Pozole & Honest Scrap Meme!

A few years ago, when I was living in California, I spent some time trying to write down some of my grandma's recipes while she cooked. It wasn't easy, I don't even know if I've ever seen a measuring spoon in her kitchen! But now that I've been cooking for a few years, I don't feel so intimidated at the thought of replicating one of her recipes without the exact measurements :). I gave her a call a few days ago because I was in the mood for some of her pozole, mexican comfort food at its best - think of a hearty and slightly spicy hominy/pork stew.

A long, long time ago, my grandparents actually owned and operated a Mexican restaurant in Southern California, where my grandmother made yummy food like pozole :). My aunt said that the only reason why it closed was because they received too much business and my family couldn't keep up with all of the customers!

My grandma lives clear across the country, but it's nice to know that I can give her a call, then, in no time, cook up something that reminds me of her. She gave me a quick run-through of how to make pozole; I used all of the ingredients she told me to, then added the cumin and cilantro, for extra flavor. (I didn't have the fresh tomatoes she usually adds; she also makes hers with chicken and pork chops, instead of pork loin.)

The results? Pretty tasty! I was so happy when my hubby said it tasted very traditional - I am thrilled that I finally have a 'hard copy' of her recipe; I will definitely make this again, just this way!



I almost forgot about this Meme! I was tagged by my new blogging buddy, Monica, over at Lick the Bowl Good! She has some awesome photos and delectable carbs, all things tasty and sweet!

The rules of the award:

• Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
• Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
• List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

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1. I haven't eaten brussels sprouts since I was 10 because they left me scarred :P, I didn't like their bitter flavor! Send me some good recipes, this needs to change!
   
2. I have a strange collection of music on my laptop that I like to organize into random playlists. For instance, I have a Happy Mix and even a Twilight Mix (<---embarrassing :P!)
   
3. I feel guilty about spending money on myself, except for when it comes to food :D.
   
4. Monica made a comment about make-up on 4 and so will I :). I hate make-up; the older I get, the more I despise it and the less I wear it. I'm also done with nail polish and long nails!
   
5. Things that make me happy: a fridge full of food and cant-breathe-they're-so-tight-and-warm hugs.
   
6. I usually am horrible with names but I remember numbers, even though I hate math and love words!
   
7. I used to love the city, now I'm a fan of the quite/peaceful solitude that comes with being far from it (somewhere green with lots of trees and fresh, crisp air). I love big city grocery stores, though!
   
8. I don't like bracelets and rings, but I love earrings and necklaces - the former always get in the way when I'm cooking, like long nails and nail polish! (Shhh...don't tell! One time when I first started cooking - when I had long nails, real ones - I cut one off when I was chopping onions and couldn't find it... :P)
9. I really enjoy snacking on baked apples and baked sweet potatoes, I eat them almost every day. My husband and I go through 5 pounds of apples every 2 weeks. It has kept the doctor away, I haven't had a cold in nearly 2 years!
   
10. I adore vegetables but can only eat them cooked.

I'll pass this along to these 7 blogs:
Hungry Girl Por Vida
Shweet and Savory
Life is Still Sweet
Lemonpi
Hold the Gluten
Gluten Free in Cleveland
La Bella Cook

Cinnamon Celebration: Gluten and Lactose Free Cinnamon Dulce de Leche Cake

This is my contribution to Grace's Cinnamon Celebration! Oh boy, did I dirty a lot of dishes to put this monster of a cake together, and it does look like a monster. Don't worry, that isn't a bacteria colony growing on the top of the cake! In fact, it's what makes the cake yummy. The edges of the cake were scrumptious -- all gooey and sweet, pudding-like in texture. I'm not kidding!

I have to admit, I was hoping to get a much more 'tres lechesy' cake out of this invention (I saw this here recipe and was totally inspired by its tastiness), but c'est la vie. The topping makes the cake; in this case, it's what's on the outside that counts; but don't let the appearance fool you, let your taste buds be your guide!

If you're lactose intolerant but also love the unique flavors found in a tres leches cake, have no fear! This one's for you. Same goes for my fellow gluten-free folks. You can have your cake and eat it too ;)!

Here are the stages of how I made the tres leches glaze:

This is what it looks like before it begins to boil:

Boiling and thickening:

Caramel-like in color...remove from stove at this stage:

Finished!

Enchiladas Verdes and tortilla adventures (or nightmares? ;)

It's been over a week since I've posted an entry on Flour Arrangements. The reason for my absence? I'm 17.5 days away from moving to Boston, so I'm pretty busy getting ready for the big move (packing, fixing/selling our car, cleaning, giving stuff away, etc.)! Of course, I'm still eating sweets and baking them up on my free time (like an 'Empty the Pantry' Pie that I baked earlier in the week! I'll post the recipe in a few days :), but I decided to dedicate yesterday to making something savory.

