Extra Schmaltz!

We make this really easy recipe often enough that it's worth posting. It's chicken in a simple sauce, often served on a tostada with refried beans and whatever tasty toppings you want (esp. avocado and cotija cheese). A local restaurant near us has this style of chicken as one of their standard meat options, and it's supposedly their specialty. I personally think this recipe produces something very, very close to the same. The adobo peppers tend to be a bit spicy for some eaters - one way to moderate this is to alter how much of the sauce you mix with the shredded chicken. I also suggest making a double version of this recipe and reserving some sauce - that way, next time you want to make it, you just throw sauce on chicken and you're done. You can use raw chicken, or you can use the sauce to cleverly use leftover poultry from other meals (this actually might make turkey edible). The recipe below is adapted from the recipe here , in turn adapted from the Minimali...

This dish is like the mullet of Mexican food: it tempers the healthful protein of chicken breast with the decadent fattiness of chorizo. Everyone wins! I grilled the chicken, but you could cook it any way that works for you. Most restaurants drown this dish in cheese, but it really only needs a little bit to tie the dish together. Would also be delicious with a fried egg on top. From the left: yellow rice, pico de gallo, chori pollo, avocado, and black refried beans. 4 chicken breasts 2 links or ~1/2 pound loose chorizo 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1 onion, sliced 3 Tbsp. oil 2 Tbsp. lard 1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano 1 Tbsp. black pepper 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. Adobo seasoning 1/2 tsp. cayenne salt to taste 1/2 c. grated Queso de Oaxaca or Monterrey Jack, if desired If the chicken pieces are irregularly sized, pound until they are flat and uniform in thickness. Salt the chicken breasts to taste. Combine the oregano, black pepper, garlic powder, adobo, and cayene, then r...

These are truly a labor of love, but the payoff is delicious (also, they freeze well). You could make these with any meat (ie shredded chicken) or even just potatoes or cheese. This uses hot water pastry crust, which rolls out like a dream and holds up well to chunky fillings. The dough I used for these is slightly different than my previous version , so I will post the full recipe. The yellow pepper paste (ají amarillo) I used adds a very nice medium spicy flavor to the filling. I found it at Sun Foods, and it is probably available at most Latino markets. Makes 50 6" empanadas Beef Filling 2-3 lb beef chuck roast 4 medium red potatoes 1/2 c. frozen peas 6 green onions 1c + 2 c. beef bullion 2 packets unflavored gelatine 1/4 c. chopped parsley 1/4 c. aji yellow pepper paste (optional) OR 2 Tbsp. tomato paste + 3 Tbsp. hot water + 1/2 tsp. cayenne 2 Tbsp. white vinegar 2 Tbsp. salt 1 Tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. black pepper Optional additions: Hard boiled egg sl...

This really is essentially a variation of Lillian's recipe for green enchilada sauce , though not developed as such. Tomatillos and green peppers are simply delicious. This takes a little bit of time to prepare in the morning (or you could do it the night before and leave everything in the crockpot in the fridge) 1.5 lbs (6-7) tomatillos 1 large onion, cut into "wings" 2-4 chiles verdes (Anaheim or Hatch are good) 3 cloves garlic 1 lime, juiced 1/3-1/2 bunch cilantro 2 tsp. salt, or to taste 1 Tbl. sugar, or to taste 2-3 pounds meat (beef or pork roast, though chicken would probably be fine) Remove tomatillo husks and their stems. Place them end up along with the peppers (stems trimmed to reduce burning) in the broiler. Cook until the tomatillos are getting mushy, while rotating the peppers so that they get evenly blackened. Peel the peppers and remove their stems. Remove the more burnt parts of the tomatillos. Throw everything into the crockpot, and have i...

