Guacamole - Mexico's gift to my life!

There are few things more refreshingly delicious than guacamole. It is healthy and I will stand by that fact. What's not healthy about fruit, veggies and lime juice?

I refuse to buy those containers of guac from grocery stores. They are disgusting, pureed avocado and who knows what else. Avocado is not supposed to preserve well and keep its color when stored, even with lime juice. I am not even going to ask what they put in the guacamole to keep the green color. I don't really care.

Saturday lunch was guac and chips. I eat chips to eat the guac, so each chip has a gob of guac before it makes the trip to my mouth. The original  recipe comes from a Mexican friend, so this is probably the real deal.

2 organic avocados
1 medium sized tomato seeds removed and chopped
2 serrano peppers chopped (less if desired)
1 tbsp red onions chopped
1/2 a lime juiced
3 tbsp cilantro chopped
salt

Put the chopped tomato, pepper, onions and cilantro in a food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds. Make sure you don't turn the mixture into a paste. If you don't have access to a food processor, a blender is a nifty tool, if not, just chop very finely. Scoop the avocado into a bowl and coat it with the lime juice. Coarsely mash the avocado with a fork. Add the tomato-onion-pepper-cilantro to the avocado. Sprinkle with salt and mix.

The guac was gone in a few minutes.  I licked the bowl. True story.

Arroz Mexicano (Mexican Rice)

I love the rice at Mendoza Express right next to my work. It's a little Mexican joint with the best tacos ever! The rice is never a standard side to the tacos, so I always make a puppy face and say, "Could I please have rice instead of beans, por favor?" Works on most occasions...

Last weekend I wanted some of that rice. In order to save myself the 20 mile round-trip, I decided to cook my own. The rice at Mendoza is truly out of this world. It has a tad bit tomato paste/puree/juice cooked with the rice giving it a distinctive light reddish orange color. Each grain of rice holds its shape is is not stuck to any other on the plate. Quite the independence! With the rice you see a few kernels of yellow corn and green round peas equating to pure awesomeness.

I scoured through the world wide web, to get a recipe that I would love and keep for years to come. Some seemed too bland, Paula Deen's seemed too buttery (and I love butter!), Pioneer Woman's seemed to tomato-ey, Emeril's had pork in it, until I came across this recipe by Marcela. Might I add, I love Marcela. True to my chef-iness, I did change a thing or two, to suit my taste and pantry.

1 cup basmati (or any medium-grain) rice
1 can of tomatoes (preferably diced with green chile)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 serrano chile
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 tbsp olive/canola oil
1.5 cups chicken broth
salt, to taste

Wash the rice. It is an important step to ensure that the grains of rice don't stick to each other after being cooked. While washing the rice, run your fingers through the grains. The water will go cloudy. Drain the water out, repeat until the water runs clear. Once the washing is done, drain very well and set the rice aside, making sure there is no water in the rice.

Puree the contents of the tomato-chile can in a food processor or blender. Strain in to a bowl and reserve the liquid. Add enough broth to the tomato juice to make 2 cups of liquid. Set this near by.

Warm oil in a dutch oven and add the onions. In medium heat, sweat the onions for a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the rice. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook the rice until slightly toasted stirring frequently. The rice should look almost translucent after about 5 minutes. Different kinds of rice behaves differently. The key is to get the rice nicely but lightly toasted. This is why it was important to drain all the water out after washing.

Add the broth and the tomato mixture and BTB (bring to boil), add the serrano chile, cover and RTS (reduce to simmer). It helps if you have a pot with a glass lid, so you can check if the rice is done or if you would need more water by not taking the lid off and letting all the hot steam out. After about 10 minutes of cooking, check the rice, add more broth if needed.

Once the rice is tender and you have no broth left to evaporate, add the peas. Cover for about five minutes. Fluff with a fork. Enjoy!