Recipe (taken from Frida’s Fiestas):

1/2 pound masa harina
3 quarts water
3 ounces piloncillo, crumbled (or 1/2 cup dark brown sugar)
1/2 pound Mexican chocolate

Stir the masa harina in 1 quart of water and let stand for a few minutes. Strain and place the liquid in a large saucepan. Add the remaining water and the piloncillo. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Add the chocolate and simmer until the chocolate melts. Stir well and serve hot.

For my Asparagus Risotto I only use the tips of the asparagus, blanched then rinsed and drained. I set them aside and squeeze half a lemon over them while I make the rice. I’ve tried tons of recipes for risotto and I always come back to this one from the May 1995 issue of Bon Appetit. It always turns out creamy and flavorful. Sometimes I throw in some frozen peas and scallions with the asparagus. It’s also important to use freshly grated parmesan cheese. I grate it just before adding it in. This recipe halves well but if you want to make the whole batch, don’t worry about having leftovers. Have you ever tried making Arancini? You can used left over day old risotto to make this Italian snack. Just form the risotto into little golf ball sized rounds and dip in egg then breadcrumbs. Deep-fry until golden. Try these with chopped up mozzarella mixed in with the rice… yummy!

yummm... comfort food

I posted a note on my Facebook wall to start getting some recipes from my cousins.  So far I’ve only received two.  The first was from my cousin Erika, and the recipe is actually her moms.  I decided to make this soup (with some minor customizations) and I was so pleased with the result that it really motivated to get moving on this cookbook.  If all the recipes I receive are this good then I just know the cookbook will be fantastic!

So here is the first recipe, for Sausage Lentil soup, serves 6:
1 lb. bag of dried lentils
1 1/2 tsp. powdered bouillon (any kind you have)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/2 dried sage (powdered ok)
3 chopped carrots
1 chopped vidalia onion (can be white as well–not red)
1 green bell pepper(I didn’t use this the second time I made the soup), chopped (my mom uses this more in her recipe)
2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (I used 1 whole tsp. for extra spiciness–follow according to your taste).
A few sprigs of cilantro for flavor and garnish
6 cups of water
1 tbs. olive oil
1 package of spicy Italian sausage or kielbasa, sliced–your liking

Instructions:
In a medium to large size pot, add olive oil, garlic, onion, bell pepper, carrots and sausage. Saute in medium heat untill you see the onion crystalizing and sausage lightly browning. Rinse lentils and add to pot. Add boullion, salt, pepper, sage and water. Stir. once it boils, put heat to low and add red pepper flakes and a few sprigs of cilantro. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. On the side, finely chop more fresh cilantro.
This soup will be very fragrant. Serve in a soup bowl and add fresh cilantro to garnish. Enjoy hot!

start the soup with a sofrito

In my version I used a poblano pepper instead of the green bell, I only used 1 carrot, and I used 1 turkey sausage link – spicy.  I also used fresh sage instead of dried and caramelized the veggies first before adding in the sausage.  I used dried green lentils because I couldn’t find brown lentils at Henry’s.  I also increased the cooking time by 20 minutes.

Wow, I made a lot of changes huh?
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My version

Cranberry Lemon cake

This cake just looked so good, I had to make it. I also really like how Food Network magazine lists some of their recipes with all the ingredients pictured with their actual proportions. Again, it took me longer to make this cake than the magazine suggested (20 minutes longer.) The reason I decided to make it was because I had to make some cranberry sauce for an appetizer topping anyway (brie w/cranberry sauce and almonds.)

brie appetizer

The end result? A yummy cake, full of flavor, but just too tangy for our taste.
Want the recipe?

Basically, this is what I do:

Toss together the following:

3 C mixed salad greens, preferably organic baby greens mixed with some random mix that includes some radicchio.
1/2 english cucumber, sliced or diced, whatever you prefer
3/4 C of mixed cherry/grape tomatoes, including some hybrid varieties to get all the colors
1/2 C sliced baby bell peppers in all the colors you can find
a handful of edible flowers or edible flower petals.

When just about ready to serve, toss the salad with 2T extra-virgin olive oil and 2T BRAGGS aminos.

braggs salad

Enjoy!

Enmoladas, yummmm!

1 C prepared mole (such as Dona Maria or Rogelio Bueno)
10 tortillas
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C shredded chicken
1/4 C sliced green olives
1/4 white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 C queso fresco, crumbled
1/2 C jack cheese, shredded
sour cream and grated cotija cheese to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat the mole in a small saucepan. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry the tortillas one at a time until soft, not crisp, and transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. When you are done with the tortillas, you can either start preparing the enchiladas, or, dip each tortilla in mole sauce and run through the hot oil once more (careful as the mole can splatter when it meets with the hot oil.)
Fill each tortilla with 1T each of the cheeses and chicken, and, if using the olives, add a few of those as well. Roll up your enchilada (make sure to add a little mole sauce if you didn’t run the tortillas through the oil a second time with the mole) and place seam side down in a baking dish. Once you fill your dish, cover with remaining sauce and the sprinkle remaining jack cheese on top. Bake enchiladas uncovered for about 15 minutes then change oven setting to broil. Broil until cheese begins to bubble. Remove your enchiladas from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining queso fresco.
Serve with white onion, cotija and sour cream.

Chiles Rellenos have always been a favorite dish of mine, for as long as I can remember. They are true comfort food for me, right up there with Chilaquiles, sope de fideo, calabazitas con queso, enomladas, milanesa, sopa de tortilla, and frijoles de la olla. Wow, I have a lot of comfort food, don’t I?

Well, now you can have my recipe for chiles rellenos. No one makes these better than I do, not even my own mother, and she’s an awesome cook!

Try them out, an you be the judge! Here’s the recipe.

I used Mahi Mahi and grilled indoors on a cast iron grill, stovetop. The fish was good but underseasoned. My husband suggested deep-frying the taco shells instead. I thought of puffy tacos, where you use fresh masa and deep fry it into taco shells, then stuff with filling. Will do so next time.