onions

Jan

29

Lasagna Margherita

main dishes / Non-Traditional  Posted by / 1 comments

Layering stuff on my lasagna

Fusion.  Can I call it that?

I’m making a bastardization of a Pizza Margherita kind of, sort of only with lasagna.  Does that qualify as fusion?  Fusion sounds hip, cool and so not like what my Aunt Lupita would call “cochinadas” which basically means a mess or pig slop, I’m not sure what.  It’s what we always called our little cooking experiments.

I bought some beautiful organic basil the other day and wanted to make pesto, but didn’t have any pinenuts or any other kind of nuts, so I stuck it in the fridge.  Yesterday, I was out at Walmart doing some shopping for a science project and I found some ridiculously priced Ricotta which always gets me thinking of lasagna.  An idea for something started forming in my head.  I adore Pizza Margherita or Margarita (however you want to spell it).  It’s pizza made with fresh basil, slices of tomato and mozzerella.  Kind of like a Capresi salad which I also love on bread. So why not lasagna?  Béa over at La Tartine Gourmand makes an astoundingly delish (I’ve made it several times) green lasagna so why not something pesto-ish? I bought lasagna noodles.  Wasn’t in the mood to make my own this time since this is an experiment in extreme cochinada-making.

I assembled my ingredients in my head.  I’d chiffonade the basil to really bruise it and get the full flavor, then mince garlic and mix the two together.  I’d add olive oil and sea salt and just let it sit there for a couple of hours marinating itself.  The tomatoes i decided to roast because I wasn’t sure if they would do well in the lasagna if not. I wanted them smokey not juicy if that makes sense.  As I was working this out in my head, I decided to also roast some onions with the tomatoes in the oven.

I didn’t have mozzarella and was going to run out and get some, but found some pepper Jack cheese tucked away.  Why not?  It would cut through all that sweetness with a little spice and bite and I AM Latina.  Hey they sprinkle chili flakes on pizza don’t they?  Total justification.

So I made it, cooking noodles, layering pasta, scooping cheese, delicately adding tomatoes and onions, spreading my basil mixture.  I put it in a casserole dish with a lid on it and stuck it in the oven at 350.  In less than five minutes, the house smelled INSANE.  I literally wanted to bite the air.

You know you want some.

It worked!  The result was rich, creamy goodness with that wonderful blend of tomato and basil that I love in a pizza or caprese salad.  What would I do differently?  Next time I’m making the pasta dough myself and roasting the tomatoes and onions just a bit longer.  Other than that, not a thing.

 

Gina’s Lasagna Margherita

3 cups of basil, chopped in a chiffonade

4-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/4 olive oil

1 large white onion, cut into rings

4-6 large Roma tomatoes, sliced

sea salt to taste

Ricotta cheese

Parmesan cheese (a handful sprinkled on each layer)

Monterey Jack, pepper Jack or Mozzarella cheese (depends on how much cheese you want)

Lasagna noodles

Fresh basil leaves for garnish

 

Chiffonade the basil and mince the garlic.  Mix together with about a teaspoon of sea salt and the olive oil.  Let stand for about 20 minutes.  Set aside.

Slice the onions and tomatoes.  Sprinkle with oilve oil and roast in a hot oven (350 degrees) for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned and caramelized.  Let cool and set aside.

Cook the lasagna noodles according to instructions on box or recipe. Drain.

Place a layer of noodles in the bottom of a baking dish.  Spread with basil mixture.

Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese,

Layer on onions and tomatoes evenly.

Scoop on Ricotta cheese.  Add Jack or Mozzarella.

Drizzle a little of the olive oil from the basil onto the cheese and add a little more basil.

Repeat till you get to the top.

On the top layer, cover with either the Jack or Mozarella cheese as well as a few onions and tomatoes.

Cover and bake for 30-45 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve.

This goes great with a chilled Prosecco.

 

Se acabo.

 

Sep

15

Squash Flower Pudding (budin de flor de calabaza)

main dishes  Posted by / 0 comments

I was lucky enough to get into the market early this morning just as the produce guy was putting out a large box of the beautiful orange squash blossoms I’d made quesdillas with the other day. As he opened the box, I could already taste the budin. I bought half the box and gently carried them home and put them in water, covered the delicate blossoms so they wouldn’t wilt and set about assembling my ingredients.

A budin is a pudding, but not that chalky chocolate pudding in cup stuff that I see my grandkids eat on occasion. A Mexican pudding is often savory, always delicious and usually contains ingredients maybe unfamiliar to the American kitchen. This is REAL Mexican food. We are so much more than tacos… oh well that view is rapidly changing so I won’t start ranting mid-post.

