RECIPES THAT MAKE YOU SAY, "NOT BAD FOR A WHITE GIRL!"

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

In Guera's Kitchen today: 12/27/11

We are just about tamale'd out. I could eat them for days, but the hubs has had just about enough of them. We had a tamalada (a gathering of friends and/or family with the sole objective being cranking out tamales)this week that consisted of me, and one other person. She happens to be the 17 year old daughter of a dear friend, and just for the sake of painting a picture, she is Japanese-American. There we were, a white girl and an asian girl, making tamales. We did a pretty amazing job I might add. She also proved herself to be quite the pan dulce making prodigy. I will post pics soon.

I do have a few tamales left in the fridge, but out of fear that the husband would boycott and eat captain crunch, I need to come up with something different for tonight. I have a pound of ground beef, some beans from the other night, and plenty of other ingredients to make something tasty.

Tonight it will be a hearty soup/stew made from the ground beef, a spicy red sauce and cubed potatoes. Simply translated, "carne molida con papas".

I will make a small batch of fideo to go with the beans, and will serve it with flour tortillas because I am out of corn torts. (abbreviation for tortillas that we use in our house). I prefer to serve soups with corn tortillas, but really, the hubs wont care what we scoop it with...I just know he wont be using his spoon much. ;)

Here is the recipe for the carne molida con papas:

Cook meat over medium heat until cooked through. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and a little chili powder. Add one can of tomato sauce, one sliced jalapeno, and about a quart of water to the pan/pot. (I will use a cast iron dutch oven). Add about four medium peeled and cubed potatoes to the mix. Season again with a bit more salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin. Add one or two bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn to low heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. If a thicker broth is preferred, remove the lid and continue to cook on low until it thickens to your desired consistency. Remove the bay leaves before eating.

Now onto the fideo:

What is fideo? Its an alternative starch to rice. It cooks faster, its easier to make, and its very very cheap. It is just vermicelli noodles (which are much cheaper in the mexican food aisle!), chicken stock (or water and bullion), tomato sauce, and a dash of seasoning.

Brown the bag of noodles in a bit of oil until toasty brown. Add half a can of tomato sauce, a can of chicken stock (or two cups of water and some bullion), salt, pepper, garlic, and perhpas cumin if you desire, and stir. Go easy on the cumin...its strong stuff. Too much and your food smells like B.O.! Stir, turn heat to low and cook about 8 minutes until tender and kind of creamy. Use more liquid if you want it to be more "soupy". Sometimes we eat this on the side of our main dish, and sometimes we mix it right into our soup or whole boiled pinto beans.

I will serve this meal with a simple lettuce salad tossed with diced tomato, a bit of chopped cilantro,salt and pepper, and lemon juice.

I will make a batch of iced tea with this meal, and we will be set. I will post a picture of the finished product once I actually accomplish it. :)

Enjoy!

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