Mex Head Yucatan Chow for Gringos

This is my version of these Yucatecan classics. Some of the techniques vary, but the flavor will be largely similar to what you would get on the street. Felicidades putas, join me in border hopping. Feel free to tweak these too, view these recipes as a guide not rule, as most of them are from memory/translated from Spanish.

 SOPA DE LIMA

 3 pounds boneless chicken breast (about 6 or 7)
1 large white or red onion
5-6 garlic cloves
2 bell peppers
 2 large tomatoes
Bunch of cilantro
3t dried oregano
A habanero or jalapeño
4-5 limes, thinly sliced.
Lime juice (or Naranja Agria if you have it!)
Salt
Pepper
4-5 quarts chicken stock
Corn tortillas
Vegetable oil

 Dice onion, tomato, bell pepper, sauté til caramelized, add garlic and cook until toasted. Deglaze the pan with a small amount of the chicken stock and lime juice then add remainder.

Add the chicken, cut into smaller pieces to cook more quickly, to the stock, simmer 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked. When chicken is cooked, remove from pan to a cutting board and shred, set aside or return to pot depending on how you want to plate your soup.

While chicken is cooking, cut the tortilla into thin strips and fry until crispy.

Season out your soup with salt and pepper.

To assemble, place a portion of chicken if you've chosen to leave it out of the broth. You could also pan fry the shredded chicken to crisp it up and then add it. If you've left the chicken in the stock, pour a portion into a bowl, garnish with tortilla strips, lime slices, and sliced hot chili if you've decided you like the heat.

GUACAMOLE

6-8 avocados
 Lime juice
 Minced onion
Minced garlic
Minced jalapeño
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Slice avocados in half longways, twist the halves to separate, remove pit and scoop out with a spoon into a large bowl.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and lots of lime juice. Mash with a fork or potato masher until desired smoothness. Fold in desired amounts of onion, garlic, jalapeño, and cilantro, finish with olive oil. This is a traditional guacamole that can be the base for limitless varieties, such as...

GRILLED SHRIMP GUAC
Guacamole base
1/2 pound or more shrimp (the bigger the better, those tiny salad shrimp are crap)
Or delicious things like...
Seared pineapple
Jicama
Apple
Cucumber
Grilled corn
Roasted tomato
Bacon
Goat cheese, queso fresco

Let the guac be your oyster.

PANUCHOS

Salt
Olive oil
Bibb lettuce
1/2 red onion
Salt and sugar
Lime juice
Rice vinegar
Limes
Avocado
Tomato
Dozen hard boiled eggs
Braised chicken, turkey, or pork.
Achiote seasoning or achiote seeds
Corn tortillas
Canola or vegetable oil

Drain black beans in a colander, rinse, put in a skillet and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer til beans are mashable. Add olive oil, mash, turn off heat, season with salt and pepper.   Julienne red onion, massage with sugar and salt in a bowl, add lime juice and rice vinegar, allow to sit at room temperature until fuchsia. Slice avocado and tomato into wedges. Mix achiote seasoning with lime juice and olive oil.
Fill a skillet with about 1/4" of vegetable or canola oil. Spread a layer of retried black beans onto a corn tortilla and fry briefly. Remove from oil and allow to drain and cool a little, layer in this order-
Tortilla
Black beans
Lettuce leaf
Sliced egg or meat
Tomato wedge
Pickled onion
Jalapeño
Avocado wedge
Salsa de achiote

EAT IT AND LET IT RUN ALL OVER YOUR HANDS, CHIN, AND ON YOUR SHIRT. That's how real Mexicans do. You don't really care when you paid only about 70 cents US$ for one of these puppies and have five more on your plate to go. If you're not a fan of black beans, nix 'em and you have the panuchos's dirty cousin the Salbute, which is also delicious, but not beany.

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
2 sticks unsalted butter melted, plus more for greasing
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs (local, pasture-fed eggs for me!)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (mine was heaping)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat to 350 degrees, grease up a 9 x 13 baking dish, glass preferably. Cream butter and sugar together, mix in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients, add mixed wet ingredients to the bowl of dry things, and lastly add the chocolate chips. You add them last so they don't melt and get lost in the batter which isn't a total fail but is if you like the texture of the chips. Also don't over mix, it's okay to have a few lumps. If you let it rest for a minute they will absorb into the batter, and you will have a softer brownie.

Pour into baking dish and bake 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan and then cut and garnish with whipped cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon, or dulce de leche.

