This is an exciting announcement for me. This past summer in the desperate heat of August my business partner Ericka Sanchez and I were sitting in my kitchen coming up with different quesadilla recipes for Cacique’s new “Caciquedilla Club” website. (more…)

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Society Culinaria on behalf of Cacique. However all opinions and recipe are 100% my own.

I am a soup girl. I will eat soup on a hot day with no hesitation. I will even have soup for breakfast if it’s available. I especially love the idea of a steaming hot bowl of pureed vegetable soup on a super cold day. I’ve always been a fan of cream of any type of vegetable soup, but it seems since I’ve become a vegetarian I am even a little (more…)

Calabacitas are an old standard in my household and have been for a very long time before I even came into my family. My grandpa made them for my Mom growing up, and he made them for me and my cousins growing up too. For me the most mouthwatering part of this traditional dish is the cheese. I use Cacique cheese in (more…)

Although summer is coming to a close, the heat here in Southern California is no where near gone. I am relishing my last days of outside entertainment and eating al fresco before the fall really decides to make an appearance. This past Sunday early (more…)

I thought I knew everything there is to know about Cacique and their beautiful products, until a few weeks ago. Let me start this story from the beginning, I’m getting ahead of myself. Okay… at the beginning of the year I was invited to come on board as an ambassador/regular contributor of recipes to the Cacique website. I (more…)

I’m thinking of my feisty friend Alfonso (my fiancés father) as Dia De Los Muertos approaches.  It’s been almost 5 years since he stepped out of his human life and floated into the other side. I was there as he passed and watched his face go calm in peace.  Awwww, that man. He loved to fight with me.  I think I was probably the only female in his world brave enough to not agree with his every word.  He knew I had a good heart but wasn’t gonna back down.  He use to call me his lawyer because when he needed something done or figured out, I was the one he would turn to to get it done.  He said I had a persuasive way. When we first met he questioned my ability to cook and doubted I could find my way around the kitchen.  I loved proving him wrong.  I think he thought of himself as somewhat of a master of the cocina, but the truth was he was seriously the salsa king.  I had to give it to him, his salsa rocked.  I would bring him empty jars all the time so he never had an excuse not to share his salsa with me.  He took such pride in making his salsa and would just gloat to everyone how great it was, and most of the time people had no other choice but to agree.   He would set up a bowl of his salsa, a slab of queso fresco, chopped up avocado cubes, and a pile of corn chips, and that combo was his snack.

I used to sit in his kitchen sometimes and watch him make it.  I’ve never tried to recreate his perfect salsa since he’s been gone, but I do think of him every time I make my own salsa.  I have to eat it the same way he did, with queso fresco (Mexican cheese), avocado, and chips.  This Calavera Queso Fresco Salsa Dip is my ode to that lovely grump Alfonso Lopez that I still love and I once knew.

Ingredients for Calavera Salsa Dip:

• 1 – package Queso Fresco
• 3 – tomatoes
• 1 – tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 – jalapeños
• 4- serrano chiles
• 4 – fresh chile de arbol
• 1 – onion (peeled and cut in half)
• 4 – garlic cloves (peeled)
• 1 – teaspoon vinegar
• 1 pinch of dried oregano
• salt and pepper
• 2 – cups of water
• avocado
• corn chips
• Pistachios, and chile flakes for decorating calavera

Directions:

• Remove queso fresco from package, and with a small pairing knife cut the sides of the cheese to shape into a skeleton head.  Then with a small circle cookie cutter punch out the eyes. Place on a platter and place back in the fridge.  
• In a medium pot filled halfway with water over a high flame, bring to a boil.  Add in tomatoes and boil for 30 minutes.  Set to the side. 
• In a frying pan over a medium flame add vegetable oil and allow it to get hot.
• Add in chiles, onion, and garlic cloves. Fry on all sides until charred and browned. 
• Remove stems from chiles, and place in the blender with tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves,  vinegar, oregano, salt, pepper, and water (I use the water the tomatoes boiled in). Blend until desired consistency is reached. 
• Decorate the calavera with chile flakes around the eyes, and use pistachios for the mouth. 
• Place calavera shaped queso fresco on a plate, then pour the salsa  around the plate. Decorate the edges with avocado cubes.
• Serve with chips. 
• ENJOY!

Im memory of my sweet friend Alfonso… I miss you.

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Cacique and Latina Bloggers Connect. However, the recipe and opinions are 100% my own.

This Thursday, June 12th, be prepared to join the rest of the world in the soccer event known to be followed by millions on Earth.  It doesn’t matter if you call it “football” or “soccer” as long as you don’t miss the “GOALS!”  I will be tuning in with my fellow sport fans to cheer on my relative country of Mexico.  I enjoy watching the match on TV with the volume muted and the sound replaced with a musical soundtrack instead.  Depending on which countries are competing that day usually determines what we will listen to.  That allows me to just watch and focus as the men run back and forth kicking the ball with those legs of pure muscle.  I adore the sportsmanship of the game and the thrilling entertainment it brings into my household.  With complete concentration on every move the athletes make and where the ball will land comes the desire to distract the mind a little with a snack that will help ease the anxiety.  Something edible to celebrate with or cry with, it has to be good.   The first thing that comes to mind is the soothing taste of Cacique crema, then a hard shell crunch, a little pickled chile, some crumbled queso fresco, and it has to represent the colors of Mexico.   Food for the fans, something we could all dig into.  I decided the best thing to fit this description would have to be Mexican “Stadium” Chicken Salad served with crisp corn tortilla strips.  I will serve it as a dip in the middle of the room and me, my family and our lovely friends can all scoop into the luscious good-ness while enjoying the game.

Ingredients for Mexican Stadium Chicken Salad:

• 10 to 12 – corn tortillas (depending how big your bowl is) (sides trimmed off)
• 1/2 – cup vegetable oil
• 1.5 – pounds chicken breasts (boiled for 20 minutes, then shredded with 2 forks)
• 1/3 – cup Cacique crema Mexicana Agria
• 1/4 – cup mayo
• 1/2 – lime (squeezed)
• 1/2 – teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 – teaspoon salt
• 8 – cherry tomatoes (cut into 4’s)
• 6 – strips of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• 1/3 – cup red onion (diced)
• 1/3 – cup peas
• 1/4 – cup pickled jalapenos (diced)
• 1/4 – cup fresh cilantro leaves (stems removed)
• 1/2 – avocado (diced)
• 1/2 – cup Cacique queso fresco

Directions:

1. Cut tortillas into strips. In a large frying pan over a medium flame add in the vegetable oil. Allow the oil to get hot, then fry the tortilla strips on each side until crisp. 
2. Remove tortilla strips from oil and allow to drain on a paper towel. Set strips to the side.
3. Place cooked shredded chicken in a bowl add in Cacique crema Mexicana Agria, mayo, and lime juice. Mix to combine. Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Mix again.
4. Build the stadium: In a big bowl fill the center with creamy chicken salad, then line the inside edges of the bowl with tortilla strips. 
5. Combine cherry tomatoes, bacon, and red onion together, then on one side of the chicken salad make a solid line of red ingredients.
6. Combine peas, jalapenos, cilantro, and avocado together, then on the opposite side from the red ingredients make a solid line of green ingredients. Leaving an equal amount of space open in the middle.
7. Fill the center area with queso fresco. 
8. Eat this now!