Baked Potato Wedges

Spring is the perfect time for bbq’s and  picnics in the park. Whether you cook hot dogs or burgers, fries should be a side dish. However, homemade fries is an easy dish to ruin. You want that crispy outside with a soft, creamy inside but without the grease or oil.

An alternative to deep-frying the fries is to bake them as potato wedges and get that perfect texture inside and out. This cooking method is healthier, faster and much easier to complete.

Ingredients:
Russet potatoes(2 per person), washed and cut into eighths.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

First, pick out some medium-sized russet potatoes. The recipe I am using was given to me by Sam Handam, a local restaurant owner. He said he uses about two potatoes per person.

“Unless they are small of course then I use more,” he said jokingly. Sam said he uses this recipe at personal bbq’s and his restaurant which serves fish and chips.

“I like wedges more for bbq’s because they are thicker and you get a better potato taste,” he said.
Directions:

• Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

•Cut the potatoes into eighths and place them in a bowl with the olive oil and spices.

•Toss the wedges in the bowl to evenly coat each one.

•Place the wedges on a baking sheet and put them in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Then let cool for about 5 minutes before eating.

One customer Ruben said he prefers these type of fries over any from a fast food place. “I prefer my fries homemade because they taste better and are fresh.” Ruben goes to Sam’s restaurant a couple of times a week. He enjoy’s this place more than other fish and chip restaurants because of the “quality” of food.

My only adjustment to this recipe when I recreated it was that before I placed the wedges in the oven to cook, I cooked them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. My reason for doing so was to assure that all the potatoes cook evenly and get a more crispy texture. This also reduces cooking time in the oven to 20-25 minutes.

Other than that, I liked this recipe because it is simple and healthier than traditional french fries. You can adjust the seasoning and add your own twists. Sometimes I add cajun seasoning to enhance the flavor. Just don’t add as much salt if you add other seasonings. Enjoy!

 

The Bread Boy

While I was interviewing a restaurant for a video, I met a guy named Jose. He stood out to me because he loved to bake. His passion for baking lead him to earning a job baking a variety of different breads for local restaurants and food trucks. He has taken of the role of bread boy at his current job.

“I don’t know who came up with the name but I like it,” said Jose.

He said that we wakes up around dawn to head to work and start making the bread at the restaurant.

“He has to make bread for about a dozen different restaurants and vendor,” said his boss Sam. “He feels like pressure to be on time and ready to go.”

One of his favorite breads to make accompanies the delicious Sonora Hotdog for a few local food trucks. A Sonoran dog is a Mexican style hotdog fixed with a variety of different toppings such as chile beans, salsa, guacamole, green peppers, etc.

“I really enjoy eating the Sonoran dogs especially from the ones I deliver bread to. My family does too,” he said.

Jose has been baking for several years. He said he wasn’t interested in it until he got a job working at Marylins. He worked his way up to making bread and decided to stay doing it.

“It’s fun,” he said while laughing. “I think I bake more than my mother does.Oh dios mio” (which means oh my gosh in Spanish).

Jose was glad to share a delicious recipe to accompany your next Sinaloa dog or any hotdog. He didn’t have his own recipe at first but over the years he adjusted to using only one instead of a different one for each vendor.

The ingredients are:

• 1¼ cups lukewarm milk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 4 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons instant bread yeast
• ½ cup of buttermilk

 To begin, Jose combines the lukewarm milk, egg, butter, sugar, bread flour, potato flakes, salt and yeast in a mixing machine. When doing this at home you can use any standard mixer. Mix the dough on low for 8-10 minutes. It should be smooth and elastic. You should let the dough rest for 1-2 hours. Take the dough out of the mixer and cover it on a pan with a towel.

Next:

• He places parchment paper on his baking sheets.
• Divide dough into 3 equally sized pieces and form into logs.
• Divide each log into 5 equal pieces for standard sized rolls.
• Make each piece out into an oval.
• Press an indentation down the length of the center of the oval with the side of your hand.
• Roll the dough up around the indentation.
• Transfer to the baking sheet
• Leaving the dough about 1 inch apart, and let rise for about thirty minutes
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Brush the dough with buttermilk.
• Bake for 18-22 minutes
• Let the bread cool for a few minutes
• Make a slice down the center of the top of the roll nearly through to the bottom.
• Then open the bread to put a hotdog inside.

Jose randomly chooses a bread to taste and assure that it is up to par.

“He always finds ways to make his job fun and easy,” said Sam. “He is a joy to be around.”

Jose sometimes delivers the bread personally to the different vendors.

“I love seeing their faces when I arrive with the bread. It makes my job good.”

This recipe was the first that Jose mastered. He practiced everyday and after a few weeks, he no longer had to read it off of a piece of paper. He said he will never eat a prepackaged hot dog bun again. “Fresh is the way to go,” he said.

The ingriedients for this recipe can be found in most pantries becasue they are typical everyday cooking items. So why buy bread when it is so simple and easy to make. It will compliment any hotdog nicely.

Albondigas Soup

Albondigas are a traditional Mexican meatball soup. When most people see “meatball soup” on a menu, they aren’t curious to order it. But it taste a lot better than you think. Especially when it is made from scratch with authentic flavors.

