Sandiarita (Watermelon Margarita)

Ingredients

4 oz Watermelon Agua Fresca
2 oz 100% Agave Reposado Tequila (Try Republic Tequila to keep it Texan)
2 oz Sprite or other lemon/lime soda
1 oz Orange Liquer (Laura's Texas Orange)
squeeze of lime
lime wedge


Method

Fill a tall glass with ice.

In a shaker with ice add the watermelon agua fresca, tequila, orange liquer and lime juice. Shake for 20 seconds. 

Pour the soda into the glass, pour the contents of the shaker into the glass. Stir to combine. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Drink and enjoy

Watermelon Agua Fresca (Agua Fresca de Sandia)

I've had Agua Fresca several times but never tried to make it and for some reason today a watermelon agua fresca just popped into my head.  We stopped off at a local farmers market and they had some decent watermelons out so the course was set.  I have a few books with recipes for various agua frescas but none had watermelon.  I searched  a few sites and got a good idea of what was needed.  Basically fruit, water, sugar and citrus.  Some called for various spices but I was wanting a more pure watermelon flavor so this is what I came up with.

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups cubed ripe watermelon
2 cups water
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
pinch of kosher salt
6 tablespoons of sugar or 1 tablespoon agave nectar
    * sugar/nectar quantity depends on the sweetness of the fruit. Taste it first
       before you add the sugar and taste as you add it.  This one was
       not very sweet so it took 6 tablespoons to get it where I wanted it.


Method

Puree' the watermelon in a blender until smooth.  Strain through a mesh sieve into a pitcher or bowl to get all the chunks out.  Add the lime juice, water and sugar. Mix together until sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust the sugar for sweetness.

Chill for an hour. Serve over ice garnished with a lime wedge.  Its also great mixed 2 parts agua fresca and 1 part lemon/lime soda.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos (Texas Bullets)

Ingredients

12 Jalapeno Peppers
6 oz Goat Cheese
6 oz Shredded Jack Cheese
6 Slices of Bacon - cut in half
3 cloves of Garlic - finely chopped
2 Green Onions - finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Optional:  1 4oz can chopped green chiles






Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the stem end from the jalapenos. With a small paring knife (or jalapeno cleaning tool) remove the seeds and white flesh from inside the jalapeno. Be careful that you don't puncture the pepper. The jalapeno tool works very well for this.  Set these aside.

Cook your bacon until its half done.  You can fry, broil, bake or microwave it.  Drain and set aside.

In a glass bowl mix together goat cheese, jack cheese, garlic, onion, salt and pepper (and green chiles if using).  Either in a microwave or a double boiler heat the cheese mixture until the jack cheese melts. Mix everything together thoroughly.  

Spoon the cheese mixture into piping bag or large sealable bag with one corner cut off. Squeeze into each hollowed out jalapeno until its full.  Wrap each pepper with a piece of bacon and secure it with a toothpick or you can put several on a skewer. Stand the peppers up in a baking dish.  If your dish is too large to keep all the peppers upright then crumple up some foil to line the sides.  You want the cheese end on top (up).   Bake for 30 minutes or until the bacon looks done and the peppers seem tender.

Ceviche

So I guess the middle of winter isn't the best time to post a recipe for
one of my favorite summertime foods. Well, make that one of my
anytime favorite foods. I can eat good ceviche by the bucket.  All I
need is a salty delivery device such as a cracker or corn chip, a couple
of lime wedges and some hot sauce and I'm good to go.   Top that
off with a nice smooth margarita made with a premium reposado
tequila and I will be over in my happy place if you need me.

Ceviche is really more Peruvian than Mexican but its prevalent in
the coastal areas of Mexico.  It's basically fresh seafood cured in
citrus juice.  The acids in the citrus juices will essentially cook the
seafood as it marinates and produce a soft texture and not leave
any sort of fishy taste or smell.  You should always use the freshest
seafood you can find.

As for what type of seafood to use, I prefer either shrimp or a firm
white fish like Mahi Mahi or Orange Roughy.  I recently had ceviche
made from grilled swordfish that was absolutely wonderful but I've
not tried to duplicate it.  You can use pretty much any fish but I try
to stay with the milder varieties.  Scallops also make a good ceviche.

