Gorditas revisited.

Saaay what?! Did I just said Gorditas? Did I, Andrea, made Gorditas from scratch? Indeed I did! 

Now, I didn't cook your usual straight from the market or the nearest street stall, no sire! 

This are snob-preppy-veggie Gorditas. 

Now sadly though, there are no pictures for the entire process but you wouldn't believe how extraordinary easy it actually is! 

And the reason why you can't see pictures of the process is because my lovely boyfriend. 

< ---- this guy right here

took my mobile yesterday, which, you all know is the sad camara I use to take the pictures. So blame him. 

Gorditas. Personally I had never tried them EVER but the ones I did turned up to be quite nice and yummy. 

They had a salty-sweetness flavor that was very enjoyable. Plus they aren't as greasy as the ones they sell on the street. So they taste delicious and they are healthy and they are 100% veggie. 

And soooo much fun to make!

So hail this Gorditas because they rock my Monday! 

Okay so for making the Gorditas you'll need: 

500g of fine cornmeal. 

1/2 teaspoon sea salt. 

1 teaspoon of baking powder. 

700 ml of hot water. 

Chipotle Sauce. 

Flour for dusting. 

For the Salsa: 

1 apple, halved and cored. 

1 large ripe tomato.

1/8 of an onion, chopped.

1 dry chilly. 

2 lemons or limes. 

2 teaspoons of sugar.

Olive Oil.

Salt && pepper. 

Okay Gorditas go like this: 

1. Put the cornmeal and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center.

2. Mix the baking powder into the hot water (it might bubble a bit) and add it to the well in the middle of the cornmeal and salt. Using a fork mix the cornmeal into the liquid and when it starts to come together. Use your hands to knead it. 

3. Divide dough in equal squash-balls and dust with flour. 

4. Roll each piece around in your hands then pat and flatten them into small round balls. Set Aside. 

To make the salsa: 

1. Chop the apple, tomato and the onion and the dry chilly. Pour them into a bowl. 

2. Pour the lime or lemon juice into the mix and mix it together. Add two teaspoons of sugar and oil. And mix.

3. Take some of the same mix and pour into a different bowl and chop it into even smaller pieces (use the blender if you have to) 

4. I added a bit of hot salsa in the end. 

Back to the Gorditas: 

1. In an already hot pan place the gorditas and cook them 2-3 minutes on each side before putting them into a different skillet with the olive oil so you fry them. Again 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until they are 

Golden brown. 

And there you go, a mexican traditional dish with a slight healthier approach and it is still yummy. 

(ask my boyfriend n.n he is a bad-ass carnivore and he liked my veggie-healthy gorditas)  

Ah! Strawberries make Sundays better, don't they?

Okay! I am sorry I didn't keep my last post promise but I wasn't going to leave you all mouth watering over my Strawberry desserts. I mean, I am not that evil. 

So even though it is two days late... I hope you can still enjoy it. 

Indeed, Strawberries are if anything Glory at its most. 

What I've done with this weeks Kilo of Strawberries is a delightful little sauce-pudding-sort-of-mixture that found it's way into two different styles of desserts. Know, originally, this Strawberry sauce-pudding was supposed to be an "espuma" but then I found out I need this thing called "easy whip" so it couldn't be done the way it was supposed to be done. But I am quite happy with the results n.n 

even when failing in attempting to make one dessert earns me just another culinary gadget to add to my Christmas wish list.

One of this particular forms of dessert was quite a hit within my family, even dad liked it "Restaurant quality stuff" the man said. Although I seriously doubt my culinary skills, the idea of having a restaurant of my own was inspired, more so, when I visited this new plaza (Citycenter esmeralda) that has such a lovely view I swear my bistro would look pretty nice there.

Impossible, right? But hey! you are talking to the woman who is improving her first MS (book) and that aspires to be beat Meyer's and Rowling's success. So NO dream is big enough for my head n.n 

But then again, writer and chef? not a combination for success one might think... even more when actual gastronomy is such an exact form of art, I mean, did you know that there are names for types of slices you cut? it is true I swear! Just learned of it. 

It seems like such an exact science and for all of those out there who know me, know that exact science and awesomely me DO NOT MIX.

But then again, who knows, right? 

Okay Okay, I've had it with the mouth watering it is driving me mad! On with the recipe! 

now even though there are two pictures and two different dessert there is one recipe alone, the one thing that does differ however, is the presentation. 

