Recipes

                    Welcome to JAM's Kitchen!

I hope you enjoy these recipes in your home as  much as we have enjoyed them in ours.

                                                                                                                                                                        

Elotes

As the potato is to the Ireland, so corn is to the Americas...and this is without a doubt, the BEST way to serve corn...hands down, no argument!   I can back this statement up with years of detailed scientific studies on the eating habits of my husband...during those studies the only noise you'll hear is the "crunch, crunch, crunch", followed by a low moaning called  gastronomic ecstasy. "ugh..ohhh...Mmm".

Yeah it's BOMB-dot-Com!

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6

• 6 ears of corn, hulled
• 6 wooden skewers
• ½ cup Mexican Crema and ½ cup mayonnaise mixed together
• 4 cups cotija cheese
• 3 teaspoons Cayenne powder
• 6 Lime wedges

PREPARATION

1. Boil the corn for about 5-7 minutes.
2. Grill the corn until charred slightly!
3. Push a skewer through the middle of each ear of corn or tie back the corn husks like the picture above.
4. Spread and cover each ear with your mayo/crema mixture, the more the better! 
5. Scoop the cotija cheese generously on the corn, making sure it covers all sides, really stamp it into those cracks!
6. Sprinkle a little bit of the Cayenne powder evenly across the corn.
7. Squeeze your lime wedges over each ear and smack them lips together cause this is better than chocolate!!

                                   Salsa Pico / Salsa Piña

Pico

Piña

What kind of Angelino would I be Salsa wasn't in my recipe box ?

The following was taught to me years ago on a ranch named Marisol, located in the Baja peninsula of Mexico. With no electricity and no running water, this salsa was lovingly prepared by the 87 year old hands of matriarch Doña Maricela Acosta Gutierrez...we called her "Weta".

This is what's known as a "base salsa", from this recipe you can go on to create many variations like strawberry and even pineapple salsas as seen below.
                                                 ~ Enjoy the Fiesta in your mouth!

INGREDIENTS:

6lbs    Roma tomatoes

3lbs    Stewed Roma tomatoes

5        Green jalapenos

5        Serrano peppers

1        Yellow bell pepper

2        Green bell peppers

4        Limes

5 – 7  Tomatillos

2        Red onions

1        Yellow onion

2        Bunches green onions

2        Md. sized bunches of cilantro

2        Tblsp. garlic powder

1.5     Tblsp. salt

1        Tblsp. ground cayenne pepper

1.5     Tblsp. ground cumin

1        Large mixing bowl or stock pot

*Putting this together is super simple, it just takes time. Total time depends on how fast you are with a knife.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. preheat oven to 250
2. dice 6lbs. of roma tomatoes, all onions, bell peppers, cilantro and combine into your large pot with the 3lbs of stewed and crushed romas. Note:  you can either stew them yourself by boiling,, skinning and then crushing or you can buy three 16oz cans at the store. 
3. mix in your spices -salt,cumin,garlic powder, cayenne
4. squeeze in the juice of your 4 limes and gently mix everything. Let it rest. This is the point where your salsa begins to macerate and all the juices start to flow.
5. remove outer husk from tomatillos, wash and slice in halves. Place them on a cookie sheet open side down.
6. Slice your Jalapeno and serrano peppers in halves. Remove inside seeds and white pulp.  PAY ATTENTION HERE: if working with bare hands, make sure you wash them 7-8 times after you are done handling these peppers.  The seeds of these  chilies are where the "heat" is contained, any left over oils on your hands can be VERY painful if you accidentally rub your eyes.  On that note, if you like your salsa with allot of heat, reserve these seeds for addition to your salsa at the end of the process. 
7. place chilies on cookie sheet with tomatillos and roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.  You just want them roasted enough for the tomatillos to "juice" and the  chilies to soften. This adds a roasted flavor to your salsa as well as taking the sharper edge of the "heat" off,  there will still be heat but just enough to be comfortable not painful.
8. here's where you get to use your Molcajete or a blender. Pure the chilies and the tomatillos and fold into your salsa.

Your Done!! Refrigerate or enjoy right away!  Below are a couple variations all you need to do is add fresh  California Strawberries or  freshly cut pineapple. 

                                                                                                                                                                  

THE EASIEST BREAD IN THE WORLD TO MAKE!

Yum!

This is without a doubt, the easiest and sexiest 

looking bread I've ever made. We usually have this with my homemade Pork-N-Beans and a small side salad, perfect for a Sunday lunch!

