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Network : Fresh Tastes
: April 2002
Bladder Friendly Mexican
Cuisine (Part 2of 2)
Given that the
cuisine of Mexico is so varied, we actually have more choices than
one would think. Not everything is chile pepper hot or made with
tomatoes. It is however a cuisine of simple, natural foods and home-cooking.
And that makes it ideal for adapting to our needs.
Vegetables
Raw and cooked
vegetables figure prominently at Mexican meals. One vegetable that
is appearing in more and more U.S. stores these days, is jicama. Chopped
or grated fresh jicama (the white flesh of an onion-shaped, tan, rough
skinned vegetable) is a crunchy addition to dips and at only 10 calories
per ounce, it makes an excellent low-cal snack. It has a mild non-acidic
flavor. In place of a salad, try dipping raw peeled jicama, carrots,
radishes, and celery in a little salt. Kids love this kind of crunchy
"salad" they can eat with their fingers!
Another vegetable
often used in Mexican cooking is the chayote. It's a squash-like
vegetable shaped somewhat like a pear with a smooth green surface
and a puckered end. It's often peeled and sliced, then cooked up
with plantains (cooking bananas) for a side dish. Plantains look
somewhat like bananas, only they are not eaten like a banana. In
Mexico they are cooked, often with beans or other vegetables. They
are steamed or more often fried. Plantains are only a little sweet,
unlike a banana. Plantains are more like a potato and are used that
way in Mexican cooking.
Bananas and
other tropical fruits are used with vegetables in ways we aren't
accustomed to here. The delicious recipe below originally combined
cooked chayote squash with pineapple, plantains, and anise (another
favorite seasoning in Mexico). To make it more bladder-friendly
I substituted a green banana for the acidic pineapple and plantains.
It's absolutely delicious made this way (my husband loves it) and
it is great when served with grilled fish or chicken.
CHAYOTE AND
GREEN BANANA IN ANISE BUTTER
serves 2
2 Tbsp. butter
or margarine
1 chayote, peeled
1/2 tsp. anise seed, crushed
1 green banana
Melt the butter
in a covered skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, cut the peeled
chayote in quarters. Cut out the pithy core from each quarter, as
you would a pear. Slice the chayote in thin slices about 1/4-inch
thick. Place chayote in the melted butter in the skillet, in a single
layer as much as possible. Cover and cook about seven minutes, then
turn over slices with a fork. Cover again and cook another seven
minutes. Meanwhile peel the banana and slice in 1/4-inch rounds.
Sprinkle anise on top of the chayote and then layer the banana slices
on top. Cover and continue cooking another 3 or 4 minutes until
both banana and chayote is soft and flavors have blended. Scoop
carefully into a serving dish and pour butter sauce over.
Note: Don't use ripe bananas... they'll fall apart right away.
Soups,
Stews and Main Dishes
One of the dishes
Mexico is famous for is the puchero, a kind of Mexican stew. Named
for the clay pot the dish is cooked in, it begins as a classic Old
World Spanish dish combining meats, vegetables, and legumes. But the
Mexican version adds foods from the New World, including potatoes,
chiles, corn and plantains. Each region of Mexico has its own slant
on this dish. Puchero may be served as a one-dish meal, like stew
is here in the U.S., or it can be eaten in parts. When served that
way, the broth is eaten as a soup course, followed by the meat and
vegetables served separately. Puchero can be very filling and quite
delicious-- and is not always made with tomatoes or chiles. If you
see it on a menu at a Mexican restaurant, it's definitely worth asking
about.
Like stews,
hearty soups with a beef base are also often eaten as family meals,
particularly in Mexico's cattle ranching regions. Here is a hearty
and inexpensive meatball soup flavored with an interesting combination
of mint and onion. The soup is filling and with some tortilla chips
or warm buttered tortillas, makes a wonderful meal. As is traditional
in Mexico, the soup is thickened with pureed vegetables rather than
flour or cornstarch.
SOPA DE ALBONDIGAS
(MEATBALL SOUP)
serves 4
Puree for thickening:
1-1/4 c. water
1/4 c. Vidalia or Maui onions, diced
3/4 c. baking potatoes, diced
1/3 c. carrots, peeled and diced
1/4 c. celery, diced OR 1/4 c. frozen peas
1 garlic clove, sliced
Soup:
2-1/2 cups beef broth, additive-free (Health Valley makes a good
brand)
1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp. sherry
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. dried parsley
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 tsp. black pepper (optional)
2 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, chopped fine
1/2 c. green onion, chopped
all-purpose flour
vegetable oil
1/3 c. uncooked white rice
salt to taste
For Puree:
Add the water for puree to a medium saucepan and bring to a
boil. Meanwhile, rinse diced onions in a sieve under cold running
water (to help remove sulfur acids). Add onions and remaining vegetables
for the puree. When mixture returns to a boil, reduce heat to a
simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then puree
in a blender or food processor until smooth. (Can be frozen for
later use at this point.) You can make the soup while you let the
puree cool a bit.
For Soup: In a large saucepan combine the beef broth for
the soup, water, sherry, bay leaf, and parsley. Place soup over
medium heat and simmer. Add the puree.
