Archive for the ‘Mexican’ Category

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

I haven’t cooked in days.

No. Actually, I haven’t cooked in weeks.

Sure, I’ve kept us fed. Sandwiches, scrambled eggs and the like. But I’ve done more reheating then cooking lately.

My drought of cooking started at the beginning of April. A glorious week in Hawaii. And while we were staying in a condo with a full kitchen, the last thing I want to do while on vacation is cook. When we returned home the fridge was barren and I was hesitant to shop because we would be heading to Portland in just a few more days. So, we had a few days of take-out and frozen meals.

Then I got sick. Yes, before we went on vacation to Portland I got sick. I suffered through a respiratory infection the entire time we were away . My hopes of eating my way through all the awesome restaurants in Portland were smashed. I rallied in time for a busy week of catering, cooking for clients, two foraging classes and a full evening of volunteering at the Art of Dining event in Seattle. I was so busy there wasn’t time for cooking. So a few more days of take-out.

Then I got sick. Yes, again. In fact, I’m still sick. For the last nine days it has felt like I’m swallowing glass and I’ve been completely wiped out. Thankfully the husband has been awesome at keeping me fed and watered.

However, with the Charcutepalooza deadline looming I decided I better suck it up and cook.

The challenge this month was to make either Mexican Chorizo (a pork sausage) or Merguez (a lamb sausage). Since Chorizo is one of my very favorite things, that is the direction I decided to take.

I followed the recipe for Mexican Chorizo in Charcuterie. I’ve made sausage before, so I found the recipe easy to follow. The whole process took less than an hour (and I was lollygagging). The only ingredient that I didn’t have was hot paprika so I substituted regular paprika instead. Since I knew this would affect the heat level of the sausage a bit I decided to add just a bit more of the ancho chile powder.

Upon frying up a test patty I declared the Chorizo delicious, portioned it into 1-pound packages (four of which I stashed in the freezer). Then decided to take a break (being sick is exhausting).

Once I had worked up some new energy I decided to tackle dinner. I wanted to make tacos, and I wanted to keep them simple so that I could really show off the Chorizo. I settled on a play on tacos de papa (potato tacos) but instead of cooking the potatoes with onion and spices, I would use the chorizo to season them. Here’s the ingredients.

I started by browning the Chorizo over high heat. Meanwhile, I cooked the sliced poatoes in the microwave for two minutes so that they were just about cooked through.

When the Chorizo was just about cooked through, I added the potatoes to the pan and continued cooking until the potatoes were browned and cooked through completely.

While the Chorizo and potatoes were cooking I heated the tortillas so that they were flexible. I like to just throw them directly onto the gas burner on our stove (using tongs of course), but they can also be done in a pan or in the oven.

Once they were all warmed I laid them out on my counter so that I could fill them all at once. I added a couple of tablespoons of the meat and potato mixture to one side of each tortilla.

Then sprinkled each one with some Cojita Cheese. It’s important not too overfill the tacos or the filling leaks out while they are frying and it’s a big mess. Plus any leftover filling is totally delicious scrambled with eggs the next day, so it won’t go to waste.

Time to fry. I put about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a skillet and added the tacos, three at a time to the oil. When the first side was crispy, I carefully flipped them with my trusty tongs so the second side could fry.

As the tacos were finished I moved them to paper towels to suck up any extra oil and then started a second batch of three.

I served the tacos with some quick-pickled radish slices (slice radishes, squeeze lime juice over the top, sprinkle with salt, let sit for 15 minutes), fresh lime and my favorite hot sauce.

Muy delicioso. The potatoes got kind of creamy which was an awesome contrast to the crispness of the tortilla shell. And the home made Chorizo was just spicy enough. I ended up slipping my radish slices into the tacos but the husband didn’t care for that idea.

I’m looking forward to making these again when it isn’t excruciating to swallow. I imagine they’ll be even tastier.

 

CHORIZO AND POTATO TACOS
makes 6-8 tacos (enough for 2 people)

Sometimes Cotija cheese can be hard to find, so if you can’t, Parmesan makes a good substitute (but really, most any cheese will work). If you don’t want to take the time to make your own Chorizo feel free to substitute one from a reputable butcher.

