Author: admin

A story from my mom:

Mom, can you see this? I remember everything. Every year during Lent, my mom would make certain foods that she only made this time of year. One of these special foods was capriotada, a Mexican bread pudding made with toasted bread, a syrup made of piloncillo, cinnamon, whole cloves, raisins, peanuts and cheese. Well mom, it will never be as good as yours but I’m so grateful you left us these little treasures. 

So, what is Capirotada?

The bread represents The body of Christ, our bread of life.

The two cinnamon sticks represents the cross on which our Savior died.

The cloves are the nails that pierced the body of our Lord.

The syrup represents the blood our Lord shed to save us from our sins.

The peanuts represent the stone that covered the tomb where Jesus was buried.

The yellow cheese represents the dawn of the third day. He is risen. Praise God.

Ingredients

• Two loaves French bread
• 2 sticks softened butter
• 2 cones piloncio or 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2-3 cups raisins
• 2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts
• 5-6 whole cloves
• Thinly sliced or grated cheddar cheese
• Candy sprinkles if desired 

Instructions

• Slice, butter and lightly toast bread
• While bread is toasting
• Boil 3 cups if water.
• When boiling, lower to a simmer and add piloncio/ brow sugars, cinnamon sticks, cloves. Simmer until sugar is dissolved and begins to slightly thicken.
• Add raisins and peanuts. Takes approximately 45 minutes.
• Place a single layer of toasted bread in a deep casserole dish. Spoon syrup with raisins and nuts over toast. Continue layers until bread is used and throughly soaked with the syrup. Careful to remove the cloves. Top with a few slices of cheddar cheese or sprinkle lightly with grated cheese. Bake in oven at 350 until warm throughout and cheese is slightly melted. Approximately 30-35 minutes. You may choose to sprinkle with colored candy sprinkles to decorate.

Lentil soup has always been a comfort food in my family. My grandma made her own recipe, and a story to go with it. Every time she made soup she told us her story of the lentil. 

A long time ago, a woman and her husband lived in a small, broken home. They were very poor, and rarely had enough to feed themselves. One day her husband came home with his friends. He asked his wife to make dinner for everyone there. She knew there was not enough food in their kitchen for everyone to eat, but she still left to find something to do. All she found was an onion, some chicken broth, and some vegetables. There wasn’t enough to feed the guests her husband had brought. 

Not knowing what else to do, she put everything she found into a pot and walked outside. She knelt on the ground with her pot and started to pray for God to help her. When she looked up, she saw hundreds of tiny pebbles on the ground in front of her. She had no other option, so she put all the pebbles into her pot and brought it inside to her stove.

 When she brought the soup to her guests she was thinking of ways to explain the rocks in the soup, but to her surprise when her husband and his friends served, the rocks had changed into something round and soft, nothing like the pebbles she knew she put in the pot. When one of the guests said it tasted amazing, and asked what was in it, she said the first thing she could think of, that the round food was called “lentil,” and she thanked God for his help.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of lentils sorted and rinsed
• 2 1/2 quarts of water
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely diced
• Coarse sea salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Fresh cilantro

Instructions

• In a stock pan over medium heat, add the water and lentils and cook for 20 minutes.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and Sauté the onions, garlic and celery until translucent, 5 minutes, then adding the carrot. Keep cooking for 10 more minutes.
• Add the sauteed vegetables to the lentils stock pan and cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the cilantro and cook, covered, for 5 more minutes. Discard the cilantro.
• Serve and garnish with some fresh cilantro leaves.

Champagne chicken is the meal my mom makes every Father’s Day for my dad. It’s a yearly staple in my family that is also one of the few recipes that does not have a clear origin. It has become a permanent fixture of my family, but the recipe was just something my mom pulled out of a cooking magazine and modified to fit her needs.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 skinless and boneless chicken breast fillets, halved horizontally to make four fillets (I USE CHICKEN TENDERS) 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper, to season
• 14 ounces | 400 grams sliced mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 large fresh shallot, finely chopped 
• 1/2 cup (about 130ml) dry champagne 
• 2/3 cup milk (or heavy / thickened cream)
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (corn flour) — only if using milk
• Fresh chopped parsley, to garnish

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in a skillet of pan over medium heat. Toss each chicken filet in flour seasoned with salt and. Sear chicken on both sides, for about 3-5 minutes each side (depending on thickness), until golden all over. Transfer chicken to a plate.
• Sauté the mushrooms in the butter and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until just beginning to soften. Transfer to the same plate as the chicken. Cover and keep warm.
• Add the shallot into the pan and cook for 4 minutes or until just softened, without browning, while occasionally stirring. Pour in the champagne; stir well, while scraping any food bits from the bottom of the pan for added flavor. Season with salt and pepper and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add milk (or heavy cream) and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If using milk: mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water; pour into the center of the pan and mix throughout the sauce until slightly thickened. 
• Add the chicken and mushrooms into the sauce along with any cooking juices. Coat in the creamy sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!