Spicy Mexican Corn Soup

This is a good and spicy soup with no actual meat, although I use chicken broth, and you could certainly use vegetable broth instead. Using 2 chipotle peppers will not likely bring smoke billowing from your ears, but if you like more heat, 4 chipotles will likely do the trick. Be sure to include some of the adobo sauce from the chipotle peppers; it will provide great flavor for the soup. Optionally, if you want to thicken the soup, you can add some cornmeal or corn flour. While both are ground corn, corn flour is finely ground. Queso blanco or other white cheese are great with this. I actually used "Chihuahua" cheese, and if you think this is a "dog cheese," you're barking up the wrong tree... It's a white cheese popular in Mexico which originated in the state of Chihuahua. The little dog of that name is simply named after that state. 

Ingredients (about 6 to 8 servings):

3 cups corn (fresh, but frozen corn is fine)
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
2 to 4 chipotle peppers with adobo sauce
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter + 2 tablespoons regular olive oil  
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
white cheese in small cubes (queso blanco, Chihuahua cheese, mozzarella or Monterey Jack)
3/4 teaspoon salt (if the broth has a high salt content, you can omit adding salt or just add a pinch)
(Optional) 3 to 4 tablespoons cornmeal or corn flour (or more to your own preference of thickness)

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over low heat, melt the butter and heat the olive oil. Add the chopped onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes, then add the minced garlic and saute another 1 to 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and add the chopped tomatoes, oregano, chili powder, chipotle peppers with adobo sauce; saute further until the tomatoes soften. Empty the cooked ingredients into a blender of food processor and process until smooth. Return the smooth mixture to the sauce pan over medium heat and add the chicken broth, mix well and bring to a simmer. Add the corn, the cilantro and any salt you're using (if using corn flour or cornmeal, mix it with some water or broth and stir well to prevent lumps, then stir it into the soup). Maintain a steady simmer and cook for 6 to 8 minutes more. When serving, add 4 or 5 white cheese cubes to each bowl of soup. You can also add a dollop of sour cream to each serving (reduced fat sour cream is fine). Serve with tortilla chips and/or grilled corn cakes. 
     
With tortilla chips and a grilled corn cake on the side ... 

WORD HISTORY:
Gringo-This word is related to "Greek" (the word for the people of Greece and their language), a word of shaky origin that was passed to English from its parent language, Old Germanic, which had borrowed it from Latin. While there is no firm evidence as to why the "Hellenes," the previous name for the Greeks, began to be called the "Greeks," the Romans used the term "Graeci" as the word in Latin, seemingly as a borrowing from Greek "Grakoi." The Latin form was passed down to Latin-based Spanish as "griego," which spawned the Spanish word "gringo" (also passed on to Portuguese as such) with the meaning, "speaker of unintelligible words, speaker of gibberish, speaker of such poor Spanish, so as not to be understood;" thus also, "speaker of a foreign tongue." ^ Later in Spanish speaking Mexico, which had lots of contact with Americans, much of the contact being contentious, the word took on the meaning there of "foreigner, an Anglo-American," but often implying that in a less than flattering way. The word seemingly came into more English use during the "U.S.-Mexican War," in 1846-48.    

^ In English we say, "it's all Greek to me" to convey that we don't understand something written or said. This was either developed by Shakespeare for use in the play "Julius Caesar," or it was taken by him from some unknown source, but the saying remains with us to this day. Further, what is now the name for the country of "Wales," and for the people of Wales, the "Welsh," came from the Germanic words for "foreigners, (usually) Celts," and for, "gibberish, foreign (usually Celtic) speech." The Anglo-Saxon conquerors of Britain used their forms of the words (dialects in those times) for the Celtic speaking people of Britain, especially for those who survived the Germanic invasions in Cornwall and Wales.    

Dominican Fried Cheese: Queso Frito

Fried cheese is not uncommon in a number of cultures, particularly those in of Latino background. In the Dominican Republic, fried cheese is often served as a part of a full, hearty breakfast, along with fried eggs, mashed plantains with sauteed onions and fried salami. Of course, if your doctor hears that you've had more than one such breakfast in the last six months, he or she may need to be admitted to the hospital for 24 hour observation. Other Latino cultures have the same or similar recipes to the one I have here, but there are certainly some variations; such as, the cheese is cut into "sticks" or "cubes" or "rounded into ball shapes," or the cheese pieces are coated in cornstarch, or the cheese pieces are dipped into egg, then into flour or breadcrumbs. Fried cheese from these cultures are served in various ways, like with fruit compotes or mayonnaise-based sauces, just plain, or as part of a larger plate of foods, as noted above in the Dominican Republic. Generally in the Dominican Republic the cheese is simply fried, just as I am presenting here. 
  
The best cheese to use for this simple recipe is "queso blanco," which may also say on the label, "for frying," Spanish="para freír." You don't want cheese that melts easily, and this cheese basically holds its form. It's available in many supermarkets, Latino markets and cheese shops. The brand I buy comes wrapped in a clear plastic cover and it is a 16 ounce rectangular block in shape. 

"I can hear the phone ringing .... Hello, I'd like to speak to my doctor.... What do mean he's in the hospital for observation? ..... He read my post about a Dominican breakfast? ... Damn, I thought I was just joking!... Ah, give him my best wishes."  

Ingredients:

slices of queso blanco, sliced about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick
olive oil to fully cover the bottom of the skillet
good paper towels to drain the fried cheese

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the cheese slices on both sides until golden brown. Remove the slices from the skillet and drain them on paper towels before serving.

