Finding her way through Connection with Familiar Food
As the second oldest in her household, Deisdy Rodriguez remembers that when her younger brother was born, cooking became a family affair. Whatever the recipe at hand, her mother would offer her and her siblings small steps to complete as a way to contribute to meals. Their little hands would cut vegetables, roll out portions of tortilla dough, stir pots, all while learning patience for the flavors to meld together before dinner began. She describes her family home kitchen as filled with traditional Mexican dishes often built from scratch using raw, natural ingredients. An important element of cooking these cultural dishes was to follow the same steps, almost always requiring more time than she now has during her busy student and work schedule.
Prep Time:
90 minutes
Ingredients
For Pozole:
3 kilos of beef backbone cut into medium pieces (adjust to preference)
3 cups of precooked hominy
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of oregano
½ teaspoon thyme
2 bay leaves
5 black peppers
½ teaspoon cumin
4 pasilla chili peppers deveined and seedless
5 ancho chili peppers deveined and seedless
3 guajillo chilies deveined and seedless
2 morita chili peppers deveined and seedless
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
½ onion, minced
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
For Garnish:
finely chopped radish
finely chopped onion
Chopped lettuce (strips)
Lime (to squeeze on top)
Oregano
Fried chiles de arbol
Tostadas (to crumble on top)
Preparation
Step 1
PLACE the meat in a pot, add water to cover and add salt, four cloves of garlic, oregano, thyme, bay leaves and black pepper; cover the pot and cook for an hour and 45 minutes.
Step 2
Constantly REMOVE the foam from the meat broth .
Step 3
BOIL the dried chiles with enough water in a pot to cover them, add four cloves of garlic, the onion, the tomatoes, the powdered chicken consomé, oregano and cumin; cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat.
Step 4
SERVE this delicious beef pozole accompanied by its garnish and enjoy
Recipe from: https://www.cocinadelirante.com/carne/pozole-de-res
Having experienced the kitchen again, she values the constant skill learning and possibility of playing with different ingredients. From someone that didn’t cook at all in her early adulthood, she is now asked by her friends in potlucks and friendsgiving to make her now signature Mac n’ Cheese. As she took her mom's recipe, Tam did a spin on it and was most pleased when after a first try her friends ate it all. This new experience in the kitchen made her reconnect with creativity, and care through food sharing.