I love enchiladas, I especially love enchiladas verdes. The sourness of green tomatillos mixed with the deep flavor of chilies and aromatic spices makes my mouth water. Until yesterday, I never actually tried making the green enchilada sauce from scratch...but I'd been wanting to. So Friday night, I 'studied' a few recipes and noticed that they all called for tomatillos but different chilies. Some of them used anaheim, others used poblano, and still others used serranos. Since poblanos are mild, I decided to go with those (I'm a wimp and can't take the heat); I didn't even add a jalapeno to the mix, that's how mild I made the sauce. I was very happy with the results, but I do think I'm going to add at least one jalapeno next time -- just to give it a little kick. After all, this is Mexican food!


Since I was feeling pretty confident after making the sauce, I thought I should try making flour tortillas again. (I tried last year and they came out like chips, except far less tasty.) I used a recipe that had great reviews, but I accidentally added baking soda instead of baking powder, so the tortillas tasted like baking soda (gross!). I threw that batch out and decided to experiment with batch #2. I didn't like the fact that the first recipe called for shortening, and I usually purchase whole wheat tortillas made with canola oil, so I replaced the shortening with butter and canola oil. The taste was right on, but the texture was off -- the tortillas were crumbly and not flexible at all, there was no way I was going to be able to stuff then roll them into enchiladas...so I tried AGAIN. I added a little more butter to batch #3 (like 3 tbsp) and used whole wheat flour; I also added baking powder, an ingredient the first recipe called for. The results? Nasty tasting wannabe tortillas that tasted like baking powder. (I don't know if it's just me, but I can taste the baking powder/soda in baked goods sometimes, is that weird or what?) It wasn't even that much, 1 tsp in fact! After the third tortilla failure, I felt really bad for wasting all that flour, so I decided to take a break and try again some other time.

I've come to the realization that my tortillas come out crappy because I, seriously, do not have the touch. I've made tortillas with my grandmother before, when she put the tortilla dough together, and, still, not one came out right. She would use that same dough to make her great-tasting, perfectly round tortillas, though! I don't get it...I can make pastries, but not tortillas, at least not yet. I will try again! One day, I will make an edible tortilla -- I am determined!

Check out the evolution of my many tortilla failures below (whole wheat ones not pictured, you can only fit so many mistakes into one photo :D!). Come back in a couple of days to check out my pantry pie! Maybe in a few weeks I'll actually have a successful tortilla recipe posted :).

P.S. Check out the July Cupcake Hero Challenge! I can't wait to post the recipe for this month's theme :)...look out for it!

Chile Relleno and Berry Picking!

There's nothing quite like waking up early on a Saturday morning to pick your own berries! Yesterday, Jose and I took a trip to Chickamaw Farm, where we picked enough berries to bake the tastiest blueberry pie we've ever eaten. Jose did most of the picking while I played the roll* of the photographer, but I did manage to sneak in a few blueberries and get a taste. Well, I shouldn't say 'sneak'; Bill, the farmer, was nice enough to let us try them.

*(It's Monday morning. I wrote this post Sunday evening. I just realized I typed roll instead of role. I read the entry before publishing it; obviously, I didn't catch the 'mistake' because my brain is now wired in such a way that I subconsciously use food terms in place of other nouns. This is what happens when your hobbies and job revolve around food. No complaints here, though :).)

Guess what the best part about Chickamaw farm is? Well, not only does it have a cool name (it means 'sacred land' in Choctaw, according to Bill) but the owners of the farm only grow organic fruits...and catfish! Catfish?! Yep! Bill and his family have a pond where they've established a mini food chain for their catfish; these fish only eat the finest foods - other fish, not the nasty fake stuff - so they get pretty large...think 11 lbs! HUGE! Sometimes, Bill and his family take a swim with the fish; imagine how fun it would be to ride a monster catfish :D! I got that image in my head as soon as he mentioned the gigantic sizes of these happy and healthy creatures. Jose asked if he could come back and fish some time, Bill said yes! We're not sure if we'll be able to do it before we leave Austin in two months, but since we plan on settling down here in the future, we'll definitely go back to fish and pick more berries!

Ok, so the berries were also huge. As soon as I popped one of these tasty berries into my mouth, I was shocked! I took a bite of half a blueberry and then a double-take at the remaining blueberry...is this really a blueberry?, I thought. It was juicy, full of more flavor than any store-bought blueberry, and it was rich - rich in blueberry goodness. It was a blueberry. In fact, it was more Blueberry than any other blueberry I'd ever tasted (note the capital 'B'). If you're ever in Texas, be sure to check out Chickamaw Farm, especially if you're craving fresh blueberries!

After a fun filled day of picking our own blueberries, grocery shopping at our favorite market, and dining at a tasty cafe here in town, we still managed to muster-up enough energy to spend a good portion of our weekend cooking. We prepare about 4 meals on the weekends because we don't have much time to cook during the week; Jose and I enjoy coming home to a nourishing dinner after a long day at work, so we really don't mind all the cooking. One of the meals we put together was my grandma's Chile Relleno. Thankfully, all our hard work paid off...and I mean, it was hard work! To make these, my grandma toasts the chilies (or peppers, I should say) over a direct flame (so that the skin wrinkles and comes off easily); she uses her gas stove to do this. Our apartment is completely electric, so I had to fry the peppers. This was a little dangerous and painful...but fun! I don't have the proper 'frying materials' so I got a little fried, too...oh, but the meal was well-worth it. It certainly wasn't perfect; the peppers could've been fried a little longer, but it was a fun first try. Initially, I was really concerned about the egg white sticking to the peppers, but, thankfully, it did! We also ate this tasty meal with some homemade rice, beans, and nopales!

