Spaghetti with Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes

I'm sorry I've been away for so long. In the fall I took a double header trip to India and Connecticut, moved, worked two jobs, and then went back to school. Last week I finished a jam-packed semester of 16 units, since I'm trying to finish my degree in Creative Writing as quickly as possible. It was a great semester that went by really fast, but I'm glad summer is here, and with that the time and energy to cook.

While I was in school I experimented with the recipes of others, and one of my favorites was Turkey Stuffed Peppers from skinnytaste.com. If you haven't tried it I highly recommend it--it's a bit labor intensive, but you can make extra for leftovers or lunch, and it's delicious.

Last night I made dinner for my parents, which I haven't done in quite a while, and the results were far beyond what I expected. I haven't cooked a real meal in weeks, so it was wonderful to put on music, relax, and let the flavors flow. As some of you may know by now I am no longer gluten and dairy free, but I will tag my posts accordingly and will keep dietary limitations in mind.

I'm still a very firm believer that just because there are certain things you can't eat doesn't mean you can't include flavor. The most infuriating thing I was told by my friends at restaurants was "But you can eat a salad." Maybe I don't want a salad!

This recipe is gluten and dairy-free friendly. If you're not gluten free you can use regular pasta, and if you are I recommend quinoa pasta, since it contains protein, is easy to cook, and tastes the same as glutenous pasta. 

Spaghetti with Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes

 

Ingredients:

1 pound of Spaghetti (a box)

1 pound Chicken Thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces

For the Chicken Marinade:

Fresh Thyme, Chopped

Fresh Rosemary, Chopped

4 Garlic Cloves, minced

Zest of 1 Lemon

Juice of 1 Lemon

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

For the Sauce:
Olive Oil

5 Garlic Cloves, minced

Fresh Basil, chopped

2 cups Cherry Tomatoes, cut into quarters

Salt

Pepper
 

Garnish:

Fresh Parsley, Chopped

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and place in a bowl. Pour on enough olive oil to lightly coat and toss. Zest and juice the lemon, or add more if you have a real hankering for lemon. Don't be afraid to add a lot of flavor to the chicken since it only complements the rest of the dish.  Chop the thyme and rosemary and mix with the chicken. Feel free to eyeball this to your liking--I like to add enough so that each piece of chicken will get some good flavor. Add the garlic, salt (preferably course), and a lot of fresh cracked black pepper. Mix the ingredients and the chicken well so that it's fully covered. Let sit for 30 minutes or refrigerate and let it marinate overnight. 

Chop the basil (about 7-10 leaves) and place in a separate bowl. Mix in the garlic cloves and cherry tomatoes. I prefer to quarter the tomatoes so that they're easier to eat and don't explode when you bite down on them, but keep them whole if you prefer. I add enough olive oil so that it does not cover the mixture in the bowl. If you feel unsure, add about 2 tablespoons and mix the ingredients together. You can always add more before you serve.

If you need to, grate the Parmesan cheese and chop the parsley. You can garnish each dish after you put the pasta in separate bowls, or put the Parmesan and parsley in their own bowls and place them on the table. I suggest this for picky eaters, dairy-free guests, or people who may want extra.

Boil the water for the pasta and warm a skillet to cook the chicken. I cooked the chicken in a cast iron skillet (since my parents have one), but use whatever skillet you like. While the pasta water is getting warm, add some olive oil. Once it starts boiling, add a solid pinch of salt before you put in the pasta. Let the pasta cook until it's about al dente, then drain. 

Meanwhile, get your skillet hot (about medium high heat), and then add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Depending on how big your skillet is, either cook the chicken in batches or all at once. Try to get as much of the liquid and herbs in the bowl into the pan as possible. You want all that juicy goodness. The chicken should take about as long to cook as the pasta, but double check your pieces to make sure they're done. Once they're cooked, take a spoonful or two of the pasta water to deglaze the pan so that you can include all the little bits from the bottom in your sauce. 

How to put the sauce on your pasta is up to you. One option is to put the pasta back into the pot in which you boiled it, then add all the chicken from the skillet. Toss in the cherry tomato sauce, and stir it all together so that the pasta can get warm and soak up all the liquid. If you think it needs more olive oil, this would be the time to drizzle some more on.

Another option is to pour the pasta in your serving bowl and then scrape the chicken from the skillet on top, then pour on the cherry tomato mixture. I did that, but there was a lot of leftover olive oil in the bottom of the bowl, and the pasta could have used it. 

If you're just serving yourself, check for taste and then add salt and pepper if you desire, and then the Parmesan and parsley. Otherwise, have all four on the table (and some crushed red chili pepper for people who need the heat) so guests can serve themselves. This dish serves about four to six.

You can also use this as a base recipe and add more vegetables of your choosing, such as broccoli, snap peas, asparagus, etc. Enjoy!

Gooey Marshmallow Brownies

It's very rewarding to experiment with gluten free flours and find the right combination that can yield a perfect dessert. But sometimes it's also nice to throw something together real quick that still comes out delicious. That's how these brownies are--simple but good. They're also perfect for adults and children alike, so whether you're having friends over for dinner or want a dessert for gluten and dairy free children, this is an easy go-to that everyone will be happy with.

