Sopa de Quinua con Queso (Quinoa and Cheese Soup)

July 28, 2008 | Filed Under Cheese, Guest Bloggers, Quinoa, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos, South American Cuisine | 38 Comments

Please help me welcome guest blogger, Layla of Laylita’s Recipes. Thank you, Layla, for being here!

Paz

This is my first time as a guest blogger and I’m very happy that it is for Paz, who has been one of the warmest and friendliest people I’ve met since I started my food blog. I wanted to make something that I would make for her if I lived nearby and could bring it over to help her recover, too bad Seattle is kind of far away from NY, so I made a quinoa and cheese soup that is both tasty and healthy. Soup is the answer to all problems, at least that’s the way it seemed when I was growing up in Ecuador: you’re not feeling too well? Eat your soup. You want to get bigger, taller, skinnier, smarter, etc? Eat your soup. You want dessert? Eat your soup. You want to go outside and play? Eat your soup. You would think I would have ended up hating soups, but I actually really enjoy a good bowl of soup, it’s one of those things that I crave when I’m feeling sick and wish my mom lived next door –instead of 4,500 miles away –so that she could make me some homemade soup.

The first step to making a good soup is the refrito, also known as sofrito, which is the base of the soup, it consists of heating oil or butter –or sometimes lard – and adding onions, garlic, tomatoes (peppers, celery and other vegetables can also be added depending on the soup) along with the spices and seasonings you will use for the soup, I almost always add ground cumin and achiote or annatto powder to my refrito, for this quinoa and cheese soup I also added some dry oregano and ground coriander seeds (which are seeds from the cilantro plant that have been dried). This soup has quinoa - which is healthy and all of that good stuff, but what I like about quinoa is the texture, I love the way the little seeds pop in your mouth -, as well as potatoes, cheese and cilantro, which remind a lot of another delicious soup called locro de papas. Whenever I make a soup that has potatoes in it, I like to add the potatoes to the refrito and let them cook for just a few minutes so that they get just a little bit browned and then add the water or broth. I used queso fresco, which is fresh Mexican cheese that you can find in most supermarkets, but you can also use feta cheese instead, feta is a little bit more salty so adjust the salt according to your preference; and like many other Ecuadorian soups I serve this one with some diced avocado and hot sauce on the side.

Paz, thank you for this opportunity and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Sopa de Quinua con Queso (Quinoa and Cheese Soup)

Laylita’s Recipes

Ingredients:

2 tbs olive oil

2 cups diced white onion, about 1 large onion

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped finely

½ tsp cumin

¼ tsp achiote powder

1 tsp dry oregano

¼ tsp ground coriander

5-6 potatoes, peeled and cut in small chunks

1 cup uncooked quinoa, pre-washed

8 cups water or broth

1 cup milk

2 cups grated or crumbled queso fresco, can use feta cheese

4 tbs finely chopped cilantro or parsley to garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Sides – avocado and hot sauce

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan, add the onions, garlic, tomato, cumin, achiote, oregano, coriander, salt and pepper, mix well and cook until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes.

2. Add the chopped potatoes, stir them well to coat them with onions and spices and cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the water or broth, bring to a boil.

4. Add the uncooked quinoa, reduce the temperature and simmer until the quinoa and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.

5. Add the milk and cheese, stir and cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Add the chopped cilantro or parsley, taste and add additional salt/pepper if needed.

7. Serve warm with diced or sliced avocado and hot sauce.

New York Monday #133: The Window

July 27, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 9 Comments

From the archives:

A first-floor apartment window of a building on Riverside Drive, a boulevard on the West Side. I think the flowers certainly brightens up this window with bars. Happy week, all!

Paz

The Three Pazes

July 21, 2008 | Filed Under Baking | 29 Comments

As I recuperate from surgery, please help me welcome our first guest blogger, Mischief Mari of Cha No Ma-ri. Thanks, Mari! To see other cookies Mari has made for me, look here and here.

Paz

I did it. I tricked Paz into showing herself to the world.

If you have been a regular reader of our beloved Paz’s cooking adventures, you’re probably aware of the fact that she is not enamored with the idea of revealing what she looks like. I have seen numerous comments on her Monday New York photos from readers hinting that a photo of herself in the city would be highly desirable. And each time, she has either politely disregarded those requests or outright refused.

Lucky for you Paz admirers today!

