Posts Tagged With: Mexican

Macarena Macaroni

Posted on November 1, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Entree

MACARENA MACARONI

INGREDIENTSMacarMa-

12 ounces uncooked three-colored macaroni
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion
1 red bell pepper
2 stalks green onion
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon tarragon
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon Vegetable MagicTM spice
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 ounce ground beef
8 ounces grated Four Mexican Cheeses
3 ounces Cotija cheese

PREPARATION

Follow instructions shown on bag to cook multicolored macaroni. (Wouldn’t it be neat if your clothes washer had a setting for boil? Then you could use it to make quite a lot of macaroni.) Look for macaroni with the Mexican colors of: red, white or plain, and green. Drain water when done. Keep macaroni in pot. (Because once it gets out, the macaroni will never return. Wanderlust and all that.)

While macaroni is cooking, dice white onion, bell pepper, and green onion. Crumble Cotija cheese. Add olive oil, white onion, green onion, bell pepper, cumin, tarragon, chili powder, vegetable spice, garlic salt, onion salt, and salt to pan. Sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Mix in ground beef. Cook on medium heat until meat changes color. Stir occasionally.

Blend beef mixture in pot with macaroni. Crumble Cotija cheese. Sprinkle with Cotija cheese and Four Mexican Cheeses.

TIDBITS

1) Beef is a major ingredient of this dish. Beef comes from cattle. There is no singular form for cattle.

2) Pig is the singular form of pigs.

3) American foreign policy suffered a reverse at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba.

4) Cubans like pork. Why didn’t we send them pork instead?

5) But beef was preferred in the Old West.

6) That is why they had cattle drives back then.

7) As depicted in the television show Rawhide.

8) In Rawhide, Clint Eastwood referred to their cattle as beeves.

9) The singular form of beeves is beef.

10) Apparently, the English language was much stronger back then.

– 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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Simple Tacos

Posted on October 28, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Entree

SIMPLE TACOS

 INGREDIENTSsimptac-

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons Meat MagicTM spice
1 1/2 cup grated Four Mexican cheeses
6 taco shells
1 1/2 cups lettuce
1 1/2 cups salsa

PREPARATION

Mince the onion in a food processor. (My cooking life took a quantum leap when I acquired this gizmo. Get one.) Add onion, cumin and meat spice to ground meat. Mix by hand.

Cook mixture in saucepan until all of the meat is no longer pink. Shred lettuce by hand or chop into middlin’ sized pieces with a knife. Gosh, fill the taco shell with meat, lettuce, cheese, and salsa. Better yet, get a 20-inch across Lazy Susan and let your diners make their own tacos according to their tastes.

Lazy Susans are fantastic. They are round, rotating platforms, usually made of wood. Put a bowl on the Lazy Susan for each of the beef, cheese, taco shells, lettuce, and salsa. With this handy device the need to constantly pass bowls back and forth disappears. (Just try to find a Lazy Susan. Anywhere. I weep for America.)

TIDBITS

1) Tacos have always been my favorite food. I asked for tacos for all of my childhood birthday dinners.

2) My grandmother was born in Mexico. She made tortillas by hand.

3) “Tacos” is an anagram for “coast”, “coats”, “o scat”, and “o cats!”

4) Cumin goes with so many Mexican dishes.

5) Supposedly long ago, a wealthy Mexican family had a maid named Susan. She didn’t enjoy constantly moving bowls back and forth. So she invented the device that bears her name. For this, someone called the tool the “Lazy Susan.” Seems to me, it should have been named the Entrepreneurial Susan.

6) When I was growing up, my family had a superb Lazy Susan made of hardwood. It’s gone, gone. Where did it go? It’s hard to get a good Lazy Susan these days. Why? Why?

– 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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Molettes

Posted on October 11, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Breakfast

MOLETTES

INGREDIENTSMolettes-

4 rolls
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups refried beans
1 cup grated Four Mexican Cheeses
1/2 cup salsa or pico de gallo

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Let butter soften at room temperature. Cut rolls in half. Remove a little bit of the insides from each half to make a hollow spot. Spread butter over the hollow spots on the roll halves. Put rolls in over. Bakel at 400 degrees for 5-to-10 minutes or until rolls turn crispy and golden brown.

While rolls are baking, cook refried beans in pan at low heat. Put beans in hollow spots in rolls. Add salsa and sprinkle cheese over each roll.

TIDBITS

1) This dish is sold in the morning by street vendors all over Mexico.

2) The east coast of Mexico is on the Gulf of Mexico.

3) Gulf gas stations used to be all over America.

4) America’s Cup goes to the winner of an international sailing event.

5) Sophia Loren, the famous Italian actress, wore a C cup.

6) Vitamin C is good for you. It helps banish colds.

7) Ice cream is cold.

8) So is Iceland.

9) Iceland also has volcanoes. So does Mexico.

10) But Mexicans eat molettes while Icelanders do not.

