Foodie of the World

Encacahuatado - peanut and chile sauce from Mexico

2011-07-24T10:03:00.006+02:00

By request I had to make a Mexican lunch yesterday so I made encacahuatado de pollo (chicken in peanut and chile sauce) for the first time in my life. I had been wanting to try to make encacahuatado for years and I finally did it! It turned out delicious even though I used very little chile since my mother-in-law is a bit sensitive to hot foods and I really wanted her to enjoy this delicious summer lunch.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw, hulled, peanuts
1 ancho chile
1 large tomato
2 garlic cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
4 black pepper corns
2 whole cloves
1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
5-6 epazote leaves
6 cilantro stalks with leaves
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups chicken broth
2 tsp vinegar (applecider is best)
1-2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

4 pieces cooked chicken of your choice (breasts, thighs, legs)

Preparation:

In a dry iron skillet (or comal) toast the ancho chile for about 2 minutes on each side. Put in a bowl with hot water to soak. In the same skillet, toast the peanuts for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Still often! Put the peanuts in a bowl and let cool. Toast the garlic cloves until golden brown and the cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves for 2-3 minutes. Put aside in a bowl. Toast the tomato until cooked and the skin is mostly scorched on all sides. This takes a while but the taste is wonderful. Peel the tomato and slice it into chunks.

Remove the seeds from the ancho chile. Grind the peanuts and spices in a coffee grinder or spice grinder. If you don't have one of those then just put them in a blender (the sauce turns out a bit chunkier but the taste is the same). Blend the ancho chile, peanuts, spices, herbs, tomato, vinegar, sugar and 1 cup of the chicken broth until smooth.

Heat 1/3 cup canola oil in a medium-sized pan. Pour the blended sauce and cook on low heat until thick and smooth (about 15 minutes). Stir often. Add more broth as needed. The sauce should cover the back of a wooden spoon when it is done.

Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and serve with Mexican white rice and refried beans. Warm corn tortillas on the side are great with this dish!

Mexican Summer Lunch

2011-07-21T10:59:00.006+02:00

The weather in Sweden this summer has been very very Swedish. Rain, sun, cold, hot, more rain, more sun is just normal for Swedish summers; not like the past couple of years with extreme heat and barely any rain.

On sunny days I like to make Mexican Tostadas with Agua de Sandía (Watermelon Ade) for lunch. This is a very easy to make dish that is great for vegetarians/vegans (they can top it with whatever is suitable), children, picky eaters, and everyone else!

I will not give exact amounts but just the basics for a single tostada.

Ingredients:

Corn Tortilla/s (a couple of days old and quite dry)
Mexican refried beans (brown or black)
Shredded cooked chicken (or other topping)
Shredded lettuce
Sliced onion (optional)
Sour cream
Fresh cheese (Greek Feta is fine)
Avocado
Salsa

Fry the tortilla in plenty of hot oil. Drain excess oil on paper towels. Spread refried beans, top with chicken, lettuce, onion, sour cream, cheese, avocado slices, and some hot salsa to taste.

Enjoy!

Wonderful cookbooks

2010-07-20T22:27:00.007+02:00

As a foodie, I seldom follow recipes. I just read them and get inspired. And then make my own dishes based on lots of different sources. Today I did the opposite! I followed Rosanna Nafzinger's descriptive recipe for Dutch Baby. This is the result.

Wonderful! Isn't it? Well, my Kid ate most of it, with homemade wild sour cherry jam (recipe coming up later). And the Kid already asked if I can make it again tomorrow! I think that if an 11-year old want seconds for days and days the dish has received about 15 Michelin stars :-)

Well, Rosanna Nafzinger and Ken Albala (one of my favorite foodies) have just published a wonderful book: The Lost Art of Real Cooking (get it here at Amazon).

