Pay de Queso

At first, I was curious about how a country so painfully lacking in bagels could be so in love with cream cheese, but queso crema (or queso philadelphia, as it's frequently referred to since it's the only brand they use down here - hey, they know what's up) is very popular.

Cream cheese can be blended with very hot salsas to cool them down and make them creamy, but more importantly and most common  is its use in pay de queso (or cheese pie), the Mexican equivalent of cheesecake. Pay de queso is similar to traditional cheesecakes that are full of cheese flavor and have a dense-ish texture. So, you get that great flavor, but don't have to worry about the annoying water baths or cracking on top that comes with making a traditional cheesecake.

Ingredients
1 packet (340 g) Maria cookies
2 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 14 oz. can Lechera (sweetened condensed milk)
1 12 oz. can Carnation Clavel (evaporated milk)
6 eggs
2 8 oz. packages Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
pinch of salt

*makes 2 pays*

Directions

1 - Crush the Maria cookies (with a rolling pin or in a blender) and mix the crumbs with the sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture evenly into 8-inch pie plates.

2 - Blend the lechera, carnation, eggs, cream cheese, vanilla, lime juice and salt together until creamy.

3 - Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pie crusts.

4 - Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 350*.

5 - Enjoy! (Yes, that's all; it's that easy.)

Ribs in Chile Seco

Memorial Day, 4th of July, summer is in full swing, and so is barbecue season. Burgers, steaks, ribs...well, here in Mexico, I might pass on the burgers and steaks, but I'll take some pork ribs in chile seco.

As I reviewed my blog history, I noticed that I had no pork, which is not an accurate reflection of Mexican cuisine, where pork head in pozole, pork cheek on tacos, and pork loin at Christmas are all so beloved, just to name a few. But, this dish is actually all about the sauce - a homemade, smoky sauce made from chiles secos (chipotles). Here, I cooked ribs in the sauce, but usually in my or my in-laws' house, it just gets stirred up with some mayonnaise and eaten with eggs, rice, sandwiches, etc.


Ingredients
15 chiles secos (dry chipotles)
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 onion
3 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

1 kg. (2 lbs.) pork ribs
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Directions

1 - Heat about three tablespoons of oil in a saute pan over a low flame and fry the chiles secos for about 3 minutes.

2 - Remove the chiles secos and put them in a bowl with the chicken stock for about 10 minutes (to soften them up).

3 - Put the chiles secos and chicken stock, onion, garlic, pepper and salt in a blender and blend until only slightly chunky. Set aside.

4 - Salt and pepper the ribs.

5 - Heat some oil in a saute pan again over a medium flame and fry the ribs, about 3 minutes on each side.

6 - Add the chile seco salsa, and turn down the heat. Simmer until the salsa's liquids evaporate and the salsa takes on a bit of a pasty texture.

7 - Serve with spaghetti (boiled with quartered onions and fried in margarine...it's how they do it down here, it's authentic!) or rice.