A few weeks back, for the Chinese New Year, I created a new recipe for the occasion. I researched a bit what would be traditional, and after finding such a great variety of dishes I could not decide on a single thing. I also read that it was traditional to give kids oranges and to eat a lot of them as they are representative of the sun; so I decided to make something with oranges or ‘mandarinas’ in it, as the later are currently in season here. Normita felt like having a chicken dish so this Orange Chicken was born. It could easily be made with turkey or other types of poultry. I opted to make it with oranges as I had some very nice seedless ones, and the ‘mandarinas’ we had were full of seeds. If I remember right we probably made it with turkey breast as we had some frozen ones marinated ‘arrachera’ style. I will talk more about ‘arrachera’ in the coming weeks as the Padrino as requested a recipe and we will provide in time. Enjoy this nice light oriental dish with the chicken served on a nice bed of steamed rice…

Ingredients

1 full chicken breast skinned and deboned then cut in cubes
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp orange juice
1 egg yolk
1 tbs cornstarch
12 green onions cut diagonally into 2" pieces
1 small can of water chestnut slices
1 large seedless orange peeled, broken into segments, and with the segments cut into cubes
1 1/2 cup orange juice
3 tbs honey
2 tbs Hoi Sin sauce
1 tbs cooking sherry
1 1/2 tsp Chinese chili paste or to taste
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs sunflower oil
1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 tbs water
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

1. With your hands mix the chicken cubes with 1 tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of orange juice until well incorporated.
2. Add the egg yolk and mix well again.
3. Add 2 tbs of cornstarch and mix until you get a very sticky mess.
4. In a measuring cup put 1 of cup orange juice, 2 tbs honey, 2 tbs Hoi Sin sauce, 1 tbs cooking sherry, 1 1/2 tsp chili paste, and salt and mix well to make the sauce.
5. Put 2 tbs cornstarch and 2 tbs water in a small bowl and mix well together with finger.
6. In a large wok on high heat place 1 tbs of oil and heat 30 seconds.
7. Stir-fry the chicken cubes until they are well cooked. Around 5 minutes depending on the heat of your fire.
8. Reserve the chicken.
9. Add the other 1 tbs of oil and place on high heat to stir fry.
10. Add the green onions and water chestnuts, and stir fry for 1 minute.
11. Add the prepared sauce, the orange cubes, and the reserved chicken, and bring to boil covered.
12. Add the cornstarch in water to the mix and bring to boil to thicken.
13. Add the 1 tsp sesame oil to give a nice shine to the dish and mix well and serve while still hot.

Lucito

Yesterday I prepared my adapted version of Szechuan Orange Beef that does not have too too much in common with the traditional version. I like both versions very much and will post the traditional recipe at a later date. I came to create my version when we ran across some beef dish that we liked a lot at a Chinese buffet restaurant in Québec years ago. I looked into adapting one of my recipes and the one that came the closest to the style was orange beef. This recipe can be done with beef tenderloin, but I normally prefer a cut of meet that is stringier in nature like flank or ‘bavette’ (bottom sirloin butt or flap meat). Yesterday I prepared it with extremely tender marinated ‘arrachera’, a juicy staple of Mexican cuisine. To achieve the desired texture to the meat I prepare a tasty coating and then deep fry it first until the outside is crispy and the inside is still nice and tender. This is followed by stir frying before serving. To easily make strips of the orange skins use a sharp vegetable peeler and cut long strips of the orange skin, cutting just into the orange colored part, without cutting into the white flesh. Yesterday we served the dish with a nice rice dish with vegetables, or you can add some snow peas or other vegetables to the meat if you wish. We really like this dish, and last year we had a vegetarian acquaintance over for a meal and she ended up eating two plates of the stuff. I guess that says enough about how good it is…

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound beef tenderloin or flank cut into short thin strips with the grain
1 tbs Hoi Sin sauce
1 tsp Chinese chili paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp orange juice
1 egg yolk
1 tbs cornstarch
2 cups sunflower oil
Skins of two medium oranges without the white par cut into strips
8 chiles de arbol or thin red chilies
1 cup orange juice
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs Hoi Sin sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs cooking sherry
1 1/2 tsp Chinese chili paste or to taste
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs sunflower oil
1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 tbs water
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

