Barbacoa Tacos

We were on vacation last week, a short week at the North Shore. This meant a lot of meals out. I knew that I needed to make a meal plan of good, homemade food for the week.

I chose this first meal because it needed a few hours to braise and Sundays are good for that- it's usually a stay-at-home and relax day around here.

 

 

The beef roast was braised in a fragrant mixture of chipotle peppers, oregano, cumin, garlic, lime juice, broth, onions and a few other things. It came together easily and then I let it simmer for 3 hours. The house smelled great!

 

The meat is done and ready to be shredded.

 

And back in the sauce for a quick warmup.

 

I thought of my Grandma Loreto as I warmed up tortillas for dinner. I told James that one of my favorite memories is eating her fresh (flour) tortillas with mantequilla (butter). Mmmmm. He didn't believe me that it is heavenly- he needs some convincing. Challenge accepted!

Anyway, there was quite a bit of heat in this meal. I would cut the chipotle peppers from 4 to 3, maybe 2. We also talked about using "taco stand" size tortillas and doubling them up. The liquid from the beef and added lime juice squeezes made for tacos that fell apart. With the smaller tortillas there would be less guilt about eating four tortillas for two tacos? Well, it's a thought.

We are definitely making this again! It would be a great meal for guests since you're really just assembling at the last minute. We served this with fresh corn on the cob.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Barbacoa Tacos.

 

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Christmas Cookies 2014

I love Christmas cookies. I like that I get to be in charge of them every year (for both sides of the family) and I like making something new each year.

I asked my family for their requests. I received these: almond crack candy, Mexican wedding cakes, peanut butter blossoms with dark chocolate kisses, and chocolate peppermint crackles. Yay! The chocolate chip peppermint crackles were new to me, and I added Cinnamon Sugar cut-outs to round it out.

 

These didn't make it to the Christmas platters but I made gingerbread cake balls for a work holiday potluck. They were a hit!

 

A picture of my handy chocolate melter. I never thought it would get so much use. Melting chocolate for strawberries, for candy melts, cake balls, and now making my own body butter/creams (a later recipe?)

 

Back to cookies.

The Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crackle cookies were better than I expected. They had crushed peppermint candies inside the dough, tasted brownie-like, and then were topped with a piece of peppermint candy to make them pretty. I was so glad these made it on the platter!

The peanut blossoms are a pretty standard cookie but my Jimmy said these tasted better than usual. It's that love ingredient, you know! And the dark chocolate kisses were a great choice. Good job, Richie!

 

 

The Mexican Wedding Cake cookies. Can you believe that I didn't even try these? They are made with pecans. I'm okay with pecans but the peanut butter blossoms and almondy candy called my name so much more.

 

 

I really, really enjoyed making royal icing this year. I had this plan of making gnome cookies for over a month. I wanted to try an easier technique using royal icing and it worked so well! I made one huge batch of royal icing and then separated it into a few bowls for different colors. I only made one consistency of royal icing- thin enough to spread but thick enough to stay put. I used this woman's blog for her technique.

Here's Frosty the Snowman, complete with a flower on his hat! These were fun but required a lot of patience. The colors needed to be piped one color at a time, so they didn't run together. I'd wait 15-20 minutes and then go back to the cookie with another color or to add a detail on top of a color. They were worth it. I think they were darn near perfect.

 

One gnome as Santa!

 

The gnomes were the most fun. I knew my sister would love them :) I was even able to add the tiny eyeballs once I became familiar with the consistency of the royal icing. Delicate work.

 

The cookies dried overnight but I still took care that they wouldn't smear. I kept recalling my Thanksgiving cookie fiasco so I made sure the covered pan had plenty of room above each cookie and then I carried the tray on my lap during the car ride. They made it!

 

Yay for cookies!

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for Gingerbread Cake.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Cut-out Cookies.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies (or Snowball Cookies).

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Crackle Cookies.

There is no shared recipe for the Almond Crack Candy. Sorry!

 

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Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche filling and Dulce de Leche Buttercream

I volunteered to bring a dessert for our neighborhood Spanish Immersion family potluck. My neighbor friend Kiri throws a mean party. There were about 6-8 families with 18 children running around. Yikes! We all brought foods for the feast.

