I don’t really cook much; most of the things that I have done were either by experimenting with friends or helping my mom (receiving step-by-step instructions on what to do). Yet I have a sweet tooth, so there are times when I like to make myself some simple sweet things for breakfast or to snack. 

Sweet Breakfast: 

• Tortilla with Nutella (Apparently called Nutella Quesadillas)
  • First I heat some flour tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds 
  • Then I add and spread Nutella over them  
  • Then I close the tortilla 
  • Sometimes I also add strawberries, whip cream, and sprinkles 

• Chantilly cream
  • Add royal Chantilly cream powder to a bowl
  • A cup of milk 
  • Then mix it for a minute with low speed 
  • Then high speed for four minutes 
  • And lastly there are times where i’ll add strawberries and sprinkles 

Even though these are very simple recipes, these are some of the few things that I can say that I truly enjoy, as even though I like many types of food (especially the homemade ones), there are only a few that I could eat any day. The tortilla with Nutella is something that I used to eat almost every day when I was a bit younger, as it was very easy to make with just two ingredients. It got so repetitive that all my family knew what snack I was making if they saw me in the kitchen. Chantilly cream is a dessert that my family and I used to eat a lot in Ecuador. It was one of my favorite treats, so eating it makes me go back to many of my childhood memories, which I hope I’ll never forget. Once I was watching a series and it said something that got stuck in my mind as it made a lot of sense to me, which was that when she was having a bad day she would eat sweets as the sweets gave her sweetness in her life, which at first sounded weird but then I realized it was kind of true as when I’m stressed or sad eating something sweet like chocolate calms me down a lot. 

Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour
• Oil
• Lukewarm Water
• Salt
• Eggs
• Refried Beans
• Sour Cream
• Cheese
• Milk

Step #1: Get your apron on and prepare yourself to use your hands. Boil a cup of water and add into a bowl, 2 cups of all purpose flower.

Step #2: Once the water boils let it cool down a bit. DON’T PUT COLD WATER IT HAS TO BE LUKEWARM TEMPERATURE. If you add cold water you gonna make Playdoh.

Step #3 Once the water is at lukewarm temperature add little by little the water into the bowl and start using your hands to knead the flour. Knead the mixture for 10-15 minutes. Until it’s no longer sticky. Knead until your hands are red and your arms are about to fall off. Once you see the dough forming you are gonna start smacking your dough on the table. Don’t be scared of smacking the dough that’s the trick of making the dough soft.

Step #4 Once you have smacked the dough well. You will form about eight balls of dough and cover and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.

Step #5 While our dough is resting , we will start making the fillings of what goes inside the tortilla. You will grab a can of refried beans like the one below and put them in a pan and a little bit of water to make them soft. Or you can make your own refried beans at home, I’m just trying to save you some time.

Step #6: Now you will make your scrambled eggs. You will get a pan and add some oil and in a bowl crack about 4 eggs and whisk, to make your eggs fluffy add a bit of milk. Once the pan is hot with the oil add your eggs and start stirring them until they cooked.

Step #7: Now heat up your comal. If you don’t know what a comal is, there you go:)

Step #8: Now you will grab your dough and start stretching it until it’s a big thick tortilla. And add it to your hot comal make sure you flip the tortilla. DON’T BURN THEM. If your tortilla rises and it makes bubbles that means is cooked and you made it with love. That’s what I’ve heard people say.

Step #9: Now you will spread your refried beans, add your eggs, add your sour cream, add cheese. Fold it, and Bon appetit

Baleadas is one of my favorite foods, it comes from Honduras. I learned to make this dish because my parents would always crave Baleadas but it was rare for people to sell them unless you went to a Honduran restaurant, however, there wasn’t any around the area. That inspired me to learn how to make them. I would go on YouTube and watch videos on how to make them. At first, they weren’t as good as I expected them to be. As time passed by I started to get better at making them, they would taste so good and soft. And it brought joy to my heart seeing my family enjoy them. 

ingredients:

-frozen hot pocket

Step 1: Open the freezer and take out a frozen hot pocket( I usually get the pepperoni and cheese one)

Step 2: Unwrap the hot pocket and put it in the air fryer

Step 3: Set the air fryer at 400 degrees and default timer for about 15 minutes

Step 4: Let it cook

Step 5: Take out the hot pocket once the timer reaches like about 8 minutes

Step 6: Put the hot pocket on a plate, then put it in the microwave

Step 7: Let it cook in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes (just in case its still frozen)

Step 8: Take it out and eat it.