8 oz Chorizo
6 fingerling potatoes, sliced 1/8″ thick
3-4 ounces Cotija cheese
6-8 corn tortillas
vegetable oil for frying

Cook the potatoes for 2 minutes, or until they are just tender, in a microwave, set aside. In a medium-size skillet, brown the chorizo, breaking it into pieces as it cooks. Just before the Chorizo is completely browned, add the potatoes and continue to cook the mixture until the potatoes are cooked through and browned.

Warm the tortillas until they are soft and pliable. Place 1-2 tablespoons of the chorizo-potato mixture on each of the tortillas, sprinkle each one with cheese then fold each in half.

Pour about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Heat oil until it is shimmering then carefully add the 3-4 tacos to the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry until tortilla is golden brown then flip each taco and brown on the second side. Move the finished tacos to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all tacos are cooked.

Serve with fresh lime, taco sauce, sliced radishes, sliced cabbage, sour cream…

 

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Posted by ChefDJen in Charcutepalooza, cheese, dinner, gluten-free, Mexican, pork, potatoes, sausage | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Steak Tacos with Tomatillo and Mixed Pepper Salsa

It’s been a few days since my last post. Work has been busy. Life has been busy. Luckily I’m going on vacation tomorrow. Viva Las Vegas!

I made this dish two weekends ago, on a day when I had lots of time to cook. The prep for the meal and the salsa making took place on Saturday, then I was left with a relatively easy meal to finish on Sunday.

I started with a marinade for the steak. I used skirt steak because I was in experimental mode and I haven’t used skirt steak a lot. Flank steak or flat-iron steak would also work.

Here’s the ingredients:

1 lime, juiced
2 Tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
4 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoon cumin
1 pound skirt steak cut across the grain into 1-inch strips
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

I combined all the marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag, added the steak and tossed the bag in the fridge overnight.

Next I started on the salsa. I had a half-pound of tomatillos still stashed in the crisper from the box two weeks previous (along with three green bell peppers). The next box had three-quarters pound of hatch chilies. I decided to use all of these peppers in my salsa.

Here’s the ingredients:

2 clove garlic
.5 pound tomatillos
2 pounds mixed chilies and green bell peppers (pick peppers based on how hot you want the salsa, mine was pretty mild)
1/2 onion, diced
1 lime juiced
fresh cilantro

I started by heating up the grill. When it was quite hot I added the chilies and green peppers and left them to char, turning them as each side of the pepper was blackened.

As soon as each pepper was charred on all sides I removed it to a bowl (and then covered the bowl so the peppers could steam).

Once the peppers had cooled a bit, I donned some rubber gloves (this is very important if you don’t want to be in massive pain every time you touch your eyes for the next day) and peeled off the charred skin and removed the stems and seeds.

It is important that, no matter how much easier it would make the process, you not run the peppers under water. This removes too much of the charred, yummy taste. Once I was done, I chopped all the peppers.

Next I got out the food processor. I turned on the blades and tossed in the garlic while it was running (this helps to chop it up). Next I added the tomatillos and processed until the they were ground completely. I put this mixture into a bowl then added the onion, the chopped peppers, lime and a bit of salt.

At this point I set aside some of the salsa for the cilantro-hating husband, then added fresh cilantro to the rest. Then, this went into the fridge so the flavors could marry overnight.

When I was ready to eat the next day, I removed the steak from the marinade and threaded the strips onto several skewers, then grilled them over high heat.

In addition I grilled some green beans (then added a squeeze of lime) and made Cumin-Scented Rice Pilaf (white rice cooked with onion and a bit of cumin).

For the tacos, I set out warm corn tortillas, sour cream, diced avocado and the salsa (and the steak). That way, the husband and I could each put only what we wanted on our own tacos (he doesn’t like avocado on his, I like my rice on the side, not in, the taco).

I loved, loved, loved this salsa. I usually like my salsa more towards the warm side, but, as this was quite mild, I was able to heap lots of it on my tacos, yum. The husband liked it too (but he didn’t rave about it like me). However, on matters of salsa, I tend to discount his opinion a bit because, in general, he doesn’t like salsa.

A couple of days later, I used the rest of the salsa to top scrambled eggs. Also delicious.

