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I am a believer in dry beans. You can find these at pretty much any market. Soak them overnight in cold water, and when you awake the next morning, drain and rinse them and make something new. For me, it was coming up with a hearty bean soup that I could bring to work and have a healthy, and hearty meal to keep me going. This is my take on a chorizo and mixed bean soup. It serves a lot, can be made in a slow cooker if you wanted, and is a perfect meal for lunch or dinner. Heck, maybe even breakfast!

Let’s get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 1 lb mixed beans, dried
• 3 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 links of chorizo, thick sliced
• 1 link of venison sausage, thick sliced (optional)
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 2 cups of water
• 1 whole bay leaf
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 whole baguette

Begin by soaking the beans in cool water, overnight. The following morning, drain and rinse the beans, and set aside.

Heat a soup pot on medium heat. Add in the sliced sausages, and brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. The sausage will release some fat, and this is what we will cook our vegetables in. After they have browned,  add in the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic, and give a good stir. Let the vegetables begin to sweat, about 8 minutes. Stirring every now and then.

Add in the stock and water, give a good stir. Give a good pinch of salt and pepper to the mix, and toss in the bay leave. Let this come to a simmer, cover, and let it cook for 2 1/2 hours.

Give the soup a taste, and adjust any seasoning. That’s it. How easy was that for a pretty healthy meal?

When you are ready to serve, slice off a good nub of the baguette. Ladle in a generous amount of the bean soup, and eat with the bread. The result is a creamy textures from the beans, a bit of spice that balances that with the chorizo, and just a good old dunking element with the bread. Not only that, but now you have lunch and dinner throughout the week! Enjoy.

Serve with some nice crusty bread.

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Let’s get started on this simple, and comforting recipe.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 2 lbs of Chuck Beef, or a good stewing beef, cut into larger bite sized cubes
• 2 Russet potatoes, skinned, and cut into large bite size pieces
• 4 oz can of yellow curry paste (as seen here)
• 1 stick of cinnamon, approximately 4 inches long
• 1 star anise
• 4 cardamon pods, smashed
• 2 large shallots, quartered
• 1 large onion, cut into large bite size pieces
• 2 14 oz cans of coconut milk
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of roasted, unsalted peanuts
• Cooked Jasmine rice
• 2 tbsp canola oil

You are going to treat this entire dish like a stew. It will cook low and slow for a good couple of hours, but that is OK as you will be gifted with some wonderful and tantalizing aromas during that time.

Begin by adding your cubed beef a large mixing bowl. Add in the curry paste and beging mixing the meat around, making sure the paste adheres to all of the pieces. Once done, set aside, and wash your hands with warm water and soap.

Next, heat a dutch oven if you have one, if not a heavy pot on the stove, on medium heat. Add in the oil and let it come to temperature.

Toss in the cinnamon stick, star anise, and cardamon seeds and pods. Give a good stir.  This is probably your second great smell as the curry paste was probably the first inviting smell. Let this cook for about 3 minutes.

Toss in the shallots and the onions and give another good stir. Let this cook, stirring a few times along the way, for about 5 minutes.

Next, toss in the curried meat mixture, turning up the heat to a medium high. and give a good stir. Cook, untouched for about two minutes. Add in the chicken stock, and the coconut milk. Give another good stir.

Let this come to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and let it cook for about 1 1/2 hours.

Now, add in the fish sauce, brown sugar, peanuts, and the potatoes. Give a good stir, then cover again. Allow this to cook until the potatoes are fork tender. This will take about 30-40 minutes.

Give the broth a taste. Heavenly right?

Once the potatoes are cooked, the beef massaman curry is ready to serve.

To serve, add some cooked jasmine rice to a soup bowl. Using a ladle, ladle in some of the broth, potatoes, and beef over the top of the rice. Top with some more broth.

Not only the smell of this massaman curry is amazing, but I think you will agree that the flavor is also out of this world. Super tender beef, along with the chunky potatoes and onions. Well, what more do I have to say to get you make this one? Hope you enjoy.

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Lets get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 4 whole jalapeño peppers, large and firm, stems removed
• 1 tbsp canola oil, to lightly coat the peppers
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Heavy cast iron skillet

That is it. Three ingredients that when combined, will knock your socks off. Let me also state that these peppers can be hot, so if you are into the hot food, this is great. Remember, the seeds are in there, but if you eat around the edges, you should be just fine.

Begin by adding the peppers to a mixing bowl. Add in the oil, and mix around until you know all of the peppers have been coated with the oil.

Add these to a cast iron skillet, and heat on medium to medium-high heat. As the skillet comes to temperature, begin moving the peppers around in the skillet, making sure all of the sides become roasted. This should take anywhere for 8-12 minutes for them to roast.

