Eating Dinner With My Family

Having had enchiladas suizas before but only of the chain Mexican restaurant or frozen dinner variety so I was sure I wasn't going to love this despite the fact it is a Rick Bayless recipe.  I was also a little worried it would be bit of work.  It wasn't and I really liked it.  The boys loved it.  I used canned tomatoes, and that made it a little less work, but not much.  Totally a recipe to add to your meal rotations. Enchiladas Suizas (Creamy Enchiladas with Chicken, Tomatoes and Green Chile)   Fresh hot green chiles to taste (roughly 3 serranos or 2 jalapeños), stemmed 1 medium white onion, chopped 2 cups chicken broth, plus a little extra if needed Salt 1/2 cup homemade crema, crème fraiche or heavy (whipping) cream 3 pounds (about 20 medium plum or 6 medium-large round) ripe tomatoes OR 2 28-ounce cans good-quality whole tomatoes in juice, drained 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil or rich-tasting pork lard, plus a little ...

This was a tasty dinner, but I think my pan should have been smaller so that the sauce the eggs cooked in was deeper.  Not a real problem but just to note for future.  It isn't my favorite of the baked egg dishes I have done, I think it is that I prefer the tomato based sauces for the eggs.  It isn't a pretty dish but not too bad.  Again writing a month after the fact, so hard to give too many details.  Say my mantra with me, I will catch up! and maybe it will happen;). Mexican Eggs in Purgatory 1 pound tomatillos, husked 1 poblano or jalapeño, stemmed and seeded (see Note) 1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro leaves and stems 3 scallions, coarsely chopped, plus sliced scallions, for garnish 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth 3 ounces thickly sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 8 large eggs 2 tablespoons grated Cotija cheese or crumbled feta, plus more for garnish Warm corn tor...

This recipe took some time but it was oven time so inactive time.  It was a nice take on a chicken soft taco.  It had some heat, but not too much.  If you have kids or diners that are really sensitive to spicy, you could half or eliminate the chipotle, but the sauce won't be nearly as good.  On a personal note, I think I am now half way through my back log of posts, and am feeling extra good/lazy so another short post :) Chicken Tinga Tacos 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 1/2 pounds trimmed, skinless, bone-in chicken thighs Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large onion, thinly sliced 3 large garlic cloves, minced One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes 2 canned chipotles in adobo, coarsely chopped 1 cup chicken broth 24 corn tortillas 2 ounces Cotija cheese, crumbled  (I used feta) Sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, for garnish 1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Season ...

My husband loved it! (he said was a five, he ate 3rds and he wasn't even that hungry.  It was super easy too.  I have a texture problem with ground beef in crumbles, but this didn't bother me.  I didn't love it quite as much as my husband did, but still really enjoyed it.  The best thing about this recipe is how fast it came together.  Even grating the cheese myself and taking time to seed the jalapenos, the meal was on the table in just about 30 minutes.  This is one of several green enchilada type sauce/salsa I have made and I see no reason to buy a can, ever. especially now that I have made this one.  Boiling the salsa rather than roasting it, still makes a pretty fine salsa.  (roasting still does ultimately taste better)  If I were to pick any nits, it would be I would have liked more cheese, but was still great without it and lets face it, healthier with the amount here;). Quick Beef Enchiladas With Salsa Verd...

I had a huge bag of tortilla chips leftover from our trip to Orlando this weekend.  They were stale, as freshly made tortilla chips from Mexican resturants tend to be after a day, but I can't stand to waste anything but especially food, so I planned on making chilaquiles with them.  I have made a couple of chilaquiles recipes before, but his one, from Rick Bayless on F & W, looked great and was pretty different from the other ones I had made.  I didn't have any leftover chicken, so I simmered 2 breasts for a couple of hours earlier in the day.  I had way more chicken than I needed.  Next time, one should be sufficient.  Like all leftover dishes, this was fast and easy.  Whenever I open a can of chipotles, I freeze the chiles I don't use in a freezer bag, and I had the tortilla chips, so other than the chicken, I had everything on hand.  I love that it was using up stuff I had because it cleans clutter and makes it very economical.  ...

