Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

Christmas fruitcakes have been baked for centuries with the oldest known recipe dating back to Ancient Rome. Fruitcakes were a way to preserve fruits and nuts as well as a way to celebrate the harvest and seek good luck in the coming year. Jamaicans favorite Christmas cake is dark, spongy and heavy, with rum soaked fruit and rich flavor. Eaten only at Christmas the cake is a favored gift and family tradition.

Ingredients:

Poblano

* 1 lb. Raisins

Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

* 4 oz. Cherries

* ½ lb. Chopped prunes

* 2 oz. Cranberries

* 32 oz. Dark Jamaican rum

* 4 oz. Citrus peels

* grated rind of 1 lime

* 6 oz. or 1.5 cup flour

* 8 oz. butter

* 8 oz. sugar

* 4 eggs

* 1 tsp. cinnamon

* ½ tsp. allspice

* ½ tsp. Ground cloves

* ½ tsp. salt

* 1 cup wine/brandy

* 1 tsp. baking powder

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 2 tbsp. browning

Directions:

Soak fruits, peels and rind in rum for two weeks before baking. In a separate bowl whip butter, sugar and browning until creamy. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl and mix well. In a third bowl beat eggs and brandy together until well blended.

Add egg mixture to creamed butter mixture and blend well. Strain and add fruits, keeping rum for fruity drinks. Gradually mix dry ingredients to batter and fold together.

Pour batter into a lightly buttered 9" cake pan and bake at 350F for 1-½ hours checking after 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Jamaican Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/jamaican-recipes.html]. Article submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the World Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com] website.

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Mexican Soup - Traditional Menudo Recipe

Menudo is one of many traditional Mexican foods and this soup contains calves' feet or pigs' feet, tripe, chilies and more. The word "menudo" refers to both the stomach meat used to make it and the soup itself. This soup is very popular in Mexico and you can see big menudo meat blocks in meat markets all over the country.

It is reputed to help with hangovers and have medicinal properties because of the way it induces sweating, making it popular on New Year's morning. Other popular ingredients in menudo include crushed red chilies, oregano, onions and cilantro, although there are various recipes for menudo and each is slightly different. Hominy is added to this soup in northern Mexico but not in some other areas.

Poblano

For such a popular soup, both in Mexico and the southwest of the United States, it might sound surprising that it has not found its way on to many Mexican or Tex Mex restaurant menus. This is perhaps because of the unusual ingredients in the soup and the fact that it takes so long to make.

Mexican Soup - Traditional Menudo Recipe

Tips for Tasty Menudo

Menudo is made with tripe. Choose honeycomb tripe because it is not as tough as other kinds. To improve the flavor of the soup, skim the fat off the top several times an hour while it cooks. A lot of fat comes out of the meat. Menudo takes a long time to make so you need to plan it the day before making it. It is said to taste better after being reheated, since the flavors become stronger. Menudo keeps for a couple of days in the refrigerator so you could try this.

Recipe for Mexican Menudo

This is a very easy dish to make and you can serve it with chopped cilantro and onion, as well as tortillas. If you like, you can take out the pigs' feet at the end, take the meat off them, and then return the meat to the pot, discarding the rest.

What you will need:

2 cups dried hominy 2 lbs pigs' feet 3 lbs chopped honeycomb tripe Water, as needed 1 tablespoon dried oregano 5 black peppercorns 5 chopped cloves garlic 2 roasted poblano chilies, seeded, peeled and chopped 1 roasted ancho chili, seeded, peeled and chopped 1 chopped onion

How to make it:

Cover the hominy with water. Leave it to soak for at least eight hours or overnight. Transfer it to a saucepan and cover it with a few inches of water. Bring it to a boil, and then simmer it for two hours. Add more water if you need to, to keep the hominy covered.

Drain off the water, and then add the tripe, onion, oregano, pigs' feet, peppercorns and garlic. Add water to cover everything and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for two hours, then add the chilies and simmer for one more hour.

Mexican Soup - Traditional Menudo Recipe

If you are looking for typical Mexican recipes, you might like to try making menudo. If you thought Mexican food was all tacos and fajitas, you might like to try some authentic recipes, such as menudo soup. MexicanFoodRecipes.org When it has to be Real Authentic Mexican Food.