From my Grandma’s Kitchen ... “Fideos Secos”

Serves  4

 

This recipe reminds me so much of my abuela, my grandma. The way she taught me how to cook, you know. No specific quantities, no times or measurements; for her the way to cook was to understand how ingredients behave, and to "read" them.

Fideos secos, or "dry noodles" is a great combination of European and Mexican cooking. It’s a really homely recipe; nothing fancy, but perfect comfort food for a broken heart or a 'bout of the flu.

This dish can also be cooked as a vegetarian meal, simply replace the chicken broth for vegetable broth.... um, and obviously, remove the chicken too.

What you will need:

Chicken breasts                                                   4
Carrot                                                                1
Fresh cilantro (coriander)                                     1 handful
Thyme                                                                1 handful
Sea salt                                                               around a dessert spoon
Potato                                                                1
Bay leaf                                                              1
Black pepper                                                       4 kernels
Chillies                                                               2 fresh, or a tea spoon of chilli paste
Onion                                                                 ½, cut into  2 pieces
Garlic                                                                 2 cloves
Tomatoes                                                            4-5
Pasta Capelli d'angelo,
Or the thinnest pasta you can find                         ½ a packet

The other night I did this for my husband -it's one of his all-time favourites- but we didn't have any angel pasta, so I just used spaghetti. It worked fine, but I find the thinner pasta holds the flavour much better, and gives the meal its comforting texture.

Sour Cream                                                        4 tablespoons
Cheese (Tussers, Gouda or Cheddar)                     a handful, grated.
Pecorino Romano cheese                                     about a quarter of the milder cheese
Avo                                                                    1, cut into rounds.

Boil the chicken in water with the carrot, one of the pieces of onion, coriander, thyme, salt, potato, bay leaf and black pepper. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the breasts and let them cool down before shredding the meat. I find your fingers work best, but raking a fork across the grain of the meat works well too, especially if you're in a hurry and can't wait fir the chicken to cool. Sieve the broth.

In a pan or baking tray, blacken the tomatoes, the other piece of onion, fresh chillies and garlic. The tomatoes will start to dance and sizzle. Remember to turn the ingredients over once a side is partially blackened. Don't blacken the chillies if you're using the paste, just add it to the blender. When you blacken chillies, we call it "torear" or bullfighting them. Bullfighting chillies improves the flavour, but also makes them a lot hotter! Once the ingredients are blackened, throw them in a blender with some salt, coriander and a squirt of water.

Break the pasta up and fry it with about a tablespoon of olive oil until it is a little bit golden, (and here I can still hear grandma, "be careful not to burn it, don’t stop moving it... you will know it’s ready when the pasta sounds like sand"). Add the blended mix (grandma again, “wait until the mix has changed colour from light red to bright orange... and when you push the pasta to the side you see very little liquid and the bottom of the pan”). Add 2 cups of the chicken broth, stir in the shredded chicken, and let it cook further.

Once it’s cooked (once there is very little liquid at the bottom of the pan) add some dollops of sour cream and cheese to the top, and grill it in the oven until it’s golden. Decorate with the rounds of avo and some coriander; serve immediately.

¡Buen provecho!

LOLA

Amazing get together!

Serves 4

For the first food entry, I decided to go wintery and hearty.

The hubby and I invited one of our favourite couples to lunch. On the menu; mango margaritas, guacamole "Lola style" with nachos, Pozole and strawberry kisses.

Let me give you a little introduction about Pozole.  Pozole is a soup and main course all in its own, it's a warm, wholesome soup with hearty maize, and a slight hint of lemon and chili. I know it sounds a bit of a strange combination, but that’s true of so much Mexican cooking.  However that’s no the most unusual aspect of this dish...History tells us that ancient Aztecs used to prepare this dish with the flesh of those they beat or captured in wartime.  They believed that by eating their fiercest enemies they would gain their strength and courage on the battlefields. 

Sorry to disappoint you but we Mexicans no longer employ human meat in our diet, so today we use pork in Pozole.  [Besides being easier to come by, pork is easier to prepare]

The strawberry kisses are a very nice dessert; just bear in mind you have to serve them straight when they come out of the frying pan otherwise they loose their freshness and amazing taste.