(Does that make me sound professional? or cocky?) 

Strawberry Glory

1 kilo of Strawberries. 

1 can of condensed milk

1/4 cup of water. 

1/2 can of evaporated milk. 

And this, is how you turn simple ingredients into culinary ecstasy: 

1. Pour the water and the strawberries into the blender and mix for about 1 minute. Then pass the mixture into a bowl through a strainer.

I am actually quite pleased with this pic. It didn't need any PS enhancing what so ever and it came up all pretty red and stuff n.n 

2. Stir the strawberry mixture before adding the condensed and the evaporated milk.

Once you've added both of the milks the strawberry will become less red and turn into a pretty shade of my sister's bedroom pink. 

3. Then you put it in the fridge and let it rest for a few hours. 

Know, strawberries do well with almost every other fruit out there. My choice is banana. 

For the cup presentation I crushed some crackers to make a sort of crust, then I added the strawberry sauce-pudding before adding some more crushed crackers and chopped bananas and I also sprinkled some crackers on top of it. And man oh man, it's glory!! 

For the other presentation, I re-made the Postre de Limon recipe and simply added the Strawberry sauce on top, giving it a new summery edge to the dessert. 

Delicious. Love it! 

Chicken Teriyaki && Glorious Strawberry dessert!

Ah! Chicken Teriyaki! May I just say the most delicious and gratifying dish I have cooked since I started this cooking passion of mine. So unbelievably easy to do it's insane! 

As you might already know, I fancy myself to be a good cook, not a chef, but a good homemade cook. And I love everything that's homemade, so, naturally, the sauce (Teriyaki sauce) for the chicken in this recipe, was done from scratch. And just let me tell you OH MY GOD it is incredibly easy to do! There is no reason to buy the sauce in the supermarket at all! And yes my beloved followers I will tell you how to do the sauce from scratch n.n 

One blow on this particular post. Since I was timing the rice with my mobile (do to the sad fact that I don't own a decent cam u.u) I couldn't take a lot of pictures of the process, so it is a step by step recipe still, but without the usual pics. However if you feel the pics are a must, just say so, and I will do the recipe again with the shots n.n  No problemo. 

Also, I will be posting two desserts recipes! YAY made out with the exact same 

Glorious Strawberry Custard-Pudding-saucy-thing.  Here is a sneak peak: 

But! First things first my people! Settle down! Stop drooling already! 

First, we shall make a deliciously good 

Teriyaki Chicken 

Sauce: 

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce. 

1 cup of Water.

1 tablespoon of fresh grated Ginger. 

5 tablespoons of Brown Sugar. 

2 tablespoon of Honey. 

1 minced Garlic Clove. 

2 tablespoons of Cornstarch 

1/4 Cold Water. 

Chicken: 

2 cups of Water. 

1 tablespoon of Butter. 

1 teaspoon of Salt. 

1 cup of White Rice. 

2 tablespoons Black Sesame seeds for garnish.

1 boneless chicken breast. 

(original recipe called for 4, but I wasn't that hungry) 

1/4 cup of Teriyaki Sauce.

Olive oil.

Salt && Pepper. 

This is how it is done: 

The sauce: 

1. Combine in a deep skillet, 1 cup of water, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar and honey . Bring to a boil stirring constantly. 

2. Mix together the cold water and the cornstarch before adding it to the mixture in the skillet.  

3. Once you've added the cornstarch mix constantly and allow the sauce to thicken. If the sauce thicks too much add more water. 

And there you go, homemade FRESH Teriyaki Sauce! I mean can it get easier than that? 

Okay chicken and rice are next. 

1. Since the rice takes so freaking long to get cooked, it is the first thing we are going to make. So pour the water into a COVERED pot and bring to a boil. Add butter, salt and rice and return water to a boil. Now the original recipe called for 18 minutes of low heat and simmering magic. But it didn't work all that well with that timing so... I am thinking once the water boils, lower the heat and let it simmer for some good 20-25 minutes. 

2. While the rice is cooking we are going to work the chicken. Okay, first we are going to lightly coat the chicken with olive oil, salt & pepper. I did this pouring the olive oil, salt && pepper in a small bowl and then dipping the chicken into it. While you are doing this, heat the skillet you are planning to cook the chicken in, in order to make this whole thing go faster (cuz the chicken takes a lot of time to cook). 