Freedom Bread

Just because you can't eat wheat, dairy, or eggs doesn't mean you have to suffer not having hot delicious bread right from your oven. This loaf is for real bread lovers, hearty and texturally interesting, it will be something that even omnivorous friends can enjoy :)

Sorghum flour blend:

1 1/2 c sorghum flour

1 1/2 c potato or corn starch

1 c tapioca flour

Whisk ingredients together, keep in a zip lock or air tight container in the refrigerator or freezer, but remember to let it come up to room temp before using :)

1 T dry yeast

1 T ground flax

1 1/2 c warm (110*) milk of choice

2 c gf flour blend

1 c potato starch

1/3 c whole flaxseeds

1/4 c sunflower seeds (or chopped nut of choice)

1 T chia seeds, teff flour, or rice Bran ( optional)

1 1/2 t xanthan gum

1 1/2 t sea salt

1/4 c canola oil

1/4 c agave or honey

1 t apple cider vinegar (optional, I omitted)

Grease one regular sized loaf pan and one mini pan, or three mini loaf pans (the recipe I used as a model for this called for 3 loaf pans but it def didn't fill that many)

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and flax meal into the milk, stir a little til blended. Set aside somewhere warm.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour blend, potato starch, all seeds, xanthan gum, and salt. Make sure there are no clumps and that everything is well incorporated. Then add yeast milk flax mixture, oil, agave/honey, and vinegar. Beat the dough with an electric mister on low, or whisk by hand until all ingredients are well blended and you have a sticky but smooth dough.

Spread dough in pans with a wet rubber spatula (or use your hands!) and cover with a oiled piece of foil. Place in a warm spot (like on top of your stove) and allow to rise 45-60 min until loaf has doubled in size.

Place on lowest rack in the oven and preheat oven to 375. Yes, put the loaf in the oven before its preheated. Sounds crazy but starting from a cold oven will allow the dough to be warmed up evenly from the inside outward. Keep lightly covered with the foil tent for half of the baking time to keep the top from getting super browned, and bake 30 min for small loaves, 40-45 for regular sized loaves. When done transfer to a wire rack to cool. Slice and enjoy with some earth balance and jam or your favorite nut butter ^_____^

Energy bites!

Since I have had a couple people ask me for the recipe for the (mostly) raw vegan and gluten free (and totally healthy!) energy bites (
http://instagram.com/p/U1c1ifov-B/), I figured it would be more wise to post it on here instead of messaging everyone under the sun, which doesn't mean I don't love you, it just means I am lazy ;)
Now, with this "recipe" you can switch things up as suits your taste, add or subtract things, hell, dunk 'em in chocolate and you got candy bars!
Start with big bowl, spatula, small cutting board, and a knife. Measurements are for bitches, use your good judgement.
Oats
Cashews or any nut your heart desires
Flax seeds - whole
Flax seeds - ground
Sesame seeds
Raw cacao nibs
Goji berries
Peanut butter or your favorite nut butter
Ginger powder
Cinnamon
Honey
Hot water
Maca powder
Hemp protein powder

Coconut flakes - unsweetened, reserve some for garnish
Heat a quarter cup (about 100mL) water and add the ground flax to it, stir and let sit.
While your flax is congealing, chop two big handfuls of nuts (or one if you're a dude... Measurements will be rough estimates since I don't measure shit and I don't want to confuse my lovely international friends with our stupid measuring system)

In a big bowl, mix oats, nuts, nut butter, spices and supplements, berries, and seeds, and also your mixture of ground flax and hot water, that should be nicely congealed to the consistency of an egg. You should be able to grab a small amount and roll it into a ball. You can now portion off your pieces and roll them in the extra coconut.

Some other things that would be a nice addition are hemp seeds, chia seeds, espresso powder, chopped candy ginger, chopped dates or figs, coca powder... Errr.... CocOa powder ;) maple.... Pretty much anything you like! I got the idea for these from some chia bites I bought in Central Park west at G-Free, an all gluten free shop run by the sweetest little lady! So, get out there, experiment, trial and error, and make something tasty!

Yelp Yelp Yelp!

Follow me around! Eat new things! Meet new people! Pet a puppy! Be serenaded by a sparrow!

Recent reviews by "Ashley S."

What's this?

Down and Dirty

I've been doing a surplus of food reading lately. My stack includes Diet for a Small Planet, Mission Street Food, and Pintxos (pronounced peen-chohs). All are totally unrelated other than that they're about food, but one thing that ties them together, at least what keeps me rotating through them every 20 pages or so, is that they all are about just down and dirty ghetto ass make-radness-with-the-shit-you-have-because-you're-poor-as-fuck food spirit.

In Erie, at least, food spirit is severely lacking. With the exception of a handful of locally owned business, this town is rampant with frozen-to-fryer mediocrity. OKAY, now before you shit a brick, I'll admit that yeah, sometimes you want some fucking french fries or chicken wings with ranch, or pepperoni balls, or a greasy pile of "lo mein" noodles slathered with msg-rich "brown sauce". We all do sometimes, but to accept mediocrity as the norm allows it to become the only. Why can't we have ghetto-ass-fatty-drunky food (that would also substitute as hangover food) that is classy and daring?

Okay, so this tangent is a spawn of springtime sunshine and Mission Street Food book. I'm getting the hankering to do something spontaneous and dank with food. Granted, there exists zero capital for a truck, let alone the time, but that doesn't quell the almost maniacal urge I have to do something sneaky and reckless, but also delicious and creative. Underground dining (http://www.casasaltshaker.com/faq.htm), pop-up, or whatever. Now, to figure out how to bring more dankness to the people... there must be a way.

