RED POZOLE - VEGETARIAN

 

I made Pozole!

I like to share my special recipe that I confectioned years ago. Usually pozole is made with chicken or pork, and I don´t like it, when I was kid I was removing the meat from the dish every time leaving only the hominy, but now I can eat this plenty.

Chile Colorado (the red sauce) is the basic and what it is going to bring all the flavor.

So let´s start with the Chile

CHILE COLORADO SAUCE INGREDIENTS.

You will find a big variety of dry chiles and sauces tastes, most of all delicious, so there are many way to make the sauce depending what kind of chiles we use.

For this one I have used.

4 dry California chiles

4 dry Pasilla chiles

4 bay leaves

1 spoon of chicken bouillon 

1/2 spoon of oregano

1 can of white hominy / 4 cups

Tajin- Optional

COMPANION INGREDIENTS

1 Lemon

1/4 white onion in small squares

1 radish in thin slices

1/2 cup of cut baby spinach 

1/2 cup of angel hair cauliflower 

Bolillo or French bread sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove the tails from each dry chile, place the chiles inside a pot with 1 littler of water, let them boil.

Once they boiled they are ready to be drained BUT KEEP THE WATER, if the water is still very hot please be careful.

Place the chiles to the blender and add a little bit of the boiled water and liquify it.

Once you have the chiles blended and liquid as a sauce in another pan, put the sauce to drain to keep the sauce and remove the seeds and chile skin. Once your paste is drained, keep adding water to the drainer from the pot to keep making a dilution from the seeds and chile skin.

Now the paste is more liquid due the water that we have added.

Let the red liquid boil once more in our pot, add the bay leaves, oregano, chicken bullion and hominy for 15 or 20 minutes.

Now that the hominy has boiled with the sauce and condiments it´s ready to serve in a deep dish bowl, then add 1 spoon of onion in squares, cauliflower, spinach and radishes as you wish, squeeze 1/2 lemon and enjoy with a slice of bread.

You can add extra tajin powder and oregano for extra taste.

Enjoy!

AUTHENTIC FRESH NOPALITOS CACTUS SALAD

 

Hello!

Did you know that ¨NOPALITOS¨ A.K.A  prickly pear cactuses are edible? Well now I want to share with you this delicious and healthy recipe to enjoy any day of the year but the best season is during summer or any hot day.

The nopalitos are delicious if we give ourselves the task of preparing them creatively, they are also super healthy to help our digestion and the health of our intestines and because my love for Mexican cuisine is so big, I want to share this amazing recipe with you.

INGREDIENTS:

3 or 4 big cactuses....be careful with the spikes!

2 small red tomatoes

1 cup of cilantro

1/2 big to medium onion

1 1/2 lemon

1 tbs of oregano

A pinch of salt and black peper

a Pinch of Tajín powder for extra taste

Corn chips tortillas

INSTRUCTIONS

How to clean the cactus:

With a knife remove the spikes by rubbing the cactus, be sure to remove every single spike.

Wash the cactuses to keep them clean from spike residuals and dry them with a cloth or paper towel

Cut the cactuses in small squares and let them boil in a pot with sufficient water, you will see a lot of bubbles and a bit of slimy water, this is totally natural.

Once they boiled they are ready to be drained, if the water is still very hot please be careful.

Once the nopalitos are dry or almost dry transfer them to a bowl, they will feel slimy but this is normal and part of the consistency.

ADDING THE REST OF THE INGREDIENTS

Carefully cut the onion, the tomatoes in very small squares and chop the cilantro finely.

Add all these ingredients to the nopalitos and mix it all to blend all the ingredients.

Finally add the lemon juice, salt, pepper and oregano and mix well.

Place a portion on your plate and enjoy with tortilla chips.

Add tajín powder according your taste.

Enjoy!

PECAN BANANA BREAD

 

Hello! Today I have a super delicious recipe that almost all people love. BANANA BREAD

I hardly like bananas but I had several quite ripe almost turning into honey and I didn't want to throw them away, so I took the opportunity to make this pancake and give it a try. Disappointed?  not all all!

This pancake has no common flour, no oil, no butter, no milk and no sugar! can you believe it? and still the flavor is delicious.

