As simple as this recipe might seem, it was tasty enough to be featured in the Food section of The New York Times. If you would like to taste test it for yourself, you can find my Abuela’s recipe below.
Ingredients
2 pounds of Beef Sirloin Tip Steak
3 tomatoes
2 chiles California
5-8 chiles Japones
1 garlic clove
lard or cooking oil
salt to taste
Instructions
Slightly roast chiles.
Boil tomatoes until soft.
Once tomatoes are done, blend with chiles, garlic, salt, 1/2 cup of water and set aside.
Cut meat into cubes.
Place meat in a pan with 1/3 cup of water, and salt on medium heat.
Once the water has evaporated, add a tbsp of lard to the meat and continue cooking until it has melted.
Add chile sauce, lower heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
There are moments where I have this immense longing to create.
But then I ask myself…
What’s the point of posting pictures of me? Who wants to see those?
Is there a purpose behind my cooking videos without abuela? There are so many new amazing creatives these days!
What am I doing? Who do I think I am acting like an influencer.. Btw I hate that term.
The truth is, there are moments that I allow those voices to get to me.
But then t I remember my Abuela feeling the same way. And I would give her the pep talk–letting her know how valuable she was and how much she had to offer those who watched her. I would ask her, are you having fun? “Si.” Well then, lets just have fun y que ruede el mundo.
So I ask myself, “ Do I have fun when creating, no matter what it is?” I can honestly say I do…
So I’m going to keep creating… for me… and for whoever wants to watch. Y pues que ruede el mlundo.
INGREDIENTS
•1 pound of Longaniza
•1 cup of Queso manchego or cheese of choice
•1/2 cup Cilantro
•Cream Cheese
•Won Ton wrappers
•Water
•Cooking oil
•Crema Mexicans
•Chili Garlic Sauce
•Chicharron crumbs
•Siracha
•Cotija Cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
•Cook the longaniza.
•Shred the manchego cheese.
•Chop up the cilantro.
• Mix longaniza, manchego cheese and cilantro together.
•With your fingers, moisten the sides of the won ton wrap.
•Add a tablespoon of the longaniza mix to the center of the wrap with 1/2 a teaspoon of cream cheese.
•Fold wrap over to form a triangle sealing the sides together.
•You can pinch the corners together or leave as is.
•Fry for 1 minute on each side in oil of choice or until golden and crispy.
Sprinkle won tons with chicharrón crumbs, Cotija cheese, Siracha and cilantro.
DIPPING SAUCE
•Mix 1 tablespoons of Chili Garlic Sauce per 1/2 cup of Mexican sour cream .
My Abuela was the simplest of women and it was reflected in the dishes she prepared. Nothing complicated–most–well, really easy to make. Her dishes were that of a seasoned home cook. She used minimal ingredients due to the little resources she had and I imagine they just became part of her who she was. She also cooked with just a few spices to not take away from the natural flavor of her main ingredient–But just enough to enhance it. Although #SalAPunos (If you know you know!). It is possible that you ran across one of her videos an thought, “How can that even be good?”. Oh but it was because she used her special ingredient in all the dishes she prepares–amor.
Ingredients:
(Makes 18-20 sopes.)
•2 pounds of ground beef
•1 large potato (cut into small cubes)
•2 pounds of masa
•1 Lettuce head (chopped finely)
•1-2 tomatoes (sliced thinly)
•1 garlic clove
•Mexican sour cream
•Cotija cheese
• Salsa of choice (Abuela used Tapatio or a Valentina on her sopes.)
•Sal a puños
Instructions:
1. Place ground beef in a pan and add 1/2 a cup of water and salt to taste and a garlic clove.
2. Let it brown for a couple minutes and add potatoes that have been cut into small cubes.
3. Let the meat brown and potatoes soften, then remove from heat.
4. Make masa dough for the sopes. If you use Maseca, follow the instruction on the package. You can also buy already prepared masa for tortillas where available.
5. Heat up a pan to medium heat with lard or cooking oil. Enough to have a nice coat of lard in the pan.
6. Make a dough ball a little smaller than the size of your palm.
7. You can use a tortilla press to make the sope or you can use your hand by patting the masa between your hands, flipping back and forth and rotating the masa to form a circle. They can be about 2-3 inches wide.
8. Place you sope on your pan and fry until golden brown. Flip it and fry the other side until golden brown.
9. Remove from heat and let it cool down for a few minutes.
10. Once the sope has cooled, you are going to pinch the edges while pulling out at the same time to create the sope. You are creating the rim of the sope.
