Mango Tartlets

After having a bowl of hatch chile verde I had these chilling in the fridge for dessert. I got this recipe for these tartlets from my mother in law, who is from mexico. You may also sub strawberries for the mango. You can find the Maria Cookies at most mexican markets, if you cannot find them you may sub approx 10 whole graham crackers. If you sub strawberries, use about 1-1/2 cups.

Mango Tartlets



1 Mango peeled and diced
1/2 cups white sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
6 ounces Maria Crackers
1/4 cup minced piloncillo (you may sub dark brown sugar)
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 8oz. packages cream cheese at room temp
1/2 cup mexican poblano sour cream

1.Mix the mago and 2 tablespoon sugar in small bowl and set aside.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place six tartlet pans with removable bottoms on baking sheet. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray.
3.Combine crackers and piloncillo in food processor, process to form crumbs. add butter and process until crumbs come together. Press crumbs into the tartlet pans. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.



4.With electric mixer whip cream cheese and poblano cream in bowl until fluffy. Add remaining 1/2 cup white sugar and whip until combined. Reserve 2 tablespoons mango. Fold remaining mango to cream mixture. Spoon the mango filling into the tartlet shells, dividing equally.



Enjoy!

Hatch Chile Verde

I love the taste of hatch chiles, I prefer fresh but around here I dont get that to often. So when I found them on sale I felt like it was my lucky day! For anyone who has tried chile verde its only obvious why one would love this dish. You walk into almost any taqueria and you will find chile verde on the menu. The chile will likely be made with chunks of pork shoulder, slow cooked in a green chile sauce of jalapeno chiles, garlic, and tomatillos. It's a favorite filling for burritos and tacos, and wonderful just on its own with a bit of rice and tortillas. You must roast the vegetables first to get that great flavor in chile verde. Also if you cant find the hatch chiles a couple poblano chiles and jalapenos should work okay. So heres my recipe.

Hatch Chile Verde



1-1/2 lbs Pork Spareribs - diced into 1/2 inch peices
1 teaspoon adobo seasoning (ex. goya)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 shallot minced
2 bay leaves
8-10 tomatillos - husks removed, cleaned
8 hatch chile peppers
5 cloves garlic
1 white onion - quartered
1 bunch cilantro
5 tablespoons oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1.Heat broiler to low. Cover cookie sheet with foil, add hatch chile peppers, onion, garlic, tomatillos to pan. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over tray, roll around to coat ingredients on pan. Place in under broiler. Watch pepper and tomatillos for browning, turn them to get all sides brown/black.








2.In pot place 3 tablespoons oil, place over medium heat. Coat pork in adobo seasoning, black pepper, salt, add to pan with oil. Add bay leaves and shallot to pan also. Cook until brown on all sides.

3.Remove items from broiler when done, about 15-20 minutes. Remove peppers and place them into paper bag to steam them, to help skins remove easily. Add the rest of ingredients to blender. Let peppers set about 15 minutes. Remove peppers from bag and peel skin off. Add them to blender. Blend until smooth and set aside.

4.Once pork is brown on all sides add 2 cups chicken stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chile mixture to pot. Also add oregano, cumin, ground cloves, and white pepper. Simmer another 15 minutes. Add chopped cilantro and remove from heat.

5.Salt and pepper to taste and serve.




Enjoy!!

Key Lime Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I was craving pound cake, and I had a small bag of key limes that needed to be used. So why not combine the two? Well, that and the addition of coconut extract and rum. The flavors were wonderful, and just what I had been looking for.

Key Lime Cream Cheese Pound Cake



1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
3 cups sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
6 eggs
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon rum extract
1/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and cream cheese. Add the key lime juice, coconut and rum extracts to mixture slowly beating. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and baking powder; mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for about 1 hour and 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing. Sprinkle lime zest over top of cake.