2. Place the chicken in the already warm (or nor) skillet and let it cook on ONE SIDE ONLY for 6 minutes. Once the 6 minutes are done, turn the chicken and coat with the Teriyaki sauce using a basting brush and let it cook for another 2 minutes before turning again and coating with the sauce once more. 

As you coat the chicken with the sauce, it will begin to thicken even more so move the chicken around the skillet once it is properly cooked so that sauce isn't wasted and the chicken ends up with a lovely colorful saucy look. 

Take the chicken out and serve!! 

OMG! as easy as that?! you say? YES!! as easy as that. 

(this is not a great pic but...) 

yummy yummy. 

That's what I'm taking bout! Have a nice weekend people! Oh oh wait! where are the glorious desserts!? It is 12:44 am and as much as I love ya'll I wanna get some sleep, first hour in the morning though I will continue this post with the desserts n.n 

 

Cripsy Fish Tacos!

Ah! The Heat! When you are in the city and it is hot as a beach should be... make some crispy fish tacos! Close your eyes and they will take you to your last beach vacations n.n 

This recipe was taken out of Martha Stewart's webpage (HERE) but of course it has been modified to fit my personal tastes and interests. Feel free to browse through the original recipe or follow mine n.n

Crispy Fish Tacos. 

Two fish fillets (I used Huachinango). 

1 cup of flour. 

1 teaspoon of baking powder. 

3 cups of Canola Oil. 

1/4 cup of Sour Cream 

The juice of one Lemon. 

2 tablespoons of Hot Sauce. 

3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro. 

Tortillas.

Salt && Pepper. 

This is how you work the magic: 

1. Okay first things first, you need to cut the fillets into smaller pieces. Kind of like quarters. Rinse them and then season with Salt && Pepper. (Like we did with the chicken tenders, remember?) 

2. Next we need to do the batter. So in a small bowl put the flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk in enough water so that the batter has a pancake-like consistency. 

HALT!!

The next cooking steps are a bit hard-ish plus the photos aren't that good so, please, do try to pay attention to my "instructions" because it is a bit tricky. 

3. Next we cook. Place the fish into the batter and press with one finger to help it adhere, know, since this is a liquid thing you need to be very careful to get the entire fish coated. And once you do, let excess drip. 

4.  Now, in a deep skillet put the 3 cups of canola oil and wait for it to heat up. Because if you don't it'll take a lot more time for the fish to be done. Once the oil is hot carefully, very carefully, place the coated fish into the skillet. One edge first letting it start cooking for a second or two before letting it into the skillet. Now this is really hard to do, so don't worry if your fish ends up ugly coated. This is all practice practice && practice. 

5. Leave each coated fish in the oil 6 minutes or until it is golden brown. 

6. Meanwhile you do the special sauce.  You pour the sour cream into a different bowl, the lemon juice. the hot sauce and the cilantro leaves.  Mix it until in comes together. 

Heat the Tortillas and serve. 

(btw, the Horchata goes amazing with this n.n) 

Horchata de Arroz and a goodbye to LOST

Okay, first things first, I wanna apologize to anyone who had been expecting this post yesterday u.u but once LOST started I couldn't back away from the tv. to do anything else.
Speaking about LOST... how devastated are you? Even if you didn't like the show, even if you hated the ending, or if you loved the ending, or if you didn't understand the ending! A lot of people don't get that for a tv program LOST went all the way and back, it was the first American show to feature such an international cast, the first show to be --sometimes, half in subtitles!
It was different than anything that had been aired up until then and in ended as it started (in my opinion at least) with a big bang and slightly difficult to understand, wanting to see where the hell did they ended going to, much like the pilot.  So yeah, LOST was crazy, difficult to understand, raised more questions than answers, but it was AWESOME!
How often do you come across a show that is so freaking mysterious AND magical AND confusing AND amazing at the same time!? Let's face it! LOST was and has been the best show of its genre and it will be for a long while.

 And, at least for me... it's a little bittersweet to know I wont end up yelling WTF just happened?!  at the end of a show. 

And yes, as for the question I asked before I said all that... I am quite devastated. 

