Afro's Amazing Pico De Gallo

By The Awesome Afro

 Ingredients-
6 tomatoes- thinly sliced and diced
1/2 thinly sliced and diced onion
1 head of cilantro (discard stems)
2-3 fresh limes squeezed (buy smooth, not bumpy skin, dont get any that brown spots on outside. Those indications reveal the lime is bitter)
lots of salt and pepper
1 jalapeno thinly sliced and diced  (or serrano, I just used half the serrano, its more spicy)

Directions-
1. Thinly slice and dice tomatoes & onion put in a bowl.
2. fold over the bunch of cilantro into each other, then start chopping in small pieces, put in a bowl
3. Add squeezed lime & salt and pepper to bowl. Taste the amount of lime, salt, and pepper. Add more now if you desire.
4. Add the jalapeno or serrano pepper
5. EAT IT and Go straight into Delicious Heaven

I was surprised there wasn't any garlic in it. I think i'll make two batches next time and put garlic in one batch see how it turns out.
After 24 hours the serrano pepper wasn't spicy anymore. Next time cut the whole serrano, but put half the serrano in the first day, then the 2nd day put the rest of the chopped serrano in.
Afro said this recipe usually lasts her family of 4, for a whole week. 
But my family 6 devoured it so quickly it was gone in 3 days. 

Caldo de Res (Beef Mexican Soup)

 Kevin is cooking and Salty Cocina Mexican Food

Afro serves this soup with 1. Pico and  2. side of rice 3. Corn tortilla

• 2 lbs beef shank bones (mine were frozen)
• 1 lb beef chuck cubed (See Note 1) (mine were frozen)
• 1/2 whole onion
• one whole bunch of garlic
• 1 lb mushrooms
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 yellow potatoes cut into eight pieces
• 2 ears corn shucked and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 4 carrots sliced into thick  2-3inch rounds
• 1 large jalapeño sliced into rings
• 1/2 head cabbage cut into quarters
• 2 zucchini cut into thick 2-3inch rounds
• add Beef or chicken bouillion at the end of cooking

Serving

• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 limes quartered




• In a large dutch oven or soup pot, add 10 cups water, beef shanks, beef chuck, garlic, bay leaves, and the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 90 minutes, or until the meat is tender. I used my pressure cooker.     Skim off and discard any brown foam floating at the top (foam is the impurities).
• Remove the beef shank/bones and with a slotted spoon remove the pieces of cooked beef chuck, bay leaves and garlic cloves. Transfer cooked beef shank/bones to a bowl, and set aside to cool. Transfer cooked beef chuck pieces to a small bowl. Discard the bay leaves and garlic cloves. Taste, and add 1 beef bouillon cube to the pot if more beef flavor is desired.
• Add the potatoes, corn, carrots, jalapeno and 2 cups of water to the pot.
• Bring soup to a boil, then add the cabbage, zucchini, chickpeas and mint (See Note 2). Cover and turn heat to simmer and cook until vegetables are tender and cooked through, (check potatoes and carrots with fork), about 15 minutes.
• While the vegetables are cooking, pick over and remove any bits of meat from the bones and discard bones. Add meat to small bowl with beef chuck. Chop the meat into small bite size chunks and add to soup pot. Cook another 5 minutes to heat meat through.
• Remove mint sprigs and discard. Season with salt and pepper, stir everything thoroughly. Serve soup in large bowls, making sure that each bowl gets a little bit of everything. Serve and top each bowl with cilantro, freshly squeezed lime juice and warm tortillas (optional).

• Notes

  1. Most traditional recipes call for just the meat off the beef shanks. I found this too little for the effort, so I add pieces of beef chuck. Beef short ribs work as well.
  2. I add the cabbage, zucchini, and chickpeas after everything has come to a boil so they do not over cook and become mushy.

Afro's Guatemalan tacos, salsa, guacamole, black bean dip.

This fed about 20 people 

1 MEAT
9 lb flank or skirt steak, get it precut ( $7 lb get it at precut Costco, or from Spanish store $10) 
soy sauce (see meat is moist but not drowned in it)
Little Worcestershire sauce
garlic and onion powder
seasoning salt
whole head garlic (sliced not minced)
Marinade few hours or overnight

2 Salsa (cooked)
grilled tomatoes with skin no oil
whole skin needs charcoal
still use skin in salsa 
put grill on high and rotate tomatoes they will get really charred
put in blender immersion blender or mortar bowl 
add chopped onions, cilantro (finely chopped)
salt

3 Cole slaw
one very thinly sliced green cabbage 
1/4 c plus 1T mayo 
1 actual lime, plus 1 teaspoon store bought lime juice
1 t  dried cilantro leaves (could use fresh chopped)

4 black bean dip
There are two different ways to make the black bean dip Plan A
Make black bean soup and then make fried black beans from the soup. And Plan B is to just fry them without making the soup.
8 oz dried black beans
two garlic cloves whole (then throw out after done cooking)
Boil black beans with a whole onion and garlic until very soft then add salt and let cool.
now that they are cooked fry the beans with diced onions, then blend in blender, then fry it all one more time. 
on top of the dip is pico de gallo, mix everything in a bowl then spread over the top of the bean dip.
tomato,onions,cilantro,salt, queso fresco or dried queso,lime

5 green Chile salsa
boiled tomatillos 10-12
with Serrano with salt 6 depending on the people
put in blender put in bowl, diced onions and cilantro 

Red, White, blueberry Trifle

 Skinny taste

feeds 10 people

My friend Afro made this most delicious red/white/blue dessert for a summer BBQ. She fit this is one of those fancy 14 c trifle dish. It looked so beautiful and was so amazingly yummy

Ingredients-

Two- 10 oz sour cream angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 pints blueberries

4 pints strawberries

two- 12 oz frozen whipped topping or (4c of heavy whipped cream, freeze bowl and metal whisks- whip for 4 min)

one- 5 oz white chocolate, cream cheese or vanilla pudding mixes

3/4 c sweetened condensed milk

2 c water or milk

Directions-

• Whisk the condensed milk and water in a bowl.
• Whisk in the pudding mix for 2 minutes.
• Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in the whipped topping.
• Arrange half of the cake in the bottom of a 14-cup trifle dish.
• Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries.
• Spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread (I piped it using a plastic bag and cut the corner off).
• Top with a layer of strawberries.
• Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then add more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture.
• Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a pretty pattern.
• Cover and refrigerate at least one 1 hour.

11/12/21 made it, I made it one time and forgot to add the extra milk or water to the pudding, the final product was thick (but still delicious)