If you love to read books, love to read cookbooks, love to get inspired by how we humans have dealt with different kinds of food, how we have adapted foods to be digestible, how we have preserved summer's bounties, how we spent time in the kitchen cooking, preserving, loving food, this is a must have. I just received my copy of this wonderful book and I already use it in my kitchen! This seldom happens with other foodie books, which I usually devour but seldom follow.

The Lost Art of Real Cooking is just a great must have for every foodie out there.

We can't wait for autumn so we can start pickling things....

More strawberries!

2010-07-14T17:24:00.004+02:00

Strawberry sorbet is really great when the heat just makes it impossible to cook. I decided to put lots of strawberries in my food processor and mash them into a smooth pure. I put the strawberry pure in a metal pan and in the freezer for about 4 hours and took it out for a good whipping about twice an hour.

This is the result!

Note: you can add some lime or lemon juice if you want or sweeten with raw cane sugar or honey but I love it just as it is.

Breakfast and summer!

2010-07-02T09:41:00.005+02:00

We are enjoying an incredible Swedish summer. It's hot and sunny! Fresh strawberries are a part of summer over here and this year they are really tasty. So breakfast today was a fusion Swedish-strawberry-Mexican-licuado.

Just put lots of fresh strawberries and a glass of cold milk in a blender. Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Meat, meat, meat!

2010-01-04T19:21:00.007+01:00

Just discovered an interesting website, Grassfed Recipes, with lots of good info and tips for us omnivores. I love meat! And I'll probably be harassed by vegans for just stating facts but I do love meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and most anything eatable from our planet's fauna. I also love plants, specially green leaves, and fruits, and... lots of other stuff.

However, at home we try to be as Environmentally Friendly as possible and this means we only eat grassfed meat. Yes, grassfed meat is more expensive... yes, it is harder to get a hold of (at least it has been until recently)... yes, it is tastier, juicier, more nutritious... On the other hand, we do have pretty good access to wild meat since hunting is a very popular activity in Sweden.

So, we eat meat but with a good conscience!

On Twelfth Night we had a small gathering of friends, some omnivores and some vegetarians, and I decided to simplify our evening by making a large pot of chili for the meat-eaters and a smaller one for the veggie-lovers. Since I want to mingle and spend time with my guests I seldom have sit-down dinners and instead arrange self-serve foods that each one can pick and choose from whenever they get hungry during the evening. Our friends are invited to come with their kids, pets, in-laws -you name it! And everyone can find something to their liking at out home.

Recipes will be coming up soon!

Fortune Cookies and a Great Writer

2009-05-19T18:02:00.005+02:00

Knowing that other people have fun with food, eating it, making it, researching it, writing about it is a great feeling! Right know I feel as if sharing a nice serving of General Tso's Chicken while discussing the finer points of American-Chinese Cuisine with Jennifer 8. Lee, whose humorist quest in The Fortune Cookie Chronicles really makes you think global, would be lots of enlightening fun.

A great deal of what she writes can be applied to Mexican Food in the US. I mean, how many dishes thought of as "Mexican" are in fact US creations, exported to the rest of the world? The same is true of the Chinese Food we-who-are-not-Chinese think is authentic... but I'm not giving away the secrets of Jennifer 8. Lee's Adventures in the World of Chinese Food... you'll just have to plan a quiet evening at home, with this great book and some Chinese take-out for company. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

What the World Eats

2009-05-11T21:29:00.000+02:00

I want this book!

Check out the pics here.

Don't you? At the very least you can get some perspective on food costs. And, of course, some incredible ingredients that are very inspiring! But some families have sadly fallen for the quick-fix-tummy-filling-bad-for-you-pseudo-food that's become so popular in the past few decades.

What's the deal?

Mexican Lunch in Sweden

2009-04-30T07:03:00.003+02:00

Take a look at this menu:

Michoacán style salad and guacamole stew pots (Cazuelitas de salpicón y guacamole)
Mexican style fish soup (Sopa amarilla)
Chicken breasts in poblano chili sauce (Pechuga en sala de chile poblano)
'Tiramisu pirata'

Sounds good? Well, that's what I had for lunch yesterday at the residence of the Mexican Ambassador in Sweden. I meet some interesting people, all of whom have some connection or other with Mexico; for example, one has written a dissertation on the symbolism of the jaguar in ancient Maya religion, another is working on environmental issues in Veracruz. It was great to spend a few hours in the company of Mexico-fans!

