Recipes
The Clean Experiment01.23.11
Crazy Veggie Toss
I’m on a roll. The past week and half, I’ve dedicated myself to cooking and eating “clean”. I figured, it’s the beginning of the year, perfect time to establish new habits, so why not try something different? I was inspired by Clean, a book by Alejandro Junger M.D. (viva Uruguay!), that crossed my path on January 1st (was this a sign or what?). The book focuses on a detox program that promises to heal and clean your body. But it also gives an in-depth explanation about toxins and practical advice to decrease exposure to them in a very clear and descriptive way.
When it comes to detoxes and cleansing, I’m your #1 skeptic. I believe that the body is intelligent enough to activate its natural cleansing functions so I was a little hesitant to even pick up the book. But when my friend JP told me it was written by a fellow Hispanic, I figured I should give him chance. Well, looks like I’m almost done with the book and I’m still not sold on the detox program. Yet, the one thing it has definitely done for me is build my awareness.
As an experiment, I spent the last 10 days cooking as clean and simply as possible, focusing on whole foods whenever possible and going back to basics: lots of fruits and veggies, more seeds and nuts, less animal products, more water. Immediately I noticed a huge difference in my energy. Not only did it soar, but I felt very balanced, both emotionally and physically. I haven’t really deprived myself of anything ( I had some Baklava for dessert!), just have paid more attention on preparing more simple and nourishing foods.
This conscious way of nourishing myself has made me more creative in the kitchen, too. This week, I made everything from roasted beet and carrot salad with thyme and goat cheese to an Italian-inspired kale and white bean soup. I’m devoting myself to the Clean Experiment for the next few weeks. Throughout my journey, I plan to share with you some of the best recipes I come across, in hopes that you too can restore your energy and balance. Happy cooking!
Crazy Veggie Toss Serves 4
1 bunch of Tuscan kale
1 tomato cubed
1 red onion cubed
2 carrots grated
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Herbs: could be thyme, rosemary, or cilantro for a latin kick (get creative!)
Salt
2-3 Sausage (I used a sun-dried tomato and rosemary chicken sausage from Whole Foods) cubed
Parmesan cheese
Stem and devein the kale. Roughly chop and rinse with cold water. Warm the olive oil in a deep pan, add the onion and carrots and heat until soft. Add the sausage and cook until browned. Add the garlic and tomato and cook until soft. Taste for salt. Add the herbs and the kale. Add a splash of liquid (water, broth, wine) until the mixture acquires your desired consistency. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Serve over pasta, chicken or a filet of grilled fish. Top with some grated parmesan cheese. If you want to make it veggie-friendly, just omit the sausage. ¡A tu salud!
Brandy Alexander, it goes down easy12.12.10
Serve your Brandy Alexander in a pretty glass with some cinammon
I was on a mission to find “Latinized” versions of holiday drinks, like the egg nog and mulled cider that now abound in outdoor market around the city. And I found them. In the December issue of the Food Network magazine, a handy guide perfect for adding to your off-line recipe collection featured how-to’s for Hot Dulce de Leche, Mexican Hot Chocolate and Coconut Nog, as well as festive concoctions perfect for warming us up from the inside out (ei. maple chai) and getting us into the spirit with a little bubbly (ei. kir royale).
But this week, as I read through Melissa Clark’s rediscovery of eggnog in the New York Times, I remembered the holiday traditions of my life back home. Along with an arduous fruit cake production that would tie up the kitchen for days, Mom would always be ready to prepare her own decadent interpretation of one of her favorite drinks, the Brandy Alexander. She whipped up this creamy elixir every time she was ready to entertain (which was almost daily). With exuberant gusto she combined condensed milk, evaporated milk, white rum and crème de cacao, blended it with ice and poured the frosty mixture into delicate rose-colored goblets, topping each glass with a sprinkle of cinnamon. The result was a dreamy, creamy drink that is (almost) worthy of replacing dessert. As Feist best puts it in her song, this drink definitely “goes down easy”.
