visit 1 to Mexico

It was a bit chilly for most of the week and I looooove eating hot and savory soups to warm up. This soup isn't specific to Mexico; similar to my last post it is found in many varieties all over the world. Caldo de Res basically means "Beef soup", and I absolutely adore this recipe. Find yourself a good butcher for the meat dishes I'm making, for goodness sake. The flavor of food is highly affected by the quality of ingredients you use. This soup allows for a lot of creativity. You can use whatever vegetables tickle your fancy!

Caldo de Res

2-3 lbs beef shank or neck bones
1 onion, chopped
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
3-4 bottles beer (I've tried a few different brands, but I prefer using a sweeter amber like Fat Tire)
4-5 bottles of water (just re-fill your beer bottles)
2 ripe plantains (black)
2 medium russet potatoes
1 can corn (or 4 halved ears of corn)
5 celery stalks, large chunks
4 carrots, large chunks
1/2 head green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 bunch cilantro
2-3 limes

Sear your beef bones over high heat until they get a nice crust on them. Alternatively, you can roast them on low heat for a few hours with the carrots and potatoes in the pan. The taters get a great texture this way and the meat has a lovely flavor. Either way the soup turns out well. I use both methods according to how much time I have on hand. My instructions are for short-preparation. Once the beef is nicely seared, add the onion and continue on high heat for ~2 min. Salt liberally. Add all the beer at once, and then add the water. Bring to a simmer for at least 1 hour, more if you have time.

Remove beef bones and allow to cool before removing as much meat as possible to add to the soup. Keep the stock boiling! Taste and salt very lightly; it should taste fairly bland still. Add the plantain and carrot, simmer ~10 minutes. Add chopped potatoes and corn, simmer ~10 min. Add celery, cabbage, simmer ~5 min. Serve in a large bowl with a liberal amount of lime juice and a nice sprinkle of cilantro. This is supposed to be a very rustic dish, so cut your vegetables in nice large chunks!

The picture doesn't do it justice. The veggies have a great color and should be cooked lightly enough that they have great texture. The ripe plantain gives a surprising savory sweetness that contrasts beautifully with the salty acidity of the broth. If you want a more starchy effect, use the green/yellow plantain. Sometimes I buy them and store them in the cupboard until they're scary black. The blacker they are, the sweeter they taste.

I have a ton of leftovers of this soup, which was fine because it was all I wanted to eat for 2 days after making it. A winner!

Cuban fare

Last week I visited Cuba by making a Picadillo and supporting dishes. You can find a number of renditions of this dish worldwide, it's basically a modified beef and potato hash. While I like the idea of this dish, I'm not too crazy about cumin and this dish called for it. I tried only using a touch of it, but my cumin radar is too sensitive. Nevertheless, I think this recipe will also stay in my repertoire but without that specific spice.

2 large potatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2/3 c green olives, chopped
1/2 c capers
2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 c red wine
1/3 tsp cumin
pinch oregano

Cook the potato, drain, and set aside. Sautee garlic, onion, bell pepper ~2 min. Add beef and pinch of salt. Drain off any fat that remains after cooking (I use the lowest fat mixture I can buy from the local butcher). Add wine, capers, tomato sauce, olives, raisins, cumin, oregano. Simmer to reduce for about 30 minutes. Drink the rest of your wine during this time.  :)   Fold the potato chunks into the mixture and heat ~5 minutes. Should be sort of saucy, but not soupy by this time.

Serve over white rice with fried plantains and black beans.

1 can black beans
1 can green chilis or jalapenos
1/2 onion, minced
chopped cilantro

Sautee chilis and onion ~2 min, add beans and heat through. Garnish with cilantro.

I can't tell you how much I love potatoes in this dish, it was wonderful. A little strange coming across the olives and capers, but somehow the whole mixture just worked. I've been making breakfast burritos from the leftovers with a bit of hot sauce on them. Not totally authentic, but I like it.

Cha Ca Thong Long

Wow, I have LOVED cooking from Vietnam! Here's another incredible recipe that is definitely going in my repertoire.

~1 lb firm white fish (halibut, bass, snapper)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/3 tsp ground ginger
1Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced shallow
1/2 tsp each salt, pepper
1-2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sesame oil or olive oil

Combine all ingredients and marinate for at least an hour. I put mine in the fridge for 24 hours and it was wildly delicious. Also, your fish will take on a beautiful yellow color from the turmeric. It is a very visually appealing dish even if the colors didn't translate into the photo I posted.

Sautee your fish over high heat ~3 minutes each side. The heat will sear the outside of the fish and give it a nice crust.
Sautee some red and green onion if you like.
Prepare some vermicelli rice noodles and place your fish on top. Serve with minced dill, chopped peanuts, (I tried but didn't like it as much with some mint and Thai basil) and some crisp lettuce for texture.

Sauce:
juice of 2-3 limes
2Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp chili paste

mix the sauce and you can either use it to dip or pour it over the top of your dish. This was amazing. The turmeric, peanuts, and dill were so complimentary to each other. Add the sweet/salty spice of the sauce and this dish is one I would eat any day of the week.

My freezer is fairly low on seafood now, so I may be cooking with chicken, pork, or beef next. Possibly Cuban cuisine?

I'll try to be better at posting on time, this recipe was one I cooked last week but I've been inundated with start-of-semester madness. Hopefully I can get this under control!