Yes, I know. It's been a while. There was this little thing called the bar exam that swooped down and ate my soul. After a few weeks I've managed to finally wrestle it back from the beast and have gotten back to what I truly love - cooking.
After starting this blog I complained to my mom that she never taught me how to cook. A bit affronted, she offered to teach me now. You see, I know how to cook now, pretty much. But what I don't know is how to make the food my mom grew up with: Puerto Rican food.
The other day my mom and I went on a trek to the spice market and the Spanish Table and I came out with the motherload. I got fresh adobo, annatto seeds, a yucatan rojo spice blend, and harissa.
For those of you unfamilar with latin cooking, annatto seeds are primarily used to make annatto oil (just simmer a handful in some oil for about five minutes). That oil is then used in flavoring meats. If you've ever had puerto rican food in any way shape or form, you've probably eaten this without even realizing it.
Adobo is a mix of garlic and onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and a few other spices. Put it on virtually anything and it becomes scrumptious. I like it on bbq and in beans with a little epazote.
The yucatan rojo blend is essentially a non-paste version of achiote, a classic mexican spice mix. It's rather difficult to describe the taste. Just get some and slather it on a pork chop; that's what I had for dinner tonight. Yyou can get it and everything else here: http://www.worldspice.com.
Harissa is a North African spice blend that's based around smoked paprika. It's stupendous mixed with a little olive oil and slathered on lamb. I put it on grilled lamb chops (cooked to just about 120 degrees) yesterday and then put the chops on top of a little couscous. It was amazing. How did I ever live without this spice?
Go forth and spice things!
After starting this blog I complained to my mom that she never taught me how to cook. A bit affronted, she offered to teach me now. You see, I know how to cook now, pretty much. But what I don't know is how to make the food my mom grew up with: Puerto Rican food.
The other day my mom and I went on a trek to the spice market and the Spanish Table and I came out with the motherload. I got fresh adobo, annatto seeds, a yucatan rojo spice blend, and harissa.
For those of you unfamilar with latin cooking, annatto seeds are primarily used to make annatto oil (just simmer a handful in some oil for about five minutes). That oil is then used in flavoring meats. If you've ever had puerto rican food in any way shape or form, you've probably eaten this without even realizing it.
Adobo is a mix of garlic and onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and a few other spices. Put it on virtually anything and it becomes scrumptious. I like it on bbq and in beans with a little epazote.
The yucatan rojo blend is essentially a non-paste version of achiote, a classic mexican spice mix. It's rather difficult to describe the taste. Just get some and slather it on a pork chop; that's what I had for dinner tonight. Yyou can get it and everything else here: http://www.worldspice.com.
Harissa is a North African spice blend that's based around smoked paprika. It's stupendous mixed with a little olive oil and slathered on lamb. I put it on grilled lamb chops (cooked to just about 120 degrees) yesterday and then put the chops on top of a little couscous. It was amazing. How did I ever live without this spice?
Go forth and spice things!
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