But the best part was the Ambassadors explanation of why the dessert is named 'Tiramisu pirata'. Since it is a copy of the original Italian, some ingredients are substituted or added, and no one wants to be accused of piracy, specially not in relation to recipes and food, it was decided to add the term 'pirate' to the name. So, everyone knew that is was a 'pirate copy' from the start!

Mexico is celebrating several big events in 2010: the 200th anniversary of the country's Independence from Spanish rule and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Those of us who had lunch with the Ambassador will be contributing as much as possible to the celebrations here in Sweden. And I will be working on the Mexican Food theme! Life is good!

A Fun Quiz...

2009-04-10T15:24:00.001+02:00

Created by Recipe Star

Sugar is Ok!

2009-04-05T20:03:00.003+02:00

Of course, who doesn't like sugar and sweet things? I do. And so does everyone I know. We humans are programmed to like sweet tasting foods since they usually indicate that they are ok to eat. No poisons, in other words.

Recently, a study has incredibly ? found that kids have a naturally developed taste for sweet things. Are you surprised? Well, I'm not. Naturally, we all have this 'sweet-tooth' human side.

The problem is that our kids do not receive their sugar satisfaction from natural sweet foods such as berries. Instead, they are fed tons of artificial sweeteners and strange modified syrups that are really not 'natural'.

So, what's the deal here. I would rather give my kid a glass of home-made lemonade than a bottle of Coke! In my own lemonade at least I know what's in it: water, lemon juice, sugar, ice-cubes.

Which choice would you pick for your kids?

Processed Foods

2009-03-19T05:53:00.003+01:00

An interesting article in The Economist discusses Dr. Richard Wrangham's ideas on cooking. Dr. Wrangham, Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University believes that the obesity epidemic we are seeing today is not due to lack of exercise or overeating but in fact a direct consequence of eating processed food.

Well, animals in the wild eat natural foods... why don't we?

Real Sugar, Real Anything

2009-03-17T20:35:00.003+01:00

Who would exchange a natural ingredient with artificial human-invented products? Well, it seems that consumer awareness is really kicking. Sugar is reconquering its place as a natural ingredient! Sugar, a natural sweetener is being chosen as ingredient instead of high fructose corn syrup. Jipee!

Of course, it really is not very healthy to drown yourself in sweet drinks. Nothing can surpass pure water as drink #1. However, if you must, absolutely must drink sweet liquids, choose those with natural sweeteners: sugar and maple and other syrups. And guess what? They even taste better!

Street Markets

2009-02-25T20:07:00.003+01:00

This is nice! Take a look at OpenAir Market Network, created to promote street markets all over the world.

Jamie Oliver's Magazine

2009-02-10T06:50:00.004+01:00

I just discovered Jamie Oliver's new magazine, Jamie Magazine, packed with great articles and inspiring recipes!

Jamie Magazine (for a sneak read go here) is a down-to-earth publication. It balances a fine gourmet approach to food and kitchen items with Jamie's well-known approach to food: uncomplicated and contemporary. And it has lots of great recipes that will surely appeal to home-cooks. You don't have to be a gourmet chef to follow Jamie Oliver's instructions.

With the first issue I received a complimentary product catalogue for his new kitchenware line (visit the shop online here). Even though some of the designs are similar to others (strange, but the Coco Dinnerware mug is almost the same as the one I have at home), there are some beautiful pieces in the collection. But what I like the most is the Herbs and Plants section, which includes ready-to-plant gardens of all kinds! And of course the Food section... just thinking about the real 'tomato ketchup' makes my mouth water.

