It might have tasted meatier if I'd used beef broth instead of vegetable broth, but that's what was already in my pantry. Most recipes of this particular flavor use a bag of mixed frozen vegetables. I remember from my youth that I disliked half the vegetables in that mix, mostly because lima beans tasted pasty, the green beans were way over-cooked, the peas were flavorless, and you didn't nearly get enough of what you did like.
Ingredients:
4 c. vegetable broth
2 white potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, cubed
1 c. fresh corn
5 medium white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 lb. stew beef, cut into smaller pieces
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. sea salt
black pepper, to taste
1/2 c. white wine (optional)
1 shallot, chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Directions:
1. Frying pan - On medium heat, add butter, olive oil, and shallots. Once the shallots have been lightly browned, add the beef and stir fry until the beef is nearly done. Set aside the beef. Add carrots, celery, and potatoes and cook until carrots are nearly tender.
2. Covered stockpot - Add broth, corn, and mushrooms, bring to a boil then simmer. Add the vegetables and beef. Add spices. Add the wine (optional). Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, then simmer until potatoes are almost soft but haven't disintegrated.
Total prep time: 30 minutes
Total cook time: 1-2 hours, or longer
Steamed Whole Tilapia
There are three chain ethic supermarkets in southern California near where I live: Ranch 99, Vallarta, and Jons. Meats, seafood, spices, seasonal fruits, and odd-things-to-try-out, etc., are very inexpensive here. At the latter two places I can buy a lot of whole tilapia for a very good price. The following is a relatively generic, but simple way to steam tilapia. I'd imagine that this preparation style is common to asian households.
Ingredients:
1 whole tilapia, thawed and cleaned
2 stalks green onions, sliced
1-2 slices of peeled ginger, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (red or white, doesn't matter)
Before the fish is steamed, you need to make two slits on each side of the fish (through the flesh to the bone but not cutting through the fish, this helps it steam evenly and cook faster). Pour the wine over the fish and place the ginger and green onions on top.
The average whole tilapia will be under a pound, total cooking time is about 20 minutes. This seems like a long time, especially for fish, but I skip the process where you let a steamer come up to temperature then put the fish in. The flesh of the fish should be of a white-ish color when fully cooked. Promptly remove from heat and serve.
Whole fish pairs with steamed rice (brown, white, or "wild"). It goes pleasantly with a dry riesling wine, like Columbia Crest (which you can usually get from Trader Joe's).
I eat this with a sauce that has equal parts rice wine vinegar and light soy sauce.
Ingredients:
1 whole tilapia, thawed and cleaned
2 stalks green onions, sliced
1-2 slices of peeled ginger, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (red or white, doesn't matter)
Before the fish is steamed, you need to make two slits on each side of the fish (through the flesh to the bone but not cutting through the fish, this helps it steam evenly and cook faster). Pour the wine over the fish and place the ginger and green onions on top.
The average whole tilapia will be under a pound, total cooking time is about 20 minutes. This seems like a long time, especially for fish, but I skip the process where you let a steamer come up to temperature then put the fish in. The flesh of the fish should be of a white-ish color when fully cooked. Promptly remove from heat and serve.
Whole fish pairs with steamed rice (brown, white, or "wild"). It goes pleasantly with a dry riesling wine, like Columbia Crest (which you can usually get from Trader Joe's).
I eat this with a sauce that has equal parts rice wine vinegar and light soy sauce.
Pastelitos de guayaba y queso
This dessert goes by different names (pasteles de guayaba, pastelitos de guayaba y queso, guava and cheese strudel) depending on who you ask. I don't see why it wouldn't be more popular among bakers. It is an easy recipe that doesn't involve working with filo dough. Mine came out lighter in color because I don't use egg washes when baking. The recipe comes from the cookbook, In a Cuban Kitchen
by Alex Garcia. I "halved" the recipe because this was a first run, and while I like experimental cooking, I don't like to waste ingredients. It is possible that it's not a popular dessert because the dough requires a chilling step before it is rolled out, then cut into squares.
When I went shopping for guava paste at Vallarta's, I couldn't find any that didn't have red food coloring in it. I picked up a seemingly harmless brick of guava paste. When these bricks are packaged and shipped, the sugar in the paste crystalizes and forms a crusty outer edge around the brick. I sliced off the crystalized sugar part and am saving it for other uses.