Lucky Seven

so i've been getting vegetarian times for about 4 or 5 years now, and they always have recipe contests and other fun things to enter. come to think of it, i've had a subscription pretty much since i started cooking, and have never entered any of their contests. in this months magazine, there was an ad for the 2012 Lucky Seven Recipe Contest, where you can have no more than 7 ingredients excluding salt pepper oil and water, and have to use at least one of the sponsored ingredients/utensil/equipments. Well cats, this is what I came up with, its been a hot minute since of done up some pedestrian fair. Try it out and give me some feedback! xoxo

Ginger Injera with Cinnamon Crème
Yield: 6 cakes
3/4 c Bob's Red Mill Teff Flour
1/4 c Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 t baking powder
1 c Zevia Ginger Ale

4oz. Follow Your Heart Vegan Cream Cheese
1-2T water
1t Simply Organic Ground Cinnamon
1T Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar

salt
pepper
cooking spray

1) In a mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese, cinnamon, and powdered sugar, thin with water to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2) In second bowl, mix teff flour, gluten free flour, baking powder, and 2 pinches of salt until well blended.
3) Slowly whisk in ginger ale till thin pancakey-like batter consistency.
4) Warm up a 10 inch nonstick skillet over low to medium heat, spray with oil, and pour approximately 2T of batter into pan.
5) Cook over low heat until bubbles form on top and burst. Flip and continue cooking til edges are crisp.
6) To serve, spread cinnamon crème on each injera and roll up. Top with powdered sugar and enjoy! <3

WTE III Matthew's Trattoria

As was previously mentioned, I had heard a number of horror stories from patrons of Matthew's Trattoria, mostly because they had food allergies or wanted to change some aspect of a dish on the menu. Friday night, my mister and I put those hear-says to the test.

As per-usual, I scoped out the menu online and was pleasantly surprised to see that there was gluten-free menu offerings, in addition to a few things that were vegetarian or could be made vegetarian. Given my predisposition to hating, I really was doing my best to be optimistic...

Upon arrival around 7pm we headed in, passed the semi-open kitchen to the host, who promptly seated us. First things first, had to check the wine list. Mister got the house malbec, and I the cab sauv, which was very enjoyabl. Matthew's, if you've never been, had a very cozy ambiance. A local musician, Frank Singer, was playing, the lighting dimmed but not cave-like, and the decor tasteful. There are couches near the bar for those gathering with friends to chill out and get their drinks and snacks at will, which I might visit again to check out.

Hard-copy menu in hand, decision making was difficult. No gluten free section, or even annotations were on it. I asked our server about it, and there was some miscommunication as to the existence of this mysterious menu. After the third time returning to the table (bless his patience with my indecisiveness!) he said that the chef could make me a polenta dish they had done for a vegan/gluten free customer before. I chose that, while mister chose the Frutti de'Mar [sic] (is that supposed to be italian spanish or french?). Both came with mixed greens salads, to which I chose the house balsamic vinaigrette. I have to say, this dressing was AMAZING! I would have licked the plate were I not in public. Well balanced acidity to oil and not overly sweet like some balsamic dressings are.

So ravenous was I when our dinners came, my dish was a base of polenta mixed with spinach, topped with blistered sweet potato slabs and anaheim peppers, grilled onion, mushroom, and asparagus, with old school parsley mince on the border of the plate. Mister had noodles in sauce with mussels (pre-cooked) and shrimp (with tails still on :\ ). The variety on my plate was thoroughly delicious, but would have been better had the chef seasoned it, and then I noticed the salt and pepper shakers on the table... It was almost all of my favorite things to eat, but there didn't appear to be any inspiration behind it.

For dessert, we split an Italian Coffee and Fruit of the Forest pie. They were both scrumptious, but I'm pretty sure the coffee was coffee + frangelico + whipped cream, and the pie I found out later from a past employee, was from a box and garnished by the server.


Most of the other menu items did not string together in a strong semblance of a theme. There was a sesame encrusted ahi appetizer (also available at Under the Clock and Firebirds) that was presented further down in the entre section in just a larger portion. It was very erratic, but along the lines of steak, seafood, and much emphasis on the appetizers. One LARGE bone I have to pick is the chef's description of tapas. "In Spanish literally translates to small tastes"? No creo que si, jefe. For anyone who cares, tapas, *literally* means "lids", the name originating from the days when patrons would be enjoying a beverage and would need a cover for their drink to keep out flies. I fully condone expanding upon culinary traditions, giving new twists and fusing cuisines, but find it a little disappointing to have misinformation on a menu.

All in all, I can't say it wasn't a lovely meal. Our server was sweet and attentive, and it was also sweet of the chef to make me something off-menu. However, it was about 65$ for two people. Not nosebleed prices, for I've paid far more dining out elsewhere, but for a broke-ass cook I cannot say I would go back for dinner. I would like to go for drinks and try a "tapa" or two. Prove me wrong though, and check it out for yourself! My experience showed me that you can't always believe what you hear, and that just because someone doesn't cook like you doesn't mean its not good :) Happy eating ya'll.