soup

Dec

04

In Praise of Sinigang

soup / stories Posted by Gina Ruiz / 1 comments

Mmmmm…..

Sinigang.

What’s that you say? Sinigang? What is that?

Sinigang is a traditional Filipino tamarind-based soup that my grandchildren’s other Grandmother, Annabel makes. The base is made of tamarind, fish sauce, meat and tomatoes with vegetables and sometimes peppers added. The first time I had it, I fell in love with it. The flavor of that tangy, delicious soup haunted me and made my mouth water every time I thought of it.

Annabel knows its my favorite and so she makes it for me often. Whenever I ask her how to make it, she says, “Just meat and vegetables” in that typically modest way of hers. She doesn’t think she’s a good cook when in fact, she’s really an incredible one. In some ways, she reminds me of my Grandma Lupe. Like my grandmother, she tosses in a little of this and a little of that to make magic in a bowl or plate. She shows her love and care for the people close to her by feeding them, another Dona Lupe trait. Also like my grandmother, Annabel is overly modest about her abilities.

One of her specialities is her soup. Annabel makes soups that will make angels weep, they are so good. There’s always something simmering on the stove that smells amazing and nine times out of ten, one of those pots is full of some kind of yummy soup. The queen of them all though, is sinigang, my personal favorite. My Latina palate loves all things spicy and tangy so it’s no big surprise that this is my favorite Filipino dish.

Annabel uses a tamarind base by Knorr though she’s told me that given time, she’d make it with fresh tamarind pods. Since the grandkids are still young and their palate’s not quite so developed, she omits the finger-length green hot peppers that traditionally are part of the dish. I’ve had it with those, and it brings a spicy heat to the soup that is delicious, but I agree with her to not include it when the kids are wanting soup. We don’t want to turn them off of a delicious thing just because its too spicy.

I spent last night at the grandkids’ apartment and had arrived sniffling. With the recent high winds all over Los Angeles, I either had a bad case of allergies, or the beginning of a cold. Either way my nose is red and raw. Annabel took one look at me and said, “You need soup” as she poured my coffee. Settled in with the grandkids later, I fell asleep and woke to the scent of tamarind. “Sinigang”, I thought, “she’s making sinigang” and jumped out of bed to watch her make it. Sadly, she was already done and serving it into a bowl with steamed rice. “Gina, eat soup. I made your favorite, sinigang.” Yes, I am a lucky woman to have this blended family that loves me. Well, she didn’t have to tell me twice. Jasmine popped her head out from the covers and said, “I smell sinigang.” It didn’t take her long to slide down from the top bunk and tumble into the small kitchen.

We sat at the table with steaming bowls of tamarind-scented soup, and I watched the grandkids smiling as they dug in. Annabel was hovering over Aiden, chopping up his meat in small bite-sized pieces and I found myself turning Jasmine’s bowl in just such a way so she wouldn’t spill her rice over. The wind howled a little outside as we ate our tangy, tomatoey broth with vegetables, meat and rice. Warm in my belly, the soup soothed, kept my sneezing at bay and I had made sure to snap a photo before demolishing it.

Annabel promises to show me how to make it. She often changes up the vegetables in it, depending on what’s available in her fridge. Today the veggies included radishes, baby bok choy, asparagus and tomatoes. I’ve told her I’m going to video the whole process so that the grandkids we share have it always. It’s as much their legacy as my grandmother’s recipes are, and most definitely belongs here in Doña Lupe’s Kitchen.

Nov

30

Spicy Lentil Soup

soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 1 comments

It’s been cold here in Los Angeles and I’ve been gravitating to soups and stews for their comforting warmth. Today, I wanted lentils or lentejas as we call them. I wanted something different though, not the Mexican style lentils I usually make. I wanted soup, but something rich and rib sticking that would pair well with crusty, warm bread.

