On Saturday, I was puttering around the kitchen getting ready to fix one of my favorite dishes: arroz con pollo y verduras.
The recipe is my own. It started as a basic Mexican red rice recipe: sautéed rice cooked in chicken broth and a tomato-chili sauce.
For those of you up north, it is similar to the old-fashioned Spanish rice recipe that showed up in every other issue of Better Homes and Gardens -- except this dish actually tastes good.
But a dish that basic needs a little accessorizing. And there are plenty of vegetables that do the trick.
On Saturday, I had tomatoes, carrots, sweet peppers (yellow and red), Jalapeño peppers, onion, and baby zucchini. As well as the remnants of pollo asado from my dinner a few afternoons prior.
I had all of the ingredients laid out on the kitchen island -- ready for my impersonation of a human Veg-o-matic.
Marta stopped to see what I was doing. I told her.
She just shook her head and maternally repeated my name three times.
Remember when your mother used to do that? It was never followed with: "What a creative genius you are."
About a month ago, Marta saw me looking through Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday -- a retirement gift from my colleague, Jaye. Marta looked through it with me. I would translate the recipes as well as I could and she compared the pictures with my efforts.
She told me, in her opinion, the author knew nothing of true Mexican cooking. He had too many ingredients. Too many tastes. Mexican food is simple.
I got the same lecture on Saturday. If I was going to make Mexican red rice, fine. That would be rice boiled with some tomato sauce and a green chili pepper. Nothing else. All of my vegetables and chicken would simply get in the way.
I understand her point. Almost every Mexican meal I have eaten since I came down in April has been extremely simple: whether tacos or quesadillas or pollo asado, there are usually no more than two or three ingredients. Just about the way our mothers cooked in the 50s.
But that is why I learned to cook. I wanted to take basic recipes and experiment.
I do admit that some west coast fusion cuisines have turned almost neurotically rococo. But it is possible to have fun with food and still have a good eat.
And I did just that. My arroz con pollo y verduras turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be: filling, as well as challenging on the tongue.
My sole concern is my ongoing battle of trying to eke out enough heat out from my propane-powered stove. But that is for another post.
Because I had so many ingredients, I now have eight servings of the dish that will hold me through the remainder of the week -- unless you want to stop by and share a bit of Mexican rice with an organic twist.
The recipe is my own. It started as a basic Mexican red rice recipe: sautéed rice cooked in chicken broth and a tomato-chili sauce.
For those of you up north, it is similar to the old-fashioned Spanish rice recipe that showed up in every other issue of Better Homes and Gardens -- except this dish actually tastes good.
But a dish that basic needs a little accessorizing. And there are plenty of vegetables that do the trick.
On Saturday, I had tomatoes, carrots, sweet peppers (yellow and red), Jalapeño peppers, onion, and baby zucchini. As well as the remnants of pollo asado from my dinner a few afternoons prior.
I had all of the ingredients laid out on the kitchen island -- ready for my impersonation of a human Veg-o-matic.
Marta stopped to see what I was doing. I told her.
She just shook her head and maternally repeated my name three times.
Remember when your mother used to do that? It was never followed with: "What a creative genius you are."
About a month ago, Marta saw me looking through Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday -- a retirement gift from my colleague, Jaye. Marta looked through it with me. I would translate the recipes as well as I could and she compared the pictures with my efforts.
She told me, in her opinion, the author knew nothing of true Mexican cooking. He had too many ingredients. Too many tastes. Mexican food is simple.
I got the same lecture on Saturday. If I was going to make Mexican red rice, fine. That would be rice boiled with some tomato sauce and a green chili pepper. Nothing else. All of my vegetables and chicken would simply get in the way.
I understand her point. Almost every Mexican meal I have eaten since I came down in April has been extremely simple: whether tacos or quesadillas or pollo asado, there are usually no more than two or three ingredients. Just about the way our mothers cooked in the 50s.
But that is why I learned to cook. I wanted to take basic recipes and experiment.
I do admit that some west coast fusion cuisines have turned almost neurotically rococo. But it is possible to have fun with food and still have a good eat.
And I did just that. My arroz con pollo y verduras turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be: filling, as well as challenging on the tongue.
My sole concern is my ongoing battle of trying to eke out enough heat out from my propane-powered stove. But that is for another post.
Because I had so many ingredients, I now have eight servings of the dish that will hold me through the remainder of the week -- unless you want to stop by and share a bit of Mexican rice with an organic twist.
I doubt Marta would like it.