Ingredients

2 filets of fresh Orange Roughy or Mahi Mahi, cut into small chunks
1 1/4 cups fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice (optional)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 ripe Roma tomato, seeded and juice drained, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded, diced
1/2 Avocado, cut into small chunks
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges
Tortilla Chips or Saltine Crackers
Tabasco or Mexican Hot Sauce.

Method

In a glass bowl add the fish chunks and cover with the citrus juices.
add in the red pepper flakes. Stir, cover with plastic wrap and
store in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

After the fish has marinated for 4 hours it should have turned white
and look like it was cooked. If not then let it sit for another half hour.

Once the fish is done, strain out the juice and move the fish to your
serving dish.Add the tomato, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno and
avocado if using.  Toss everything together. sprinkle with just a little
salt and pepper.  Let it sit for a few minutes for the flavors to blend
then serve with the crackers, hot sauce and your favorite Mexican
beer or tequila cocktail.

Braised Beef Blade Mini-Enchiladas (Enchiladitas)

I was craving some homemade brisket enchiladas for the past several days so I had to make them this weekend.  But, I found these very small corn tortillas I thought I would downsize and make a pan of mini-enchiladas...or would that be enchiladitas?  Has anyone coined that term yet? 

We made the trip over to the best meat counter in the area, La Azteca in Denton.  It smells like Mexico in there and you can find pretty much anything you need for Tex-Mex feast.  I was looking for a trimmed brisket flat to braise and I saw what I thought was brisket but the little senor behind the counter said it was "blade meat".  I had never cooked that cut  but it looked like a cross between trimmed up brisket and a thick skirt steak.  So I bought it.  The plan was to braise it for a couple of hours to soften it up. What I did was season it heavily with olive oil, coarse ground black pepper, paprika, salt & cumin then pop it into my oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes to get some color on the meat and get the seasonings set.  Then I pulled it, flipped the meat, added some beef broth and topped it with a can of El Pato Salsa de Tomate con Jalapeno. I then covered it in foil, lowered the temp to 325 and braised it for 2.5 hours.  Once the meat was tender and pulled apart easily I broke it up in to smaller pieces and tossed it around in the braising liquid so that it was all well coated.  Back on with the foil and back into the oven for 30 more minutes. The meat was super tender and very moist.  I transferred the meat to a bowl, leaving the liquid behind.  With a fork and pair of tongs I shredded the meat, sampling as I went.  All of the fat was completely rendered out.  Needless to say I was very happy with the results.  I think the blade but has a little more flavor than the brisket but it is a slight bit tougher and needs to cook a little longer.

I made the chile paste the day before.  I had 8 or 9 ancho chiles that I had bought the week before for just this purpose. I scanned the recipes I had from Robb Walsh & Rick Bayless.  I checked a few online and took what sounded good from all of them to come up with something that would be my own.  The first thing was to prep the chiles.  I removed the stems and any seeds that would come out easily. Then I dry roasted them in an iron skillet for a minute on each side, until the color started changing and they became very fragrant.  Then I soaked them in hot water for 30 minutes to soften them up. 

While the chiles were soaking I decided that i wanted to do something different with the garlic so I pan roasted it.  I took the same iron skillet that I used for the chiles and dry roasted several cloves until they were spotted brown all over. The aroma was amazing.  Tossed those into the food processor.  Then seeded the chiles and added those to the food processor along with 2 teaspoons of ground cumin, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, black pepper, a pinch of kosher salt, a splash of olive oil and about 1/4 to 1/2 cups of chicken stock.  This was all blended until for about a minute to make a nice paste. I then pressed it through a metal strainer to remove any left over seeds, skins or other particles that would not break down.  Wrapped it up and into the fridge to sit over night.

The sauce was pretty simple and straight forward. I made a roux from 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of oil, cooked/whisked it until it started to brown then added 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper and a small pinch of sugar.  Whisked that all in then added 2 tablespoons of the chile paste.  Whisked that in, cooked it for a minute or so then added 2 cups of water, whisking the entire time.  Added the rest of the chile paste (about 1/2 a cup I would guess), whisking, making sure it dissolves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  The sauce should thicken up nicely but not get too stiff.  As it sits and cools you'll get a film on top. I just scraped it off with a spoon but you can just stir it and blend it back in.  Set the sauce aside and let it cool just a bit.