This is not exactly the dish from our childhood, since it's a bit more complex than the "quick, we need some food" version that's in the Melting Pot cookbook. However, the freshly roasted poblano pepper really gives it a lot more flavor than if you use canned chilies, and roasting them really doesn't take that long. I recommend gloves for processing the pepper.   Ingredients 2 poblano peppers (or if you're spiciness adverse, 1 poblano and 1 Anaheim pepper), roasted, skinned, and cut into thin 1-2" long strips 1 can black beans, drained 1/4 onion, minced finely 1 c. grated cheddar (for filling) and 1/2 c. for topping 2 Tbsp. minced cilantro 1/4-1/2 c. salsa (depending on desired juiciness) (Optional) 1 cooked chicken breast, shredded 1-2 tsp. salt Corn tortillas Diced tomatoes for garnish   Instructions Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Whomp together everything except 1/2 c. of cheese, which you'll use for the topping. Check the seas...

Pozole is a hearty Mexican soup or stew that come in several different styles (with pork or chicken, red, white or green). This recipe can be made either as a pozole, using hominy, or as a white chicken chili, using cannellini beans (or heck, use both). The tomatillos are optional, but add a nice tartness and more color.  You will be surprised that all the green chiles don't make it very hot, so feel free to up the spice level if you like. This serves 6 hungry people.  This is the chicken chili style, which uses beans instead of hominy.   3 lbs bone-in chicken, skin removed 2 large red onions, one half reserved for garnish 3 jalapeño chiles, one reserved for garnish 3 anaheim chiles 2 poblano chiles 5-6 tomatillos, husked 7 garlic cloves, crushed 1 heaping Tbsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. ground coriander 2 cans white beans or hominy, rinsed and drained 1/2 bundle cilantro, chopped Salt and black pepper Oil or lard Garnishes : 3 limes, quartered (reserve jui...

I don't know if this is a true chimichurri: if you want a discussion of what that means, read here . What it is is a zingy green-ish sauce that's good on meat and fish. It's very intense when you first make it, but it will mellow in the fridge. I used the herbs I had on hand--you can certainly alter these if you like. I actually left out the oil last time, since I wanted to use it as an extra-zingy topping. If you are going to use it as a marinade, add the oil, which will help with heat transfer when you cook with it, and will protect the herbs from scorching. 1/2 c. mild olive oil or grapeseed oil (optional--see note above) 1/2 c. onion 3 garlic cloves 1 c. chopped tomatoes 1 small medium-spicy chili 1 bundle cilantro 1/2 bundle parsley 2 limes, juiced 1/4 c. red or white wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. dried mint, or several branches of fresh 1 Tbsp. thyme 1 Tbsp. marjoram 2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. black pepper 1 tsp. salt 3 Tbsp. salt or to taste 2 bay leaves G...

Well, we can't have a red enchilada recipe without a green enchilada recipe! Heck, we even have a half-assed mole enchilada recipe . I took it upon myself to make these from scratch, since it seems like there are always tomatillos for sale around here, and my food processor is working again. You can use canned sauce instead, if you like. Salsa Verde 1.5 lbs (6-7) tomatillos 1 large onion 2-4 chiles verdes 3 cloves garlic 1 lime, juiced 1 small handful cilantro 1/2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. salt, or to taste 1 tsp. sugar, or to taste 1 c. chicken broth, with extra chicken boullion added Remove tomatillo husks and cut onion in half. Place tomatillos, onion, and chiles underneath the broiler (or on the grill) to roast, turning a few times as needed. When they have lots of brown, roasty edges, remove them and let cool. Remove the roasted skin from the chiles. Feed all sauce ingredients into food processor and process until you have a chunky-smooth sauce. You will probably have sauce le...

I recall making this very simple recipe many times as a young'un, when Mom was really busy working and herding us kids around. It was a bit of a standard, along with noodle kugel, that was easy enough for kids to make (and explains why it is not quite as complicated most of the recipes on this blog.) I just made it now, and remembered why it was great - you can go from zero to dinner in about half an hour. It's a bit of an operation ice box recipe - you use more or less the cans you have around, and you can replace some of the ingredients. I'm just giving a basic idea below. It always turns out deliciously, but I'm sure you could do some other things to make it even more delicious (add pork products, beer, etc). Ingredients: 1 onion 1 green bell pepper 2 cloves garlic 1 pound ground beef (optional for vegetarian style) 2 cans stewed tomatoes (not drained of liquid) 2 cans beans (one should be chili beans, but you could have black beans as well) (don't drain these) 1...