This dinner started off as a bit of a miss, until we added more crema and chopped everything and mixed it all together.  Individually it was kind of meh, but all together it was a whole new dish.  The boys say solid 4.  The boneless, skinless thighs were on sale, so we used those even though I am sure we sacrificed a bunch of flavor. Lime Chicken With Poblano Sour Cream 4 large poblano chiles 1 large lime 1/2 Cup sour cream or Mexican Crema 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro plus a few sprigs for garnish (optional) 2 Tsp kosher salt more to taste 1 Tbs. ground coriander 1 Tsp ground cumin 1/2 Tsp freshly ground black pepper 8 medium (5- to 6-oz.) bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil Position an oven rack 5 to 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler to high. Line the bottom of a broiler pan with foil and replace the perforated top part of the pan. Broil the poblanos, turning 3 times, until blackened, 12 to 15 mi...

Well other than the cutting of the pork in to cubes, which my wonderful husband did for me, this recipe was super easy!  It was tasty and fast, but not a wow.  I had run out of mozzarella, but I had this Mexican Quesadilla melting cheese that tasted like mozzarella, and worked great.  It wasn't nearly as good as Soft Pork Tacos I made on 11/11/11, but it was way faster and not a bad dinner.  It doesn't look too pretty as the spice blend and the melted cheese made for a brown slop like splat on the tortilla, but it tastes way better than it looks ;).  Family-Style Pork Tacos 1 1/2 Tbl ancho chile powder 1 Tsp salt 1/2 Tsp dried oregano 1/4 Tsp ground cumin 1/8 Tsp freshly ground pepper Pinch of cinnamon Pinch of allspice 1 1/2 Lb pork tenderloin cut into 1/3-inch cubes 1 medium white onion chopped 2 Tbl cider vinegar 5 Tbl minced cilantro 3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese Sixteen warmed 6- or 8-inch flour or corn t...

The Chicken After Shredding As you may have guessed, I have been on a bit of a break when it comes to the blog.  School just ended, we have been out and about and family has been in town so I have been either eating out or repeating:).   This one is kind of a repeat of the enchilada chicken, but it was a total improv with ingredients I had on hand.  I offer it up as an easy way to clean up ingredients and have a tasty meal that requires very little work.  I know it seems to go against sound cooking by skipping the sauté but it really works!  This one made a lot more sauce than the original recipe and you could use the remaining sauce as a base for tomorrow's meal of soup. Machaca Chicken (Padoma)   2 Chicken Breast 2 Green Pepper, Chopped 1 Small Red Chili Pepper, Chopped 1 Large Onion, Chopped 26 Ounce Chopped Tomatoes Water 3 Cloves Garlic, Peeled Ground Black Pepper Dried Oregano Dried Cumin Dried Cilantro salt I didn't measur...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  We usually have a huge party in the cul de sac, but either we are getting old, or it is just a busy year for all of us.  I am saying the latter;).  I have way too much clutter in the fridge to even considering making something special, but I do want to at least give a nod to the "holiday".  I did make this red chili sauce as my new recipe, and it wasn't too bad.  I didn't like it by itself, but on the "nachos" it was great.  Now the reason I put nachos in quotations marks, is that it was kind of me dumping stuff from Tupperware in the fridge on it so I could use them up and clean out the fridge.  I thought they were better than any nacho I had with the fake cheese, but I am determined to make them again with proper ingredients.  I am a little ashamed to admit what I put on them, but I guess I have to:D.  I spread tortilla chips over a baking sheet, sprinkled the leftover baked beans I had (blush), the rest of the shred...

I had most of the ingredient for this on hand and they needed to be used.  While I picked if for convenience, it turned out to be quite a good recipe.  My husband loved it, including the guacamole!  He is not a fan of avocados or guac.  My son loved it, but declined on the guacamole.  He tasted it but didn't like it.  I too enjoyed this one.  I would have liked a bit more goat cheese but other than that I can't complain.  My husband came up with the brilliant idea to spread the goat cheese over the tortilla rather than get messy trying to crumble.  I like that the cheese was in every bite and less mess to boot.  Quesadillas are fast and easy to make and this one was not your typical cheese or chicken one. The beans can be made ahead too.  The recipe said you could assemble them early too.  I would worry what that would do the tortilla.  Sounds like a recipe for soggy to me, and quite frankly the spreading of cheese and bea...