All in all the salsa took about 2 1/2 hours to make (the peppers took a long time to peel). Totally worth it for a special occasion, but a little for work than I like to spend on a weeknight meal. I’ll make this again, but only when I’ve got time on my hands…

Posted by ChefDJen in beef, grill, Mexican, peppers | No Comments »

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Shrimp Tacos

Lately I have had a craving for shrimp tacos. There is a local taco place that makes a pretty fair version, but since I am trying to cook more at home I have resisted the urge to get them.

So, when I saw that I would be getting cabbage in my box this week, I decided that this would be a good opportunity to make my own.

Here’s the ingredients.


2 limes, juiced, divided
1 tablespoon adobo sauce
30 or so smallish shrimp
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1 mango, julienned
creme fraiche
white corn tortillas

I started by marinating the shrimp in half of the lime juice and the adobo sauce (whenever I open a can of chipotles I stick whatever I have left in the can in the freezer, so I almost always have adobo on hand). I set this aside for about 20 minutes.

While the shrimp marinated I worked on the cabbage slaw. I combined the cabbage, red bell pepper and mango along with the juice of 1/2 a lime and a little salt and black pepper, then set it aside.


To grill the shrimp, I skewered them the long way through the entire shrimp so that they would be a bit straighter when they were done.


I sprinkled the shrimp with a little salt then grilled the skewers for about 3 minutes on each side. While the shrimp cooked I warmed the tortillas, wrapped in wet paper towels, in the microwave for 30 seconds.

When everything was ready I created tacos by spreading each tortilla with about a Tablespoon of creme fraiche, a bit of the cabbage slaw and a few shrimp.


How was it? Well, these were quite good. The slaw was maybe a tiny bit too limey but overall really tasty. With a couple of tweaks (less lime, a little more spice) I could see these going on the permanent repertoire.

Posted by ChefDJen in cabbage, grill, mango, Mexican, peppers, seafood | No Comments »

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Poker Night Grub

Last night the husband and I hosted our (almost) monthly poker game. Before we get to the game, we always enjoy drinks and dinner. Most everybody brings some food to share and I always try to make something (although I have been accused of being a lazy chef at times)

Last night we had an international smorgasbord with pizza, Thai food and I made some salsa (and a tasty dessert, but more on that later).

I had to buy some jalapenos and a lime but I got the rest of the ingredients in my box this week.

Here’s what I used:

2 tomatoes, diced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
2 limes, juiced (I added a second after I took the picture)
1/2 red onion, diced and 1/2 vidalia onion, diced (also not pictured)
kosher salt
2 avocados, diced

A few hours before the gathering I combined the tomatoes and jalapenos (I took the seeds out, but left the membranes in so that I would get a little heat but nothing too crazy) along with the lime juice. I stirred it together, tasted it and thought “hmm, something is missing here”. That’s when I realized that I had forgotten the onion, so I tossed that in too, tasted it again and added a healthy pinch of salt and the juice of another lime.

Just before my guests were due to arrive, I diced and gently stirred in the avocado (I didn’t want to add it to early in the day in case the avocado turned brown). I tasted it again, added and pinch more salt and then it was good to go.

This is my favorite chip and dip bowl. I got it for a steal it at a garage sale a few years ago.

The salsa was pretty tasty. It could have used some cilantro but the husband has an aversion to it and I would have liked a little more heat, but some of my guests do not like the spicy stuff.

Now to that dessert I mentioned earlier. The last two CSA boxes that I have received both contained peaches. Now I love peaches, but a couple of years ago I spent a week at Quillisascut farm school. One morning instead of making breakfast, we went to a nearby orchard and picked our breakfast directly from the plum, nectarine and peach trees. Ever since than I have been a little ruined for peaches. If I get a peach that does not have great flavor or texture, I’m out, I don’t want to eat it at all.

Well on Thursday, I tried one of the four peaches that we received in the box this week. The flavor was okay but the texture was no good. I knew then that the remaining peaches were destined to be cooked rather than eaten out of hand.

Somehow, I settled on ice cream. It seemed like an application where the sub-par texture of the peaches wouldn’t be a problem. Plus I had an ingredient on hand that I knew would be a hit with the peaches, lavender.

I have three ginormous lavender bushes in my front yard (this is just one of them) and I have been eagerly waiting for them to be ready to use.

They are so close to blooming and this is the very best time to use the buds.

