Rancho Aurora Garlic Soup

Rancho Aurora Garlic Soup

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This recipe is from Susana Trilling, who owns the Seasons of My Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca, Mexico. It uses an herb called hoja santa that has a large, fragrant leaf. Look for it in Latin markets but if unavailable, watercress is the best substitute. Serve this soup with a dark beer like Negra Modelo and cornbread. Read Dave DeWitt’s entire spicy spring soup article here.

Ingredients

2 heads garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large hoja santa leaf, cut into strips or 1 bunch chopped fresh watercress
6 cups Vibrant Vegetable Stock (see recipe here) or substitute your favorite stock
2 de árbol chiles, left whole, or substitute 2 large piquíns or santaka chiles
Salt and white pepper to taste
3 bay leaves
1 bunch celery leaves, coarsely chopped
20 toasted bread cubes or croutons
20 cubes Oaxaqueño or other melting cheese such as queso blanco or Monterey Jack
Garnish: grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a soup pot until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the hoja santa or watercress and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the stock, chile (if using), salt, pepper, and bay leaves and simmer for a half an hour. Remove the bay leaves and chile. Add the celery leaves just before serving.

Place 5 cubes of bread and five of cheese in 4 individual soup bowls and ladle in the soup. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

bacon wrapped bratwurst

Bacon-wrapped Bratwursts with Grilled Garlic and Habanero Relish

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This recipe appeared in the article Bacon-Wrapped Brats and Dogs, Oh My on the Burn! Blog. (excerpted from The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook by Robb Walsh

Ingredients

1 package of your favorite hot dogs (usually 5-8 in a pack)
A matching number of center cut bacon slices
A matching amount of club rolls (sliced open like a clam shell)
1 chopped habanero pepper
10 chopped cloves of garlic
1 sliced green bell pepper
1 sliced medium onion
Olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
Assorted condiments (mustard, ketchup, hot sauce, mayo, etc)

Instructions

Make sure you wear gloves while chopping the pepper. Mix it in a small bowl with the garlic, a light drizzle of olive oil, the salt, pepper, and cumin. Next, make an aluminum foil packet, scoop the mixture into it, and fold it shut to seal it.

Fire up the grill. While it’s heating, sauté the onion and green bell pepper in a little olive oil with a little salt and pepper until the onion slices are clear and the bell pepper has changed to a more olive green in color. Turn off the heat but put a cover over the pan to keep the veggies warm.

When the grill reaches a medium-high heat, place the brats and the foil packet on it. Turn the sausages every 3 minutes until they’re almost done (they shouldn’t droop when you lift them with your tongs). You’ll also want to flip the packet after five minutes and let it grill during the next step. Take them off the grill for about five minutes. During that time, brush a little olive oil on one side of each bacon slice. Then, wrap each brat with a slice, corkscrew style, and place it back on the grill. Move the foil packet off to the side or remove it from the grill completely when you put the bratwursts back on the grill. Turn the sausages as before until the bacon is done. Grill the rolls at the same time, if desired.

Once the bacon is sufficiently grilled, remove everything from the grill. Make a bed of the vegetables in each roll, set a brat on it, garnish it with the relish, and add the condiments of your choice.