The enchilada assembly was my typical method. I used the microwave (don't knock it!) to steam my mini-tortillas. I just put a handful of them into a seal able plastic bag and nuke them for 30-45 seconds until they soften up enough to roll.  Then I spoon some sauce into the bottom of whatever pan I am using, lay a tortilla in the pan to get sauce on the bottom side, flip it, fill it with meat and a touch of cheese, roll it up and gently push it to the end of the pan.  Repeat until you fill the pan.  Then I spoon the sauce over the rolled enchiladas. I don't drown mine in sauce.  Just enough to coat the center of them while leaving the edges exposed so they get slightly charred.  I topped these with grated Asadero cheese which is between a Jack and a Mozzarella. It's a really good cheese for enchiladas, tacos & quesadillas.  To top these off I sauteed some white onion and chopped jalapeno until they just started to soften up.  Finally, I put these in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese was bubbling. 

I really liked the final results.  The mini-enchiladas were just the right size. Had they been full sized I don't think you could have cut the meat with a fork.  Blade meat, like brisket, is a little stringy and the more you put in there the harder it is to cut through it, no matter how long you cook it.  If I was making full size enchiladas I would have opted to chop the meat before I filled them.   

All the secrets to these are here.  Its a long process but worth it in the end.  You have enough to make probably 30 or 40 minis or maybe a couple dozen full size enchiladas.  I would suggest making tacos with any left over meat but I am thinking it would be great with eggs also.  I hope someone else enjoys these as much as I did.

Empanadas

I have never tried to  make these but lately I had been thinking about it quite a bit.  Had I known they were so easy I would have made them long ago.  As usual I looked through about a dozen or so recipes and took what I liked from them all to come up with my version.  I filled my first batch with left over brisket, poblanos and cheddar cheese.  They came out really good. The dough was better than I thought it would be.  The recipe is mainly for the dough and frying. You can fill these with almost anything.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 stick of butter



Method

In  a large bowl whisk together eggs, vinegar and buttermilk. Set aside.
In a separate bowl mix together flour and salt. Cut the butter into the flour with 2 forks or a pastry knife. Just like making biscuits. 
Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the egg mixture.  Using your hands, mix the dry into the wet until it forms a dough.  It should come together pretty fast. If is seems a little dry add in more buttermilk/milk about a teaspoon at a time until it comes together.  Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and knead it 5 or 6 times.  Don't overwork it.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough until its an 1/8th of an inch thick. Using a cutter or a bowl, cut out 6 inch rounds from the dough.  Store them under a damp towel until you are ready to fill. 

Place about 1/3 of a cup of filling into the center of the dough. Fold over like a taco, gently stretching the dough to cover the filling.  Press the edge down to seal it then fold the edge over to ensure nothing leaks out while frying.  Using a fork press down along the edges to form small ridges along the edge.

To cook, heat oil in a skillet to 365-375.  Oil should be about 1/2 deep in the pan.  Place 3 or 4 empanadas in the pan with the ridged side down. Fry until golden brown then turn them over.  Fry until the second side is golden brown then drain on a paper towel or a rack. 

Serve hot.

Red Rice

This is one of the first rice dishes I ever tried to make. It is full of color and flavor.  It's not your traditional Mexican restaurant red rice.


Ingredients

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 small white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced
1/4 cup (small) diced carrot
2 teaspoons paprika (any type except smoked)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

Method

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. 
Saute onions, carrot and garlic until the onions are translucent.
Add butter and when the butter is melted pour in the dry rice.
Stir around so all of the rice is coated with oil/butter. 
Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. 
Add the broth and paprika (and cayenne is using)
Bring to a full boil, stirring often.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is soft. 
(I usually stir mine about every 5 minutes to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.)
Sprinkle in a little salt and serve.

Yellow Rice

The color of this rice is an attention grabber. No one will be able to guess the key ingredient either. Turmeric was once know as Indian Saffron and this dish has a hint of a saffron-ish flavor and color.

Ingredients

1 cup white long grain rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1/4 cup fresh or frozen yellow corn
2 teaspoons turmeric
pinch of salt


Method

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. 
Saute onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
Add butter and when the butter is melted pour in the dry rice.
Stir around so all of the rice is coated with oil/butter. 
Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. 
Add the broth, corn and turmeric.
Bring to a full boil, stirring often.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is soft. 
(I usually stir mine about every 5 minutes to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.)
Sprinkle in a little salt and serve.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

I usually make this rice to go along with tacos or enchiladas.