This doesn't have a real recipe, and all you need are a box of gluten free brownie mix and a bag of mini marshmallows (which are gluten and dairy free). I used Betty Crocker's gluten free brownie mix, since all you have to add are two eggs and a melted half stick of margarine (my favorite is still Earth Balance). Stir, put in a greased baking pan, and let cook. For the size of my dish, I cooked them for 23 minutes--3 minutes under the medium amount the box says to bake.

Then take the pan out of the oven and turn on the broiler. While that heats up, sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top of the brownies. It's up to you how many you want--you can see that I put on a fair amount so that there were small gaps between them. Then place the pan in the broiler for 20-30 seconds, but keep a close eye on them. I roasted these for about 24 seconds.

If you like your brownies a bit more done, I suggest cooking them a couple minutes longer in the oven. But just keep in mind that they cook more in the broiler and just by being in the hot baking dish.

Cutting them up is a bit messy, but you can scrape the sides of the knife and give the sticky parts to someone to enjoy. They were hot, gooey, and delicious. Between the four of us, we cleaned off the dish. But as you can see, with a large dish like this one, the brownies were very thin. If you want less marshmallow taste in ratio the chocolate, then I suggest an 8" by 8" or 9" by 9" pan.

Enjoy!

Now That's A Best Friend

My best friend Lemmon and I have been friends since our first week of high school, and even though we often hung out with different groups of people, we always stayed close. We walked together when we graduated, and she was excited for me when I left for New York, and I took the train from Union Station in LA to visit her in Santa Barbara. After she graduated college, we lived only five minutes from each other and did so much together that I joked with everyone that she was my wife.

Four years ago, she fell in love with an MIT grad student and a year later moved to Boston to be with him, and after he graduated they moved to Atlanta. The best part is that she and I never lost touch, and we both feel out of balance if we go more than five days without calling each other. She just came back to California for Christmas and New Year's, and fortunately we were able to spend a fair amount of time together.

The day after she arrived, I drove us up to LA to have lunch with a couple we're both friends with. I decided to revisit Pizza Fusion, a restaurant where I had dinner a childhood friend last summer. They make their own gluten free pizza crusts and brownies, and have nondairy cheese. Lemmon had mentioned something about being willing to try gluten free pizza, so I looked at the menu, looked at her, and asked, "Would you want to split a large gluten free pizza?" Without hesitating, she said, "Sure, dude." We asked the server if we could sample the two different nondairy cheeses, and he willingly brought out two small bowls for us to taste. She started eating the soy cheese and commented on how much she liked it. When we ordered our drinks, she asked what gluten free hard ciders there were, and ordered the one he recommended. Part of me was a little blown away. Yes, this girl had stood by me when others wouldn't, but in some ways that's an easier part of being a best friend than being happy to eat gluten and dairy free.

My other friends are hot and cold with my dietary restrictions. When I threw my friend Curry a baby shower, I made a dish with quinoa pasta and didn't tell anyone until after they started eating. She-and everyone else-loved it, and her stepmother ate the leftovers straight out of the bowl. Curry's husband even bought me a six pack of New Grist Sorghum & Rice Beer so that I could try it. But after the shower we decided to go out and eat, and another friend who was also pregnant dictated where we ate because of her cravings. I studied the Creperie's menu and realized there was nothing on it I could eat, and it was clear she couldn't have cared less.

I realized that there are the friends who will accommodate you, and the ones who will eat the things that don't taste too strange with you. Then there are the friends who don't care and want you to simply take care of yourself so that they don't have to worry about it. I didn't expect there to be friends who would experiment with you.

Lemmon voluntarily ate and drank the same way I do, and she was happy for the new experience. A part of me had wondered if the time and distance between us had changed our friendship, but I realized it hadn't. She's still the same loyal and supportive friend I have always known. That day I sat across the table from her and thought, Now that's a best friend.

Hello 2011

Happy New Year.

Seriously.

I don't think I've ever looked forward to starting a new year as much as I have recently. 2010 was one of the more eventful years of my life, and I truly hope that 2011 does not follow suit.

I brought in 2010 in a very placid way, but soon after it became quite eventful. Despite the fact that I kept eating gluten and dairy free, my stomach and health problems didn't end. I went to urgent care several times and spent many days eating only chicken broth and dry gluten free toast--while trying to write a blog that focused on food with flavor. Before long, I realized that food with flavor brought me quite a deal of unnecessary pain.

What was more frustrating was that my doctors couldn't tell what was wrong with me. After more visits to my regular doctor, a gastroenterologist, and urgent care, I was finally diagnosed with upper gastro intestinal irritable bowel syndrome. About a month later, my stomach calmed down and has since given me few problems, so long as I stay gluten and dairy free and restrict acidic foods.

