Chopped cilantro and onions — part of the ingredients to make sofrito.

I’m not so crazy about turkey.  The only part of the turkey I like LOVE is the wings.  Yeah, I love turkey wings and that’s it.  For a long time, I’d just sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil on the wings before putting them in the oven.  That was it for me.  Then family friend, Helin  mentioned how she usually prepares her turkey.  Intrigued, I decided to try her method on my wings.  It sounded so easy and the added enticement was that I could use the same recipe when preparing chicken, too. 

First she made her version (Honduran) of sofrito.  For those new to sofrito, it’s basically a flavorful sauce, freshly made and added to meats, poultry (in this case turkey), stews and sauces.  It’s used in different types of cuisines, such as Latin, Spanish, Mediterranean and more.  Ever since I made my first sofrito a few years ago, I’ve learned that there are different types of sofrito.  

Helin’s sofrito was simple and consisted of 5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 bunch of cilantro, 1/2 bunch of culantro, 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, water and apple cider vinegar, which was then mixed in the blender.

Sofrito prepared in the blender

Next, she carefully cleaned and washed the turkey, making sure to remove stray feathers.  I confess that I was never that thorough when preparing any type of poultry.  Then Helin rinsed the wings with fresh lemon juice and water.  I’d never seen it done that way before but she said that’s what she does to help get rid of the bacteria.  Another confession:  I normally just wash with cold water and call it a day.   Well, I’ve learned something new now.

Next we seasoned the turkey with Adobo, Sazón with coriander and annatto and covered the wings with the freshly-made sofrito (The wings could also be marinated a few hours in the sofrito.).  Helin said that when she prepares a whole turkey, she pokes holes into it so the the sofrito seeps into the turkey and flavors it more.

Turkey wings covered with sofrito before going into the oven.

We covered the wings with foil and place them in the oven.  After 40 minutes, we removed the foil and left the wings in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.  Uncovered, we spooned the juices/gravy over the wings.

When ready, the turkey came out full of flavor and very tasty.

A few days later, I tried the same method with chicken pieces.  Again, I wasn’t disappointed.  Delicious.

Paz (very happy)

Three remaining pieces of turkey wings after everyone served themselves.

 
Last week, I wrote about Laylita’s Baked Plaintain with Cheese recipe, which I served with Aji Criollo, an Ecuadorian hot sauce/salsa.  The hot sauce adds a bite to the dish served. 

For those of you who like their foods hot, this is a hot sauce for you. For those who don’t like or can’t eat spicy, just look at the photo.  It’s good and hot and not for the faint of heart, or should I say it’s not for the faint of tongue.   You use hot peppers like serranos, jalapenos or habaneros.  I chose serranos, which turned out perfect for me.  You can also make make the hot sauce a little milder by removing the membranes and the seeds.  Of course, I left them in.  Of course.

What I loved about this hot sauce is that I could taste the freshness of all the ingredients — the hot peppers, the cilantro (cilantro!), the garlic, lime and onions.  It certainly beat the store-bought, preservative-filled bottle of hot sauce any day.  I also loved that this hot sauce was easy to make.  I simply put the ingredients together in the blender and I was practically done.

According to Laylita, it’s better to finish the hot sauce the same day but it can last up to 3 days.  It lasted less than a day and a half in my house.  Everyone loved this hot sauce with the baked plantain and used it to eat with other foods the next day.  I won’t say who specifically because I do not want to get in trouble, but I spied someone lifting their plate and licking the remnants of the hot sauce clean from it.  LOL! 

Yeah, it was that good (and hot!).

Oh by the way, did you know that if you eat something that’s too hot for you, you’re not supposed to drink water.  That does nothing to lessen the burning of your tongue.  Instead, you’re supposed eat a piece of bread.  I’ve actually tried it before and found that it does indeed work.

Thanks for the recipe, Laylita!

Paz

Ed. Note:  In the post, I mentioned one way to cool down your mouth/tongue after eating something hot (eating a slice of bread).  In the comments section, Sra of When My Soup Came Alive added some suggestions — According to her aunt, milk is "supposed to help".  On the other hand, Sra has found that drinking hot water "helps" her.

Pia of Serendipity, Synchronicity and Saffron writes that a tomato slice "works wonders".

If you have any tips on how to lessen the heat of a spicy food after taking a bite, please share with us.

Aji Criollo (Ecuadorian Hot Sauce) served with Baked Plantain with Cheese

Aji Criollo (Ecuadorian Hot Sauce)

Laylita’s Recipes

Ingredients:

4 ajies or hot peppers (jalapenos, serranos and habaneros are good replacements)

1/2 bunch of cilantro (stems and leaves)

1/2 cup of water

3 garlic cloves

Juice from 1/2 lime or lemon

3 Tbs finely chopped white onion (scallions can also be used)

Salt

Preparation:

Combine the hot peppers, cilantro, water, garlic cloves and lime juice in the blender and blend well.

Add the chopped white onions and salt to taste.

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.

Making Southwest Spice Mix

Things do not always go according to the plan during my cooking adventures. Making this Spicy Grilled Salmon with Mango was one of those times where my cooking adventure took a wrong turn. Even my photo didn’t turn out right. I’ve mentioned several times that I love mangoes — preferably green mangoes. When I saw celebrity chef’ 911 Tyler Florence’s recipe involving mangoes, I jumped at the opportunity to prepare it. I eagerly ran out and bought all the ingredients that included more of my favorites — salmon, red onion, cilantro. The menu was relatively easy to put together. I had fun making the Southwest Spice Mix. The ingredients for the spice involved ancho chili peppers (which, I’d never heard of before), cumin, corriander, cinnamon and paprika. Everything turned out well, till I tasted my salsa. It was horrible! I think the problem was that I’d used unripe, green mango, which spoiled the taste of the salsa and made it taste almost bitter. No one ate the salsa, which they pushed to the side of their plate. Later, it went into the garbage can. Overall, I liked the recipe. The Spice Mix tasted really good on the salmon. So, I’d like to try it again. Next time, I’ll make sure to use ripe mangoes for the salsa and perhaps, I may leave out the lime. I think the lime made the salsa too sour. Any salsa makers out there: What do you think? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Paz

Spicy Grilled Salmon with Mango, Radish, and Lime Salsa

Tyler Florence – Food 911

Salsa: 2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks 1 red onion, chopped 6 red radishes, chopped, plus 1 sliced for garnish 2 limes, peeled and cut into segments 1 handful fresh cilantro leaves 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon Southwest Spice Mix, recipe follows 1 (2 to 3 pound) salmon fillet Extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper For the Salsa, put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped; set aside.

Heat the grill to medium high. Drizzle some olive oil over the salmon and season it with salt and pepper. Gently rub 2 tablespoons of the Spice Mix into the salmon. Pour some olive oil onto a paper towel and rub the grill with it – this will help to prevent the fish from sticking. Grill the salmon flesh side down for about 12 to 15 minutes.

To serve, spread most of the Salsa onto a platter and place the salmon, skin side down, on top. Garnish with more Salsa, radish slices, cilantro, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Southwest Spice Mix: 2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded 2 tablespoons whole cumin 2 tablespoons whole coriander 1 cinnamon stick 1 tablespoon sweet paprika Put the ancho chiles, cumin, coriander, cinnamon stick, and paprika into a small dry skillet over medium-high heat, and toast the spices just until they begin to smell, about 1 minute. Empty into a spice mill and grind to a powder.

Making the salsa — the ingredients in the food processor

A really bad photo of the Spicy Grilled Salmon with Mango