horchata

i've made this with a few different recipes throughout the years, but this is the one that i think tastes most authentic and consistently turns out.

ingredients
1 C uncooked long grain white rice
5 C water
1/2 C milk
1/2 T vanilla
1/2 T cinnomon
2/3 C sugar

directions
*blend rice and water about 1 minute. let rice and water stand at room temperature for at least 3 hours.
*strain the rice water into a pitcher and discard the rice. stir in milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. chill and stir before serving over ice.

authentic mexican tamale pie...or just chili, if you like

my husband adores this recipe.  he even likes to eat it the next day mixed with eggs on a tortilla for a breakfast burrito.  also, he prefers the chili from this recipe as just plain chili.  i think it's all gross.  ;>  this comes from food.com and since it's a long recipe all-around, i'm just copying and pasting from the website since i'm feeling lazy right now!

• CHILI FILLING

• 1lb ground beef, lean
• 1⁄2lb lean pork sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
• 1tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1(15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1(8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2(15 ounce) cans black beans, divided
• 1large fresh poblano pepper, diced
• 1medium diced onion
• 2garlic cloves (pressed)
• 1chipotle chile, in adobo seasoning (diced and seeded, adjust to taste)
• 1tablespoon adobo sauce (adjust to taste)
• 1tablespoon ground cumin powder (adjust to taste)
• 1tablespoon chili powder (adjust to taste)
• 1tablespoon ground ancho chili(adjust to taste)
• 1teaspoon oregano
• 1tablespoon cocoa (I use Hershey's Dark cocoa)
• 12ounces beer, dark (or broth, (Use as needed)
• 1⁄4cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 1lime, juce of

• TAMALE DOUGH

• 8 -10dried corn husks (optonal)
• nonstick cooking spray
• 3large poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and diced
• 2cups cornmeal or 2 cups masa harina
• 6tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3tablespoons sugar
• 2teaspoons salt (adjust to taste)
• 1⁄2cup canned low sodium chicken broth or 1⁄2 cup vegetable broth
• 4cups baby frozen corn, thawed
• 1 3⁄4cups packed coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (divided)
• 1teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄8teaspoon ground black pepper

• Garnish

• sour cream (Cilantro Cream)
• cilantro

• DIRECTIONS

  1. PREPARE CHILI:.
  2. In a large pot brown ground beef, sausage, onion and garlic, breaking meat into small pieces. Drain of excess grease.
  3. Add poblano pepper and cook for about 2 minutes.
  4. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1 cup beer and one can of black beans.
  5. Add ground cumin, chili powders, chipoltes, adobe sauce, oregeano, and cocoa.
  6. Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to a simmer and cook for 35 - 45 minutes, adding more beer or broth as needed (keep in mind that the mashed black beans will be added as a thickner).
  7. Drain the remaining can of beans and lightly mash.
  8. To thicken, add the crushed black beans and adjust spices and liquid as needed.
  9. Bring to a simmer again for 5 minutes; squeeze in juice of one lime before serving.
  10. TAMALE DOUGH:.
  11. Place corn husk in large bowl and fill with warm water.
  12. Weight husks down with saucer and soak until soft, about 2 hours.
  13. Char chilies directly over gas flame or under broiler until blackened on all sides.
  14. Place in medium bowls, cover tightly with plastic.
  15. Let stand 10 minutes.
  16. Peel, seed and chop chilies, set aside.
  17. To make dough:.
  18. If using cornmeal, place in food processor and process until fine, 3 or 4 minutes.
  19. In food processor, blend cornmeal/Masa Harina, butter, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt until coarse meal forms.
  20. Add broth and blend in (mixture will be crumbly).
  21. Transfer masa mixture to large bowl.
  22. In food processor blend 2 1/2 cups corn, 1 cup cheese, baking powder, black pepper and 1 1/4 teaspoon salt until coarse puree forms.
  23. Stir puree into masa mixture until blended.
  24. Add the rest of the corn (1 1/2 cups) to masa mixture.
  25. Assemble:.
  26. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  27. In using corn husk; Remove from water, pat dry and line 9 x 11 shallow dish, overlapping to avoid leakage.
  28. Spray corn husk or baking dish (if not using husk).
  29. Spread half of cornmeal mixture on the husk or bottom of the dish.
  30. Spread warm chili on top of the cornmeal.
  31. Sprinkle green chilies on top of the chili.
  32. Evenly spread the remaining cornmeal mixture on top.
  33. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
  34. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
  35. Remove foil and return to oven and bake additional 25 minuters or until the cornmeal is firm and the chili bubbly.
  36. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.

rosarita enchiladas

my children absolutely LOVED this recipe.  i'm sure it tastes nothing even remotely close to something authentic, but if i can get (one kid in particular) to ask for seconds and even thirds, it makes me VERY happy.  glad i opted to try this "lazy" version!

ingredients
1 pound ground sirloin beef (90% lean)

• 1 can (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
• 1 can (29 oz each) Rosarita® Enchilada Sauce
• 12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend (2 cups = 8 oz)
• Sour cream, optional

directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook beef in large skillet over medium heat 7 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Add drained tomatoes and 1 cup enchilada sauce; blend well.

Place tortillas in damp paper towels; microwave on HIGH 1 minute or just until flexible. Place about 1/3 cup beef mixture evenly on each tortilla. Top each with about 1 tablespoon cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in baking dish. Top with remaining sauce and remaining 1 cup cheese, spreading evenly and covering tortilla edges.

