Caldo de Res (Mexican Beef Stew)

Delving deeper into my authentic Mexican recipe repertoire, we find another very popular soup that I serve quite often. Caldo de res is a great crowd pleaser; it is very easy to make enough for a large number of people without having to do so much work. This soup is not at all spicy and is very versatile. In addition to or in substitute of any of the vegetables that I used in the recipe, you can use any of your favorite vegetables. I have also used cabbage, mushrooms, garbanzo beans, yucca, and some people even add a little bit of hominy. People from El Salvador add in plantains. In order to successfully use plantains in this soup, you must cut them into 1 inch pieces and leave the peel on. The person eating the soup would then need to fish out the plantain and peel it in order to eat it. This is perfectly fine in Hispanic cultures as many soups and stews are made with bone in meat and other vegetables or seafood that must be deboned or peeled. That is why many soups in the Hispanic culture are served with tortillas; the tortillas are used to handle the items in the soup that must be peeled or deboned.

I normally use roast beef without a bone for this recipe. Today I used stew beef because it was on sale. But I have also used chuck roast and other types of roast beef. The key to having tender, falling apart meat is cooking it low and long. In other words over low heat for a long time. You can even cook the meat in the slow cooker and then transfer to a soup pot when you're ready to do the vegetables. It's a good tip for on the run cooking. Let's get started:

Here is what you will need:
4 pounds stew beef or a 4 pound roast beef (look for red, marbled meat)
1 large onion, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 potatoes , peeled and roughly chopped
2 Chayote squash , peeled and roughly chopped
2 Mexican zucchinis , roughly chopped
6 ears niblet corn on the cob
10 to 12 tortillas
Salsa verde (recipe below)

Cilantro and onion, chopped for garnish

Lime wedges

In a soup pot over medium high heat,  bring the beef and the onion to a boil in plenty of water . Once it has come to a boil, let it simmer on medium low heat for about 2 hours minimum. I usually put the lid on the pot crooked so that its not completely covering the pot.

When the meat is very tender and falling apart, remove all of the onion with a slotted spoon. Now it is time to add the vegetables. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a slow boil. Cook until the vegetables are tender.

Serve with warm tortillas and salsa verde. Provide chopped onion and cilantro to sprinkle over the top of the soup. Also lime wedges should be available for those who enjoy a spritz of lime juice in their soup.

Hints and tips:
1. The chayote squash should be fairly easy to find. If it is not you can just add in more potatoes if you would like. The squash has a core in the center which you can take out if you like , but I just leave it in because it softens up quite well in the soup. It does however need to be peeled.

2. If you cannot find Mexican zucchini, you can just use regular zucchini. They taste about the same. Just like zucchini, this vegetable does not need to be peeled but it does need to have the ends cut off.

3. You can use corn or flour tortillas, but it is most common to use corn tortillas. To heat these you can use a Comal or just a regular non-stick pan heated over medium low heat. The comal simply adds to convenience of being able to heat up more tortillas at a time. You can get comal at just about any Mexican store or flea market. For my local readers, I got mine at Pendergrass flea market. To keep the tortillas warm, you can wrap them in a cloth napkin or in aluminum foil. If you serve tortillas often, you can also get a tortillera (tortilla keeper) which is just basically a container in which you put a cloth napkin to wrap the tortillas in and serve them.(see photo below)

When eating, you can either roll your tortilla and take a bite of it along with your soup, or you can fish out some of the beef and eat it on the tortilla with salsa verde as a taco.

4. When I made my salsa verde, I did not feel like doing the picture thing for the blog so I apologize for not having a real blog entry for this. But it is quite simple:

Here is what you will need:
5 tomatillos with husks removed
1 medium jalapeno, stem removed
1 small onion, chopped
A few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
A small clove of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 Hass avocado, optional

Just add the tomatillos and 1 medium jalapeno pepper to a half pot of water. Boil until the tomatillos and jalapenos are soft. Add these into a blender with a small chopped onion, a few sprigs of cilantro finely chopped, a small clove of garlic chopped, and a teaspoon of salt. Blend to a nice puree. In order to make this authentic guacamole , just use a fork to mash up a avocado into the Salsa. Whether you add the avocado or not, this salsa is a very good addition to this meal.

Kitchen Humor

Some of my kitchen humor just for kicks. Can you relate to any of this?

Homemade Caramel Apples

I would say that I tried out several different recipes in search of the perfect one, but actually this is the first one I tried and it turned out really good. These caramel apples were much easier to make than the candied apples that I made earlier this week. They are also, in my opinion, tastier and easier to eat. However, if you have any dental work you may want to reconsider! This recipe is rather easy to make and easy to clean up after following the easy tips that I will be including. I actually enjoyed making these!

Here is what you will need:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
 2 cups packed brown sugar
 1 cup light corn syrup
 Dash of salt
 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 popsicle sticks
8 medium apples, washed, dried, and destemmed

Destem all of the clean apples and make sure you get all the stickers off that come from the grocery store. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

So pretty much all you do here is combine all of the ingredients, except the apples and the sticks of course, and bring it to a boil over medium low heat. You'll want to use a heavy pan like stainless steel. This will need to be stirred constantly. 

Tip: If you use a stainless steel spoon to stir with, you can simply dip it into boiling water when you're finished and wipe it clean with no problem.