This holiday I invite you to make a batch, bottle it up and give it away as homemade gifts. Or keep it, invite your favorite people over for a drink and celebrate how sweet life can be.
Cora’s Brandy Alexander
1 ½ cans of condensed milk
2 ½ cans of evaporated milk
1 can of white rum
1 can of crème de cacao (or your favorite chocolate liqueur)
powdered cinnamon and/or cinnamon stick
note: use one of the empty cans to measure the rum and liqueur
Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Blend with ice or mix in a cocktail shaker. You can also serve without the ice. Top with cinnamon. Enjoy!
It’s Ceviche Time!11.22.10
Succulent shrimp and fresh avocados
It was time for Sunday supper in NYC.
The seafood had been chilling in the fridge, soaking up the flavors of a clear, citrus broth. This was my first attempt at preparing ceviche, the classic dish of cured seafood from the kitchens of Peru and Ecuador, and judging from the delicate flavors and textures it yielded, it would definitely not be my last. I caught the last wave of local tomatoes, dicing their bright red flesh and piling them over the succulent seafood that had been marinating for a couple of hours. On top of those juicy cubes, I added crunchy bits of green pepper, finely chopped slivers of white onion, and fragrant cilantro and parsley that turned out to look a lot like kitchen confetti.
We laid out small bowls throughout the dining table, each one filled with thinly sliced plantains, airy popcorn and chunks of crusty French bread. All these garnishes would create a symphony of textures to accompany the cool, clean dish. We bit into the plump pink shrimp, nibbled delicately on the silky mussels and popped the morsels of scallops and miniature clams into our mouths. We sipped on cold white wine, while talking and laughing.
That afternoon I had visited the food markets of the Upper West Side, and after getting home, I turned to The South American Table cookbook for guidance. The result was a light and flavorful meal: the orange and mustard in the marinade gave the seafood a sweet and tangy note, the toppings gave it crunch and a lemony freshness. The different garnishes added an interactive component that was a hit.
This weekend, a hint of Spring was in the air. It was time to venture into something new.
Shellfish Ceviche Serves 6 (I served it as a meal, but you can also make it as an appetizer at your next dinner party)
4 cups water
1 scallion, sliced
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ lb. bay scallops
¼ cup dry white wine
1 lb. mussels, scrubbed and deveined
16 baby clams
MARINADE
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice
2/3 cup orange juice
½ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Hot sauce
GARNISHES
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped, rinsed with hot water and drained
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
SIDE DISHES
Popcorn, plantain chips (chifles), French bread, ripe avocado
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large saucepan, bring water and scallions to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add shrimp, remove from heat and let stand for a few seconds until the shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp and rinse under cold water.
Add scallops to the cooking liquid and bring back to boil. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 3 minutes. Once scallops are cooked through (their center should be white), drain and rinse under cold water.
Place wine, mussels and clams in large skillet and bring to boil. Cover and continue to boil until shells are open, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove clams ad mussels from their shells.
Make marinade by combining all the ingredients in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Stir in shrimp, scallops, mussels and clams. Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Before serving, taste for salt, sugar and spice. Serve with garnishes and side dishes.
Foodie Event @ NYC’s Chelsea Market11.14.10
Foodie Event @Chelsea Market from Karina Taveras on Vimeo.
This month, I had the chance to shoot and produce my first video, and cover a Book Launch and Tasting Event at NYC’s mouth-watering Chelsea Market. Twenty-five chefs from all over New York City came together to show off their stuff, choosing one recipe from The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser that hit bookstores, and giving each recipe their own unique twist. The event was a blast! The chefs were incredibly warm and passionate about their creations, while the guests were devoted followers of the gastro scene in NYC.
I also had a chance to speak to Sisha Ortuzar, a young talented chef from Chile who heads the kitchen in New York’s Riverpark. He talked to me about the spicy shrimp dish he served that night: a take on a classic Pickled Shrimp recipe that he pickled in spice and topped with a brittle made from the same spices he used in the pickling process–coriander, caraway and fennel seeds.
