Pork Tinga Tacos

I'm usually not a huge fan of many slowcooker recipes....I like the concept of dumping a bunch of ingredients into the slowcooker and coming come 8 hours later to a delicious meal, but I find that a lot of slowcooker recipes are just too mushy for me.  When I stumbled upon this pork taco recipe that came from Rick Bayless, I decided to give my slowcooker another shot.....I'm glad I did!

Being a slowcooker recipe, this is very quick and easy.  You should make this when you can find some avocados at a good price.....I can't believe how expensive they are some weeks!  At my grocery store this week, they are $2 each....what?!  I know they're not in season yet, but geez that's crazy.  When I made these tacos, I was lucky that I found avocados for $0.75 a piece at my local fruit and vegetable market. 

Just a warning - this recipe makes a ton of taco filling.....I immediately froze about half of it to use at a later date, and we still had more than enough for Kevin and I to eat for dinner that night plus leftovers another night.  It was very good and pretty healthy by my standards.

Ingredients:

1 lb. redskin or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2″ cubes (I used 5 or 6 medium-sized yukon golds)
2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1″ pieces and seasoned generously with salt and pepper
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted)
3-4 chipotles in adobo, chopped
1 Tbsp. adobo sauce (which is just the sauce that canned chipotles come in)
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. dried oregano (I used Italian seasoning instead)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4″ thick
1 1/2 tsp. salt

For serving-
4 oz. fresh Mexican chorizo sausage (optional, but recommended - I used 7 ounces)
24 warm corn tortillas (I like white corn tortillas with this recipe.....if non-fried corn tortillas are not your thing, I think flour tortillas would taste good with this recipe too)
1 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco (or other fresh cheese, such as feta or goat cheese)
2 large avocados, diced (don't leave out....the avocado really adds a lot to these tacos!)
cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Spread the potatoes over the bottom of a slowcooker and top with the pork.

In a large bowl, mix the (undrained) tomatoes with the chipotles, adobo sauce, Worcestershire, oregano or Italian seasoning, garlic, onion, and about 1.5 tsp. salt. Pour the mixture evenly over the meat and potatoes.

Cover and slowcook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours.

When you’re ready to eat, fry the optional chorizo and then stir everything together, breaking the pork into smaller pieces. Taste and season with additional salt if necessary.

Serve with warm tortillas, cheese, cilantro, and avocados for making soft tacos.

Source:  Smells Like Home Blog, Originally from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

Chorizo & Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Although I don't find myself watching the Food Network as much as I used to, I still search a lot on their website to find more recipes that I want to try.  I don't know why I'm constantly looking for new recipes because I already have a giant categorized spreadsheet with about 300 recipes that are in my queue to try, but I am always adding more!

This Guy Fieri recipe caught my eye because (1) I had never made stuffed peppers before, (2) I love chorizo, and (3) I liked the idea to use poblanos instead of the typical bell pepper.  These turned out very tasty, and they look really pretty too! 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil
1/2 pound Mexican-style chorizo
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 small red onion, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 cup short-grain rice
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste
4 large, fresh poblano chiles
1 pound shrimp, deveined, shelled, and tail removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup Cheddar, shredded
3/4 cup Jack cheese, shredded
sour cream, salsa, and cilantro (for serving, optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place poblano chiles on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, cut top 1/4 of chile off and remove ribs and seeds.

Meanwhile, heat oil and chorizo in a large saucepan and cook for 3 minutes. Add bell pepper, jalapeno, onions and garlic. Cook until translucent, then add rice and cook until all the grains of the rice are coated with oil. Add all liquids and stir over high heat for 3 minutes, cover and reduce heat to low. Check rice for doneness after 20 minutes.

When rice has finished cooking, season to taste with salt and pepper (Taste the stuff and season it until it tastes good....you don't want this to be bland!).  Fluff the rice with a fork and stir in shrimp. Stuff chiles evenly with the rice mixture. Place all the chiles on a baking sheet and place into oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, mix cheeses together and cover each pepper with cheese. Broil for 3 minutes to melt and brown the cheese.  I served these topped with a little bit of sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.