Chipotle Albondigas

Albóndigas is Spanish for "meatballs," and sopa de albóndigas is Mexican meatballs in a bowlful of hot broth. It's favorite comfort food in Mexico and a great way to warm up a cold day. Its another of my favorites, it seems almost every dish is my favorite! Dont let the long list of ingredients scare you. They take a bit to make but the end result if worth it! But here are chipotle albondigas:

Chipotle Albondigas

1-1/2 lbs ground beef
6 slices of diced bacon (optional)
1/2 tablespoon chili ancho powder
1 tablespoon mexican oregano
1/4 tablespoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon marjoram
1-1/2 tablespoon fresh mint leaves
6 garlic cloves minced
5 small tomatillos (diced)
1 white onion (diced)
2 eggs
1/2 cup dried italian bread crumbs
2 cups cooked rice (mexican style rice)
1 7oz can tomato paste
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 4 oz can chipotle peppers in abodo
1 small bag mixed vegetables
6 small new potatoes, peeled, diced, boiled and set aside
4 limes (cut into wedges)
tortillas or bolillo rolls

1.Heat skillet and add diced bacon. Let cook until tender, not CRISPY! Set aside.

2.In stock pot fill about half way with water (about 10 cups water). Add the can of tomato paste and chicken bouillon and bring to boil. Dice tomatillos and mint leaves.



3.In large bowl place hamburger, rice, bread crumbs, chili ancho, thyme, fresh cracked black pepper, salt, mexican oregano, majoram, fresh mint leaves, tomatillos, and onion. Mix ingredients together well. Add the 2 eggs and mix again.



4.Form small balls (approx. 1 inch) out of meat mixture. Slowly and gently ladle them into the boiling water. Repeat until meat mixture is gone. Add diced bacon to pot and dice 2 chipotle peppers and add them also. Add bag of mixed vegetables.

5.Turn heat to low and let simmer about 10 minutes.

6.Place a couple spoonfuls of cooked potatoes into bowl and ladle meatballs and broth over it. Serve with limes and tortillas or bolillo rolls.



Enjoy!!

Mexican Chicken Adobo Marinade

This is one of my favorite marinades, not to spicy and its awesome in quesadillas! This recipe is varied, depending on whos making it. This is my version. Enjoy.

Mexican Chicken Adobo Marinade



1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 Guajillo chiles~ Stems removed, toasted lightly
3 Arbol Chiles~ Stems removed, toasted lightly
4 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
1/8 Teaspoon Coriander
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Mexican Oregano
2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Water
Salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

1.Place toasted chiles, galic, cumin, coriander, cloves, oregano, water, vinegar and salt into blender; blend until smooth.
2.Pound chicken to about 3/4 inch thickness. Rub marinade in chicken generously, pouring extra over top. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Or refridgerate for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature if necessary.
3.Heat grill to medium-high and grill chicken turning once, until charred in places and cooked through. About 10 minutes. Remove chicken and wrap in foil and let stand 5minutes before slicing and serving.

I like to thow mine into quesadillas! Which are pretty basic, just tortillas, this cooked chicken and oaxaca cheese, then grill or cook on the griddle.

Twisted Carnitas

Carnitas are one of my favorite things to eat. It must have something to do with that juicy center and crispy outside. Given today's climate for more low-fat, healthier foods, alternative methods like braising and roasting have become popular. These non-traditional methods tend to produce a less savory result. The traditional way to cook carnitas is in a copper pot which disperses the heat evenly (one may use any thick bottomed pot to get the same result). Lard is used to cover the dish in proportion to the amount of meat being cooked. Once the lard has melted, pork and flavorings are added (usually salt, oregano, marjoram, thyme, bay leaf, crushed garlic cloves). Traditional carnitas is then made by process of simmering the meat until tender over a very low heat. Once appropriate tenderness is achieved, the heat is turned up and the outside of the pork begins to crisp. The carnitas can then be cooled and shredded. After searching the internet for different recipes to try them, I decided to make up my own. They turned out great! Everyone gobbled them up and my husband took the left overs for lunch to share with his co-workers. Here is what I came up with:


Twisted Carnitas (Little Meats)





2.5 Pounds Pork Shoulder
2 Cups Water
2-1/2 Tablespoons Chicken Bouillon Powder (Or 2-1/2 cubes)
1 Lime, quartered
1 Green Chile, stems removed
1 large white onion, quartered
8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1-1/2 Tablespoons seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon Mexican Oregano
1/4 Teaspoon Thyme
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
1 tablespoon ground black peppercorns
2 bay leaves