In addition to constant pain that was incredibly frustrating, I changed my mind about my career every few months. What's interesting is that when I was eighteen, I (like many other bright-eyed teenagers) thought my life plan was easy and clear--I would get my B.A. in Middle East Studies at Fordham University and move to Cairo as soon as I graduated. Little did I know that life had other plans for me, and I dropped out after my sophomore year and came home. I changed my mind several times after that, probably equal to the amount of times I changed my mind this year alone. This year I was going to finish up my units at community college to transfer to UCI (which I did get in to) to get a degree in English, but then I dropped the one class I needed to transfer. Smart, right? Then I was going to get my A.A. in culinary studies but decided against it. I put my career/school path on pause to deal with health issues, and when those were resolved I entertained the idea of getting a degree in textile design. I love to draw flowers, and I was thinking of making my own fabric, or at least getting a degree in art so that I could sell my artwork. Then I started an internship at a Public Relations company.

I also changed jobs, which added more fodder for considering my future career path. I'm pretty sure what I want to do now...although my loved ones can probably count the amount of times I've said that on both hands. At least.

As with any year, there were sad and happy times. In May my mother's cousin dropped dead of a heart attack, which came as a shock to all of us. He was a jovial cowboy who taught me how to rope in Wyoming five years ago and even said he wanted me on his rodeo team (which I did, of course, consider for a bit). In July my best friend gave birth to a healthy boy, and another close friend of mine discovered she was pregnant, and her daughter is due any day now. If that's not the circle of life, I don't know what is.

My family has been hit by bad health this year, but we're doing the best we can to take it in stride and see the positive in each situation. We've learned that when you are sick, it's important to look more closely at the things that are wrong or unsettling in your life and change them. A friend of ours quoted the Vedas (a sacred text in Hinduism), saying that illness is a blessing that leads you to your true nature. We've found that this can be true if you have the strength to face the problems in your life.

If I've learned nothing else this year, it's this: listen to your body. Figure out what it does and doesn't need. I was plagued with health issues for most of my life because I ignored the factors that were making me sick. But once I started paying close attention to my symptoms and the foods that were causing them, I realized I would need an unordinary diet to be healthy. It might sound difficult, but this is one of the facts of life: the easy path isn't necessarily the one we're supposed to follow. What's better for each of us is what matters.

So, dear reader, I wish you a happy and healthy new year. May you find the foods that keep you fulfilled and happy, and may you think of your health woes as a distant memory.

Stogo

While my boyfriend Serrano and I were in Manhattan in October, we had a chance to wander around the East Village with Poblano, his brother. Poblano is also dairy free, and he suggested I try Stogo, which has dairy free ice cream. 

I've never had fresh dairy free ice cream before, and I was excited that there was such a wide variety of flavors. Plus I have many fond memories of eating gelato in Italy, and this was served the same way.

I was able to sample several flavors, and they were all just as good as regular ice cream. The only difference is in the consistency, which isn't even that noticeable. The choice in flavors is what sold me, and two of my favorites were Pumpkin Pie and Salted Caramel. 

They also sold Babycakes desserts and vegan truffles. I wanted to try more than just the ice cream, but I didn't get a chance.

It was a very difficult choice, but I settled on Peanut Butter Fudge and Mexican Spiced Chocolate. The Mexican Spiced Chocolate had a lot of kick, but I liked the combination of sweet and spicy. The Peanut Butter Fudge was amazingly delicious. Serrano loves peanut butter and chocolate together and doesn't really like eating dairy free, but he thought that their Peanut Butter Fudge was the best he'd ever had. Even better than regular ice cream. Coming from him, that's saying something.

I just was happy I could enjoy a fresh bowl of ice cream that wouldn't hurt me later.

Go Ahead Honey, Oaxacan Cuisine is Gluten Free Roundup

November is drawing to a close, so it's time to take a look at the recipes contributed for this month's Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free with the theme of Oaxacan Cuisine.

Friedl of Kitchen Fun submitted a recipe for Chicken Mole. I'm very excited that this blogger from Belgium tried her hand at Oaxacan Cuisine and got to enjoy the delicious results!

Valerie of City Life Eats submitted a recipe for Cinnamon Chipotle Chocolate Ice Cream. I'm very excited to try this recipe. It not only combines three delicious flavors, but it's dairy free as well.

My recipe is for Cranberry Mole--a new side dish for Thanksgiving that packs sweet and smoky with some kick. It's one of my new personal favorites, and my best friend even served it for Thanksgiving in Alaska, where it was a big hit.







Thank you so much to my contributors. I hope that you enjoyed discovering Oaxacan Cuisine as much as I did. I'm looking forward to next month's theme of Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free, where Carol of Simply Gluten-Free will host the theme of Family Traditions. Sounds like a great incentive to make a traditional holiday recipe gluten free.

Tabla

I am very excited to share this restaurant review with you, but I'm very sad to tell you that one of my favorite restaurants, Tabla in New York City, will be closing for good at the end of this year.