1. With your hands mix the beef slices with 1 tsp of Hoi Sin sauce, 1 tsp of chili paste, 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of sesame oil, and 1 tsp of orange juice until well incorporated.
2. Add the egg yolk and mix well again.
3. Add 2 tbs of cornstarch and mix until you get a very sticky mess.
4. In a measuring cup put 1 of cup orange juice, 2 tbs sugar, 2 tbs Hoi Sin sauce, 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs cooking sherry, 1 1/2 tsp chili paste and salt and mix well to make the sauce.
5. Put 2 tbs cornstarch and 2 tbs water in a small bowl and mix well together with finger.
6. In a large wok place the 2 cups of oil and heat until ready to deep fry.
7. Deep fry the beef strips in batches until the outside is very crisp and the inside is still tender. Separate the strips as they cook, and drain them well after they are ready.
8. Clean up you wok and add 2 tbs of oil and place on high heat to stir fry.
9. Add the beef, the orange skins, and the chiles and stir fry for 3 minutes.
10. Add the prepared sauce mix and bring to boil covered.
11. Add the cornstarch in water to the mix and bring to boil to thicken.
12. Add the 1 tsp sesame oil to give a nice shine to the dish and mix well and serve while still hot.

Lucito

Last weekend I was cleaning up the refrigerator of leftovers, both fresh and frozen, and ended up making one of our favorite stand-by. I have been preparing this great Szechuan recipe on a regular basis ever since I first learned it while taking Chinese cooking classes at the Chen School of Art in Montréal close to 25 years ago. It is very easy to prepare and I have cooked it with chicken, pork filet, beef filet mignon, scallops, or shrimps since then. It is normally served on a bed of stir-fried spinach, but I have rarely made it like this as I normally serve it with mixed stir-fried vegetables. The recipe I am presenting today uses what I had on hand in the refrigerator last Sunday, but could be made with a wide variety of vegetables. I also experiment a lot with the sauce’s ingredients to make it even more versatile. On Sunday I replaced the chicken with a medium-sized pork filet, that I had frozen since before the holidays, cut in 1/4" thick diagonal slices, but any meat or seafood can do in a pinch. I hope that you enjoy this quickly prepared recipe as much as we have done over the years.

Ingredients

1 pound chicken breast meat cut is bite-sized cubes
1 tsp soy sauce
1 egg yolk
2 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs sunflower oil
1" piece of ginger peeled and chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic chopped finely
2 green onions sliced thinly
1/2 pound broccoli florets cut in bite-sized pieces
1/2 pound cauliflower florets cut in bite-sized pieces
1 medium cucumber peeled and seeded cut in bite-sized pieces
1 small can of sliced peeled water chestnuts
1 can of baby corns cut in bite-sized pieces
1/2 pound mushrooms sliced
2 tbs sunflower oil
1 1/2 cup of chicken stock (can be made with powder)
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs sherry vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs cooking sherry
1 1/2 tsp Chinese chili paste or to taste
2 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs water
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

1. Mix the chicken cubes with the egg yolk and the soy sauce with you hands.
2. Add the cornstarch and mix until the mixture clumps together.
3. Chop vegetables and mushrooms, and put in a large bowl.
4. Chop ginger, garlic and green onions and put in a small bowl.
5. Put chicken stock, sugar, sherry, vinegar, soy sauce, and chili paste in a measuring cup and mix well together.
6. Put 2 tbs cornstarch and 2 tbs water in a small bowl and mix well together with finger.
7. Heat a large wok over high heat and add 2 tbs of oil.
8. Stir-fry chicken until firm and no longer pink in center. The chicken will easily unclump when cooked. Put it back in its bowl when cooked.
9. Put another 2 tbs of oil in the hot wok and add the ginger, garlic, and green onion followed by the vegetables and mushrooms.
10. Stir-fry until cooked but still a bit crunchy.
11. Add sauce mixture and bring to boil covered.
12. Add the reserved cooked chicken and bring to boil again.
13. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to thicken and bring to boil while stirring.
14. Add sesame oil and stir well to add shine and taste to the mixture.
15. Serve on warmed plates.

