So admittedly, I haven't posted nearly as much as I'd hoped I would. There always seems to be a good reason, but recently, it was because I was trying to kill off most of my pantry items before moving out of Davis Square. As a result, most of my dishes were pretty boring and not very inspired. I'll be traveling for a couple months now, so obviously it'll be quite hard to cook anything, though if I do - and I will seek out opportunities to cook whenever possible - I will post them up here. For now I made some pretty original tacos for Cinco de Mayo - I think so anyway! The main ingredient was roasted shrimps with cayenne, pineapple, onions, cilantro and oregano. I also made a raw beet and lime slaw, some guacamole and green tomatillo salsa - all to be wrapped in a nice soft shell corn tortilla. I guess the beets were really the only original item in this dish, but I thought it worked really well and the beets add an amazing color to the dish.
Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts
5/5 Shrimp and Beet Tacos
So admittedly, I haven't posted nearly as much as I'd hoped I would. There always seems to be a good reason, but recently, it was because I was trying to kill off most of my pantry items before moving out of Davis Square. As a result, most of my dishes were pretty boring and not very inspired. I'll be traveling for a couple months now, so obviously it'll be quite hard to cook anything, though if I do - and I will seek out opportunities to cook whenever possible - I will post them up here. For now I made some pretty original tacos for Cinco de Mayo - I think so anyway! The main ingredient was roasted shrimps with cayenne, pineapple, onions, cilantro and oregano. I also made a raw beet and lime slaw, some guacamole and green tomatillo salsa - all to be wrapped in a nice soft shell corn tortilla. I guess the beets were really the only original item in this dish, but I thought it worked really well and the beets add an amazing color to the dish.
1/14 fresh pasta with lemon/onion/pepper sauce
Its been exactly one month which is way to long to go between posts. I've been cooking this whole time, and plenty of decent things too. I blame the holidays and Tom and his stupid b-school distractions. Tom! Let's get back to basics!
And when I say basics, I mean butter.
Here is a very simple Mario Batali dish that can be thrown together in no time at all. It is sort of an italian/mexican hybrid dish; a tribute to the many mexican cooks who work in every kind of restaurant and influence flavors and preparation. The basic idea is to saute onions and jalapenos until nice and tender, throw in about 4 lemons worth of juice and zest, and then melt in one whole stick of butter. Just in case you want to know what a stick of butter looks like melting into a sauce, this is it:
**hint** lots of fresh ground black pepper is important here.
Toss with fresh parmesan and pecorino cheese:
Don't worry: I ate a huge portion of leftover brussel sprouts with pistachio nuts. That's right. It's healthy.
And when I say basics, I mean butter.
Here is a very simple Mario Batali dish that can be thrown together in no time at all. It is sort of an italian/mexican hybrid dish; a tribute to the many mexican cooks who work in every kind of restaurant and influence flavors and preparation. The basic idea is to saute onions and jalapenos until nice and tender, throw in about 4 lemons worth of juice and zest, and then melt in one whole stick of butter. Just in case you want to know what a stick of butter looks like melting into a sauce, this is it:
**hint** lots of fresh ground black pepper is important here.Toss with fresh parmesan and pecorino cheese:
Don't worry: I ate a huge portion of leftover brussel sprouts with pistachio nuts. That's right. It's healthy.
12/1 black bean enchiladas
I wanted to finish up the last of the year's crop of tomatillos (just for the record, these came in the CSA box at least a couple of weeks ago and have been "chillin'" in the fridge) and I also had about a cup of heirloom black beans that were lookin' for a place to do business. The inevitable result was black bean enchiladas. This was definitely a "weekend" meal. Its a lot of steps and a bit time-consuming. Just to fully reveal my process, I decided to document a more step-by-step narrative.
First, I had to make a black bean chili. Typical of recipes by Deborah Madison, this one involved making your own chile powder from ancho chiles and making your own chile spices from a toasted and ground medley of oregano, cumin, and cayenne. Here's a shot of the chili cooking (keep in mind I had already soaked the black beans all day). Also present are two cans of diced tomatoes, garlic, and three yellow onions:
I also made a tomatillo sauce with red onions, garlic, and cilantro, which was hand-pounded in my mortar and pestle. I did that because I hate technology. Here's a shot of the tomatillos cooking (they've already turned a nice cooked, "yellow" color):
You need to briefly heat the corn tortillas in hot oil so that they are nice and pliable. Here is the assembly line:
Last but not least, making the enchiladas. Yet another assembly line:
You can see the tomatillo sauce (middle) flanked by extra-sharp cheddar (left) and black bean chili (right).
At long last (15 minutes in a 400 degree oven), the enchiladas emerge in their full glory.