Tabla was one of my family's favorite restaurants when I attended Fordham University for two years. In 2001 my mom found Tabla in a list of New York City's best restaurants, so we decided to try lunch there. It was love at first bite. Because of all of the delicious and intricately flavored dishes I've had in India, I was in love with the Indian flavors that touched each dish. My mother never developed the same passion for Indian food, but she enjoyed the fusion cuisine that combined different flavors in new and unique ways. That was a while ago now, and I was still enthralled with Manhattan, but I remember we went there on a very cold, gloomy day and found refuge in the perfectly spiced dishes and warm teas. We ate and ate with bankers and businessmen around us, sad when we had to return to the cold and misty weather, but happy that the good food had warmed us.

Near the end of our trip in Connecticut, my boyfriend Serrano and I stayed with his brother Poblano, who lives in Manhattan. I had mildly entertained the idea of eating at Tabla while we were there, but I knew it was a little out of our price range. However, I did show Poblano information about Tabla, thinking he might be able to eat there during restaurant week, but I noticed in many yelp reviews that the restaurant would be closing December 30th of this year. It didn't take my two fellow foodies much convincing that we should eat lunch there the next day. It wasn't like we'd get another chance.

We showed up for a reservation at 2 pm the next day, two of Serrano's friends from Connecticut in tow. Before the hostess reached for our menus so that she could seat us, she looked at us all and said, "We're happy to have you."

We sat in a corner booth downstairs, and the large windows gave a pleasant view of Madison Square Park. When our server came to get our drink orders,  I asked for a limbu pani (lime juice and water) with vodka. She told me that no one had ever ordered that before, but thought it was a good idea for a drink. Whenever I've had limbu pani in India it's always been served with flat water, but the lime juice mixed with sparkling water gave it an edge I really enjoyed, and I couldn't taste the vodka, which was perfect.

We asked our server why Tabla would be closing its doors for good, and from her answer it was clear that the recession had hit the restaurant quite hard. Tabla is a two-story restaurant and can handle a large capacity of people, but its size had become a problem. When I ate there in the past, it was almost always crowded, and there were so many servers that they would literally sweep the table with everyone's dishes at once. I also loved that they would notice when everyone was done, and then at least two servers came and picked up everyone's dishes at once. That small attention to detail, along with the amazing dishes, made Tabla one of my favorite restaurants.

This time, however, we decided to order a few dishes from the lunch menu and split them. The first dish we had was a Wild Mushroom Fricassee, which had polenta, coconut milk, and black cumin. We all loved the combined textures of the polenta and mushrooms, and the flavors were great.

Directly in front of where I was sitting, covered by napkins to keep it warm, was a treat all the boys indulged in--Naan stuffed with Chili Cheddar Cheese. I didn't eat it, but they all thought it was delicious and politely devoured it. Before I went gluten free Naan was one of my all time favorite breads, but I'd never tried it without garlic and butter smothered all over it. I think that this was a clever idea and a perfect example of fusion food.

To the left of it was Scottish Salmon Ceviche, which was served with pomegranate, pineapple, and almonds. It was quite good and fresh, but not an all-around favorite. Poblano and I quite liked it, and between the two of us, we finished it off.

To the right of that dish is the Goan Guacamole, which was served with lotus root chips, which you can see to the left of the Guacamole. I'm not usually a fan of lotus root, but these must have been cooked two different ways so that they were crispy and crunchy, not thick and hard. They were a perfect and healthy alternative to chips, and I would even try recreating them at home. The Goan Guacamole was good and had some Indian flavors in it, but Serrano and I loved it best when we mixed it with some of the Mint Chutney (that green soupy-looking stuff to the far right) we ordered on the side, which, by the way, was worth the extra cost. Mint Chutney is probably our favorite garnish, especially with Indian food, and Tabla's version did not disappoint.

Above the Guacamole was the Hamachi Tartare, which was served with green tomatoes, peanuts, and Pasilla de Oaxaca Chile. This dish went pretty quickly, and I thought it was very good. And, once again, it was a perfect example of how to fluidly fuse the cuisines of two very different regions together.

See the dish that looks like a miniature version of a taco salad? That was Tabla's Crab Cake, which was served with Goan Guacamole and Tamarind Chutney. The shell was made from papadum, which is normally served in Indian restaurants as a snack. I loved the idea of making a shell like that out of papadum, and it went perfectly with the crab cake. That dish also went very fast, and to have the perfect bite you had to combine all the elements at once--the papadum, crab cake, guacamole, tamarind chutney, and watercress. It was delicious.

Above the Crab Cake you can see the Tandoori Black Pepper Prawns with coriander seeds and black pepper. Those went first. We passed them around and they were gone. Everyone loved them. I wish there had been more of them. Tandoori, coriander, and pepper are some of my favorite flavors, and they were perfect on the prawns.

For dessert I enjoyed a trio of their freshest sorbets. They were lovely and--best of all--dairy and gluten free.

I am very happy that my last memory at Tabla was a very positive one. We tried a variety of dishes, all of which our server agreed were delicious, and the service was excellent as usual. Since the restaurant was about to close to set up for dinner, it was nicely quiet inside. I am very sad to see this restaurant close, but I was very pleased that Tabla is everything I remembered it to be: an excellent version of Indian fusion that excites and satisfies the palate.

