Pupusas with Curtido

If you’re lucky, as we are, to have an excellent Pupuseria in your neighborhood, then you might not have as much use for this recipe.  However, sometimes you just want to have pupusas at your own table, and these are SO EASY HOMEMADE!  No joke, they barely take longer than a batch of pancakes once you get the hang of it.

Ingredients:
– 2 cups Masa Harina (corn flour, not to be confused with corn meal – look for it in the baking section of your local chain grocery)
– 1 cup Grated cheese (I used jack, queso fresco is more typical), refried beans, loroco, or other fillings
– 2 cups each shredded cabbage and shredded carrot (I bought the pre-shredded versions at Trader Joe’s)
– Half of a small onion, sliced thinly
– Two tablespoons apple cider vinegar
– A pinch of oregano and a pinch of chili flakes
– Salt

Steps:
1.  Make the curtido at least a few hours in advance.  Mix up the shredded cabbage and carrots with the onion, vinegar, oregano, chili flakes and salt.  Let it sit in the refrigerator, stirring it up every so often so the whole thing marinates.
2.  Mix the Masa Harina with 1 and a third cups of water and a pinch of salt.  Form into a dough.  Add water or more flour as needed to get the consistency of play dough.
3.  Form the dough into a dozen balls, then push your finger into the center of each ball to make a big indent.
4.  Fill the indent with cheese or other fillings, and close the hole up by pulling the dough over the top and pinching it together.  Roll the ball in your hand a few times so it’s round.
5.  Slap the dough ball in your palm until it is flat like a pancake.
6.  Fry the dough patty in a pan with oil until it is golden brown on each side.  It’s more than OK if some of the cheese melts and oozes out.  Mmmm.

Serve hot topped with curtido (and salsa if you like)!  Such a great alternative to pancakes for dinner!

Fried Rice (for breakfast)

Happy Anniversary So Easy Homemade!  You are two years old this week and have enough recipes to makes something new each week for a whole year.  Yum.

This recipe is a riff on a dish my mother-in-law showed me how to make.  It requires two special ingredients that you can find at Ranch 99 or, for those of you that (gasp) don’t live near a Ranch 99, at a well-stocked Asian grocery store.  The first is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce called “Kecap Manis.”  The second is a “Chili Pepper Sauce” by the company Yank Sing.  It’s really worth seeking these ingredients out because I’ve been eating this breakfast every day for the past month or so and am still not tired of it!

Ingredients:
– 1 tablespoon Kecap Manis
– 2 teaspoon
– 1/4 cup chopped onion
– 2 teaspoons Chili Pepper Sauce by Yank Sing
– 3 eggs (or one egg per cup of rice)
– 3 cups cooked brown rice
– A big handful of greens
– Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
1.  Heat the oil in a frying pan until sizzling, then add the onions and cooked until just getting browned
2.  Add the eggs and fry for a few minutes until starting to set
3.  Add the Chili Pepper Sauce and stir up the pan
4.  Add the brown rice and mix in
5.  Add the Kecap Manis, greens, and salt and pepper, stir and cook until greens are wilted

I like to eat this with a spoonful of pickled vegetables on top (see the guest blog post on Kraut).

This will easily keep you going until lunch time!  Enjoy!