Ingredients

1 cup of white, long grain rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 green onions, white part only, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
2 teaspoons lime zest
juice if half a lime
pinch of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of chopped cilantro

Method

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. 
Saute onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
Add butter and when the butter is melted pour in the dry rice.
Stir around so all of the rice is coated with oil/butter. 
Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. 
Add the broth,lime juice and lime zest.
Bring to a full boil, stirring often.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is soft. 
(I usually stir mine about every 5 minutes to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.)
Once the rice is done, add the cilantro and toss to mix. 
Sprinkle in a little salt and serve.

You can hit it with a quick squeeze of lime to brighten it up before serving.

TexMex Oven Brisket

Brisket has a long history in Texas. Its a very tough cut of meat but if prepared in the right way you would swear there was nothing better.  The keys to cooking a good brisket are time and temperature, regardless of the method. 

Nothing fills the neighborhood air like meat in the smoker and I do love to smoke a brisket but for this we need to move it to the oven. I wish you could bottle the smell this puts off. The whole house smells like meat fiesta. The spices mix with the aroma of the meat cooking down and the bite from the chile sauce starts your glands to working overtime.  It will have you drooling like Pavlov's Dog.

I would suggest making your chile sauce a day ahead so that the flavors get a chance to blend together. You will have a much bolder sauce if you do this. 

I like to use this for brisket tacos but its a good filling for anything really.  Brisket tacos don't have a bunch of fluff added to them so no lettuce or cabbage. Keep the cheese simple and only use diced white onion. I do, however, like mine with a spinkle of chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. 



Ingredients

2 Cups Red Chile Sauce (Click for recipe)
1 5-7 lb Brisket, Flat only, trimmed of most of the fat.
32 oz Beef Broth/Stock
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 large white onion, peeled, cut in half and sliced



Method

Preheat oven to 400
Heat chile sauce in a small sauce pan.
In a bowl mix together garlic powder, paprika, salt & pepper.  Rub generously all over the brisket.
Place the brisket fat side up in a brasing pan or large baking dish and bake for 1 hour.  Remove from the oven and reduce heat to 300.
Add the beef broth to the pan, spread the onions around the brisket and pour the chile sauce over the top of the brisket.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for another 3-5 hours or until the meat is fork tender and pulls apart easliy.  Check every 2.5 hours for done ness.
Once the brisket is done let it cool enough so that you can handle it.  Cut off any remaining fat from the top. Pull apart or cut in to chunks and move to a large bowl and start pulling it apart by hand (or use 2 forks if you like). Spoon in several tablespoons of the braising liquid so that the meat is moist but not soaked in sauce.  You are ready to serve.

Red Chile Sauce

This can be used as an enchilada sauce, a braising sauce or a topping for burritos, eggs or anything else you desire.  It has a good kick and a very bold flavor.  If it is too bold for your diners, strain the chiles before you put them in the blender. Throw out the boiling liquid and pour 2 cups of chicken stock into the blender instead.  That will soften the flavor a bit. You can also add a little tomato product (sauce or paste) to bring it down a little.

Ingredients

6-8 Dried Chiles (Ancho or Pasilla), Stems and seeds removed

1 large white onion , diced

1 large jalapeno, seeded & chopped

5 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 1/2 cups water

Method

Add water and chiles to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and

cook for 30 minutes. Chiles should be soft. 

Pour contents of the pan into a blender and blend until smooth. 

     Be careful blending hot ingredients. The top may blow off

     the blender so blend a little at a time then open the lid to

     let the heat escape.  Probably a good idea to place a towel

     over the blender. You don't want this sauce staining everything.  

In that same saucepan heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onions,

garlic and jalapeno.

Saute for 5 minutes then add salt, pepper, cumin and oregano.  Stir and

cook until onions and jalapenos are soft. 

Add the contents of the sauce pan to the chile puree in the blender. 

Blend until smooth. 

Now pour contents of the blender back into the sauce pan.  Bring the

sauce to a boil then reduce the heat until it is just barely bubbling. 

Reduce the sauce by 1/2, stirring often.

