Spice mixes

Hey, this is Camden. These are some of my spice mixtures that I think you will enjoy.

Chili Powder

1 smoked ancho

2 t cumin seed

1 t oregano

2 t garlic powder

Method: Put ingredients in spice grinder. Grind until fine.

Texas coffee rub

1 T ground coffee

1 T salt

1 T brown sugar

2 t smoked paprika

2 t ancho chili powder

1 t garlic powder
 1 t onion powder

1 t cumin seed
1 t black pepper

Method: Put ingredients in large bowl. Mix.

Coffee Chipotle pork rub 
1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup ground dark coffee

1/4 cup paprika

2 T salt

1 T Chipotle

2 t granulated garlic

2 t cinnamon

2 t cumin

2 t allspice

Method: Grind chipotle peppers, then mix in a bowl

Venison rub

1 T salt

1 t black pepper

2 t ancho chili powder

1 t coriander

1 t cumin

1 T brown sugar

1 T espresso

Method: put spices in a large bowl. Mix well.

- hope you enjoy

Arepas

We made these to go with the black bean soup.  It's a mighty fine combination.

Arepas are Venezuelan.  Dan's family made them for breakfast, but they work well as a quick food for any meal.  It's like a cornmeal biscuit that's fried.  They aren't the healthiest option, but if you fry things at the right temperature, you can make them a relatively decent treat.

Arepas

In a frying pan or skillet, heat on medium high heat:
1/2 inch oil (Canola by itself works fine.  My favorite combo is mostly canola with about 3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil*).  

The oil should  be around 375 degrees.  If you don't have a candy thermometer, don't worry.  Put a little bit of the dough in the oil when you think it's hot enough.  If it sizzles, it's ready.  Oil can get too hot. If it begins to smoke, turn it off, remove it from the heat and let it cool down. 

While you are waiting for your oil to heat-
Mix together:
1 cup masa harena (the same corn flour you use for making tortillas)
1/2 cup warter

Your goal with this dough is to have it wet enough to form a biscuit easily, but still dry enough to hold its shape.

Make the dough into 3-4 biscuit size/shape pieces.  I like mine to be around 3 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick.  Basically, I press the dough out to about the thickness of my thumb and middle finger and shape it into a circle in the c-shape of my hand.

When the oil is ready, place the arepa pieces in the oil.  In about 2 minutes, turn them over to get the other side.  Your arepa should be crispy on the outside.  It will take a little trial and error to get them just right, probably, but take heart!  Dan's brother John made them for me while he was still in college, so it's not too hard.

When they are done, remove them to the plate with the paper towels to let them cool for a minute.  While they are still hot, but not so hot that you burn your hand, cut them open and fill them with just about anything.  Our favorite is:

sliced cheddar cheese
thinly sliced or chopped ham (if you can heat it a little, it's especially good)

These also take fried or scrambled eggs well.  Black beans when you want to go vegetarian is good, too.

Hope you enjoy!

-Jennifer

*Make sure it's refined coconut oil, not unrefined.  If it smells like coconut, don't try to fry with it.  Your food will taste like a bad pina colada.  Wal-Mart sells LouAnn brand. It's cheap and works about as well as any of the other brands.  Coconut Oil is also great for popping popcorn :-)

Black Bean Soup

I had a pile of black beans left after making a tostada bar and wanted an easy supper last night.  Viola!  Black Bean Soup!

This is the recipe I used
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/black_bean_soup.html

I am paring down the ingredients here so that it won't make black bean soup for you and the rest of your schoolmates :-).

In a medium saucepan, heat:
1 t. canola oil

Add and saute for a couple of minutes:
1/2 of a small onion, chopped (onion freezes well.  Chop the whole thing and stick the rest in a freezer ziploc for the next time you need chopped onion)

Add and saute for a minute:
1/2 T. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin

Then add:
1 15-oz.can black beans (the original recipe says to drain and rinse, I just dumped the whole thing in a cut down a little on the other liquid)
1 1/2 c. chicken broth or water
1/4 c. salsa (we used medium Hy-Vee Salsa, but pick your favorite brand)

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (just barely bubbling) for about 10 minutes.
(At this point, it seemed a little thin to me, so I took a little of the liquid out, stirred some masa into what I had pulled out and added it back into the soup)

Pull out about 1/2 of the soup and puree it in the blender or use an immersion blender to puree the soup just a little.  Make sure to leave chunks!

Serve with a little fresh lime juice, sour cream, avocado or guacamole, or salsa.  These are all optional.  It's pretty tasty without these.

*If you've never pureed hot soup in a blender, beware! You can blow the top off if you're not careful.  Put the soup in, remove the middle part of the blender lid, cover that with a paper towel and  hold it down on the sides (so you don't burn yourself).  Blend away!

Hope you enjoy it!

-Jennifer

Potato Soup

I know.  Potato Soup?  Really?  Yes, really.  It's pretty spectacular and REALLY easy.  Like make it tomorrow easy.  Really.

It comes from this recipe, but I changed it just a little
http://www.food.com/recipe/unbelievably-easy-potato-soup-74275

For each person:
Cut up and put into a small pan:
One decent sized potato (you can peel them, but why?  It makes the soup harder to make and takes out some of the nutrients.  I say - Keep the skins!)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery.

Put in water that doesn't quite cover the vegetables and bring to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer until the vegetables are tender (maybe 10 minutes?).  Drain them a little, but don't feel like you need to get all of the water out.  Then mash up your vegetables with a fork or potato masher.

Add:
1/4-1/2 cup half and half - basically until it's to the consistency you like your soup.
Plenty of salt and pepper (If you think the soup doesn't have much flavor, just add some more salt.  Remember that there isn't any salt in the recipe up to this point, so you can control the taste and sodium content).

Heat it a little more and enjoy!

See, I said it was easy :-).

-Jennifer