Flour Tortillas

These tortillas are so good, you'll give up Mi'Casa.  I promise. 

This is the original recipe I got from my friend who got it from a real Mexican Tortilla Making Lady:

Lollie’s Tortillas 

4 C. Flour

¼ tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. salt

1/3 C. shortening or lard (if you use shortening, be sure to use Crisco brand)

1 ¾ C. warm water.

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add water and knead by hand. Pinch into 16 golf ball sizes of dough. Let sit for 10 minutes. Roll with flour and cook on stove.

Of course being my mother's daughter, I switched to whole wheat and olive oil, but Allison says Lard is really yummy.  Here's the revised recipe that I use now and it's bosh size:
16 C. flour (whole wheat)



1 tsp. baking powder


4 Tbsp. salt


1-1/3 C. olive oil


7 C. warm water.


Mix dry ingredients in bosh. Mix in oil. Pour in water all at once and mix til well combined. Dough will be extremely sticky. Dump out onto well oiled counter. Make sure your hands are well oiled. Split dough into four even parts. Split again and again until each of the original four are split into 16 balls. (64 total). Roll each ball in your well oiled hands. Place on an oiled cookie sheet or parchment paper and cover. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. Heat tortilla press for five minutes (open). Place balls one at a time just to the back of the center of press. Slowly close lid and handle with a firm but gentle pressure. Cook for about 5-10 seconds . Open press and slide tortilla off onto a towel. When all tortillas are cooked and cooled, dust with flour and freeze in Ziploc bags (you only need to dust one side and put dusted side of one to raw side of the next). When ready to use, cook tortillas on a really hot griddle just like the ones you get in the grocery store in dough form. You can cook up a bunch at one time and freeze or refrigerate them that way, but they won’t be quite as fresh.


Measure ingredients:

Dough is really sticky

Dump onto oiled counter

Split into four even sections

Keep splitting until you have 16 balls per section

Place balls on cookie sheet and cover for 10-15 minutes

Preheat press for 5 minutes

Place ball just to back of center

Press slowly

It's done, move off to towel

Let cool on towel

I made 10 dozen today

Dust with flour

Stack after dusting

Cook on hot griddle

Freeze in Ziploc bags.

If you are as talented as Camilee, try her method.  She presses while cooking up the tortillas on her stove all at the same time.  She's amazing like that, though.  I have to cook mine later.

Spanish Rice (Aunt Jeanie style) and Baked Chicken Taquitos

The chicken taquitos come from My Kitchen Cafe. They are yummy. I've made them twice now. My kids love them and they are even good as leftovers. But as a side note, use a good brand of tortillas or they will crumble as you are rolling them. My mom and I started making them once with Great Value brand and she ended up making a quick run for Mi Casa's.

This Spanish Rice has always been a favorite of mine. My mom got the recipe from Aunt Jeanie a long time ago and now I make it occassionally, too. It's yummy.

The salsa is Jen's Award Winning Salsa. The guacamole is my mom's yummy yummy treat.

Aunt Jeanie’s Spanish Rice

In a 10 inch skillet cook 8 slices of bacon until crisp. Cook 1 onion (1 C.), chopped fine and ¼ C. bell pepper until tender, not brown, in drippings.
Add:
1 lb. crushed tomatoes

1 ½ c. water
¾ C. uncooked long grain rice

½ C. salsa
1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. worchestershire sauce
dash pepper

Cover and simmer 35 to 40 minutes.

A Couple of Links

I haven't been making too many new things lately, but here are a couple of recipes I have tried lately that were a hit. The guacamole bruschetta was SO delicious as an appetizer, and Jen tried the cream biscuits and liked them, so I had to try them too (we had biscuits and gravy with them.)

Guacamole Bruschetta, from Blog Chef

Cream Biscuits, by Smitten Kitchen

Chilequilas

When I was young, my dad used to make chilequilas for us when my mom wasn't home or was too busy to cook. I know at least 3 of my sisters have good memories of these as well - I'm not sure if he ever made them when I got older, so my youngest sister and my brother might not remember them.

I decided to try and make them for dinner tonight. They turned out great - I wasn't sure if my dad could tell me exactly how to make them, and I like specific recipes, so I found one that looked like what I remember at All Recipes. The picture of them when they are done is NOT pretty! But they were very good.

CHANGES I MADE OR WOULD MAKE NEXT TIME:

I am thinking you could just buy tortilla chips and use them instead of frying corn tortilla strips. That would save a lot of time and oil!

