Chile y Ajo En Aciete (Chili Garlic Paste)

This is my mother's friend's recipe whom is Mexican and lives in San Francisco. She loves spicy food, so she makes this really spicy blend of dry chili peppers, garlic, and olive oil which she carries in tiny glass bottles wherever she goes so she can add a little flame to whatever she's eating. She brought a large jar of this spicy concoction when she came down here to Los Angeles to visit her elderly mother and my mother LOVED it and has been in love with this sauce since our last visit from San Fran., so she finally decided to ask for the recipe.

Let me tell you, it is delicious, smokey, has hints of sweet garlic, and spiciness. You must like heat to appreciate this and once you make it, it can last for a long time (probably up to 6 months stored in a tight class container or whatever you have on hand: jar, glass bottle, glass bowl sealed well, Tupperware, etc.) You can leave it out, covered, on the table with tiny metal spoons as well for convenience.

You can use this as a condiment by adding a couple teaspoons or tablespoons to any meat stew or soup to give a smokey, slow cooked, robust spicy flavor. You can put a little on your food when eating the same way you would use a hot sauce. You can use it for every bite you eat as well! It could also be incorporated into marinades or even in Chinese stir fries that call for Chili Garlic Paste. Really, it can be used for so many things. Use your imagination.

Ingredients:
-3 oz/85 grams of Chile Japones" (Dried Japanese Chiles, my mother used a medium bag, which is about 3 cups maybe? It had the ounces and grams written on it.)
-1 head of garlic (separate the cloves, peel them, and take off the tough bottom part)
-1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (a.k.a. E.V.O.O.)
-3/4-1 tablespoon salt (to taste, remember it's suppose to be a little salty because it's not meant to be eaten by the spoonfuls ha ha even though I do eat it that way sometimes!)
-1 tablespoon white vinegar (to make it last longer)

Directions:
(1) If the dry chiles have stems then remove them. DO NOT WASH THEM IN WATER!!! Or just don't bother to make this! :)

(2) Heat the olive oil on medium heat until it's hot enough. Add the garlic cloves and stir them around until they are golden. Then add the dry chiles and stir them over and over again the until garlic is slightly browned on the outside and the chiles are toasted to a slightly darken color. DO NOT let them blacken completely or you'll have a bitter flavor. My mom lowered the temperature to medium low as she was doing this. The point of tossing the chiles and garlics over and over again is so that the garlic does not stick to the pot and trust me, when it sticks, it STICKS!!! This process takes about 10-15 minutes and once they are ready, take them off the heat for them too cool a bit before putting them in the food processor or blender.
(3) Add all the contents into a food processor or blender along with the vinegar and salt using a food processor. If you use a blender, you'll need to stop every now and then and stir or push with a spoon because of the sauce's thickness.

(4) Your done! Store well by sealing it. It can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. Enjoy! You'll want to make more

P.S. I don't even know what to name this exactly. My mother's friend never used a specific name, it was just "El chile en aciete" which translates to "The chile in oil." For me, it's just a "Chile Garlic Paste." Sort of a little looser, but yeah, call it whatever you want :)

ALSO, you may use "Chile de Arbol" (Dried Arbol Chile Peppers) but my mother prefers using "Chile Japones" (Dried Japanese Chile Peppers) because she says, "No ay que quitarles la cola ni nada" which translates to, "You don't have to remove the tail/stems." The "Chile de Arbol" translates to "Chile of Tree."

Edited by: Travis Thi

Calabaza Con Piloncillo (Winter Squash in Cane Sugar Syrup)

Very simple only about 3-4 ingredients. Winter Squash simmered in cane sugar syrup, sweet, warm comforting, and you'll feel less guilty about the sweetness because the squash is healthy ha ha.