Squash flowers need to be used the same day they are bought. They are incredibly delicate and tend to wilt almost immediately. In the grocery store plastic bags from store to home, they can get slightly bruised so they usually sit very carefully on my lap on the way home. It’s important to have all your ingredients together if you’re working with them so that they don’t have time to wilt on you.

Delicate squash flower blossoms

Making the budin is easy, almost effortless to me. It’s a great recipe to listen to some boleros while cooking and just zen out. The brilliant orange of the blossoms mingled with translucent strips of sweet onion give the dish texture but it is oh so light. Like eating a very savory, silky cloud. Que rico! Writing about it makes me want to make another one because of course there’s no more. Squash flower season is very short. A couple of weeks in the spring and another couple at the end of summer signaling the start of autumn. They don’t preserve well that I know of so squash flower budins aren’t made very often and they get gobbled up so fast it’s ridiculous. Make sure to hide yourself an extra slice – it will go fast.

Budin de flor de calabaza/Squash Flower Pudding

6 cups of squash flower blossoms, cleaned and chopped
1 cup of rice flour
1 can of evaporated milk
2 cups of water
1 golden onion, halved then thinly sliced
1/4 cup of butter
4 eggs, beaten
Salt to taste
1 tsp Knorr Suiza
1 1/2 cups of grated Monterey Jack cheese (Note: sometimes I use Comte or Manchego)

Mix the rice flour with the evaporated milk and water in a mixing bowl until smooth, then pour into a heavy pot and heat on low flame stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a skillet, fry the onion slices in butter until translucent then add in the chopped flowers. Saute about two minutes and add salt and Knorr Suiza. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Mix the flowers and onions into the rice flour mixture until well blended. Mix in the eggs and incorporate well.

Pour into a greased non-metal baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the budin has risen and a knife pulls out clean.

The budin will sink a little as it cools so don’t worry. That’s normal.

Serve with a little creama Mexicana and a salad. Buen provecho!

Aug

30

Enfrijoladas, Chiles Toreados y un perro enchilado

family recipes / main dishes  Posted by / 0 comments

After all the intense summer heat of the past week, now that it’s finally cooler I have been craving Mexican comfort food. I wanted enfrijoladas, those rich, creamy bean and cheese bits of yummy that melt in your mouth. An enfriolada is something like an enchilada only a bean sauce is used instead of the red or green chile sauce. They can be made with either corn or flour tortillas, but I use flour because they make the dish extra soft and velvety. Enfrijoladas are not only great comfort food, they are very economical. Typically served with enfrijoladas are what we call Chiles Toreados which could mean either toasted chiles or bullfighter style chiles depending on who you’re talking to. Jorge Carbajosa over at Spanish Lesson has a good post on the word here. I use chiles jalapeños and thick slices of onion in mine.  Some people use Salsa Maggi for flavoring but I like Knorr Suissa.   The chiles are sliced into four pieces, toasted in oil along with the onions and then served over the enfrijoladas. My kids would kill me if I dared to take out the seeds since they like it hot and the whole point of toasting the chiles in such a manner is to make them hotter or mas bravos (like a bullfighter) but if you want them milder, go ahead and devein and seed them. The toasted chile flavor will still be fantastic and you’ll still get a bit of spice.

I had a pot of frijoles de la olla all ready, so I set about making my enfrijoladas and showed my roommate David how it was done. The local market was out of panela cheese which is what I typically use, so I ended up using a mixture of Monterey Jack and Queso Fresco. The dish is nothing if not versatile.

We sat down to watch Iron Chef America and have our dinner with the dog doing his typical sad-eyed gaze at us. He knows better than to beg and always gets a treat so what he did next shocked us all. Ozzy leapt and snatched, literally snatched a jalapeno off of David’s plate, gulped it down and ran.

Chiles toreados

It happened so fast we were stunned. Really? Did he just eat a chile? Then he came back and his little tongue was just rapidly licking his lip and I felt so sorry for him, I grabbed some cold queso fresco and fed it to him hoping it would calm the burn. This is where it gets really wacky. The little monster ran away from me and David, who was now pouring him milk and attacked Phillip’s plate stealing three more chile slices in the process. We put away our dinner dishes, kept the jalapenos high and away from him but he was still whining and trying to jump up on countertops after them!

El perro enchilado

My dog is a schnauzer mix and who knows what the heck the other part of him is but we’re certain it’s something Mexican and crazy. We kept trying to feed him milk but Ozzy was almost high from the chili rush and I literally had to hold him down and pour it into him. He was going nuts. I Googled hoping it wasn’t toxic and there wouldn’t be a vet visit in our near future. I kept feeding him cheese till he seemed to calm down, then I put him in bed. He slept quietly all night and woke up just fine but he scared the heck out of us. From now on, Chiles Toreados will be renamed in this house – Perro Enchilados (hot dogs) in his honor. Still shaking our heads over this loco dog who was sniffing at jalapenos this morning but didn’t have a chance to get to them.