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine seasoned salt, cumin, coriander, mexican oregano, thyme, white pepper, ground black peppercorns; stir to mix together. Place pork into dutch oven and press spice mixture onto pork shoulder evenly. Place diced garlic on top of mixture on pork. Place the limes, chile, onion,and bay leaves into Dutch oven surrounding pork. Add the 2 cups of water and chicken powder dutch oven surrounding pork and cover pot.
2.Place into oven for 3-1/2 hours, checking every hour and turning the pork. During the last hour of cooking remove pork and cut pork into 4 large chunks. Place back into oven for last hour.
3.Once done remove pork from pot and place onto a baking sheet. Shred pork with forks, pour 1/4 cup of juices over pork on baking sheet. Place back into oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place onto dish and serve.

Note: Your pork should be nice and crisp, if you would like it more or less crispy you may adjust the cooking time.


My son sneaking a bite

I served mine with rice, beans, avocado slices, cilantro, onion, chipotle salsa and salsa verde.

Nopale Rellanos (fried Cactus)

Lets first start off with a little history about why I decided to make this dish. When I first met my husband he took me to a little taco place that served carnitas with nopales. Nopales? Never heard of them. They made a salad verion of them that you can top your tacos with. So I asked him what are Nopales? His response "Cactus"!!! Now there was no way I was going to try cactus. He's crazy. Or so I though anyway. It took me about a year before I finally tried them, and to my surprise I loved them. They had a tangy-green-beany-taste. Hard to describe, but either way I loved them, and wanted to learn how to cook more with them. So the journey began. I have several favorite that I make with them such as Ensalada de Nopales (cactus salad), Nopales con Puerco (cactus with pork), Nopales con bistek (cactus with beef), and of course Nopales con Pollo (cactus with chicken). I had been using the jarred kind because that way I didnt need to worry about those sharp thorns, but my curiousity got the best of me. I had to try to make fresh ones. Then came this recipe. My husband described it to me and I called my mother-in-law to get a list of ingredients and the fun began! Also, since making these fresh ones I will no longer but the jarred version, they taste so much better fresh. So here's the recipe:

Nopale Rellanos
3 Whole Cactus Paddles
Husk only of 1 Tomatillo
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 lb Monterrey Cheese or Oaxaca Cheese
4 Eggs - Seperate egg whites and yolks
1 Cup Flour
Oil for frying

Sauce:
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 White Onion
1 Jalapeno
3 Garlic Cloves
1-2 Tablespoons Oil
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (to taste)
1/3 cup water
1/2 chicken bouillon cube

Now I will worn you before I give the instructions to be careful with the cactus paddle because its very painful to get the thorns in your finger. I use tongs to handle them when I clean them.

1.To prepare the cactus, hold by the end and use a scrub brush (or kitchen sponge) to lightly scrub off the thorns on cacus paddle. Flip and repeat on other side. Set aside and finish then all. Cut the "stem/butt" end off of cactus, and continue to cut around the outside edge of cactus. Cut each directly in half.







2.Place tomato, onion, jalapeno, galic cloves and oil onto foil wrapped pan and place into oven on low broil until skins are blistered. About 20 minutes. Remove skins and place into blender with cumin, water, salt, pepper and chicken bouillon. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

3.Bring pot of water to boil, add tomatillo husk, salt and cactus. Simmer until cactus is tender, about 45 minutes. Drain water and discard husk.
4.Beat egg whites until stiff. Continue beating and add the egg yolks. Set aside. Place flour into dish big enough to dredge each cactus. Heat skillet with oil for frying.



5.Place paddles of same size together. Take slices of cheese and place onto one peice of cactus, make sure its not sticking out the side. Place matching sized peice of cactus on top (like a sandwich). Carefully hold it together and dredge it into the flour, make sure the flour stays well by rubbing it into the cactus leaves. Then dip the cactus into egg mixture, cover all sides well. You may use a fork and spoon and carefully transfer this into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, flipping only once. About 7-9 minutes on each side. Once golden brown remove from oil and let drain on paper towels. Continue until all are done.











6.Place tomato salsa mixture onto plate and place cactus on top. Serve with tortillas and sour cream.



Enjoy!!