Dulce de Leche translates to sweetened milk, I think. I made the dulce de leche from evaporated milk- a few hours in the oven and it was caramel goodness! You can buy canned dulce de leche from the Hispanic aisle in the grocery store but that's no fun! I do admit that I bought a can just in case. I did end up using a bit when I ran out of my homemade stuff.

The third recipe I have linked below used canned dulce de leche and a different cake recipe. Like I said, I wanted to make my own dulce de leche, and then I found the cake recipe to be too fussy. I didn't have the opportunity to make vanilla sugar (this takes days/weeks) so I found an alternate cake recipe. It turned out well! The cake was moist, fluffy, and so beautiful with its vanilla bean specks.

 

I scopped a small amount of cake from the tops of each cupcake and filled them with the dulce de leche. My little guy had lots of fun stealing cake bits when I wasn't looking. (Really, I saw. I ignored!)

The buttercream was piped prettily on top of each cupcake. I'm getting pretty good with that pastry bag!

 

It was nice to try some new recipes! I think sometimes that I have lost my baking mojo. Let's hope it comes back in full force in summer, when I have much more time to experiment!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Vanilla Bean cupcakes.

Click here for the stolen recipe for the Dulce de Leche.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Dulce de Leche buttercream frosting.

 

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Turkey "Pozole" (Rojo)

Pozole is usually made with pork. I have never made a pozole recipe so I'm not sure how authentic this is, but I am not complaining about how this turned out. This is a Martha recipe and commenters posted this is not a true pozole. So yes, this is probably a quick/cheater recipe. Don't judge me. Martha even gets the spelling wrong they said! (Posole)

We are serious believers in good soup garnishes. When I make my white chicken chili (with hominy), I break out even MORE garnish ingredients.

Not pictured- baked corn tortilla chips.

 

The turkey was leftover from that huge ass turkey I roasted during the Vortex. 7 cups of chopped turkey in this stew. Yay for leftovers!

It was also my pleasure to tear into two HUGE cans of hominy. I love hominy. So much!

It came together quickly but it needed to simmer for 30 minutes. I needed that time to bake the tortilla chips. My boys can't get enough of chips.

Funny little boy quote: "Mom, when I have kids will you show me the recipe for these chips. These are really good."

Tortillas, oil, salt. Oven. There you go, kid.

 

Don't make fun of my Chococat bowl! It gets me through rough times.

 

We like! I think it will taste even better tomorrow. And plenty to freeze for future lunches.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Martha's Chicken (or turkey) Posole.

 

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Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

I must have a million pins on Pinterest, most of them cupcakes and delicious desserts though. I was really stumped the other day when I was planning my week's menu and what I can make that actually excited me.

I never really venture on to my "Salads" Pinterest board but summer is all about healthy vegetables and eating right, right? So I saw this salad recipe and it didn't look too bad!

My husband's verdict? "I'd make this again. I mean, I'd have YOU make this again."

 

I love all of these ingredients. I used canned corn (called for by the recipe) but only because sweet corn isn't too in season yet AND because I have a brand of corn that I really truly like. Delmonte's Summer Crisp. It is not like the others!

 

I didn't even mind this green leafy stuff. It gets covered in the creamy chipotle dressing and you can barely taste the healthy parts. :)

 

The best way I've found to make the precooked chicken is to wrap the breasts in a foil packet, baking at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. I lightly salt and pepper it and it always comes out smelling divine. I made the chicken this morning and it made for easy assembly later.

I didn't even use all of the dressing and it was plenty. It was smoky and spicy, just a nice kick. The recipe is originally from Cooking Light and it says that it tastes just as great the next day. I have some fresh, dry lettuce leftover in case it's a wilted mess but I don't think we'll mind!

I didn't have taco bowls so I just spread a few tortilla chips on the bottom of each plate.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad.

 

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Rose's Chicken with Green olives

It's an ancient Mexican secret recipe (:

 

I had to substitute green El Pato for the yellow. Darn!

Mmmm. Tamales leftover from Christmas and Cilantro lime rice complete our plates.

 

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Southwestern Pizza

I didn't make the crust.  I could have.  I just didn't.  I was at Trader Joe's and having heard about their pizza crusts I decided to buy a few.  This one is the Garlic Herb crust.  Supposed to be low fat.  I guess it is, but it's still more calories/fat than I would eat for one meal.  I am dieting in case you don't know!