I would say that hot pockets are nostalgic for me, only because I eat it all the time. I usually just heat up a hot pocket if no one has cooked at home already or if I’m home alone and I’m hungry, or if I just don’t want to eat whatever food was made.

This side dish is called Pico De Gallo, also known as “Fresh Tomato Salsa” by Chipotle fans (which I am).

Ingredients:

*Portions of the ingredients vary based on a person’s preference.

• Tomatoes
• Jalapeños
• Onion
• Lime
• Cilantro
• Avocado (optional)
• Salt

The process of making Pico de Gallo is very simple.

First, you want to dice up your tomatoes, jalapenos, and onion in addition to mincing up your cilantro. Next, you want to place those ingredients into a bowl and squeeze lime juice into the bowl. Afterward, you may add salt and stir these ingredients together. Optionally, you may also add diced-up avocado and add it into the mixture. Usually, Pico De Gallo does not include avocado but you may include it if you wish to do so.

You are free to let this salsa rest in the fridge so all ingredients can soak up each other’s flavors, but you can serve it right after you make it. It’s all about preference.

Pico de Gallo can be served in various ways. For example, Pico de Gallo pairs well with nachos, tortilla chips, tacos, enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, and etc.

For the longest time, I never liked raw onions, tomatoes, or jalapenos. Even to this day, sometimes when I get food that has pickled jalapenos or raw onions in it, I tend to pick it out of my food as I just don’t like the sour and bitter taste. But something about Pico de Gallo, the way all those ingredients come together to form such a wonderful tasting salsa is something I will forever be grateful to my parents.

The first time my mother ever made Pico De Gallo I was confused. I was probably around 8-10 years old. I didn’t know what it was and why she was saying Pico de Gallo when cooking (Pico de Gallo translates to “rooster’s beak” in English). Turns out it was the name of the salsa she was making. When I saw it consisted of tomatoes, onion, and jalapenos, I was hesitant to try it. Afterward, the more and more I ate it, the more and more I learned to love it. Whenever my father made it, he would add avocado and avocado was another food I didn’t enjoy on its own. But with Pico de Gallo, I couldn’t even taste the avocado and I enjoyed the texture it gave the salsa.

My parents cook almost every meal for me and Mexican food is usually their preference. Both my parents immigrated from Mexico and I am beyond thankful they brought their love for Mexican food with them. They have taught me to try various types of foods and to never judge a dish based on its look or smell. Because of them, I have grown to have a healthy relationship with food and have learned to try new things even if I think I may not like them.

cooking recipe

Ingredients

Green Bananas

Salami

Cheese

Onions

Oil

Water

Butter

How to make it

Step 1: We must peel the bananas and put them to boil in a pot with water.

Step 2: We wait for the bananas to boil, take them out and mash them with butter to taste.

Step 3: Mix the bananas with the butter until the banana is lumpy.

Step 4: We heat the oil until it is very hot and can be fried with what we will accompany our mangu.

step 5: fry the salami, cheese and onion.

Step 6: When our accompaniment is fried, we remove it from the pan and the mangu is ready.

Mangu or called (the 3 hits) is originally from my home country, the Dominican Republic. This dish has a very special meaning for me because it is what I ate the most in my country and what my mother made the most for dinner. This dish is historically very important in DR because it is only made in my country and many cultures only go to the DR to eat the famous Dominican dish.

