Neto's Pinto Bean Soup

I often use canned beans when cooking. When you don't have a lot of time, they are a savior. On the other hand, a huge pot of beans makes the house smell delicious and ensures easy delicious meals over the next few days. This is worth the extra time and effort in my opinion. When we make a pot of pinto beans we use them for refried beans, on tortas (sandwiches) and this:

I don't have a name for it, but doesn't that look delicious? Ernesto introduced it to me and I haven't ever seen this in a cookbook, so I will call it "Neto's Pinto Bean Soup".
First, you will need to make a pot of beans.


Big 'Ol Pot of Beans

1lb. bag of dry pinto beans
1 medium white onion cut in half
6 cloves garlic

soak beans overnight in cold water, or do a quick boil (cover beans with water and bring to a boil for 15 minutes, strain) In a large pot, place beans and 4 quarts water. Simmer for 4 hours or until beans are tender.


Neto's Pinto Bean Soup

You will need the big pot of beans you made, and white rice. (1 3/4 cups water to one cup rice) Assemble while the beans and rice are still hot. Each bowl of soup is prepared individually.

Fill each bowl with beans and broth and 2 spoonfuls of the rice.

Top with fresh vegetables:
chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro
diced chiles
cubed avocado
salt to taste

Carnitas in Paris?

Ok, If you haven't seen David Lebovitz' blog, you should really check it out. He is an renowned American pastry chef and author living in Paris. Not only does he post recipes I want to try, he makes me laugh while reading them. One of his recent posts "8 Coping Tips for Living in Paris" is a good place to start.

Ernesto's has made David's carnitas recipe three times now, and every time we think it is the best we have ever tasted! cooking the pork for 3.5 hours really makes this tender.

David includes a beautiful red cabbage slaw to go on the tacos, but Ernesto likes to keep the toppings traditional to this Mexican dish and only tops them with chopped onion, cilantro and salsa.

Serve with a side of refried beans

Carnitas Recipe
(Recipe from The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz)

4-5-pounds boneless pork should, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons canola or neutral vegetable oil
water
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced

1. Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Refrigerate for 1- to 3-days. (You can skip this step if you want. Just be sure to salt the pork before searing the meat in the next step.)

2. Heat the oil in a roasting pan set on the stove top. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two batches.

3. Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot and blot away any excess fat with a paper towel, then pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits.

4. Heat the oven to 350F (180C) degrees.

5. Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd's submerged in liquid. Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the chile powders, bay leaves, cumin and garlic.

7. Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.

8. Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, about 2-inches (7 cm), discarding any obvious big chunks of fat if you wish.

9. Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.

Neto's Fish Tacos

I eat fish tacos every chance I get.  You see them more and more on menus these days and I like to compare them to Neto's.   Rubios is a fast food place in California, that I can honestly say, makes a mean fish taco. There is a place in Atlanta called Taqueria del Sol that serves up simple yet delicious fish tacos (and many others). They fry up tilapia fish and add a white sauce with pickled jalapeno slices.  When we lived here before, we would take out of town guests there, and they love it.   Somehow they can't compete with Neto's tacos.  When we get together with my parents, my dad always [read: every time] requests that Ernesto makes his fish tacos.  They were in Atlanta this past weekend. So here you go, written out by Neto himself:  

Neto's Fish Tacos

You will need:

1-1½ lbs fish (Red Snapper or other firm fish) cut into 3-4 inch pieces and lightly covered with flour

veggie or canola oil for frying fish

thick corn tortillas


Batter

1 cup flour

1/4 cup corn meal

1 bottle of dark beer

salt & garlic powder to taste



White Sauce

½ cup mayo

½ cup yogurt

1-2 pickled jalapenos, diced

lime and salt to taste



Salsa

5 Roma tomatoes

15 jalapeno or Serrano peppers (2-3 for rookies)

small cilantro bunch

salt to taste



Garnish

head of cabbage, shredded

lime, cut into wedges



Instuctions

Fish:

Combine batter ingredients and start heating oil. Cover fish pieces in batter allowing excess to drip off before placing in oil (try not to let them touch). Cook until batter is a light golden color.


Salsa:

Make this roasted salsa.

Warm the tortillas flipping them a few times but don’t toast and cover them with a towel when done to keep warm.

Place everything on the table and start to assemble your tacos. They go great with Mexican beer.

How to assemble: grab a warm tortilla and place a piece of fish in it. Top with white sauce, salsa, and cabbage then add a squirt of lime. You may need to add a little salt. Enjoy!

 

Salsa Verde - Viva Los Tomatillos!

Salsa verde is an everyday salsa that you will see sitting on the table in almost any restaurant in Mexico.    The main ingredient is the tomatillo, or tomate verde in Spanish.  Literally translated, it means green tomato, but is different.  The round fruit is covered in a paper-like husk and has a very tangy and tart flavor.   If you are buying them in the grocery, make sure the fruit is firm and bright green with a slightly brown husk.  Although mostly cultivated in Guatemala  and Mexico, the tomatillo can be grown easily in many parts of the United States.  This was the reason/ inspiration for making salsa verde last night.  My aunt grew them in Ohio this year, and my mom brought us a bag.  Thanks Aunt Margie!

SALSA VERDE

3 cups water

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cloves garlic

4 serrano chiles

1 pound tomatillos, husks removed

1/2 cup cilantro

1/4 cup chopped onion

Bring water and salt to a boil, add tomatillos, chiles and garlic and simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain water reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid.  Transfer to a blender, add cilantro, 1 tsp salt and puree briefly.  Pour to bowl and stir in onion.   Serve warm or refrigerate [for up to 3 days].

Arroz Mexicano o Mexican Rice

Rice is a staple in so many countries.  I can eat rice everyday.  When I lived in Costa Rica for a year, I did eat rice every day.  Rice with beans, and beans with rice.  I never got sick of it.  Whether we are cooking  Thai, Indian, or Mexican, rice is the perfect companion.

 I was excited when mi suegra made Arroz Mexicano one day this summer.  I wanted to learn so I quickly grabbed my notebook.  This recipe is my definition of comfort food and will go with any main dish. Easy and very flavorful!




Ligia's Mexican Rice

2 cups long grain rice

1 clove garlic, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

3 tblsp of oil

2 chicken bouillon cubes

3tbsp tomato sauce

handful of cilantro, chopped

Add oil to pan. As the oil heats up, add rice and sautee. Add garlic and cook till smell. Add onion and sautee on medium heat for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and sautee for a few minutes. Then add tomato sauce and cilantro. Add the water (1/1/2 cup water for every cup of rice). Bring to boil and then lower heat and cook on low covered.