I thought it might be interesting to design a cookie with her silhouette on it. Through an email in which I expressed my deep admiration and regard for our Lady Paz, I tried to convince her to send me a photo of herself. Not surprisingly, she was reluctant. “I look horrible. I don’t want to take my photo. Do I really have to?” she protested. But I persevered. “I want to immortalize you in a cookie,” was my reply.

I was pleasantly surprised, when, in less than a day, I received a photo of her which confirmed what I knew already: she’s lovely!

Making a silhouette cookie is very easy. I opened Paz’s photograph in Photoshop, desaturated it to transform it into a black-and-white picture, ratcheted up the contrast, resized it to about 2.5 square inches and printed it out. I traced her outline onto a piece of thick plastic and carefully cut it out to create a stencil.

After baking these large sugar cookies, I first covered them with a base layer of white icing. Once the base was dry, I placed the stencil over the cookie, and using an offset spatula, wiped a layer of stiff black icing over the top. I gently pulled the stencil off, and there was Paz. The details on each cookie were hand-piped.

If you want to try this yourself, I have a more detailed tutorial at my website (http://mischiefmari.com/jane_austen_teapot_cookie_howto.html).

I’ve never met Chef Paz in person. But as I’ve gotten to know her through our blogs and email, I believe that this combination of decorated silhouette cookies and Maida Heatter’s ‘Positively-the-Absolutely Best Chocolate Chip Cookies’ captures the essence of what I believe is Paz: casually elegant.

Thank you Paz, for letting me fill in this week.

Maida Heatter’s ‘Positively-the-Absolutely Best Chocolate Chip Cookies’

(from Maida Heatter’s Brand-New Book of Great Cookies)

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract [2 teaspoons]

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 eggs graded “large”

2 1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon hot water

8 ounces (2 generous cups) walnuts, broken into medium-sized pieces

12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate morsels [16 ounces semisweet

or bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces]

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or with aluminum foil, shiny side up. In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until soft. Add the salt, vanilla, and both sugars and beat to mix. Add the eggs and beat to mix. On low speed add about half the flour and, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, beat until incorporated. In a small cup stir the baking soda into the hot water, then mix into the dough. Add the remaining flour and beat only until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in the walnuts and the chocolate. Spread out a large piece of aluminum foil next to the sink. Use a rounded tablespoonful of the dough for each cookie and place the mounds any which way on the foil. Then wet your hands with cold water, shake off excess, but do not dry your hands. Pick up a mound of dough and roll it between your wet hands into a ball, then press it between your hands to flatten it to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Place the cookies on the lined sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake two sheets at a time, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back as necessary to ensure even browning. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are browned all over. (If you bake one sheet alone, bake

it on the upper rack.) The cookies must be crisp; do not underbake. Let the cookies stand for a few seconds, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Note: If you use 16 ounces of chocolate (see introduction to recipe) you will think it is too much to be incorporated into the dough. Just be patient. It’s not too much.

P.S. I was told that this is a big secret. Mrs. Fields refrigerates her chocolate chip cookie dough before shaping and baking. (Actually, Ruth Wakefield, who created this recipe at Toll House, did also.) The dough should be cold when the cookies go into the oven. I tried it. It’s great. The cookies have a much nicer and more even golden brown color.

New York Monday #132: Orchids for You!

July 20, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 12 Comments

From the archives:

While I’m recuperating from surgery, I’ll be posting photos from my archives. This Moth Orchid was placed on the sidewalk next to a bike. No one really paid any attention to it, but it immediately caught my eye. Have a great week, all and thanks so much for your kind comments and well wishes for my recovery. It’s much appreciated.

Paz

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa

July 14, 2008 | Filed Under Avocado Salsa, Avocados, Fellow Bloggers, Fruits, Laylita's Recipes, Salmon, Seafood, South American Cuisine, Vinaigrettes/Salsas/Sauces | 16 Comments

I love fish, especially salmon. Funny thing: I pronounce salmon, SAL-MON. I notice Americans pronounce it SA-MON. They leave the "L" out. So, when I say SAL-MON, they look at me funny. LOL! I’m not sure where or how I learned to prounonce it that way but that’s the way I do. Anyway, whichever way it’s pronounced, I love this fish and when I saw the recipe for Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa (and a photo of the meal — please, please check out Laylita’s enticing photo.), I couldn’t resist making it. Actually, the Avocado Salsa is what got me. I’d never before heard of anything like that to eat with salmon.