11. Add the meat and potatoes, lettuce, tomato slices, sour crema, salsa and Cotija cheese to the sope.
At home, we always had rice, beans, salsa y un tipo de carnita. With those key ingredients you were never short of a good meal. Especially with frijoles in the house. One day you get ricos frijo, another day rico Litos and then the following ricos frijolitos! I know– bad joke. Blame my dad, he’s told this joke since I can remember.
If you’re from Michoacan, you’ve probably heard of Morisqueta. It’s really just rice, beans and red chile. You can add meat if you want, which is really carne con chile.
Growing up I was never really asked what I wanted to eat. So I never knew this amazing combination had a name until Abuela said one day, “a que hacer morisqueta”. I was so excited thinking I was going to try a new dish! Here I was … waiting for morisquetaaaaa!!!! Turns out, it was a dish I had been enjoying for years.
We got a good laugh that day. But enjoyed un platillo bien simple, Mexicano y delicioso.
Ingredients
refried Beans
steamed rice
Sauce
2 chiles California
8-9 chiles Japoneses (Add more for spiciness.)
3 tomatoes
1 a garlic clove (Abuela only uses ½.)
Cotija cheese (optional)
Instructions
If you have frijoles de la olla, heat up some lard and add 4 cups of beans, 1-2 cups of bean broth (or water), and salt to taste. Mash them to make refried beans.
Add 2 cups of washed rice in a pot, add 4 cups of water and salt to taste.
Place over medium-low heat and cook without uncovering rice until it is cooked through.
Roast the chiles.
Cook tomatoes in water until soft.
Blend chiles, tomatoes, garlic and salt to taste.
While the refried beans are still simmering, pour the chile sauce over the beans and mix well.
Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Serve rice along with the beans.
Sprinkle it with cotija cheese.
For a heartier meal, add meat of choice to your chile sauce to make carne con chile. Serve rice, beans and the carne con chile.
Usually, you place the rice on your plate first then add the beans or carne con chile over the rice. But Abuela always loved to serve them side by side.
Growing up in a home where we ate Chiles Rellenos once a year but never used the word LENT– I still looked forward to that season. Not because I was religious in any way, but because it would be those celebrated days like Christmas where I would try special dishes and gather around the table as a family. The word Lent didn’t become part of my vocabulary until we started making cooking videos and was forced to translate the recipes. Matter of fact, there were many words I wasn’t familiar with. For example, Sancochar. I thought to myself, “How on earth do you translate that?” I guess some words are meant to be translated are some aren’t. Nevertheless, here I am cooking a recipe my Abuela left me with, to now share with my little family and yours.
INGREDIENTS
10-12 Chiles Poblanos
7 Eggs
Cotija Cheese
Montrrey Jack Cheese
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
Salt
Oil or Lard
INSTRUCTIONS
Wash and dry the chiles
Roast chiles on all sides on a comal or directly on the fire.
After roasting them, place in a plastic bag or anything with a lid to steam them.
Once skin begins to detach, peel the skin off.
You can remove seeds and membranes but my abuela always left them. Just don’t eat them or se te va a la visicula. LOL
Cut your cheese into small pieces and add 1-2 pieces of cotija cheese and Monterey cheese.
Add egg whites to a bowl and mix until nice and fluffy.
Mix in the egg yolks on a lower speed adding salt and flour.
Add oil or lard to your cooking pan.
Once it’s nice and hot, dip chile relleno into the egg batter and place into your pan with oil.
Fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
Place on a plate covered in paper towels.
Serve with rice and beans.
POTATO PATTIES
If you have left over egg batter, you can enjoy some delicious potato patties by adding 2-3 cooked and mashed potatoes, salt and 1 cup of shredded cotija cheese.
Fry them on each side for 3 minutes or until golden brown.
From the time my children were babies, one of the most delightful things to watch were them running to the fireplace on a Christmas morning with eyes of anticipation and excitement. No matter how big they got, my heart was so full to see them wake each other up…and sprint to the living room to open their gifts on those crisp mornings. To this day, my children love the holidays—and I am so happy that this season of the year brings back memories of joy and peace for them. I am thankful that as a mother, I have been able to nurture such pivotal moments for their lives and to provide an emotional reference for them, so that as adults, they would be drawn back by the gifts that could never ever be purchased, and those are LOVE, PEACE, and HAPPINESS.
From my own childhood, I can remember the long drives to visit my Abuela, who at the time lived in Tijuana; the latenight smell of fire burning as we sat outside the starlit evenings, drinking Champurrado and eating homemade pan my Tio Jose would prepare. The aroma of fresh tamales as they cooked over the open flame, and the sound of laughter over the joyful rhythm of Los Tigres Del Norte. It became the soundtrack for my personal holiday memory and it was what I feel in my heart as I prepare for the seasonal celebrations.
