Posts Tagged With: cilantro

Potato-Leek Soup

Posted on July 17, 2012 by pauldelancey

American Soup

POTATO-LEEK SOUP

INGREDIENTS

1 pound leeks
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cups celery stalks
4 medium potatoes
3 cups water
3 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon Vegetable MagicTM spice
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
up to 1 cup grated cheese, optional

PREPARATION OF THE LEEKS

Cut off and remove the tough dark, green parts. Remove the bottom part with the little roots. Cut the leeks into pieces and swirl them in water to remove bits of dirt. Pat down the pieces with a towel to dry them. Put leeks into a food-processor and mince them.

PREPARATION OF THE SOUP.

Melt butter in pan. (Note it is much easier to measure 3 tablespoons from a stick of butter than from a tub.) Mince the celery. Add leeks and celery to melted butter.

Saute on low heat and stir frequently for about 6 minutes or until onions are soft. (Reading War and Peace is not advised at this point.)

Chop up potatoes until they are small enough to put into a blender. Blend the heck out of them. Put 3 cups water into pot. Heat water to boiling. Cook for about 15 minutes this way or until potato bits are tender. (Note you should gradually turn down the heat. The soup will still boil and you will avoid painful geysers of hot potato water. (A great reason not to cook in the nude.)

Dice cilantro until you have 1/2 cup. Add sauteed leeks, celery, milk, cilantro, vegetable spice, celery salt, parsley, and salt. Cover and cook at low heat for 20 minutes. Taste soup. Sprinkle in other spices if you wish. Some people love onion salt, garlic salt, or Tabasco sauce in everything. If you are that kind of cook, go for it!

Add grated cheese to taste.

EATING OF THE SOUP

Nom, nom, nom.

TIDBITS

1) The potato was cultivated by the Incas. The Spanish took it back to Europe and gave little in return.

2) The potato revolutionized warfare. Previous to widespread cultivation of this amazing tuber, armies on the move stripped the conquered territories of any food growing above ground. Farmers could now wait until the invading hordes left and dig up enough potatoes to survive. Armies could also feed themselves on the potatoes they brought along. There is a sketch of the great French general Napoleon asking a foot soldier for a potato.

3) The Irish depended quite heavily on the potato for their nutritional needs. When the potato crop failed in 1848, many Irish starved and large numbers of them migrated to America.

4) Indeed, loud guffaws never swirled around the humble potato.

5) Until HasbroTM created Mr. Potato HeadTM in 1962. Now we can all eat the potato or play with it.

6) Mr. Potato HeadTM seems so obvious now. That’s why genius is genius.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Recipe From My Cookbook – Guajillo Beef Tostada

Posted on June 17, 2012 by pauldelancey

Mexican Entree

GUAJILLO BEEF TOSTADA

INGREDIENTSGuajiBT-

4 dried guajillo chiles
1 cup water

2 garlic cloves
1 red bell pepper
2 stalks green onions
1/2 red onion
1/2 yellow onion

1/4 head lettuce

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 tablespoon cilantro
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon Meat MagicTM spice
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 16 ounce can refried beans.
1/2 cup sour cream

8 toasted corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Four Mexican cheeses
1 cup salsa (optional)

UTENSILS

a lazy Susan, about 24-inch across, if one is lurking in your kitchen.

PREPARATION

Pull stems off guajillo chiles, leave the rest alone. Cook on medium heat in sauce pan for about 2 minutes until guajillo gives off a fragrant aroma. Place guajillo chiles in mixing bowl. Pour hot water to cover chiles. Let sit for 1 hour. Mince chiles. Dice red bell pepper, green onions, red onions and yellow onions.

Shred as much lettuce as you like. (You have nearly an hour. Or you could employ this time conjugating Portuguese verbs, always handy when dining in Portugal.)

Meanwhile back at the range, add refried beans and sour cream in pot. Mix Cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes until mixture is hot and creamy. Cover and simmer at low until chiles have sat for 1 hour.

Add to frying pan: ground beef, cilantro, coriander, cumin, guajillo chiles, lime juice, meat spice, oregano, and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes or until meat completely turns color. (What color you ask? Turning brown is good. Orange means you magic “spice” was purchased at an alternative food store.)

Apportion refried beans equally on tostadas. Put similar amounts of beef/spice mix on top of beans. Crown tostadas with lettuce, grated cheese, and salsa. Arriba! Arriba!

TIDBITS

1) “Tostada” means “toasted” in Spanish.

2) As in toasted bread and not as in “He had six whiskeys. He’s toasted.”

3) People often toast each other by raising a glass of wine at one or more people and saying something mercifully short.

4) This practice arose when people in the 17th century flavored wine with spiced toast.

5) I strongly suspect it was the wine that made people pop up and make short speeches in public.

