Food Diaries – Part 1

 

Since I have a gap in between my travels, I will be posting a food diary instead. As you may have heard mention from my previous posts, I’m a huge foodie and cooking is a huge passion of mine. Now that I live off campus with my two closest friends, I have been able to take over most of the cooking and have really enjoyed doing so. One of my favorite things is when I get to share the meals, I make with those around me, I always say food brings people closer together. 

As the resident chef of my household, I cook a wide variety of meals with a specialization in Latin American food. So, the first meal I’m going to talk about is Birria Tacos which is a Mexican dish. Birria is a stewed meat, traditionally using goat but I substitute beef, with a base made from chiles and a mix of aromatics. After cooking at a low heat all day, the meat is finally ready to be assembled into tacos. The corn tortilla is dipped in the consomé, which is the name for the broth that was used to cook the meat, and fried on the comal, or griddle, with the beef and cheese layered inside. These tacos turn out crunchy and packed with tons of flavor, especially once dipped in the consomé prior to taking a bite. This actually may have been my roommates’ favorite meal so far, since they raved about it for days. 

Next in line is Seco de Pollo, which I do not have a picture of, but I can promise it is insanely good. This dish originates from Ecuador and is a great comfort food. Seco de pollo consists of chicken that has been slowly cooked in a sauce made from tomatoes, bell peppers, fresh orange juice, beer, and a few other ingredients. Spiced to perfection and served on top of white rice and often paired with plantains, I typically include them in the form of tostones, this dish is so delicious. I can safely say this is one of my favorite meals. 

I also love to include some more mainstream meals into our menu. For example, I recently made steaks topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions paired with a kale salad on the side. Sometimes the simpler meals are some of the best, and that was definitely the case with this one. The last worthy mention of this week is today’s dinner, I made carnitas topped with salsa verde and a side of rice and beans. This was an all-day affair, but it was so worth it in the end! I’ll be honest the picture doesn’t do it justice; the flavors were insane and all complimented each other so perfectly. 

This was a brief rundown of some of the recipes I’ve made over the past few weeks. I’m super excited to continue adventuring through the culinary world as the year progresses!