Etiqueta: Cooking

Cooking, Food, Gardening, Nature

Learning Friday: This Is Where Vanilla Comes From

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

True vanilla flavor comes from the cured seed pod (bean) of the vanilla orchid. The properly prepared pod contains vanillin and 100s of other flavor compounds. Vanilla orchids are the only orchids that produce an edible seed. The primary producers of vanilla beans are tropical areas: Mexico, Madagascar, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

VANILLA PODS IN PLANT

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DRYING VANILLA PODS

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LIQUID VANILLA

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VANILLA STICKS

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Cooking, Food, inspiration

Summer Drink Of The Week: Pineapple Coconut Agua Fresca

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS
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«Agua Fresca» is Spanish for «Cool Water» with fruits without alcohol. It is a great way to make different flavored drinks to share with all members of the family by the pool this hot summer!

AGUAS FRESCAS IN MEXICO!

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INGREDIENTS

  • 1-20 oz can pineapple slices (or chunks) in 100% pineapple juice
  • 3 cups 100% pineapple Juice
  • 1-14 oz can coconut cream. Please make sure to get “cream” not “milk

PROCESS

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  • Place pineapple slices (or chunks) with their own juice in a blender. Pour in the coconut cream and the pineapple juice.
  • Blend until fruit is completely blended if you are looking for a smooth, creamy consistency, or a little less blended, if you want your agua fresca “chunkier.” Both ways are amazing.
  • Put it in the fridge for a few hours or serve with ice.
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potato salad dra martha castro noriega tijuana mexico
Cooking, eating, Food

Potato Salad Recipe Delicious Idea for Summer Party! 4 Mouthwatering Pictures

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

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Potato Salad Recipe Ingredients:

Approx 2 pounds small potatoes or 5 medium russets
eggs, hard boiled
diced onion
chopped celery
mayonnaise
yellow mustard (hot dog/ball park type)
salt
black pepper
ground (dry) mustard
dill (fresh or dry, same amount)
bacon cooked to crisp

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Instructions:

Cut the potatoes into chunks and cook with the skins on in boiling water seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. While the potatoes are boiling, hard-boil two eggs and dice the celery and onions.

When the potatoes are fork-tender, drain them into a colander and cool them to room temp. Dice the potatoes into bite-size pieces into a large bowl, leaving several of the potatoes with the skins on for a rustic feel.

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When the eggs are hard-boiled and cooled, dice them as well, adding them to the bowl.

Fold in the mayonnaise (the amount listed is correct), dill, pepper, mustard, ground mustard and a small sprinkle of salt.Last stir in the bacon and vigorously blend the potato salad with a spoon giving it a good, hard stir to smash some of the potatoes.

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If there are too many chunks, use the side of your spoon to break them up. Once it’s completely blended, taste and if you like, add a bit more salt. Garnish with dill and chill it for at least an hour or two before serving. Enjoy!

Cooking, eating, Food

Brunch Heaven Food Avocado Eggs and Smoked Salmon

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

This recipe is not only delicious but healthy. It comes from what I call «Brunch Heaven». It contains protein and it’s rich in vitamin B12.

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Ingredients

1 avocado

2 eggs

1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp honey

1 1/2 tbsp chopped dill

1/2 cucumber

50g (1 3/4 oz) smoked salmon

HOW TO PREPARE IT:
In oven: Cut the avocado/s in halves, remove the seed and a bit of the flesh to make a bigger hole for the egg to sit in. Put the halves in a dish, and crack an egg into each half. Now bake it for 15 to 18 minutes depending on your oven temperatures settings.
In the meantime you can do the following: mix together the rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, honey and 1 tbsp of the dill. Peel the cucumber then cut it into thin strips. Add to the dressing and mix well.
Put the baked avocado half on each plate  and sprinkle with the remaining dill. Season to your liking and serve with the cucumber salad.

You can serve the smoked salmon on the side or on top of each avocado half. Enjoy!

Cooking, eating, Food, inspiration

Gotta Have My Tomahawk Steak Today Deserved 3200 Calories Burned!

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS
Cooking, eating, Food, Gardening

FOOD: Debunking Tomatoes Truth or Tale

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

MY RED TOMATOES THIS SUMMER … TASTY!

Debunking the myths about tomatoes, that is. Some of my friends tell me the funniest things about tomatoes and how they take care of them. I tell them my secrets about tomatoes so they can enjoy this precious fruit all year long.
I have grown my own tomatoes for long time, so long that I haven’t bought any tomato in the past 18 years.

