Featured
Recipes
Gallo Pinto
We just returned
from a fantastic McDougall Adventure trip to
Costa Rica. The food was exceptionally
delicious, with a wide variety of choices
available at each meal. I will be sharing some
of the favorite recipes in the newsletter over
the next few months. One of the most common
dishes in Costa Rica is Gallo Pinto, which is
very often eaten for breakfast. This black bean
and rice dish translates into “spotted rooster”
and has many variations. It is served with
either Salsa Lizano, a Costa Rican bottled sauce
that is very popular, or with a fresh tomato
salsa called Pico de Gallo. Serve it on a plate
or rolled up in a fresh corn tortilla.
Preparation Time:
5 minutes (need cooked rice)
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
¼ cup vegetable
broth or water
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained (liquid reserved)
and rinsed
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
Place the water in
a large non-stick frying pan and add the onion
and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until
onion softens and begins to stick to the bottom
of the pan. Add a bit more water or broth and
repeat until onion begins to stick again. Add
remaining ingredients and mix well. Add a bit
of the reserved liquid from the beans to make
the rice look “dirty”, if desired. Cook until
heated through. Serve hot with salsa on top.
Hint: To be more
authentic, you can cook dry black beans in water
to cover until tender (about 3-4 hours). You
will need about 3 cups of cooked black beans.
Save some of the cooking liquid to mix with the
beans and rice.
Fresh Corn
Tortillas
We had fresh corn
tortillas made for us at every meal during our
recent McDougall Adventure to Costa Rica. We
all watched with amazement as the “tortilla
lady” made perfectly round tortillas by hand all
day long. The recipe is very simple, but the
forming of the tortillas may take a bit of
practice. A tortilla press may help in the
process. Cook the tortillas one at a time in a
non-stick frying pan.
Preparation Time:
30 minutes (includes resting time)
Cooking Time: 20 minutes (in batches)
Servings: makes 16 tortillas
2 cups masa harina
1 ¼ cups hot water
Combine the masa
harina and water in a large bowl. Mix well and
knead with your hands for several minutes until
the dough is smooth and thick. Cover with
plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
Heat a non-stick
frying pan over medium heat until a drop of
water bounces on it. Take a piece of the dough,
about 1 ½ inches in size, and roll into a ball.
Flatten the ball between two pieces of waxed
paper using your hands, a tortilla press, or a
small heavy frying pan until it is about 5
inches in diameter and about 1/16 inch thick.
Peel off the waxed paper and place tortilla on
the hot pan. Cook until lightly browned on each
side. Place in a cloth covered basket. Repeat
until all tortillas are done.
Hint: Masa Harina
is corn flour made especially for tortillas.
You may find it in some supermarkets, but most
likely you will need to go to a Mexican or Latin
American market to purchase this. Store any
unused Masa Harina in the refrigerator or
freezer to keep it fresh.
Pico de Gallo
This fresh tomato
salsa is served at many Costa Rican meals. It
translates into “rooster beak” in Spanish, and
is quite spicy. The amount of jalapenos used
may be varied to adjust the “heat” of the salsa.
Preparation Time:
15 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour (optional)
Servings: variable
2 cups chopped
tomato
½ cup finely chopped onion
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
dash salt
Combine all
ingredients in a tightly covered bowl.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour turning the
container over several times to allow flavors to
blend. (This is an optional step. The salsa may
be served immediately, if desired.)
Potato Pancakes
This is another of
my family’s favorites, which we have been
enjoying for over 30 years. The starch from the
freshly grated potatoes with the addition of the
flour helps to hold these together. Do not
grate the potatoes much before you are going to
prepare the dish because the potatoes will tend
to turn black if they sit too long before
cooking.
Preparation Time:
20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes (in batches)
Servings: 6
½ medium sweet
onion, grated
4-5 medium russet potatoes, grated
5 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Mix all
ingredients in a bowl. Heat a non-stick griddle
to medium heat. Ladle potato mixture on
griddle, flattening slightly. Cook about 5-8
minutes on first side; turn and cook an
additional 5‑8 minutes.
Hints: Keep warm
in a 200 degree oven until all are cooked.
Grate potatoes and onions in a food processor to
save time. For appearance sake, you may wish to
peel the potatoes before grating, however it is
not necessary to peel them, just scrub them
well. Serve with applesauce, ketchup, barbecue
sauce, gravy or Pico de Gallo.
Creamy Golden
Gravy
This gravy is made
with brown rice flour instead of wheat flour.
The great thing about using rice flour instead
of wheat flour for thickening is that it doesn’t
form lumps like wheat flour often does. You
just sprinkle it over the top of a hot liquid,
stir it in and it thickens nicely without any
lumps.
Preparation Time:
5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: makes 2 cups
1 ½ cups vegetable
broth
½ cup water
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons tahini
¼ cup brown rice flour
freshly ground black pepper
Place the broth
and water in a saucepan. Combine the soy sauce
and tahini in a bowl and add to the liquid in
the saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring
occasionally to smooth out the tahini. When
mixture is simmering and smooth, sprinkle the
brown rice flour over the top, about a
tablespoon at a time, and stir in. Continue to
add the rice flour, stirring until sauce becomes
thickened. Season with freshly ground black
pepper to taste. Serve at once.
Hints: This may
be made ahead and refrigerated. It will thicken
slightly more when refrigerated. To reheat,
place in a saucepan, add a small amount of
water, whisk to combine and then heat slowly,
stirring occasionally, until hot.
Moroccan Red
Lentil Soup
I recently bought
a book called Arabesque, by Claudia Roden, about
the tastes of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon. I
am enjoying reading about the food from this
region of the world and hope to share some of my
discoveries with you over the next few months.
Versions of this soup, called Harira, are served
all over Morocco.
Preparaton Time:
15 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Servings: 6-8
½ cup water
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup red lentils
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and
rinsed
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup orzo
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Place the water in
a large soup pot with the onion and celery.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables
have softened slightly. Add broth, tomatoes,
lentils, garbanzos, bay leaf, cinnamon, ginger,
turmeric, coriander and black pepper. Bring to
a boil reduce heat, cover and simmer until
lentils are tender about 45 minutes. Add the
orzo, cilantro and lemon juice. Continue to
cook about 10 more minutes. Serve hot.
Hint: This is
delicious served in a bowl, with some flat bread
to scoop up the juices, or place a dollop or two
of cooked rice in a bowl and ladle the soup over
the rice.
Hearty Split
Pea Vegetable Soup
This is a thick
soup filled with chunky vegetables and it is
very comforting on a cool, rainy day. Serve by
itself in a bowl, or ladle over brown rice for a
satisfying meal.
Preparation Time:
15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6-8
2 cups dried split
peas
8 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cups chopped fingerling potatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
freshly ground white pepper
1 large tomato, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Place the peas and
water in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil,
reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20
minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except
the tomato and fresh cilantro or parsley. Mix
well, bring to a boil again, reduce heat, cover
and simmer for about 45 minutes, until all
vegetables are tender. Add the tomato and fresh
cilantro or parsley. Season with a bit of sea
salt, if desired. Mix well and let rest for 5
minutes before serving. |