Outing on Broadway. . .

A couple weekends ago I went to see this . . .

 

But before the show, we went to eat dinner at Victor's Cafe. . . it kinda looked like this . . .

 

The food was acceptable, more on the room temperature side than on the hot, but all in all it was good. I picked out the sampler menu. It basically had a little bit of everything . . .

First up, the appetizers (clockwise) chorizo with plantain chips, relleno de papa, croquetas, and something else that I can't quite remember what it was. Second, the main course (clockwise) jumbo shrimps en salsa, ropa vieja in a chip basket, white rice with sweet plantains, roasted pork with yucca al mojo. And then there was desert but I forgot to take a picture of it. It had an egg flan, rice pudding, and a guava crumb cake.

All in all, the food was good, John Leguizamo was funny, it was cold, but most of all the company was fab.

My Idol . . .

You remember back in the day when the teachers asked us to write a paper about our "idol"?? Some people wrote about presidents, others about their Mom's or Dad's, maybe 2 or 3 wrote about sports figures….me, I wrote about Julia Child.
Yeah, I know, it gets old reading that she is someone's "idol"….but back then there weren't many of us that idolized her.


Nowadays, my "idol" is a lady called Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman. I really want to be like her when I grow up. Like really.

She's the Mom of a few, she cooks, she blogs, she homeschools, she takes beautiful pictures, AND she's married to bonafide cattle rancher. Gotta love her!! She will be *lovingly* regarded from now on as PW.

PW has this awesome website and awesome cookbook.

 

 (this is my copy which has dozens of paperclips marking my favorite recipes)



















And its not even all about the deliciously fattening and good looking food, its about the pictures and the colors and the homeyness and …let me stop….'cause I could go on and on.


I tend to try A LOT of her recipes, mainly because they're like magnets and draw me in. They'll be here. . . .soon.

Oh, did I mention that she has a romance novel also...yeah she does....its her personal love story.

 

S O F R I T O

Contrary what you may think. . . this is not only a restaurant name. This, at least in my family, is a base/condiment/foundation that is commonly used in Latin dishes. Which in other words means that I add it in just about every dish I make (except those that I don't want to have a greenish color).

Although I have my own recipe for this, I make it differently every time. Mainly because I can't find some of the ingredients without having to drive miles to the Latin neighborhood. A few months back I found this in the NY Daily News, a recipe by Daisy Martinez...but it's still not exactly like mine, I like mine better it's been passed down from my Mami.

 

This time around (and yet again) I didn't have all the ingredients, so I did an improv and used these...with a few misc ingredients not pictured here.

 

Basically I put it all in a blender and give it a whirl and then I store it in one (or more) of these.

 

I keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

Here's my version...circa 1965 or so...

Sofrito 

(makes a lot)

• 1 large spanish onion
• 3 cubanelle peppers (the light green elongated ones)
• 1 medium size head of garlic
•  1 bunch of cilantro
• 2 bags of recao, otherwise known as culantro (if you can't find then all of cilantro)
•  1/4 cup of white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of EVOO (yes...I know...Rachael Ray and her acronyms)
• 1 packet of sazón Goya (pictured above)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cup of water

Cut the onions and peppers into medium size pieces, peel the garlic, cut the stems off the recao, cilantro and  add it all to a blender or food processor with the vinegar. Add the water 1/2 a cup at a time as needed until it looks like a thick-ish mush. Add the oil in a slow stream with the motor running.
Store in an airtight container.

**Note: Some people like to freeze it and use as needed. I don't because I use it basically everyday.