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Posts Tagged ‘Mexican/Tex-Mex’

Well, try as I might, sometimes I miss these food blogging event deadlines, but I like this relish so much, and it looks so good, I decided to post it anyway. Yummy and good for you, and soon we will be able to make it with tomatillos from our own yard.

Bobby Flay’s Tomatillo-Avocado Relish
3 ripe Haas avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
3 tomatillos, husked, washed and diced
juice of 2 limes
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. honey
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Carefully combine avocados, tomatillos, lime juice, oil, honey and S&P to taste in a medium bowl. Mix in the green onions and cilantro. May be made up to 30 minutes in advance and refrigerated.

This is great served with grilled chicken, or as a dip with tortilla chips.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a potluck lunch at work, the annual Fall Fling. Amy in HR had begged me to bring the pesto pasta I took last year – she had never had pesto before, and loved it. But I like to bring something different each time, so this time, I ended up making up my own recipe.

That was because the recipe I started out with turned out rather dry and bland. So I bumped it up a few notches and came up with something really good. It’s perfect for a potluck, too. It’s a casserole, so after making it the night before, I put it in my Crock-Pot crock in the fridge overnight. I took the Crock-Pot to work and set it on high, and by lunchtime, it was nicely heated up. So I took the heated Crock-Pot to the lunch and it stayed good and hot during the entire hour and a half or so. And it got rave reviews – several people asked how it was made.

Next time I bring something that’s a bit ambiguous, though, I’ll put a little sign next to it. I heard from a few people that they didn’t try it because they didn’t know what it was. To me, that’s a reason *to* try it, but some people aren’t so adventurous.

Mexican Casserole

2 lbs. ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped green chiles (I used Anaheims from the garden)
3 tbsp. ground red chile pepper (I used ancho chile powder)
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
8 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
2 14-oz. cans white or yellow hominy
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with chiles
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 lb. grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and ground black pepper

Brown the beef and pour off all but 1 tbsp. fat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add green chiles, spices, hominy, tomatoes and tomato sauce and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add half of cheese and stir well.

Place the mixture in a 5-quart slow cooker and put on low to keep warm for serving. Or, chill and serve within 2-3 days. Place mixture in slow cooker and put on high for 3 hours to warm up, then put on low to keep warm for serving.

You can also divide the mixture and freeze half for later. Put half the mixture in a 2-quart dish and freeze up to four months. Bake the other half in a 350*F oven for 45 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese and serve.

This is my entry in the food blogging event Original Recipe, hosted by Culinarty. The roundup of all the recipes is here.

I just love ceviche. For years, I was afraid to try it – I was concerned about getting sick somehow from eating raw fish or shellfish, even though it’s “cooked” in acid (lemon and lime juice), which probably kills pretty much all the pathogens that might be on it.

Then a couple of years ago, my friend Barbara and I went to visit our friend Liz in Colorado. Of course, Mexican food is very popular there, and we ordered ceviche one night at dinner. It was great! Tangy, spicy, with the sweet shrimp and savory cilantro. I fell in love. There’s a Peruvian restaurant in Norfolk called Imperio Inca that has some delicious ceviche, as an appetizer and a couple of dinner platters. I tried making it myself once, but we weren’t crazy about how it turned out.

Then last month, Liz had a gallery opening at the d’Art Center and a party at her house afterward, where she served homemade ceviche, which was fabulous. Well, now I had to try it again. After looking through my cookbooks, I found a wonderful recipe for it in Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best International Recipe. So I made it again, and it was deee-lish! I bought a bag of lemons and limes so I can make it again!

Shrimp Ceviche

1 lb. large or extra-large shrimp, large sea scallops, fish fillets or a combination
1 tsp. grated zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup juice from 4 limes
1/2 cup juice from 4 lemons
1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine (I used a red pimento pepper)
1 small jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 medium garlic clove, minced
Salt
1/4 cup olive oil
4 scallions, sliced thin
3 tbsp. cilantro, minced
1/2 tsp. sugar
Ground black pepper

If using shrimp, peel, devein and slice in half lengthwise (I also cut them into thirds). If using scallops, remove the side tendon and slice into 1/3-inch-thick rounds. If using fish, remove any bones and slice into 1-inch squares about 1/3 inch thick.

Stir the lime zest, lime and lemon juices, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic and 1/2 tsp. salt together in a bowl. Gently stir in the seafood, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until seafood is firm, opaque and appears cooked, 45-60 minutes (mine took about 75 minutes – the shrimp should be pink). Stir about halfway through marinating.

Place the mixture in a fine-mesh strainer, leaving it a little wet, then return it to the bowl. Gently stir in oil, scallions, cilantro and sugar. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with tortilla chips.

This is another entry for Grow Your Own, the twice-monthly food blogging event started by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes about a year ago, and hosted this month by Noob Cook. GYO celebrates the food we grow ourselves. The red pimento and jalapeno peppers came from our garden. And check out the tomato jam, also from our garden!

We had a good crowd for the TNT dinner on July 17. We went to our favorite Mexican place – Tortilla West, on Orapax Avenue near Lamberts Point Docks. It’s more of an upscale Mexican restaurant – one of the waitresses told me they have trained chefs who like to do Mexican-inspired dishes rather than the typical Mexican. It seems to me that most of the Mexican restaurants around here use a version of the same menu – the same Speedy Gonzales Lunch #1 and so on – which are fine for what they are, but Tortilla West has their own delicious dishes.