I had an itch to try something completely new.  Southwestern Pizza stuck out in my mind.  I found a recipe that looked easy enough and I had most of the ingredients already.

Jim said it was good!  And that we should make it again.  I added some shredded chicken for protein.

The funny looking green stuff is avocado cream.  Mmmmmmm.

So this pizza has... smashed black beans, tomatoes, red onions, chicken, corn, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, Mexican blend cheese, and spices.

I'm glad the avocado cream was there.  Without a traditional tomato sauce it would have been pretty dry otherwise!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Southwestern Pizza.

Salted Mexican Chocolate Chile Caramels

Cinco de Mayo is coming up! I saw this recipe posted on one of my favorite blogs and decided to try it (immediately). Jim is out of town, I haven't baked/created for a while, and I needed a little chocolate something- all good reasons to try something new!

The recipe made way more than these- I took a picture about a third of the way in to wrapping these babies.

Mexican chocolate is a good memory. The sight of an Ibarra chocolate box reminds me of my Grandma Loreto.

The chile in these caramels is very, very subtle. I know it's there but you can't taste it much. I think next time I would throw in an extra chile for a kick!

Mmmmmmm Look at that salt. Salty and sweet. I'm quite certain that's my favorite kind of dessert now.

The caramels were quite soft. I'm glad. The other caramels I've made were quite firm and and after a few days they were too firm. I think these will stay melt-in-your-mouth soft for the month or so the recipe claims.

The real reason I made these? To test my willpower. I've only eaten one. I figured out the calories for the recipe, divided by 64 portions and figured out they are about 72 calories. One every other day is enough for me :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Salted Mexican Chocolate Chile Caramels.

 

Mexican Meatloaf

I know what you're thinking. Meatloaf?! Yes. If done right! This is no beef brick (Kiki :) This is moist (Ana!), flavorful, and comfort food.

Beef, salsa, Mexican blend cheeses, chopped green chiles, onion, etc. I've assembled the entire meatloaf the night before and then left it to my husband to put in the oven for dinner. The benefit of a work-at-home hubby! It's so nice to walk into the house with great smelling food in process!

All that salsa keeps it nice and MOIST.

I THINK this was a Cooking Light recipe. I have my own typed out recipe that I use so I don't remember the source any more. Here is the recipe-

Click here for the recipe.

Sick food

 I wasn't feeling I'll when I made this Tortilla Soup but I was glad to have it the next day.  I think it's colorful and tasty.

 My stomach was in upheaval so I was thinking about the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce?, toast). I figured tortillas are Mexican bread so I toasted some up quickly in the oven (chips!) and mashed my leftover avocado with a bit of lime, salt, and salsa.  I think after not eating all morning it was heaven-sent!

 I feel better tonight.  I don't think I got the major flu bug that's been going around...

Dulce de Pumpkin Pie

I've been craving pumpkin pie. So I made one. I am sick but I managed to get out of bed/my funk for this one :) Pumpkin pies are really easy, especially if you used a prepared crust. I think this is "cheating" but it was okay for today.

So instead of using evaporated milk you use "dulce de leche" for this filling. The canned dulce de leche is found in the Mexican food aisle. It is basically just really thick caramel sauce. Yum.

The pie tasted a bit darker than the usual pumpkin pie, but it was very good. I think it will be even better tomorrow after we let it set completely. We ate it while it was warm.

Sir James did NOT like it. Stinker. Is he really my son if he doesn't like pumpkin pie??! JK!

Kiki, real whipped cream! :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Dulce de Pumpkin Pie.

Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos

Probably not the most authentic Mexican recipe but pretty darn good. I like the idea of baking these taquitos instead of deep frying so they are healthier. We are already imagining the other fillings we can make for other taquitos.



The filling is made from salsa verde, cream cheese, spices, shredded chicken, two kinds of cheese, etc. See the recipe below :) Maybe I could use Mexican crema instead of cream cheese next time?

I baked these for the smaller amount of time, I think if I had left them in for a few more minutes they would have been crispier. We dipped them in salsa and sour cream. This is definitely a recipe we'll make again.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

This is getting its own post even though it was made for another part of a recipe. I'm making taquitos tonight and this salsa will be mixed with chicken and cream cheese for a taco filling.

