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Posts tagged ‘Mexican’

Oct 11

Nitro café de olla with Cadence Cold Brew

cafe-de-olla-cadence-2

It will surprise no one who has ever parented or spent much time taking care of a toddler that coffee is now a significant and important part of my life. I’ve long loved it – the smell, the flavor, the heady ritual of it – but for years caffeinated coffee gave me migraines (yes, you’re right, it really was the worst). Whatever divine spirits there may be in the world appear to have taken pity on me, however, because pregnancy changed something in my brain chemistry and I am now once again able to partake. And partake I do, in volume some days, generally with breakfast and again during Aldo’s midday nap.

So I was particularly excited when Cadence Cold Brew, a new Madison company, expressed an interest in new recipes and ways to use their canned nitro cold brew coffee. We generally make our coffee at home (okay, Brett generally makes our coffee at home – what a guy), but when I treat myself to a coffee drink out in the world, I often seek out nitro cold brew. Cold brew in general is more easy-drinking than regular brewed coffee, and the addition of nitrogen makes it even smoother and silkier, with a slight effervescence akin to beer.

After tasting the three varieties that Cadence offers in cans, I knew immediately what I wanted to do – create a twist on café de olla, a rich, spiced coffee drink traditional to Mexico.

cafe-de-olla-ingredients Read more

Feb 1

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Taqueria night 2 of 2: Chipotle-tomato pork tacos with queso fresco and homemade crema, fried plantains with homemade cajeta

Two nights of authentic taqueria dinners. Why not? This post details night 2 of 2. 

Night two, quite different than the first, even with many of the same elements.

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Start out with some sweet, tangy Mexican sangria. Bring out more of those homemade tortillas, heirloom beans, and tomatillo salsa.  Then some slow-braised pork tinga, packed with chipotles and tomatoes and onions. Maybe some creamy, tangy queso fresco and homemade crema for topping your tacos. Later, whip up some quick fried plantains with homemade cajeta caramel and more of that homemade crema. Read more

Jan 31

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Taqueria night 1 of 2: Roasted mushroom and chorizo tacos with roasted tomatillo salsa

Two nights of authentic taqueria dinners. Why not? This post details night 1 of 2. 

Here are a few things I’ve learned recently:

  1. Roasting vegetables (or anything, really) with a bit (or a lot) of chorizo in the pan is a very, very good idea
  2. There really is something behind this pricey heirloom bean thing, and the “pot liquor” left at the end of the cooking process really is quite delicious
  3. When dry roasted, tomatillos dance around in the pan like Mexican jumping beans

All together now:

Mushroom_tacos

Earthy roasted mushrooms with chorizo and caramelized onions, simply prepared yet creamy heirloom beans, roasted tomatillo salsa, fresh homemade tortillas, and perfectly ripe avocado.  Tacos, my friends – mighty delicious tacos. Read more

Oct 26

Birthday tortilla soup

We’re a relatively new little family unit here in this house, which means we’re still in the process of creating and writing and forming the household practices that may one day become long-standing family traditions.  Some have started to stick (like the holiday treat boxes we give to friends and coworkers every year, and like how our annual Easter party always turns out to be the biggest and most fun party we have all year), and others haven’t worked out so well (like that oh-so-deliberate set of traditions we “started” on our first wedding anniversary and entirely ignored on our second).

Anniversary_shirts

I suppose sometimes it’s that deliberate quality that causes the downfall of a potential tradition – when they’re too planned to become second nature, and too forced to become a tried-and-true ritual.  And I suppose the best traditions are the ones that come naturally; the ones you don’t realize are traditions until you see that they’ve become a regular part of your life.

Like two-day birthdays. Read more