I adapted a recipe for peach ice cream from Williams-Sonoma Ice Creams and Sorbets.

Here’s the ingredients.

3 medium peaches, peeled and diced
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lavender buds
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream (divided use)
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a spice grinder I combined the sugar with the lavender buds whizzing them together until the lavender was pulverized into the sugar (the smell of this is so nice). I combined half of the lavender sugar, the corn syrup and peaches in a large pan and heated it until the sugar was dissolved. Then I transferred this to a bowl.

To the now empty pot I added the half-and-half and 1/2 cup of the cream and brought it to a simmer. Meanwhile, in another bowl, I whisked together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar. When the cream was warm I removed it from the heat and then slowly whisked it into the egg yolk mixture, adding just a bit of the hot cream at a time so as to not cook the eggs. I poured this back into my saucepan and cooked it over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the custard was thick, about 5 minutes.

I poured the custard through a sieve into a bowl and then stirred in the peach mixture, the last 1/2 cup of cream and the vanilla. Then I covered the mixture and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I poured this mixture into my ice cream maker and when it was done working it’s magic I transferred it to a plastic container and stashed it in the freezer to freeze through.

Now this was good. The lavender and peach combined beautifully. I could (and probably will) make this over and over again this summer (and next summer and the summer after that…).

Posted by ChefDJen in dessert, ice cream, Mexican, peaches, tomatoes | No Comments »

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

The day before I got sick…

… I made this for dinner. Chicken and Black Bean Tacos (chicken marinated in spicy vinegar, cumin and chili powder plus black beans with cumin and red onion),

with Corn and Tomato Salsa (frozen corn, green bell pepper, tomato, red onion, lime juice),

and avocado relish (avocado, red onion, garlic, lime juice)

Delish.

Posted by ChefDJen in avocado, beans, chicken, Mexican | No Comments »

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

Grilled Beef Tacos with Mango and Avocado Salsa

I have been out and about a lot this week. I actually left my house (and ate out) twice this week (I am generally quite the homebody).

Well, today I was home and ready to cook. This week in I CSA box I got a ton of items that just screamed salsa, so I decided to go Mexican.

I started with the salsa. Here’s the ingredients:

1 mango, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1-2 jalapenos (there’s one in the pic, but I ended up using two)
1 lime, juiced
2 avocado, chopped
kosher salt to taste

Early in the afternoon I combined all the salsa ingredients except for the avocado so that the flavors could marry a bit (I didn’t want to add the avocado at this point because I was afraid the avocado would get brown). So, right before serving, I stirred in the avocado.

I decided to use a spice rub on the steak. Here’s the ingredients:

2 Tablespoon, chili powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 flat iron steak

I mixed together all of the rub ingredients, rubbed them over the steak, them let it sit in the fridge until I was ready to grill.

I would have liked to have use the charcoal grill for this but, alas, I am out of charcoal (I really need to put this on my shopping list) so I used the gas. I cooked it over high heat to rare, then let it rest for five minutes, then sliced it thin and squeezed a little lime on top.

While the steak was resting I put some corn tortillas on the grill to warm through.


To serve I put the sliced steak, delicious salsa and tortillas on/in separate plates and bowls so that the husband and I could make tacos exactly as we liked them.

Alongside I made a salad of cucumber, radishes and raw sunchokes (I just found out I LOVE sunchokes) dressed with a minced clove of garlic, some Spanish-infused vinegar that I made (the infusion has cider vinegar, garlic, chili peppers, chives, basil and oregano) and salt and pepper.

How was it? Really, really good. Pleasantly spicy but sweet (from the mango) at the same time. I am so glad that I have extra salsa, it will be a delicious snack tomorrow. The only thing that would have added is some cilantro with the salsa, but the husband has that genetic disposition towards cilantro that make it taste like soap. So, while I would have enjoyed it, the husband would have been miserable.

This was one of those meals that made me really happy that I cook at home.

Posted by ChefDJen in avocado, beef, mango, Mexican, tomatoes | No Comments »

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

Mexican Sweet Potato and Beef Salad (and Quesadilla)

Many years ago, before my second career as a chef started, I was helping to direct a photo shoot for my employer. The photo studio was in downtown Seattle and as it was an all day photo shoot, the studio decided to bring in lunch for us.