Also, the recipes calls for 30 corn tortillas and 6 eggs - I didn't quite use 30 tortillas and I used 10 eggs. It would have been not so good with less eggs. So, I say either half the tortillas, or double the eggs!

Another thing I did was use Salsa in place of the El Pato sauce and water because the store I went to was out of El Pato. I think either would be fine.

Here are the corn tortillas frying away - I had
to fry them in 3 batches.

And here is the not so pretty picture of when it was almost done.
Don't let the picture scare you - they were good!

Chilequilas

• 2 cups oil for frying
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 30 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn into strips (I used less tortillas and 10 eggs)
  
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 (7.75 ounce) can Mexican style hot tomato sauce (El Pato sauce)
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Carefully stir in the onion and tortilla strips. Fry until tortilla strips are crisp and golden brown. Remove from heat, and drain on paper towels. Drain the skillet, leaving only a thin residue of oil.
2. Over medium heat, return tortillas to the skillet, and stir in the eggs. Season with salt. Cook and stir until eggs are firm.
3. Mix Mexican style hot tomato sauce and water into the skillet. Reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Top with cheese. Continue cooking until cheese has melted.

Tamales

This is my cousin Doreen (my dad's niece). She taught me how to make tamales today so I thought I'd share it! It was so fun to visit and catch up on our family! Thanks Doreen!

TAMALES:

Meat Mixture:

Cooked/shredded beef and pork roasts

Old El Paso Mild Enchilada Sauce (Las Palmas works too!)

Jar of Salsa (or can)

Spices - chili powder, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper , etc.

(She didn't really measure - just to taste)

Masa Dough: (we tripled this today!)

1 1/3 c. lard (don't use shortening)

4 c. Masa Harina (it all says instant)

2 t. salt

sprinkle a little chile powder in

3-4 c. warm broth (use chicken bullion to make broth)

Mix lard, and dry ingreds. with hands until mixed well (like pie crust) - add liquid until right consistency to spread (like sugar cookie dough)

Soak corn husks in warm water (about 30 minutes) then spread dough on husks, add meat, wrap and steam.

Freeze any leftovers and then reheat in microwave or on your woodburning stove! (That's what she did as a kid!)

Mixing the meat mixture (she used beef, pork, turkey and venison. I don't like venison but I couldn't tell it was in it.

Showing us how to spread the masa dough on the husks. Make about a 4" long. Spread a thin layer clear to one edge and about 1/4" from other edge. Put a spoonful of meat in the center of the dough then fold like a tamale! (one edge over to 1/4" of other edge - seal and fold up ends)

"Many hands make light work!" It's a great friend/family project!

Ready to steam (I'm sure we made over 100!)

In the pan to steam (she put a layer of jar rings on the bottom to hold the rack off the bottom - then layered the tamales on top criss-crossing each layer -Put the lid on but not tight. Cook for about 30 minutes. You can tell when they're done by unwrapping one and they should fall off the husk easily.

Mike's Mission Tortillas

Poor Mike, he only has sisters!

(Sorry-the pictures are not in order!)

Michael is home! And with him came a love for authentic tortillas. He had me buy some White Corn Masa (MA SE CA as it says on the bag) and he cooked up some delicious tortillas. He said he ate these with almost every meal. They are really good. We had them first just plain as after-swimming-snacks. Then later made some more for tacos.

I used leftover roast that I had made and these tacos were yummy. I used a recipe from My Kitchen Cafe for the roast and I have to say it's my new favorite.

Tortillas:

Pour some masa into a bowl, add some salt (don't have an amount-just a pinch or two). Stir in some water. Make it not too sticky, but enough water to hold together. Put a ball of dough onto a tortilla press in between two layers of plastic (Mike cut a ziploc bag up). Press dough, pick up plastic with dough on it and turn the dough onto your hand and then to the hot griddle. Cook both sides on high heat. Mike says they are better not too brown.

Make tacos, egg burritos, bean burritos, or whatever you want.

Award Winning Salsa!

(picture from Jen)

Jen and her girls made some salsa for a ward party and they got first place! Way to go! (Jen's husband and boys made some salsa as well, so the girls beat them!) Jen got this recipe from her sister-in-law, Randi. It's a simple recipe -- just what I like. When I made it the other day I didn't have petite diced tomatoes, just regular ones. So I put my salsa in the blender after I made it to puree the tomatoes. We loved it.