Ready?

INGREDIENTS:

3 ripped bananas, the brown ones and full of dots works better because they are more sweet than the perfectly yellow ones.

3/4 cup coconut flour or almond flour, I use both.

5 eggs, medium

1 teaspoon of cinnamon 

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

1/4 cup of pecans chopped.

I used a small loaf pan

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (optional) if you avoid the backing soda the loaf will be less spongy but same taste. 

INSTRUCTIONS.

Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. 

Lightly spray the pan with oil including the sides.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas and vanilla.

Gradually whisk in the almond and coconut flour, cinnamon, chopped pecans, salt, and finally the baking soda. Whisk until smooth.

With a spoon or spatula, transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Gently evenly distribute the batter.

If you want you can decorate with pecans in halves. (optional)

Bake the banana bread until browned and set, and a toothpick inserted in its center comes out dry, 40-50 minutes

Cool the bread completely before removing it from the pan, about 1 hour.

Carefully remove the banana bread from the pan, you can use a knife to separate between borders and then falpp it down, then turn it down again to a main plate to keep the main view of the banana bread.

At the end you can add extra pecans if you want more nutty flavors and of course...Vanilla ice cream is a great companion.

CARDAMOM PUMPKIN CHEESCAKE

 This year we grow white and golden pumpkins, so I came up with making a pumpkin pie which is one of my favorite deserts. I had never tried white pumpkin as it is customary to make pie with orange pumpkin because it is sweeter.

I couldn't find white pumpkin pie recipes, so I decided to put together my own recipe and the result was delicious! Every year I like to bake a pumpkin pie to celebrate autumn season and Thanksgiving and has become a classic family desert.

FOR THE PUREE WE NEED...

First thing: Fresh golden pumpkins (You can use gold, yellow or orange if you don´t have golden ones)

Wash your pumpkins and cut them on big chunks or slices and don´t forget to remove the seeds and most of the hairy bits.

 Place them on a aluminum racket covered with foil and bake for 350F for 45-50 minutes

 Let them cool and remove the skin with a spoon, place the pumpkin into a bowl, you can do the puree by pressing with a fork or using a food processor machine until gets very smooth.

MAKING OUR CRUST FROM SCRATCH...

FOR THE CRUST WE NEED...

Preheat the oven to 350F

 8 to 10 Vanilla Graham crackers 

 4 tbs of melted butter  (I like salty one for a extra hint)

1/4 cup of white sugar

1/2 tbs od cinnamon powder

 1/4 cup of chopped pecans/ almonds

 8 inch bowl

Grind the crackers till have a dusty powder consistency, you can use the food processor or any other tool to smash then add the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon and pecans till incorporate all in a whole mixture.

Transfer the mixture to your pan and press till you get a flat and even layer, you can use a cup or glass. Bake it for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let if rest. Now reduce the oven to 300F.

FOR THE FILLING WE NEED...

1 pound or 2 packages of cream cheese bars, room temperature.

A finger pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar 200g

1/3 cup brown sugar 150g

2 tsp vanilla extract 10mL

2 eggs

1 tbsp of almond flour (or any flour you prefer)

1 cup pumpkin purée 225g

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 2g

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

1/4 pinch ginger

1/4 tsp cardamom 

Add the cream cheese to a mixer and mix at medium speed to cream.

Add both sugars and the salt to the bowl and mix again until creamy. Scrape the bowl down and mix to the bottom to incorporate missed cream chunks.

Add eggs and yolks one at a time. Scrape the bowl down and mix a more until smooth.

Sprinkle in the four, add the pumpkin puree, spices, and vanilla. Mix again until everything looks homogeneous. 

Pour the mix into the pan and straight to the oven for 60 minutes.

Remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature placing on it a light kitchen towel.

Once is cool you can put inside the fridge for 1 hour, after that your pie will be ready to be transfered to a proper plate.

With a knife, run around the pan edges of cake before releasing from the pan. turn down carefully the pan into a flat surface, and your pie should release completely, then tun down the pie again into your presentation plate.

TIPS: For extra deliciousness you can serve it with vanilla ice cream and a cup of hot tea...hot tea will pop up the flavors on your mouth amazingly! 

ENJOY!