Frijoles con Chile Guajillo (Pinto Beans with dried Guajillo peppers)

Beans and other type of legumes are a staple in my house along with rice (a day doesn't go by that I haven't eaten some type of bean dish and rice and I am damn proud of it because they are so healthy and good for you! Yup yup ;)

All three of my culinary backgrounds use beans in some way (from my Mexican side the humble pot of simple pot of boiled pinto beans, my Spanish and Cuban side the rich varied bean stews made with meats, sausages, and vegetables, or the Cuban staple of rice and black beans so yeah can't really avoid them hehe.

Anyways in Mexican Cuisine one of the staples is boiled pinto beans (usually just boiled with a few pieces of garlic, onion then salt to taste) however my friend Simon who's family is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico prepares the beans by boiling them with dried Guajillo peppers and a whole head of garlic. The guajillo peppers gives them a nice smokey earthy taste, and the whole head of garlic well the delicious flavor of garlic most are familiar with :) Thank Simon and his sister Liz for teaching me yet another way of enjoying beans :D


Ingredients:
-1 lbs. dried pinto beans, or peruano beans, or flor de mayo beans
-4 dried chile guajillos (stem removed and seeds shaken out) or you can substitute with dried "Chile Nuevo Mexico" or "Chile California"
-1 whole head garlic
-salt to taste (I use about 1 1/2 teaspoons or more to taste)

Directions:
(1) Put all ingredients EXCEPT the salt in pot (do not put the salt until the beans are tender because they will never be as tender as they should), cover with enough water to submerge them 2-3 inches in water.

 (2) Bring beans to a boil using high heat, then when they come to a rolling boil, cover and turn heat down to medium low. When beans are tender and salt to taste allow to boil an additional 5-10 minutes. Then turn off heat & discard/ throw away the chilies and onion (their flavor has already infused into the beans)

PLEASE NOTE:
(1) Don't get any bright ideas and puree the garlic after boiled and strain it into teh stock, the garlic boiled whole gives a nice mild taste, but if pureed and added back HELL NO! it'll be tooooo overpowering.

(2) My mother likes to throw away the garlic after it's boiled in there and the beans are done, but she blends the dried peppers and strains them back into the beans, it's her twist on my friends recipe and I love the taste it get's that way :)

Aliño de Teresita

What I present today is not a recipe for a side dish, or main course of anything like that, it's a condiment used to cook other food, and as a short cut in a lot of other recipes. Before I begin here's the background story :)

Teresita is a 92 year old lady that my mom is a care provider for. She is originally from Columbia, one of my mother's jobs is to cook for her and my since my mother has a love for the kitchen and learning new things, she was very quick to ask Teresita what she likes to eat, and how to recreate it.

One of the things essential in Teresitas kitchen is what she calls "Aliño", in her kitchen it's a very strong condiment  essentially a bunch of aromatics, herbs, as well as umami packing ingredients mixed together, simmered in generous olive oil, then bottled. used to flavor & cook other dishes, from stews, soups, sautee's, mixed into meatloafs, meat balls, etc. simply a tablespoon mixed into rice for flavor, or tossing shredded meats, steamed veggies etc. it's used as a base.

Ingredients:
-2 bell peppers (red or green) finely chopped
-1 large onion finely chopped
-8 scallions (washed, split in half, and then finely chopped)
-20 roma tomatoes chopped
-1 head of garlic minced
-1 large bunch of cilantro chopped 
-1/3 cup dried oregano
-1/3 cup dried thyme
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-3 tablespoons lemon pepper
-3 packets of "Sazon Goya Con Azafran" or "Sazon Goya Culantro Con Achiote" (maybe not everyone can get ahold of these, I would substitute it for ground achiote/ annatto seeds like 2 tablespoons, saffron, or maybe 1 tablespoon turmeric)
-salt to taste (use atleast 2 teaspoons)
-1 1/2 cups of a good quality extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
(1) Mix all ingredients in a large pot or deep-pan (yes you heard right just throw EVERYTHING in the ingredient list in a pot or pan)

(2) Put it on the stove, mix well together with a spoon, and put on high heat, the tomato will start releasing it's juices, lower to medium high and allow mixture to cook for 10- 15 minutes.