The price for one issue of Jamie's Magazine here in Sweden is a bit steep (£7.50) but I think it is worth the price. I would love to subscribe but the European subscription (£36.95/year) is a bit expensive for me at the moment :-(. Those of you living in the UK have a much more reasonable subscription fee (£19.95/year).

Progress?

2009-02-02T17:23:00.003+01:00

Oh, this is sad... really sad... Can we consumers not stand against the mega food industry? Read about Rome's delis closing here and mourn the passing of a millenarian lifestyle... :-(

What do you care about the most?

Mercury for Lunch?

2009-01-28T13:11:00.005+01:00

Are you feeding you kids Mercury? Chances are you probably are! A new study has shown that High-Fructose Corn Syrup used in all kinds of processed foods and drinks contains high levels of mercury and is dangerous to children's health.

I found out about this while visiting Grist,
a great website for environmental news and
information and reading Tom Philpott's well-written article "Some Heavy Metal with that Sweet Roll?".

So, what are your kids snacking away on today?
A bit of mercury, trans fat, and artificial flavors...
or a nice, juicy organic apple?

Picture: www.fotoakuten.se

The Green Guide

2009-01-28T11:54:00.004+01:00

I recently discovered National Geographic's Green Guide and absolutely love the Food section. I actually spent some time reading the article on Plastic Containers and really liked the section about the Environmental Impact plastics have. As a consumer, I want to make the right choices for my family and my hard-earned cash. One of those choices is to reduce my own personal environmental footprint! It isn't very difficult if you take some time to become an aware consumer. So, this week I will check out the best plastic container options for my household and make a list on what products are the best choices for us. Later on, when we need to get some new containers, we won't spend hours looking at products and wondering which ones are the best choice: we will just take our list and stick to it!

Foodies and Obama

2009-01-25T11:08:00.004+01:00

It will be interesting to see what changes President Obama can bring to Americans' food habits. And what the Food Industry will let him change... The Huntington Post has an interesting article on Foodie hopes for healthy eating in the US.

Well, we have 4 years to track any changes and hopefully experience healthier children in the future.

Navajo Food and Old Seeds

2009-01-24T17:48:00.006+01:00

Blue corn is a common Native American (by American i do not mean from the USA but refer to the American Continent as a whole) food. In Central Mexico, it is eaten steamed with just some lime and salt or made into dough with which blue tortillas, and other wonderful delicacies, are made.

Recently, Education Curator Char Kruger showed how to make Navajo blue corn mush at the
Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona (read more here). It reminds me very much of traditional corn dishes made in Mexico. So, I went searching for more traditional Native American recipes and found a nice site. Check it out here.

With so many foods being replaced by industrial products it is good to know that some people out there still are interested in traditional cooking and unadulterated ingredients. I have just read an interesting article in Swedish Svenska Dagbladet on the increasing popularity of 'old' vegetable seeds. It seems that many Foodies are trying their green thumbs out and are planting their very own organic greens and maintaining biodiversity as well. For more info (in Swedish) visit this website. Or go to the Bioheritage information page in English.

I have spent the last two seasons learning how to grow food. This year we succeeded with broccoli, spinach, zucchini, lots of different herbs (mint, lemon balm, cilantro), and actually were able to pick a few raspberries. I will return to the topic as soon as I decide what to plant this year.

Tasteline: No comment?

2009-01-21T12:00:00.002+01:00

I've been waiting for a reply on a comment I left on Tasteline's Mexican Food tips to no avail! I understand that editors and food writers have little time on their hands to interact with foodies but how do they expect to maintain readers' interests if they ignore comments?

Food: the Food Magazine for Men

2009-01-20T21:18:00.000+01:00

A couple of months ago, a new magazine for male foodies in Sweden became available almost everywhere in the country. Of course I purchased it (I always buy the first number of new Foodie magazines!). Food is thought to appeal to modern men who want to eat more than burger and fries; thus, it is a magazine that might be interesting to urban 20-45 yr old men. I'm sure my dad would never buy a Food magazine! Still, the first number was a good read (this comes from a very well-read Foodie) and it was fun to see Food from a non-professional male perspective.