WORD HISTORY:
Class-This word, most commonly used as a noun with a variety of meanings, and with a verb form (in modern usage essentially replaced by the related "to classify"), is related to a number of words, including: "claim" (including in compounds like "exclaim," "proclaim," "reclaim," "disclaim," "datclaim," oh wait, not that last one, although it does seem to follow) and "declare," all Latin-derived words, and also to "haul," a word from the Germanic roots of English, with later reinforcement from French, which had a form from Germanic Frankish. "Class" goes back to Indo European "kele/kehl," which had the notion of "to shout, to cry out." This gave Latin "classis," initially meaning, "the call up of Roman citizenry for military service," then later the more specific, "Roman army, Roman naval forces." Further, "the administrative division of the Roman citizenry into six segments according to their wealth (to determine taxation);" thus also more generally, "a division or separation into groups of the same or similar characteristics." The Latin form passed into Latin-based French as "classe," with similar meanings, but also the more specific, "the call up of men for military service from particular age groups," which "may" have provided the basis for the usage, "students divided by age for schooling." English borrowed the word "about" 1600, primarily with the "student division" meaning, and this led to the rooms used for such divisions of age/grade level or for specific subjects being termed "classes" (singular: "class"), and then later to the rooms being called "classrooms," although German also has "Klassenzimmer" ("classroom," with "Zimmer" being a relative of English "timber") and I'm not sure if the English and German terms developed independently of each other, or if one borrowed the idea from the other (German had also borrowed "Klasse" "about" 1600). Some of the meanings of "class" seem to have come about in English directly from Latin meanings, rather than from French; for instance, "division of society by income, profession," "scientific division of plants and animals into related groupings"), both of which developed in about the mid 1700s. The idea of "high class," or of a person, "with class" (also "classy"), may seem to tie in with the societal division notion, but it "might" actually have started with the student/education meaning, as some university courses were only available to students who had high scholastic achievements; thus, "high class." No question that the "societal division" meaning reinforced the idea.      

Honduran Tortillas: Las Baleadas Hondureñas

Honduras is a country in Central America. It has a population of more than 9 million, with Spanish as its official language, and it was conquered by Spain in the 1500s, but gained independence from Spain in 1821, and Honduras became a truly separate country in the 1830s. The nation's capital is Tegucigalpa (pretty much pronounced like, "tay-goose-see-galpa").  

There is the basic baleadas, "baleadas sencillas" (simple baleadas), but then Hondurans often add other toppings, one of the most common of which is scrambled eggs, but perhaps also avocado and fried or grilled meat. I looked at 20 to 25 recipes and all were very similar in the basic ingredients, but some made the tortillas very thin, while others made them much thicker (see photos, below). This recipe is so you can make your own fresh flour tortillas, but you can certainly just buy some flour tortillas, heat them, and then fill them. Shhh .... I didn't tell you that! Perhaps you could double the tortillas when assembling the finished product to make the thicker type?  

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup warm water
refried beans*
crema or sour cream **
crumbled queso fresco (cotija cheese is good for this)
avocado

Mix together the flour, the salt and the baking powder; then, mix the oil into the dry ingredients. Add the warm water and mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough until it is smooth. Divide the dough and roll the pieces into golf ball size rounds. Coat the rounds very lightly with some oil, cover them and let them sit for about a half hour. Heat a griddle or skillet (a cast iron skillet is good for this) on medium heat. Form the rounds into flattened circular shapes and place on the griddle or into the skillet. Cook for "about" 45 seconds per side. Some brown spots may develop on the tortillas, and that's okay. Spread a layer of refried beans on each tortilla, then add some crema or sour cream and crumbled queso fresco, and other toppings, if you so desire.

* For my article on "refried beans," this is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/11/refried-beans-frijoles-refritos.html 

** I have not had Honduran sour cream, "mantequilla (blanco)," but just reading about it, I noticed some Hondurans who have moved to the United States say they buy sour cream, add varying amounts of heavy cream and a little salt, and they have "Honduran mantequilla." It is also my understanding that "mantequilla" generally means "butter" in Spanish, but in Honduras (perhaps elsewhere too???), it means butter, but also their style of sour cream. Mexican "crema" is available in many supermarkets in the U.S., but from what I understand, the Mexican variety is not quite like the Honduran. 

The thicker baleadas, left unfolded to show the topping

The thin, folded baleada

WORD HISTORY:
Grill-This word, coming in both noun and verb forms, is related to "griddle," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English. "Grill" "seems" to have originated from Indo European "kert," which meant, "to turn," which gave the idea of "braiding, twisting, weaving, entwining." This gave its Latin offspring the noun "cratis," meaning, "wickerwork;" that is, "products made by weaving twigs or small branches together." This then produced "craticula," meaning, "grill, grating, gridiron." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "graille," meaning, "grill, gridiron, fence railings." This then became "greil," then "gril." It was borrowed by English in the mid 1600s, by which time its main meaning was "gridiron, metal grid for cooking over a fire." The verb developed from the noun immediately thereafter. Old French "gril" later developed an alternative spelling of "grille," which meant, "grid, grating," which seemingly was used more in reference to "gates, fencing." This too was borrowed into English in the mid 1600s, with the distinction, but over time that distinction has become murky, as some restaurants use the spelling "grille" in their names; at least, in the U.S.