I set my lentils to boil with a clove of garlic and a quartered small onion. While that boiled, I rummaged round the fridge to see what I had on hand. The Ziplock bags of sliced Honeybaked ham almost danced into my hands. Mmmmm. I was already imagining that smokey, pork flavor mixed with the lentils. I found tomatoes and some long green California chiles as well and pulled those out to dice them. Once my lentils were cooked, I fired up a heavy skillet, coated it liberally with some bacon fat and fried up my chiles and tomatoes. I also diced up one small Serrano pepper for some heat and fried that with the other chiles and tomatoes. Once the chiles and tomatoes were well caramelized, I added the diced ham and fried that till nicely browned. Then I scooped in the lentils and let them simmer into the mixture. I let it simmer covered for about a half hour and the result was a spicy, thick and delicious soup.

Gina’s Spicy Lentil Soup

2 cups of dried lentils

2 cloves of garlic

water

one small onion, quartered

one tomato, diced

two California chiles, chopped

one Serrano chile, diced finely

one cup ham, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy saucepan, bring the water to boil and add the lentils. I usually add two cups of water for every cup of lentils. Add the garlic cloves and the quartered onion. Simmer, covered for about 45 minutes or until the lentils are soft. You may have to add more water to prevent them from drying out. Lentils absorb an awful lot of water.

Chop your chiles, seed and de-vein them. Diced the tomatoes and set aside.

In a heavy greased skillet (I used bacon fat but you can substitute olive oil or anything you want), fry the chiles and tomatoes until carmelized. Add the chopped ham and fry till browned nicely.

Add the lentils to the chile and ham mixture and lower the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer, covered another 20 minutes so that the flavors blend well.

Serve with warm, toasty bread.

Nov

22

Waste Not, Want Not

soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 0 comments

If you’re like me, once in a while there’s a day when you look in the fridge and say, “oh darn, the vegetables are starting to go soft and I might have to throw them away.” I HATE wasting food.

I grew up mostly hungry. My mother was on welfare and NEVER had much in the fridge. She was a poor manager and really a bit of a space cadet when it came to household stuff. Early on, my sisters and I learned that if we wanted to eat regularly and well, we’d have to do it ourselves. My sister Wendy was the business manager. It was she who would confiscate food stamps, make lists and handle the shopping with me (the oldest) to plan the menus and cook the food; and my sister Carol (the baby) to ride along in the shopping cart we would bring home. Before we learned to do that, however it was either baloney in a tortilla, burnt beans (my mother was a horrible cook), and watery, unsweetened Kool-aid. Blech. I still can’t drink that stuff.

My Aunt Lupita remembers coming over and finding a very little me standing on a milk crate cooking something for my sisters. I’ve been cooking for almost as long as I can remember and I can pretty much make a meal out of nothing, which in the current economy, is a darned good skill to have.

Visiting my grandparent’s house wasn’t just a holiday, it was salvation. We’d walk in and there would be food EVERYWHERE. The pantries were full, the fridge and freezers were full, the garden had food growing in it. It was heaven to me, and if I could have lived there forever, I would have.

Once I had my own place, I made it my mission to always have food. I’m a little obsessed with food and I hate waste. So my vegetable drawer drives me crazy when I see things starting to soften. That’s when I make soup and freeze it.

You can get some amazing soups out of the vegetables in your crisper that are starting to go soft. Just the other day, I found broccoli that needed to be cooked immediately, some celery and carrots that were a couple of days away from being thrown out. So I made soup. I boiled the veggies with onion, garlic, a bit of fresh thyme then pureed it in the blender when it was cooled. I used a can of evaporated milk in the vegetable puree, some salt, pepper, nutmeg and heated it through. I served it with crusty brown bread and some grated cheese on top. The rest, I froze and now can have some really great soup whenever I want.

It only takes a bit of time and the result it healthy, nutritious and cost effective. Don’t throw the soft veggies away – make soup. If you waste your vegetables, I just might throw a chancla at you.

Gina’s Creamy Broccoli, Celery and Carrot Soup

1/2 a head of broccoli, stems and florets – chopped into small chunks

1/2 a stalk of celery, leaves included – chopped

3 carrots – chopped

1/2 an onion – quartered

2 cloves of garlic

a few stems of fresh thyme

water

1 can of evaporated milk

salt and pepper to taste

Chop the vegetables and place in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower flame and cook covered, till the vegetables are very soft (about 15 minutes).