Here's a money shot, just to show how black beans + cheese=crazy delicious. This is what makes it all worth it:
First, I had to make a black bean chili. Typical of recipes by Deborah Madison, this one involved making your own chile powder from ancho chiles and making your own chile spices from a toasted and ground medley of oregano, cumin, and cayenne. Here's a shot of the chili cooking (keep in mind I had already soaked the black beans all day). Also present are two cans of diced tomatoes, garlic, and three yellow onions:
I also made a tomatillo sauce with red onions, garlic, and cilantro, which was hand-pounded in my mortar and pestle. I did that because I hate technology. Here's a shot of the tomatillos cooking (they've already turned a nice cooked, "yellow" color):You need to briefly heat the corn tortillas in hot oil so that they are nice and pliable. Here is the assembly line:
Last but not least, making the enchiladas. Yet another assembly line:You can see the tomatillo sauce (middle) flanked by extra-sharp cheddar (left) and black bean chili (right).
At long last (15 minutes in a 400 degree oven), the enchiladas emerge in their full glory.
Here's a money shot, just to show how black beans + cheese=crazy delicious. This is what makes it all worth it:
10/14 enchiladas rojas
I feel like it would be unfair of me to all of the beautiful enchilada colors and ethnicities of the world to make enchiladas verdes without a follow-up of enchiladas rojas. This is an improvised recipe that started off with a memory of one of my favorite childhood dishes: broccoli and potato enchiladas. I don't know how "authentic" this combo is, but it sure hits the spot. I also had a pint of frozen red chile from the New Mexico extravaganza.
I started off by blanching the broccoli and boiling and cubing potatoes. I searched through my recipe books for something on red sauce, but didn't find an exact match for the red chiles, so I ended up sauteing an onion, adding some toasted/ground cumin and oregano, a big can of whole tomatoes (pureed until smooth), the chiles, and salt. I simmered this for about 15 minutes and decided that was all it needed. I assembled the enchiladas per the usual technique (filling was brocc and potatoes, sauted onions, plus a cheese blend of grated monterey jack and white cheddar).
As usual, I had lots of leftovers.
I started off by blanching the broccoli and boiling and cubing potatoes. I searched through my recipe books for something on red sauce, but didn't find an exact match for the red chiles, so I ended up sauteing an onion, adding some toasted/ground cumin and oregano, a big can of whole tomatoes (pureed until smooth), the chiles, and salt. I simmered this for about 15 minutes and decided that was all it needed. I assembled the enchiladas per the usual technique (filling was brocc and potatoes, sauted onions, plus a cheese blend of grated monterey jack and white cheddar).
As usual, I had lots of leftovers.
9/22 Enchiladas Verdes
I don't normally make enchiladas since they're pretty time-consuming; they live in same "not really a Tuesday night dinner option" as making lasagna from scratch . But I ended up with a bunch of tomatillos from the CSA, and I wanted to do something a little more substantial than salsa verde.
This is a pretty straight forward recipe, and if you made the sauce and filling in advance, you probably could assemble and bake it on a weeknight and eat before 8:30. The tomatillo sauce is dead-simple (just onions, green pepper, jalapenos, tomatillos, chile pepper and salt simmered and blended). For all you tomatillo newbies out there - please don't over-blend. Tomatillos are chock full of pectin, and you can end up with a really gross goopy jam-mess if you blend too much. Some people like to add sugar to too-tangy tomatillo sauce, but with the cheese in this dish, I say the tangier the better. The enchiladas are stuffed with smoked cheddar and sauted zucchini, corn, onions, more jalapenos, and a good bit of ground cumin.
I had enough left over to do another small pan - which went straight into the freezer for dinner at a later date.
This is a pretty straight forward recipe, and if you made the sauce and filling in advance, you probably could assemble and bake it on a weeknight and eat before 8:30. The tomatillo sauce is dead-simple (just onions, green pepper, jalapenos, tomatillos, chile pepper and salt simmered and blended). For all you tomatillo newbies out there - please don't over-blend. Tomatillos are chock full of pectin, and you can end up with a really gross goopy jam-mess if you blend too much. Some people like to add sugar to too-tangy tomatillo sauce, but with the cheese in this dish, I say the tangier the better. The enchiladas are stuffed with smoked cheddar and sauted zucchini, corn, onions, more jalapenos, and a good bit of ground cumin.
I had enough left over to do another small pan - which went straight into the freezer for dinner at a later date.
9/6 taco night
I've been pretty busy this week so I haven't cooked a whole heck of a lot. Mostly just eating salads and veggies. (I think I stuck around Berkeley a bit too long!) So I took care of the problem and made some steak tacos tonight. Pretty straight forward: skirt steak grilled medium rare (if that...) on a cast iron skillet, some guacamole and home made salsa. All this served on some hand-made (not by me) soft corn tortillas. Even Rachel Ray could make this in under thirty minutes.
Quesadillas
This is a summer-time staple. For all you who carefully observed my available ingredients for the week, here we use summer squash and corn, plus jalapenos, chipotle puree, white cheddar, cilantro, and Trader Joe's handmade tortillas. The black beans and creme fraiche round the whole thing out. Delish.As a bonus, I have about 12 quesadillas prepped and ready for the cast iron skillet in the freezer. I am all about the freezer these days.
As an attempt to make up for the fact that I have not included a ROAST CHICKEN in this post, I submit to you a shot of thinly sliced summer squash, sauting with corn, jalapenos, and white wine:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