A standard of Tex-Mex cuisine, migas are a great way to use up old, stale corn tortillas. The ingredients are mostly up to you, but this is sort of the standard: Old corn tortillas, cut into squares Onion, minced Bell peppers, diced (this is optional, but I like it) Jalapenos (if you don't like this too hot, use pickled jalapenos, they're not normally too hot) Tomatoes or chunky salsa Cilantro Eggs Cheese (cheddar, pepper jack,whatever) Saute tortillas in some oil until they get a bit more transparent (they're gonna get cooked a lot more, so don't overdo it too much), then add onions and cook until halfway to transparent, then add peppers. I like to add some of the cilantro here. When everything's pretty well cooked, add tomatoes or salsa, cook for a bit. Eggs should be beaten with s&p, cilantro and some milk if possible. Pour eggs over everything, stir, and towards then end add cheese. I like to brown the whole mass a bit. Serve with lots of salsa on top. Tradi...

I say: you can never have too many bean recipes! They're cheap, filling, flavorful, and, um...euphonious. This one is enhanced by serving it with brown rice that has been roasted, to release the nutty flavor. Some hearty avocado slices make a nice addition too. This is based off a Whole Foods (gasp!) recipe. I have discovered that I only like brown rice if it has been cooked for a very long time, which is not possible on the stovetop without scorching. I use the 'brown rice' setting on my rice cooker, but you can accomplish the same thing by cooking it for an hour in a very slow oven. Roasted Brown Rice, oven style 2 c. brown rice 4 c. water 1/2 tsp. salt Preheat the oven to 225. Heat the rice on the stovetop in a Dutch oven, stirring constantly until it is lightly roasted. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Put the lid on and place the pot in the oven for one hour. Fluff before serving. Chili Black Beans 1 lb. black beans, soaked overnight 1 large ham hock (or sm...

This is not a real recipe per se - just sort of a meal idea, and you can add and subtract as you like. I bet it'd be really good with a bit of meat (chorizo), and I didn't have any cheese on hand, which would definitely make it better. Note also that you need either a metal skillet that's oven friendly, or you can try to pour things into a baking pan in the last step. Anyway, it's a Magidow classic: 1 can black beans 1/4-1/2 Bell pepper, minced 1/4-1/2 Onion, minced Jalapeno peppers to taste, minced Garlic, minced 3-4 eggs Cilantro Spices Preheat oven to 400. Saute peppers, onion and garlic with butter or oil on a low flame, preferably in an oven friendly skillet. While it's cooking, mince up some cilantro, toss it into the eggs, and beat. You could also add some cheese to the eggs as well. Add the beans, and whatever spices you want (cumin, chili powder, etc), cooking to reduce extra liquid if necessary. Remove from heat, pour the beaten eggs over the w...

I remember looking this recipe up on the internet in around 1998 and I had to do exhaustive searching to find a single recipe. Now there are tons, as well as several videos of how to make it. Pão de Queijo are just as easy to make as buttermilk biscuits, but are arguably more delicious. They are springy little puffs of tapioca starch and cheese and go well with virtually anything--what's more, they only take about 35 minutes to make from start to finish. The only hard part is keeping tapioca starch (aka tapioca flour, manioc flour, cassava flour) on hand, though this is easy to find at any Asian store and is usually cheap. You also need a hard, mild cheese that won't overwhelm the puffs. I used a combination of parmesan and white cheddar. 2 c. tapioca starch 1 c. milk 1 c. water 1/2 c. vegetable oil 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs ~1 c. grated hard, mild cheese Preheat the oven to 450. Place the tapioca starch in a large bowl. Bring the milk, water, vegetable oil, and salt to a boil. Pour i...

