2016 Hashbrown Chef Spotlight: Antonio Pazaran of Instituto Grafico de Chicago

Today we introduce Instituto Grafico de Chicago, a newcomer to the Hashbrown tradition. On Saturday, March 19, IGC will be defending their organization with a chili recipe developed by cooperative member, Antonio Pazaran. Get your tickets to the 2016 Hashbrown Chili Cook-Off to help determine their fate!

Organization: Instituto Grafico de Chicago
Guest Chef: Antonio Pazaran, Co-Founder and Member

Spudnik Press Cooperative (SPC): For those that haven’t heard of the Instituto Grafico de Chicago, tell us a little about this cooperative.

Antonio: IGC is an non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining the critical activist tradition of Latino printmaking that unites communities of struggle around the world. IGC offers arts education programs for new generations to engage in printmaking as a social force. This network of printers comes together to advance the legacy and vitality of printmaking by hosting community events and creating opportunities for artists to participate in print exchange projects and promote their work in group exhibitions.

SPC: Why did you get involved with this the IGC?

Antonio: I got involved with Instituto Grafico de Chicago by being one of the founders of this group. I wanted to be part of a group of people that had the need to ink and print.

SPC: What have you been up to these days?

Antonio: For the past two years I have been in charged of organizing our annual Grabadolandia (printmaking festival) along with managing our website and being part of the portfolio organizational team. I have had the pleasure of coming up with the themes for our past three portfolios and look forward in coming up with more ideas.

SPC: If your organization had a spirit animal, what would it be?

Antonio: A Leaf-Cutter Ant. Ants are strong, tenacious workers that contribute to tightly structured communities. Leaf-cutter ants, however, take the already impressive ant work ethic to a whole new level.

Antonio’s Favorites:

Favorite Chef: My Mom is the best chef of all time.
Favorite Restaurant: La Chaparrita in Chicago’s Little Village.
Favorite Type of Bean: Pinto
Favorite Recipe:

Sopa de Fideo
Prep 15 minutes, cook 15 minutes, eating in 30 min
Ingredients: 3 sm/med tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 sm/md Onions Yellow/Brown chopped
1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (7 ounce) package fideo pasta uncooked
2 (10 ounce) cans chicken broth / coarse salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic into a blender, and pulse several times to get the mixture moving; blend until smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, and stir in the pasta. Fry the pasta gently, stirring often, until the pasta is golden brown, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour the tomato mixture into the large saucepan with golden brown noodles (make sure you strain the tomato mixture), and stir in your chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium low; simmer until the noodles are tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt, and stir in the cilantro; simmer 2 more minutes to cook cilantro. enjoy

PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE 2016 HASHBROWN CHILI COOK-OFF