Any good Mexican recipes?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I’m getting sick of the same-old recipes week after week, as is my fiance. So, I was wondering if anyone has some tried and true Mexican recipes that are easy for beginners and doesn’t require expensive equipment. My fiance already can make some pretty awesome black beans and rice, but we really want to branch out and try some new things. We were thinking about learning how to make tamales or something with an equally simple ingredient list. A good recipe for non-boxed mexican rice would be great as well.</p>

<p>Thanks :D</p>

2

<p>There is no such thing as easy tamales. They require time, the right ingredients and the right technique. </p>

<p>Enchiladas, on the other hand, are easy and you can make them by the panful…Eat some, freeze the others. the recipes are pretty standard and you can’t go wrong with a basic one. Go online or to any good cookbook.</p>

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<p>Ophiolite - have you grilled fajitas with homemade pico de gallo? That is a very easy dish. Also, one dish that you may consider is burritos Valley style…which entails wrapping and deep frying burritos and serving with an enchilada sauce on top. Tomatilla sauce is also great for dipping and/or topping and not too difficult.</p>

<p>I have to agree about the tamales…difficult. Especially if you cook the meat properly which usually involves a pit. :wink: Tamales (and King Ranch casserole)at the holidays is a tradition for many Texans and we always buy ours from a mom and pop outfit in Houston or in San Antonio.</p>

4

<p>ophiolite~</p>

<p>I grew up in Texas and am a tex-mex connoisseur. I usually leave the cooking of the good authentic stuff to the experts :slight_smile: , but this Cooking Light recipe is a family favorite around here. It’s healthy, easy, and tastes remarkably tex-mex (and it’s easily doubled if you have company)! </p>

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5

<p>Skip the tamales. Every Mexican family I know only makes them once a year. Enchiladas can be easy. The quickest way is to buy canned red enchilada sauce, cheese already shredded and corn tortillas. You can add cooked chicken or if you are in a rush buy a precooked chicken and use that. Like someone else said I usually make two pans. 1 for that night and another to put in the freezer.
If you like green salsa. Do an internet search for roasted tomatillo salsa. It is easy to make and it is great in green enchiladas.
Another simple mexican meal is grill chicken and have on hand an assortment of condiments including guacamole. Slice the chicken and put in warm corn tortillas and then top with your favorite toppings.
Tri-tip burritos. Use the leftover beans and rice and cube bbq tri-tip and add cheese wrap in large flour tortillas.
Ground beef tacos are also a standard. You can fry the corn tortillas or make soft tacos using flour tortillas.
Tostada’s are also easy. You can buy premade shells or fry up the corn tortillas flat.
If you couldn’t tell we eat Mexican food pretty regularly.
We even eat peanut butter and jelly in a warm flour tortilla.</p>

6

<p>Here’s one. Makes a good meal and then the leftovers are perfect for making burritos or whatever:</p>

<ul>
<li>Exported from MasterCook *</li>
</ul>

<p>Cochinita Pibil (Yucatan Pork)</p>

<p>Recipe By :c.1996, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :4:00
Categories : Ethnic Main Dishes
Mexican Pork
Spicy</p>

<p>Amount Measure Ingredient – Preparation Method</p>

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<p>2 Tablespoons Achiote/Annatto seed
8 bay leaves – crumbled
3 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground thyme
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
6 allspice berries
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons black pepper – ground</p>

<p>12 cloves garlic – chopped</p>

<p>1 1/2 cups orange juice
4 limes – Juice of</p>

<p>4 pounds pork butt or shoulder – 2-in cubes</p>

<p>1 pound banana leaves (optional) – softened low flame</p>

<p>2 white onions, sliced – 1/2 inch thick
5 Roma tomatoes, sliced – 1/2 inch thick
4 Anaheim chile – roasted</p>

<p>Grind spices in spice grinder. Mash garlic with spices in mortar/pestle to form paste. In a medium size bowl, blend achiote paste with orange juice and lime juice. Add the pork, toss to evenly coat and marinate, at least 4 hours.</p>

<p>Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.</p>

<p>Roast, peel, and slice the Anaheim chiles into strips. Heat a dry cast iron skillet over high heat. Char the onion until blackened on both sides. Char the tomatoes on both sides. Reserve. Brown the pork cubes in skillet)</p>