One of the best bowls of albondigas I’ve eaten was made by Chely Rodriguez. Chely spent the early years of her childhood in Sinaloa, Mexico. It was there that she was introduced to cooking with different spices and fresh ingredients.

Chely moved to Arizona with her family and learned to cook by watching her mother and other sisters. She prefers cooking homemade meals for her children rather than ordering fast food because she enjoys cooking and it is healthier for them. They also get to taste food cooked from their culture.

“I love to cook every mean for them,” she said. “No matter how busy I am, I still want them to enjoy a good meal,” she said.

Chely uses a recipe she learned over the years but adds new twists on it each time. For instance, albondigas are usually cooked with carrots, celery and potatoes in it. This time Chely substituted the potatoes and celery for broccoli and cauliflower.

“I use different vegetables because it gives my children a chance to try new things and they don’t even notice it’s good for them.”

On of the most important tips to remember when making albondias is to properly season the meatballs because that is where most of the flavor originates from.

Ingredients for the albondigas or meatballs:

• 1 pound of beef (half ground beef and half ground pork loin)
• 1/4 onion finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of rice, previously washed and strained
• 3 tablespoons of ground bread(per meatball)
• 1 teaspoon of cumin 
• salt added according to taste

Other:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1/3 cup of raw white rice
• 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 head of cauliflower

In a large stock pot, bring water/chicken stock mixture, carrots, broccoli, onion, and bouillon cubes to a boil. Reduce to a medium simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 10 minutes.

Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding cilantro leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

Cover and cook 20 minutes, or until meatballs are no longer pink in center and vegetables are tender. Serve with sprinkled cilantro for garnish.

“I want my children to learn about their Mexican culture as well as their American one. I cook a variety of food for them and this dish is one that is close to home,” she said.

Chely no longer has to write down her recipes. When she knows she wants to make somethings, the recipe just comes to her from all her years on experience. And if she is stuck on something, she will just call and ask her mother about a recipe.

These albondigas were simple to make and still were full of flavor. Her recipe was better than one used at a restaurant because she’s cooked in Mexico and learned how to master to cuisine using authentic spices and seasonings. She buys the vegetables locally from a market near her home. You can add fresh cilantro on top before eating for a better taste and add tortillas on the side. This is one meal that is great for those cold days or holidays when the family is together. Enjoy!

Sopa De Vegetal

Sopa  is a traditional Mexican soup. It is an easy dish that is often made as a snack or a side to a main course. It is usually called sopa de fideo/pasta depending on which type and shape of noodle or pasta you use. You can add plenty of vegetables or different meats and spices to kick up the flavor. Sopa is just the basic soup and when you add more ingredients is when the name changes, for example, sopa de vegetal and sopa de pollo. However, these kinds of sopa are different from chicken soup and vegetable soup because it uses the pasta.

A few years ago, the restaurant Matador, a Mexican eatery, in downtown Phoenix was popular and served sopa de vegetal. It was delicious and I would go there with my Nana and eat that dish often. It had fideo, tomatoes and carrots.

However, when the restaurant closed its doors, I could no longer find a Mexican food restaurant that offered this dish on the menu. But since my mother made this dish regularly, I decided tor recreate it using my own recipe and see if I could match the same flavor profile as Matador did with their sopa.

Sopa is simple. The pasta used already comes prepackaged. It is at most grocery stores in the Latin American food aisle. Just one package(7 ounces) will do the job. You will also need:

• 5 diced tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes(14.5 ounces)
• 4 cups of liquid (water or chicken stock)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped finely
• 1 cup of fresh, chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped

Start of by heating the olive oil. The key to making this recipe successful and authentic is to fry the pasta before actually cooking it with the other ingredients. Once the oil is heated, add the chopped onions and garlic. The flavor will infuse the oil. The onions should be chopped in strips. Then add the pasta and stir it frequently so it won’t burn. This will take about a minute and you will see the color change.

For the tomato sauce, you can use a can and it will be easier. However, for the authentic taste, use fresh tomatoes. In either a food processor or blender, add the tomatoes with chicken stock or water. Add some salt and pepper then blend it all together. Add it to the pasta, onions and garlic.

To make this sopa de vegetal, add the carrots and celery. Make sure that the tomato mixture covers the vegetables in order for them to properly cook. Then cover the sopa and let it cook for 20-30 minutes or until the pasta and vegetables are cooked. It would help to cover the pan you are cooking the sopa in. Be aware that sopa absorbs the water/tomato mixture so you may need to add more water and stir often so it won’t stick to the bottom of the pan. And don’t use a small pan because it will eventually spill out.

You may need to add more salt and pepper. You might also want to try adding a cube of chicken bullion to enhance the flavor especially if you are not using chicken stock.

I like my sopa with broth so I add water throughout to thin out the tomato mixture.

 

You can top it off with fresh cilantro, cheese, or whatever other toppings work well for you. This truly is one authentic Mexican dish that is simple for anyone to make. And it is as cheap as it gets! Yet, it still has those delicious flavors that a five-star dish would. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did. It was nice to know I could recreate this dish after years of having it in a restaurant. Enjoy!

 

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

There’s no comparison to the taste of fresh, warm homemade chocolate chip cookies! This simple recipe will guide you to baking perfect cookies. Using cookie cutters will enhance the appearance and make any occasion special.