Let vegetables cool to room temperature, then strain, reserving the cooking liquid.

Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Pour the puree into a heavy saucepan, add the milk and the reserved cooking liquid. Whisk the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste and heat through, stirring often to prevent the milk from scorching.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

Sep

25

Project Food Blog Challenge #2: Two Irish Classics

baked goods / Challenges / main dishes / soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 28 comments

Two Irish Classics

My traditions and culture are solidly Mexican. I grew up in a Mexican house with Mexican family. We spoke in Spanish, English and Spanglish. I still have fond memories of my grandfather saying, “Andale, walkale” which was a funny way of saying hurry up and walk whenever we were going somewhere. The sounds of boleros and oldies were the music of my growing up and the smells in the kitchen were spicy and sweet. There is another side of me though – the Irish side. I am half Irish. The Mexican is so steeped in me that I rarely give it a thought unless I am cursing my freckles or lighter than the average Mexican skin as it blisters in the hot Los Angeles sun. I remember I am half Irish when I think of my red-headed, freckled and blue eyed father but I certainly never remember it when I am cooking.

Irish food? Um..yeah. My Latina palate requires spices sharp and pungent, my nose needs the scents of chocolate, cinnamon, chiles roasting on a comal, a kitchen redolent with color, sensation, aroma. Irish food? Bland, boring, colorless…or so I thought.

When I read this challenge, to create a dish from another culture out of my comfort zone the first thought was oooh Indian! That thought quickly went out the window as I mentally flipped through countries. Problem was the most exotic was NOT out of my comfort zone. There was color, spice, and adventure – all the things I most equate with the food I am most comfortable cooking. Then it hit me. Why not use this challenge not only as a chance to push the envelope and challenge myself but also to learn about myself, that other side of the family tree? Explore my buried roots through the medium of food?

Once decided it felt right. All I had to do was choose the food. Beef and Guiness pie? No. Stew? Overdone. Crusty roast lamb (Uaineoil faoi chrusta)? Colcannon? Brambrak? No, no, no. It was getting late. I was getting frazzled. Then it hit me just as the idea to cook Irish did. You want a challenge, girl? Go simple, uber simple and traditional. After all, this blog is about traditions, just not Irish ones. Yet.

soup 300x225 Project Food Blog Challenge #2: Two Irish Classics

Brotchan Foltchep (Leek and Oatmeal Soup) is a creamy, delicious surprise

I settled on an ancient recipe for Brotchan Foltchep (Leek and Oatmeal Soup) with Brown Bread also known as cake. It was a challenge in many ways. First of all oatmeal for soup? Are you kidding me? That’s for breakfast! No meat in it? And, and, and OATMEAL? Wthout raisins and cinnamon and cream? Well. there is cream, but it’s not the same. Then there was the bread. Oh. My. God. Seriously? Two tablespoons of butter in about 6 cups of flour? No eggs. Stone ground wheat flour. I was dubious and kept thinking to myself, “this is going to be awful dry.” I was so tempted to sneak in yeast, sugar, more butter, eggs anything to make that pile of sticky dough a little more like bread. I swear I slapped my own hand at least three times to keep from trying to “fix it.” I ended up needing a full cup more buttermilk than the original recipe asked for and it was still very dry. Another 1/4 cup or so got it feeling right about how the recipe said it should feel.

To get in the spirit of things, I turned on some music. Believe it or not, I’m a big fan of The Saw Doctors and Juliet Turner. Turner’s Belfast Central is one of my favorites. She’s Northern Irish, not where my family is from but her voice is lovely and it helped soothe me. The Saw Doctors got me dancing and not worrying so much about the brick I was sure my bread would turn out to be. Being used to kneading dough, it was hard for me to do as little as possible with the Irish bread. The trick with that is to keep from letting the glutens form so you want to knead as little as possible or it will be tough according to my research.