<p>Line a large baking dish with one layer of the banana leaves or foil. Arrange the pork in an even layer and top with the onions, tomatoes and chiles and all the marinade. Cover with more banana leaves and wrap the dish tightly in foil.</p>

<p>Bake for 2 1/2 hours or until the pork is tender and moist. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes. Unwrap and serve with corn tortillas.</p>

7

<p>Easy tostados:</p>

<p>Canned refried beans
Crispy tostado shells (pkg. from grocer, the flat ones)
1/2 lb. ground beef
grated cheese
lettuce, tomato, onion
taco sauce or salsa
pkg taco seasoning (such as Lowery’s or McCormick)</p>

<p>Cook ground beef and add taco seasoning according to directions. Spread beans on tostado, then, beef; top with cheese. Heat in oven or microwave until cheese melts, then add lettuce tomato, chopped onion, salsa or taco sauce. Sliced avocado and lime juice is also good on top. Another option is to skip the beef and put shreded ham on top.</p>

<p>Mexican Rice:</p>

<h2>1 cup white rice, 1/2 chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 TBS. Knorr’s Caldo de Tomate (tomato bouillon). In 10-12 in. fry pan, fry rice in 2-3 TBS corn oil (medium heat) for a couple of minutes, add onion and garlic and fry until rice gets a little beige, stirring the whole time. Add 2 cups water, stir in caldo de tomate, a pinch of salt. Bring to boil, turn to low and simmer for 20 minutes.</h2>

<p>IDMom, aaah - King Ranch Casserole. Haven’t made that in awhile!</p>

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<p>interesteddad’s views on “easy for beginners” may not jibe with the views of a lot of beginners ;). But his recipe sounds great. For true “easy for beginners,” we do this one a lot. Tex-Mex is always the first thing DS wants when he comes home. And, in Maine, that means home cooking because we ain’t not going to find it in any restaurant around here.</p>

<p>Southwest Hot Dish
1 lb. ground beef
1cup chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 small can diced green chiles
1 can black beans
2 cans pozole (white hominy)*
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. chili powder ( we use a lot more)
1 cup grated cheddar</p>

<p>Brown ground beef, onion and pepper. Drain fat. Combine remaining ingredients, except cheese. Place in 2 1/2 qt. casserole and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until bubbly. Top with cheese and bake about 10 minutes more.</p>

<p>*This is NOT hominy grits, but hominy/pozole itself (looks like white garbanzo beans, but is a corn product). It can be found even in Maine supermarkets in the Mexican aisle. Delicious and adds great texture to the dish.</p>

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<p>BTW, I am a pretty good cook and have played around with most of the world’s cuisines (from scratch). I find that Mexican is actually one of the more difficult (or at least time consuming) cuisines.</p>

<p>If you want to explore interesting dishes, start giving each other great cookbooks for Christmas. The gold standard in Mexican cookbooks are those by Rick Bayless. Alas, his major work on Mexican cooking “Mexican Kitchen” is a very advanced cookbook. Try his “Mexican Everyday” or “Mexican: One Plate at a Time”.</p>

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<p>One of the main keys to Mexican cooking is to get comfortable whipping up a fresh salsa (fresh meaning totally uncooked). It’s just chopped super-ripe tomatoes, onions, fresh peppers, cilantro, lime juice, a dash of olive oil, maybe a teaspoon of honey, salt, pepper. This same approach can be applied to a zillion ingredients – fresh tomatilla salsa (I love this!), mango/scallion “salsa”, roasted corn salsa. And, so forth. </p>

<p>These can then be served as sides or as toppings for grilled seafood, chicken, etc. If you really want to have some fun, pick up one of Bobby Flay’s cookbooks. After a few of his meals, a lightbulb will go on and you’ll be making up your own salsas and vinagrette sauces – loosely based on Mexican techniques.</p>

<p>As for Mexican rice: it’s simple. You make your own fresh salsa (I usually make Bayless’ tomato/habeneros salsa). Then, you saute uncooked raw white rice in a tablespoon or two of olive oil (or lard, or butter or…) stirring until the rice turns opaque chalky white. Then, dump in the salsa and let it "sear and sizzle for a minute. Then, add water, cover the rice, and turn the heat nearly off. 30 minutes later: Mexican red rice. The key is the sauteeing the rice in olive oil to start.</p>

<p>Proportions? A cup of uncooked rice, a cup of salsa, and enough water to cover the rice in a saucepan by the distance from your fingertip to your first knuckle (who needs a ruler?). Two quart covered saucepan should work.</p>