Okay, having said that I will proceed to tell you that Horchata is the easiest thing to do! Dare I say even easier than a Lemonade?  Indeed I do. No more buying those disgusting dusty things or the pre-made yucky stuff. Or going to the nearest Michoacana to buy one! NO SIR! From this day forward, you want Horchata? You want a refreshing relive from the God awful suffocating heat? You put one cup of rice in two cups of water and let it settle for an hour!

Horchata de Arroz. 

You'll need: 

1 cup of long grain white rice.

2 cups of water. 

half a can of condensed milk. 

2 cups of cold water with cinnamon. 

1/2 cup of sugar. 

2 teaspoons of vanilla. 

Ice. 

How you do it? 

1. If you read the post, you will have notice that I said put one cup of rice in two cups of water in order to do the Horchata. So there you go, your first step is to put one cup of rice in two cups of water and let it rest for about an hour, if you can leave it longer I suppose it works best. But you have to leave it there for AT LEAST an hour. 

2. Pour the wet rise (and the water) into the blender along with the vanilla and sugar. And, as always, let the blender work it's magic, this time for 1 minute, then pulse for about 40 seconds. 

3. Strain into a pitcher. Add 2 cups of cold water and the evaporated milk. 

4. Stir well and serve over ice

And there you go!! Fresh Homemade Horchata for this awfully hot days in Mexico City. 

Two Yogurt Cakes in Two days.

I'll say this once, Spicy Yogurt Cake is more delicious than any cake I have done so far!

Although this recipe was modified the original one can be found here.

I decided to make this recipe today because my sister gave me a bit of a hard time, because I made a cake yesterday for a small reunion on my boyfriend's family. And I remember giving

one of my cousins a harder time when she did the same... so I couldn't let that news reach my cousins, as you can understand. And if it does, they can't say anything cuz I made the same-ish cake today!!

Sunday's Yogurt Cake was a total bliss! By far the prettiest cake I have ever made. I also made a little bit of Lemon Frosting and made my yogurt cake a Layer Yogurt Cake and my FIRST Layer Cake ever.

Saddly though, I don't think there are any pictures...I have to ask but everyone liked it...

Today's cake was a mini because mini food is cute and awesome.

Mini Yogurt Cake.

1 cup of all-pupose flour.

1/2 cup of sugar.

5 tablespoons of butter, melted and cold.

1 teaspoon of baking powder.

1 cup of yogurt.

1 egg slightly beaten.

Lemon zest from one lemon.

This is how you do it.

1. Mix the dry ingredients (Lemon zest, flour, sugar and baking powder). 

 

2. In a different bowl mix together the yogurt, eggs and the melted butter. The mixture should be smooth.

3. In three different batches blend together the yogurt mixture with the dry ingredients.

The mixture should also be smooth.

4. Bake the cake around 40-50 minutes.

Ah! For this cake I also made a pear icecream that complements the cake.

For this you need:

Three pears.

1/2 cup of yogurt.

1/8 of sugar.

Four teaspoons of cream.

Vanilla.

This is how you do it:

1. Peel the pears. First chopping off the top and bottom. 

 

And peel from top to bottom.

and then peeling off the remains in the bottom.

2. Chop the pears.

3. Rinse the pears with a little of milk and vanilla.

4. While the blender works its magic. Mix the yogurt, sugar and cream.

And pour in the pear pure.

5. Freeze according to icecream maker instructions.

So, what do you think??  Yummy right.

What is more delicious than fresh strawberries?? Strawberry Gelato of course!!!!

Do I hear your mouth water???

Second post of the day... can you tell I'm really digging this foodblog deal?

Okay so, yesterday I also bought strawberries, the only downside of it... is that I got to eat them like right away before they spoil, which, sometimes is easy and others a bit tricky.

I decided to use half on this icecream and the other half I'll probably use it on another icecream (I'm thinking strawberry-banana) and I also used some blackberries also known as boysenberries to make some kind of sauce-orsomething... 

Which is a fancy touch as you can see. 

Strawberry Icecream 

with Blackberry sauce.

2 cups of very ripe strawberries. 

1/8 cup of milk.

1/2 cup of sour cream. 

1/2 cup of natural yogurt. 

7 tablespoons of sugar or so... 

How you do it? 

1. Well first you mix the cream, yogurt and sugar. Meanwhile, use the blender to pure the strawberries (in order to make this easier also add the milk). 

  

2. You have to add the strawberry pure a little bit at the time so it blends in correctly. Once you have added the entire pure mix througfully until incorporated.

