Stuffed Marinated Cherry Peppers

Ingredients:
Mozzarella Cheese
Green Cherry Peppers
Proscuitto
White Vinegar
Olive Oil
Preparation:
Carve out the top and center of the green cherry pepper and marinate in the vinegar/olive oil mixture. Wrap a small 1/2" (1cm) cube of cheese in a small slice of prosciutto and stuff the with with it. Place back in the vinegar/olive oil mixture until serving time.

Tlalpeño Soup - Caldo Tlalpeño

Ingredients:
2 Cups Garbanzo beans
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Lard
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Onion, Finely chopped
7-8 Cups chicken Stock
1/2 Chicken divided into parts or 1 whole bone-in chicken breast

2 Corn Cobs, Shucked and cut into medium-sized pieces (or 2 cups canned corn if prefered)
2 Potatos, cubed
3-4 Carrots, peeled and diced
1 Sprig Epazote
2 Cups green beans, halved
2 Medium Zucchinis, sliced and halved
2-4 Chipotle chiles in adobo (depending on how spicy you like it), finely diced
1 1/2 Cups Tomato Puree
Salt to Taste
Pepper to Taste
1/2-1 Cup Cilantro
1 Avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
3 Lime, halved
1/2-1 Cup Panela Cheese, cubed, optional
Preparation:

Soak garbanzo beans in 4-5 cups of water in the refrigerator overnight.
In a Heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat, saute garlic and onion in the olive oil or lard until tender. Add chicken, and garbanzo beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 20 minutes.
Remove chicken and set aside to cool. Add the corn cob pieces (if using canned corn instead, wait to add it), potatos, carrots, and epazote to the soup and simmer 10 minutes.
Add green beans to soup and continue to simmer another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, remove chicken from the bones.
Add zucchini, chipotle chiles (including the adobo sauce), tomato puree, shredded chicken, and salt and pepper to taste. (add canned corn at this point if not using corn cobs.) Simmer another 10 minutes or so, making sure the vegetables are tender.
Serve soup hot with cilantro, avocado, limes, and cheese on the side to garnish to taste.

Patitas de Cerdo con Garbanzos

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs. fresh pork hocks or pigs feet
6 cups water
2 cans chick peas (garbanzos)
3 tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup sofrito
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 chicken or beef bouillon cube
1/2 lb. butternut pumpkin of your choice
2 small potatoes
Preparation:
Cut the meat into pieces and put them (pork hocks or pig's feet) in a large pot. Add the water and boil on moderate high heat for 2 hours or until the (hocks) or pig's feet are tender. Heat the olive oil in a deep pan. Add sofrito and the tomato sauce and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add to the pig's feet (or hocks), the drained chick peas, the boullion cube, the peeled pumpkin cut into pieces and the cubed potatoes.Reduce heat to medium low and simmer covered for about 20 minutes.

Arroz con Habichuelas

Ingredients:
1 lb. raw rice
1 can pinto beans
1/2 cup sofrito
1 envelope sazón seasoning
1 tbsp. Manzanillo olives
1 tsp. capers
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chicken or beef broth
1/2 lb. bacon salt to taste (only if needed)water
Preparation:
In a rice caldero* cook the bacon until it is crispy. Take out the cooked bacon and chop into small pieces.In the same bacon fat, stir-fry the sofrito for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the cooked bacon, the tomato sauce, the pinto beans, the raw rice, and the beef or chicken broth and stir well. Add enough water to cover the rice, about 1 1/2 inch above rice line. Let it boil on medium-high until water evaporates. Cover your pan with aluminum foil (my secret) and cook over low heat for about 35-45 minutes.
Tips
Cover your pan with aluminum foil.

Ensalada de Pulpo

Ingredients:
1 large octopus (4-5 lbs.)
3/4 c. onions
1 can pitted black olives
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp. parsley
4-6 celery stalks
juice of 3-4 lemons
olive oil
adobo
Preparation:
In a big deep pot, place the octopus*, add lots of water to cover it completely, and add salt.Cook the octopus on medium heat for approximately 1 3/4 hours or tender. When it's done, place it in a deep bowl to cool. After it cools down, clean (this means take out the eyes etc.), cut in small pieces and place the pieces in a bowl.Add the diced celery, the juice of the lemmons, the pitted olives sliced in half, the minced garlic, (a pilonazos), the diced onion, and the chopped parsley. Sprinkle everything with olive oil and adobo(just a little bit).
Tips
Serve on a lettuce leaf with crackers on the side or white rice. Try using purple onions for more flavor. Save time and buy the canned *octopus. You may need to adjust the recipe according to the amount of canned octopus.You can also use Manzanilla olives* instead.