Salsa, Chimol, Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo is how it's known in Mexico and in Houston. In Honduras, we call it Chimol. I call it Salsa. Either way, it's a fresh uncooked condiment that I eat with pretty much anything: breakfast eggs, tacos, on top of black beans, and on top of rice. If there's raw cabbage involved, chimol is mandatory.

My version is loaded with tomatoes. I don't like the texture of refrigerated tomatoes, so I keep mine on the counter. My salsa is very tart from the lime and very spicy from the serrano peppers. You may use jalapenos, and less peppers than what my recipe calls for. This salsa is smoky and fragrant from the cumin that is brought to me from Honduras. When I run out, I buy whole cumin seeds, toast them and grind them... worth the extra steps!

3 medium tomatoes, diced

1 medium red onion, diced fine

2 serrano peppers (seeds and insides included), diced fine

small handful of cilantro, chopped fine

Juice of 1 1/2 to 2 limes 

1 tb of cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

Dice the all the ingredients. I like to dice the tomatoes a bit larger and the onions, peppers very small. Add the chopped cilantro, lime juice, cumin, black pepper, and salt. Toss together in a bowl. I hope you enjoy!

Hurricane, also known as a Hurt-a-Cane

Here is my variation of a hurricane.

I was first introduced to a hurricane at Pat O' Briens in New Orleans. I have great memories of drinking the large plastic cups filled with the potent hurricane goodness and loudly singing along to whatever was playing at the piano bar. Good times.

While I do enjoy Pat O'Briens' hurricanes, I do think it's a bit sweet. When researching through recipes, I knew this: I didn't want to use grenadine (and have the artificial cherry-high fructose-corn syrup flavor), but I did want that a bit of a cherry color to remind me of Pat O'Briens.

For this mixture, do use an orange juice that is not from concentrate. I had a little trouble finding the passion fruit juice at first, but found plenty of it in the international food isle at the grocery store. I think that peach juice would be a nice alternative if you can't find the passion fruit juice. And please use fresh lime juice. I don't think anyone still uses the bottled "lime juice" anymore, but hey, just in case...

I have made this in a large pitcher (I used cup measurements instead of ounces), let it marinate overnight with slices of oranges and thin slices of lime. The sliced limes marinating overnight gave it a nice extra bit of tart. 

Be very careful. It's been nick named the "hurt-a-cane" because if you drink to much of this, you will hurt the next day!!

1 oz dark rum

1 oz light rum

2 oz orange juice

2 oz passion fruit juice

1/2 oz lime juice

small splash of cherry juice (from the bottled maraschino cherries)  -- for color

Serve over ice.

Easy Garlic and Lemon Pasta

This is one of my favorite pastas. If it's been one of those busy days and I don't have much time to cook, this is what I make. It's super garlicky, a bit spicy, and very bright from the lemon and parsley. It's simple but full of flavor. And it's always comforting to sit down to a bowl of spaghetti, especially after a busy day.

1 lb of spaghetti
1 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, crushed with hands *
1/2 cup of water

6 large garlic cloves, minced
juice of one lemon, plus the zest
handful of parsley, chopped fine
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
Olive Oil

Olive oil, pepper, salt

Bring pot of water to a rapid boil for the pasta.

Add olive oil to a large saute pan, enough to coat the bottom. Warm with low to medium/low heat. Once olive oil warms, add the minced garlic. Allow the garlic to flavor the oil for about 3-5 minutes. Garlic should not burn since the oil was heated at a lower temperature.

Tomatoes, lemon, garlic, parsley and pasta. Simple on-hand ingredients.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, water, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes on medium. As you stir, further crush the tomatoes with the back of your spoon.

About 15 minutes into cooking the tomato sauce (pasta water should be boiling now), add pasta to boiling water and cook al dente according to package directions. I like to cook it a minute under the al dente package recommended time.

When the pasta is ready, add a handful of parsley and lemon zest to the tomato sauce. Add the pasta to the sauce. Turn off the heat.

If during the cooking process the sauce thickens too much, add a little starchy pasta water.

* If tomatoes are in season, or if you have tomatoes on hand, use 8 large juicy tomatoes on the vine. Dice them to large chunks and cook as you would above, in place of the canned tomatoes.

Chana Masala

Feeling pretty confident lately. My aloo gobhi (potatoes and cauliflower)  was a hit. My husband loved it. I loved it. And quite honestly, it was better than the aloo gobhi I get at my favorite indian restaurant. With all this confidence in mind, and all these spices at home, I thought it was time to make another dish: Chana Masala... Chickpeas!

I've seen it served with bread. I prefer served over rice. Either way, it's delicious!

2 28-oz cans of chickpeas. Rinsed and drained. 

1 bay leaf

1 green chilli pepper

4 tsp cumin seeds, toasted

3 tb canola oil. Heat oil on medium to medium/high heat and add the above three ingredients to flavor the oil, for about 3 minutes. 

2 medium white onions, diced. Add to the above flavored oil. Saute the onions for about 5-7 minutes, until soft. Then, add the following to the onions:

5 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cinnamon stick

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 tb ground coriander

pinch of cloves

4 tsp paprika

4 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp red hot chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt (more or less, to taste)

Saute for another 3 minutes. Then add the following:

1 15-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes with juices, pureed. 

Juice of one lemon.

2 cups of water (this may seem like a lot but this will reduce and thicken).

Add to the onion saute above. Simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add the chickpeas and simmer for another 15 minutes. At the end, add a generous handful of cilantro.

My First Indian Dish

It was in 2005 that I first discovered Indian Food. It is now six years later that I finally gained the courage to cook my first Indian dish... Aloo Gobhi (I've seen Gobi used as well), potatoes and cauliflower. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be, neither was it as difficult. However, it was exciting. Exciting because I have never used many of the spices: turmeric, cinnamon (in a savory dish), cloves, chilli (the spicy kind). And it was exciting the to have these wonderful new smells in my kitchen!

I took the recipe by combining/altering several recipes and videos found online. I want to make the dish one more time before posting the recipe since I was tweaking and making changes throughout and I didn't document. In the meantime, here are the pictures.

Many of the ingredients are familiar: potatoes, onion, garlic, tomatoes, lemon.

An entire head of cauliflower.

A few carrots to add sweetness, color contrast and a firm texture. 

Round 1 of spices: garlic, cumin, mustard seeds.

Round 2 of spices: cilantro, ginger, chilli, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, salt

Round 2 of spices in a puree with a little bit of water. 

Aloo Gobhi