Using a wire strainer and a glass bowl pour the sauce through the strainer

into the bowl. With the back of a wooden spoon, press the "pulp" of the

sauce through the strainer as best you can,  When all of the liquid seems

to be pressed out, scrape off the bottom of the strainer into the bowl and

discard what is left inside the strainer.  This gets rid of any peel or hard bits

that did not get pureed or dissolved.

Let the sauce cool then cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for

at least 4 hours, overnight if possible.

If you want a thicker sauce you can use a cornstarch/water slurry or a roux.

If you use a roux be sure to cook it until it's dark brown or you may end up

with a pinkish colored sauce.

Favorite Cocktails: Margarita

It's one of the most popular cocktails around but most people just drink whatever the house tequila is. I've gotten to be way too much of a tequila snob for this and I always, always, always call my tequila. If they don't have any decent (by my standards) tequila behind the bar then I just order something else.  I won't get into the tequila rant. Maybe some other time. Lets just get to the drink:

Ingredients

2.5 oz 100% Blue Agave (Reposado or Blanco/Silver) Tequila
2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz Grand Marnier or Cointreau
.75 oz Agave Nectar
1/3 cup of Ice
Kosher Salt
Large martini style glass,  margarita glass or rocks glass
(My opinion: Never serve a man a margarita in a martini glass)

Method

Add all liquid contents plus ice to a shaker. Shake on its side until the shaker is frosty (30 seconds or so).

Rocks glass:
Rim the glass with lime wedge and dip in the kosher salt. Pour contents of the shaker (ice and all) into the glass.

Martini style glass:
Chill the glass first with ice water. Pour out the water. Rim the glass with a lime wedge and dip in kosher salt.  Strain the contents of the shaker into glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Repeat as necessary.

Garlic Pork Enchiladas with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce

Ok, so I made a huge batch of my pork filling and green chile sauce and needed another use for it. These are so easy and so good that I couldn't pass them up.


Ingredients

12 corn tortillas
3 cups Garlic Pork Filling (click for recipe)
2-3 cups Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce (click for recipe)
2 cups grated jack or chihuahua cheese
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
2 lime wedges

Method

Preheat oven to 400
Place 6 tortillas each in a Ziploc bag, seal it and microwave for 1 minute.
In 9x13 (non-metal) baking dish add a couple tablespoons of sauce to coat the bottom.
Take a tortilla, lay it in the bottom of the pan then flip it over so you have sauce on both sides.  Fill the tortilla with the pork filling and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll it up and move to the end of the pan, seam side down. Put as much filling as you can but don't over stuff them or they will fall apart. Repeat this step 11 more times. Yo should have enough room in the pan for 12 enchiladas.   Keep spooning sauce into the pan as you need it.  You want both sides of the tortillas to have at least some sauce.  Warning...the tortillas will be excessively hot coming out of the Ziploc bags. 

If there is any pork filling left, sprinkle it on top of the enchiladas, cover the whole thing with sour cream sauce, leaving the tips on each side exposed.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese on top starts to brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Plating:  Place 2-3 enchiladas on a plate with a couple of lime wedges. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro on top.


FYI:  I use the microwave and plastic bag technique to A) Save time  B) Cut down on the grease & oil.  I like these particular enchiladas to be soft and tender and steaming them in the bags works best for my taste.  You can par-fry the tortillas instead of steaming. Just drain them well and I would suggest crisco or peanut oil.

Garlic Pork & Goat Cheese Quesadilla with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce

I had thought about a goat cheese and pork quesadilla for some time before I decided to give it a try.  My first idea was to just add chunks of the cheese into the pork filling but I recently saw a recipe posted by Chef Tim Love where he spread the goat cheese on the tortilla. Genius idea. It really holds it together and makes it work.

The key to this is to have your two main ingredients prepped and ready to go.  Those being the Garlic Pork Filling and the Sour Cream sauce.  Aside from that is it very very simple.

Ingredients

4 Flour Tortillas
2 cups Garlic Pork Filling (click for recipe)
1/2 cup Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce (click for recipe)
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 oz Goat Cheese
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves.

Method

Heat up your sour cream sauce in a small sauce pan.

Spread 1 oz of goat cheese on each tortilla. Evenly distribute the pork filling between the tortillas, keeping the filling all to one side of each one. Fold the tortilla over like a taco.  in a large skillet, heat the oil and spread it around the skillet with a paper towel.  Bring the heat up to medium-high.  Cooking 2 at a time, toast each side of the folded tortillas until they are golden brown.

