Friday, March 21, 2014

Chipotle Lentil Soup


Chipotle chili peppers are items that are a complete must for your pantry, if you're going to cook Mexican food. In fact, they're a unique flavor to add to just about any meat, if you are adventurous. Growing up in Laredo Texas, chipotles were peppers we occasionally used to make a salsa, but I knew these were not well known outside of the Spanish speaking community, for the most part. The word chipotle has become well known because of the restaurant chain by the same name, and even if you don't know how to pronounce it (chee-poh-tleh) chances are, you've eaten there and at least know it has to do with Mexican food.



Chipotle is a nahuatl word, meaning smoked chili pepper. No one knows for how long the indigenous peoples of Mexico have used the technique of dry smoking a pepper both to preserve it and for the flavor. But the flavor the chipotle imparts to a dish is like no other spice: it is the essence of the earth and of fire encapsuled in these dried, wrinkled pods, coming to life in the warm moisture of another substance. This lentil soup has the signature flavor of chipotle. I made it with dried pods, reconstituted in the soup, although you can also use chipotle from the can.

Lentil soup is eaten often during this period of Lent and was introduced to me by the Godinez family in San Miguel de Allende.



Chipotle Lentil Soup




Recipe Type: Soup


Cuisine: Mexican


Author: Gilda Valdez Carbonaro


Prep time:


Cook time:


Total time:


Serves: 6


This is a totally vegetarian soup, its personality comes from the smokiness of the chipotle pepper.




Ingredients
  • 3 cups dry lentils, rinsed
  • 2 or 3 dry chipotles washed
  • 1 tsp cumin powder (or grind your own)
  • 1 poblano pepper, seared over a gas flame on your stove, peeled, seeded, and cut into strips 1 inch strips
  • 3 roma tomatoes cut into small cubes
  • 1 large yellow onion, minced
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • cilantro for garnish in each bowl
  • 1/4 cup olive oil, or more if necessary
  • salt to taste
Instructions:
  1. Sear, peel, seed, and cut the poblano into strips and set aside.
  2. Place the poblano, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano, and cumin in a large pot to cook slowly in the olive oil, about 15 minutes.
  3. Add about 5 cups of water and the lentils to the pot.
  4. When it comes to a boil lower the heat and add the chipotle peppers and cover partially.
  5. It should cook for about 1/2 hour or until all the flavors come together.
  6. You can take 2 cups of the soup out with the lentils, place in the blender to cool for a moment, then blend, and replace into the soup, for added thickness to the soup, if you prefer.
  7. Also, you can take the pepper out and chop them up to replace in the soup, if you want a spicier taste.
  8. Serve with a cilantro garnish.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Beans, then and now



Beans are Mesoamerican in origin and together with corn and squash form the 'three sisters' that provided precolumbian societies the nutrient triangle necessary for survival. They are among the most important legumes in the world with their high concentration of protein and fiber.

They were central to my family's diet when I was a child growing up in Laredo, prepared in different ways depending on which meal of the day it was. When they were served at lunchtime, they came with guisados or picadillos, or calabacita con pollo. But we never tired of the ubiquitous beans boiling in a clay pot on our stove; it was always a taste and a texture that was as comforting as a mother's embrace. In fact, it's no surprise that one of my son's first meals when he began to eat 'solid' food was a strained bean soup with a velvety consistency that he loved from the first spoonful.


The marriage of round white corona beans with olive oil, vinegar, herbs, and chopped onion is a radically different taste and texture from the traditionally Mexican one. I've had them like this in Italy, but I was surprised to find them served this way in Mexico, albeit 'Mexicanized' with chile de arbol flakes. The beans are whole, and the herbs are fresh tasting, making a perfect side dish or a delicious salad, but best of all, so simple to put together.



Simply beans

Recipe Type: Appetiser, Salad


Cuisine: Mexican


Author: Gilda Valdez Carbonaro


Prep time:


Total time:


Serves: 6


If you're using freshly cooked beans, which I recommend, make them at least a day ahead of time.

Ingredients:
  • 3 cups dry white corona beans
  • 1 small bunch fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 small white onion, chopped finely
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon chile de arbol flakes
  • 1/2 cup olive oil or enough to coat the beans
  • 2 tbsp wine vinegar

Instructions:
  1. Cook the beans as you would cook dry beans (soak overnight, drain, refill, then cook slowly for about 3 hours, adding the salt the last half hour)

  2. When the beans are cooked, drain them, and mix them with the chopped onion, dill, parsley, crumbled chili flakes, and olive oil.

  3. Adjust the salt.






Sunday, March 9, 2014

You say guava, I say guayaba






Escaping the snowy Washington D.C. March winter for a few days in San Miguel de Allende, I was drawn to the sun-kissed, aromatic, tropical fruit found in abundance at the market here: guayaba or guava, as it's called in English. The name guava has always confused me because in Laredo where we grew up everyone called it by its Spanish name, guayaba. A bowl of these, with the floral scent of the tropics and redolent of the warm sun under which they grew, make the most inviting fruit one can have arriving from a frigid nothern climate.

Use firm guayabas so they are easy to peel

At Casa Carmen where I'm staying, the devoted cook of this bed and breakfast, Doña Beatriz, prepared a dessert with guayaba today. This is just one of the ways to eat this delectable fruit, but really, you can simply eat it raw when it's sweet and ripe, have it as an agua fresca, make it into dried fruit paste, marmalade, ice cream or even a sauce to accompany meats. Guayaba is an antioxidant and is a great way to get Vitamin C. It doesn't get any better. Here is Doña Beatriz' recipe.


Guayabas literally bursting with flavor


The sugar/water should syrup have turned pinkish from the cinnamon before you add the peeled guayaba

You say guava, I say guayaba

Recipe Type: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican


Author: Gilda Valdez Carbonaro


Prep time:


Cook time:


Total time:


Serves: 6

This dessert can be easily prepared several days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:
  • 2 lbs guayabas (approximately 12 small guayabas
  • 2 sticks cinnamon
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups water

Instructions:
  1. Peel the guayabas and pierce them to the center with a sharp knife and set aside.

  2. Boil the water with the cinnamon sticks until the water turns pinkish.

  3. Add the sugar and boil for another 10 or 15 minutes.

  4. Add the peeled guayabas and boil them until they feel soft when you pierce them with a fork.