In reality, those memories are the things that light my way home for the holidays Not literally, but figuratively speaking, home is the place in our hearts that remind us that LIFE is not just about things…but rather, they are the moments that we felt the safest, the most loved, and the most at peace.
So now, as we prepare for the holidays—we also prepare to the light the beacon of love, hope, and peace for our children and our family—to the moments that we can all be together, with hearts of gratitude—allowing all the unimportant things be forgotten momentarily—and just be a family.
This year, I’ve added these delicious “Spicy Salmon Avocado Toast Bites” to our holiday gathering, thanks to @kvaroyartic salmon. While my daughter loves all the authentic Mexican flavors, my son loves salmon–so I got creative just to keep everyone happy! Food should bring us together; so be prepared to figuratively “Light a Way Home” for everyone this season…because nothing says home like food.
This post is sponsored by Sabrosa Raspado. The opinions and text are all mine.
Growing up I always looked forward to our family trips to Mexico. Interestingly, the days of driving became a part of our long vacation adventures on the road. I always knew that there would be many rest stops along the way, consisting of buying chucherias (or snacks) and antojitos. I always kept my eyes open for things I enjoyed and cute little tienditas in hopes that my dad would pull over and let us shop around. Believe it or not, one delicacy that we enjoyed in those days were bags of chips! My parents always had to control our portions or we would go crazy and devour an entire bag all by ourselves. I knew that we would get the best tacos and Mexican bread when we stopped at the convenient stores along the sides of the road. Those stores were easy to spot for an eager kid like myself—looking for the next best treat! You could never go wrong just grabbing a quick bite to eat. Food was always fresh to order, prepared right before your eyes. Another “for sure stop” was to purchase guamuchiles in Sinaloa. Guamuchiles is a food described best as an “acquired taste.”
“Mira, mangos!”, my dad would shout as he abruptly veered onto a dirt road, with the load of passengers bouncing in our seats, as our old burgundy Dodge Caravan entered into a rural part of las calles de Nayarit to pick juicy mangos straight from roadside trees. As we reached Guadalajara, Jalisco I could only think of one thing…”Las Jericallas” (My mouth is watering just thinking about them). And don’t let me forget to mention the city of Guanajuato, known for the production of some of the best Cajeta in the world. Streets filled with cajeta vendors pulling you in with offers to sample their recipes, with a small wooden spoon covered with cajeta. As a child, I secretly accepted every little wooden spoon offered to me from each vendor.
Finally, we would reach our destination, a state called “Michoacán.” Michoacan was “donde tienen de todo.” It is a place known for its ice cream, Chongos Zamoranos, Paletitas de Tamarindo, Nieves de Garrafa y Raspados de todos sabores! It was much like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow–reaching the state known for its ice cream, after days of driving under the baking sun, was the reward! In Mexico, snow cones are referred to as “raspados.” Raspados are special not only for the flavor, but the process. The craft of making “raspados” can be described as a beautiful art. Watching a Raspado vendor scrape a huge block of ice wrapped in plastic and cloth to keep it from melting is short of mesmerizing. After the lightly packed ice is placed into a plastic cup, the vendor carefully drizzles it with the most flavorful homemade syrup! Perfect for those warm Mexican summer days!
Thus, the flavor of certain drinks and the aroma of special meals, always remind me of driving through Mexico with my family. Living in California, you can easily find Mexican food restaurants and a variety of dining options to satisfy one’s palette. On the contrary, it is not easy to find delicious “raspados,” because to qualify as authentic snow cones requires rich flavors. It was not until recently that we discovered Sabroso Raspados. They have so many exciting flavors such as Fresas con Crema, Coco con Crema, Mango Chamoy, Pina Colada, Mango Chili Lime, and Tamarind Chamoy.
Abuela especially enjoyed las Fresas con Crema flavor. She said it was “very tasty” and “refreshing.” Mom really loved the Tamarindo Chamoy. It brought back memories of her childhood in Michoacan; she said the flavor was “pretty genuine” with just the right amount of chamoy. My personal favorite was Mango Chili Lime, because of the rich mango flavor balanced with the tanginess of the chile.
If you want to taste the authenticity for yourself, Sabrosa Raspado is available at your local Vallarta and Northgate Supermarkets. I cannot wait to try out the other flavors and share them with Abuela, mom, and the rest of the family. We had a great time talking about our old family trips, and reminiscing about the food and treats we ate along the way. It is just a part of our culture: Family, food, and fun!
Abuela's Kitchen 