I got this recipe from Mexican Made Easy .  I love kale , but have only a limited number of recipes for it.  I got some beautiful kale in my Front Porch Pickings basket, (oh and zucchini too) and a search of my to try file found this recipe.  I thought 4 leaves of kale seemed like too little, and my leaves weren't all huge, so I did add a bit more, however, that made for a bit extra of the filling when all the dough was filled.  The ratio seemed pretty spot on.  Making the tamales took a couple of tries to get them to work well.  I would recommend that you put your tablespoons (I used 3) about 2/3 of the way up from the pointy end, spread them with a spatula first the width of the husk and then down the length.  My first two needed some rearranging since they weren't wide enough to wrap around the filling.  I had a little kale leftover, so I cooked it in a little olive oil and vegetable broth until it was nice and soft and used it as a kind of a ...

I had some sliced jalapenos, a couple of half used onions, cartons of broth, cilantro and some sour cream I needed to use, so I did a take on the family favorite, Enchilada Chicken . While I think it came out great, I was so missing the chimichuri sauce.  The fresh cilantro and lettuce just didn't cut it.  So next time I must make the chimichuri!  While it took some time to cook, the prep was easy and quick. Creamy Chicken Tacos Canola Oil 3 chicken breasts 1 green pepper roughly chopped 1 large onion, roughly chopped 2 small jalapenos sliced 3 ribs of celery, roughly chopped 3 garlic cloves, crushed 2 Tablespoons of Vegetable oil 3/4 cup cilantro, chopped Chicken broth to cover (i used about 2.5 cups) 1 can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup salsa 1 can pinto beans, drained 1/2- 3/4 cups sour cream tortillas scallions, lettuce and cilantro for serving Hot sauce, for serving Put a little canola oil in the bottom of a high sided pot and heat over mediu...

While the tide is turning in my favor in my battles with my food supplies, I know that if I am not vigilant they will regroup and then I will have to start over.  The food had some sneaky troops stationed neither in the fridge nor the pantry!  There were a plethora of tortillas, never opened, from a long time ago.  I turn to the fridge and note that there is a large block of queso fresco left over from our chilequiles.  Seeing as they are both ingredients for Mexican, but knowing that quesco fresco isn't exactly 'melting' cheese, I decide to experiment with it all and make a quesadilla and hope for the best.  So I am taking out the tortillas  and the queso before they go bad.  That's two.  I notice one lone small red pepper that some how was hiding behind the fruit and a small 1/2 of a red onion that needs to be used.  Ok all working so far.  I had the remnants of a large bag of shredded mozzarella.  Ha I will clean that up too:)....

This one was alright.  We weren't hating it but I plan on deleting it.  I thought the meat was a bit tough.  Flavors were ok, but I did add some smoked paprika at the end and some hot sauce in addition to the salsa and sour cream..  Truth be told, we haven't found many fajita recipes that really wowed us.  Generally I have found chicken to be better than the steak also. Beef Fajitas For marinade 2 T  canola oil Juice of 1 lime 1 t  chili powder 1/4 t  garlic powder 1/4 t  salt 1/4 t  pepper 3/4 lb chuck steak or top round sliced into 1/4 inch strips For fajitas 1/2    medium onion,sliced 1    medium sweet red pepper sliced into thin strips 2 T  canola oil,divided 8    flour tortilla shells,warmed Salsa Sour cream Combine marinade ingredients and add beef. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to overnight. Remove beef from marinade. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oi...

I had such hopes for this one.  Meh...  Even the boy couldn't really find something nice to say.  He did like the meat part, which I thought was just alright, but we all really disliked the "tamale" part.  It was so not tasty.  So another deleted recipe unless someone out there tries this and finds the magic bullet that makes this one tasty.  Oh added bonus, it was a total pain cleaning the pampered chef stoneware muffin pan. I made a quick salad dressing by seasoning some sour cream and adding some medium salsa.  And damn if I didn't just realize as I'm typing the dressing recipe, I forgot to top them with sour cream and cilantro.  While that would have helped a lot, I don't think it would erase the crust travesty. Mini Tamale Pies  For the crust 1/2 c  masa harina 1/2 c  low-sodium chicken broth 1/3 c  vegetable oil For the filling 1 T  vegetable oil 1 lb ground beef 1    medium yellow...