Here's a flavorful way to use leftover meat. I made mine with leftover steak from Valentine's Day, but they could be made with anything--the key is to keep the filling simple. I'm not wild about enchiladas that use canned sauce, so I made my own sauce--it's not much more work than opening a can, and the result is so much better! I'd like to try making the sauce with whole chiles one day, but until I'm feeling more ambitious, I'll use this recipe which calls for chili powder. These use corn torillas. Sauce: 1/4 c. oil or lard 2 Tbsp. flour 1/4 c. chili powder 1 c. tomato sauce 1 1/2 c. hot water 1 tsp each: oregano, cumin, garlic powder, onion flakes Heat the fat in a saucepan or skillet until quite hot. Add the flour and chili powder and stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture starts to brown (take care not to burn). Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Allow to cool before making enchiladas. Filli...

As you can tell, I'm on a cooking roll. Lately I've been into crisp, thin cookies (thanks mom for the King Arthur Flour Baking Cookbook!). These cookies are the state cookie of New Mexico and traditionally served at Christmas. I made biscochitos a couple of weeks ago using shortening, but this time I tried it with more authentic lard. The shelf-stable stuff you find at the grocery store is hydrogenated and tastes funky, so I made a special trip to the Midtown Global Market and found the real deal (hopefully I can find good lard up on Central too). Here's yet another photo I haven't managed to fit the subject into: This recipe makes a ton of cookies (~ 3-4 dozen), but if you want even more you can double it. 1/2 lb. lard or shortening 3/4 + 2 Tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. cracked anise seed (can be found at Penzey's) 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp. orange zest (optional) 3 1/4 c. flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 c. brandy or sherry 1/4 c. sugar 2 tsp. Ceylon cinnamon ...

Tonight was Mexican food night here, and it turned out delicioso! Amazingly, tri-tip beef is available at Coborn's Grocery in Ramsey, so that's what I used, but I think that a "sirloin tip roast" is a similar cut, and easier to find. Meat: Put your meat in the freezer for an hour or two, so that it gets firm but not frozen through. Slice as thin as possible, against the grain, with a sharp knife. Marinate with: Some chopped onion or shallot 2-3 crushed garlic cloves 2 tsp. salt 1/2 c. Coca-Cola (preferably Mexican style, with sugar instead of corn syrup) 1 tsp. cayenne 1/2 tsp. ground cumin Mix the meat around from time to time when it's marinating. I keep it at room temp so it absorbs more flavor and cooks faster. When you cook it, heat a large frying pan up as hot as you can get it and add a generous dollop of lard or shortening, and cook as briefly as possible. Serve immediately on hot corn tortillas. The most traditional way to serve the tacos is with diced on...

Here's a hearty, comforting soup made with just a few ingredients, originally from Portugal. Base your potato:broth ratio on on how thick you want the finished product. I recommend getting the sausage at Kramarczuk's, but really any sausage would do. I can't find the cable for my camera, so here's an image I yanked from the internet, and it looks a lot like what I made: Recipe: 3/4-1 lb sausage cut into slices or cubes, preferably linguica or chorizo 1 onion, sliced thin 4-6 white potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes 6-8 c. broth 1 large bunch kale or collards, washed and cut into 1/8-1/4" strips 3 cloves garlic, minced S & P Olive oil or butter to garnish Heat some oil (I used bacon grease) and slowly sweat the onions until they start to caramelize. Crank up the heat and add the sausage, stirring until it begins to brown. Add most of the garlic and all of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil 45 min or pressure cook 10 min until they st...

A delicious and simple dinner idea--and with the benefit of requiring no wheat. I bread and fry the fish and serve it with corn tortillas, cabbage, avocado, and pico de gallo. Fish: Allow about 1/2 to 1/3 lbs. white fish per person. Shark or swordfish will be denser, cod or tilapia will be flakier, and halibut will melt in your mouth. 1/4 c. corn starch 1/4 c. yellow corn meal 1 egg adobo seasoning (I get it from Penzey's--one of my favorite spices!) ground cayenne or chipotle salt and pepper oil that gets good and hot (I use corn or grapeseed oil) Cut fish into 3-4" chunks that can easily be moved around in the pan. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel, then sprinkle with seasonings to taste. Mix the dry ingredients in a pie pan, and beat the egg smoothly in another pie pan. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture and allow to sit for several minutes, while heating the oil good and hot. Dip the fish chunks in the egg right before frying. Fry 3 pieces at a time until brown and cri...