I had been lucky enough to have had some left over vegetable stock I’d made the other day in the fridge so I didn’t have to make that and it saved me some time which was a relief since I’d left it to the last minute. As I got into making the soup, it started to make sense to me. The oatmeal was almost like a roux as it was cooked in butter almost masquerading as flour. The end result was a hearty, healthy and surprisingly tasty soup with a bit of bright color. It wasn’t a bit bland! The brown bread, which was rustic yet light and spread thickly with good Irish butter was a perfect accompaniment.

leeks 300x225 Project Food Blog Challenge #2: Two Irish Classics

Leeks simmering in oatmeal broth

I think I like this Irish side and intend to explore it further. I still want to make that carrot pudding, that Apple and Bramble cake with Bushmills custard and the crusty roast lamb. I may find more surprises along my way and I think I will learn more about myself, that other I hardly know as I wend my rambling way through Southern Ireland via the route of food.

brownbread 300x225 Project Food Blog Challenge #2: Two Irish Classics

Brown bread with Irish butter

Brotchan Foltchep (Leek and Oatmeal Soup) – recipe adapted from http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/2kitch/rSoups.html

3 Leeks
1//4 cup of butter
1 cup of Irish oatmeal
2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of mace
Chopped parsley
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Wash the leeks thoroughly and chop into chunks. (Save one chunk and slice into rings as a garnish, if liked: put these aside until the soup is done.)
Melt the butter gently in a saucepan, not allowing it to brown. Add the oatmeal and fry it in the butter, stirring until golden brown. Still stirring, pour in the stock and milk.
Add the chopped leeks, salt, pepper and mace. Bring to a boil; then lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the broth is thick. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, and then either liquidize the soup in a blender or with a “stick mixer”, or push it through a sieve.
Reheat gently without allowing it to boil again. Stir in parsley: serve and garnish with a swirl of cream and / or the previously sliced bits of leek (or stir the cream in when the parsley is added).

Brown Bread recipe adapted from Irish Abroad

4 cups of stone ground wheat flour
2 cups of white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 cups of buttermilk
2 tablespoons of butter
Mix the wheat flour throughly with the white flour. Rub the butter into the flours. Add the salt, and soda.
Make a well in the center and gradually mix in the liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon. You may need less, or more liquid – it depends on the absorbent quality of the flour. the dough should be soft but managable. Knead the dough into a ball in the mixing bowl with your floured hands. Put in on a lightly floured baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten out in a circle 1 1/2 inches thick. With a knife dipped in flour, make a cross through the center of the bread so that it will easily break into quarters when it is baked.
Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake a further 15 minutes. If the crust seems too hard, wrap the baked bread in a damp tea cloth. Leave the loaf standing upright until it is cool.

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in Challenge #1. I’m honored and appreciate it so much. Voting for Challenge #2 opens on Monday.

Apr

12

Stone Soup

soup / stories Posted by Gina Ruiz / 1 comments

When I was a little girl, I fell in love with a story called Stone Soup. In the story, a very old man comes into a town where no one has much food and they don’t want to share what little they have. He starts up a big old pot of what he calls stone soup, dropping a large stone into the boiling water and going on and on about how delicious it will be. Of course it would be much better with an onion, the old man says and someone gives an onion to add to the magical soup. On and on it goes with each villager contributing one thing or another till what is in the pot is a hearty soup filled with good things. There’s a wiki on the fable here.

I make my own version of stone soup, one where I throw in anything I can find in my fridge, usually veggies that are starting to go soft, containers of left overs and containers of stocks that need to be used. It never comes out the same way twice and its always surprisingly good.

Today it wanted to rain and was chilly, so I thought I’d do some baking. Opening the fridge, I noticed some tomatoes that were way to squishy. I figured I’d take them and start a tomato soup. When I took them out, cleaned and chopped them to get them in the pot for soup, I noticed I had left over steamed spinach in a container so I threw that in the blender and pureed it, then pureed the now cooked tomatoes and blended them together, set them simmering back into the pot.

Now that that was going, I knew I was making stone soup and went back to rummaging in the fridge. I found some left over chunks of beef that I had made in a red wine reduction, some refried beans with cheese, some cooked pinto beans, and a chunk of ham. The beef and the red wine sauce went into the blender and got pureed then put into the simmering pot along with the re-fried beans, the pinto beans and the now cubed ham. I added a defrosted container of chicken stock I had frozen last week, put the lid on and left it to simmer for a couple of hours.