To plate, add a couple spoonfuls of the sauce to the center of the plate.  Cut each quesadilla into 3 triangular pieces, stack on the sauce and drizzle with the sour cream sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce

I looked an many variations of this sauce. Some were completely off base from what I was wanting. (Nutmeg in a TexMex sauce?)  I cobbled this one together after reading through all those variations. Turned out to be just what I wanted.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 can or 1/2 cup cooked diced green chiles
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper


Method

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and make a roux. Cook the roux until the flour smell is gone. About 5 minute, whisking continually.

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and whisk in the sour cream. Once the sour cream is incorporated add in the green chiles, black pepper and add the salt to taste.  Simmer over low for 15 minutes.

Garlic Pork (Filling)

Not a whole lot of explanation on this one. I was really just thinking of ways to tweak my other shredded pork recipe to bring out some other flavors. I feel that I succeeded. The addition of a whole head of garlic and orange juice really did the trick.

Ingredients

4 lbs Pork Loin

1 head of garlic (8-10 cloves)
2 small/medium white onions
1 cup orange juice (with some pulp)
4 cups water

1 tablespoon Goya Adobo Seasoning

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Spanish olive oil
2 poblanos

Method

Cut the pork loin into 1-2 inch chunks. 

Peel and rough chop the garlic.  Rough chop 1 of the onions.

In a stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the pork to the pot and season with salt, pepper and adobo.  Cook until there is no pink showing on the pork. To the stock pot, add the water, orange juice, garlic and onion. Stir.   Bring to a full rolling boil then reduce the heat to medium so the liquid is still slowly bubbling.  Cook until the liquid is just about gone, stirring occasionally.

While the pork is cooking, remove the stems and seeds from the Poblanos and cut length-wise into 1/4 wide strips.  Cut the onion into quarters then slice into half moon shaped pieces. 

When there is just a little liquid left toss in the poblanos and sliced onions. Start breaking up the pork chunks with your stirring spoon until is all shredded. Leave a few small chunks...they are great for a burst of flavor.  Turn up the heat to medium high and cook (stirring often) until pork mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pan and turn brown.  The poblanos and onions should have cooked and softened by this time.  Remove from heat. 

This can be used for tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, sandwiches, nachos...its good all by itself as well.

Favorite Cocktails: La Paloma ("The Dove")

I got hooked on these after a cooking class with Grady Spears. This was the featured cocktail and I lost count on how many of them I had. Not quite as acidic as a margarita but just as refreshing. I've looked at many recipes for this one and this is how I like to make it.


Ingredients

4 oz Jarritos Grapefruit Soda
2.5 oz 100% Agave Silver/Blanco Tequila (Herradura, Cabo, Partida)
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz Agave Nectar
Ice


Method

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.  Stir the mixture with a spoon or cover and shake gently a couple of times.  Be careful shaking. The Jarritos is carbonated and will blow the top off the shaker if you push it to far.  Salt the rim of a tall cocktail glass. Fill with ice, strain the contents of the shaker into the glass. Garnish with a lime wedge or thin lime slice.


UPDATE:

For an alternate version I have been making a Pink Paloma.  Here is how its done:

2 oz 100% Agave Reposado Tequila
2 oz Tex-Sun Pink Grapefruit Juice
2 oz Grapefruit Soda
1 oz Agave Nectar
Juice of 1 large lime.

Fill a tall glass with ice. 
Add the Tequila, Grapfruit Juice and Agave nectar to a shaker with ice. 
Shake vigorously.
Strain the contents of the shaker into the glass, while at the same time pouring the grapefruit soda into the glass.
Garnish with a few paper thin slices of lime on top. 

You can salt the rim first but thats just a personal choice.

Shredded Pork Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

I have been making these enchiladas for many years now. Even the pickiest eater has liked them.  The whole things started off with me just learning to make a salsa verde. Then I figured out the best way to make alot of pork for filling a bunch of enchiladas and tweaked the recipe until it was what I was wanting. 

I make these over a 3 day period when I am making a large batch of them. First I make the pork, then the sauce, then heat it all up, assemble and bake.  You can certainly make it all at one time if you are not making a huge quantity.