As soon as the peppers are fully roasted, carefully move them to the mixing bowl and shower them with the salt, gently mixing. Add them to a serving bowl and have your guests (that like hot and spicy) add one to their plate. You simply eat them whole, starting with the smaller tip, and eating your way down.  These can be served alongside just about anything, and they go perfect if you and your friends are drinking beer.

The flavor, although mildly spicy in my opinion, is really amazing. Something about the salt and the roasted flavor of the chile really get the meal going. Simple, fun, and delicious. What could anyone else ask for? Enjoy.

I post time and time again on how often I love visiting my local taqueria for a few tacos al pastor, and while I am eating the tacos, I really take interest to what the other locals are eating. Sure, some are eating tortas, or the daily special, but a majority of them are eating bowls of soup with large cuts of tender meats and chunky vegetables, all while having a warm, corn tortilla in the other hand.

After my snooping around and quick investigation, I realized that what the local are eating is really just a great chicken soup, with a couple of different ingredients. More rustic if you will, and it was my goal to make it for my family, and am I glad I did.

Let’s get started.

[Print this Recipe]

Ingredients for the chicken broth (caldo):

• 4 chicken drum sticks, 2 thighs, 4 chicken wings
• 3 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed
• 3 large carrots, cleaned, and cut in half
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 serrano chili, smacked with the back of a knife
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 whole bay leaves
• water, enough to cover all of the ingredients

Add all of the ingredients to a large stock pot, bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer, and let it cook for about two hours. About one hour in, skim the top of any residue, and discard.

Discard all of the chicken and vegetables, filtering it as much as possible. If you can let this cool, and place in the refrigerator overnight, that would be great. This will allow you to easily scrape any of the fat off of the top to have a cleaner broth.

Ingredients for the Soup (sopa):

• 3 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 4 whole carrots, but into large bite sized pieces
• 2 whole ears of corn, cleaned and cut into thirds
• 3 yukon gold or russet potatoes, cleaned and cut into large bite size pieces
• 1 lime, juiced
• Fresh cilantro
• Corn tortillas, warmed

Ingredients for Mexican red rice:

• 3 whole roma tomatoes
• 1 cup of long grain rice
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil

Start by adding the broth back to your soup pot and bring it to a simmer. Add all of the ingredients except the cilantro and corn tortillas. Continue cooking on simmer until the vegetables become tender. This will take about 45-60 minutes.

During this time, make the rice. Add the whole tomatoes, water, and salt to a food processor or blender. Next, heat a medium pot on medium heat. Add the oil and let it warm through. Add in the rice, and stir, coating all of the rice. Continue to do this until the rice turns a light brown color. Add in your tomato water, give a good stir, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is nice and fluffy. Once cooked, remove it from the heat.

Sounds like a lot, right? It’s not, trust me.

Now you are ready to serve. To a nice soup bowl, add in about one cup of the rice to the bottom, distribute the chicken and vegetables into the broth, and ladle in the nice broth. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with a lime wedge and some nice, warm tortillas.

The simplicity of the ingredients, which are very basic, tend to change with the flavor of a warm, corn tortilla. Those simple things will get you every time. Now I know why the locals are always ordering the caldo de pollo, and the caldo de res. I hope you enjoy.

My kids, I think, notice that. And to me, that is great.

Two weeks ago, my second child, eagerly asked if he could help me make a salad. I should back track a little bit and say that my lovely wife suggested that I make a salad for an upcoming party. “You know, that pasta salad you made that one time with cheese, and stuff?”. I like surprises, but don’t get me wrong…

So to both of their surprises, I said yes. Yes, you can help me with the salad, and yes, I would love to make a salad for the party. But what salad was it, that one with cheese?

Most of my creations are just that. Creations. Our backyard garden. Fresh herbs, and everything in between. Cheese? I remember one that I came up with cheese, and chunks of salami… but just cheese?

Ingredients:

• 1 package cheese stuffed ravioli, cooked
• 1/2 lb your favorite pasta, cooked al dente
• 1 small head of brocoli, steamed for 3 minutes
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1/2 cup of sliced cherry tomatoes
•  1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup of fresh mozzarella cheese balls
• 1 cup of radicchio lettuce, diced
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt, more to taste
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper, more to taste
• 1 cup of colby jack cheese, cubed
• 1/4 cup of fresh basil, torn

Lets begin and get to the story a bit later.

Every time you cook, it is important you prepare all of your ingredients. If you have eager people that want to help, use them!

To a large bowl, add your vegetables. Drain your cooked pasta and add it to the bowl, and mix. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and let it come to room temperature.

In the meantime, make your dressing. To a mason jar, or sealed tight container, add your oil, salt and pepper, garlic, vinegar, and mustard. Shake this vigorously for about a minute until it looks like a nice, thick salad dressing.

Add the cheeses to the bowl, toss or mix, then add in your dressing. Mixing again.