Well, I was thinking of ways to use up the chorizo I had left from the shrimp dish and use up some of the cheese I bought way too much of for the mac and cheese.  I was thinking of whipping up some kind of mexi pizza.  So, I started out chopping celery and onion for my black bean recipe, only to find out that I didn't have a can of black beans.  I did, however, have some refried beans (vegetarian). I figured they would work too, so into the pot they were thrown. I am quite pleased with the result.  I think I put a but too much cheese so I reduced the amount in the recipe.  Also It is easy to put too much beans.  I think I did but didn't reduce the amount here.  Haven't gotten feed back from my husband yet, but the boy liked it too. It could easily be made meat free by omiting the chorizo. Mexi Pizza 1 pound Pizza dough 1 1/2  tablespoons  Olive oil 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped, reserve about 1/4 of it 2 tablespoons toma...

Tonight we are trying another variation on tacos.  It was a little plain for my taste.  The recipe did not specify anything but hot sauce or salsa, but I would have liked cilantro at least.  We ended up putting the beans I made with it in the taco.  It was good.  I thought the meat would be too spicy, but it wasn't.  The onions were nice.  I used half a large red onion I had in the fridge and the rest white onions. I can't say I was wowed though. Chipotle Beef Tacos With Caramelized Onions (Tacos De Carne Asada Enchiladas) 1    (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce 1 lb skirt or flank steak (skirt steak should be trimmed of fat and white -silver skin) 3 T  vegetable oil 2    medium white onions,sliced 1/4 inch thick 1 t  kosher salt,plus more as needed 12    (6-inch) warm corn tortillas Salsa or hot sauce,for serving [Note: This recipe was featured as part of our No-Fail Mexican ...

This is another family favorite.  It is due in part to our secret chimichuri sauce, but still a stellar meal. In addition to he chimichuri, we also add sliced scallions. Skirt steak is a bit pricey, so we use any inexpensive roast.(bottom round this time)  The long cooking time makes it tender and when I shred the beef, I can remove any fat, connective tissue etc, that I don't want to eat. The Serrano does not make it hot at all; the long cooking time mellows the heat and you mostly taste the pepper's fruit as opposed to the fire. Warm Picnic Burritos ("Burritos De Machaca")   2 T  Maggi sauce* or 1 tablespoon soy sauce,plus 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 T  water 4 T  fresh lime juice 3    garlic cloves,minced 1    serrano chile,stemmed,seeded, and minced Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 c  olive oil 1    (2 to 3-pound) skirt steak trimmed and cut into pieces 3 T  vegetable or ...

I have loved arepas since I was a kid growing up in Miami.  Surprisingly, no one else in my family had tried them.  I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Food and Wine.  (It looks like it isn't on line yet.)  The thing I love about this recipe the best, it is so versatile.  Not only is it able to be adjusted to use any leftovers you have in the house, but they can be made ahead of time so they need only be fried when time to eat.  The cabbage slaw is really nice and gives you some veggies with the meal.  One thing to note is that the picked jalapenos are really necessary.  They give some acid and heat to the arepa that seems to magically to mute all flavors. We haven't been fans of the pickled jalapenos in the past but we think they really help make the dish. While we would like to tweak this particular recipe a bit, it is still a keeper! Pork And Cheese Arepas 4 Servings 2 c  Masa Harina,(maseca Brand If Possible) 1 3/4 c  Wa...

 This is one of the all time favorites in this house.  We first learned to love machaca from a recipe from Marcela Valladolid .  She made these beef burritos that were amazing!  I poked around the Internet looking for other "machaca" style recipes.  This is the one we have been using for chicken.  I don't remember where I found it. I made it recently at a family gathering in Orlando.  It was well received by all. (like 12??) people)  We like the chicken as tacos with lettuce, hot sauce, scallions and chimichurri. The addition of chimichurri is a must for us on all our tacos. I have my own secret family recipe, so you are going to need to find your own;p. We serve all our tacos on the lazy susan so we can each build our tacos to our taste, and everything is easily accessible.  I got the lazy susan as a gift from a dear friend.  She really has a great knack for getting great presents.  I would never thought of it as an essentia...