Source:  Guy Fieri

Tres Leches Cake

When I think about what desserts go best with a Mexican dinner, three desserts come to mind - flan (which I LOVE, but Kevin doesn't), fried ice cream (which is a pain because you have to deep fry it), and tres leches cake.  Kevin had never heard of tres leches cake (what?!) so I decided I had to show him what he was missing out on.

For those of you that never took Spanish, tres leches just means three milks.  This is called a three milks cake because after the cake is baked, it's soaked in regular milk (or heavy cream), evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk (although I did see one version that also used coconut milk....I may have to try that sometime!).  Because the cake is soaked in three milks, it is very moist and completely different than a traditional fluffy cake.  I used this recipe from allrecipes, and it was delicious!  Don't skip the homemade whipped cream on top :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk (I used 1%)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
Directions:
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.

Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.  Cream butter and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture gradually; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Let cake cool to room temperature and pierce cake all over with a fork.  Combine the milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.  Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours (you can also let this soak overnight).

Once you are ready to serve the cake, make the whipped cream:  Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake (I just scooped a giant spoon full over each slice). Be sure and keep cake refrigerated.

Homemade Salsa

I'm always looking for good homemade salsa recipes because homemade is soooooo much better than jarred salsa.  I decided to try out this recipe, from Annie's Eats (which by the way has so many great recipes and pictures!).  This salsa tasted really fresh and had quite a kick to it.  It made a ton so next time I'll probably half the recipe. 

Ingredients:

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped

4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (I drained the liquid first)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (this will be spicy so if you're not into spicy I would cut this down to 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
 
Directions:
 
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor.
 
Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it only took me a few pulses to get everything combined). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Guacamole

Chips and guacamole made the perfect appetizer / side dish for the enchiladas I made tonight.  I love avocados, and this guacamole turned out really good and flavorful.  I used to buy that store bought guacamole because I would never plan ahead and buy avocados a few days in advance so that they had time to ripen, but I will never buy packaged guac again because the homemade stuff is easy to make and so much better!  Plus, I plan all of my meals out so that I only have to go to the grocery store once a week so by planning to have this meal on a Tuesday, they avocados had time to ripen since I bought them on Sunday.  During the day on Tuesday, I put the avocados in a brown paper bag just to accelerate the ripening.  This recipe came from http://www.allrecipes.com/. 

Ingredients:

3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately (when storing, put plastic wrap directly on top of the guacamole so that there's no space between the plastic wrap and the guacamole - that way it doesn't get brown).

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Last night, I made some very cheesy chicken enchiladas.  Not the healthiest of meals with all of the cheese, but everything in moderation.  I'm starting a new work out plan (something I never had to do when I was younger because I could eat anything without gaining a pound, but that's a whole other story) so that I can keep making (and eating) the foods that I like.  I once tried to only cook healthy meals, but that only lasted about a week because I got upset when my meals didn't taste as good as they normally do!  Anyways, I have a weakness for cheese and these enchiladas satisfied my cheese craving.  This is by no means an authentic Mexican enchilada recipe, but it is very good.

Ingredients:

1 roasted whole chicken, shredded (I usually just buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, but I had a whole chicken in the freezer so I used this recipe to make my own roasted chicken)
8 medium sized flour tortillas
2 (14 oz) cans enchilada sauce
1/4 cup diced green chilis
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
4 cups shredded cheese (this time I used a mixture of 3 cups cheddar and 1 cup queso fresco)
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream to serve with enchiladas

Directions:

1.  In a 9x13 baking dish, pour in 2/3 of one can of enchilada sauce to coat the bottom.

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce, cream cheese (I usually mix these first 2 ingredients first to make the cream cheese a little easier to work with), green chilis, scallions, shredded chicken, half of the shredded cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

3.  Divide the chicken mixture amongst the 8 flour tortillas, and roll into enchiladas.  Place seam side down in the baking dish and top with 1 can of enchilada sauce and the remaining half of the shredded cheese.

4.  Cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or long enough for enchiladas to be heated through and the cheese on top melted.  Let cool for 10 minutes or so before serving.  Serve with sour cream if you like.