– 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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Dulce de Leche

Posted on September 28, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Dessert

DULCE DE LECHE

INGREDIENTSDulceDeLeche-

1 14-ounce can condensed milk
1 14-ounce can evaporated milk

PREPARATION

Add condensed milk and evaporated milk to pot. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or until liquid begins to boil. Stir frequently. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes or until liquid thickens and turns toffee color. Stir frequently to avoid burning and boiling over.

Serve by itself or with ice cream, pancakes, cakes, beans, bread, or crackers.. This will keep for months if poured into an airtight, sterilized jar and kept in the refrigerator. But that won’t happen, it’s too delicious.

TIDBITS

1) I had always thought dulce de leche to be Mexican. But no, a swirling controversy exists over its country of origin.

2) Indeed, Argentina once pressed the United Nations to declare dulce de leche an Argentinean culinary creation. Uruguay presented a counter claim and the world edged closer to conflict. The crisis receded when delegates from both countries partook of dulce de leche. This wondrous dessert is simply too delectable and filling to leave room for acrimonious debate and world slumbered its way back to peace.

3) Argentineans claim a maid was so distracted by attending to delegates to a peace conference that she forgot about the sweetened milk on the stove. She returned to find a caramel paste which everyone loved. A peace treaty was soon signed. I’m telling you; culinary diplomacy is the surest way to lasting, international peace

4) Legend has dulce de leche being used as medicine in India about 5,000 years ago. Some people even now use dulce de leche as an alternative medicine. Is there nothing this dessert can’t do?

5) One of Napoleon’s cooks accidentally made dulce de leche for his troops. Napoleon himself had a dessert named after him. Sure, he tried to conquered all of Europe, but we all have our bad points, don’t we? It’s time to move on and remember the desserts the French Emperor gave us and use them to build a lasting peace just like the Argentineans and Uruguyans.

– 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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Great Arctic Eats – Barrow, Alaska

Posted on September 10, 2013 by pauldelancey

For Barrow, TripAdvisor rates Sam & Lee’s as the best restaurant. Pepe’s North of the Border has the best Mexican cuisine.  Arctic Pizza serves the best pizza, and Osaka beating out all competition forbarrow the best Japanese.

Here is the link:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/RestaurantSearch?geo=30940&q=Barrow%2C+
Alaska%2C+USA&cat=&pid=

While dishes in Barrow are generally similar to those consumed in the lower 48, prices are much higher as shown in the following excellent YouTubeTM video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FgZZ8Wkwkc

Try to get to Barrow in time for Nalukataq, the spring whaling festival of the Inupiaq Eskimos. Come for the goose and caribou soup. The highlight of the festival is the Eskimo blanket toss where people dance on a giant, suspended blanket and then get tossed high into air. What fun!

– 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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Pico de Gallo

Posted on September 4, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Appetizer

PICO DE GALLO

INGREDIENTSPicoDeGallo-

4 Roma tomatoes
1 medium white onion
1 jalapeno pepper (1/2 or even 1/4 if you like it milder)
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
4 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION

Dice tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. De-seed and dice jalapeno. (Wash hands afterward. If you touch your face before washing, it will burn.) Put tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in bowl. Mix with spoon.

TIDBITS

1) You really should listen to the song “Pico de Gallo” by Trout Fishing in America. The link to the song is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kL5f0np7EU. Visit Trout Fishing in America’s website at: http://www.troutmusic.com/.

2) Pico de gallo goes well with tortilla chips.

3) Guatemala has suffered through many years of civil wars. Peasants would often take to the hills to avoid the guerrillas and the government forces. The villagers’ main source of sustenance was the humble tortilla. However, old tortillas dry out and become hard to eat. So the peasants would fry their tortillas in oil to make tortilla chips which lasted longer.

4) Humanity began its ascent in the Americas with the development of the first tortillas in 10,000 B.C.. Beer provided the upward impetus across the Atlantic Ocean. Civilizations such as the Aztecs and the Mayans flourished because of the tortillas and indeed they developed advanced art, architecture, math, astronomy, and pico de gallo. America has the world’s largest economy because of its great tortilla chip and beer industries.

5) The Spanish royalty dispatched Christopher Columbus in 1492 to find these fabled tortilla lands. In 1519 Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztecs on Central Mexico securing a Spanish tortilla monopoly. Mexican tortillas would provide the sustenance for the many and mighty armies that held together the vast and numerous of the Spanish empire..

6) In 1993 China began producing flour tortillas. China will soon have the world’s largest economy.

– 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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Spanish Rice

Posted on August 28, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Entree

SPANISH RICE

INGREDIENTSSpanishRice-

1 clove garlic
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups brown rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon chili pepper
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric

PREPARATION

Mince garlic and onion. Dice bell pepper. Add olive oil, rice, garlic, onion, and bell pepper to pot. Sauté on medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until onions soften. Stir frequently.

Stir chicken broth, chili pepper, cilantro, cumin, ground oregano, pepper, salt, and turmeric.. Bring to boil. Stir frequently. Reduce heat to low. Cover pot. Simmer on low heat for 25-to-30 minutes or until rice is tender.