Today’s Stone Soup turned out to be amazing. It was more like a bean and ham porridge than soup, but it was delicious, hearty, warm and perfect for a cold day.

What about you? Do you make Stone Soup or something like it? What do you use?

Apr

01

Cream of Mushroom Soup

soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 0 comments

I have loved cream of mushroom soup since I was a little girl and my mother served me her version (Campbell’s lol because she can’t cook worth a damn). Still, there was something about the creamy mushroom taste that I loved and when I grew up, I started making my own version. My version might be the traditional way to make it, it’s just how I thought it should be and what I’ve worked out and perfected over the years.
I love my version, make tons of it and often freeze huge parts of it without the cream to heat up later, then adding the cream. I use lots of types of mushrooms, good butter, a nice white wine (usually a pinot grigio), parsley, shallots, chicken broth and heavy cream. The soup is amazing on its own without the cream added and I often have it like that for a more lo-cal version. If you have problems processing dairy, eliminate the step with the cream and enjoy as is. It also makes a fantastic dressing for pasta.
There’s a neat little Korean market near my old place in Hollywood that sells a variety of mushrooms at incredibly cheap prices. I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s right on the corner of Kingsley and Beverly not far from Western. If you’re in L.A., do make the trip – that store is a wonder and has marvelously unique ingredients to play with.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

About 5-6 pounds of various sliced mushrooms. I use King Oysters, regular oyster mushrooms, straw, criminis, white mushrooms, button mushrooms, white beech mushrooms, shitakes, and portobellos.
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped fine
1/4 c shallots, finely chopped
2-4 tablepoons butter, melted
1 bottle of good white wine
Chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Heavy cream

Slice the mushrooms to get them all to a uniform size and sautee in butter with the chopped shallots until well browned using a big stockpot. The mushrooms absorb quite a bit of butter, so if you need to add more to keep them from sticking and burning, add a tsp at a time.
Lower the heat and add in the salt, pepper, thyme and parsley, stir.
Pour in enough chicken broth to almost fill the pot along with a cup of the wine. Simmer for about three hours, adding another cup of wine as the broth reduces until you’ve used the whole bottle.
Separate the soup you want to freeze (this makes a great base for pasta sauce) and then add in heavy cream to taste to the remaining soup depending on how creamy you want it, stirring constantly and until just heated through. Serve.

*This makes a lot of soup and I freeze most of it without the cream in it for various uses.

Mar

29

Clams in Orange and Vegetable Broth

soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 0 comments

Today in L.A. the sun was hot and intense, yet for some reason I was craving soup. Clams appealed to me and I was seriously jonesing for them. I had an idea of what I wanted to make and how I would make it, but first I needed to find some fresh Manila clams. I wanted a light yet flavorful broth with a hint of citrus and lovely spring colors that would be cheery and bright. I thought of lemon and rejected it, thinking of something sweeter, milder yet still full of flavor. I loved the idea of orange and wondered how it would mix with the bright colors of bell peppers.

First stop the Korean market in Glendale, but the clams didn’t look so great. I wanted to head to the Pavillions on Rossmore and Melrose but it was too far to deal with in this heat and me not feeling 100% up to par. I asked my friend if there was a Pavillions in Glendale and she seemed to remember one so we drove around a bit and came up empty.

Next stop, Vons where the butcher told me they don’t carry clams and if they do they are frozen. I was getting more and more frustrated when a fellow shopper said, “Pavillions is in Burbank on Alameda or you can try Fish King”. Yeah ok. I was tired and grumpy and Burbank sounded like a haul, so we tried Fish King and the clams were not what I wanted. Disappointed we left, and headed home when we noticed Whole Foods and decided to give it one more shot. They didn’t have the Manila’s I wanted, but they did have some gorgeous Little Neck clams that were at a great price. I ordered up 2 pounds, about 10-12 good sized clams and also picked up some mild goat cheese called Capricho de Cabra while I was in the store.

