Greetings, my name is Regina Coston and I am a junior here at CSUDH who is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies/American Studies.

Ingredients: box of Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ yellow cake mix, egg, vegetable oil, real butter, brown sugar, crashed pineapples in juice, without cherry topping.

Food is times seen as a comfort food, I didn’t believe so when I was a young child and expected to learn how to cook. My younger sister and I was expected to stay in on the weekends and help my mother cook. I was tasked with prepping and my sister with standing on a chair and steering the food and wiping up. May mother prepared our meals from scratch and I remember thinking cooking requires way too much work. Cutting things up into small pieces, waiting on meat to thaw out, and even waiting on the oven or grease to heat up was way too much stress for someone like me. Cooking was such a sad task that I remember I would cry my heart out and my mom would say, “You’ll get over it”. How could there be comfort in cooking?

My mother cooked seven days a week and carted to each of our special tastes and dietary needs. It’s pretty funny now how I tried my hand at cooking and I sucked no matter how much patience my mother showed me. She would say a pinch of this and a dab of that and it would come out tasting like crap. My mother and I both knew that I would never live up to her way of cooking so she allowed me to try my hand at baking, thank God. I was surprised that baking was fun and it got me time in the kitchen alongside my mother on a much happier note. To top things off I was better at it than my siblings and they seem to love my experiments.

My siblings became my tasters and critics which helped me to improve my baking skills. I truly enjoyed making desserts from scratch as well as receipts from package and/or boxes. I started with simple things like Jell-O pudding with whipped cream, chocolate chip and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and moved my way up to cakes. I recently called and asked my siblings which desserts were their favorite and they agreed that they make more request, than we can remember, for upside down pineapple cakes which later turned into cupcakes. I know now that desserts helped to improve the mood of the house, so I will call this our childhood comfort feed.

We now relized that upside down pineapple cupcakes became the house favorite because my baby sister’s loved the size. I always loved to see the smile on her face when I would tell her they were ready and to see her face when she savored the taste put a smile on my face. Sweets became her comfort food and I could always make her feel better when I baked. As for my other siblings they loved sweets, sweets, sweets so they enjoyed the majority of my dessert, experiments, and had little complaints. Sweets would bring us together as a family and we were allowed to invite friends over to share in the excitement on the weekend.

I don’t bake as often these days except during major holidays and when I’m visiting my sister who now lives in Florida.

I grew up eating one of the most popular Mexican dishes out there; chiles rellenos.  Chiles rellenos are stuffed Poblano chiles. The stuffing can either be Asadero cheese, Queso Freso or a blend of mashed potatoes and cheese stuffing, meats or shrimp (my family has a recipe for Shrimp Chiles Rellenos, oh so good).  There are many stuffing choices out there.  The stuffed chiles are then dipped in batter and, finally, fried. They are served with rice, or served in a tomato “caldo”, or broth. I’ve waaay oversimplified the recipe. The real process is a more delicate and complicated process, which is why rajas con crema are my favorite. They have some of the ingredients and flavors of the chile relleno, but without all the work. Ok, maybe not all the way the same as chiles rellenos, but let me explain my reasoning… Growing up my sister and I helped mom in the kitchen, so I learned early on about cooking techniques. On chile relleno night, which was typically during Lent, we’d help prepare and cook chile rellenos. We’d get assigned tasks, either roasting, pealing and deseeding the chiles, or chopping veggies, or making the rice, or, the most dreaded task of all, making the egg batter. I HATED making the egg batter!  My mom expected the egg batter to be fluffy and perfect, so when it wasn’t, which happen many many times when I was tasked with making it, before I eventually mastered the technique, she’d scold me for not doing it right. The pressure made me hate the task.  And to this day, I don’t like to eat the fried egg batter; I was traumatized.  So when I first tried rajas con crema, way back during my high school years, at my best friend’s home, I instantly fell in love.  In my head, rajas con crema is the equivalent of chiles rellenos.  Some might not agree, but that’s ok, this is how I deal with my childhood trauma =)

The dish contains the main ingredient in the chile rellenos: chile poblano. For me, it’s a quick fix for when I’m craving a chile relleno, but don’t feel like doing the tedious work involved with the chiles rellenos. Rajas con crema, translates to “slices” of chile in a cream sauce. The dish comes from the southern, and central, regions of Mexico and has many variations, depending on the region. We eat it as a main dish, on Mexican rice. We also have it as a side dish, especially when we grill chicken or carne asada. It’s great in tacos or in burritos. It can be a topping for nachos or as a dip.  I hope you enjoy the dish as much as I do.  Since this will be my recipe for the class cookbook project, I’ll only provide the list of ingredients here, but the rest of the instructions, and pictures, will be on the recipe.