In a bowl combine the ground beef, egg, pepper, mint, and green
onion for the meatballs. Mix meatball ingredients well. Pour a bit
of oil into a skillet and heat. Form meatballs about 1-1/4 inches
across. Roll meatballs in flour to lightly coat, and fry in oil
until browned. As batches of meatballs are done, drop into
hot simmering soup. In the hot skillet you used to fry the meatballs,
fry rice in a little oil until rice becomes white and opaque and
some grains turn golden. Stir while cooking, scraping up browned
bits. Drop rice into hot soup. Cover and simmer soup until rice
is tender, about 25 minutes. Add salt to taste. Add water or beef
broth as needed if too much has boiled off. Remove bay leaf and
serve.
Note: It's well worth the trouble to make
a double batch then freeze half. It keeps well for a month or two
if frozen. Also, you don't have to thicken it.... or you can thicken
it to the point of being a thick stew. It's great either way.
Beverages
What could
be more authentically Mexican than a good cup of coffee-- low-acid
decaffeinated of course? For those of us who can get away with a
bit of decaf coffee if it is low-acid enough, here is some good
news. Chlorogenic acid, along with tannins and caffeine, is one
of many bladder-irritating substances found in coffee. This substance
has also been the subject of debate for many years concerning its
possible role in the indigestion and intestinal distress some people
have when they drink coffee. For tender IC bladders of course, removing
the caffeine from coffee is only half the battle. We still have
to contend with the acids. Some coffee beans are naturally low in
acid but even those beans may not be low-acid enough for some of
us.
Now a company in Little Rock Arkansas, Coffee Legends, has recently
introduced a water-process decaffeinated coffee that has had a lot
of the acid removed too (by a non-chemical process involving steam,
pressure, and vacuum). Marketed under the brand "Johann Wullf's",
the company has blended various arabica beans and offers several
kinds of acid-reduced coffees (whole bean and ground). One of these
acid-reduced coffees is also decaffeinated. (It is sold in some
supermarkets now, and if yours doesn't carry it, consider asking
the store manager to give it a trial. The company's address is 18
River Valley Road, Little Rock Arkansas 72227). They
have a toll free number to order coffee and have it shipped to you
(1-888-376-2777) and a web site where you can also order coffee
beans (www.theconsideratecoffee.com).
I tried their
low-acid decaf and indeed it did seem to give me less bladder symptoms
than any other low-acid decaf coffees I've tried. The de-acidifying
process has altered the taste a tiny bit (which isn't bad). The
price for whole beans seemed to be a little steep-- at almost $11.00
for 12 ounces of whole
beans-- but if you enjoy real coffee, this might be just the thing
that allows you to drink it again. (And don't forget, if it still
is a bit too acid, there's always Prelief, Coffee Tamer, Tums, etc.
to help out).
Desserts
and Sweets
Now what to
have with our coffee? Churros are in Mexico what doughnuts are in
the U.S. But rather than being round, these are like long sticks.
They are especially wonderful when freshly made and served warm.
(I like dunking them in hot chamomile tea).
CHURROS
2 cups vegetable
oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Combine water,
margarine and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil,
then stir in the flour. Continue stirring and cooking for about
another minute over low heat until the mixture forms a ball. Remove
from heat and beat in the eggs. Continue beating until smooth. Pour
oil into a heavy skillet until it is about 1-1/2 inches deep. Place
over heat and bring temperature to 360 degrees F.
Scoop the dough into a cake decorating tube with a large star tip.
Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil and fry until golden
brown, turning once. Fry about 2 minutes on each side. You can do
batches of 3 or 4 at a time. Drain churros on paper towels. Mix
sugar and cinnamon in a bag. Shake the churros in the sugar mixture.
And here's
another great tasting Mexican treat-- bizcochitos. These traditional
thin, crisp sugar cookies are made any time of the year, but are
always seen at fiestas and holidays such as Christmas. This version
of the cookie was originally given to me by Maria T. from El Paso,
Texas. and has become one of my favorite cookies.
MARIA'S ORANGE
BIZCOCHITOS
makes about 48
2-1/4 c. all-purpose
flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 egg white
1-3/4 tsp. anise seed, crushed
2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. orange extract OR 3/4 tsp. freshly grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. sugar
Mix together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar.
In another bowl cream together the 1-1/2 cups sugar and the butter
until fluffy. Beat the egg, egg white, anise seed, water, and extract
into the butter mixture. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients.
Gather dough into a ball, place in a plastic bag or in a covered
bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven
to 350 degrees F. Mix together in a small bowl the tablespoon of
sugar and the cinnamon, then set aside. Form dough into balls about
an inch across. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with fingers slightly
to discs about 1/4-inch thick. Space cookies about an inch apart
because they will spread and become thin. Sprinkle with cinnamon
sugar if desired. Bake at 350 degrees F. until they just begin to
turn golden around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Watch the
last two minutes that they don't burn). Remove immediately and cool
on racks.
Note: Those with vulvodynia who are sensitive
to dietary oxalates might want to omit or cut back on the cinnamon
and use orange extract rather than the grated orange peel.
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