This recipe makes 1 batch (9x13 pan) of enchiladas: (For more than 1 batch: For the sauce, just multiply times the number of batches you want to make. For the pork, you have to use your judgment on the quantity)



Tomatillo Sauce

2 -11oz cans whole tomatillos, drained
     (or 1 lb of fresh tomatillos, shucked, rinsed, cooked drained)
2 –Serrano Chiles or 3 Jalapeno Chiles…depends on your taste.
     Use more of either for more heat. Remove seeds to reduce the heat.
1 bunch of cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1 lime
3-4 cloves of garlic or ½ to 1 clove of elephant garlic
       (more if you like)
1 15 oz can of chicken broth/stock
Salt & pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (Spanish preferred)

Chop the garlic and fry it in a large deep skillet or pan over medium heat in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Do not brown it or over cook it…just want it to soften. Tear or cut the long stems from the cilantro. Rinse & drain it. Drain the tomatillos & put them into a blender/food processor with the chicken broth, cilantro, cumin , salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Blend until pretty smooth. You don’t want any big chunks of tomatillo, add a squeeze of lime at the end.
Turn up the heat on the skillet to high and pour in the blended tomatillo mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer (usually about 15 to 20 minutes..longer for bigger batches)

Salt and pepper to taste. It will seem a little tart but it all comes together with the entire dish.

Set aside for at least a few hours so the flavors can combine. Overnight in the fridge is best.



Shredded Pork

Large pork roast or loin (Pork Shoulder is good if you trim
most of the fat off I use the big pork loin as it makes a lot of filling)
1 large white onion – rough chopped
1 tablespoon chile powder
2 Jalapenos – rough chopped (remove the seeds for no heat)
2/3 Poblanos, rough chopped
As many cloves of garlic as you want….I use a 1-2 cloves
of elephant garlic. – rough chopped
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper
¼ cup Chicken Base (buillion)
Tablespoon of cumin
3 tablespoons Spanish Paprika
1 large lime
1 15oz can Chicken Stock/Broth
Water

Cut the pork into large chunks.
In a large stock pot sauté the onions and jalapenos, poblanos and all spices/seasonings. Cook until tender.
Add the pork and stir around to mix the onions, peppers and spices with the meat. Add in chicken broth and enough water to cover the meat about 90%.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let it boil for awhile until you can see the water level starting to lower from evaporation. Reduce to medium and cook until all or almost all the water is gone.

The fat should all render out. If you see any big pieces of fat remaining then take it out.

Squeeze the lime into the meat about halfway through the cooking.

Shred the meat by hand and put it into a seperate dish. It should come apart easily.  At this point you can toss in more sauted onions & peppers and mix into the shredded meat if you like.

Cover and set aside to rest. Overnight in fridge is best.



Assembly

22 Corn tortillas
Shredded Cheese (Cheddar/Jack mix or Chihuahua cheese is very good)
Non-stick spray
Prepared Tomatillo sauce (above)
Prepared Shredded Pork (above)
1 large sheet pan

Spray your pan with the non-stick spray.

Heat the pork in the oven until tips start to brown and heat the sauce on the stovetop. You want everything hot but not too hot to handle.

Put the tortillas in sealable plastic sandwich bags, about 10 or so in each. Heat each bag in microwave for 1 minute. Only heat them as you need them.

Spread some sauce on bottom of pan to coat it.

Place a tortilla in the pan on the sauce, flip it over to get a little sauce on both sides, fill it with pork and cheese, roll it up and place at end of the pan, seam side down. Use however much you like.

Repeat until the pan is full…put as many as you can fit. On a large sheet pan I usually get 22 enchiladas….2 rows of 11.

Cover with sauce but don’t drown them in it…but do it to whatever you like. I try to leave some tortilla exposed so they brown on the edges and add flavor.

Cover with cheese.

Bake at 350-400 until cheese is melted and edges of tortillas start to brown.

Serve right out of the oven with a drizzle of Mexican crema and a wedge of lime.

Carne Asada Part II - The Meat

After I re-reading the street taco post I found it was really geared toward people that lived only in my area. So, I thought I would also include how I make the meat for the tacos when I can't get to the carniceria. 

