SEE YOU BACK HERE IN A MONTH

Well it is midnight and we are finally packed for our trip to Mexico tomorrow morning! (please give us first class Delta!) One small roller bag for a one month trip? I hope I am not forgetting anything. Ha! Im the lightest packer ever, and really, as long as I have my camera, we are good to go. I am so excited to see new things, meet new people and of course [as always] document it all!

This trip will be a bit different though, I will be using the old fashioned method of documentation. A pen and paper! That's right my friends, I will be taking break from blogging here and at Viva Cindy while in Mexico. [but still taking many notes and hundreds of pictures to share with you later] My brother Brrrian suggested this to me earlier tonight when I was telling him that I wasn't taking my laptop with me. I don't want to live in internet cafes. I just want to live! (ok, you may see a post here and there, I would probably go into withdrawal if I totally abandon blogging)

If you are curious as to what Ernesto and I will be getting into for the next month, you can follow me on Twitter Ernesto will have his touchy-touch and we will keeps the tweets current!

We will be picking up lots of new recipes for VLC, so please check back with us! 

My tweets are also posted on the right sidebar of my non-food blog!

Adios Amigos! Que tengan un buen mez!

**Picture taken on our last trip to Mexico in December 2007. We were in the Riviera Maya just south of Cancun.

Never Enough Guacamole

I know a guy who doesn't like green food. Period. This makes me laugh. Nothing green? I would always to think of something that could convince him he does in fact like something green. lettuce? celery? lima beans? No? ok maybe I can understand. But Asparagus? Peppers? Broccoli? Snow peas? Come on! And Avocados? This is impossible. You can't not like avocados. Can you?

Its hard to believe because I just love green food. All of it! Avocados are at the top of my list too. Although guacamole is more of a snack or appetizer, there have been many a night where this was my dinner. I can eat a whole bowl and be completely satisfied. The ingredients themselves are beautiful. I like to buy my avocados firm. I made mashed guacamole for years, but in the last year or two have taken to a more chunky style. After slicing down the middle and taking the seed out, I score the avocado into cubes and scoop out with a spoon. (This doesn't work if the avocado is too ripe)

Great Guacamole

4 firm avocados, cubed

3 roma tomatoes, deseeded and cubed

1/2 of one medium red onion, diced

3 serrano peppers (or jalapeños), diced

handful of cilantro, chopped

juice of half a lime

salt and pepper

Combine all in a bowl and serve immediately.

Refried Beans

Matt Armendariz's blog MattBites has been in my reader for a long time now. I love his writing style and his photos are phenomenal. When he invited his readers to Summer Fest 2009, I wanted to participate. What a fun idea. Its four weeks of sharing recipes. Pop over to his blog to see what others are posting. The first two weeks of summerfest were delicious with one week of Herbs and another week of Fruits from Trees.

This weeks theme is "Beans & Greens"

Immediately I thought of refried beans. Tortillas. Salsa. Beans. These are all staples of Mexican cooking. Served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, beans are low in fat and high in protein. They are definitely a staple in our house.

You won't believe how easy they are to make either. You can start with dry pinto beans that you have already cooked or use canned beans. We do both ways, but since we make these so frequently, we more often use canned beans. One benefit is that this can be ready in less than 10 minutes, another is that no salt is needed. (canned beans come with enough sodium added. You won't want to rinse these as the juice is key to the consistency.
Refried Beans

1Tbsp canola oil

3-4 dried chile de arbol peppers (available in most grocery stores)

1 24 oz can of whole pinto beans (make sure they aren't cooked with pork)

Heat the canola oil and add peppers. Cook until blackened. Take pan off heat and let cool [or it will splatter] Add beans. Simmer. Mash. Serve. Que rico!

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.

Hablamos de Chiles

If you are a chile eater, you have probably seen or heard of the Scoville Chile Heat Chart. The Scoville scale measures the hotness of a chili pepper, as defined by the amount of capsaicin (a chemical compound that stimulates nerve endings in the skin) present. In other words the amount of burn you are going to feel. The scale is named after its an American chemist named Wilbur Scoville. He developed a test for rating the pungency of chiles.