Here's the recipe:

2 large cans petite diced tomatoes, drained (28 oz)

1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 can El Pato sauce

3 or 4 limes, squeezed
1 bunch green onions, white and green part

a lot of garlic salt

Fish Tacos

Growing up, I disliked fish very much (I will blame that on my mother, she doesn't like it and therefore never cooked it). I married into a family that loves fish and seafood. Living in MA did me well. With a hubby that loves fish and because of it's nutritional value I learned to like it and sometimes crave it! That being said, I'm still not a seafood lover. I do not like lobster, crab, scallops, muscles, and some shrimp. I prefer white fish because it's not so fishy and if anything has a distinct fishy smell I will not eat it. Arizona doesn't quite have the selection or freshness that back East offers, but we make do. My number one fish thing I crave is Rubio's fish tacos. Ooooh yummy! I decided to make my own last night and they were delicious. I used a different sauce than is on their tacos, but I'll put both recipes here. It looks like a lot of work, but really isn't, especially if you make the green salsa and sauces ahead of time!

Fish Tacos (Adapted from Foodnetwork's Tyler Florence recipe)

White fish (last night I used tilapia, tonight I'm using Mahi Mahi)
1 egg slightly beaten with a little water added
flour
bread crumbs (I love panko bread crumbs, but didn't have any so I used regular, I also seasoned my breadcrumbs a little with garlic powder and Adobo seasoning)
Oil heated in pan on stove

Cut fish into small strips and dredge in flour, dip into egg mixture, and roll in bread crumbs then fry in oil.

Pink Chili Mayo Sauce (this is spicy, for us anyways)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonaise
1 chipotle pepper in Adobo sauce
1/2 lemon juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Rubio's Copycat Recipe Sauce
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
(You can add lime juice, jalapenos, cumin, ceyenne pepper, or any seasoning you want to it)

Green Salsa (This is a green salsa recipe that I make all the time, we LOVE it, but measurements are approx.) (I think this is what makes the taco, I use TONS)
15-20 tomatillios (depends on size)
1 white onion
2-3 serrano peppers (depends on heat, sometimes I just add one)
4-6 cloves garlic

Peel husks off tomatillios and rinse under water, put in big pot with quartered onion, peppers, and garlic. Add water to completely cover tomatillos. Boil until tomatillos change color and start to break like a tomato does.

Having waiting in blender
1-2 limes, juiced
3 T sugar (I use half of that sometimes)
1 teaspoon salt
a bunch of cilantro

Add tomatillos, pepper, onions, garlic to blender and blend until smooth. Be careful to hold the lid down tight with a washcloth or something, because it will want to explode because of the heat. Eat with chips, on a salad, burritos, make enchiladas, tacos, you name it!

How we assemble our fish tacos

Take one small flour tortilla

Put some sauce on tortilla

Add your fish

Fresh cilantro leaves (We love cilantro around here)
Lots of green salsa, I mean lots!Shredded cabbage and some fresh lime juice to the top!Enjoy!!

Random Things

Here are some random things I have tried and loved this past week:

Sisters' Cafe Sweet Pork salad-so good! Shara was right, the sweet pork was delicious-I happen to like my sweet pork not as sweet as most, I cut the sugar in half-it was still PLENTY sweet! I made the whole meal and it was fabulous! Steve especially liked the rice. He said he doesn't usually like Spanish Rice, but this one was really good! I will definently make it again and again anytime I make Mexican food.

Here's the rice recipe:

Cilantro Lime Rice
3 c water
3 c Minute rice
4 cubes chicken bouillon
4 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tb canola oil
2 Tb fresh lime juice
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 onion
1 can green chilies

Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked. *I hate Minute Rice and never buy it - you can substitute regular rice, just adjust the water to rice ratio accordingly.

I also tried Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas from Sister's Cafe. They were yummy, too. The chicken was sweet, and the sauce just right to with it. They were easy to make, too.

(Sorry, no picture)

Next, I tried Lace Cookies with Milk Chocolate Drizzle from Stephanie's Kitchen. These were so good. Hard to stop snitching in to. They were a hit around my house! (We ate them before I got a picture, Sorry!)

Cornmeal Crepes and Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Jen made these flat enchiladas (corn tortilla, hamburger, onion, cheese, enchilada sauce, repeat!) with cornmeal crepes in place of corn tortillas about a week ago, so I had been craving them! The cornmeal crepe recipe is one we got from Camilee. They taste a lot like a corn tortilla, but more like the texture of a crepe - we loved them. The enchilada sauce is one that Amy has been making forever, and she got it from her mother-in-law. I think it is the favorite recipe of everyone in our family now. (Don't forget to eat a fried egg on top of your flat enchilada - yummy!)