3. Freeze according to manufacter instructions.

To make the sauce-orsoemthing.

1 cup of very ripe blackberries. 

6 tablespoons of sugar. 

A fork.

1. In a previously frozen bowl pour the blackberries and sugar and crush them with a fork.

As much as you want...

aaaand

DONE!!

Okay, so if I know you and I like you and you want some... leave me a comment saying you want gelato and I swear I'll make you some!

Rosemary + Olive Oil + Garlic + Pasta = YUMMINES

Like I said... YUMMINES

Today my mom left the kitchen all to my tinyself, needless, to say I felt like experimenting a little. I had read some recipes featuring Rosemary, and have recently read a book that also mentioned this particular plant's scent.  (Beautiful Creatures, if you must know) in the book Rosemary was always acompained by the sweet scent of Lemons. At the time I didn't really think of it as a yummylicious combination, since, for me... the smell of Rosemary has always been a kind of synonym for being sick and feeling awful. I suppose I owe this to my mom, who at some point while I was growing up, became maddly obsessed with what I recall being called JUST and bought just about every possible "scented oil" she could get her hands on.

All this oils she bought had medicinal qualities, so mom always used them when we were sick as hell. A time that when I was young ranged from October to January Cold weather? Idk...

So Rosemary also brings back coldish memories. But mostly it just brings back those sick as hell times when mom went all hippie on me and decided to use oils instead of actual working drugs.

So when I read "The distinctive smell of Rosemary and Lemons in the air..." my first reaction was to frown and say eww (outloud) but as I continued reading I had to somehow change that sickening percepcion I had of Rosemary, cuz the story made it sound so romatic... and sick plus romantic do not mix... except in "A Walk to Remember" but, well, you get my idea, right? So Rosemary could no longer equal sick.

I am sad to say that even after I finished reading the book, Rosemary still didn't smell nice to me.

It took some time to take the next step towards my friendship with Rosemary, about some weeks ago, I encountered some few recipes that featured Rosemary, mosty in convinations like in the book; Lemon & Rosemary or Strawberry & Rosemary or Olive oil + garlic & Rosemary.

I dont think I need to tell you which one struck the most...

So this Wednesday I directed myself to... I'm calling it a stall... a herbs&stuff stall in my market and bought some branches of Rosemary. My mom eyed me worridly, I suppose Rosemary sceant is synonym of sick kids to her, but after giving her my mysterious smile she decided to play along.

Today, I decided to start playing with the beingsickashell smelling plant by making it into a lush ingredient for a pasta.  Which I shall call:

The Legendary Pasta That Made My Perception Of Rosemary Change At Long Last!

or...

Rosemary Garlic Pasta with fresh tomato

You'll be needing:

A small branch of dried Rosemary.

One clove of Garlic.

One tomato.

Olive Oil.

Pasta

Salt && Pepper.

How you do it?

Well first, depending on which kind of pasta you want to use ( I used fettucini ) you need to cook it according to the box instructions.

So 1. Cook the pasta according to the box instructions.

2. Meanwhile... in a different smaller skillet pour some oilive oil (I counted to five before stopping) and

smash the clove of Garlic and let it brown.

(This was my first time peeling a garlic and I'm so proud I managed to do it without making my fingers smell garlic-y...oh oh is that you asking how I managed to do that??? haha I wont tell not in a million years! Okay if you ask, as long as it comes in a comment, I'll tell ya)

4. Once the Garlic is brownish and cripy, peel the leaves off the Rosemary branch and add them

to the skillet. Turning constantly, because if you dont they burn. After 2 minutes, set aside.

5. Once the pasta is done and you remove the water and everything... place it on top of the Rosmary Olive Olive Oil and Garlic. I don't know if this actually works... but it was my way of making the Pasta hold on to the Rosemary Olive Oil and Garlic scents. Because it smelled DE-LI-CIO-SOOO

5. Know that you have the pasta this way... use it as an advantage to season it (Step in Salt && Pepper) and mix it a bit before tranfering the pasta to the skillet.

Once you've done the transfer put a cap over the pasta allowing once again the smell to really stick to the it. Trust me, this one, does work. When my mom and Val came home from school they were shocked when I took the cap off and allowed the smell out.

6. Chop that tomato and in medium pieces and decorate the pasta with them.