Happy New Year!! May 2010 bring you delicious food to your table ..

Well December sure has been a busy month. We traveled to the midwest to spend time with our families and had a great time. A lot of cooking took place, but let me focus on something you may need after your NYE hangover.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
16 oz. can of red beans
can of corn
3 pieces of celery
2 carrots
2 red potatos (small)
a small onion
salt and pepper

Chop celery, carrots, onion and potatoes and sautee in a big ceramic pot for 5 to 7 min. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the can of diced tomatoes plus half a can of water and bring to a boil. After it boils bring it down to a simmer and let it simmer. Add the beans and corn and let it simmer for about 20min or until the vegetables are cooked. Enjoy this delicious veggie soup with some delicious bread!!

Tuna Three Ways (Spicy Tuna Sushi Roll, Tuna Tartare and Seared Tuna)

I'm sorry that I can't seem to place the photos in order, but when I try they disappear. I hope you get the gist of what Gram did here.           Tuna Tartare ingredients:

• 7 oz tuna
• serrano
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• lime juice
• 1/4 onion finely chopped
• blk pepper
• 1 T olive oil

Toss everything with fork.

Seared Tuna w/mango salsa ingredients:

• 1/2 onion chopped
• 2 serrano peppers diced
• 2 garlic cloves
• lime zest
• 1/2 mango
• 2 limes
• cilantro

The mango salsa was delicious and spicy, I ate it with my seared tuna and the fried gyoza skins. This meal was one of the best meals Gram has presented us with. Now we hope to have sushi once a week :)

Tuna Three Ways

I introduce you to Chef Grammamoto! Yes Gram rolled some sushi and shared it with our friend John and I. It was delicious. This was his first time rolling sushi so we expect many good sushi rolls to come in the future. The sushi roll had spicy tuna in it along with avocado. It was part of the Tuna Three Ways dinner.  I will have to post a second blog on the rest of the tuna so that the pictures are not confusing. I will also post the recipe for the Tuna Tartare and Seared Tuna. 

Enchiladas

In one of our first posts you can find the mole recipe. One of our good friends, Brad B. actually tried to make the mole and I believe he was successful in doing so. Don't be intimidated by all the directions and give it a shot. 

Enchiladas are easy to make once you have a sauce to soak them in. Of course our sauce of choice is mole. This mole is made with about 30 ingredients, and chocolate is one of them. There are also green and black moles. Many restaurants choose to use a red sauce for their enchiladas but it is usually nothing like mole.

Because our home is mostly vegetarian (I do eat meat now) we fill our enchiladas with veggies or fried plantains. We got the idea of the fried plantain enchiladas from one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Chicago "Las Palmas."

The recipe is pretty simple.

The plantains are usually sprinkled with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and then sauteed. Then you add them to your tortillas, roll them up into tacos and add your sauce to them. Now you have enchiladas!

The typical enchiladas in most restaurants are served with chicken or beef and they usually melt cheese on top. I hate melted cheese on top of my enchiladas so we try to use queso fresco instead. Some chefs also like to sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the enchiladas.

Gone Phishin'

There have not been many posts on this blog lately thanks to Phish's Festival 8!! We were gone for a week and enjoyed every minute of it. Maybe not every minute of it.. but most of it :)

Some delicious camping food was created by our master Chef Gram and others around us like Chris C.

The first thing Sadej (a friend) requested were Gram's delicious chilaquiles. There was a farmer's market at the festival so it made it very easy for Gram to get all the ingredients for Chilaquiles.

Ingredients:

• eggs
• tortillas
  
• onions
• serrano
• salt
• pepper
• green salsa
• queso fresco if available
• cilantro

Chop the tortillas in fine strips. Then you chop the onion, and the serranos and throw them on the pan to sautee with some olive oil along with the tortillas. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then beat as many eggs as you need and add them to the onion and serrano. Have a medium to low fire so that the eggs don't burn or stick. Once everything is almost done add the green salsa and let it sit so it is warm. Once it is all finished serve and then add the queso fresco to it.

It is okay to use stale tortillas and it is okay to skip the cheese. We had to skip the cheese since we were camping and queso fresco is mostly only found at Mexican markets.

ENJOY!

Plantain Tacos

A very easy dinner or lunch is always Tacos of some sort. We usually eat black beans and veggies tacos, but my favorite tacos to eat with Mole are plantain tacos.
All you need is to buy some plantain (ripe very ripe), have your usual taco dinner ingredients. Here is a reminder.