I'm waiting for the second number... I might, just might, buy it.

Food on a Budget

2009-01-12T22:54:00.004+01:00

These are difficult times for people around the world, not least for Foodies. However, it is simple and rewarding to revise your food costs in order to maintain your food budget. Do you know how much food you throw away? Or how much you spend at Starbucks? Well, The Passive Dad knows how much he used to spend and has taken control of his life.

I did my own revision some time ago and concentrated mostly on the food we threw away and how to really use leftovers. I also began checking the labels of everything we bought (and still do) so that I can ensure that the money I put in food really is paying for nutritious healthy produce. Not surprisingly, I found that the only way to eat cheap, nutritious, healthy food is to buy natural ingredients and make the food myself. We never buy prefabricated products and never ever buy processed food such as margarine, low-fat milk, or artificial sweeteners.

We now eat all natural, unprocessed foods and feel great! And our food bills have actually gone down. Why not give it a try?

Or visit the Love Food Not Waste website for inspiration...

Tex-Mex is not Mexican!

2009-01-11T20:26:00.006+01:00

One of the most influential food websites in Sweden is Tasteline, with close to 200,000 unique visitors per week. These numbers are, of course, great for advertisers; however, influencing hundreds of thousands readers and foodies is an enormous responsibility.

This week, Tasteline has chosen Tex-Mex as special theme. Most foodies I know love Tex-Mex! The combination of flavors and textures is incredible! And Tex-Mex gastronomy is a wonderful subject that can inspire lots of foodies out there.

But, as so often happens, Tex-Mex becomes synonymous with Mexican. And the wonderful complex seasonings are reduced to "taco seasoning" mixes. On the front page of the Tex-Mex theme recipes, some recipes stand out as being completely out of place, such as the Mojito recipe. Most everyone knows that Mojitos are Cuban! And delicious! And absolutely not Tex-Mex!

At the top of the page, there is a link to "More Tex-Mex. Taco School, Sauces, Garnishes, and Drinks" (my translation). Since I am curious and I really love to be inspired by new culinary creations, I clicked on the link. And, to my horror was informed that Mexican (not Tex-Mex as I was led to believe) Food is good for parties, even though the title still mentioned Tex-Mex.

A website like Tasteline has a lot of resources and a very competent staff. Why then can't they spend a little bit of time researching the background and history of, for example, Tex-Mex recipes? It is so easy to find good reliable information on Wikipedia, and it takes just a few seconds!

It is sad that Tasteline contributes to the misinformation of foodies and the continuing erroneous idea that Tex-Mex and Mexican food are the same. Tex-Mex has its own history and is a part of the cuisines of the United States, not of Mexico. So, if you want real Tex-Mex inspiration search the web! Or visit the Food TimeLine here.

Top Ten Food Trends of 2008, according to Time

2009-01-07T07:30:00.004+01:00

Welcome to a new happy Foodie year!

Time Magazine has selected the Top Ten Food Trends of 2008. A few, such Recession dining, may be considered a result of the current financial crisis. However, things are not as dark as they seem. For those who wish to eat tasty nutritious gourmet food, Time has consulted 6 chefs who all contribute a low-cost recipe in order for us to still eat well during this culinary difficult time; check out the Recession Gourmet Recipes and be inspired!

Great X-mas gifts for Foodies

2008-12-22T13:52:00.003+01:00

Just a couple of days before X-mas and still wondering what you are going to buy for your favorite Foodies?

Why not contribute to feed those less fortunate in your Foodie's name?

The Hunger Site, for example, has some wonderful gift ideas that contribute to the Spirit of Christmas. Share some of your resources and skip that unnecessary ginger grater, crumb sweeper, or pancake dispenser. Give the gift of food to those who really need it!

Is your Foodie in love with honey? Why not give him/her some bees? Oxfam has a great gift idea to help people in Malawi start a bee farm.