(If you'd like to learn more about this test, click here)

I found this chart on a great website called Eat More Chilies. Apparently the site grew from one chile pepper writing assignment in Arizona to a huge chile handbook. There are recipes, event info and a lot of chile facts. Some of which I thought quite interesting:

Did you know...?

• Chiles are healthy! They are low in sodium and calories and are cholesterol free. Chilis are a good source of vitamins A, B, C, and E, folic acid, and potassium.

• Eating chiles can help with digestion. The capsaicin in chiles increases gastric secretions and the flow of saliva, combining to ease the digestion process.

• In 2007, salsa surpassed ketchup as the most widely used condiment in the United States.

• A Chile’s heat or intensity is commonly, but incorrectly, said to come from the seeds in the chili. The heat actually comes from capsaicinoids - the combination of capsaicin (the active component of a chile) and a few other related chemicals - that is found along placental tissue in the center of the chile where the seeds are found.

• The color of a chili pepper actually has nothing to do with its heat level. Rather, the color typically signifies the maturity of the fruit.

• Birds are not affected by the heat or pungency of capsaicin because they do not have a receptor to detect it. This allows capsicum plant seeds to be dispersed through avian travel.

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?

Ligia's Flautas

En la Cocina con.....Ligia Espinoza (my Mother-in-law o mi suegra)

This summer we have been lucky enough to spend a couple months living in San Diego with my in-laws. Some of you may cringe at the thought of this, but I kid you not, I love mis suegras. From Day 1 (almost 10 years ago) they made me feel like their daughter. They are so wonderful.

Living with them, I can fool myself that I am really in Mexico. Family is constantly in and out of the house, we always speak Spanish, and the food is authentic Mexican. I have been eating mi suegra's food for years, but to be in the kitchen with her has been a real treat. Last night she asked what I would like to cook. I was craving flautas. I mean taquitos.

Hmmm. Are they flautas or a taquitos?

You can call them either name depending on your location. Some say the difference is if they are made with corn tortillas (taquitos) or with Flour tortillas (flautas) My mother-in-law calls them flautas, and I'm going to stick with that. When it comes to Mexican food, she knows what she is talking about. Flautas means "flutes" in Spanish and this is what they look like, right?

They are easy and the finished product is like a piece of art.

Ligia's Flautas

You will need to start with:

The freshest corn tortillas you can buy.**

(**In San Diego this is easily done. Fresh tortillas are sold everywhere. In Canton, Ohio where my parents live - not so easy. You may need to try several packaged brands to find the best.)

The stuffing for the flautas could be several things. Usually pork, chicken, or beef.

Mi suegra used shredded beef. (In the store labeled as "roast.") Boiled until cooked through and then shredded. Add salt.

In a frying pan add 1/2 inch vegetable oil and heat on high.

Place some shredded beef in a line down the middle of the tortilla.

Roll it. Fry until golden. (see pic above) Repeat.

The pure deliciousness of this dish comes in the toppings.

Chopped iceburg lettuce

Sour cream

Red vinegar onions (sliced and soaked in white or apple cider vinegar, salt & pepperfor at least 30 minutes)

Salsa Navarro (roasted salsa with oregano-recipe here)

Queso fresco (crumbled white cheese, sold in most stores in Mexican isle)

Plate 4 or so flautas, pile with toppings and enjoy! Refill plate. Oh, yes you will!

Salsa Navarro

Yes, another salsa! I told you we are salsa fanatics in our house. Besides being delicious, this salsa is really special. It is from the kitchen of Neto's Abuela Navarro. It is mostly used with flautas or tostadas, but I can devour a bowl of it with some chips. What makes this so different is one key ingredient: oregano.

Salsa Navarro

6 roma tomatoes

3-4 chiles gueritos  (hot yellow chiles)  Use green if you can't find yellow

1 clove garlic

Pinch of oregano

salt to taste

The process is the same of the salsa roja. Roast the tomatoes and peppers until charred all around.
Throw all into blender, add pinch of oregano and salt to taste, serve warm.

Serve with flautas or tostadas.

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.