• Corn tortillas
• black beans (prepare them as you usually do)
• cumin
• garlic salt
• paprika
• olive oil
• butter
• cinnamon
• 2 plantains
• your favorite salsa (in our case it was Mole)
• your favorite cheese (we love queso fresco)
  

Make your beans first since that will take a bit longer. I didn't add ingredients for making the black beans since everyone prefers beans in their own way.
Slice or chop the plantains. Gram usually chops them, and my mom slices them longways. For two people we used 2 plantains. Sprinkle garlic salt, cumin, paprika and cinnamon over the plantains. Once your beans are almost ready and you have them at a low fire, heat up another pan and once warm melt a tbs. of butter. Add a bit of olive oil (teaspoon) to the butter so the butter doesn't burn. Add the plantains to the butter and oil and sear the plantains. I like the edges of my plantains to be a bit burned so I ask for mine to be left for an extra two minutes or so.
Serve plantains and black beans as you warm up the tortillas. Add some mole to your tacos and avocado if you have some. Also some queso fresco would fit perfectly.

ENJOY!

'Smores Tart

Doesn't this look delicious? Oh It was!!! And we want more!!!!

Ceviche

This delicious dish is very easy to make and you don't have to use shrimp. You can use any fish you like. All the cooking is done by lime, but you can always grill the shrimp to speed up the process.
Ingredients:

• shrimp or fresh fish
• lots of limes
• tomatoes
• onions
• serrano peppers
• salt and pepper
• cilantro
• chilli powder
• cumin
• paprika
  
• tortillas or chips
  

If you choose to grill the shrimp or fish add the chilli powder, paprika and cuming before grilling. After grilling add the lime and the rest of the ingredients mix it up and it's ready to eat. You can have shrimp tacos or use chips to eat. If you don't want to grill the shrimp or fish and rather have it 'real ceviche' style then squeeze lots of limes and let it sit until the shrimp or fish is cooked. It takes about 10 minutes and depending on the fish it could take longer.
Ceviche is often an appetizer but we like it so much that Gram makes enough for dinner.
Enjoy!

Chiles Rellenos "Dinner with John"

I don't have the entire recipe. Gram may have to be contacted if you really want it. I will write what I know. Most of this dinner is from the farmer's market which is another reason of why it was so delicious. You see in the pictures the peppers were roasted first then stuffed. They were stuffed or rellenos with goat cheese and mushrooms. The mushrooms were first sauteed, and the goat cheese was a bit melted with butter before mixing it with the mushrooms. Gram made quinoa which are the grains you see in the plate. The entire dinner was delicious and we all wanted more. John brought some delicious white wine that went well with the chiles rellenos. The dessert was donated by Jeff who is Gram's boss. It was filled with chocolate and that is all that matters!! John and I have just been loving Gram's days off because that's when the goodness happens.. so if you are lucky to be in town on a Wednesday or Thursday let us know!!

Veggie Tostadas

I can't let Gram cook all the time :) Well, I can but I like to do simple dishes like tostadas for example.
The tostadas we have bought at the store seem to break all too easily. A great solution is to make your own tostadas so that they can hold the goodness you'll put on top of them.
We get our tortillas from Rancho Liborio in Aurora, CO. Of course you can get your favorite brand of tortillas from any store you usually shop at.
Use a skillet or frying pan where you can add a decent amount of safflower oil. If you have regular size tortillas you may have to do one at the time, maybe two at the time. Wait a few minutes for oil to get hot and in you put your tortilla. You have to watch it or it will curl up. Flip it a few times until it has that wonderful golden color. Take out and place on a napkin so the oil will be absorbed. We usually eat three tostadas each with regular size tortillas.
Make the tostadas first, then start working with your ingredients.

Ingredients we use:

• black beans
• cilantro
• garlic
• onion
• squash or zuchini (or both)
• seasoning salt
• lettuce
• cayenne pepper
• salt
• pico de gallo (diced tomato, cilantro, serrano pepper and lots of lime)
• avocado (lightly salted and limed)

Make your refried beans as you like them. We add onion, garlic, serrano, salt and pepper to some olive oil and let it sit for a few before adding the can of black beans. Once you add the black beans you can start mashing them a little bit so they're not falling off of the tostada. Let all the juices get soaked up.

Prepare your veggies or other ingredients you may be using the way you like as well. Sometimes I season them with cayenne pepper and anything else that I can think of to make it taste yummy. Creative license here.