Cornmeal Crepes

1/3 C. flour (wheat or white)
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. milk
1 Tbsp. oil
1 C. cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt

In bowl combine all ingredients. Whisk or beat together until well-blended. Heat a lightly greased 6-inch skillet. Spoon in about 2 Tbsp batter (I think my skillet was a little bigger and we did about 3-4 Tbsp. batter). Lift skillet and tilt batter to spread evenly. Return to heat. Brown one side only then dump out of pan onto a plate. Grease pan between every few crepes. Stir batter frequently to keep cornmeal from settling. These work great for healthier flat enchiladas.

Enchilada Sauce

1. Remove seeds and stems from 6 whole red dried chilies, then soak in hot water for 30 minutes (Jen told me to heat water to boiling, turn stove off, throw the chilies in to soak for 30 minutes - it worked great.)
   
2. Pour off water, reserving 1 cup. Put chilies and the 1 cup water in blender and blend until smooth.
3. In saucepan, combine . . . ½ C. flour and 6 Tbsp. oil or melted shortening. Cook and stir until browned
4. Add . . . 5 C. water, 1 Tbsp. salt, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 Tbsp. dried onion or ½ C. chopped onion, and blended chile and water mixture.
5. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened

Makes enough sauce for 2 dozen enchiladas. Extras may be frozen. May use less chilies for milder sauce.

Enchiladas

I know we've all had these before, but I thought I would still post these. I first made them for Landon when we were dating, and I'm pretty sure this meal sealed the deal! He absolutely loves these and I make them quite often.

Meat mixture
1 lbs hamburger
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can re fried beans
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin

Cook hamburger and onion till done; drain. Stir in beans and spices.

Enchilada Style Sauce
4 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 c. milk
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce
1 1/2 c. shredded cheese

Melt butter. Stir in flour. Add other ingredients. Cook to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute.

Place some meat mixture in a flour tortilla. Roll and place in a 9x13 inch pan. Pour sauce over filled burros. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Tinga

I've been meaning to post a couple of recipes for awhile now, but I just haven't gotten around to it. If Abby stays asleep long enough, I might get two of them done. Amanda, I'm making your ribs and potates on Sunday and I can't wait!

This is recipe is also from one of my best friends from Mexico City who now lives in Massachusetts. When we lived there, we would get our Mexican Food fix at there house quite often. Just for kicks, I put up a picture of my lovely friend Fabiola to give her credit!

Fabiola’s Tinga

Cooked and shredded meat (pork roast, beef, or chicken, I did a pork roast in the crock pot all day with some onions and garlic, s &p).
3 or 4 strips of bacon cut into pieces and cooked in frying pan until golden brown.
Add 1-2 onions sliced and cook until tender. Add meat to mixture and cook over the stove.

Sauce:
5-7 tomatoes (Roma usually) cooked on stove top in pan turning frequently. Cook until browned and charred (but not totally burnt) and skin starts to peel off. You will need to rotate frequently. (don't ask me what this does?)
Put tomatoes in blender and add 1 clove garlic (or more), salt, and 1-2 chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce) with a little bit of the sauce. Blend. Add a little bit of the broth from the meat that you cooked.

Pour sauce over meat mixture and simmer over low heat.

Eat this on tostadas with refried beans, mexican cream, mexican cheese Queso de Ranchero or Freir is what we prefer, Fabiola's famous salsa (below) and whatever else sounds good!!

Funny enough, I didn't take a picture, but I just so happened to find a picture at the Cinco de Mayo Party we had in MA.

Fabiola’s Fresh Salsa

2 big Fresh Tomatoes (Big and Juicy)
2-3 serrano peppers (depending how big)
Cilantro
Garlic
Onion

Boil tomatoes with Serrano peppers. Put in blender, add some cilantro (just a little bit), salt, garlic (1 little piece of garlic), a little piece of onion. Blend everything until smooth. Put a little oil in a sauce pan and heat. Fry the sauce (this sounds weird, but it really helps the salsa), let come to a boil for 3-5 min or so.

If you want more flavor, you can fry your onion first.

Green Enchiladas

These are so yummy! They come together easily, especially if you already have your chicken cooked and cubed. Now, before you look at the pictures, let me explain...it's not a pretty dish! But I promise you, they are DELISH! This recipe comes from Shara's friend Fabiola, who is from Mexico City, so it's authentic!!