(Portion 1 Person)

Ingredients:

1x Medium Tomato

2x Large Eggs

1x Scallions

1tsp of Heinz Ketchup

2tsp of vegetable oil

2cups of water

1tsp of Salt

1tsp of Pepper

1tsp of chicken bouillon

1tsp of oyster sauce

1tsp of cooking wine

Step 1: Chop the tomato into quarter-size pieces then set aside in a bowl. Crack two eggs into a bowl and wisp until combined. Chop the scallions into pieces then separate the white part from the green part.

Step 2: Heat the pan on high heat and add 1 tsp of oil. When the pan is heated up pour in the egg mixture and pan it around like you would for scrambled eggs. When the eggs are ⅔ of the way cooked. Transfer into a bowl and leave it to the side.

Step 3: Heat the pan on high-medium heat and add 1 tsp of oil. Put in the white part of the scallions first and stir it around. Wait until your scallions have released their aromas then add in your chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle 1tsp of salt onto the tomatoes and stir it around then cover the lid after. 

Step 4: Wait for the tomato to release its stored moisture then add 2 cups of water. Close the top and wait for the tomato to soften. Check with your cooking utensil by poking the tomato making sure it’s soft.

Step 5: When the tomato has softened add in the eggs with 1tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of chicken bouillon, 1tsp of Heinz ketchup, and 1tsp of oyster sauce. Stir to combine well and season for taste.

Step 6: When the mixture thickens add in your green part of the scallions as well as the 1tsp of cooking wine. Stir well and enjoy with a bowl of fluffy white rice.

This recipe was from my mom who I greatly respect and adore. I loved this dish ever since I was a child as it always warmed my heart whenever I would have it for dinner or any part of the day. This dish to me is like a warm hug or a hot shower after a long day of work. My mom would make it for me almost every week and I would always enjoy it until the very last drop. This was also the first dish I ever learned to cook on my own after watching my mom cook it. 

My mom would always have me watch her cooking as she says “I want you to grow up to be a strong independent young man and the first step is to learn to cook for yourself”. These words sounded annoying to me when I was still a young teenager. But when I grew older I started to realize the importance of what my mom said and really took it into my own hands to become an independent and self-sustaining person of society. Every time I would cook this dish in my head I would remember that exact same conversation in my head. Hey, I grew to love tomatoes as a fruit (IT’S NOT A VEGETABLE I WILL FIGHT YOU ON THIS ONE).

We will be using the Posting and Commenting function of blogs@baruch throughout the semester, so you’ll have to familiarize yourself with how to do this:

1. Scroll over “Blog” in the menu bar
2. Scroll down to “Blog #1: due 9/9”
3. Read the instructions (see below this list)
4. Click “+ New” in your top toolbar to add a new post
5. Answer the assignment in the text box
6. On the right side of the screen, find the “Categories” tab. Check the box next to “Blog #1: due 9/9” in order to properly upload it.
7. Click the “Publish” box to complete your post

Blog #1 Prompt:

À la Danny Licht’s excerpt we read in class, from Cooking As Though You Might Cook Again, write a recipe for something you like to cook/make. You can write this in a more traditional form, like a classic cookbook, or do something a little more strange and creative, like Licht does (the tone is more personal essay/poem than instruction manual). The choice is yours! You can include photos, quotes, quips, jokes, whatever! Make it YOU.

No matter how you write it, you are required to include at least one paragraph about, either:

• (1) where the recipe comes from, historically or culturally… What is the *objective* lineage of this dish or these food items? Is there some history around this food? Is there some social or cultural significance?
• (2) your personal relationship to this recipe/food item… What does this dish/these ingredients mean in your *subjective* life? Is there a personal history the food helped you deal with? How did the food nourish you? Is there some personal significance?

If you don’t cook, you can describe how to do something else that requires step-by-step instructions, and you still have to include the above paragraphs, somehow. Does the task have an objective history, or a subjective personal history?

Put your best foot forward… maybe we’ll make these into a class cookbook/guidebook?!?

PS – If you need some further inspiration, check out these recipes by poets.