My story continues…

“Can I do something for you Dad?”. A tear about came to my eye. It was one of those moments I had been waiting for. That moment. As I am not a mechanic, or tinkerer for the most part, I am a technologist, with a creative mind, and a hobby of cooking. That question simply got me.

I brought out a couple of knives, and began teaching him what I knew of knife skills. Fingers are precious, so curl them, and cut. Dice, and be precise. Take your time. He got it, and instantly took his time slicing and dicing.

Teachable moments. A moment and faint memory of cubes of cheese, and a lovely pasta salad that pleased many. I was won over by my nine year old son who began thinking of cooking and helping out in the kitchen. This pasta salad goes out to my lovely wife, and my son who is eager and willing to learn basic cooking skills. Enjoy.

What you end up with is a bowl of your backyard garden. Fresh and seasonal. The best part, well, probably two parts awesome; your kid wanting to cook with you and your wife wanting you to create something you never recall ever making. Maybe it was the cheese. Who knows.

Some times you just want something different from those standard side dishes. This is where a classic macaroni salad came into play. I did not necessarily do this for myself, rather, I wanted to surprise my wife with something new, and I think I did just that.

This classic macaroni salad has everything you would expect in flavor and texture. A nice light dressing along with the great crunch from fresh celery, made this macaroni salad go great with the barbecue. So whether you are making chicken, pork, beef, or something in between, skip the bland deli style salads that you would typically pick up from the grocery store and try this one before summer ends. You will be happy you did.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb of macaroni pasta, cooked al dente
• 1/2 cup of celery, small dice
• 1/4 cup of red onion, small dice
• 1 small roma tomato, small dice
• 1/2 cup of light mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Italian leaf parsley, chopped

Begin by boiling your pasta in salted water. While the pasta is boiling, prepare your ingredients, chopping all of the vegetables. When the vegetables have been chopped, make the dressing.

Combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, sugar, and sour cream to a small mixing bowl. Do just that, mix well until you have a nice and thin dressing.

When the pasta is done cooking, drain, and rinse with cold water to cool the pasta. Drain well.

To a large mixing bowl, add the pasta, chopped veggies, and top with half of the dressing. I say half because depending on the pasta, you want to make sure the sauce stays nice and light, not too much sauce. Mix to incorporate everything until you have the desired about of consistency with the dressing.

Taste. Adjust any salt and pepper to your liking. When you are ready to serve, transfer the macaroni salad to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve cold, or at room temperature. Enjoy.

Ajvar is very simple to make. It is basically red bell peppers, eggplant, a bit of garlic and lemon, and just like that you have a wonderful, lightly spicy and fresh condiment.

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants
• 3 large red bell peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp paprika (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of olive oil

Simple ingredients. Begin by roasting the red bell peppers and the eggplants, either on a hot grill, or in the oven on high heat. The goal is blacken all of the skin on both the eggplants and the peppers. This process takes about 25 minutes. Once the skins are blackened, place them in a ziplock bag, or paper bag, and let them rest for about another 10 minutes. What happens when the vegetables are sealed in the bag, is that they begin to steam and allow you to easily remove the thicker skins on both vegetables.

Once the vegetables are slightly cooled, remove the skins off of all vegetables as well as their stems. Add the eggplant to a food processor. Before adding the red bell peppers, make sure you remove the seeds from them.

Next, toss in the remaining ingredients and begin pulsing the mixture down until it is nice and smooth. If you want more texture in your ajvar, by all means pulse it down to your desired consistency. Me? I like it nice and smooth.

Transfer this mixture to a large saucepan, and bring it to medium heat, covered, and cook for about one hour on a simmer. Let cool.

Once your ajvar is cooled, pour into storage containers, and when you are ready to eat, simply spread on bread such as naan, or heck, even some nice crostini. First bite, and you will understand how delicious this condiment is. The big question is why are we learning about how awesome ajvar is today?

Hope you enjoy.

There was one night where our neighbors got really excited when they talked about this Thai pizza they had from a local take and bake pizza joint in town. They boasted how awesome this pizza was. Thai pizza, really? The funny thing is, is that I could not stop thinking about this idea of Thai pizza. After all, I make dough all the time and knock out the ‘call out your own pizza’ night at least once a week, so this idea of how awesome a Thai pizza was, was something I had to make my own.

I feel I have a pretty good sense of Thai food, and probably have made, or tried more Thai food from the average person, so here is what I came up with. I will definitely make this again and will most likely deliver this pizza to the neighbors to see how it compares.

Ingredients:

• Your favorite pizza dough, rolled out to about a 1/4 inch, 12 inch diameter
• 1 cup of cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/2 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of sweet Asian chili sauce, 1 tbsp for drizzle
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 2/3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
• Fresh basil (optional)
• Flour
• 1 tbsp fine corn meal

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone in the oven. If you do not have a pizza stone, get a large baking sheet in the oven, large enough to house your dough.