Lucito

While I was going through my notes of what we recently cooked I remembered that I did not post the main course from when we had company last weekend. It is a very simple dish that is a nice solid main course for a small group of people like 2 couples. You can prepare it and put it in the oven and forget it for an hour or so while you are enjoying the company of your guests, then you just need to prepare the sauce quickly and carve it to get ready for the table. With a minimum of preparation and fuss you have a nice main course. We served it with a nice bowl of mixed lettuce with a simple dressing of some herbs, olive oil, and sherry vinegar, and a few chile de arbol. A quickly prepared feast for the holiday season. We served the roast with a young (2004) Chilean red wine called Trio that is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, and cabernet franc.

Ingredients

2 pounds boned pork loin
1/2 pound bacon
1 stick of butter at room temperature
1 bunch of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup of chopped dried apricots
1 small bulb of garlic
1 pound baby potatoes
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup red wine
3 tbs flour
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Boil the baby potatoes until they are cooked but still firm, then drain them well
2. Preheat oven to 400F
3. Dry the pork loin with paper towels then cut a pocket in it on the long side from close to an end to slightly short of the other end. The incision should be deep past the center of the meat
4. Mix the softened butter with the apricots and the broken leaves of 2 or 3 sprigs of rosemary
5. Stuff the pocket with the butter mixture
6. Salt and pepper the meat
7. Lay the bacon on top of the pork loin wrapping it underside and tied it neatly with butcher twine
8. Place the prepared roast on a rack in the middle of a shallow roasting pan
9. Take a sharp knife and poke holes about 1 inch deep in the meat and stick pieces of rosemary in the meat through the bacon
10. With your fingers break open the baby potatoes and arrange them around the roast
11. Put some bruised rosemary leaves in the opening of each potato
12. Salt and pepper the potatoes then drizzle some olive oil in them
13. Place the garlic bulb on the rack with the potatoes
14. Place the roasting pan in the middle of the preheated oven and cook for approximately an hour until the bacon is nice and crisp
15. Remove the pork, garlic, potatoes, and the rack and all but 3 tbs of the rendered fat in it
16. Cover the roast and potatoes with a piece of foil and a towel to keep warm
17. Place the roasting pan on the stove at medium heat and add the flour to the fat and cook it while stirring for a few minutes
18. Take the roasted garlic bulb and remove the cloves and squeeze them into the pan
19. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and stir well until the flour is well incorporated
20. Add some rosemary and the chicken stock and stir until you have a nice smooth thick sauce
21. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste
22. Carve and serve the meat covered in a thick layer of sauce

Lucito

Hola amigos, this time I came out with a very Mexican recipe "Mole Poblano". Mole is one of the most important dishes in my country, you can find it prepared in many different ways depending on the region it is prepared. It is a type of aromatic sauce in which different foods are cooked and it can be red, black, green, etc. This particular Mole comes from Puebla. The city of Puebla is a beautiful colonial town located 132 km from Mexico City by the federal highways 150D and 190 in the State of Puebla, Mexico. If you want to know more about them, please follow these links:

Mexico City: http://www.tourbymexico.com/df/df.htm
State of Puebla: http://www.tourbymexico.com/puebla/puebla.htm
Town of Puebla: http://www.tourbymexico.com/puebla/puebla/puebla.htm
Puebla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puebla
 
Here is the recipe:
 
Mole Poblano with turkey (optionally with chicken)
 
Ingredients

Mole
1/2 cup, plus 2 tbs of vegetable oil
1/2 pound of chili anchos deveined and seeded
2 pounds of chili pasilla deveined and seeded
3/4 pounds of chili mulatos deveined and seeded
5 chilies chipotle in adobo (or to taste)
1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes
1 medium onion finely diced
10 cloves of garlic
1/3 pound of peeled almonds
1/4 pound of peeled peanuts
8 cloves
1 tsp of black pepper
1 2" piece of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of anise seeds
1/4 pound of seedless raisins
1/5 pound of bitter cooking chocolate
1 tsp of sugar
2 tbs of salt, or to taste
½ cup of sesame seeds

Turkey
9 pound turkey cut in pieces
16 cups of water
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 of an onion peeled
1 tbs of salt