The inspiration for my meal came from that experience years ago. I never found out the name of the restaurant, but I remember eating this sweet potato quesadilla type thing that blew my mind. So good.

I’m sure that what I made wasn’t even close to the original (it was over 10 years ago after all). But it was along the same lines and it was pretty tasty.

For the Sweet Potato and Meat Mixture

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
cayenne pepper (to taste)
2ish tablespoons adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers)
1 lime, juiced

I started by heating a large pan over high heat. I added my sweet potato with about 1/2 cup water and let it simmer for a while until the sweet potato started to get soft. I added the rest of the ingredients (except for the adobo and lime juice) along with some salt and pepper and cooked it until the beef was nicely browned. I added the adobo and lime juice and checked my seasonings then turned down the heat while I worked on the rest of the ingredients.


For the salad

1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
cheddar cheese
sour cream
salsa
cherry tomatoes
chopped chives

On the plates I layered lettuce, some of the sweet potato and beef mixture, corn, cheddar cheese and tomatoes. I topped this with a dollop of sour cream, a spoonful of salsa and some chopped chives. I served it with a couple of corn tortillas that I warmed in the toaster oven.

My only complaint was that I should have dressed the greens in just a touch of vinaigrette, or at the very least, squeezed a little more lime juice over the whole thing before serving. But, alas, I only had the one lime. It also may have been better served with a few corn chips instead of the tortillas.

Now, while the salad was pretty good, lunch today was even better. I used the leftover sweet potato and beef mixture (to which I added a bit of corn) along with some cheddar cheese and corn tortillas to make Quesadillas. I served it with a little green salad and some sour cream and salsa on the side.

Yum. Maybe not mind-blowing good, but definitely one the better lunches I’ve had in a while.

Posted by ChefDJen in beef, greens, Mexican, potatoes, salad | No Comments »

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Mexican-Style Eggs in Purgatory

One of my friends raises chickens and over the weekend she was generous enough to give me some of their eggs. I have often thought about making eggs in purgatory (sometimes known as eggs in hell) and decided this was the perfect time. However, eggs in purgatory is often made as an Italian dish and I wanted to go Mexican since the avocados in my CSA box are ready to eat.

Here’s the ingredients for the eggs

1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
several dashes of hot sauce
1 avocado, sliced

I started by sauteing the bell pepper and onion, adding the garlic towards the end of the cooking. I added my canned tomatoes, salsa and some hot sauce. I brought this to a soft simmer and then made four indentations in the sauce and broke one egg into each of the indentations. I wanted soft egg yolks so I basically just let the eggs poach until them were down how I like them (it took about 10 minutes). If I wanted firmer yolks, I would have spooned some of the sauce over the eggs as they cooked.


xxx

I would have served this with warm corn tortillas but I didn’t have any of those and I’m swimming in potatoes so I made some crispy fried potato cakes.

Here’s the ingredients for the potato cakes
2 russet potatoes
1/2 cup or so cream or milk
1 cup leeks (any onion would work but I had some leftover leeks that I wanted to use)
flour for dredging
salt and pepper

Basically I made (lumpy) mashed potatoes with the potatoes and cream, sauteed the leeks and then stirred them into the potatoes. Once they cooled a little I used a medium scoop to portion out the potatoes and then squashed them into patties about 2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.

I dredged them in flour and fried them in the oil until they were crispy and delicious. Once everything was ready I put a few of potato cakes on each plate, added the cooked eggs and some sauce and them topped it with sliced avocado.

How was it? Really good. In fact it was better than I expected. I’m actually glad that I didn’t have tortillas because the potatoes were so good with the dish. I would make this again in a heart beat (and the husband liked it so he would eat it again too).

Posted by ChefDJen in eggs, Mexican, potatoes | No Comments »

About Me

I'm a personal chef living happily with her picky-eater (but willing to try anything) husband, neurotic black lab and a red heeler puppy.

I watch way too much TV and enjoy hip-hop more than any reasonable grown-up should.

I'm an avid swimmer and sometime triathlete (whenever I'm not nursing an injury).

Find out more about me here.

About This Blog

I'm cooking my way through the oldest cookbook in my collection, Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook, published in 1967. The book was a gift from my grandmother, but belonged to my great grandma Etta.

Beware, jello molds lie ahead.

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