Caldo de Pollo (Chicken Soup)

Serves 4-5

Two whole chicken breast w/ bone (bone adds flavor)
2 medium size garlic cloves
1/2 a teaspoon of cumin (power or whole)
2 small plum tomatoes quartered
1/2 small Spanish onion
1/4 of a medium sized cabbage shredded
2 stick of carrots
Cilantro
Lime
Salt to taste

Bring 10 cups of water to a boil and add chicken breast along with small Spanish onion cut,1 garlic clove whole (we will remove later),carrots that have been cut into chewable pieces (you can peel carrots if you'd like, but I prefer with the skin on), and 1/2 tablespoon of salt. Let all these ingredients cook for 30 minutes on medium heat. Remove chicken from pot and start to "tear" the breast, caution; it will be hot so use two forks...with one fork hold the breast meat and the other use to "tear" meat away from bone. Pieces should be chewable. Add breast meat back to pot and add the plum tomatoes and cabbage. In a "cajete" or mortar crush the remaining garlic clove (remove the skin) and cumin (crush whole cumin until a paste-same for garlic)...add to pot and remove the whole garlic clove we added at the beginning. Let simmer on lower heat for 30 minutes.

Serve in a nice deep bowl along with some lime and cilantro leaves...a couple of warm corn tortilla would also make this dish even more memorable...this is a good dish to revive those that had a along night out of drinking... :)

Want to make this dish sing? Chop up some Serrano Chile's and add, this will wake even the dead... :) So I've been told.

Posted by: Rosy Cruz

Frijoles Charros (Charro Beans)

Okay so this is my husbands favorite...you can use canned pinto beans or freshly cooked pinto beans.

Canned version (serves 4):

Three 8oz cans of pinto beans
1 small onion
1 Cup of chopped Cilantro
2 Medium Tomatoes
2 Jalapenos Chile's (De-vained for less heat, or just leave as is for those that like heat)
1/2 pack of bacon
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tablespoon of cumin

Take bacon and chop into small pieces and start to fry it....don't add any oil as bacon has it's own. Chop into small squares; onions, tomatoes, Chile's, and cilantro and set aside. In a mortar take garlic and cumin and mash until you don't see any cumin whole seeds (you can also use powdered cumin). Once bacon has fried for about 10 minutes add the onion only and let that cook for about 1 minute. Then add beans, 1 cup of water, and the rest of the ingredients (tomatoes, Chile's, cilantro, and spices). Let simmer for about 15 minutes and then server with some corn tortilla chip and enjoy.

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