Begin by adding some flour to your rolling surface. Take your dough that has already risen, and lightly knead it. Roll out the dough, about a 1/4 inch thick, or however your like the thickness of your crust.

Lay the dough down on a pizza wheel with corn meal if you have one, otherwise a surface where you can slide the entire pizza onto the hot cooking surface. The corn meal helps assist with the pizza dough and toppings slide off easily.

Spread the Asian chili sauce on the surface of the dough. Not too thick, not too thin. Add the sliced shallots and zucchini. Top with the red chili flakes and shredded chicken. Top with the cheese.

Place in the oven on your cooking surface and cook for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on your crust and toppings so they do not burn. Every oven is different.

Once the pizza dough is golden around the edges and the cheese is nice and bubbly, remove from the oven onto a pizza tray.

Drizzle more of the Asian chili sauce over the top, top with the crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro. If you are feeling naughty, top it off with some fresh basil.

Slice and serve.

Every bite was pretty darn awesome. You get the great pizza crust with the sweet heat from the chili sauce, and the shallots, cilantro, and zucchini, along with the great crunch from the peanuts made this one a pizza that is hard to beat. So always remember when you are talking about food with other folks, and you see how excited they get about a particular item, make it your own! Enjoy.

So on one Saturday morning, I over heard an older couple going back and forth on purchasing this ‘thing’. I later found out it was kohlrabi. So as I often do, I approached the couple and asked what they were going to make with this kohlrabi. The man actually got excited and informed me that he loved eating this kohlrabi thinly sliced with a bit of salt. Then I slowly approached the farmer and asked her about kohlrabi, and how she liked eating it. She informed me that she liked it thinly sliced and served with ranch dressing of all things! I had to buy one. I had to thinly slice this thing and see for myself how it was going to taste. Not only that but I was curious if I were to get as excited as the older man who later came back to talk to me and let me know that when he was growing up as a kid, that kohlrabi was the thing that he and his friends would crave and hunt down during the summer months.

Kohlrabi is actually a turnip and tastes similar to that of a mild cabbage or apple, if you will. There is a bit of thick outer skin that needs to be peeled away before exposing the white, crunchy interior. As I sliced it thin and tasted with a bit of salt, I immediately fell in love and decided to come up with my own take on raw kohlrabi.

Lets get started.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole kohlrabi, skin peeled and cut into thin slices
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• salt, to taste

Begin by adding the chopped thyme to the olive oil and let this sit for approximately one hour to let the thyme flavor set in.

When you are about to serve, add the sliced kohlrabi to your serving plate. Filter your oil to remove the chopped thyme, and with a spoon, drizzle the oil all over the kohlrabi. Season generously with salt, and garnish with a small sprig of thyme.

The result is something truly simple and delicious. Crisp with a fantastic taste of light thyme and salt. It was refreshing, and as simple as it was, I could see why this man, and farmer at that, was excited when they talked about the kohlrabi.

Lesson learned: Try new things and talk to those around you. You will never know what you might find out. Enjoy.

Sure enough, I did.

One thing I love about Mexican corn is not only how simple it is, but more importantly the creaminess from the mayonnaise, and the subtle heat from the chili powder. I think I am drooling just thinking about the corn. So I decided to take some of the basics of what I did for the creamed corn and turn it into the flavors I loved so much from Mexican corn, and boy am I glad I did.

Lets get started.

• 3 whole ears of corn, husked, and grilled until nicely charred
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cup of cotija cheese, or substitute parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Begin by grilling your corn. Remove the husks, and wash the corn with cold water. Place on a grill, cooking on all sides until nice and charred, but not overly burnt.

Once the corn is cooked, remove them from the grill and let them cool to room temperature.

When they are cooled, take each cob, standing it upright, and run a knife down the the side of the cob cutting off the kernels, cutting as close to the cob as possible. Do this on a baking sheet as the cobs like to fly around a bit. Save the cobs as we are going to save those for a bit more flavor.

Once you have all of the corn cut off the cob, bring a small pot to medium to low heat on the stove. Add the cream and the cobs. If you have to break the cob in half, do that. Let the cobs cook in the cream for about 15 minutes.

Remove the cobs with some tongs, but before doing so, take the back of a knife and run it down the cob, getting as much of the flavor out of the cob, and any remaining cream that got into it.

Once all of the cobs have been removed, add in the butter, corn, sugar, salt, chili powder, and mayonnaise. Give a good stir, and cook until the corn has been heated through. This will only take a few minutes.

Next add in the cotija cheese. Stir, and get ready to eat.

When you are ready to serve, plate in a small bowl, top with some chopped cilantro, a lime wedge, and some additional cotija cheese.

Talk about a creamed corn that rocks in flavor! Try this if you are looking for the best of both worlds. Enjoy.