Using a candy thermometer, watch until the mixture comes up to 245 degrees which is softball. Make sure the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pan. This will take about a half hour and yes you do need to stir it the whole time. As the caramel reaches the correct temperature, you will notice a change in the color. It will begin to get darker as you can see in this photo:

When the caramal is up to the correct temperature, work quickly dipping the apples and rolling them in the caramal. I don't turn the heat off until I'm almost done with only a few apples left to go. In my experience if you turn the heat off too soon the coolness of the apples will begin to cool down the caramal and you will not be able to get the last apples fully coated. Just be careful not to let the caramel burn. I used my stainless steel spoon to help coat the entire apple getting caremal up on the top part. If you want to dip these and nuts or sprinkles now is the time to do it.

When they are coated, set them on a tin foil lined baking sheet to cool. Mine turned out a little ugly. So when they were cool enough to handle, I smoothed them out with my hands covering the areas that lacked caramel and smoothing out any ugly places. (This is what you have to do with the store bought wraps anyway.)

Tip: For easy cleanup, simply boil water in the pan in which you cooked the caramel. As the water comes to a boil, grab a toothbrush and just scrub away all of the caramel as it begins to get soft. Then you just pour it out and your pan is all clean. Please note that my toothbrush has never melted in the hot water. I cannot guarantee that yours will not melt though! o_O

Now, since you have been really good and you have tried a recipe from Mel's Kitchen Adventures, you get a special treat! You get the privilege of eating any of the leftover caramel! If there's any left in the pan just lay it out onto the tin foil and let it sit for a little while. Don't let it cool off all the way just eat it as soon as it cool enough to eat. I have a guilty confession: I put a glob of leftover caramal into my cup of coffee! I then enjoyed a marvelous caramel latte! :-P

Saffron and Toasted Almond Fried Rice

This rice is amazing and is perfect for pairing with fish and chicken especially, but would be a good side dish for just about any meal. Although it is a fried rice, it is not Asian influenced.It is, however, delicious and versatile.

Here is what you will need:
1 TBSP cooking oil
1 cup rice
1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup almonds

2 cups water

1 cube chicken bouillon
1 tsp saffron
1 can mixed vegetables, drained
2 eggs

Heat 1 tablespoon of your favorite cooking oil in a heavy pan. Saute the onions and garlic over medium low heat until they begin to turn translucent.

Add in the rice and almonds. Saute until the rice and almonds begin to toast.

Meanwhile, dissolve the bouillon into 2 cups of water. Add in the saffron. When rice and almonds are toasty and fragrant, add in the mixed vegetables and the bouillon saffron water.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.Remove the lid and make a hole in the rice right in the middle of the pan. Crack the eggs into the hole and begin to scramble them. When egg is completely scrambled, stir into the rice.

Makes enough for 4 people.

Milanesa (Mexican Breaded Steaks)

This is an authentic Mexican recipe that I got from my mother-in-law. My husband loves these steaks. His mother served them with mashed potatoes and a salad of lettuce and cucumbers dressed with lime juice and salt. You can also make some killer Milanesa sandwiches topped with refried beans, lettuce, queso fresco, tomato, jalapenos, and mexican cream, which is something that is on many menus at Mexican restaurants.

Here is what you will need:
1/2 cup cooking oil
3 thin steaks
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy pan. While waiting for the oil to heat, sprinkle each steak with salt and pepper. Pound out the steaks until they are super thin.

Dredge each steak in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Put each steak directly in the hot oil. Don't prepare the steaks until you are ready to fry them as this will make the breadcrumbs soggy.

Depending on how big your steaks are, you may need to do one at a time. Cook until brown on each side, approximately 4 minutes per side.
Remove the steaks to a plate lined with paper towels. This makes enough for three people.

Grape and Asian Pear Slaw Salad

This delicious and fruity slaw salad is great for accompanying fish. For a healthier version you can substitute the mayo for plain Greek yogurt.

Here is what you'll need:
2 cups Shredded Cabbage
1 Asian Pear, chopped
1 small carrot, grated
6 radishes, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 cup grapes, quartered
1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped pecans
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp celery salt

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, Asian pear, carrot, radishes, celery, grapes, and nuts. Add in the mayo and sprinkle the celery salt over the entire salad. Mix well.

French Onion Chipotle Fish

This is the best fish recipe I have come up with so far. This time I fried the fish but it can also be baked. Please note if you bake the fish instead of frying it, you will have to turn the fish halfway through cooking. It should be cooked on 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Additionally, I used flounder fillets in this recipe, but you can also use tilapia.

Here is what you will need:
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 pound flounder fillets
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch chipotle dipping sauce
1/2 mayonnaise
1 pack onion soup mix

Heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan not prone to sticking. I used red palm canola oil because it is a healthier option. However you can use any kind of cooking oil. 

While the oil is heating, make and assembly line for the fish. Pour the breadcrumbs into a large shallow bowl and whisk together. Into another large shallow bowl, combine the mayo, Chipotle dip, and onion soup mix. 

Make sure the cooking oil is hot. Coat one piece of fish with the mayonnaise mixture, and then completely cover the fish and bread crumbs. Put this directly into the hot oil. Do not prepare the fish before you are ready to fry as this will cause the breadcrumbs to become mushy.
Fry fish until completely done on each side, probably about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.