If honey is not your Foodie's thing, how about fruit? Help people in East Timor plant fruit trees!

For more great ideas read Emma Gilchrist's article here.

Have a nice and sharing X-mas!

Additives, Preservatives, and Real Food

2008-12-17T08:15:00.009+01:00

For several months, there has been a strong criticism against the food industry here in Sweden. Many have grown tired of purchasing products full of strange ingredients that in many ways are considered a threat to consumers' health. Some, like Mats-Eric Nilsson, author of Den hemlige kocken (The Secret Chef) and Äkta vara (Real Product), are trying to inform the public on why the food industry insists on using large amounts of additives and preservatives.

The debate has received new fuel with the recent statements given by Marie-Louise Danielsson-Tham, Professor in Food Hygiene at Örebro University, Department of Restaurant and Culinary Arts. Professor Danielsson-Tham is a well-know food hygiene expert here in Sweden and even has her own TV show: "Rent hus" (Clean House) in which she visits people's homes to find out how dirty they are. Professor Danielsson-Tham is originally a veterinarian who has concentrated her research mostly on Listeria. She defends the use of preservatives and argues that without them people would die. Of course, no consumer wants to die of botulism or any other foodborne disease... maybe a few preservatives are not so bad if they prevent serious illness and possible death. However, according to the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, there have only been 10 cases of botulism in Sweden since 1969. And these have been caused, apparently, by consuming homemade fish preserves.

Well, if we accept a few, just a few, preservatives in our food in order to prevent disease what about all other additives? What's the deal with the food industry's increasing use of E-numbers and other additives? All consumers can read the list of ingredients on a food pack; well, at least those with good eyesight since the fonts are usually minuscule. Most packed, and also many unpacked, foods contain many ingredients the normal consumer has never heard of but that are considered necessary in order to 'ensure the safety of the consumer', i. e. so that we do not get food poisoning. Among the added water, starches, flavor enhancers, artificial coloring, etc., a few E-numbers are usually named. However, preservatives whose purpose is to preserve food and prevent the growth of bacteria are in fact very very few. The rest of the ingredients are mostly added for flavor, texture, and looks. This means that what we think is nutritious food is something else...

However, as a consumer I have a choice. I can choose where I put my money, and whose pocket it will benefit. It is hard sometimes to stand there in the supermarket and read though dozens of packs with tiny fonts and long lists of ingredients... but it's worth it! I now have more control over what products are 'safe' and worthy of my money. And I choose to put my hard-earned cash into producers who go against the tide and offer real food for my family.

Check out what other Swedish Blogs are saying: matindustrin, mat

Roberto Santibañez's wonderful recipes

2008-12-15T16:50:00.024+01:00

My good friend Roberto Santibañez, former culinary director of Rosa Mexicano in New York, has published a long-awaited cookbook: Rosa's New Mexican Table. This nominee to the James Beard Foundation Awards 2008 is a wonderfully fresh contribution to the publications that deal with Mexican food in English.

Though Roberto's recipes were created for a restaurant kitchen, his cookbook has all the elements needed for cooking Mexican food in the home. All recipes are carefully explained and are followed by tips and ideas on how to serve the different dishes and drinks. Several Mexican cooking techniques are presented in an easy-to-understand manner that will assist even the most novice home cook. The photographs are beautiful and illustrate not only the finished courses but also techniques and ingredients indispensable to Mexican cooking.

As a modern chef, Roberto follows the true Mexican culinary traditions but adds his own touch while creating new combinations of taste and textures that are very refreshing. Just check-out his "Seared Duck Breasts with Pecan-Prune Mole" or his "Lobster in 'Little Adobo' ", two examples well-suited for the contemporary Foodie.

This is not another coffee-table cookbook among the others. It is a book to read, enjoy, get inspired by, and use, truly use, in your own kitchen.

As we say in Swedish,

Smaklig måltid!

PS: Don't forget to visit the publisher's Web site for more inspiring publications!