Once home, I put the clams to breathe in water while I prepared my ingredients for my broth. I had this idea and picture in my head of what I wanted it to look and taste like and I wasn’t disappointed in what resulted. The broth was perfect, mild and yet tasty with a hint of butter and citrus that complimented the clams. The crusty toasted bread we had spread with the goat cheese was the perfect accompaniment.

Gina’s Clams in Broth

2 pounds (10-12) Little Neck Clams
1 each, red, yellow and green peppers sliced into very thin strips
2 small golden onions, sliced into thin rings
2 small cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Tablespoon butter
Pinch allspice
2 peppercorns
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of two large oranges
Water

Prepare the clams using the excellent instructions at Apartment Therapy. I kept them in the shells. While they are soaking in the cold water, slice your onions, peppers and garlic, setting the peppers and garlic aside in separate bowls.

In a deep saute pan, add the olive oil and butter and heat on a medium low flame until the butter melts. Once melted add the onions and sautee, stirring often until the onions are well caramelized. Add the garlic and stir, then add the sliced peppers and sautee, stirring occasionally until they soften and caramelize.

While the peppers are cooking, slice and squeeze out the juice of two large oranges and strain out the pulp and seeds, then add to the caramelized pepper mixture along with the peppercorns, salt and pepper to taste and pinch of allspice. Stir and then add enough water to reach just under a quarter inch of the top of the pan. Cook on med-low heat for about 15 minutes, adding more water as it cooks down, then add the cleaned clams, and cover and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes, till all the clams are open.

Ladle into a bowl and serve with crusty artisan bread spread (we used Trader Joes) with a creamy goat cheese like the Capricho de Cabra I found at Whole Foods.

The one word that went round the table was yum, so buen provecho!

Mar

07

Posole

family recipes / soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 0 comments

My daughter-in-law Mireya is from the state of Puebla in Mexico. Sitting in her very modern kitchen 2200 odd miles from where I was born and raised, brings back memories of another time, another kitchen. In that kitchen with it’s creaky old floors, the Los Angeles sunlight that streamed through the small window along with the smell of herbs and flowers, and most of all the love of my grandparents; I learned to love cooking.

This kitchen is cold to my L.A. body used to sunlight and drought. It’s very modern and sleek with its black granite counters and stainless steel appliances and the glaring white of the snow outside, but its an incredibly warm kitchen in the ways that count. There is love here in abundance, there is a keeping of tradition, a love of culture and family and the tastes and smells of it bring me home, keep my grandmother’s memory alive and bond me with this wonderful woman my son married.

Today she is making posole, but not the posole I am used to. She is making what is known to be the traditional posole which is what we call posole blanco or white posole. It is different from the one I make (Posole Tapatio) which is red and flavored with epazote. Her recipe is exciting for me, a new one to learn and it belongs here in the archives of my family.

Last week we had green posole made with chicken, hominy and yerba santa. It was delicious and completely different from what I am used to.

I watch my daughter-in-law work in brisk, quick steps. She is deft in the kitchen, reminds me of the purposeful, quick moves of my grandmother and great aunts in their kitchens. In some ways, she reminds me of my dear friend Elodia who moves with the same purpose and body language. Mireya is nothing like Elodia though. Lochi’s as I call her is tall, light skinned and thin where Mireya is very petite, dark-skinned and curvy. They move the same though and as I watch my daughter-in-law, I am transported back to the kitchen of my friend near the hills of Griffith Park where I grew up and can almost hear the years of laughter and good talks had at her kitchen table.

I read somewhere that Posole is an ancient recipe from Aztec/Mexica times which I well believe, given mole is from the same pre-Hispanic origin. The word pozole in Nahuatl means espuma or foam and it gets its name from the foam that arises when the dried corn or cacahuazintle is boiled. There are Conquest documents that talk about the pozole of Mocetuzuma having body parts in it but I highly doubt the veracity of any Conquest document. To them, the Mexica people were the very devil, so I take most of what they said with a grain or two of salt.

