I’ve been a podcast listener from the early days. I love podcasts because you can sync them with your iPod (or digital music player of choice) or phone! I listen to most of them while working or driving. So, I got the best for you our foodies!

• Good Bite: They are the go-to food bloggers and famous faces from the food world network. Their rotating cast includes Aarti Sequiera, The Next Food Network Star winner; cookbook author and star blogger David Lebovitz; and entertaining superstar Sandra Lee, who offers up seasonal cocktails and chic entertaining tips. This is a very cool video podcast that will never bore you! and don’t get scared, after downloading the short videos (the go between 2 to 5 minutes in length), iTunes can automatically delete them so they don’t take space in your hard drive. You can click here and subscribe on iTunes!
• The Splendid Table: A radio series from the American Public Media, providing listeners information on food preparation, appreciation, and culture. Each week, Lynne Rossetto Kasper. It’s like a glimpse into chef’s motto and culture, so you get tips and views from the pros. You can subscribe here.
• Food Network: This is a fun video podcast that gets you to know the hosts of The Food Network shows, the sets and all. One of the videos features the Iron Chef America kitchen Stadium tour! Follow this link to subscribe.
• Bon Appetit: The companion for the Bon Appetit magazine, brings you interviews and video podcasts with recipes for your enjoyment. They’ve interviewed famous foodies and chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Ted Allen. You can subscribe here.
• Epicurious: The very well known site for foodies and chefs, offers a great variety of topics covered on their short and sweet video podcasts, usually between 2-5 minutes. You can learn how to Make Caramel Apples, Crack a Lobster or Kneading Bread Dough. You can sync these videos with your iPhone so you can catch up on the go! You can subscribe to this podcast here.
• KCRW Good Food: KCRW is a community service of Santa Monica College, and one of the podcasts they produce is this weekly treat from Evan Kleiman. By tuning in to Good Food, you can discover great restaurants that you’ve never heard of, the politics of consumption, explorations of cultures through their food customs and some of the most interesting people who devote their lives to various elements of the food supply. Their latest episodes cover from Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie to Blueberry Pancakes and Italian Crostata. You can subscribe here.
• Food and Wine Talk Radio: The South Florida Gourmet is a Miami-based company that bring this podcast to us. This are one hour interviews with famous chefs and foodies: Cookbook Authors and Wine Makers. They also cover food and wine travel destinations, and the best techniques and recipes! You can subscribe here.
• The Gilded Fork: Podcast by Culinary Media Network, home of the world’s first all-food podcast channel. You get all sorts of cool info here, from Kitchen Myths Debunked to the Best Summer Food or the latest (love the name of the episde) “For the Love of Pork and Street Food”. You won’t be bored! Subscribe here.

We hope you enjoyed our selections and always keep on learning tips and tricks so you can rule your own kitchen!

My grandma Flory is from San Antonio Suchitepequez, a south western town in Guatemala. One of the things that she loves about San Antonio (and so do I!) is it’s chocolate tablets.

Guatemala has one of the best chocolates in the world, and depending on which city you find chocolate, the cacao beans go through a different process to become the tablets that we’ve showed you before, the same ones that we’ve used to make Hot Chocolate. One of the most famous chocolates from Guatemala is the one made in Mixco: they toast the cacao beans, peal them, grind it (twice) and the paste gets mixed with cinnamon or almonds.  In San Antonio Suchitepequez the process is very similar, but instead of adding just cinnamon, they add sugar to it. When making any recipe with chocolate from San Antonio, you have to take note of this, if not, you’re going to have a very sweet result.

For the cupcakes, we’ve been looking for ideas to bring Guatemalan elements (as the chocolate or the roselle flowers), and finally got a recipe that would work perfectly with the chocolate. We modified it and added a bit of cayenne pepper to contrast with the sweetness of the tablet chocolate. I can’t wait to get back to Guate and make these for her… I want to know if the recipe will be up to her standards- both as a great (kitchen) teacher and as a San Antonio girl who loves her chocolate. We hope you like it!

Guatemalan Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
A Foodies’ Guatemalan Touch Original & Adapted from Emeril Lagasse’s Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablet Guatemalan Chocolate, in small bite size pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 1 (12-cup) muffin tin.
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper.
3. Soften the butter and add the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the egg, then the buttermilk, beating until combined after each.
4. Add the hot water last. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
5. Stir in the guatemalan chocolate bits.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin tin wells.
7. Bake until the cupcakes are puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
8. Cool to room temperature in the tins. Run a thin, sharp knife around the sides of the muffin cups to loosen the cupcakes, and carefully lift out. Place the cupcakes on a work surface.

Simple Buttercream Frosting
Yield: Enough for heavily frosted 12 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth.
2. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth.
3. If too thick to spread, beat in one by one the milk tablespoons, checking the consistency after adding each one.
4. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cooled.
5. Grate chocolate on top of the frosted cupcakes for decoration.

Note: You can find Guatemalan Hot Chocolate online at Azotea Estate.

One of the best times to look for fresh fruit and veggies is the summer. Being from Latin America, we’re used to having most of the produce all year long. While shopping a few weeks ago I found Mango and Avocado. I wanted to make something for dinner that was fresh, healthy and easy.

Summery Mango and Avocado Tacos
Servings: 2
Adapted from MyRecipes.com

2 chicken breast, diced
½ cup mango, diced
½ cup avocado, diced
½ cup tomato, diced
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon of curry
¼ teaspoon onion powder
salt to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Combine garlic powder, paprika, onion powder and salt. Rub over chicken.
3. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 5 minutes.
4. While the chicken cooks, dice the mango, avocado and tomato. Keep each separate. Part of the fun of having tacos is making them yourself.
5. Add the lemon juice equally to the mango, avocado and tomato.
6. Heat tortillas according to package directions; top with chicken and the prepared fruit and veggies.

Note: If you like spicy food, you can add jalapeños or red pepper flakes on top.