I would like to talk about them and tell you the facts. When it comes to slicing, ripening, storing, and preserving this wonderful fruit, it won’t do any good to do it wrong. Keeping good tomatoes fresh and at optimal taste is in everyone’s best interest, so here are a few things that might need to be straightened out about your tomatoes.

MYTH No. 1 — Always always refrigerate tomatoes.

Store at room temperature unless they are very ripe and you are not planning to eat them within 2 days or so, then refrigerate them. If you want a chillier fruit, like when you are going to prepare a fresh salad, put the tomato/s in the fridge few hours before serving.

MYTH No. 2 — Smaller varieties have a better flavor

It is true that is more frequent to find in the store/market small varieties with more flavor than the big ones. But that is because of the way they were grown. The big or small tomatoes I grow in my yard are hardy, they have a rich flavor and intense red color. I use natural fertilizers and have the right amount of sunlight and water everyday. Taste doesn’t really relate to size.

MYTH No. 3 — Store tomatoes stem-side down.

The shoulders are the softest part of the tomato; leaving them stem-side down will almost always result in bruising. It is better to store them stem-side up.

MYTH No. 4 — To ripen tomatoes, leave them uncovered

Place under-ripe tomatoes in one layer in a paper bag, and close it loosely. Leave in a warm, dry spot, and check daily for ripeness.

Art, Cooking, eating, Food

Anything Goes On Sunday: Food Art For A Wonderful Relaxing Sunday

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

FOOD ART

Creating wonderful art with nature is a masterpiece for the eyes to admire. It looks so good, would you eat it?

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was the first artist in the modern era to think of the preparation and consumption of food as art.

The avant-garde Futurist movement, formed by Marinetti and other artists in Milan in 1909, embraced the industrial age and all things mechanical—from automobiles and planes to manufacturing methods and city planning. They thought cooking and dining, so central to everyone’s day-to-day lives, should also be central to their farsighted, far-out ideas.

Cooking, eating, Food

Learn How to Cook A Delicious Healthy Foil Baked Chicken Caprese Recipe And Video

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS
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Ingredients:

– 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

– 8 oz sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

– 1 cup diced tomatoes

– 1/2 tbs Italian seasoning

– salt and pepper, to taste

– 1 onion, sliced

– 1 bell pepper, sliced

– 1 tbs balsamic vinegar

– 1 tbs butter

– 1 tbs olive oil

– 1/4 cup of fresh basil

– angel hair pasta and sauce, optional

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Directions:

1. Pre-Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a bowl, combine the butter, olive oil, Italian seasonings and salt and pepper.  When thoroughly combined, add the chicken, onions, tomatoes and peppers. Mix until everything is coated with the butter/olive oil/seasoning mixture.

3.  Layout (4) 16-inch long pieces of foil and divide the ingredients evenly in the center of the foil.  Wrap the foil tightly so there are no holes.  If you have to, add another piece of foil on top to ensure the moisture remains in the packet.

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4.  Place the foil packets on a foil-lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes or until everything is cooked through.

5.  Open the packets and add the cheese.  Add the packet back to the stove for an additional minute to melt the cheese.

6.  When the cheese is melted garnish with basil and vinegar.

7.  You can complete the meal with pasta and sauce as an option

Cooking, eating, Food

Cooking Low-Cost Delicious Food Monday: Healthy Cheesy Vegetables Baked

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

Happy healthy fast and low-cost cooking!

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 peppers
  • Sprinkle breadcrumbs 40 gm 1/2 cup
  • 1/2 cup parmesan 40 gm
  • Salt
  • Basil
  • Thyme
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 5 tomatoes
  • Mozzarella
  • Parmesan cheese

THIS IS HOW I MADE IT AND IT TASTED DELICIOUS!

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«Party Primer» August 09
Cooking, eating, Food

True Original Italian Neapolitan Pizza

Dr. Martha Andrea Castro Noriega, MD WMA FACS

The recipe Pizza Neapolitan is easy to make at home. When I speak of Pizza Neapolitan I mean the one with anchovies and capers. Although Italy is a very small country and where most people speak the same language, there is often confusion about this subject: a real Neapolitan pizza recipe is always made with strong flavors. In some Italian towns the Neapolitan pizza is rigorously cooked in oven wood and lots of buffalo mozzarella, but just travel a hundred kilometers north of Italy and you will find a Neapolitan pizza made with anchovies, black olive, and capers.

ADVICE: Try your real Neapolitan Pizza with Black Olive Oil, true Mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and a glass with the wine of your preference.

ITALIAN PIZZA ORIGINAL NEAPOLITAN

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NEAPOLITAN PIZZA IN THE OVEN

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