to begin I love food! I love to cook and eat food! I guess you can say I am a foodie. I am married to a cook and surely drive him crazy with my constant food network watching. So I decided to try this blog thing out with my obsessions about food, chocolate, Mark Wahlberg /Zooey Deschanel and whatever else my tummy or heart desires.

My BFF Guera has recently said the following about my cooking “the best cook throughout high school!” We have been friends for about two decades and some change now. Back then I specialized in lasagna, flautas and desserts(FLASHBACK ALERT:I recall my math teacher in elementary school Mr. Pellini said the way to remember how to spell desserts correctly and not incorrectly “deserts” is to think what you want more of so there should be more “S’s”. So according to that I personally spell it like desssssssssserts! Mmmm chocolate) I have that freak characteristic that remembers lots of crap. So anyway I use to cook back in the day things I enjoyed to eat but that mom didn’t cook enough or at all of.

Strange I could throw down on my specialties but failed at Jell-O shots. HA!

Since those awkward teenage years of cooking I have now expanded my menu of specialties and plan to share my recipes. So stay tuned….If you have had the pleasure of trying my cooking then I am sure you will stay tuned. Hahaha!  (Evil laugh)