Once everything is ready, place some lettuce on your tostada, then add the beans to it (they will hold the lettuce down) then add the veggies, avocado and pico de gallo or your favorite salsa.

This is the fastest and easiest meal we make. Well not easier than mac n cheese, but definitely more delicious.

ENJOY the TOSTADAS!!

The BEST dinner ever and dessert

Seared Tuna with an avocado and jicama salad. On the side Green Tea noodles with a noodle sauce.

The Avocado and Jicama Salad:

• avocado
• jicama
• greens
• macadamia nuts
• chiles
• carrot

To make this delicious salads you need to do the following:
Shred the carrots and jicama, cube the avocado, roast the chiles and then dice, toast the macadamia nuts and toss all of these ingredients with the green leaf lettuce in lime juice, olive oil and salt. Serve this salad with the seared tuna and combine the two if desired.

Green Tea Noodles,

Follow the directions on the green tea noodle box/bag to cook them.
The Noodle Sauce:

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of white wine
• sugar
• dried mushrooms
• 1 cup of water
• 1 roasted chile
• 1 scallion

Place dried mushrooms in boiling water and allow to simmer for 2 minutes, add soy and wine and simmer for 5 minutest. Take mushrooms out and dice. Dice chile and put chile and mushrooms back in sauce and top with minced scallions.

Dessert:

I tried to get a fancy name for this dessert but Gram snapped me back to reality and reminded me that most fancy restaurants don't name their dessert and merely show a description of it. So here is the description for the fancy and delicious dessert Gram made.

• pain de genes ( the cake like on the picture)
• peaches
• greek yogurt
• oatmeal/almond tuile (see pic. and look for a craker/cookie almond like thingy )

I added some of Chef Gram's notes so you get an idea of how he works .
ENJOY!!

Pineapple Fried Rice

This dish was inspired by a delicious Pineapple Fried Rice offered in a Ollie's in New York. In Ollie's the dish is served in half a pineapple. You can do that if you want, but we don't do that although it would be fun.
This is very easy, and although I have not tried making it yet I think I could handle it. Gram, however does a great job.

Ingredients:
tofu
white rice (or brown if you prefer)
soy sauce
sesame seed oil
pineapple
any veggies you like, we use:
snap peas
carrots
sweet peppers
green and red peppers
squash
onion
garlic
serrano peppers

You chop all the veggies, mince the garlic, dice serrano and some of the pineapple and throw them in the wok with the oil until they are cooked. By this time you should have some plain rice already made. Then you add the rice to the wok and mix it up with the veggies and such... you can add soy sauce to taste and more sesame oil if desired.
If you'd like you can add some chicken or tofu. It should already be cooked. And if we're talking tofu it should already be dried out and added with the veggies to get some flavor.

Eat with your favorite hot sauce, ours is Sriracha-- sometimes we don't need it depending on how much serrano was added. If you have some fresh pineapple left over, add it to your dish before serving.

ENJOY!!

P.S. There are no measurements on things here because Gram just adds things to taste. Last night's we made rice in the cooker and we made 4 cups of plain white rice. Everything else depends on what you like and how you like it.

We don't always cook...

A long weekend calls for take out every once in a while- so here are a couple awesome places in Denver where you can eat for cheap.

US Thai
5228 West 25th Avenue, Edgewater, 303-233-3345
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
By far the best Thai food we have ever had, their Hot dishes are really really hot, and sometimes even the Medium is hot so beware.

Sexy Pizza
1018 E 11th Ave
Denver, CO 80218-2814
(303) 830-8111
They deliver if you live in the area. We usually get a pineapple pizza with jalapeños, or a mushroom pizza. If you order the large pizza please order it well-done.

Chada Thai
2005 E 17th Ave
Denver, CO 80206-1105
(303) 320-8582
They don't deliver, but it is close enough to home that we just pick up. Not as awesome as US Thai, but pretty good. If you order your dish Medium you'll still may need more chili sauce and lime so if you like spicy order it Hot.

MOLE

As you can see here are some of the many ingredients that it takes to make Mole. Dried fruit, fresh peppers, onions, nuts, Mexican chocolate and lots and lots of chiles. The process takes Gram about 5 hours, but of course it all depends on how much he makes. If you really want to make your own Mole at home you can email us for the very long recipe . Or, you can visit us and have some Mole at home with us in Denver.