Holy Guacamole! A Few Recipes...

As promised, here are a few of the Guatemalan recipes I used for Isabella's party. Sorry it took so long for me to post. It's hard to blog without a computer!! Yes, unfortunately my laptop officially bit the dust. Poor me! I can't check regularly on all of you... my favorite blogger friends! All we have is Kirk's work computer, and he WON'T SHARE WITH ME because he works pretty much 24/7. I snuck some time on it tonight, though, when I sent him out on an errand-- Hee! Hee!

I'm posting four recipes for you. They are Guatemalan staples and super easy & yummy!

Arroz Guatemalteco
(Guatemalan-Style Rice)

Ingredients:
2 cups long grain rice
2 Tablespoons oil
1 cup mixed vegetables (like carrots, celery, sweet red peppers, green peas), finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups chicken stock

Directions:
Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan and add rice.
Sauté lightly until the rice has absorbed the oil, being careful not to let it change color.
Add the mixed vegetables, salt, pepper, and chicken stock.
Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low.
Cool for about 20 minutes until rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
Serves 6 to 8.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

red onion
lime
lemon
cilantro
avocados
salt and pepper

Directions:

The first thing that you do to make guacamole is use 1 tablespoon of chopped red onion. Add salt, a little pepper, but not too much- then you begin squeezing limes. So basically you're forming a marinade. What that does is it takes the bitterness away from the onions. For every 3 avocados add one full lime. Ideally, you would want this to sit for approximately 10 minutes before you add the avocado.
While that's marinating you can chop your cilantro. You want to chop your cilantro right before you add it.

Next, open the avocados and scoop out the flesh. Then all you have left to do is mash it. You're going to want to find a home-sized potato masher which will make it much easier. Or you can also use a fork. The more that you mash it, the smoother your guacamole will be. Of course as soon as avocados hit air they begin to oxidize and turn gray. Add a sprinkle of lemon juice-- and that will keep the avocados greener for longer.

Note: I learned to put the pit on top of the guacamole (at the end). I saw first hand how it really keeps the guacamole green for a long time. Don't worry about storing the leftovers... There won't be any!!!

Homemade Corn Tortillas

Ingredients:

One bag of Maseca (or any brand) dry corn tortilla mix

Water

Directions:

Follow package instructions for the ratio of tortilla mix to water

Form the masa (dough) into little balls the size of golf balls

Pound the dough ball between the palms of your hands until it is flat and round like a little tortilla

Note: I bought a tortilla press (see picture below) for $17 at Linens and Things because when I hand form them they look hilarious and not very flat and round. In fact, I caught Sandra (the awesome lady who cooked for us in Antigua) laughing at my attempts. I don't blame her! HA!

Brown the tortillas on each side in a skillet.

Keep them warm in a kitchen towel until ready to serve.

These are the bomb!

Tortilla Press

Guatemalan Black Beans

1 LB. black beans

10 cups of water

1 medium onion cut into quarters

1 Bullion cube for each cup of water

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a crock pot on high for approximately 5 hours. Enjoy!

If you know of any other Guatemalan recipes, I'd LOVE to have them!!!

!Que rico!