#4 Aji de Gallina

"Peruvian cuisine is the new thing all over Chile," declared my amiga as she came back just 3 weeks ago from her holiday travels in South America. Likewise, my Peruvian novio (aka "Peru") claims the same as he says, "Claro, mija, la comida de mi tierra es lo mejor, no hay otra igual. Es que Lima es el capital gastronómica del mundo." (Of course, the food from my country is the best there is, it doesn't have an equal. Lima is the gastronomical capital of the world.)

I put those claims to the test this week as I attempted to surprise "Peru" with a meal from his homeland. It was just by luck I happened to see this recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to make it

my own.

And according to the reaction of "Peru" - sending a text to his mom to brag about his girlfriend making "Aji de Gallina, I'd say it was a raging success. So if you're looking for something a cultural kick, you should definitely give this one a try and you tell me if you'd agree with all those Chileans and my novio about "the best food on this earth."

Aji de Gallina

Yield 5 servings

Indredients:

2 chicken breasts (WITH BONES!!)

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 quarts water

1/2 loaf whole-wheat bread (cut into cubes!)

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped nuts

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

3 yellow chile peppers (chile guero o amarillo)

2 tsps. turmeric (If you have it....I didn't use it, but I bet it'd add more flavor)

4 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

2 cups of rice, cooked

Directions

1. Place chicken breasts,

onion, carrot anmd 2 cloves garlic in a large saucepan, pour in 2 quarts of water and slowly bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Skim off the foam which forms on top, then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and allow to cool. Leave the chicken broth off to the side for later.

2. Pour evaporated milk and 1/2 cup chicken stock into the bowl of a blender. Add bread cubes and puree until smooth. Add Parmesan cheese and nuts; puree until smooth. Shred the cooled chicken and discard the bones (or throw them back in the broth to make veggie chicken soup later...and get two recipes out of one!)

3. Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in minced garlic clove and chopped onion; cook until the onion has softened and

turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in shredded chicken and chopped chile peppers until heated through. Pour in bread puree and cook until hot, stirring frequently. Add more chicken stock if needed to keep from getting too thick. (If you have turmeric, add 2 tsps. and simmer for 5 minutes).

4. Serve garnished with sliced hard-boiled eggs and with rice.

Buen Provecho!

#3 Baked Cheesy Chicken Macaroni

Never do I walk to the grocery store without a list in my hand as I pull my handy red cart behind me and try to avoid the many potholes and precarious "sidewalks". One might think that a list would prevent me from forgetting an important ingredient or discovering that the items were picked up without rhyme or reason. However, as it often happens, I opened my fridge tonight staring at the same old things I always seem to have on hand: chicken, vegetables, fruit, 1/2 gallon of milk, a stick of butter, a few slices of cheese and the packages of condiments collected from my favorite local sandwich shop.

With those ingredients in mind and not wanting to eat the same-old veggie with pasta/rice dinner, I decided to do a new and simple little creation tonight, which we shall call....

Baked Cheesy Chicken Macaroni

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts

2 cups Whole-Wheat Fusilli

Olive Oil

Handful of Mushrooms

1 Green Pepper

1 Tomato

1/2 Onion

1 can of Cream of Mushroom/Chicken Soup

1 cup of Chicken Broth

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper

Cheese (Any cheese is fine - I used a white Mexican cheese called "Chihuahua")

Steps:

(Steps 1, 2 and 3 are somewhat simultaneous)

1. Boil water to make the whole-wheat pasta. When water is boiling, add the pasta until it is soft to the touch. Drain.

2. Boil the chicken. To do this, make sure the chicken is defrosted and place into a large pot. Cover with cool water. Put over medium heat and let simmer/boil for 10 minutes without letting the water get out of control. Drain the water and cut/break apart the tenderly cooked chicken.

3. While the water and chicken are boiling, chop the green pepper, onion, tomato and slice the mushrooms. Cover the base of a pan with olive oil and saute the vegetables. Sprinkle on garlic powder and salt and pepper. Once the vegetables are softened, pour in the cream of mushroom/chicken soup as well as the chicken broth and heat for just a couple minutes.

4. After finishing the first 3 steps, add the pasta, chicken and soup/veggie mixture into a large bowl and mix together.

5. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the mixture into a glass 9 x 13 dish. Sprinkle the entire thing with cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Buen Provecho!

#2 Homemade French Toast

I'm a morning person. I love the morning and I LOVE breakfast. To sit down with a cup of coffee and a hot breakfast seriously is one of my favorite moments of the day. Call me crazy if you want, but after you try this tasty recipe you may too become a morning person, at least once in a while.