Los Dias de los Muertos

As you may already know, the Days of the Dead or Dias de los Muertos have already passed, but they are worth mentioning, since they originated in Oaxaca.

Typically only one day is celebrated, but in Oaxaca two days are devoted to honoring the dead. November 1st is Catholic All Saint's Day and November 2nd is All Soul's Day. Oaxaca has an interesting mix of traditional practices that can be traced back to the indigenous peoples of the region and the beliefs of Catholicism. Originally, the Spanish weren't too thrilled that the indigenous populations embraced Catholicism while following their original beliefs, but they eventually resigned to this fact. Now, most festivals in Oaxaca are a mixture of Catholic traditions with the pre-Hispanic religion.

Los Dias de los Muertos are meant to honor those who have passed on. The holiday is somewhat similar to Halloween in that it is believed that during that particular time of year, the realms between this world and the next are at their closest and it is possible for the dead to come amongst us. Many Mexicans choose to honor this time by paying respect to loved ones that have passed on.

This is mainly done by creating altars for the dead. The altars consist of pictures of the deceased, candles, the person's favorite cigarettes, food, beer, candy, bread, fruit, and spiced preserved pumpkin. The spiced preserved pumpkin is a Oaxacan tradition, and since it takes four days to make this dish, it's meant to represent four days spent to please someone dearly loved. Altars themselves can be placed literally everywhere, but typically one is at home and often there are altars in shops.

In the days beforehand, shops in Oaxaca sell special items. Decorated skulls made out of sugar and costumed skeleteons are sold by candy-sellers, and stores become fully stocked with breads, fruits, cockscombs, marigolds, and fresh sugar cane. These are used to decorate the altars, and the sugar cane is used to make an archway that the dead pass through. Marigolds are sold aplenty and are the mostly commonly used flowers (which I find interesting, since they're also widely used for celebrations in India).

At home and in bakeries, a sweet and colorfully decorated bread called Pan de Muerto is made. Pan Resobado is also made, which is another type of bread that is inset with an image of a man or a woman and is also colorfully decorated. People give these to one another during Los Dias de los Muertos, either when they visit someone's house or when someone visits their home, and they are also used for adorning altars.

It is common for people to visit the graves of the deceased and clean and decorate them. This usually happens on November 1st, and some people will stay in the graveyard all night telling stories to others about their departed loved ones. This is why I have always enjoyed Dia de los Muertos: it's a way of fondly remembering those we've lost, and even though skeletons and skulls run rampant, they're not considered sinister or dark. It's a celebration that honors the ones we miss without being depressing or sad; it shows recognition for the impact that they've had on our lives and acts as a way to keep them in our hearts.

To celebrate this event, my boyfriend Serrano and I went to a Dia de los Muertos event at a mission in Oceanside on Halloween. Our favorite display was a row of classic cars, most of which had altars in the trunks.

Traditional altars were also set up on tables, some of which were more elaborate and displayed marigolds, but I thought these were an interesting sign of how traditions are constantly changing and adapting to their contexts. There was a chalk cemetery, where you could draw an epitaph for someone lost. Unfortunately, I have a laundry list of people I could mention, but I chose instead to focus on my mother's cousin Tracy, who dropped dead of a heart attack earlier this year.

Of course, there was plenty of food. In addition to too much kettle corn (that was supposedly dairy free but mysteriously gave me a lot of gas later on), I ate a pork tamale and one of the best carne asada tacos I've ever had, which is saying something.

I did our makeup for the event, and other people either came with painted faces or had their faces painted at the event. I'm not sure where that tradition comes from, but it's not uncommon, and a fair amount of people either stared at us, complemented our makeup, or even asked to take pictures of us.

The event was a cheerful way to remember those we've lost. Serrano and I did get a little choked up drawing chalk cemeteries, but as soon as we were done the live music, colors, and sheer mass of people picked our spirits up. We both enjoyed the event and agreed that this will be an annual tradition that we'll continue.

Go Ahead Honey, Oaxacan Cuisine is Gluten Free

This month I am proud to be hosting the theme of Oaxacan Cuisine for Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free, a food fest thrown by Naomi Devlin of Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried.

When I first started eating gluten free to quell the constant pains in my stomach, I realized that I also needed to keep my taste buds satisfied, so I started exploring foreign cuisines. There are many different cultures that eat mostly dairy and gluten free, but Oaxaca has elements I yearned to explore further. Mexican food is full of complex flavors, but the notorious Land of Seven Moles has a wide variety of offerings for those of us with dietary restrictions.