Mireya’s Posole Blanco

1 pound of dried corn or cacahuazintle, prepared Nixtamal or 2 15-oz cans of hominy if you prefer it
2 pounds pork shoulder, cubed
oregano
salt to taste
chile pequin powder
shredded lettuce
diced white onion
lemons

If you’re using the maiz (nixtamal corn)they sell bagged in the store for posole, there’s no need to use the lye to soften it. Just open the bag and let it soak overnight in water. Clean off all the floating bits and strain it out. If you want to try dried corn, you’re gonna have to use lye and that’s another post in the making. Mireya uses canned hominy because that’s what my grandson Luis likes. Kids tend to prefer canned hominy over the more gritty maiz or nixtamal.

Fill a stockpot half way with water, add the pork and hominy, salt to taste and a pinch oregano and cover. Should boil on low flame 2-3 hours till the pork is so tender it falls apart at the touch of a fork.

If you are using the nixtamal, the maiz should boil first with salt to taste and a clove or two of garlic if you want, until it blossoms into what looks like little flowers and gives off the characteristic foam that gives the stew its name. When the maiz blossoms, its time to add the pork and continue cooking.

Pour the stew into bowls and top with chopped onion, pinch of the powdered chile pequin for color and flavor, oregano, shredded lettuce and squeeze a lemon over it.

Serve with corn tortillas.

Feb

04

Sopa de Tortilla/Tortilla Soup (the Ruiz family version)

soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 3 comments

I love sopa de tortilla or Tortilla Soup. I love making it too. There’s something absolutely alchemical about it that appeals to me. I enjoy the different processes and the ultimate result.

There are a lot of different versions of it but they all share some basics. Now that I have two small grandchildren here eating it, I’ve toned down the heat by using fresh pasilla chiles, grilled, de-seeded and de-veined, added carrot slices and added more cilantro for a greener, fresher tasting soup. Jasmine and Aiden love carrots with tortilla soup so carrots they get. The main ingredients of an authentic sopa de tortilla are still there, they just get a little company and the heat gets turned down.

Sopa de Tortilla/Tortilla Soup

1 quart of chicken broth
about one pound of chicken boiled and shredded
4-6 tomatoes
2 fresh chiles pasilla (when I’m not cooking it for my grandkids, I add two dried chile Californias and one jalapeno to the mix to make it spicy)
salt to taste
avocados
fresh cilantro. about a handful
epazote, about three or four leaves chopped*
1 onion
four cloves of garlic
crema Mexicana
15 tortillas
oil to fry the tortillas in (I use olive oil)
queso fresco
queso cotija
key limes or regular limes

I usually boil the chicken ahead of time, adding fresh thyme (tomillo in Spanish), a little fresh oregano, garlic, a quartered onion and a little bit of salt to the water as it boils. It makes for a nice, flavorful broth. Once the chicken is tender and falling off the bone, I remove it and set it to cool. I strain the broth and set it aside for later.

Grill the tomatoes, chile pasillas, the onion and the garlic on a comal or heavy cast iron skillet till they are all roasted nicely and the skin is blistering off. Peel the chiles and the tomatoes and put into the blender. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro and puree till you have a nice, smooth and thick sauce.

Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with olive oil and let it get hot. When the oil is hot, add in the puree and fry it. Lower the heat and let simmer. The sauce will reduce and start looking dark, dangerous and delicious. The smell alone is incredible. I know frying seems a little crazy after the grilling and all but trust me, the sauce needs to fry to get the flavor you want. Something happens, the flavors all break down and meld together into something incredibly rich, smoky and delectable. The soup isn’t the healthiest thing, but it’s darned good and you don’t have to have it all the time.

Slice the carrots into thin rounds and start the strained broth cooking. Add the carrots and the shredded chicken to the heating broth. When the sauce has reduced and is done, (about 15-20 minutes) remove it from the heat and pour it into the chicken broth. Stir and let simmer on low heat for about an hour.

While the soup is simmering, take a knife to the tortillas and cut them into thin, long strips. Fry them in olive oil till they are golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels or brown paper and set them aside.

Chop semi-firm avocados into cubes. Set aside.

Crumble queso cotija and slice small chunks of queso fresco. If you live in an area where you can’t find these cheeses, you may want to try Monterey jack. The queso cotija is a dry, hard cheese with a sharp flavor while the queso fresco is a mild, milky soft cheese. They compliment each other beautifully and some people like them both in the soup while others like one or the other. I always prepare both so my dinner guests and family can take their pick.