Sara’s Oatmeal11.07.10
Ripe mango, unsweetened coconut flakes and silky dulce de leche
When it comes to oatmeal, I’m all peace and love. I welcome all kinds of oats into my pantry, I don’t discriminate. Sometimes it’s steel cut oats that grace my breakfast table with their texture and nuttiness, leaving their chewy remnants on my copper pot; other times instant is best (especially on dark mornings when my cool sheets hold me captive and I end up rushing out the door in a frenzy). One thing is for sure, though, when it comes to oatmeal, simple is best (none of that peaches and cream, maple and brown sugar stuff). Using plain oats lets me dress up my bowl in a different “outfit” every day. Because my oatmeal, like me, thrives on variety, one day it’ll be a conservative affair, with cinnamon, dollops of honey and a few scattered raisins; and another it’ll be a wild child, spiked with mango, coconut flakes, granola and drizzled with dulce de leche.
Whether you’re an oatmeal virgin or oatmeal pro, here’s a latin-ized interpretation to put a smile on your face and keep you going straight into Spring.
Sara’s Oatmeal
makes 2 servings
1 cup of oats (preferably quick cook)
2 cups of liquid (milk, water or a mixture of both)
cinnamon
1 banana
1 mango
coconut flakes
granola
dulce de leche
Heat liquid and oats in pot to a boil. Meanwhile, slice half of the banana into very thin slivers (this will give your oats a creamy consistency, I picked up this technique at a favorite blog I follow here), and add to pot once it starts to boil. Now, stir mixture briskly with a wooden spoon, until all of the fruit has dissolved into the oats. If you like your oatmeal thicker, cook a few more minutes or remove from heat now. Add your toppings.
Watercress Salad Video07.26.09
Hi friends!
I’m excited to share with you the first Latinfoodie Video Blog. Go ahead and tell me what you think, and look out for our next webisode. We’ll continue to feature delicious recipes from kitchens all over Latin America.
¡Buen provecho!
Sip Your Cherries06.29.09
Rainier cherries for the cooler
It’s been a wet summer. The sun came out today first time this week. I packed a tote and ran to the park, trying to beat the rain. Now I lay here and feel it on my arms, along with ripened mulberries that fall around me like confetti. Above me a squirrel feasts away. On days like these, I crave something sunny and bright to lift me up and take me back to the sticky summers in the Dominican Republic, playing outside the whole day and cooling off with a vigorous dip in the neighborhood pool. It also reminds me of fruit from home: guanábana –soursop– green and spiky with white creamy flesh, mangoes from Baní bright and sweet as candy, cherries, tiny tart and tangy that we used to blend into juice. Inspired by care-free days and Mexican Aguas Frescas(refreshing drinks of fruit and water), I’ve taken plump Rainier cherries bursting with antioxidants and vitamin C, and prepared something that cools you off and lifts you up, perfect for those rainy summer days.
Cherry Cooler
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of cherries (your favorite kind will do)
- 2 cups of drinking water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ice
Preparation:
Pit cherries(I smash them with the side of a knife and pull the pits out). Blend with water and sugar. Pass through strainer to remove skin. Pour over a glass full of ice. Cheers!
Puerto Rican Soul06.07.09
Some of the ingredients for the sofrito
To celebrate the Latin American spirit on Capitol Hill, infuse your dishes with a Caribbean kick. Try sofrito, the secret to the aromatic, flavorful cuisine from Puerto Rico. Sofrito resembles the holy trinity of Italian cuisine(onion, carrot, celery) in that it is the beginning of many dishes, but adds cilantro and culantro, herbs evocative of Latin America kitchens. Sofrito, also known as recaíto, is the essence of Puerto Rican cuisine: from stews to rice to casseroles, it imparts the complex flavors that characterizes much of this Caribbean fare–warm, aromatic, pungent and fruity.