Ingredients:

8 chile poblanos

onion

Roma tomatoes

chiles jalapeno or serrano

cilantro

garlic cloves

Mexican sour cream

cheese; Oaxaca Sheese, Asadero & Monterrey Jack cheese

Queso fresco

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Tomato bullion (also known as consome Knorr)

Los Angeles! Ohh the beauty and tragedy of Los Angeles! I love this city, from it’s Northern valleys, to its southern ports its bustling downtown and all the neighborhoods in between

To me the most angeleno dish is tacos. Tacos are everywhere!

It seems that every neighborhood in Los Angeles has a Taco street vendor, Taco truck, or Taco restaurant. And if they don’t have that they surely have a restaurant that features tacos on its menus, or families are folding tortillas into tacos at home.

As early as I can remember tacos were an essential part of my families weekly meals and on busy months, its daily meals. Whether it be the delicious tacos from the local taco street vendor, or my mom cooking up a quick meal wrapped in a tortilla, Tacos were always present. The nights my father worked the night shift on Fridays, me and my brother would stay awake and wait for his call so we could tell him what kind of tacos we wanted. We would sit back and watch the Lakers or dodgers game with him. My brother and I, on either side of my tired father eating out of the tinfoil wrapping that we used as plates to eat our favorite tacos. At the end of a long night of dancing, drinking and flirting, tacos transform a great night into a memorable and magical experience.

Tacos are the perfect Angeleno plate not quite from here, but not quite foreign. Tacos, the working families meal, cheap and easy to make, or buy.

Tacos are a connection to a Mesoamerican past, and a modern day worldwide sensation! Tacos are a can’t miss indulgence made by common people for common people.

Tacos are made of three ingredients tortillas, salsa, and filling that consist of mostly meat! Lets get into it!

Tortillas are essential. Almost anything wrapped in a tortilla is considered a Taco. There are many different types of tortillas but the most common tortilla are Maiz tortillas. Maiz is significant to first nations people from Messo America. In the Mayan story of creation the original man was made of maiz. The first reported tacos spotted by Europeans were of indigenous people eating fish wrapped by tortillas. These ancient connections make tacos a direct link to pre Colombian times.

The second thing that makes tacos great are the salsas. A taco spot with out at least one good salsa is not worth visiting. The mild green sauce, the hot red sauce, and the super hot habanerro can make or break a street. A good salsa game can a street vendor cart a store front restaurant.

The filling can be any meats or veggies. The most traditional filling are carne asada al pastor. The star of most taco stands is the al pastor because of the spit also known as spits. The Al-pastor is a labanese influence it is pork shoulder

• 1 large white onion, halved
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup guajillo chile powder
• 3 garlic cloves, halved
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1 2 1/2-to 3-pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Corn tortilla
• Lime wedges

The trimmings can include lime, beans, onions and cilantro.

These tacos are connected to every era in my life.

Here are my favorite Taco places in Los Angeles

1. Cactus (Vine street and Barton Ave) Order the Al Pastor, Asa
2. da or chicken with avocado and cheese. This is my childhood taco place
3. Tacos Los Guichos on Slauson and Broadway right next to the 110 exit going north Al pastor is amazing and the sauces are on point, the tacos de carnitas are the best in the city.
4. Tacos el Gavilan is starting to become a chain, but my favorite restaurant they have is on Vernon and Broadway. Everything is good here.
5. Leo’s Tacos on the corner of Venice and La Brea have amazing al pastor with pineapple and avocado sauce.
6. Tire Shop Taqueria 0n 4069 S. Avalon ave is a secret place with hand made tortillas and a wide range of great tacos.