Oaxacan Cuisine is different from the cuisines in other regions of Mexico because its dishes reveal a thorough blending of Spanish and Indian cooking. Before the Spanish arrived, the Zapotecs, Aztecs, and other indigenous peoples ate a mostly fatless and entirely dairy and gluten free diet. They ate mostly masa (lime treated corn), which was mixed with beans, tomatoes, squash, dried and fresh chiles, different wild greens and herbs, and a variety of fruit. Some game was hunted, but turkeys were the only domesticated animal, and a large collection of sauces existed that were each considered a meal unto themselves. When the Spanish came, they brought cinnamon, cloves, pepper, nutmeg, coriander & cilantro, thyme, globe onions, and garlic. They also brought pigs and shared how to derive their fat into lard, which is a current staple in cooking across Mexico. They taught the indigenous people how to use sugar, eggs, wheat, and dairy, which led to making different breads, which are now as vital to the cuisine as their corn-based cousins.

Oaxaca actually has three culinary centers that are very different from one another. In the Zapotec towns of the central valleys, the austerity of the people is revealed in their food, and to this day they cook more like their ancestors did, without much fat and meat, which is eaten occasionally. The Zapotecs in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, however, fully embraced Spanish techniques and enjoy bold flavors  that combine both sweet and sharp, eat large amounts of meat, and cook most things in large quantities of lard. The food from Oaxaca City is in between these two extremes, and the term Oaxacan Cuisine typically refers to the food created here, at Oaxaca's capital. There is a large tradition of street food, but all dishes from this region equally honor the Spanish and Indian techniques that created them.

For this little blog fiesta, I encourage you to make whatever piques your interest, whether it be traditional or Americanized. Since Oaxaca is known as The Land of Seven Moles, I took a classic concept and put my own twist on it and made Cranberry Mole for my contribution. I love mole, and I wanted to create a new side dish for turkey at Thanksgiving, and I'm looking forward to having it this year.

If you have any questions about recipes, want some help with ideas, or even want a recipe, feel free to email me and ask. Oaxacan dishes vary in their difficulty, but some can be very easy to make. I simply encourage trying anything, since cooking something for the first time can be an adventure. Some dishes, such as mole, can seem like a complex endeavor, but can be quite enjoyable and yields surprisingly delicious results.

Email me your recipes, adventures, pictures, and links by November 27th and I will share them all at the end of the month. I look forward to seeing what you all try and experience. Enjoy the adventure!

Cranberry Mole

 From what I've seen and heard, mole gets a bad rap for being a very complicated dish to make. The truth is that the first time you make it, it can be a bit tricky. But here's the real trick to mole--you cook a bunch of ingredients separately, add them together, puree them, let it simmer, and voila--you have mole!

Mind you, this is obviously not the same method used in Old Oaxaca to make traditional mole. The ingredients are cooked over an open flame and then ground together in a molcajete, which is a large mortar and pestle made from lava rock that is cured. Talk about elbow grease. Unfortunately, I do not own a molcajete, although I have heard that there is a massive taste difference between grinding the spices and nuts into one another and simply whipping them up. Even though pureeing them does grind the ingredients down, when they're worked in a molcajete the flavors mingle differently because they're literally mashed into each other. So if you have the money and the time, go for it and savor the flavor. If you're on a limited budget and/or don't have the time, puree away. 

My mother is currently recovering from surgery, and her taste buds are a bit weak at the moment so she can't handle a lot of spice.  I made this mole as follows, but I poured a few spoonfuls into a small saucepan and diluted it with some more chicken stock, wine, and pomegranate juice. While the pomegranate juice was a healthy way to dilute it, I had to be careful not to add too much because it has a very sharp flavor. However, I do recommend some version of this if you want to introduce children with delicate taste buds to mole (or if you're willing, reduce the number of peppers or just forgo them completely). If you want the alcohol out, make sure you boil it for a few minutes. Also, if the mole seems too thin, try to reduce it by boiling.

It's honestly not tough to make mole your own. There are many different recipes out there, but this is my special holiday version. However, if you want it less spicy, you can always amend the number of peppers. If you want it thicker, add less chicken stock. If you want it thinner, add more chicken stock, wine, or even cranberry juice. Once you have a trial run, you'll get the idea of the process and the next time will be easier. 

If you are interested in making this for Thanksgiving or any type of meal, you can always make it a day or two ahead and simply reheat it when you're ready to serve. It'll be fine in the refrigerator for about a week and the flavors will only get better as time goes on. 

Cranberry Mole

5 cups gluten free Chicken Stock

4 dried Pasilla Chiles

3 dried Gaujillo Chiles

2 dried Chipotle Chiles

Olive Oil

Margarine, for frying (optional)

1 4 in. piece Canela (Mexican Cinnamon)

2 heaping tbsp. raw skinless Peanuts

15 raw Almonds

2 heaping tbsp. Pecan pieces

4 Garlic cloves

1 small white Onion, roughly chopped

1 cup dried Cranberries

1 pinch ground Cloves

1/4 tsp. ground Nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground Cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground Cumin

1/4 tsp. ground Oregano

1/4 tsp. Anise Seeds

1/4 tsp. Coriander Seeds

1/2 cup Red Wine

2 oz. grated Dark Chocolate

1 1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste

1. Cut the undesired ends off of the onion and cut in half. Peel off the skin and place the halves in a bowl and place it in the freezer. Allow at least fifteen minutes before taking it out and chopping the onion. The colder the onion gets, the less vapors it gives out that will cause you to cry. 

