Category: Gluten free

Almost Fat-free Calabacitas

Our niece Susie brought one of her favorite cookbooks to a family gathering in Kansas earlier this summer. When she handed me Jane Marsh Dieckmann’s Use it All: The Leftovers Cook Book, I grabbed it like a hungry trout after a tasty mayfly. The first two sentences of the introduction set the hook:

“How often have you opened your refrigerator and looked at some small amount of leftover roast, or cottage cheese, or dairy sour cream, or boiled potatoes? How often have you wished you could use it up simply, economically, and tastefully?”

We try to use every leftover that remains after a meal. We package them, put them in the refrigerator or freezer and do our best to remember where they are. One time, when he was about ten years old, our son made a “freezer map” which helped for a while, but today we just rummage through the packages looking for inspiration.

If something gets lost, we think of Jerri’s grandmother, a frugal Mennonite housewife, who explained as she was putting a few tablespoons of gravy in a dish to go in the ice box, “I don’t like to waste anything, but if I forget about it and it spoils, I don’t feel so bad throwing it away.”

Our sentiments exactly.

But it really is better to use those leftovers whenever you can. The calabacitas recipe below calls for cooked corn. Most of us probably have had the experience of cooking a dozen ears of corn and having three or four left over. Jane Dieckmann’s recipe calls for three ears of cooked corn. I used uncooked ears, and the calabacitas was delicious. I am sure that it would be just as tasty made with the leftover corn.

Calabacitas is another one of the great dishes invented by native Americans. It is a traditional dish of the Pueblo people of the American Southwest and also very popular in Mexico. If you made the mistake of planting more than one hill of zucchini, it may become a popular dish on your table as well.

Calabacita is the Spanish word for zucchini and calabacitas refers to a dish of stewed or sautéd corn and zucchini. There are scores of variations on the basic recipe. Some add sweet bell peppers, others, hot chile peppers; some omit the onion entirely, others add scallions. Most use a little oil, but some do not. Cheese is optional or required, depending on the cook.

I was a little skeptical about this recipe, since it uses no oil. Instead, you simmer the vegetables in a small amount of water. The cheese provides just enough oil to enhance the flavor of the vegetables, so you end up with a side dish that is very low in fat but high in flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

3 ears of sweet corn
1 medium onion (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
1 large clove garlic
2 – 3 T water
1 medium zucchini (about 2 inches in diameter)
2 medium tomatoes (2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter)
1/2 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

PROCEDURE:

Cut the corn off the cob and remove the dry outer husks, stem and root ends from the onion and garlic. Slice the onion thinly and mince the garlic. Put the corn kernels, onion and garlic into a saucepan along with two or three tablespoons of water. Cover the pan and bring it to a simmer over medium to low heat. Cook for about five minutes.

Wash and cut the stem and blossom ends from the zucchini. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, then cut quarter-inch-thick slices Add the zucchini to the saucepan and cook for another eight minutes.

Wash and chop the tomatoes into a fine dice and grate the cheese. After the squash and onion mixture has cooked about eight minutes, stir in the salt, pepper and tomatoes and cook another two or three minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the cheese. Taste the calabacitas and adjust the seasoning with a little salt if necessary.

NOTES: You can use either fresh or cooked sweet corn. Since “medium” means something different to each of us when we are discussing vegetable sizes, chop vegetables until you have generous cups of corn and onion and a cup and a half each of zucchini and tomatoes. This will produce enough calabacitas to serve four to six adults or two adults and one hungry vegetarian grandson.

Jane Dieckmann advised against adding salt and pepper, but our grandson agreed with Jerri and me that it needed a little. You can omit it from the recipe, and diners can add as much as they wish at the table.

Craig’s Huevos a la Mexicana (Mexican Eggs)

Most hunters get up early for the opening day of deer season in Wisconsin. At our cabin, the alarm sounds before 5:00 AM. That annoying sound is followed by various grunts and groans as the guys crawl out of bed and pull on long underwear and heavy socks.

I am usually the last one up, but once I smell coffee brewing and hear Craig’s clattering in the kitchen I join the crew as we wait for “Huevos a la Mexicana,” or Mexican eggs. Craig’s version of this classic Mexican breakfast dish includes chorizo, a spicy sausage brought to Mexico by the Spanish but adopted and modified by the native people they found living there.

Craig and his wife Kathy discovered the joys of Mexican cuisine when they first visited the “Mayan Riviera” many years ago. Extending south from Cancun on the Caribbean coast of the state of Quintana Roo, the region offers beautiful beaches and many Mayan archeological sites including Tulum, the only known Mayan city built on the ocean. It also has a lot of good little restaurants that Craig and Kathy have discovered over the years.

Most recipes for Huevos a la Mexicana call for eggs, green jalapeños, white onion, and red tomatoes, the three colors in the flag of Mexico. Craig developed his version because he likes chorizo and cheese with his eggs. He substitutes the white cheese for the onions. Even at 5:30 in the morning it is a winning combination.

INGREDIENTS:

3 oz. chorizo sausage
2 large jalapeño peppers
1 medium Roma tomato
4 or 5 large eggs
2 T Mexican Queso Fresco
4 – 5 fajita-size tortillas (6 to 7 inch diameter)
Sour cream
Medium to hot salsa

PROCEDURE:

Start by washing the jalapeños and tomato. Cut the stems from the peppers and slice them lengthwise into quarters. Remove the white membrane and seeds. If the pepper slices are more than a third of an inch wide, slice them in half. Chop the peppers into a quarter inch dice. Remove the stem scar from the tomato and chop it into a quarter inch dice as well.

Chop the chorizo into small pieces and fry over moderate heat for a few minutes in a large skillet. Add the jalapeños and tomatoes and continue to fry for three or four minutes. The peppers should be crunchy but warm.

Break the eggs into a measuring cup or bowl and beat them with a fork until they begin to turn lemon yellow. Pour the eggs over the chorizo, peppers and tomatoes and stir for about a half minute. Crumble the cheese over the top, reduce the heat and scramble the mixture with a wooden spoon until the eggs are cooked but not dry.

Heat the tortillas in a tortilla warmer in a microwave for thirty to forty-five seconds. Put the eggs into a serving bowl, remove the tortillas from the microwave and serve.

Make a sandwich by spreading sour cream on a tortilla and spooning on a few tablespoons of the eggs. Add some salsa, fold the bottom up, and turn the sides in. Eat hearty!

NOTES: With the quantities specified above, the recipe makes two very generous servings. When he makes Huevos a la Mexicana at the cabin, Craig doubles the recipe. There are four of us, and we need to be well nourished as we go forth to slay the wily whitetails.

Note that you do not add any salt or black pepper to the eggs.

Most of the heat in peppers is contained in the white membrane and seeds. Don’t remove them if you want spicier eggs.

There are three basic kinds of tortilla warmers. First, there are plastic or ceramic warmers that look like covered casseroles. Mexican restaurants often use this kind. Then there are fabric warmers that look like large potholders with a pocket. Craig uses this type. And finally there is the warmer we use, which is a plate with dampened paper towels at the top and bottom of the stack to keep the tortillas from drying out.

All these warmers are made to be used with microwave ovens. We use our primitive method because we are trying to keep from accumulating more kitchen gadgets and are willing to put up with having to reheat the tortillas from time to time. Commercial warmers will keep a stack of tortillas warm for at least half an hour.