So, to help us keep track of what we’ve tried and not tried, here’s what we all had that night:

• Barbara – Chicken Enchiladas Mole
• Kim – Fish Tacos
• Susan – Chicken Enchiladas Mole
• Martha – Chicken Fajitas – a very generous portion!
• Randy – Spinach and Goat Cheese Quesadilla
• Duane – Chicken Enchiladas

All declared their dinners delicious

Our spring garden of greens is going gangbusters. I actually made a salad for a dinner party for eight using some of the red and green leaf lettuce from the garden, but as usual, I was behind getting the food ready, so I didn’t have time to take a picture. It was delicious, though!

But last night, I made fish tacos for the first time, using a recipe from Cooking Light magazine. Turned out great. Instead of cabbage, of which I am not a huge fan, I used red and green leaf lettuce from the garden. Next week, we’re going to use up the bok choy in some stir-fry. Should be good

Here’s the garden from a couple of weeks ago:

And here is a pile of washed lettuce ready to be sliced thinly for the tacos:

And the recipe:

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

Crema:
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise
3 tbsp. reduced-fat sour cream
1 tsp. grated lime zest
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, minced, or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Tacos:
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 pounds red snapper fillets (I used flounder)
Cooking spray
8 6-inch corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cabbage (I used leaf lettuce)
2 cups shredded jalapeno Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 425F. To prepare crema, combine the first eight ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

To prepare tacos, combine cumin and next five ingredients (through garlic powder) in a small bowl; sprinkle spice mixture evenly over both sides of the fish. Place fish in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, or to desired degree of doneness. Place fish in a bowl; break into pieces with a fork. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each with 1/4 cup cabbage or lettuce, 1 tbsp. crema and 1/4 cup shredded cheese.

And the fish tacos, served with Mexican rice.

This is my entry in the food blogging event “Grow Your Own,” hosted by Andrea of AndreasRecipes.com. The round-up of all the recipes is here.

Last Wednesday, our TNT dinner group went to a new Mexican place that just opened in November – Plaza del Sol, at 22nd Street and Colonial Avenue in Ghent.

It’s an interesting space. There’s a large patio up front, with tables for dining al fresco, and a bar and dining room inside. It has a two-story ceiling and attractive Mexican decorations on the walls.

The food was just okay, though. Barbara, Susan and I all had the chicken fajitas with a side of refried beans. Nothing special there. I like the beans better at San Antonio Sam’s because they mix in lime juice and top with cheese to give more flavor.

Jane had a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. It looked good, and had lots of chicken in it, but it was not hot when it was served. The manager took care of that right away – we appreciated that. We’ll probably go back and try something else, but right now it’s just – so so.

… of food blogging. This one is hosted by Andrea’s Recipes – thanks, Andrea! The topic is “Grow Your Own,” as in, make a dish with at least one ingredient from your own garden, or from a friend’s garden if you don’t have your own. Dan and I have planted a veggie garden for most of the 15 years we’ve lived in this house, and I have a fairly large herb garden as well.

Last summer, some neighbors had their annual Porch Party potluck (they have a huge, wraparound porch); I wanted to make something different, and we had planted something different this year, and boy was it prolific. We planted three tomatillo plants and had so many tomatillos I gave bags of them away, mostly to Liz and Walter, who moved here from Colorado a few years ago. I still have some in the freezer. Among other things, we also grew onions and jalapenos this year, so I had those on hand, too.

The round-up of all the entries is here.

So I made a few batches of salsa verde (green salsa) from Tyler Florence’s recipe and decided to make sort of an enchilada casserole for the potluck. It was a big hit

Tyler Florence’s Salsa Verde

12 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed
1 onion, quartered
Splash white vinegar
Water
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
2 limes, juiced
Salt

Put the tomatillos, jalapenos, and onion in a saucepan with the vinegar and water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and poach until the tomatillos are soft, about 10 minutes. Drain. Put the vegetables in a blender, add the cumin, and puree. Add the cilantro, lime juice, and salt, and pulse to combine.

Enchilada Casserole

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 bay leaves

3 tbsp. corn oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 each red, green and yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 large yellow or white onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

About 15 corn tortillas

2 cups salsa verde
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Put chicken breasts in a small saucepan and cover with water; add bay leaves. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain chicken, discarding bay leaves, and let cool for a few minutes. Using fingers or two forks, shred chicken and set aside.

Heat corn oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan. Add garlic, stir for 30 seconds, then add onions and peppers. Cook over medium heat, stirring, till softened, about 6-7 minutes. Stir in oregano, turn off heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut tortillas into half-inch wide strips. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray. Spread about 1/2 cup of salsa verde on the bottom of the baking dish; top with half of the tortilla strips, then half the pepper mixture, half of the shredded chicken, and about 3/4 cup of salsa verde. Add the rest of the tortilla strips, pepper mixture, chicken, and salsa, in that order. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Top with cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, till cheese is melted and bubbly.

Well, this was such a coincidence, I’m taking it as a sign As I was cooking up my first batch of tomatillo salsa using a recipe from Rick Bayless‘ cookbook “Mexican Cooking,” I was watching “Emeril Live” on the Food Network. And who is Emeril’s guest chef this evening? Why, none other than Rick Bayless, and they get to cooking some Mexican.

Maybe this means the tomatillo sauce will work out I don’t really know what it’s supposed to look like, so I don’t know if I’m doing it right. And to top it all off, I’m using the sauce to make chilaquiles (a Mexican layered casserole, like lasagna) for a neighborhood party tomorrow evening. I guess we’ll see. The test will be whether the pan is empty when I come home.