Lemony Crab Salad

Hi everyone, I’m Rosie Desales I am a junior here at Dominguez. I am majoring in in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on culture. The dish I have prepared for you is a zesty crab salad. This salad was introduced on my first date with my husband. Many already know I’m an extremely picky eater and have been since I was very young. My mother tells me stories of when I was beginning to eat solids, how I would use my tiny fingers to fish out small bits of onion and hand them to her. Years later I still pick out onions out of my dishes. So about eight years ago on my first date with my partner, he took me on a picnic. Throughout the whole picnic, I had a bad feeling I wasn’t going to like what he had made. I avoided eating the crab salad he had made for us for most of the day, but by the end of the picnic he figured I wasn’t too interested in eating his romantic salad. Finally, I tried it with an open mind and to my surprise it was quite good. This salad will always bring us good memories. The feeling of preparing this dish will always remind us of how our relationship began. Although it created anxiety at the beginning, it ended with a happy ending because we have passed the tradition to our children. We have a total of four girls and two boys. All four girls have learned to make this dish and sometimes tell their friends the reason why we make the salad. The salad is made with imitation crab cooked in lemon juice, minced red onion, a good amount of jalapeno, a spring of cilantro and sour cream. Crab salad has originated from Peru and later from Spain. Latin America and the Caribbean have been most commonly used locations. This salad has become one of our summer favorites, including it in picnics with the kids. Many times, have taken it to family reunions including Fourth of July celebrations or Memorial Day vacations. One of my favorite ingredients would have to be the jalapeno. The Jalapeno or Jalapa like others call it, originated from Vera Cruz Mexico. Chihuahua would be the top producer with forty-two percent, Sinaloa with twelve percent, Jalisco with six percent and Michoacán with six percent. Ninety-eight percent are exported to the United States. A famous packer called La Costena controls sixty percent of the worlds market. The jalapeno plant grows in warm climate about seventy to eighty degrees. That is why Mexico is successful in their production. Each plant grows about twenty-eight to thirty-five inches tall and will produce about 35 pods per plant. Peppers will tend to be slightly spicier if they display white veins on the outside. Once the peppers begin to turn red the pepper has past its prime state. Although jalapenos are not like by everyone, they are rich in vitamins. Jalapenos have a variety of vitamins like vitamin C, B6, E and K.

7 Layer Dip without lime chips

Side view 7-layer did

7 Layer Dip

Hello, my name is Sinnetti Piper I’m a senior and excited for graduation. I started making 7-layer dip when my daughter was 1 years old. I was working in a huge call center and we had a pot luck and one of the women made 7-layer dip and I’ve loved it since that day. I asked how she made it and she gave me the ingredients. Over the years I’ve changed a few things and such as the beans. I love the beans to have a salsa taste so over the years I’ve found that Rosarita makes a zesty salsa fried beans. I started buying this brand, but I also add more salsa to the beans, not a lot just enough to give it that flavor. Also, there are times that I don’t add the green onions on top. I have been making this dip for 22 years and so far, it’s been a hit at every pot luck or dinner. This dip has been requested at pot lucks, Christmas, and Thanksgiving dinners as an appetizer. My children request when they come home from college. My husband loves it.

This dip consists of refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, chunky salsa medium, mild cheddar cheese shredded, sliced black olives and green onions. Nothing is cooked except for the beans. I warm the beans and add salsa to the refried beans. Once the beans are warm I start to layer. Once all the layers are finished I refrigerate for two nights, because this dip taste better cold. The best part of this dip are the chips. My favorite chips are Tostito hint of lime chips the combination of the dip and the chips are the best. Making this dip brings me joy, because I feel very appreciated by others when I make this dip. I remember the first time my son had this dip I could feel his joy and I loved the way his eyes lit up. When my children enjoy food, they dance. They will sometimes dance in the chair when they are eating or sometimes they will eat standing up and dance, it a very funny site, but I love it. I adore the fact when we have pot lucks at work my coworkers will ask are you making the dip, my reply is always the same yes.

Of course, not everyone likes 7-layer dip because there may be some ingredients that someone doesn’t like or are allergic too. There are people who just don’t’ like it, I never get offended because if or when there’s left over I can bring it home I know my family will appreciate it. The dip never goes to waste once it comes home. I do know the 7-layer dip it probably not the healthiest food, but it really tastes good. It doesn’t take long to prepare. Also, when I brought this dip to class the consistency was off because it needed to be refrigerated a little longer. I apologize for that because after I tasted the dip it seemed sort of loose it should have been more solid. I hope everyone enjoyed and if not, I understand. Thanks for allowing me to present.

Food Presentation:

To go along with your food presentation, you will also be writing a 500 word blog post (please include at least two images) on the food you’ve chosen to bring. The blog post must be posted here on  the class blog and uploaded to the TurnItIn link (images do not need to be included in TurnItIn submission) in this folder within one week of your presentation or by March 3, whichever is first.

Discuss the food in political-economic, gastro-political, symbolic, nutritional, and/or ethical terms.