Ingredients:
-About 2 pounds winter squash (I used Castilla, Kabucha, Jamaican/ Carribean, or Butternut are good for this)
-1 cup water (no more because the squash releases liquid)
-2 cups dark brown sugar or "unrefined solid cane sugar"
-1-2 stick cinnamon

Directions:
(1)Place water, pumpkin, sugar, and cinnamon stick into pot, bring water to a screaching boil on high heat covered, now lower heat to medium or medium low simmer for 1 hour then go back, stab pumpkin with fork or knife if tender your done, if you want to make syrup thicker (because it's usaully just a very light syrup but you may make it heavier by letting it boil uncovered until it reduces to desired consistency.
(2)Ta-da simple right you can do this with sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin.
P.S. I'm labeling it as Mexican because Mexicans make these types of stuff often during winter months, but so do some Cubans and my grandmother but for navigation purposes I will label it as such.

I've done it in the rice cooker before using sweet potato you can check my post for that here:

Camote Con Piloncillo

Costillas de Cerdo Guisadas Con Patatas (Pork Rib Stew with Potatoes)

This recipe is from a Galician home cook known as "Pilar Lechuza" she has a cooking blog that is dedicated to the home style, traditional, simple Galician cooking. (La Cocina de Lechuza)

As I was surfing through her blog, I found this delicious, colorful Pork Rib Stew with Potatoes, it had great commentary and I realized that is seems to be a favorite among many Spaniards and some have slight variations of it.

It is delicous pork ribs in a very simple sauce flavorful sauce made from the browned ribs, combination of the delicious rendered fat from the ribs used to sautee the aromatics, dry white wine, a fresh grated to a puree tomato, seasoned with paprika, salt, and saffron. Sauce is made richer and thicker with potatoes! YUM, beautiful colors, wondeful smell, rich sauce, delicous meat I loved it.

I did change some things in it only like 2 things, one was that I went heavier on garlic because well I love garlic and so does my family, second I used bijol instead of saffron because I have no good saffron on hand, and I did some of the procedures a little different but almost identical, I went a little bit heavier on paprika because I like it but only a little heavier I used like 1/2 tsp. extra that's all. Umm and I also cut the ribs into smaller segments.

Ingredients:
-3 1/2 pounds pork ribs (I asked the butcher to cut the long ribs in half long way to make smaller ribs that are finger sized, but that's just my preference)
-6 cloves garlic (about 1/2 a head mashed to a paste with teaspoon of salt in a mortar)
-3 tablespoons Extra- Virgin Olive oil
-1 onion chopped
-1 green bell pepper chopped
-1 red bell pepper chopped
-1 carrot chopped
-1 big tomato (grated, to a puree, or you can blend in blender then strain DO NOT USE CANNED PLEASE UNLESS YOU HAVE NO CHOICE)
-1 cup dry white wine
-1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
-1 1/2 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
-saffron to give some more color (I used 1 1/2 teaspoon of "bijol" also called "annato seed powder)
-salt to taste
-3 or 4 potatoes cubed and peeled

Directions:
(1)Wash pork ribs well and clean, add garlic that's been mashed with salt in a mortar and rub all over, now cover well in a bowl or in a zip-lock bag, and let it marinade 1-2 hours.
(2)Now heat large deep pot on high heat for a little bit like 2-4 minutes, lower heat to medium high, add olive oil and add pork ribs in about 2 batches, fry them on each side until browned about 7-8 minutes each side do not move until browned on one side then flip. Again I did it in 2 batches. Now set aside. They will render some fat which will be great for the rest. REMEMBER to make your life easier while the ribs are browning you can chop everything your gonna use for this dish, and have stuff on hand.

(3)Now in same pot add onion, red and green bell peppers, carrot sautee 8-10 minutes until soft, add paprika and saffron (or bijol in my case) lower heat to medium and sautee 1 minute. Now add tomato, let tomato cook about 3-5 minutes. Add dry white wine, stir well bring to bubble on high then lower to medium high let it reduce a couple minutes. Add 1 cup water bring back to boil, add peas.
(4)Season with 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste REMEMBER meat is already salted. Now add meat back along with any juices it released and peas. Coat well in sauce cover and simmer on medium low for 25-30 minutes. Add cubed potateos afterwards and cook another 10 minutes so potatoes can help thicken sauce. Taste for salt if it may need more now turn of heat. Your done.
(5)Serve with crusty bread or rice. Maybe a raw salad on the side.