<p>I’m sure this recipe is in all of Bayless’ cookbooks. That’s how I first learned how to make it.</p>

<p>I use a decidely non-Mexican white rice – Thai Jasmine rice – because that’s what we usually have in the cupboard (dirt cheap in Asian markets and really good). But, any long-grain raw white rice would work fine. Don’t use converted or instant or any other pre-cooked rice.</p>

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<p>Interesteddad: my H is always trying to perfect his pico de gallo. It seems to taste different depending on how strong the onion is on any particular day. Do you make a good pico or guac? </p>

<p>And the next question: how do you make stir fry taste chinese?? Something seems to be missing to give it that authentic flavor.</p>

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<p>Yeah. Probably.</p>

<p>Although, if you think about it…the Yucatin Pork dish I posted above is basically just a Mexican pot roast. Same cooking technique.</p>

<p>I try to get smart and do the stuff like charring onions and chile peppers on the grill ahead of time – like when cooking hamburgers the night before! I’ve acually made this whole dish on a weber kettle grill – it’s even better than way. I’ve made it with and without bananna leaves (they are hard as heck to find in New England!)</p>

<p>The same basic seasoning paste – the Achiote Seed, garlic, salt, and sour orange juice (or orange/lime combo) is incredible on grilled fish for grilled fish tacos – my favorite Rick Bayless recipe. He wraps the fish in banana leaves for grilling…I prefer grilling it directly over the fire so you get nice crunchy charred bits. A little grilled fish, a little homemade salsa, a little Mexican red rice scooped up with a warm tortilla — yeow that is good eatin’.</p>

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<p>blucroo~</p>

<p>It is very difficult to replicate at home the authentic Chinese flavor of many dishes because the way that stir fry is cooked in restaurants involves a SEARING HOT large, flat surface that can cook the food very, very quickly. We used to frequent the same Chinese restaurant once a week for many, many years, and the chef there told us that HE can’t even cook the same food at home because of the type of equipment needed.</p>

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<p>I’ll warn you beforehand that this is not, technically, anything resembling authentic, but is is quick and tasty and contains tomatoes and cilantro and other things like that. :D</p>

<p>It’s a Rachael Ray recipe which is basically grilled cheese and tomato soup, Mexicanish.</p>

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<p>I have a few easy standby’s –</p>

<p>burritos</p>

<p>Cook 1 lb ground beef, drain and add 1 package of taco seasoning with some water (follow directions on package). Use a 10" flour tortilla, spread some refried beans, a spoonful of ground beef mixture and some shredded cheddar cheese. Fold in both sides, and roll up. Wrap up in a piece of foil, about 6" long. You can refrigerate for up to 3 or 4 days. When you are ready to eat them, cook in 350 oven for about 1/2 hour. We like these with La Victoria Salsa Brava.</p>

<p>You can also make easy beef enchiladas. I use corn tortillas and canned red enchilada sauce. (Trader Joe’s has a nice sauce.) Coat a 9 x 12 pan with non stick spray and a layer of enchilada sauce. You can cook the tortillas for a little bit in hot oil, but I usually just warm them up in the microwave. Place a spoonful of the taco meat mixture on the corn shell and roll up. Place in pan – usually 10 or 12 will fit. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, a chopped tomato, some chopped onions and chopped chiles. Cover with foil and cook in 350 oven for about 30 minutes. I usually serve these with rice and refried beans.</p>

<p>I have a good chicken enchilada recipe, but I’ll have to post that later.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if a fresh salsa is something that needs to be “perfected”…it’s one of those things that is probably different every time.</p>

<p>Bayless uses white spanish onions. He makes a big point about rinsing the onions and draining them after chopping…to cut their strong flavor. I’ve done it that way, but I’m also apt to make it with sweet Vidalia onions.</p>

<p>Bayless wouldn’t approve, but a little dash of honey and a little dash of olive oil really perks up fresh salsas (two Bobby Flay Americano tricks!)</p>

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<p>Well, I don’t know if I do! My daughter’s not back from China yet to tell me…</p>

<p>The biggest mistake people make is using the wrong soy sauce. Kikkoman is Japanese soy sauce and tastes absolutely nothing like Chinese soy sauces. It’s a completely different product.</p>

