Let Me Introduce You to Fideo

There are a few things I learned from my father-in-law before he left Michigan for the warm, dry south-Texas air.  One was that you measure how long rice needs to cook by sips of beer, another is that you should never eat sour cream ever (I have chosen to disregard this advice), and a third is how to make fideo (pronounced fee-day-o).

Fideo is kind of like a Mexican spaghetti soup.  Like most of my father-in-law's recipes, it has very few ingredients, but is full of flavor.  In fact, the hardest thing about reproducing his cooking is infusing flavor into a dish with only 5 ingredients.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is fideo:

Over the years I have fancied it up with diced avocado, a little squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of cheese, but my father-in-law eats it in its purest form and with a side of heated corn tortillas.

Fideo is actually the type of noodle that is used and it is basically skinny spaghetti, or vermicelli, but it's broken into smaller pieces.  My husband's family always bought a brand sold in a yellow box, but I'm not sure what that brand was and can't find it around my house so I use La Moderna:

In addition, you'll need one pound of ground beef, some oil, an onion (chopped), a green pepper (also chopped), a small can of tomato sauce, a large box of chicken stock and some salt and pepper.  Now, Jorge doesn't write recipes down and rarely do I (unless I'm posting it here) and fideo is a kind of "made to taste" kind of dish so you have to relax and be creative with this one:

The Recipe

1.  First, brown a pound of ground beef. Use a little season salt to season as it's cooking. I use Adobo, but you can use Lawry's too. Drain and set aside in a separate dish.

2.  Then, in the first skillet used for the beef (it needs to be kind of deep) add just enough oil to cover the bottom, and turn the heat to about medium. When the oil is warmed up, add about 2 handfuls (2 cups roughly) of fideo noodles. Stir them around so they brown, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn. 

3.  Next, add half of one large onion (chopped) and a small green pepper (chopped)

*My father-in-law says to chop the veggies in large pieces so that the picky members of the family (Stephanie) can pick them out.  I say, chop 'em small and trick the picky members to eat them! You'll have to make your own decision about veggie trickery.

Anyway, keep stirring so the veggies heat up (maybe only another minute or two). Then add in the ground beef.

4. Now the next part is a little tricky.  Jorge only ever used water, but I've switched to chicken or beef broth over the years.  You want to add enough liquid so that it looks like a soup. Keep in mind a little of the liquid will be absorbed by the noodles, so just when it looks like the perfect liquid to ingredient ratio, add a bit more liquid.  You can use water, broth, or a mix of the two.  I usually add about 4 cups of broth, then end up adding a little more water.

5. To the soup, add one heaping tablespoon of tomato paste and stir to dissolve. Also season to-taste with chili powder (2 tsp), garlic powder (1 tsp), pepper (1/4 tsp), and a dash of oregano. You can add salt too, but I prefer to add that to-taste in my bowl at the end.

6. You want to bring the soup to gentle boil and keep it that way about 7-9 minutes (to cook the pasta).  I check the pasta along the way and just as soon as it tastes al dente, I remove the pan from the heat. (While cooking, you can always add more liquid if needed.) If you over cook it, the noodles will turn to mush.

To serve, simply ladle into a bowl.  We heat a couple corn tortillas on a comal (or cast iron skillet).  You can top the soup with diced tomato, diced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, some shredded cheese and/or a squeeze of fresh lime. However, my inlaws eat it as is, occasionally dipping a warm tortilla in the broth.

Best of luck and enjoy!