One of my guilty pleasures is chips and Espinaca Queso dip. This creamy blend of cheese, spinach and jalapenos has become my favorite queso dip. It’s made with Velveeta Queso Blanco which I know isn’t the healthiest choice but you just can’t beat the way is melts to perfection. It tastes so good combined with fresh spinach, tomatoes, onions and jalapenos. I made Tex-Mex burrito bowls and spooned some of this creamy cheese over top. I got thumbs up all around!
The other day I found fresh corn advertised in the sale circular. It seemed a bit early for having corn on the cob but it was on sale so I had to check it out. When I saw the golden silk and perfect kernels I found myself picking up a half dozen ears. I had planned to roast it outside, but an unexpected rain storm came up and I had to find an alternative. I searched the web to see if anyone roasted corn in the oven. As it turns out, yes, some do roast it in the oven and find it quite tasty. Obviously I wasn’t going to do any grilling today and I didn’t want the corn to sit out another day so I tried the oven roasting method. It worked really well! I had some extra corn left over and decided to make salsa in the Molcajete and add the left over corn kernels. It was so good! Everyone loved it and I thought it was worthy of sharing!
Ever had a Verde Chicken Pizza? Until recently I hadn’t either but it’s quickly become one of my all time favorite pizza’s. So much so that I’ve made several in the past month. Most pizzas are made with the traditional red tomato sauce, sometimes a white sauce, maybe pesto or even a barbecue sauce, but what I had in mind was something a bit more New Mexican. I decided on a verde sauce with a Mexican melting cheese and cooked seasoned chicken. The dough comes straight out of the “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day”, which mixes Corn Masa flour in the dough to make the most aromatic dough when baked. Fresh toppings and crumbled Cotija cheese round out this pizza.
Chipotle Mexican Grill makes the biggest and most flavor filled burritos around. They are a company that embraces buying local from farmers that grow organic produce and raise animals in a humane way free from all the hormones that factory farms use. I appreciate that but what keeps me going back is how good their food is. They assemble their burritos in front of you with every topping in sight. Choosing what you put in that burrito is half the fun. While I may not be able to duplicate the Chipotle burrito exactly, I think my version is pretty darn good. I took a day to make all my fillers and toppings, enough to make 16 large burritos. We ate our fill, then wrapped the rest in aluminum foil to freeze.
As I sit here writing this I’m finishing off the last little bit of my Chile de Arbol salsa. I made this salsa as part of an upcoming recipe for Chipotle Burritos. But as it turned out this salsa became an addicting side salsa with chips. I love the flavor of arbol chiles which gives the salsa an after burn that keeps you coming back for more. I love making this in a molcajete because with each ingredient you see a new layer of flavor emerging along with an earthy aroma in the background.
Time is winding down when I can get outside and grill. But this week we had a really nice day full of sunshine and I thought I’d better enjoy every minute of it! All summer I intended to make Margarita Chicken but somehow I never got around to it. I found these colorful heirloom cherry tomatoes that would make a beautiful pico to top my drunken chicken. It was pretty on a plate with salty and citrusy flavors coming through in every bite.
If you are not familiar with a Molcajete and Tejolote, it is a Mexican mortar and pestle made from volcanic rock used to grind ingredients such as garlic, tomatoes and spices. They remind me of the Native American grinding stones found in large rocks. My sister Kat gave me a molcajete on our recent visit to NM and I’ve been anxious to try it out. If you have a new molcajete it should be seasoned just as you would a new cast iron skillet. There are many online sites that give instructions on how to season a molcajete which would be easier and probably more helpful I could explain. I’m looking forward to all the spices I can now grind as well as making guacamole and endless salsa’s. This salsa includes roasted tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, onion, green chile, lime, and cilantro. It was very aromatic as I started grinding the garlic and tomatoes. Each added ingredient changed the texture and added another element of flavor. Continue reading
For years I’ve wanted to make tamales but was intimidated by the process and work that goes into it. I’ve always heard it’s a job that works best with several people to help prep, assemble and package. Since I don’t have extended family around to help me with this mission, I asked Joe if he would give up a weekend to help me. He was happy to help since he loves tamales. I went all out and made three different kinds of tamales, just in case Joe never wanted to do this again. This labor took 3 days to complete but I can now say I have home made tamales in the freezer. I think if I give Joe some time he may come around and help me again someday. We’ve been considering some sweet filled tamales next time around, but for now let me tell you about the first batch made with Pork and a Verde sauce with Hatch green chiles and cheese.
All summer I’ve been thinking about a fresh salsa with heirloom tomatoes. We were a bit late to the farmers market this week and the best heirloom tomatoes had been picked over but I found a vendor who let me pick out all I wanted. They were blemished but firm and I thought these would be great for my salsa. I picked up a few green tomatoes as well to experiment and see how they would taste roasted. I decided if they were a bust, I’d leave them out but they were fantastic and not at all what I thought they would be like. So I blended the red, the yellow, and the green tomatoes to make a beautiful fiesta salsa that was fresh and tangy. I have a major weakness for salsa and could sit with a bag of chips and eat the whole bowl by myself but this salsa would be great alongside several dishes. I keep thinking how that would taste over a piece of grilled Margarita chicken. Ooh the possibilities . . . Continue reading
These yummy green chile quesadillas come straight from Kat’s kitchen. I was enlightened when one day she pulled out her comal and layered green chile and cheese between tortillas and grilled them. I kept thinking why hadn’t I thought of that! It was so simple but one of the tastiest things on earth. I topped them with some chunky guacamole with sweet corn and flamethrower sauce. You may want to serve these on the side but we had them as our entire meal. Once you start you just can’t stop!
An Inspired Cook 