2. Rinse the dried chiles under the tap, preferably with gloves. If you don't have gloves and want to scrape out the seeds, do so with a knife. If you want a very spicy mole, leave as many of the seeds in as you like. If you want it less spicy, scrape all of the seeds out, though keep in mind that the peppers alone will provide a fair amount of heat. I prefer to leave a few seeds from each pepper in, but this gives the mole definite bite.

3. In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of the chicken stock to a boil.

4. In a cast iron skillet, toast the chilies under medium high heat until they soften a bit and become aromatic. Then place them in the chicken stock so that they are submerged and reduce the temperature to medium. Cover the saucepan with a lid, but occasionally dunk the peppers into the chicken stock so that they are fully saturated. Just be careful each time you open the lid; the peppery steam that comes out is not pleasant to get in your eyes.

5.Then fry the following and add more olive oil and margarine (if you want buttery flavor, or you can do one or the other) to the cast iron skillet each time you cook a new ingredient. Once each item is cooked, add it to a medium-sized bowl so that they can all be combined.

a.Piece of Canela for a few minutes, then add to dried peppers in the chicken stock to soften

b. The peanuts and almonds

c. The pecans until lightly toasted

d. The garlic until lightly browned

e. The onion--once it's gotten a bit of color, add dried cranberries, cloves, cumin, oregano, nutmeg, and cardamom

f. The anise and coriander seeds

6. Puree the ingredients thoroughly in a food processor. First, puree the dried chiles and piece of canela with the chicken stock from the large saucepan. Add about 1 tbsp. of olive oil to the same saucepan before pouring the pureed ingredients back inside. Second, puree one half of the bowl of mixed ingredients with a cup of chicken stock, then the second half with another cup of chicken stock. Make sure that all the ingredients are pureed thoroughly before pouring them all into the large saucepan.

7. Stir the puree together until it's fully combined, then cook over medium high heat before simmering for 15 minutes. Add the chocolate and wine and let simmer for 15 more minutes. Add salt to taste. Let simmer until small pools of oil form around the bubbles. 

 

8. If you are ready to serve it, spoon desired amounts on top of poultry and rice (optional). If you're not ready, this can simmer for as long as you like. If you want to make it a day ahead, package it when it's at a manageable temperature and refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!

Syrian Dancing Chicken

The night that Sarge and Nanny made this for us was a very hectic one. During the day, Serrano and I had taken an eventful train and bus ride up to Kent to visit my mother's cousin and her husband. She has a house in Kent that they stay at on the weekends, and we walked her dogs and looked at the fall foliage. We also noticed that Kent has a large artistic community, and there are a lot of galleries and outdoor sculptures that are interesting. We had lunch at a cafe, and I enjoyed a simple duck salad. Then we went up to Kent Falls, where there's a beautiful waterfall and open space to have picnics.

In the afternoon, Serrano and I took the train back to his grandparent's house, where dinner was almost done.  It was Syrian chicken with beets and butternut squash, which is also one of Nanny and Sarge's signature dinners.

The only problem with the Syrian chicken is that no one knows how to spell its Syrian name. I maintained a D average during two semesters of standard Arabic when I was at Fordham, but my rough estimation is that it's spelled Djadjee (The letter for J in standard Arabic makes a dj sound). When I asked different family members how to spell it, they would laugh and throw out random letters and then open a family discussion into how you spell any of the Lebanese words Nanny likes to pepper her vocabulary with. This would then lead to Serrano accusing his aunt of using these words without having any idea what they actually meant, since she likes to string them all together at once.

But before Nanny and Sarge's house filled up with family, they explained how they made dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures, and I was starving when we started eating, and shortly after the family started to trickle in and ended up eating dinner with us.

For the beets, Sarge told me that he peeled, sliced, and boiled them in salted water. He told me that he sliced them paper thin so that they would cook faster and then added, "If you slice them thicker, you may not live long enough to see them get cooked." Once they were cooked, he drained them well and served them.

The butternut squash he also peeled, sliced, and boiled in salted water. When they were tender, he drained them well, mashed them, and added margarine and honey. He advised me to be careful when draining the squash, since it acts like a sponge.

Then Nanny explained how she made the Djadjee, or Syrian chicken. She cut up one white onion, chopped one tablespoon of garlic, and mixed the two together. She sauteed them until soft and added the ground meat of 4 hamburgers and sauteed it with the onion and garlic. Then she added some chopped parsley. Separately, she cooked 2 cups of rice until soft, then added it to the meat-onion mixture and mixed everything together. She seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

Then, she opened a chicken, cleaned it, and let it dance. Since we were in Kent when she did this I didn't get to see it, but she explained that she stands the chicken up and raises its arms and legs so that it dances on the cutting board. After the chicken's tired from dancing, she stuffs the meat mixture inside the cavity. Then, she separates the skin from the meat with her fingers and stuffs the remaining stuffing inside so that it covers most of the chicken. She said to then season the chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then she sewed up the cavity, pulled the strings until they were tight, and put a knot in the end.