I almost always use skirt steak for Carne Asada or Fajitas. The meat is thin so it cooks fast and it has a good amount of fat so it stays moist. If you have a choice, go with the outside skirt. It is more tender than the inside skirt and has less to trim off. If you can get your hands on it, try using flap meat in place of the skirt. Flap meat comes from the sirloin and is very good for this recipe.

As with the meat in the original post, trim excess fat and tenderize with a meat mallet. Even though this is a thin cut a couple of whacks with a meat mallet makes all the difference.

Ingredients

3-5 lbs of Outside Skirt/Flap Meat
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup lime juice
1 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups water or 1 bottle Mexican Beer
2 tablespoons fresh garlic - crushed
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano (Mexican if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 of a large orange, sliced


Putting it together
Place the meat in a large bowl.

You have 2 marinade options here. One is to mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. The other is put everything except the orange slices into a blender or food processor and blend until slightly chunky. Add the rinds from the limes that you squeezed plus the orange slices to the marinade and pour it over the meat. Make sure the beef is completely covered by the marinade. Use your hands to mix the beef around and get it all wet. Cover and let sit for at least 24 hours, about every 4 hours or so mix the meat around so that the marinade gets into all the nooks and crannys. Large ziplock bags work well also.

When ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade and let it sit at room temperature while you get the fire ready. Finish the meal the same as the Carne Adasa Street Tacos.

Carne Asada Street Tacos with Texas Pico

If you happen to find yourself up around the Denton area you might want to stop in to La Azteca Market. Walk inside and head to the back of the store where you will find any cut of meat you can think of, and many you have never thought of. Take a number and when called just ask for 3 lbs (or however much you might need) of marinated beef. I have tried many of the Latin markets and various meat counters in the area and so far La Azteca has the best beef and chicken you can get when it comes to TexMex or Mexican cooking.

For those not in the North Texas area I have posted my recipe for a carne asada recipe that I also use for these tacos. Click here: Carne Asada

I call these "Street Tacos" because they are inspired by the tacos you get in Mexico from street vendors. They come in beef, chicken, pork, goat and seafood, depending on the region you are in. Some are better than others but the beef seems to always be good. The squeeze of lime gives it a touch of Baja.

You are going to want to cook this meat over a very hot charcoal and/or wood fire. The faster it cooks the more tender it will be. Never use any sort of lighter fluid or instant starting charcoal. All you will taste is the chemical flavor and not the meat and smoke. If you can adjust the position of your fire, move up as close to the grilling surface as possible and open your air vents all the way to allow maximum air flow. Let the fire and grates get very hot before you put the meat on.

Remove the steaks from the packaging and trim off any excess fat or anything else that is attached to the meat. With a meat mallet or the back of a sturdy knife, tenderize the meat on both sides. This is not absolutley necessary but it can make a big difference in the tenderness of the meat. Set aside at room temperature and let it warm up a bit.

Now on to the good stuff. This recipe is for 2-4 people so adjust your amounts accordingly.

Texas Pico

1 small red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro
2-3 large Roma tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon of your favorite Mexican seasoning
juice from half a lime
pinch of Kosher Salt
A couple of grinds of fresh cracked pepper.

Mix everything together and let is sit until the meat is ready.

Tortillas

Find the smallest corn tortillas you can get. La Azteca has them as
does Fiesta. If you can only find large corn tortilla, cut them down
to 3 inch diameters with a cookie cutter. You want to steam these.
The easiest way is to put up to 9 of them in a ziplock back and
microwave for 30 seconds. Another way is to wrap them in foil and
put them on the grill next to the meat as it cooks. Be sure to turn it
over from time to time. You will want 2 tortillas per taco.

Limes

Look for limes that are darker green in color and that are soft to the
touch but not mushy. A hard lime will not give up much juice. Cut a
couple of limes into wedges and have them ready to go.

Putting it all together

Place the meat on the grill directly over the hottest part of the
fire. Flip it over when the bottom side is dark brown and starting
to char on the edges. When the meat is all cooked, let it rest for
a few minutes then slice it across the grain into 1/4 inch wide strips.
You can serve it this way or cut these strips into cubes. If the steak
is tender enough I prefer the strips.

Assembling the taco is simple. Take 2 tortillas and stack them up, place a
good amount of meat in the center but be sure you can fold up the ends around it.
Squeeze some lime onto the meat and top with a spoonful or two of the
pico. Repeat for as many tacos as you need, then eat and enjoy.