Andy meets Martha: a spicy cornbread

I love cornbread. Pouring honey on a fresh cornbread will dissolve a lot of problems. It's my healthy alternative to stuffing my face with mocha ice cream.

But plain cornbread, good as that is, isn't the most nutritious food. Think of cornbread like cake. How many different kinds of cake is there? A possibly infinite number.


Martha White Yellow Cornmeal has a pretty good Tex-Mex recipe on the side of the bag. I'm going to take Andy Garcia's chipotle chorizo and add it to the ingredients. I'm also going to add one extra egg (two eggs instead of one). And in place of two tablespoons of chopped green chiles, this has two tablespoons of my chile petin salsa (but you can stick with the chopped green chiles).

Martha, meet Andy.

Spicy cornbread: Tex-Mex style with chorizo and salsa

The ingredients:

2 large eggs
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8-ounce can cream style corn
1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos or fresh hot salsa
1 link of chorizo

Cook the chorizo on a skillet on low heat. Break it up into tiny bits and tilt the skillet to drain some of the grease.

Mix everything else into your mixing bowl and put the chorizo in last. Spread lard or no-stick cooking spray into a 8x8 baking pan, or a round pan of similar dimension. Pour your batter in. It's going to look watery, but not to worry; 25 to 30 minutes in the oven at 450 degrees will take care of that.

When it's done, you can eat it straight. Or spinkle honey all over it.
Buen provecho!

Andy Garcia's Chipotle Chorizo Especial

Here's another chorizo I'd like to see show up in South Florida's Mexican groceries. Garcia Foods Inc. produces Andy Garcia's Chipotle Chorizo Especial.

Andy Garcia's Chipotle Chorizo Especial

Andy Garcia started with $15, making barbacoa in his garage in 1956. Garcia would sell barbacoa from his truck.

Based in San Antonio, Texas, the company's products are now standards in Texas grocery meat sections and they are marketing across the Southwest and into Mexico. They have ambitions of selling nationally and I  wish them success.

Time for breakfast!

I started with a couple of fatty-patty homemade tortillas and several store-bought thin white corn tortillas. The store-bought stuff I leave on a comal pan on a very low heat so they will dry out but not burn.

I chop onion, poblano and tomato. Then I put a link of Garcia chorizo in a hot skillet and break it down and stir. This is a standard 'huevos a la Mexicana' but with a little chorizo mixed in.

lightly grill the veggies with the chorizo, always keeping your heat low so the chorizo doesn't burn and the veggies don't overcook. Toss in the scrambled eggs (removing the yolk, if you're concerned about cholesterol).

I tear up the dried out tortillas and layer them on the bottom so I can use them like scooper chips. Heap the rest on top and sprinkle some cotija cheese over it. Again, no salt; the chorizo and cheese are salty.

I had a ripe avocado handy, so I scooped some out and placed it on the side.

What I have is a slightly salty, buttery breakfast meal with plenty of protein and a rich mix of produce from the crisper. You barely need a fork, but I kept one handy.

Buen provecho!

Elgin: The Sausage Capital of Texas

Elgin, Texas brags about being the Sausage Capital of Texas. A bit of hyperbole there, Texas has several other towns that can rival Elgin for that claim.

The sausage makers trumpeting that boast come from Southside Market. This is a fabled establishment in existence since 1882. Southside Market is the most notable landmark in the small town of Elgin, which is off the beaten path if you are in or near Austin.

I picked up a package of Southside Market's smoked beef and pork smoked sausage on my last trip to an HEB grocery in San Antonio. It's time to get it out of the freezer. But I'm not doing any traditional dish with this, as I'm in the mood for a curry meat and veggie entrée.

I have manioc (yuca) that I want to chop and fry up. Manioc is denser than potato, although similar in taste, so this involves some cooking time. The manioc goes in the skillet first, once the vegetable oil is hot.

While the manioc fries, let's get the other ingredients prepped. I picked out two stalks of bok choy, portions of tomato, onion, cabbage, one carrot and one link of Southside Market's Polish sausage.

Chop, chop, chop and slice!

veggies in the bowl, manioc and sausage on the board

I'm keeping a bag of sunflower seed handy, so I can sprinkle in a handful toward the end of the cooking process. It's time to toss the sausage in the skillet, and while that is heating up, let's make some curry sauce.

There's not much point in suggesting specific quantities of ingredients as that depends on how much food you're making. I have a fairly large skillet, enough to cook up three or four servings. I start with about three tablespoons full of starch and blanket the pile of starch in my mixing bowl with curry sauce.

My sauce is always going to be spicy, so in goes a couple spoonfulls of fresh hot homemade salsa (no vinegar). The last ingredient is water. I start with a third cup and mix, then pour this into the skillet and stir. I find it's not enough.

Just keep pouring water in and stir until the sauce is about a half-inch to two-thirds of an inch deep in the skillet.

From the time the veggies go in, you want to watch the clock a little closer, or they will overcook. Stir and cook for about five minutes, certainly less than ten.

Last touch is the sunflower seed. Sprinkle the seed in and give the whole ensemble one last stir with your big spoon.

As far as the particular ingredients, there's nothing sacred here except the manioc and sausage - these two are going to fill you up. But if you don't like onions, leave them out. If the sunflower seed seems a bit over the top for you (personally I like to have something to crunch), leave that out.

Notice I never mentioned salt. The curry powder has salt, as does the sausage and the sunflower seed. You don't need more salt in your diet, but this dish is slightly (only slightly) bland. Curry is savory. I could have added a bit more curry or a bit more salt, but I'm not complaining with the result.

You can eat this without any side, it's pretty good as is. But it will go well with a small portion of white rice.

Buen provecho!

Four Corners and a mushroom bean soup

What is on the plate is simple. What is in the bowl is complex. Let's have a look.

These are pinto beans that were boiled with chopped poblano pepper and mushrooms. It has a little chopped garlic (couple of cloves), and cilantro-salt seasoning. A dollop of hot salsa (the petin). Crumbled costeno cheese on top. 

I was really happy with how it turned out. Had a unique, earthy flavor to it. I'm going to be coming back to this one for awhile.

Now for the 4 Corners. Four toasted corn torillas lay the foundation. One one, I put turkey with some Jack Daniels barbecue sauce. On the second, I have grilled zucchini. On the third, my last (shed a tear) HEB mesquite smoked all beef sausage. And the fourth tortilla has grilled onions. There's a little bit of chopped fresh tomato in the middle.

It's kind of Spanish tapas style serving. Just picking that the assortment and making an occasional taco. Buen provecho.