She told me that she then put flour (at this point I decided not to mention yet again that I can't eat flour and that a box of my "gluten flour" was on the counter) inside a turkey bag and stuck the chicken inside. She cut a strip of plastic from the bag and used it to tie the end of the bag into a knot. She then slit the bag in 6 places so that it wouldn't pop in the oven, and baked it at 350 degrees.

Back In the Land of Milk and Honey

Even though I was loving my time in Connecticut and New York, I had to cut my trip short to take care of some things that could not wait.

 I was sad to leave early, and when I caught a taxi to JFK in the rain I watched Manhattan and Queens fly blearily by me, wishing I didn't have to leave just yet. But by the time I landed in the rain in Long Beach, I realized that when I first moved to New York at age eighteen I came with the lingering impression that New Yorkers and nearly the entire East Coast were so different from the West Coast it should be another country.

But this time, as I walked around Grand Central Station and took the subway around Manhattan, I realized that I  had been wrong. I saw much less of the things I thought made us so different and saw more that we really are the same. People living in major cities are very similar, whether they're sitting in traffic on the 405 or waiting for their train to arrive. And yes, in some ways, New York and LA are different and always will be. But for the most part, we are all more similar than some of us would like to think.

The business I had to rush back for has had me running all over downtown Los Angeles, but I've enjoyed rediscovering the city. I've had a chance to visit some familiar sights that hold fond memories for me. I used to not like LA because everything is so spread out, but I realized that I've grown very familiar with it and that familiar quality makes it more comfortable than any other city I've been to. I've traveled all over the world and loved some cities more than others, but I know Los Angeles, and some parts of it will always loyally be the same to me. I have many fond memories from my childhood and adult life, and for that I will always feel that I am an inherent part of Los Angeles.

I still have plenty from my trip to share with you. I have many more recipes, a restaurant review, bakery review, and even a review of a dairy free ice cream shop. But at the moment I'm still running around like a chicken with my head cut off, so I haven't been able to share all of my flavorful memories yet. But they were delicious, and, best of all, gluten and dairy free.

Silverman's Farm

Since Connecticut is where Serrano was born and raised, he's been sharing his childhood memories with me. I've seen baby pictures, high school portraits, and the schools he attended. He also showed me one place in particular he has fond memories of, which is Silverman's Farm in Easton, Connecticut. 

There's an apple orchard that you can pick apples from, and they used to have an apple cider press on the premises. Serrano told me that he loved to watch the apples get pressed into fresh cider, and then he and his brother would drink it out of little cups. Unfortunately, Connecticut state laws now mandate that the cider has to be pasteurized before it can be distributed, so the press isn't there anymore.

But what they lacked in apple cider they definitely made up for in pumpkins.

They have a pumpkin patch on the farm, so Silverman's is a major spot for people to pick up their pumpkins for Halloween. I wasn't really complaining; I love pumpkins so much I decorated the entry way to my house last year with about five of them.

They also sold spaghetti and acorn squash, along with different types of gourds. I saw corn husks everywhere, although I wasn't sure if you could buy that or not. Many houses I've seen so far have corn husks on their entry ways, which made me feel like I was on the set of Children of the Corn, but it is a charming and inventive way to decorate.

There's a petting zoo across the street, but now they charge an entry fee, so we decided not to go in. But it was nice to be out in the country and see more of the landscape. Since Connecticut didn't get much rain this year, the leaves are not their usual vibrant, fiery kaleidoscope of oranges and reds, but we did get to see some  color in the leaves. It may not seem like much, but if you're from California, any color beyond brown is exciting.

Lebanese Lunch

The morning after our first meal, I woke up and to Sarge and Nanny making breakfast. Serrano had gone with Sarge to the store earlier, and they picked up gluten free Bisquick so that I could have pancakes with everyone else. I had it with eggs and sausage and was stuffed as usual.

For lunch, Nanny and Sarge took Serrano and I to the Olive Tree in Milford. It's a Middle Eastern restaurant and deli that had many different dishes. 

They had Syrian salad (left) and Tabbouleh (right). The main difference is that Tabbouleh has mint, much more parsley, and wheat germ. Otherwise, the vegetables are mostly the same. 

They had grape leaves stuffed with rice, onions, and some seasoned ground beef. 

And of course, they had one of my all time favorites--hummus. They had small containers with seasoning and pine nuts on top, but they also had large containers of this available. 

Serrano and I split this for lunch. It was a plate of grape leaves, Syrian salad, seasoned lamb, and hummus. It was fresh and delicious. 

For dinner, we went to Trattoria Roma in Huntington (which is a part of Shelton). Sarge called them beforehand and asked if they would cook quinoa pasta that we would bring in, and they agreed to. I had the whole box of spaghetti with Bolognese sauce, and it was delicious. By the time it came I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of it. I ate most of it, but when we got back Nanny made me this sundae with gluten free cookies for dessert. It was yummy, but Nanny has a tendency to overdo it with desserts, and I was so stuffed that I made Serrano help me finish it.