Enfrijoladas

1 dozen flour tortillas

Cooked Beans

Milk

Oil for frying

Queso Panela (or Monterey Jack)

One onion, diced

Queso fresco

This recipe doesn’t really call for measurements, but I’ll try and estimate it out. In a large skillet, add about 1 tablespoon of oil and heat. Add in about 4 cups of frijoles de la olla and about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk. Using a potato masher, mash the beans until smooth. Don’t use the masher until the beans are really hot or it won’t be so easy.

Remove from the heat and let cool.

Add to a blender once it’s cool enough and blend until perfectly smooth. Pour back into the skillet and re-heat.

Grate about a pound of cheese, either panela or Monterey Jack and dice the onion finely. Mix the grated cheese and onion together and put into a plate or bowl.

In another skillet heat up enough vegetable or canola oil to dip tortillas in. Using a set of tongs, quickly dip each flour tortilla (or corn if you prefer) into the oil, flipping over to get both sides. You don’t want them to fry to much. Literally about 30 seconds on each.

Once your tortillas are fried, using the tongs quickly dip them in the bean sauce. Try to do this quickly so your tortillas don’t fall apart. Corn tortillas hold up better, but flour ones are my favorite.

One tortilla at a time, place in baking dish, fill with the cheese mixture and roll. I use the tongs because they are usually too hot and delicate for me to adequately do with my hands.

Once all the tortillas are filled and rolled, spoon more bean mixture on top and pop into a hot 350 degree oven for about ten minutes. Just long enough for the cheese to fully melt.

To serve, sprinkle with crumbled queso fresco and top with chiles toreados. We usually have ours with Mexican rice or a salad but they are a filling and delicious meal all on their own.

Chiles Toreados

About 6-10 fresh jalapenos

Oil for frying

Tablespoon Knorr Suissa or Salsa Maggi

1 onion, halved and thickly sliced (optional)

Wash the jalapenos and cut off the ends. Slice down the middle and then again to get four long strips. In a cast iron or other heavy skillet, add just enough oil to coat the pan and heat on medium flame.

Once the oil is hot, add the chiles and onion slices. The oil will pop so be careful. Fry the chiles on both sides until just toasted, not letting them get too dark, then remove the chiles, lower the flame and continue to let the onions cook until well caramelized.

Throw the chiles back in and stir in the Knorr Suissa. Remove from heat and serve over the enfrijoladas.

Try not to have a crazy, jalapeno eating dog around.

Mar

17

Carne de puerco con mole y nopales (Pork with cactus in red mole sauce)

family recipes / main dishes  Posted by / 1 comments

In my family, we all have our favorite things my Grandma Lupe cooked.  I was just visiting my Aunt Jessie in the hospital and we were of course talking about food.  I asked her what her favorite thing was that my grandma cooked and she immediately smiled and said, “the mole with nopales and carne de puerco.”  Immediately, my mouth started to water in memory.  I haven’t had those in years and we chatted for a bit, talking about the ingredients and how to make it.

The mole was different than most, very piquant and delicious with a tangy, smokey flavor that haunts my memory.  I’ve never tasted mole like hers for nopales (cactus) and carne de puerco (pork) anywhere else.  The nopales are de-thorned, washed and sliced into 1-inch sections, then boiled with quartered onion for about ten minutes, then drained and set aside.  You can make them ahead of time and refrigerate them to save time.

Carne de puerco con nopales y mole

For the mole:

Chiles California’s (dried california chiles) 8-10 of them

1 small onion

water

salt to taste

Boil the chiles in water with one quartered onion until they are soft about 20 minutes.  Scoop out the chiles and onion with a slotted spoon and scoop them out  and cool them off.  Taking a sharp paring knife, cut into the chiles and remove the stems, veins and seeds then place them into a blender.  Blend until smooth.

For the pork:

2 pounds cubed pork (pork shoulder or pork chops with the fat untrimmed)
salt and pepper
1 small onion, diced
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf

Fry the pork until it is browned and crispy.  Start off on a high flame then lower it and stir occasionally, to keep from sticking.  The pork needs to be very, very crispy, almost cooked through  into hard little nuggets.

Scoop the pork out and drain.  Set aside.

Drain off some of the drippings from the pan, leaving about two tablespoons in.  Add the onions and sautee them, scraping the from the bottom of the pan.  When the onions are nicely browned, add the cooked pork, a clove of garlic and the bay leaf.  Cook on low heat for about ten minutes stirring occasionally.  Add in the sauce and the reserved nopales and let simmer for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the bay leaf and the garlic cloves and discard.

Serve with rice, beans and fresh tortillas.