The next day after work, I bought the ingredients and set out to prepare it for dinner. Regular readers know by now that I love simple and easy-to-make meals. This is definitely one. Oh, and another enticing factor about this recipe is that it has cilantro. Hello!? Cilantro! Again, regular readers know that cilantro is my all-time favorite fresh herb. Yes!

Laylita’s recipe calls for the cilantro to be finely chopped. Umm… I didn’t really do that and I clearly added more than the 2 Tbs of cilantro. Next time, I’ll try to follow the recipe better.

The salsa was very easy to put together. No problem.

I got out my grill pan and prepared the salmon. My dogs LOVE fish and started getting excited about the aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Layla suggests the side dish of Ecuadorian rice and or Patacones (thick fried green plantains) to go with the Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa. A third thing regular readers know about me, by now, is that I HEART plantain. I didn’t have any plantain at home, so I ate my salmon and avocado salsa with rice. That was good enough. It was mouthwatering delicious. I loved my meal. I loved the Avocado salsa, which was new and different to me. It sort of had a tangy taste, which enhanced the grilled salmon that had been marinated in salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onions and black pepper. Let me tell you, it tasted so good. I normally only use salt and black pepper when preparing my salmon, so these spices were an added treat to use on the salmon.

The next day, I had some leftover salmon and salsa, so I had it again for dinner. This time I’d bought some yellow (ripe) plantain (kelewele — see photo here), which I fried and ate with the fish. Oh, how I enjoyed my dinner even more. I can’t wait to make this dish again. Thank you, Laylita!

In the meantime, I’m scheduled to have surgery this week –Tuesday. The recovery time is a bit long, so I won’t be able to post any food posts for a while. Some awesome food bloggers have agreed to guest blog for me while I’m recuperating. I’m really excited to see what they have planned for us. I thank my guest bloggers in advance for their kindness. You won’t see me on your blogs for a while but I plan on stopping by as soon as I can.

So see you soon on the blogs and don’t forget to come back here next Tuesday to find out about our first guest blogger.

Best,

Paz

GRILLED SALMON WITH AVOCADO SALSA

Laylita’s Recipes

Ingredients (for 4 people):

2lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

Avocado Salsa

1 avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced

1 small red onion, sliced

3 mild hot peppers, seeded and deveined, diced or sliced

Juice from 2 limes

3 tbs olive oil

2 tbs finely chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Suggested sides — Rice (rice Ecuadorian style)and patacones (thick fried green plantains)

Preparation:

1. Mix the salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this seasoning mix, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the grill.

3. Combine the avocado, onion, hot peppers, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.

4. Grill the salmon to desired donesness.

5. Serve the salmon topped with the avocado salsa, and with rice and patacones or thick green plantain chips on the side.

New York Monday #131: Yogurt, Anyone?

July 13, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 16 Comments

Yup! You can find anyone or anything on the streets of New York. I came across these modern-day Spartans on Central Park West. Actually, they are young men hired to promote Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt (a Stonyfield Farm product). Have any of you tried their yogurt before? I’ve never heard of this particular brand of Greek yogurt before. Such handsome Spartans, how can I resist? I’m going to go buy the yogurt.

Happy Monday, all! Have a great week.

Paz

Mango and Feta Salad

July 7, 2008 | Filed Under Basil, Cheese, Fellow Bloggers, Feta Cheese, Fruits, Herbs, Mangoes, Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, Salad | 22 Comments

My number one favorite fruit is a mango (Cherries come next, then guavas…). Laurie from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska recently featured a Mango and Feta Salad on her blog. What an excellent salad for the summer. The mango and basil taste cool and sweet, while the feta cheese lends a salty taste. It’s a winning combination and so easy to throw together. I’ve made this salad several times now. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. Thanks, Laurie!

Paz

Mango and Feta Salad

Serves 1 as a meal and 2 as a side salad

Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska

1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1/4 cup crumbled feta

1 tsp minced basil

1 Tbsp. best quality olive oil

Sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Lightly toss the mango, feta, basil, and olive oil together. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.

New York Monday #130: Take a Load Off!

July 6, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 6 Comments

Any time of the day (or night), you can stop and rest on one of the many benches you’ll find throughout the city. This bench is located in Harlem on Broadway. If it’s a nice day, people will enjoy the weather while sitting on the bench. Others will read books or newspapers, while others prefer to people watch. You may see an occasional pigeon or sparrow or two using the bench, too.

New York greetings,

Paz