Preparation

1. In a large cast iron pot, put the turkey, the water, the garlic, the onion and the salt. Set fire to high.
2. When it starts to boil cover it and lower heat to medium and cooks for one hour or until the meat is well cooked.
3. Remove the meat from turkey and save the broth.
4. Put 2 tbs of oil in a pan, add the chilies anchos, pasillas, and mulatos and sauté them for a few minutes.
5. Put them in a pot with water and let them soak during 30 minutes.
6. Take out the chilies from the water and mix them in a blender. Reserve them.
7. Sauté the chilies chipotle and the tomatoes in the same pan.
8. Peel the tomatoes and mix them in a blender with the chipotle. Reserve them.
9. In the same oil where the chilies were fried, fry the diced onion and the garlic during 2 or 3 minutes, until they become transparent.
10. Take them out and mix them in the blender. Reserve them.
11. Fry the almonds during 5 minutes in the same oil, then add the peanuts, the cloves, the black pepper, the cinnamon and the anis seeds and fry them for 3 minutes more.
12. Mix these with the raisins in the blender and reserve them.
13. Heat the rest of the oil in your cast iron pot. Add all the reserved ingredients cook them during 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
14. Add the chocolate and the sugar without stopping the stirring.
15. When the mixture boils add 4 cups of the turkey broth.
16. Cover the pot and cook it on a low fire during 20 minutes.
17. Add the salt and taste the seasoning and adjust. If the Mole is very tick add more turkey broth.
18. Add the pieces of turkey, cover the pot, and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
19. Meanwhile roast the sesame seeds in a small pan on medium heat until they are well toasted and acquire a golden color.
20. Once the turkey is heated through, serve it with a sprinkling the sesame seeds and a generous amount of Mole.
 
Enjoy it!
 
Normita

There are some recipes that are born from combinations of favorites with a twist. Some years back we used to make ‘Penne alla Vodka’ pretty regularly and liked the tangy burn that the vodka brought to a simple pasta dish. When we moved to Mexico, to work with local flavors, we tried it with some tequila with tasty results. More recently we were doing, once in a while, some pasta with spinach and blue cheese and one day I added some tequila to yield fantastic results. It is one of those dishes that can be made in less than half an hour for some very fancy results with minimal efforts. The perfect dish for a Friday night when you are not going out after work and want something to eat that is a little more upscale but without the fuss of preparation. To save you the effort of washing and removing the stems of the spinach, you can pick up a bag of washed baby spinach and cut the most time-consuming part of the recipe. Paired with a robust red like a Madiran to hold it’s own against the strong flavors it is a stunning meal that is both quick and easy to prepare. If you want to treat yourself warm us some nice thick-crust rustic bread and some nice butter mixed fresh basil and all of your worries will go away. The ultimate comfort food.

Ingredients

Pasta
1/2 pound dried pasta of your choice
3 quarts water
1 tbs coarse salt
1/2 pound spinach well washed, stemmed and chopped if large

Sauce
2 tbs butter
1/4 pound blue cheese
2 oz tequila
2 tbs pine nuts toasted and finely chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese for garnish

Preparation
1. In a large pot put water and salt and bring to boil at high eat.
2. When the water is boiling, reduce heat and put the pasta in it and cook according to the package until tender.
3. When the pasta is almost ready put the spinach in and blanch for 30 seconds until wilted.
4. Drain the water from the pot return it to the fire with the pasta leaving a few tablespoons of the cooking water.
5. Put the butter, the blue cheese, the pine nuts, and the tequila on the pasta and stir until melted and well incorporated.
6. Serve topped with a white pepper and some grated parmesan.

A few weeks ago we were exploring the surrounding areas of the new ‘Colonia’, or neighborhood, where we recently moved to and we found a ‘Mercado’ not too far from where we now live. Those ‘Mercados’ are the permanent versions of the street markets or ‘tianguis’ which are normally setup on fixed days on blocked sections of streets. Most ‘Colonias’ have them once of twice a week. They are great sources for fresh produce, chicken, meat, seafood, and everything else from clothing to pirated DVDs. On that day we found some very nice large shrimps with heads on (15-20 count to a pound) at a decent price and we picked up half a kilo for the main meal of the day, which here means the ‘Comida’ which is normally taken at 2-3pm. Since we had been shopping all day, when we returned home we were too exhausted to do anything too involved in the kitchen, so I decided to prepare the shrimps very simply. I decided to sauté them in a neutral oil with just a bit of ‘Chile Guajillo’ and chopped garlic. The ‘Guajillos’ are medium-sized dried red chilies with a very nice deep flavor and very mild in spiciness. They should be available in most Hispanic grocery stores. They give a nice red tinge to the food and a wonderful flavor. We paired the shrimps with a simple pilaf rice and we had the meal ready in about 30-40 minutes. The only bottle of wine we had was a crisp cheap sauvignon blanc from Chile and it proved to be a nice match to the wonderful dish.