INGREDIENTS:

3cups                    All Purpose Flour

½ tsp                     Salt

1/4tsp                   Yeast (any kind will do)

1.5cups                 Hot Water (not over 130 degrees)

TOOLS:

Dutch oven or oven proof pot with lid.

Spatula or hands.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Oven Temp: 450

1. Mix all ingredients together, usually takes 5-10 min max. 
2. Cover bowl with dough in it with plastic wrap and then a bread towel.
3. Let dough rest on counter for 3-5 hours.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured piece of parchment paper and shape with a dough cutter or your hands.
5.  Let rest on parchment while your oven with a dutch oven in it, heats up to 450degrees. This usually takes my oven 30 minutes, yours may take longer or shorter.
6. With a bread knife, slice a couple vertical slits on the top of the dough.
7. Next, place parchment paper with dough on it into the dutch oven cover with lid and bake at 450 for 30 minutes.
8. Then, after 30minutes open oven and remove lid to dutch oven.
9. Continue to bake another 10-15 minutes, until crust of bread reaches your prefered texture and color. 
10. When it's finished, transfer  your beautifully cooked artisan bread to a cooling rack and slice when cool to the touch.

Notes:  this bread is VERY forgiving. I like to add dried herbs into the recipe like Wilde Thyme or Dried Lemon Thyme when it's in season.  Try adding Olives or Garlic, why not it's YOUR bread!!! 

~Happy cooking everyone!

PASTELITOS  de -

These little pillows of love take some time, but like agua para chocolate...they are worth EVERY second.

3 components:

1. THE DOUGH: use the above recipe and mix the night before, this technique of slow proofing  will not only save time, it will deeply enrich your dough's flavor.

2. THE FILLING: use anything you like! It's really that simple. Get creative and pour your heart into it, after all THAT IS the magic of cooking.

3. THE TIME: there's only one way to screw this recipe up...don't be in a rush! Be gentle with your dough, like you would a newly born baby and you will be set to impress.

FILING:

INGREDIENTS:

-Pollo Asado & Fresh Coriander-

2   Pollo Chicken Breasts

2   Onions

1/2 Green Bell Pepper

1  hand full of shiitake mushrooms
2 jalapeno peppers
1 ancho Chilli
1 can (16oz) tomato sauce
water to cover mixture
egg wash

-Sweet Potato & Spring Onion-

4 Sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
1/2 stick (4 tblsp) butter
3 spring onions chopped
Hand full of grated Parmesan (that's roughly 1 cup)
pinch of salt
pinch of chicken bullion powder
ground black pepper
egg wash

-Guava & Stilton Cheese-

8-10 cubes of guava paste (see my recipe for home made or buy it in a store)
8-10 hunks ( thumbnail size) of Blueberry stilton cheese
Castors sugar to coat
Egg wash

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 400, chop, dice, mix and love each filling separately.  Then, using a dough recipe of your choosing, make small dough balls, fill with ingredients...egg wash and VIOLA pastelitos!!!

CHERRY KOOLICKLES

INGREDIENTS:

1     Jar of Pickles

1     Envelope of Cherry KoolAid

1     Cup of Sugar

Quite a few recipes suggest starting with a gallon jar of pickles. I used Quart and Pint sized Jars, because who needs that many Koolickles hangin around the house. 

Start by draining the pickle brine into a clean jar, add into that brine a packet of cherry Kool-Aid and a cup of sugar.  

Shake, Stir, rattle and roll that brine until the sugar and Kool-Aid are dissolved.

Add pickles into your newly created brine, (slicing the pickles lengthwise will help, but I don't recommend it). 

Put your Franken-Pickles in the refrigerator for a week, I suggest turning the jars once a day, this will kinda help with an even marination.  

If you want to avoid artificial colors and flavors...use a pomegranate juice reduction and some agave syrup, or when in season...crushed Cherries! 

..........

Look What's Coming!

Smokey Plum Salsa
Red Wheat and Molasses Dinner Rolls
Ciabatta Bread
Focaccia Bread
Joe's Pork-n-Beans

Meatloaf Angelino Style

Bacon Wrapped Maria Dogs

Elotes

Sweet Potato Roti

African Peanut Soup

Nacatamal

Pupusas

The 7 Moles of Oaxaca

Smoke Clams With Tequila Sauce

Joe's Enchiladas Nopalitos

STAY TUNED!!

Everything's Coming Up Mole!