<p>The two staple soy sauces of Chinese cooking are Light (which is tan in color and very salty) and Dark (which is dark red and not as salty). The Light does not color foods and is what is used in most stir fries. The dark colors foods and seems to be used more typically for marinating. My favorite brand is Kimlan (a Taiwanese brand), but Pearl River Bridge (a Chinese brand) is pretty good and widely available. La Choy and Chun King aren’t brewed soy sauces at all, but rather chemical concoctions – dog poop, don’t use 'em!</p>

<p>Other staples are Shao Xing cooking wine (whenever you see sherry in a recipe, this is what you really should be using). Chinkiang vinegar, which is dark, almost like Balsamic. Lee Kum Kee chile garlic sauce. If you use oyster sauce, the only one to buy is Lee Kum Kee PREMIUM oyster sauce. All of these are available at any US Asian market.</p>

<p>The other challenge in chinese cooking is that our usual wok setups won’t get anywhere near hot enough. Real wok burners have three or four times more BTU output than a typical stovetop. Almost impossible on an electric range. The workaround I’ve found is a LeCreuset cast iron wok. I can put it over a burner on high for ten minutes until it is smokin’ hot (literally) and it holds the heat. Then, I stir fry the veggies, remove them, stir fry the meat, then add the veggies back in with the sauce as the final step. Otherwise, you just end up boiling everything instead of searing it.</p>

<p>Also, remember that most of our familiar “Chinese” recipes (like General Tsao’s Chicken) aren’t even remotely Chinese!</p>

<p>I have not found a definitive Chinese cookbook like there is for Mexican (Rick Bayless), Thai (Victor Sodsook), Italian (Marcella Hazen), French (Julia Child), Cajun (Paul Prudhomme), Japanese (Shizuo Tsuji), etc. However, the best I’ve found is one by Yan-Kit – good chapter on ingredients, simple instructions, good selection of recipes. Most “chinese” or wok cookbooks are too Americanized for my taste – substituting sherry for the Chinese cooking wine, not specifying the type of soy sauce, etc. The recipes are tasty, but not Chinese.</p>

<p>Actually, Victor Sodsook’s True Thai probably has the best real-world primer on shopping for Chinese ingredients with detailed sections on soy sauces, yellow bean pastes, oyster sauces, chile garlic sauces, etc. I figured it out from his chapter of ingredients and a bewildering couple of hours on my first trip to an Asian market.</p>

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<p>The Rachel Ray recipe reminded me of a really simple quick meal that I think I got from Emeril. Not Mexican, but yummy and fast, fast, fast.</p>

<p>Basically just a grilled cheese sandwich made with two flour tortillas and a center filling of brie and crumbled blue cheeses. A litttle butter, grilled like a sandwich. Slice it into sixths like a pizza and serve. Emeril served it with some kind of apple “compote” concoction, which is good, but it’s a tasty treat even without.</p>

<p>Or we could go slow, slow, slow and I’ll tell you how to make homemade corn tortillas! And, if you buy the tortilla press, you can also use it to make home-made Indian chappatis or puffed poori breads! Puffed poori bread and a plate of Lamb Vindaloo. It doesn’t get any better than that.</p>

<p>Well, maybe Fettucini Alfredo with homemade pasta and Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese.</p>

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<p>My guacamole is <em>legendary</em>, if I do say so myself.</p>

<p>The quantities can vary according to your taste and mood. But don’t eliminate ANY of the ingredients. They are <em>all</em> the secret ingredient.</p>

<p>Avocados - about 5 ripe
1-2 limes
Fresh Cilantro, lots, chopped or minced
Fresh garlic, finely minced -4 to 5 cloves
1 tomato, chopped
Red or sweet onion, finely chopped
Green chile salsa, 2 tbsp or more
Chili powder -1 tbsp
Salt to taste</p>

<p>Mash the avocados. Juice the limes and add. Mix in everything else. Serve immediately.</p>

<p>Do NOT use sour cream. Do NOT use store-bought guacamole as your base. It will not be the same. Okay, if you just can’t tolerate cilantro, you’ll have to leave it out, but then it won’t be legendary.</p>

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<p>Vindaloo! Yum!</p>

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I am beginning to re-think my Thanksgiving Day menu :).</p>

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<p>Wow, go to bed and <em>poof</em> so many great recipe ideas!</p>

<p>Thanks so much everyone, it’s going to make grocery shopping relatively easy this week! ;)</p>