hungry sofia

Jul 21

Grilled Corn and Quinoa Salad

The last couple of weeks I’ve been indulging in early Saturday market runs. Loaded down with corn, currants, peaches and herbs, I head home with my haul, spread it out then have a moment of what now. As inspring as the weekend farmer’s market can be, sometimes the summer goes to my head and I overbuy (or just haven’t found a gooseberry recipe to love). That’s partly why I was so happy to make this grilled corn and quinoa salad, the first recipe I’ve tried from Lourdes Castro’s new book, Latin Grilling. Read more

Jul 14

4 Comments

Guayaba y Limón

When it’s warm, I miss the cold and when it’s cold I miss the warmth, though I miss my Snoopy sno-cone machine more than both combined. This weekend I tired out different granizado recipes for a Devour post armed with little more than a metal pan and a fork. I never get the results I want from my ice maker and there are worse places to spend a boiling New York summer day than half in the freezer. Loading up on guava, passion fruit, and mango pulp from a nearby market, I headed home and started mixing. Read more

Jul 4

Fourth of July

Hope your fireworks are worth waiting for – Happy Fourth of July!

Jun 30

Catching Up in June

This May, I took this picture at the Festival of Ideas for the New City along the Bowery. The season was just getting started and its been forward motion since then. With both spring and the summer solstice behind us, it seems like a good midway point to get a clear 360° view, looking backwards and forward at the same time. Belongings, an amazing New York times piece by Sam Dolnick did just that when they asked a group of immigrants to describe a single object they brought with them into their new life and what it means to them now, appropriate as we head into 4th of July weekend. For a much more tongue in cheek but no less interesting take on the immigrant experience, there’s Chingo Bling’s talking tamales. Read more

Jun 28

6 Comments

Pollo Frito A La Criolla

Last week, for no particular reason, the idea of brunch bothered me. Though I’m sure it’ll pass (most likely around 1130ish next Saturday), the designation of brunch as the catch-all weekend shared meal just didn’t interest me. Normally, I enjoy it – the poached eggs, the flowing coffee, the kicky cocktails, the displaced Brooklyn washtub bands strumming away. But I wanted to cook for friends this weekend and it wasn’t going to be ebleskivers and mimosas (again nothing against either). Read more

Jun 19

2 Comments

Sopa Paraguaya

Of course, my father had every reason to expect a boy – they already had a girl after all. Though I rarely met him even halfway (tee-ball, soccer and tennis were disasters), I did prefer Star Wars to Barbie (there was a princess in it), wasn’t squeamish about what went in the frituras de sesos he love to make, and stayed awake during The Right Stuff – so I don’t think he minded too much. A foodie before the word, he gave me sugar cane to cut my teeth on, took me to the docks to buy fish as the boats came in, presented me with meltingly tender Italian prosciutto like it was a visiting dignitary, and charmed a fast melting cooler of Mexican guanabana ice cream through customs. Read more

Jun 13

6 Comments

Causa de Betarraga Rellena de Pollo y Palta

Summer seems to be about buying fresh ingredients and getting out of their way – charring and grilling, chilling and serving. Though suitable for the time and the produce available, I still miss getting lost in my kitchen and was looking for a project when I decided to try a variation on Peruvian causa I’d seen on Yanuq. In addition to the usual mashed potatoes, lime juice, and ají amarillo, pureed beets are added to the mix, making it all go pink – a potato salad in Batman technicolor. Read more

Jun 5

3 Comments

Huevos Falsos

I’ve never liked canned fruit and didn’t understand why my grandparents served it with so much ceremony. They loved they’re fruit cocktail but it was never a good dessert day for us. It wasn’t until years later that I realized canned fruit was something of a delicacy where the punishing tropical climate could make fresh fruit hard to hold on to, passing from ripe to way too ripe before your eyes. Away from the central A/C of Florida, I appreciate that now – especially with surface-of-the-sun conditions in my own kitchen during the summer now. Read more

May 31

Catching Up in May

I wasn’t really excited about summer (too hot, too soon) until I finished my run this weekend and stopped by the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket on my way home. Seeing some chives in full bloom, I asked the vendor how they could be used. Holding on to the stem, he gently twisted off the light purple puff at the top and presented me with a handful of blossoms – suddenly I could see weeks mint tea, ripe berries, fat peaches and green tomatoes spreading out before me and couldn’t wait to get started. But, before I get lost in the corn fields, I wanted to catch-up on some articles that popped up in May. Read more

May 27

8 Comments

Casting Mojitos

There are so many stories around the mojito but the one I hope is true is that its name comes from the African word for “mojo” or casting spells. This makes perfect sense because, as a friend pointed out, mojitos make everyone happy. Assuming all other conditions are equal and in moderation, a strong mixed drink can make someone pensive or low key, exhilerated or stupefied, wild or reckless, but a mojito – happy. It’s even hard to think of a mojito without smiling, it’s a charming little cocktail. Read more