(Chicken
Burritos)
Serves 4 persons as a main course.
Add a green salad and tortilla chips for starters, and your meal is complete.
1. Fry the strips of chicken fillet with a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan until cooked through.
2. Add the Taco Sauce and corn to cooked chicken. Let mixture simmer very gently for 3-4 minutes.
3. Warm each tortilla in a dry, preheated frying pan, a few seconds on each side. Sprinkle each flour tortilla with 1 teaspoon grated cheese.
4. Melt cheese by placing the tortillas in a preheated oven for 30 seconds (180° Celsius), or by placing in the microwave for a few seconds on high power.
5. When cheese is melted, cover one half of each tortilla with a large spoonful of the chicken mixture, then spread half a spoon of crème fraîche over it.
6. Fold filled tortillas as show in illustrations (a) Sandwich Burritos or (b) Traditional Burritos.
7. Garnish with Jalapeño slices, serve immediately, and enjoy!
Quesadillas de Queso
(Cheese Quesadillas)
Serves 4 persons as an appetizer or light lunch.
1. Warm each flour tortilla on both sides for a few seconds in dry, preheated frying pan.
2. While warm tortilla is still in the frying pan, spread 2 tablespoons of grated cheese on one half of the tortilla. Sprinkle chopped spring onions or chives over cheese.
3. Fold over the tortilla as shown in a half-moon and brown it on both sides on medium heat until tortilla is crispy and cheese has melted. Transfer to serving dish.
4. Cut the quesadillas into wedges and serve them with colorful toppings: tomatos, salsa dip, sour cream, sliced jalapeños, guacamole.
Chili
Verde
(Green Chili)
This is the food your mother warned you about!
There are many different variations on this theme including the use of beef instead of pork, no tomato products, different type and quantities of hot chilies, etc. Since I think that you should be able to taste the food in your mouth before all your taste buds are destroyed, this version is only in the medium-hot range. You can vary the 'hot' easily by either changing the amount or type of chilies used in the preparation or by serving it with sour cream floating or stirred into the sauce. However, unless I have to wipe the sweat off my forehead before I finish my first bowl, it's not hot enough!
Cut 1½ to 2 pounds of pork lion into small cubes. (It helps if the loin is partially frozen.) If you are going to eat the whole thing by yourself, make the cubes large. The more people you hope to serve, the smaller the cubes should be to give everyone a chance at them! Mine are generally half an inch or so.
In a stock pot or other heavy bottomed pan with a lid, place the pork and cover with water. Add the following spices:
4-5 cloves of Garlic, smashed or finely diced
3 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder (also known as Comino)
1/8 teaspoon each of Oregano and Coriander
Boil till there is no visible 'pink' in the meat. A brown/gray 'scum' may form during this process. It is normal, don't worry about it, and don't try to remove it. Then add:
1 large Onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 green pepper, diced
12oz can of Tomatillas, drained and chopped (1 lb. fresh if available)
4 1/2 ounces of Ortega or Old El Paso brand canned Green Chilies (mild chilies)
2 14oz cans of Crushed Tomatoes
1 or 2 finely diced Jalapeño peppers (to taste, these are medium hot)
Simmer at least another hour to allow the flavors to mingle. I often refrigerate this recipe overnight and reheat the following day for another hour before serving. The older the chili, the better the flavor!
Half an hour before serving, if the sauce is thinner than you like, add three tablespoons of flour to six ounces of cold tomato juice. Mix thoroughly so there are no lumps, then stir into the Chili.
Serve this dish in a bowl with flour tortillas on the side. Add a spoon of sour cream to tone down the 'hot' (any milk product does this.) Or make a burrito from the drained chili and use the liquid to 'smother' the burrito. Add cheese, sour cream, and/or guacamole on top. One of my favorite dishes is Huevos Rancheros which is a plate of fried eggs on top of soft corn tortillas, smothered with Chili Verde with refried beans, Mexican Fried Rice, and flour tortillas on the side
You may wonder why this dish is named "Green" chili when, in fact, it is red. And why "Red" chili is also red! The name comes from the type of chilies used in preparation. In this case,the three different chilies are used: Anneheim, Bell, and Japaleno chilies, which are all green in their normal cooking state. Red chili is flavored with dried and powdered, ripe New Mexico peppers which are red.
To serve 6
A
super snack. This is the most popular taco of all. Brown the
ground beef in a frying pan. Drain the fat. Add the Taco
Seasoning Mix and water and stir. Bring to the boil, then reduce
the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes until the
liquid is reduced, stirring occasionally.
When the meat has simmered 10 to 15 minutes, arrange
the Taco Shells on a baking sheet and heat in a moderate
preheated oven for 4-5 minutes until the shells are crisp. Fill
the heated shells with about 3 teaspoons of the meat mixture.
Then top with shredded lettuce, tomato, cheese and Taco Sauce or
Chunky Salsa.
More terrific tacos:
1.Tuna taco: Drain a can of tuna, flake, spoon into crisp
taco shells and garnish as above. Top with taco sauce.
2.Pork taco: Shred some leftover roast pork, stuff into
crisp taco shells and garnish as above. Top with Chunky Salsa.
3.Chicken Taco: Chop and heat some cooked or barbequed
chicken with diced onion, spoon into crisp taco shells and
garnish. Top with Nacho Sliced Jalopenos for added spice.
Great extra garnishes:
Sliced or chopped olives
Slices of avocado
Chopped spring onions
Diced green chillies
Chopped coriander or parsley
Guacamole
Onion rings
Sour Cream
Natural yogurt
Email = jbarrett@globalnet.co.uk