Bake covered 30 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

authentic enchiladas verdes

i have committed to fixing more mexican for my family because they love it, but i never tend to make it because i'm allergic to peppers.  i found this recipe at allrecipes.com.  the original recipe calls for 5 serrano peppers, but after making it once and finding that it was almost too spicy for everyone to eat, i reduced the pepper amount to 3-4.

ingredients
2 bone-in chicken breast halves
2 C chicken broth
1/4 white onion
1 clove garlic
2 t salt
1 lb fresh tomatillos, husks removed
3-4 serrano peppers (depending on how hot you want it)
1/4 white onion
1 clove garlic
1 pinch salt
12 corn tortillas
1/4 C veggie oil
1 C crumbled queso fresco
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

directions
In a saucepan, combine chicken breast with chicken broth, one quarter onion, a clove of garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 20 minutes. Reserve broth, set chicken aside to cool, and discard onion and garlic. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken with your hands.

Place tomatillos and serrano chiles in a pot with water, enough to cover them. Bring to boil, and continue boiling until tomatillos turn a different shade of green (from bright green to a dull, army green). Strain tomatillos and chiles, and place in a blender with another quarter piece of onion, 1 clove garlic, and a pinch of salt. Pour in reserved chicken broth, so that liquid just covers the veggies in the blender by about an inch. Blend all ingredients until they are completely pureed. Pour salsa in a medium saucepan, and bring to a low boil.

Pour oil in a frying pan, and allow to get very hot. Slightly fry tortillas one by one in hot oil, setting each on a paper towel afterwards to soak some of the oil. Finally, dip slightly fried tortillas in low-boiling green salsa, until tortillas become soft again. Place on plates, 3 per person.

Fill or top tortillas with shredded chicken, then extra green sauce. Top with crumbled cheese, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro.

Kitchen Sink Quesadillas

I made these for the first time last night, from my sister's recipe. They turned out delish! The macerated red onion really brings all the flavors together like a jazz ensemble from Ratatouille!

2 T. lime juice
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped (or one small)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained (or even better, the equivalent amount of frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe's)
1 scoop of jarred salsa
shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
Flour Tortillas
One head Romaine lettuce, chopped
Optional: Cilantro


Mix the lime juice, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper together. Add chopped red onion. Let sit.
Mix together black beans, corn and salsa.
In a non-stick frying pan, (spray with Pam while cool) layer a tortilla, some cheese, the bean filling, more cheese, and another tortilla. Flip like a pancake when the cheese has melted the tortillas together, so that it gets brown on both sides.
Cut the quesadilla into wedges, serve to the children.
For adults: Toss the romaine lettuce (plus cilantro) with the macerated onion mixture. Top a queso wedge with salad, and enjoy like jam on toast!

3 for 1 Meal Meat

As distasteful as the title sounds, this is actually awesome for future fast dinners. Make pulled pork sandwiches, enchiladas, and chili burros from 1 roast. (This can be done from a pork or beef roast.)

Start by making pulled pork sandwiches:

1 rump roast or shoulder roast - 5-8 lbs
1 bottle of BBQ or seasoning sauce (I used Lawry's baja chipotle marinade)
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce

Trim the fat from the roast. Put it in the slow cooker for 7 hours, along with most of the bottle of marinade. After 7 hours take the roast out, and cut it off the bone if necessary (my bone just fell out, the meat was so tender) and use 2 forks to shred the meat. You can also trim/remove any fatty bits at this time. Return it all to the slow cooker, add the tomato sauce to thicken the juices a bit. Cook it 30-60 minutes more.

Serve as pulled pork sandwiches by slicing ciabatta or rolls in half, and slathering with the meat.

Then freeze any meat that you don't want to use as pulled pork sandwich leftovers. Before freezing divide it into 2-3 containers for easy thaw out.

For enchiladas:

1 can of enchilada sauce
-or-
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup flour
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
oregano
cumin
garlic
diced onion or dried onion
salt
pepper
1 container frozen meat left over from pulled pork sandwiches
corn tortillas
grated cheese

Heat a saucepan to medium. Add the olive oil. When the olive oil is warm, add the chili powder. Toast the chili powder in the oil, but don't burn it. You should be able to smell a difference between untoasted and toasted, it will become more savory and rich. When it smells toasted, add the flour (this prevents it from burning). Mix it all together, and then dump in the tomato sauce. Fill the can with water and add, twice. Then add the seasonings. I usually put several shakes of each into the sauce. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. The sauce will thicken. After stirring during the boil for 2 minutes, turn it down and let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid partially on.

To compile you can either do 2 things: add 1/2 cup olive oil to a frying pan and soft-fry the tortillas for easy roll up, or make a casserole. To soft fry the tortillas, put them in hot oil for about a minute (not long enough to turn hard like tostadas) and transfer to a dish with 1/4 cup sauce on the bottom. Add a spoonful of meat, a spoonful of sauce, some cheese, and roll. Continue until the pan is full or you are out of meat. Cover the tops with sauce, cheese, and green onion if you like. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered at 325.

For the casserole: Use a pizza cutter to slice the corn tortillas, straight out of the package, into 1.5 inch strips. Put some sauce in the bottom of your dish, and layer the tortilla slices on top of it. Then repeat layers of sauce, meat, cheese, tortilla until the dish is full or you are out of meat. Make sure the top has sauce, cheese, and chopped green onion if desired. Bake, covered, at 325 for 40 minutes.

For chili burros:

1 container frozen meat left over from pulled pork sandwiches
flour tortillas
grated cheese,
can diced tomato
chopped onion
chopped bellpepper
can of green chilies

Heat the meat, tomato, onion, bellpepper, and green chilies up together on the stove. If you think it needs thickening, add some tomato sauce. When it is all hot and mixed together compile the burros:
On an open tortilla put a spoonful of the mixture down the middle. Sprinkle with cheese. Roll up.

Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole on top.