Easy Ceviche!

What you will need:

1/2 lb of prawns & scallops (both raw)
1 avocado
1/2 tsp of kosher or sea salt
1/4 chile de arbol or ancho chile ground, paste or in dried powder form
1 lime-squeezed
1 lemon-squeezed
1/2 tangerine-squeezed
1/2 white or red onion chopped
A handful of green onion
1 bunch of small red or marbled radishes (organic are more tender)
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Some sort of hot sauce (I used a habanero based called Melinda's) to taste (I used a lot!)

Start by chopping white or red onion and putting in a bowl with all freshly squeezed citrus (all), salt, pepper and ancho chile or chile de arbol.

Next you want to boil a pot of water and once it almost comes a rolling boil, add the shrimp and scallops. Let them cook till opaque and/or pink but do not over cook. You want them tender.

Put them in a bowl of cool water for a few mins, drain and then chop into 1/2 to 1/4 inch pieces. Put with onion/citrus/seasoning mixture in fridge to chill for 1-3 hours.

Then start chopping your veggies: radishes, green onion, avocado, cilantro (I didn't use cilantro today because the person that I'm sharing this with doesn't care for it but I HIGHLY suggest it!)

Add your fresh veggies last, meaning right before you serve so that they'll add crunch to your ceviche! Especially avocado so it doesn't get mushy. Lastly, add hot sauce to taste!

Cuban Style Black Beans

Cuban Style black beans are so easy!
They are so hearty and you can freeze them for later.

1) 1 pound of black beans, rinsed.
2) Soak those bad boys overnight! I've tried the Quick Soak method and it's just not as good.
3) Rinse again and put in big ol' pot.
4) Add about 2 inches of water above the bean line.
5) Mince 6 cloves, or more, of garlic, 1-2 teaspoons of oregano, 1-2 teaspoons of cumin, 2 teaspoons of sea salt and one entire white onion (chopped) and throw it in!
6) Bring to a boil then simmer for about 1-2 hours (just keep trying the beans to determine when they're ready)

Viola! BEANS!

Caldo de Siete Mares (minus the Mares~sea part)

One of my favorite soups! My abuelita would make this all the time and I'm convinced that this soup cures all! I'm making it vegetarian because the friend that I'm making this for is vegetarian but normally I would make it chock full of octopus, clams, fish, shrimp, etc! And this soup is soooo easy to make!

What you need, roughly:

*7 oz can of chipotle peppers-roughly chopped (you can use dry chipotle peppers but I prefer the canned variety because the sauce that they are canned in is delicious!)
*6 cloves of garlic-roughly chopped
*6 cups of vegetarian broth
*1/2-1 cup of frozen corn
*Cilantro-to taste
*Olive oil
*1/2 jalapeno-minced
*1 avocado (to top soup off)
*1 large white onion-roughly chopped
*1 large lime (and more to taste if you'd like)
*Sea salt-to taste
*1/2 teaspoon of oregano
*Cast iron pot is best to saute everything in and then when you add the broth, you can slowly cook soup in the same

1) Saute onion, garlic and jalapeno in olive oil (about 3 teaspoons) till onions are almost transparent.
2) Add corn and let it saute for a few minutes.
3) Add broth, chipotle peppers and oregano.
4) Let simmer for a while so that the broth gets all that flavor! Very low heat for about 45 minutes or so. I usually taste it to see along the way. This is when you would add the salt to taste.
5) At this point you want to add the lime. Squeeze out all that juice!
6) Taste soup and determine if it needs more lime? Salt?
7) Top with avocado and cilantro if you want though this is not very typical but I like it anyway.

The beginnings of my abuela's Cuban chicken.

Saute one thinly sliced yellow onion, 2 bay leaves in about a cup of lime juice (fresh is best), 3/4 cup orange juice, and 1 cup of chicken stalk. Saute until the juices thicken up but don't let the onion become too transparent; about 15 mins or so.

Season three skin on, bone in chicken breasts with kosher or sea salt and then pepper. My abuela would rub in on top of the skin and under the skin of the breasts.

Brown chicken in Dutch oven with a drizzle of olive oil (though she never used olive oil, ha!). Brown on all sides till golden brown. I love it when my chicken gets glossy with pepper!

Transfer all juices to Dutch oven with chicken and cook on medium-low for about two hours or so. The thing with cooking, at least for me, I always go back to check on how things are going so that I don't over cook the meat. I rarely measure either so from time-to-time, the juices may evaporate and that's not good for the meat!

I serve this chicken with a saffron rice though my abuela would serve it with white rice and black beans (what Cuban wouldn't?).

Enjoy!