Ok! Less talking more action here are the recipes.

MANGO MARGARITAS

Powdered chile mixed

with sugar                              5 tablespoons

Mango nectar                          2/3 cup.

Triple sec                               ½ tot

Tequila                                   1 tot   

Lime juice                              2 tablespoons

Ice cubes

Mix the mango nectar, triple sec, tequila, lime juice and ice. Shake or stir vigorously for 30 seconds. Rim the glasses with a combination of sugar and chilli. [more here... What chili can you use here? Not Birdseye! Not paprika! Try those chilis that come mixed with salt and add your bit of sugar we only want to achieve a little bit of spike.  Strain equal amount into each glass.

GUACAMOLE LOLA

Firstly, it's pronounced "gwa-ka-moh-léh" not "gwaka-MOLE" or "gwaka-mo-LEE"...unless you want to sound like a gringo with a bad Spanish accent. Avocados, and guacamole originate from Mexico, so we have the naming rights!

Avos                                        3 big ones

Onion                                      ¼

Garlic                                      2 cloves

Chile                                       1 or 2 pieces

Lemon                                     3 tablespoons

Milk                                         100 ml.

Coarse salt                               1 teaspoon

Coriander                                 a handful (chopped)

Blend everything in the blender (except the coriander) and VOILÁ.

If it happens to you as it happened to me on Sunday, that the coriander hid at the very bottom of the fridge and when it was rescued was all wilted….then just use a teaspoon from a jar of the pre-prepared stuff.  It is real life saver.

Don’t forget the nachos or chips.

Whatever you do, don't use that powdery stuff you can buy at some supermarkets.  Sure, if you like it, use it. But don't ever present that to me as guacamole. That's like substituting cabanossi for boerewors, and still expecting to add it to a braai at any self-respecting Saffa get-together.

 

POZOLE

Deboned pork leg                   1kg

Onion                                     ½

Garlic                                    1 clove

Bay leaves                              2

Oregano                                 1 tablespoon

Black Pepper                          1 tablespoon

Beef stock                              2 tablespoons

Coarse salt                             1 handful

Cacahuasintle Maize                500 grams
                                                       [this is very difficult to come across, but the good
                                                        news is that you can replace it with samp. The
                                                        real deal looks a bit like a tooth, and should be
                                                        about the size of your thumbnail]

For the table:
Shredded lettuce                   3 cups

Finley sliced radishes             10

The chile sauce of your choice... I think habanero is a good one, but don't add too much! Don't use peri-peri, or sweet-and-sour sauce; these will just overpower or deaden the other flavours.

In a large pot dry fry the pork leg until is golden on all sides. Add 1.5 litres of water, salt, the bay leaves, oregano, black pepper and the beef stock cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until is completely cooked. Let it cool down, remove the fat, and shred the meat.

In another pan boil the samp with garlic and onion.  Don't add any salt or it can go tough. Once the samp is cooked take out the onion and the garlic and add the shredded meat and the broth of the meat.

For the table:  Put the sliced radishes, chile sauce, shredded lettuce, some diced onion and oregano in small bowls.  You and your guests can add as much or as little of these to the Pozole as you go.  If you find that you've added too much chili, you can add a little sour cream to your bowl to cool it down.

STRAWBERRY KISSES

Strawberries                           20

Milk                                        ½   cup

Cooking oil                             4 tablespoons

Salt                                        1 teaspoon

Sugar                                      ½ cup

Self rising flour                        1 cup

Eggs                                       2

Ground cinnamon                 6 tablespoons

In the blender mix the milk, oil, salt, eggs, flour and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Wash the strawberries and dip them in the batter.  Fry them in a shallow pan, then roll them gently in  a mix of sugar and cinnamon and serve immediately.

It was a lovely, fun evening. By the end of it we were laughing, singing and having the occasional heated, but good-natured argument. These things tend to happen when we drink tequila. Don't worry, this is just a part of being Latino...

Try it and let me know your results.

Buen provecho!

LOLA