Homemade French Toast (from colleague Elizabeth Villwock)

Ingredients:

6 slices sturdy French or sourdough bread, about ¾ inch

thick (I actually just used whole-wheat bread that I had on hand)

1 ½ cups whole milk (I used "leche light" - light milk)

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon grated orange zest (ummm, I omitted this)

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Powdered sugar for dusting

Steps:

1. In a large baking dish, place the bread slices in a single layer.

2. In a large glass measuring pitcher, thoroughly whisk together the

milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, orange zest, nutmeg and salt. Pour evenly

over the bread and let stand for 1 minute, then turn the bread

over. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let stand for at least 10

minutes or for up to 30 minutes.

3. Place an ovenproof platter in the oven and preheat to 200 degrees.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the

butter. When the butter has foamed and the foam begins to subside,

as many slices of bread as will fit in the pan without overlapping.

When the slices are golden brown on the second side, about 2

minutes longer for custardy French toast, or about 3 minutes longer

for drier French toast.

4. Transfer the finished slices to the platter in

the oven. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and repeat with

the remaining bread slices. Transfer the French toast to individual

plates, dust the tops with powdered sugar and serve at once with

maple syrup.

Buen Provecho!

#1 Lime-and-Honey Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

For my first new recipe of 2011, I decided to tackle something I am just acquring a taste for - fish. And in this case, salmon. Almost more difficult than following the recipe itself was the trip to two different grocery stores here in Mexico trying to find the right ingredients and buying my first slab of salmon off the ice.

After talking to the fish man at the store, I decided on a nicely colored piece of fish and as he wrapped it up for me, I couldn't help but notice the scaly gray fish skin still sitting on the underside. Overcoming my sudden disgust, I smiled and said "Muchas gracias" to the man and went on my merry way in search of the fresh cilantro and spinach.

I have Rachel Ray to thank for the success (YES!) of this recipe as I followed it from her "Rachel Ray: 365 No Repeats" cookbook. So get your tastebuds ready people, this one is worth making over and over again.

"Lime-And-Honey Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad" #288

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 medium red onion (chopped)

2 large garlic cloves (chopped)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon ground cumin (1/3 palmful)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 2 limes

3 tablespoons honey (3 gobs)

1 teaspoon chili powder

4 6-oz slamon fillets (I used one big slab and cut it)

1 red bell pepper

1 10-oz box/bag frozen corn kernals

1/2 cup chicken stock or broth

1 15-oz can black beans (rinsed and drained)

2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves (a handful and chopped)

6 cups baby spinach

Steps:

1. Preheat a medium skillet over medium heat with 2 tbsp of the EVOO (twice around the pan). Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occassionally, for 3 minutes.

2. While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat with the remaining 2 tbsp or EVOO. In a shallow dish, combine the juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt and pepper. Add the salmon fillets to the lime-honey mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Add the seasoned salmon to the hot skillet (careful!! I nearly started a kitchen fire with that step...the pan was hotter than I realized) and cook until just cooked through, about 3-4 minutes on each side.

3. To the cooked onions, add the bell peppers and corn kernals and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until the beans are just heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the juice of the second lime, the cilantro and the spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste and adjust the seasoning.

4. Serve the lime-and-honey glazed salmon on top of the warm black bean and corn salad.

Buen Provecho!

Lost and Found

When the calendar turned another page and 2011 was staring me in the face, I couldn't help but ponder the previous year and the passions forgotten or left untouched as busyness got in the way. Reflecting as most do on the successes and failures of another year come and gone, I longed for a tangible (and tasty, so it turns out) New Year's Resolution.

Two passions were waiting on the sidelines and wanting to be part of the action this year. So with that in mind, 2011 will commence a journey tastefully combining some writing (a passion I often neglect) and some cooking (a hobby for which I recently discovered an appetite.)

Whether it's foolish or too ambitious or already been done, this year I am starting this blog for me. "Sabroso" is one of my favorite words in Spanish. It captures quite the sentiment when used.

"Un gusto sabroso" means "Savory taste" and most commonly refers to something coming out of the kitchen. However, sabroso can also be applied to a stylish wardrobe or even a person who's "easy on the eyes."

To capture "un gusto sabroso" in 2011, I am pioneering this blog as a place to record my New Year's Resolution: Make a new recipe every week and write a litle blurb discussing its success or failure (hopefully not too many of the latter) as I share my table with amigos and people I love.

Though cooking has never been my specialty and writing seemed to be a passion lost; 2011 is taking the lost and making it found.

Tastefully so.