Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Costa Vida Sweet Pork
Costa Vida Sweet Pork
Ingredients
6 (approx) pounds Port butt/shoulder
1 19oz. Red Enchilada Sauce
1 can Dr. Pepper or (20oz)
1 tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Garlic salt
1 ½ c. Brown sugar
1 tbsp. Fresh cilantro, chopped
Preparation
*Wrap meat in foil. Put in roasting pan and bake at 275 degrees for 5 hours. Pull the meat out and let it cool for 30 minutes then shred. In separate bowl, mix the enchilada sauce, Dr. Pepper, salt, garlic salt, brown sugar and chopped cilantro. Pour over meat and mix.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
As Requested... Mexican Meal
This isn't wholly authentic, but it tends to be a crowd-pleaser... Here is the recipe Nick requested, plus a couple extra ones... I hope this covers my membership on the Z Food blog for quite a few months. :) (Someday I'll take and post a picture if I get around to it.)
Enchilada Sauce
original:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ten-Minute-Enchilada-Sauce/Detail.aspx
my way (the easier way--and I also quadruple the recipe and freeze the leftovers for later or use in another recipe):
2 qts. tomato juice (or one of those really big store-bought ones) or 32 oz tomato sauce + water (maybe 3+ cups?)
Flour (up to 1/2 C to make a thicker consistency, if desired)
1 C chili powder (yep, you'd better buy it in bulk if you're going to make this very often)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
salt to taste
olive oil (optional)
Put tomato sauce/water or tomato juice in a saucepan and mix in flour, if needed. Heat while adding chili powder and spices & salt. Continue cooking until desired consistency, or until your kids cry too much because they're getting hungry. Remove from heat and add olive oil, if desired (maybe 1/4 cup or less?).
Use for enchiladas or anything else that calls for enchilada sauce.
Enchilada Sauce
original:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ten-Minute-Enchilada-Sauce/Detail.aspx
my way (the easier way--and I also quadruple the recipe and freeze the leftovers for later or use in another recipe):
2 qts. tomato juice (or one of those really big store-bought ones) or 32 oz tomato sauce + water (maybe 3+ cups?)
Flour (up to 1/2 C to make a thicker consistency, if desired)
1 C chili powder (yep, you'd better buy it in bulk if you're going to make this very often)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
salt to taste
olive oil (optional)
Put tomato sauce/water or tomato juice in a saucepan and mix in flour, if needed. Heat while adding chili powder and spices & salt. Continue cooking until desired consistency, or until your kids cry too much because they're getting hungry. Remove from heat and add olive oil, if desired (maybe 1/4 cup or less?).
Use for enchiladas or anything else that calls for enchilada sauce.
To make more authentic (and complicated--but impressive): Buy those large, dried red chili peppers. Break off stems and open them and remove the seeds (with gloves or something--your hands will burn after a while) and veins as much as possible, unless you like your sauce REALLY hot. Rinse them and put them in water and boil them until they soften. Dump water and softened chiles into a blender and blend. Use some of this mixture (to taste, I guess) instead of chili powder in the recipe.
Stacked Enchiladas:
Corn tortillas
Grated cheese
Chopped onion
Enchilada sauce
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Put a little sauce down if desired. Warm tortillas and put down one tortilla for as many "stacks" as you want (I usually do about 6 on a cookie sheet). Cover each tortilla with sauce and then sprinkle on onion and cheese. Repeat layers 3 more times for a total of 4 layers. Make sure there is enough sauce on them that it drips out and there aren't uncoated spots, or they tend to get really crunchy/tough in the oven. Better to have too much sauce than not enough. Heat in the oven (350 degrees) for about 20 minutes. We usually serve with sour cream on top, but Cordell says the more authentic way is to top with a fried egg. You could probably put other toppings if you wanted as well, but we usually don't. You can cut them in halves or fourths for kids, if needed.
Spanish Rice
Didn't work out quite right at April's because I was told 1 bouillon cube=1 TBS. No--it's 1 tsp--I checked when I got home.
2 TBS oil
2 C rice
1/4 C chopped or diced onion
6 C water
1 heaping TBS chicken bouillon
1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz?)
Heat oil in a pan with rice. Add onion as rice starts to brown (no, don't let it turn brown--that would be burning it) and saute. Add water (watch out for steam and popping grease at this point) tomato sauce and bouillon. Stir. Heat to boiling, then turn heat down to continue simmering (remove lid at this point, if you've had it on) until liquid is cooked out and rice is soft(1/2 hr. to 40 min.). Don't try to stir during the process. (If a little burns or sticks to the bottom, just put the lid back on after cooking and let it sit a little. That usually helps.)
Beans from scratch:
Pinto beans
Water
Salt
Garlic cloves
Soak your desired amount of pinto beans overnight.* (As a couple, we used to do 2-3, with a little child or two, we increased to 4, and now we do 6 cups.)
*Put them in a large bowl and cover with a couple inches of water at least.
In the morning, drain the beans and rinse them with clean water. It is also a good idea to sort through them and take out any bad ones and especially look for rocks. I like to do this after soaking them, because sometimes there are dirt clods that just dissolve and wash away in the soaking/rinsing process, but most Mexican people do this before soaking them I think.
Put soaked and rinsed beans in a crock pot. Cover with a 2-3 inches of water and cook (I usually cook on high) until done. Before putting on the lid, add whole, peeled garlic cloves (vary depending on the amount of beans--I use at least 3 decent sized ones for 6 cups of beans) and salt (2 TBS for 6 cups of beans, 1 1/2 for 4, etc.).
I usually cook 6 cups on high from about 8 a.m. to about 5 p.m., but I really don't time it exactly, and they may be done before 5--that's just when I'm usually getting to dinner. I definitely haven't been able to start cooking in the morning and have them done by lunchtime.
We eat these beans just as they are with rice for one meal usually (maybe with some quesadillas & cabbage salad or something), then they can be used for numerous other meals as well, like: Taco Salad, Chili, Refried beans (heat in a pan and add cheese and maybe a little enchilada sauce or salsa or something), Mexican casseroles, Tostadas or Burritos(with refried beans), etc.
And, for those who are queasy about beans, check this out for the health benefits of beans:
Plus, pinto beans beat out "domesticated" blueberries, prunes, and a lot of other foods in antioxidants:
USDA Ranking of Foods by Antioxidant Capacity
Ranking Food Item Serving Size Total antioxidant capacity per serving size
Ranking Food Item Serving Size Total antioxidant capacity per serving size
1 Small Red Bean (dried) Half cup 13727
2 Wild blueberry 1 cup 13427
3 Red kidney bean (dried) Half cup 13259
4 Pinto bean Half cup 11864
5 Blueberry (cultivated) 1 cup 9019
6 Cranberry 1 cup (whole) 8983
7 Artichoke (cooked) 1 cup (hearts) 7904
8 Blackberry 1 cup 7701
9 Prune Half cup 7291
10 Raspberry 1 cup 6058
11 Strawberry 1 cup 5938
12 Red Delicious apple One 5900
13 Granny Smith apple One 5381
14 Pecan 1 ounce 5095
15 Sweet cherry 1 cup 4873
16 Black plum One 4844
17 Russet potato (cooked) One 4649
18 Black bean (dried) Half cup 4181
19 Plum One 4118
20 Gala apple One 3903
So enjoy beans, the "magical fruit," as Uncle Chris would always say! And enjoy some Mexican tonight! Hasta luego!
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