I have a third of my "half" dough mixture leftover which I will combine with a new batch tonight. This batch (minus that third) made 11 pastries, 7 cheese pocket-shaped (take a square, put paste in the center, take the corners of two of the opposing edges and fold them to the center) and 4 rugelach shaped (need a rectangle, put guava paste in the center, fold over the edges so that it looks like a small bundle, crimp edges). Tonight I'll make them turnover-shaped (take a square, fill it with guava paste, fold it in half diagonally, and crimp the edges). Finished product looked like this: pic1 and pic2.
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 c. unbleached white flour
2 sticks butter, softened
guava paste
Directions
1. Blend cream cheese, flour, and butter together. Wrap it in plastic (or put it into a lidded pot) and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes).
2. After the dough has been chilled, roll it out once. This keeps the gluten in the flour from being all worked up.
3. Add 1 tsp or so of guava paste to a random danish pastry shape.
4. If the pastry shape requires edge crimping, use fork tines to do this or squeeze the edges together with the back edge of a knife.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
The guava paste didn't melt like all the pictures that I've seen of this dessert. I may have to work with the brick to see if I can reconstitute it into a jam-like consistency. The dough came out quite nice, flaky enough to be crisp and has a little bit of weight because as the dough starts to sweat (need to roll it out while it is very cold), it became rather hard to get it rolled out to the 1/4-inch thickness that the pastry shell requires.
Since it is just a pastry method, I expect that both savory and sweet fillings can be used.
by Alex Garcia. I "halved" the recipe because this was a first run, and while I like experimental cooking, I don't like to waste ingredients. It is possible that it's not a popular dessert because the dough requires a chilling step before it is rolled out, then cut into squares.When I went shopping for guava paste at Vallarta's, I couldn't find any that didn't have red food coloring in it. I picked up a seemingly harmless brick of guava paste. When these bricks are packaged and shipped, the sugar in the paste crystalizes and forms a crusty outer edge around the brick. I sliced off the crystalized sugar part and am saving it for other uses.
I have a third of my "half" dough mixture leftover which I will combine with a new batch tonight. This batch (minus that third) made 11 pastries, 7 cheese pocket-shaped (take a square, put paste in the center, take the corners of two of the opposing edges and fold them to the center) and 4 rugelach shaped (need a rectangle, put guava paste in the center, fold over the edges so that it looks like a small bundle, crimp edges). Tonight I'll make them turnover-shaped (take a square, fill it with guava paste, fold it in half diagonally, and crimp the edges). Finished product looked like this: pic1 and pic2.
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 c. unbleached white flour
2 sticks butter, softened
guava paste
Directions
1. Blend cream cheese, flour, and butter together. Wrap it in plastic (or put it into a lidded pot) and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes).
2. After the dough has been chilled, roll it out once. This keeps the gluten in the flour from being all worked up.
3. Add 1 tsp or so of guava paste to a random danish pastry shape.
4. If the pastry shape requires edge crimping, use fork tines to do this or squeeze the edges together with the back edge of a knife.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
The guava paste didn't melt like all the pictures that I've seen of this dessert. I may have to work with the brick to see if I can reconstitute it into a jam-like consistency. The dough came out quite nice, flaky enough to be crisp and has a little bit of weight because as the dough starts to sweat (need to roll it out while it is very cold), it became rather hard to get it rolled out to the 1/4-inch thickness that the pastry shell requires.
Since it is just a pastry method, I expect that both savory and sweet fillings can be used.
Sautéed shrimp with lime and smoked chipotle sauce
This is the second time I've made this dish, and it tastes pretty good. The portions of spices are whatever you feel comfortable eating. :)
Ingredients
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp smoked chipotle sauce
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp peeled ginger, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil, for frying
1/2 lb raw shrimp, cleaned (with shells on)
1. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, smoked chipotle sauce, and sugar. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a skillet, add garlic and ginger. Stir until the garlic is lightly browned.
3. Add shrimp and sauté until shrimp curls and turns a light orange color, or well, that color shrimp turns when it is cooked
4. Add lime juice mix and stir around until the shrimp is coated.
5. Remove from heat and serve.
Looks a lot like this.. (click for pic)
Ingredients
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp smoked chipotle sauce
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp peeled ginger, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil, for frying
1/2 lb raw shrimp, cleaned (with shells on)
1. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, smoked chipotle sauce, and sugar. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a skillet, add garlic and ginger. Stir until the garlic is lightly browned.
3. Add shrimp and sauté until shrimp curls and turns a light orange color, or well, that color shrimp turns when it is cooked
4. Add lime juice mix and stir around until the shrimp is coated.
5. Remove from heat and serve.
Looks a lot like this.. (click for pic)
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