Chop fresh cilantro and put it into a bowl. You can also chop fresh jalapeno chiles into very tiny little cubes or slices if someone wants a bit more spice.

Slice key limes in half and put into a bowl.

We line up little bowls with all the different toppings down the middle of the table and everyone just chooses what they want.

To serve:

Ladle the hot soup into a bowl and add first the crema Mexicana, then other toppings per your preference. Top with the fried tortilla strips at the very end and squeeze with a bit of lime.

Buen provecho!

*if you can’t find epazote, a mixture or oregano, cilantro and parsley will work. It won’t have that exact earthy flavor of the epazote, but it will be close.

Jan

31

Not My Grandmother’s Albondigas (Turkey-Sesame Albondiga Soup)

soup Posted by Gina Ruiz / 2 comments

One of the things I loved that my grandmother made was Albondiga Soup, which is a meatball soup made with ground beef, rice, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, mint, carrots and cumin. I love albondigas and making the meatballs is always fun. It’s the perfect soup for a cold day and kids love it because of the meatballs.

I wanted to make albondigas the other day but I didn’t want to use beef and I didn’t want to use rice. I’m trying to follow the excellent example of Rachel Braver and eat a little healthier, drop some weight and get fit. I am helping to raise my grandchildren and I want to be sure I’m around to do so.

I also want to be in good enough shape to run around the park with them so one of the things I am doing is taking old recipes and trying to modify them for this healthier, leaner lifestyle. Oh, I know I’m still going to have those days where I’m going to fix something very traditional and completely enjoy and revel in it, but those days are rare and for the day-to-day, I want leaner choices. I think it’s a good example to set for the two grandchildren in my care as well and helps them to create good eating habits that will serve them all their lives.

I started out with ground turkey and pondered long on what I was going to use to hold it all together. I came across a bag on ajonjolli or sesame seeds that I had used for something else and I wondered if the sesame seeds would serve in place of rice. I figured what the heck, and tried it. I also thinly sliced cauliflower into it thinking that it would give some texture and work almost like breadcrumbs to help hold the meatballs in shape.

I was pleasantly surprised. The combination of sesame seeds and cauliflower did work to hold the meatballs together and as an added bonus, gave the meatballs a subtle flavor with a hint of a soft crunch. It was a great way to sneak in cauliflower for the kids too! I also used a variety of green vegetables we had in the fridge to what ordinarily would have been a tomato based soup with carrot slices and was also pleased with the taste. They’re not my grandmother’s albondigas, but I’d think she’d approve.

Turkey-sesame seed Albondigas

For the meatballs:
1 pound of ground turkey
2 tomatoes, chopped fine
1 small golden onion, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic minced
a handful of parsley, chopped fine
1 oz. of ajonjolli or sesame seeds
thinly sliced cauliflower florets
thinly slice celery
1 shallot thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
dash ground cumin
1 egg

Mix ingredients with ground turkey by hand till it’s all blended evenly. Shape into golfball sized balls and set aside onto a plate until ready to be put into the broth.

For the soup:

2 qts. of water or organic chicken broth
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 clove garlic
handful cilantro
pinch of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
chopped celery
whole courgettes (small zucchini squash)
1 bunch of green onions, chopped into large pieces

Heat the water or chicken broth till it comes to a boil and add in seasonings, garlic, tomatoes, green onion and cilantro. Once it’s boiling, bring down the heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes to let the flavors blend.

Turn the heat back up to medium and add the green vegetables.

Taking one meatball at a time on a spoon, slowly lower each one into the soup. Take your time and be careful so they don’t fall apart. If the soup temperature gets too cool, wait a few minutes till the heat is up again before adding more meatballs.

This recipe cooks a lot faster than traditional albondigas because there is no raw rice in the meatballs to cook.

Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the meatballs are fully cooked. Serve. I served ours with some red salsa I had made and a squeeze of lime.

Page 1 of 212 »

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Sopa de Tortilla/Tortilla Soup (the Ruiz family version)

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Not My Grandmother’s Albondigas (Turkey-Sesame Albondiga Soup)

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