Ingredients

3/4 pound large shrimps, shelled, deveined, and butterflied
2 ‘Chile Guajillos’ seeded cut into thin rings
2 small cloves of garlic chopped finely
1 tbs sunflower oil

Preparation

1. Remove the heads and shell the shrimps
2. Clean in a bowl of cold water and devein them, then deepen the incision to butterfly them
3. Pat dry on some paper towels
4. Heat a large frying pan or wok over high eat
5. Add the oil and quickly put the garlic and rings of chili
6. Stir 15 seconds and then add the shrimps
7. Let them sit for 30 seconds to take the eat then start stirring them with a wooden spatula more and more rapidly
8. Cook on both sides until tender and opaque, about 2-5 minutes total depending on the heat of you stove
9. Serve with the garlic and chilies rings on top

Finally I have managed to catch up with the world just in time for the weekend. Normita will be off on Monday so that it will be a nice long one for a change. I hope that we can manage to relax and enjoy life a bit. The following recipe is a very easy one to do, and it is one of our favorite to prepare when we are too lazy to seriously cook up a storm, but energetic enough not to be tempted to order out or walk to a restaurant for a bite. We normally prepare it with whatever fresh mushrooms we have in hand, or with a can of mushrooms if it is an emergency and we do not have anything else. The type of pasta to use is irrelevant and we have made it with about anything we have in the cupboard depending on what our mood was. Last Saturday we made it with tricolor eliches and three different types of mushrooms (button, cremini, and oyster) in equal quantities. It takes about half an hour to prepare, maybe a tad longer if your pasta is of a type that takes a while to cook. I normally prepare the sauce in the same pot I cooked the pasta, after I drained the pasta in a colander to save on washing dishes, but last weekend I wanted to try one of the new large pans, so I dirtied up the kitchen a bit more. We ended up enjoying the meal with a half decent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Baja California, a local Mexican wine we found at the supermarket a few weeks back that was surprisingly decent for the price. If some of you are scared about the amount of chilies, do not worry, you do not have to eat them and we normally remove them before serving as well as the bay leaves. They are there just a few minutes to give some flavor to the sauce. Please try and enjoy this quick meal, and let us know if you liked it in the comments . Ingredients Pasta ½ pound dried pasta of your choice 3 quarts water 1 tbs coarse salt Sauce 1 tbs butter ½ tsp dried basil ½ tsp dried oregano ¼ tsp mustard powder 1 tsp brown sugar 2 cloves finely chopped garlic 5 thin red dried Italian chilies or chile de arbol 2 bay leaves 2 small or 1 large tomato roughly cubed ¾ pound roughly chopped fresh mushrooms 1 pound jar of Italian tomato sauce Salt and pepper to taste Freshly grated parmesan cheese for garnish Preparation 1. In a large pot put water and salt and bring to boil at high eat. 2. While the water is heating up chop the mushrooms roughly and reserve. 3. Place basil, oregano, mustard powder, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, and washed chilies in a small bowl. 4. When the water is boiling, reduce heat and put the pasta in it and cook according to the package until tender. 5. When the pasta is ready pour the entire pot in a large colander placed in the sink and return the pot to the fire. 6. Put the butter in the pot and when melted cook the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes until nice and juicy. 7. When the mushrooms are ready add the spices and tomatoes from the bowl and stir in thoroughly for a few minutes. 8.Add the jar of tomato sauce and bring to a simmer and when it is warmed through pour in the cooked pasta. 9. Gently fold the pasta until the sauce and mushrooms coats it well. 10. Serve after removing the chilies and bay leaves, and top with a grating of fresh pepper and some grated parmesan.