Remove from heat. Fluff rice with fork.

TIDBITS

1) Turmeric is a natural antivenin for King Cobra snake bites.

2) People apply turmeric paste at weddings to the face and arms of the bride and groom.

3) Young lovers would really, really, really have to be madly in love if having their first night of matrimonial passion means getting bitten by a King Cobra. Even if they’re wearing an antivenin.

4) And how many times has this happened to you? You’re sweltering outside your car because its radiated leaked. So your car stopped, your skin is getting sunburned, and you’re miserable. Then an angel from heaven gets out of her car, plugs up the leaking radiator with a tablespoon of turmeric and soothes your sunburn with more turmeric. “Marry me,” you say. “I will,” says she.

5) Oh, and turmeric combats flatulence, a definite turn off on wedding nights.

– 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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Salsa Verde

Posted on August 21, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Appetizer

SALSA VERDE

INGREDIENTSSalsaVerde-

3 serrano chiles
9 cloves garlic
1 white onion
16 tomatillos
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove seeds from serrano chiles if you desire a milder salsa. Put garlic, onion, tomatillos, and oil in baking dish. Stir until garlic, onion, and tomatillos are well coated with oil. Roast in oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

While roasting, dice chiles.

Dice roasted veggies. Add veggies, diced chiles, cilantro, lime juice and salt to mixing bowl. Blend with whisk or fork. Goes great with nearly everything Mexican. Food, that is.

TIDBITS

1) Salsa Verde is an anagram for Salad Serve.

2) People often serve salad for their guests.

3) Tennis players serve tennis balls.

4) The Australian tennis player Samuel Groth has the fastest serve at 163 miles per hour.

5) He used a tennis ball. He would not achieved speeds even approaching that mark if he had used a head of romaine lettuce.

6) Even though a head of iceberg lettuce is shaped more like a tennis ball than romaine, it still would not travel through the air as fast a tennis ball even when served by the best tennis players.

7) As of press time, less than a majority of professional tennis players have shown strong interest in the game of lettuce tennis.

– 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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Agua Tamarindo

Posted on August 6, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Dessert

AGUA TAMARINDO

INGREDIENTSAguaTamarindo-

8 cups water
1/2 cup tamarind syrup
1/4 cup confectionary sugar

PREPARATION

Use long wooden spoon to mix all ingredients in pitcher. Stir until sugar dissolves. This goes well served over ice.

TIDBITS

1) There are no weird facts about tamarinds.

2) Not even fun facts.

3) Tamarinds came India. Sailors carried them back on rest-infested vessels.

4) The rats often were so numerous and ravenous the sailors had to throw whole handful of tamarind pods at the rats.

5) Hence the popular nautical saying and anagram, “Tamarinds, I damn rats.”

6) Not all rats were pests. Some could be trained to race each other . Bosun Arthur Beans of the HMS Kidney could amuse for his ship mates with his trained rats.

7) Other seamen of the British Royal Navy trained their rats to do tricks, such as jumping through hoops.

8) However, Arthur’s trained rats could prove the Pythagorean Theorem and to waltz. Eventually, their fame spread so much that every Christmas Eve the Admiralty would witness a palindromic performance of Art’s Star Rats.

9) Or so I’ve heard.

– 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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Citrus Agua Fresca from Mexico

Posted on July 1, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Dessert

CITRUS AGUA FRESCA

INGREDIENTSCitrAguaFre-

2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup lime juice
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
6 tablespoons confectionary sugar

PREPARATION

Use long wooden spoon to mix all ingredients in pitcher. Stir until sugar dissolves. This goes well served over ice.

TIDBITS

1) Doesn’t the list of ingredients look like a ski slope?

2) One of the most popular sports televison ever was “The Wide World of Sports.” The intro to the program shows an athlete performing a great feat to the “thrill of victory and an athlete failing to the words “the agony of defeat.

3) The victorious athlete changed quite a few times. However, the failing athlete was Vinko Bogataj. Vinko wiped out in spectacular fashion just moments after starting to ski down a steep slope. Vinko remained blissfully unaware that tens of millions of people had been watching his snow tumble every week for twenty years.

4) Success is overrated. We remember spectacular failures. We embrace them.

5) Eddie the Eagle represented Britain in the 1988 Winter Olympics. He would soar like an eagle with folded wings. Eddie’s ski jumps brought him last place in every event he entered. He might have set records for the short jumps if the Olympics had bothered track such a thing.

6) Naturally Eddie became a national hero. The world remembered his name for decades. The winners in the ski jump? Tee hee.

7) Who can name a movie about bobsled gold medals? No one. Well, practically no one. But millions have seen the movie about the Jamaican bobsled Olympians, “Cool Runnings.” They didn’t win a medal. They only achieved cinematic immortality.

8) As the song says, “We don’t need another hero.” We need another Citrus Agua Fresca.

– 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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