From the blueberries we devoured, to the tasty peppers we inhaled, this was a very yummy weekend. Hope your week ahead is just as delicious and fun.

easy taquitos!

...and for the last day of chicken left-overs, I made taquitos! I'm gonna have to start using a recipe book because I'm running out of ideas for chicken; my palate is still somewhat narrow but hopefully that'll change soon...back to the topic, this is another recipe that'll work for those days when there isn't much time for anything fancy. This is also fun finger food for parties or snack time. I made this a meal by serving it with the traditional side of beans and rice...and the not so traditional organic mixed veggies :D... When I can't have veggies in the actual meal, I always make sure to serve them as a side so that I feel like I'm getting meeting some of the food pyramid requirements :P.

So what did I do for the taquitos? I used some shredded chicken, fried it with cubed potatoes, chopped garlic and onion. Of course, a pinch of salt and pepper were thrown in, along with a hearty sprinkle of cilantro and parsley. I put the chicken in corn tortillas, which I warmed up in the micro for about 20 seconds so they'd be soft enough to roll into taquitos without breaking. I also added some colby/jack cheese before rolling everything up and piercing the taquitos with a toothpick (so they would hold when frying). I then fried the taquitos in a covered pan with canola oil for about 1 minute on each side, or until they were slightly crispy/golden all around. That's basically it! This was a very fast meal to whip up; minus the cooking time for the chicken, I was able to finish this in 15 minutes!

fresh tostadas and salsa

I bought a $4 whole chicken at the grocery store on Sunday, cooked it in the crock-pot and I'm still finishing it up! What a bargain! I've been able to make so many meals with it, including last night's tostada dish.

I had to add a few more spices to the chicken, since it seems only the skin absorbed the flavor of the spices I added when I cooked it in the crock-pot. So I just chopped up about 1 1/2 cups of chicken, threw it into a pan with a little bit of olive oil, then seasoned it with cilantro, salt, pepper, and parsley. I added about 1/2 tsp of parsley, 1/4-1/2 tsp of cilantro, then a few shakes of salt and a sprinkle of pepper. I also cut up a small garlic clove and 1/8 cup of onion--added that to the chicken while it was spiced over a medium flame for about 5-7 minutes--or until it was slighty golden (I like toasting chicken sometimes because it adds good flavor, especially in Mexican dishes...I notice that pork chops also taste better when they're on the crispier side, not burned, though!)

As for the tortillas that I used for the tostadas, I purchased a bag of locally made tortillas that are completely preservative free (I am horrible at making tortillas, I tried a few times and all that results is a horrible mess and blocks of flour!), then I fried them in olive oil over a medium flame until they were crispy. If you don't want to fry them (I actually didn't fry the ones I ate) you can toast them on a grittle pan until they get crunchy--this is what my grandma does.

The garnish I used for the tostadas included the following ingredients: romaine lettuce (chopped), a chopped roma tomato, some grated cheese, and of course the salsa.

My grandma taught me how to make salsa a few months ago, but I wanted to add a few more things to it. I added chopped red bell pepper because it has a sweetness to it that balances out the spiciness of the chili piquin I used.
Here's what went into the salsa (this makes about 1/2 cup of salsa):
2 boiled roma tomatoes, with the skin removed
1 chili piquin
1/8 cup sweet onion
1 small chopped garlic
2 TBSP finely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 tsp cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
a pinch of pepper
I threw the roma tomatoes into the blender with 2 1/2 tsp of warm water and the little piquin. While this was blending into a liquid, I chopped up the garlic, onion and red bell pepper, then lightly sauteed these ingredients in olive oil with the cilantro and pepper. I then added the sauteed veggies to the plain roma tomato/piquin chili "sauce", added about 1/4 tsp of salt, then I turned the blender back on for a few seconds on the "grate" setting; I didn't want a complete puree, there should still be some small pieces of bell pepper in there.

That's about it for the salsa, you can chill it if you want to, or eat it warm on top of the tostadas.

One thing I really like on my tostadas is refried beans. I still had beans left over from the other day (you can get the recipe here), so I just added a couple of tablespoons of oil to a pan (I used olive because it doesn't smell up the house as much as canola/vegetable oil, and it does taste good with the beans), spooned in the beans, raised the flame to a medium-low setting and started mashing them with a spoon once they warmed up. I didn't completely mash them into a big mushy thing, I left a few semi-whole and then let all the beans simmer over a low flame until most of the watery bean "soup" evaporated, so that I was left with the refried beans.

Oh, and before I go, here are a few more pictures of my guineas, I took these a few days ago:
This is Mochi (we refer to him as the mini buffalo, he kinda looks like it)


This is Yoshi! (he's actually really hyper, but you can't tell that here)