La Cucaracha, La Cucaracha, Ya No Puedes Caminar

Do you remember that show Fear Factor? Ernesto and I always used to watch it. Monday nights. I always said I would participate, but I remember several shows where the contestants had to eat cockroaches. I always thought I would have to drop out at that point. La cucaracha is a disgusting bug. But una cucaracha for breakfast is the best!

I have no idea how the name came about, but a cucaracha is a stack of tortillas, ham, and cheese - topped with salsa. Ernesto's dad made these for me one time and I was hooked. I imagine serving this to our kids. (If we ever get around to it....)

Along the same lines as french toast you will need to dip the tortillas in a bowl of scrambled eggs.

Start with one tortilla. Set the dipped tortilla in a sprayed pan. Top with one slice of ham and put cheese on top. Repeat for a total of three tortillas. Flip over to toast the top layer and finish melting the cheese.

Top la cucaracha with salsa and enjoy!

Mango, Cucumber & Jicama! Oh my!

One of my favorite things in Latin America is the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables for little cost. While living in Costa Rica, I would always stop for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a bag of sliced of mangos at the park after my run, or on the street walking to work. They had this delicious hot chile sauce that was made with vinegar. There is something about chile on mangos.

In Mexico you see a lot of cucumber and Jicama in cups with chile powder and lime juice.

Actually I had been thinking about making this treat ever since mi suegra brought home this Jicama from the store. Jicama [pronounced he-ca-ma] is a crispy, sweet, edible root that resembles a turnip in physical appearance, although the plants are not related.

You could use a peeler to take the skin off the Jicama, but I find it very easy to cut the root end off and peel the skin off in one swoop.

Cut jicama, mango, cucumber into matchstick slices. Squeeze juice of one lime over the top and sprinkle on chile powder and salt. So refreshing! 

Ernesto's Shrimp Ceviche

Peru is said to be the birthplace of ceviche. This statement will be disputed, I know. It seems every country in Latin Amercia has their own claim to fame & their own style. One thing is true: It was the birthplace for me. The first time I ever tasted ceviche was on a beach south of Lima, Peru about 10 years ago. I was visiting a friend and he ordered fish ceviche and it came with yucca fries and corn on the cobb. It was love at first taste! In Panama, they served it in little pastry shells, in Ecuador I ate it with corn nuts, in Costa Rica with fried plantains, and in Mexico with crackers or on tostadas. In my house we eat it with good 'ol tortilla chips.

Back in 2002, I wrote in to the Atlanta Journal Constitution about Ernesto's cooking for their Thursday food section. A few weeks later Ernesto was featured in the paper. Re-reading the interview really made me smile. A few things are outdated, but the ceviche recipe he chose to share the is still the best I have ever tasted. If you have ever tried it, you know what Im talking about. If you look at the original article you will see that they advised cooking the shrimp because they did not want to recommend uncooked shrimp to the public. I took that part out below and want to clarify that by NO MEANS should you cook the shrimp for this recipe. There was a great picture that the newspaper took of Ernesto in our tiny tiny kitchen, but unfortunately it's not posted online. So I added this one from a cookout a couple weeks ago.

I posted Ernesto's shrimp ceviche recipe about a month ago on my non-food blog Viva Cindy, and I was amazed at how many people were searching for one. Well, not amazed, I guess, I mean it is one of the best foods in the whole world! Of course people are searching how to make it. I am a bit biased, but this recipe below is my favorite. Please let me know what you think!

Ceviche is raw fish marinated in citrus juice. Though the fish is not technically cooked, the acid in the marinade turns the fish opaque and firms it up. Serve with tortilla chips or as topping for tostadas.

Ernesto's Shrimp Ceviche|

(Preparation time: 20 minutes of chopping , plus 1 hour to marinate)

1 pound large raw tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 roma tomatoes, diced

1 small white onion, chopped

3 serrano peppers, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon clamato juice

1 teaspoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

6 limes

Peel, devein and cut shrimp into 1/4-inch pieces. In a bowl, combine shrimp, tomatoes, onion, peppers, cilantro, Clamato juice and olive oil. Season with garlic salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze lime over combined ingredients and mix well in large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Drain excess lime juice before serving.

Palomitas o Popcorn

We usually eat dinner between 9 and 10pm. My parents always give us a hard time because we eat dinner so late. I could say it's because we don't have kids so we can prepare dinner at our leisure. This is true. But I think the real reason is because we are snackers. We probably have the snacking thing backwards, but it works for us. For example, most of my family and friends prepare dinner when they get home from work, and then snack later in the evening. We, on the other hand snack immediately upon arrival to the house, then head to the grocery store to buy our ingredients for dinner that night.

Our snack, 99% of the time, is either salsa or popcorn.

Not just any popcorn. Spicy popcorn. Because everything has to be spicy according to Neto. My brother Tim, who is also crazy about spicy food, shared this recipe with us years ago.

With the invention of microwave popcorn, you may never have even made popcorn the "traditional" way. But trust me, it is worth the 5 extra minutes (and more healthy too)!

Pepper Popcorn

1Tbsp canola oil

2-3 hot peppers

Leave on high heat until charred.

Add 3/4 cup popcorn

Shake pan every 30 seconds until pan is full

Snack then dinner. I think it makes sense. What time do you guys eat dinner?

Salsa Roja

I thought it appropriate that my first post be with a roasted red salsa. This salsa is a staple in our house. We make it at least 2 times per week -either for a snack, or to go with a meal. We hardly ever have leftovers, I guess you could say it is addicting.

The heat in this recipe can be adjusted to your taste. We usually add one less pepper than there are tomatoes. You may want to start with one or two. Deseeding the peppers will majorly decrease the amount of heat, and keep the chiles' flavor.

A suggestion: We use Roma tomatoes as they are not as juicy as the bigger varieties, so it doesn't yield a runny salsa. Also they are quicker to roast.

Roasted Red Salsa

6-7 roma tomatoes

5-6 jalepeños or 4 serrano peppers (stems cut off)

Handful of cilantro

Salt to taste

Place tomatoes and peppers in frying pan on high heat and turn tomatoes and peppers until sides are charred.

Three turns will do it. (I always put a sheet of aluminum foil down for less clean-up) Place in a blender with cilantro and salt to taste. Pulse until desired consistency.

Easiest. Recipe. Ever.

Although it will keep in the fridge for about about 4 days, I love to eat it immediately, it's the best when warm. I can devour a bowl it myself with chips. It is also great on tacos and burritos.

Funny enough, I have never bought jar salsa again. You probably won't either after you taste this.