(3) Allow to cool, and store in clean glass jars or containers, when fully cooled seal, and store in fridge (it can last up to 1 weeks in the fridge) if you want to store longer it can last for several months in the freezer. This recipe made about 4 jars, we store 2 in the fridge and 2 in the freezer.My family can go through a batch like this in like less than 2 weeks or so but it's because we are 4 people, and usually have guests and such, so we cook a lot :)

PLEASE NOTE
-In the future I will share some recipes using this condiment :) in the mean time if you decide to make it, feel free to be creative with it.
 -ALSO this is not meant to be eatin on it's on, or by the spoonfuls, it has a very strong flavor, and can be somewhat salty. So do not use it as a vegetable side or to eat on it's own.
-I don't have any specific recipes like I said before posted yet to share using this condiment but just some really brief uses you can: (1) Steam any vegetables and add a couple spoonfuls of it and toss them in that for flavoring, with maybe more salt to taste. (2) When you make a chicken soup, you can remove the chicken, shredd it, and toss it in some of this condiment, serve with rice, and the soup on the side. (3) Any meat can be boiled with just onion, garlic, oregano, then removed, shredded and tossed in some of the condiment (4) Mix about 1/2 cup of the mixture into 1 lbs or ground meat, 2 eggs, and fry the mixture like patties. etc. you guys get it :)
-Been using this condiment lately since I been pretty busy with school and it makes a lot of stuff quick to put together.

Albondigas de Pollo con Hierbabuena Entomatadas (Mint Chicken Meatballs in Tomato)

Meatballs made with rice and mint are popular in Mexican cuisine (they can be made with pork, beef, chicken, turkey whatever meat of your choice or combination) often served in a soup with a variety of vegetables (if you would like to see this check my mother's recipe for "Caldo de Albondigas") . However they can also be cooked in a spicy chipotle sauce, or how I present it here in a very simple light tomato based sauce that can be made spicy, mild, or with no heat at all.

 My mother made these meatballs yesterdays using ground chicken and a simply tomato sauce that wasn't' spicy at all (we had a bowl of freshly made green salsa that was extremely spicy for those that wanted to add heat to their dishes they could simply grab a couple spoonfuls and drizzle on their plates). The dish is fairly simple, very quick to put together, and with ingredients readily available to anyone in any country I believe and it tastes heavenly and is so light on the stomach (the mint leaves are good for digestions , and rice is very easy to digest). If your looking for something simple and healthy give this a try :)

Ingredients for meatballs:
-1 1/2 lbs ground chicken (grind it yourself or buy it ground)
-1 1/2- 2 cups cooled rice (could be white rice or leftover rice of any kind, my mom used leftover yellow rice from last night)
-1/2 a large bunch of mint leaves (cleaned, washed, patted dried then finely chopped)
-1/2 chopped onion
-2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 large egg
-salt & pepper to taste


Ingredients for sauce:
-1/2 a large onion or 1 onion finely chopped
-2 cloves garlic
-5-6 fresh ripe tomatoes
-1 heaping teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
-1 cup water
-salt and pepper to taste
-extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredient to garnish (optional):
-finely chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

Directions:
(1) Put all meatball ingredients in a bowl,

mix together to combine, but do not over mix,

  and then form meatballs into medium sized balls. Set aside.

 (2) In a deep wide sauce pan or wide pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat, sautee chopped onions, and when onions are translucent and well cooked about 5- 7 minutes.

   
(3) Meanwhile in a blender blend tomatoes, garlic, chicken bouillon powder, salt and pepper, and add about 1 cup of water to blend everything to a smooth sauce,

 when blended add this mixture to the sauteed onions.

  
(4) Bring sauce to a boil, add meatballs one by one,

 cover and simmer 20- 25 minutes, until cooked through, add more water and adjust salt if you want the sauce looser. Before turning off sprinkle cilantro or parsley if you want to.

(5) We served it over white rice, with a salad dressed in olive oil, lemon, oregano, and salt.

PLEASE NOTE:
(1) When my mom makes the chicken meatballs like she did here, she adds more rice because the ground chicken meat for some reason seems to be "looser" than using beef, it's less compact , so if you see the recipe when she prepared the beef ones for her soup, she used less rice.

(2) Don't panic if the chicken meatballs aren't perfectly round or seem too gloppy after making the meatballs, simply before adding to the hot pot, roll them in your hand into a ball prior to dropping them in the hot pot.