In search of an authentic sofrito recipe, I made my way up to La Fonda Boricua, a Puerto Rican institution located in the heart of El Barrio in East Harlem. Here I ordered a dish of stewed goat (chivo guisado) and rice with pigeon peas(arroz con güandules) with an avocado salad. The meat, to my dismay, was tough and excessively gamey, but its sauce was vibrant and perfumed with herbs and peppers, rounding out the nuttiness of the rice with its sweetness.
Jorge Ayala, chef of La Fonda has shared his recipe of sofrito. Use it as a marinade for your favorite chicken or rice dishes, or any time you want to vary the flavors of your homemade meal.
Sofrito(from Jorge Ayala of La Fonda Boricua)
1 cup chopped white onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped red pepper
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup culantro leaves
Blend all ingredients and add to ice tray. Freeze and use one cube per dish.
We meet again05.01.09
Watercress and warm potato salad
At home, we call it berro. I remember my Mom snacking on it happily, trying to convince me to try it by raving about how nutritious it was. I would nibble on a stem and spit it out, my 10-year old palate tortured by its bitter bite.
Fast forward 20 years and inspired by this memory of youth, I find myself ordering it at Libertador, an Argentinian parrillada restaurant in the neighborhood that opened its doors a few weeks ago, bravely emerging in the midst of it all. It is a warm airy space with an open kitchen where the chef skillfully grills classic cuts of Argentinian beef like lomo, entraña and bife.
During my visit, before indulging in a tender yet beautifully charred skirt steak, I dug into a watercress salad dressed with garlic. The sweetness of the garlic was a successful balance to the pungency of the green; however, its quantity weighed down the leaves, turning the dish into an edible guard against vampires.
Coming home a bit discouraged but bitten by the watercress bug, I rummaged through my cookbooks and found a delicious way to incorporate this ingredient into a simple dish that takes me back, yet settles me into the present with its refreshing yet comforting flavors.
Watercress and warm potato salad (adapted from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook)
12 small creamer potatoes scrubbed
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
sugar
1/2 lemon with zest grated
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 bunch watercress with hard parts trimmed off
Season potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until golden at 375C(about 45 min.) In a bowl, combine lemon juice, zest, olive oil, vinegar, sprinkles of salt and sugar. Let rest until potatoes are done. Add potatoes to watercress and season with dressing.
A Taste of Passion04.02.09
Passiflora edulis in Latin, Chinola in Dominican, Maracujá in Portuguese. It’s a wonder that the unique passion fruit has so many identities, although its essence remains the same: tangy, sweet, pulpy and dotted with seeds, which can make it a challenge to eat, but in its different manifestations, becomes a pleasure. Its pungent fragrance reminds me of lazy summers in the D.R.. Tall icy glasses of its juice would wait for me as I came in from playing in the yard, sweaty and giddy and craving refreshment. As colorful as America’s beloved Sunny D, my Chinola juice would quench my thirst with its bright and summery punch.
I found it once again years later and miles away from home, on a trip to Brazil. Actually, it found me; mixed with the local cachaca to create an exotic version of the caipirinha. It became our signature drink, setting the stage many evenings, with a memorable one spent at a local posada where we indulged in a banquet of local dishes laid out over banana leaves in the middle of the rain forest. It paired exquisitely with the coconut-spiked moquecas and spicy chicken stews, luring us into a happy buoyant surreality until the sun and moon both shared the sky.
Then, once again, a few weekends ago, it reappeared. Here on the 22nd floor of a New York City apartment. It lit up our evening and arrived at our party dressed as a mousse. It was silky luscious creamy and evoked the scent of somewhere lush and warm, which, along with the jokes and friendly chatter, it comforted us from the city’s gray cold.
So I bring you today, in an ode to passion, a quick and easy rendition of passionfruit mousse.
Ingredients:
1 can of condensed milk
1 can of “creme de leite”
80% of the same can measurement of passion fruit juice
Blend and place in a bowl. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm. Garnish with mint leaves or some fruit syrup.
Food For Thought