This is the mexican cream. I find it by the diced chilies, jalapenos, etc...in the Mexican isle!

Green Enchiladas


10-15 tomatillos
1-2 jalapenos (or more depending on if you like HOT or not)
12 corn tortillas
garlic
cilantro
Mexican Cream--Nestle Crema
Queso Fresco (Fresh Cheese, if you can't find it you can use mozzarella. I bought mine at Wal-Mart by the cream cheese)
refried beans
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts...cooked and cubed

Boil Tomatillos with jalapenos for about 10-15 minutes.

Sauce: Blend tomatillos, peppers cilantro, garlic, and salt. Add cream and mix again

Wrap corn tortillas in a cloth and put 6 in microwave for 1 minute or until soft.
Spray a 9x13 pan. Lay 6 tortillas in bottom of pan. Spread 1/2 of refried beans on top, sprinkle 1/2 of the chicken, 1/2 of the sauce, and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat layers.

Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 for 25 minutes.

Tip: Have everything ready before you make the sauce. If you make it to early, it will go a little funny just sitting there.

These are seriously so delicious! If my little sister Jessica likes them, they have to be good!

Chimichitos-no picture (sorry)

So first I have to report on things I've made. I tried Amanda's BBQ Beef Short Ribs last night. They were absolutely wonderful. I cheated and made them in the crockpot (can you do that? well I did!) I also made Blitz bread to go with them. It was yummy dipped in the BBQ sauce. I added the herbs and used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour. And just for you, Marsha, I poked it with my ring finger first, then my pinky. Didn't ruin it. We loved it.

Also, I tried Marsha's chicken taco's on Sunday. They were a hit. Everyone liked them. We had leftover chicken meat and this brings me to this post! I used the chicken for my chimichitos. Here is how you make them:

Roll into a tortilla:
Meat (can use shredded beef, beef chunks, cooked chicken, or any meat)
optional refried beans
green chili
onion
shredded cheese

Place all burros onto a cookie sheet and brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 or 30 minutes (I don't really time them, I just watch them til done). Bake until crispy.

Serve fancy style with enchilada sauce, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, salsa, etc. etc. etc. My kids call this Casa Manana food, for any that know that Safford restaurant. You can even serve spanish rice and refried beans on the side. Aunt Jeanie's spanish rice recipe is yummy (it has bacon in it).

Or serve plain with just sour cream and salsa. We do this, too, for a fast dinner. It's a yummy way, too.

These are one of my favorite. Anyway, sorry this post is so random and long.

Baked Chimichangas

I'm finally posting something on here! I just tried these today. They're yummy! The red enchilada sauce I used was a bit hot, but you can change that by using milder red chile powder.

Baked Chimichangas

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 C. onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground red chiles
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 4 oz. can green chiles, drained and chopped OR 3-5 fresh or frozen green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, devined, and chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
8 10-inch flour tortillas
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened
red or green chile sauce (I'll include the recipe I used, but you can use any sauce you want...including sauce from a can!)

1. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion, stirring occassionally until beef is browned; drain.
2. Stir in vinegar, ground red chiles, cinnamon, cloves, green chiles and tomato. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
3. Warm tortillas.
4. Preheat oven to 500. Spoon 1/8 of the beef mixture onto the center of each tortilla and brush edges with beaten egg mixture. Fold envelope style to seal. Brush each chimichanga with butter or margarine and place seam side down on a large ungreased baking sheet. 5. Bake uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes or until tortillas begin to brown and filling is hot.
Serve with your favorite red or green sauce.

Also, as a side note, I added some canned pinto beans to my meat mixture which made it really yummy.

Here's my red sauce recipe.

Red Chile Sauce

2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1 C. white onion finely chopped (I used yellow because that's what I had)
1 garlic clove minced (I used the kind in a jar)
1/2 C. ground hot red chile
1/2 C. ground mild red chile
1 Can (12 oz) tomato sauce
6 C. water salt to taste
1. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat oil; add onions and garlic and saute until onions are soft. Do not brown.
2. Stir in ground chile, tomato sauce and water. Simmer uncovered until sauce is desired consistency. Season lightly with salt.
3. Sauce may be used as is or pureed. Refrigerate in a tightly-covered container or freeze in an ice cube tray.

*Beware this makes a LOT of red sauce. I would say it makes about 5 cups. And....here's the picture....