The recipe is from a food blogger but the real credit goes to Rick Bayless, a famous Mexican food cook. I have one of his cookbooks (from my favorite big sis Ana) that I should use more often.

I love me some tomatillo salsa so I was happy to try a homemade salsa, something I haven't done ever with tomatillos. I think I went a little heavy with the lime juice but it's gooooood. The salsa was still warm from the roasted jalapenos and tomatillos and I made myself a little chips and salsa snack :) :) :) :)



Click here for the stolen recipe for Roasted Tomatillo Salsa.

Tortilla Soup

The food blogger described this soup as easy and one pot (low mess in my mind) so I was on it. I'm glad that I tried a new recipe today. A soup was a great idea for a very cold, wintry day. And I love an enchilada/tortilla taste. Yum. I do need to say that this isn't very authentic Mexican. It felt like cheating but that's okay.

I think maybe I didn't use enough chicken. I'd probably add more vegetables of some sort too. I guess I'm used to a chunkier soup but the flavor was there. I used a mild canned enchilada sauce. I wonder if hot would have been too hot?

I garnished with avocado, baked tortilla strips (strips with oil and salt, baked at 400 for 10 minutes), cilantro, lime, sour cream, pepper jack cheese. Yum-o!

I've noticed that I don't print out a recipe until I've committed to making it again. I did send this recipe link to my husband so he can print it out tomorrow. I need to add it to my binder for future meal rotations.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Easy One Pot Tortilla Soup.

Pico de Gallo & Mexican Flatbread Pizza

I've never really paid attention when my Mom makes her Pico de gallo. DUMB.

Here's my train of thought of why I needed to make it all of a sudden. We went to a restaurant the other night and on the menu I figured the safest thing to eat was a veggie flatbread pizza. I only ate half and I had a side salad. It was SO GOOD. I figured it wouldn't be hard to make one at home so I looked up "flatbread pizza" in my good ol' Google Reader. Pioneer Woman had the first search result. Good ol' PW! Her version was a Mexican pizza, with beans, her pico de gallo, seasoned meat, cheese, etc. The only icky thing was that she used canned biscuits for her flatbread. I have been trying NOT to use processed food like that. I used Flatout flatbreads (1 WW point each!)






I didn't print the recipe, I just figured I had the idea. Well, Jim wanted to make the pizzas so they'd be ready when I got home. I told him how to make the pizzas. They were just okay. He did everything as I asked. I later found out that we should have used refried beans with salsa mixed in for the bottom "sauce". Our versions of the pizzas were too dry. I liked all of the flavors but I think it needed something else. I'll definitely try these again. Jim wasn't a fan, so maybe I'll make them when he's not home :)


We baked the flatout breads with a little olive oil for a few minutes in a 350 degree oven, this helped it get crispy first. The toppings went on and back in the oven for a few more minutes. Easy.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Pico de gallo.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Mexican flatbread pizzas.

Repeat

I've made this before but we just love it. The flavors are just incredible and it feels like a treat to eat it but it's not bad for you, I don't think. Chipotle Lime Chicken tacos. Yum.

It seemed like a bad idea to have the oven on for several hours on a hot day but really it was only at 250 degrees and it didn't make a difference.

This was the sauce after the blender. I could have used it just like that but I knew it would just get better after a few hours getting happy with the chicken in the oven.








Taco fixings: sour cream, lime wedges, extra sauce, cilantro, tomatoes (I had lots to use up) with lime juice and cilantro.



Mmmmm, leftovers!

Tangy Pork with Tomatillos, Tomatoes, and Cilantro

I LOVE this pork dish. My husband? Not so much. He thinks it's the cumin but he's grown to love cumin and spice, so I think maybe the tomatillos? Or maybe he's just so used to saying that he doesn't love it that he doesn't love it. I think that's it.

It's not at all spicy but it's kind of smoky and sweet at the same time. I just love tomatillos! I wonder if I can ever find any fresh ones at farmer's markets? Well anyway, this reminds me of a dish that my Mom used to make for us when we were young. I don't think her version had the cherry tomatoes, and I think it was spicy?

I found this recipe in a Cooking Light magazine waaaaaaay back. I found the recipe online, of course, because it's a great recipe.

Click here for the online recipe.