6) I mean, how often have you seen people make a speech at a dinner after eating cinnamon toast?

7) I don’t think Mexicans have ever flavored their wines with tostadas.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Chicken Tortilla Soup From Cookbook

Posted on April 7, 2012 by pauldelancey

Mexican Soup

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

INGREDIENTSChicToS-

1/2 jalapeno pepper
2 green onions
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
1 red chile pepper (omit to make milder)
1/2 avocado
2 chicken breasts
4 corn tortillas
32 ounces chicken broth
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
7 ounce can diced mild green chiles (4 ounces to be milder)
2 teaspoons cilantro
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon Poultry MagicTM spice
no-stick spray
1/2 cup shredded Four Mexican cheeses

PREPARATION

Mince jalapeno pepper, green onions, onion, garlic clove, and red chile pepper. Avocado should feel slightly soft when squeezed. Peel skin from avocado. Remove avocado pit. Cut avocado into 1/2-inch cubes. Shred chicken breasts with knife or food processor. (Why, oh why, does the innocent, harmless chicken get cooked so often for our meals? Because it tastes good, goes well with so many spices, veggies, and sauces. So fire up that processor. Rrr!) Cut tortillas into 1/2-inch wide strips. Cut each strip into three pieces.

Pour chicken broth into large sauce pan. Add jalapeno pepper, green onions, onion, garlic, red pepper, avocado, lime juice, diced tomatoes with juice, green chiles, cilantro, pepper, oregano, and poultry spice. Stir occasionally. Bring to a boil.

Add shredded chicken. Cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir occasionally.

While soup is cooking, spray baking sheet with no-stick spray. Place strips on sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 15 minutes until crispy and golden. (Note ovens vary wildly in cooking times, due to age or size. Toaster ovens can cook much faster than a large, old oven. Watch out.)

Pour soup into bowls. (Should make about 8 bowls.) Sprinkle grated Mexican cheese and tortilla strips equally over all bowls.)

This is tasty. As the chef you’re entitled to a nice cold cerveza or root beer. (And be thankful you’re not a chicken.)

TIDBITS

1) I once had this soup served to me in the smallest soup bowl I have ever seen.

2) May 5 is my birthday. It is also Cinco de Mayo. When I was little, I thought all Mexico celebrated my birthday. Such kindness made me happy.

3) I later found out it was a minor holiday in Mexico. Basically, in the 1860s the Mexicans beat the French in a battle this day.

4) Who caused this French invasion of Mexico? Napoleon III, who was related to Napoleon I, who is my great-great-great-grandfather.

5) I am not responsible for my ancestors’ attempts to conquer the world.

6) My family is responsible for the first ice-cream store in New London, Connecticut. I am rather proud of this.

7) Part of my family came from Sonora, Mexico.

8) We had a ranch in Sonora. We lost it in the Mexican Revolution. My aunts fled Pancho Villa. Boo, Pancho Villa, boo!

9) I wish I could go back in time and serve lutefisk to Señor Villa.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, food, history, humor, international, recipes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cheese Quesadilla

Posted on April 5, 2012 by pauldelancey

Mexican Entree

CHEESE QUESADILLA

INGREDIENTSCheesQu-

8 small flour tortillas
2 cups grated four Mexican cheeses
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 tablespoons salsa
4 tablespoons sour cream

PREPARATION

Dice red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and cilantro.

Mix melted butter and vegetable oil and coat one side of each tortilla. Put the oil sides face down. Sprinkle cheese, peppers, cilantro, salsa, and sour cream evenly over four tortillas.

Put the four remaining tortillas oil side face up on top of the ingredient-covered tortillas.

SPRAY ANY PAN OR COOKING DISH LIBERALLY WITH NO-STICK COOKING SPRAY. If not, your quesadilla may very well stick to the pan causing it to explode in an amazing spectrum of flying colors when you try to remove it or flip it over for even browning.

Use small tortillas until you have become quite adept at flipping hot foods. A quesadilla that is much bigger than your spatula may indeed result in the quesadilla falling apart or in melted cheese oozing down your wrist. (Your adoring children will learn new words as you plunge your burning hand under the blessed cold-water faucet. They’ll proudly repeat them at school. You’ll get a call from the principal.) Size matters.

Grill or fry the quesadillas until golden brown, or about 90 seconds per side. As always, pay careful attention as the browning period is swiftly followed by burning. You may also bake them in an oven at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes. Baking, however, quickly uses up a lot of dishes.

1) The Spanish language considers “ll” to be a letter.

2) A meteorite striking Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula could very well have resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs.

3) Tidbits 1 and 2 are apparently unrelated.

4) Chocolate came from Mexico.

5) My wife said this was the best quesadilla she ever had. And she cleaned up the cyclone of dishes made by this recipe.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

Categories: cuisine, humor, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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