Category: LETS TACO BOUT FOOD

Cheese Enchiladas Zacatecas Style

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You Won’t Find These In The Frozen Section

Im pretty sure there are at least 100 different ways to make enchiladas in the state of Zacatecas. This is the most common I’ve seen. Some people add beef or chicken to the stuffing but I leave it out. And don’t even get me started on green enchiladas or frijoladas.

Ingredients

  • 10 Chiles de Cascabel
  • 2 Chiles Poblano
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • Salt to taste
  • Queso Fresco(as much as you want)
  • 1 Onion
  • Tortillas
  • Mexican Cream(if you’re a fan)
  • 1/4 Head of Lettuce
  • 1 Tomato

Prep The Chiles

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The darker chiles on the left are called Chiles Poblano. The ones on the right are called Chiles de Cascabel. Rinse the these chiles off and soak them in water for about a minute. Place them in a pot with 4 cups of water and cover with lid.

Let them sit in there for about 10 minutes or until you see them reach a roaring boil.

Crumble & Chop

While the chiles are soaking up on the stove grab the onion and queso fresco. Chop up or mince the onions, whichever you prefer. Crumble the cheese and mix together in a bowl with the onion. This will be your enchilada stuffing.

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Blend It Real Good

For this part blend the chiles and garlic. Don’t drain the water used to boil them put it in the blender as well. Strain the chile sauce into a large bowl. This will be sauce you dunk the tortillas into.

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After straining the chile, add another cup of water to the sauce. Now’s your chance to get salty and add it to the mix.

Gather your supplies. The next part has to be done quickly.

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Dip, Fry & Roll

Submerge the tortilla in the sauce. Try to get it 99% covered in the chile sauce. Place in the oil and let it cook for about 2 seconds on each side.

Don’t do any longer than that or the tortilla turns flimsy and falls apart. We have this awesome circle thing with a recessed oil frying area but you can just use 2 separate pans for this part.

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After frying the tortilla, take out of the oil and place cheese stuffing on top. Fold over the tortilla and roll over to create a taco roll.

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After The Fifth Enchilada It Gets Easier

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The remaining chile sauce can be frozen and used for chilaquiles. They are the much more casual version of enchiladas. I might do a recipe for those later.

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More Fresco And Crema

Serve these enchiladas with some fluffy Mexican rice and lettuce. Top them off with more queso fresco. If your a fan of Mexican cream now is your time to speak up and say put a little cream on that.

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Lil More Crema Por Favor

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Buen Provecho! Enjoy!

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Chile De Molcajete

Put That Store-Bought Salsa Down

Make your own. This salsa recipe is super easy. And even if you haven’t developed tortilla flipping hands (can flip tortillas on a hot comal and not get burned) yet, just use tongs or a spatula.

Ingredients

  • 5 Jalapeños
  • 2 Small Tomatoes
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Salt to taste

You’re also going to need a molcajete or you can blend the ingredients in the blender, but that’s not as fun as manually grinding everything.

Use Fresh Ingredients

No preservatives here and besides you’re probably going to end up finishing this salsa by tomorrow. Trust me.

A Tostar On The Comal

Heat up your comal or pan to medium high heat and throw all the jalapeños and tomatoes on there. Abandon the garlic for now we won’t need that until later. Rotate those guys to where all sides all slightly burned. Use tongs in case you don’t have tortilla flipping hands.

Put Them In A Tiny Sauna

Place them in a bag while they’re still hot and tie it up. This will make the peeling process easier.

 

Grind The Ajo

While the tomatoes and jalapeños are in the bag sweatin’ it out, grind the piece of garlic in the molcajete. If you’re using a blender just blend all the ingredients together after the next step.

Peel, Peel, And Peel Again

I like to pour a bit of canola or corn oil on my hands to prevent them from getting super spicy from the jalapeños. Run the jalapeños under water for a couple seconds to peel more easily.

Grind It All Up

Throw everything in the molcajete and get to work grinding everything. Today we work out arms. It’s okay to take a small break in between. Remember this is gonna taste really good. Add a bit of salt and taste.

This Goes Great With Pretty Much Anything Except Cereal

Serve with Quesadillas or chips and watch it disappear.

 

If It Comes Out Spicy It’s Because You Were Mad

Chiles are strange some come out spicy others don’t. There’s no saying how spicy it will be or like my mom says if it comes out spicy that meant you were angry while making it.

Buen Provecho! Enjoy!

Refrescante Topo Chico Drink

 

Sparkling water? As if.

This Agua Mineral can cure the worst hangover. IMG_6217

Ingredients

  • Ice
  • Lime
  • Topo Chico
  • Tajin

Extra snack fun

  • Cucumber spears
  • Lime
  • Salt
  • Tajin

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Topo Chico Is A Drink Best Served Cold

Fill your glass with ice and start squeezing those limes away. I usually put extra lime in mine.

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Fill the glass to the top with Topo Chiko and watch the water show. It never stops bubbling.

 

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Sprinkle Tajin on top and then sprinkle a little more because you can never have too much.

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Cut up the cucumber throw some salt, lime, and Tajin. Drop a couple of the cucumber spears in your drink and enjoy.

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Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Cóctel de Camarónazo

I had a terrible shrimp cocktail from a restaurant near the Kema Boardwalk once. It had three shrimp on ice with ketchup for dipping sauce. It was a boring and expensive appetizer. I expected something with spice and vegetables just like the kind my mom makes. Here’s my mom’s recipe so you won’t get stuck eating boring shrimp cocktails.

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Trust me its not just three shrimp and ketchup in a little white paper cup. There’s crunch, flavor, and spice.

Ingredients

  • 2 Pounds of shrimp
  • 4 Limes
  • 1 Large tomato
  • 1 Celery stick
  • 2 Avocados
  • 2 Jalapeños
  • 1/4 Large red onion
  • Handful of cilantro

 

  • Tomato sauce (8 oz.)
  • V8 (5.5 oz)
  • 1/4 Cup of Ketchup
  • 4 Dashes of Tabasco
  • 1 Cup of Shrimp Broth
  • Saltine Crackers

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Tell The Shrimp To Chill Out

For cooked shrimp just let those guys defrost then squeeze the juice from all the limes over them. For uncooked shrimp place them in a pan with a cup of boiling water for about 1 minute or until they turn slightly pink. Separate the broth and shrimp. Pour the lime juice over the shrimp and place in the fridge to chill out along with the broth.

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Chop Everything

Start chopping all the veggies! The onion, tomato, celery, cilantro and jalapeño should be chopped pretty small. The avocado will have the chunkiest cubes.

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Mix it up

Put the cold shrimp in a larger bowl and add the tomato sauce, v8, ketchup, tabasco, and shrimp broth. Stir and taste. You might need to add a little salt or more tabasco. Add in the veggies and mix. Bust open the package of crackers and enjoy!

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The Rise of UniConcha

Starbucks did the Unicorn Frappuccino but Mexican panaderia El Bolillo took it to a whole other level with their conchas.

“Since Pre Hispanic times, Mexicans have experimented with the taste of certain types of desserts. It wasn’t until the colonial times that bread, fortunately… It came to stay!” – Mexico Desconocido

 

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Loving The Unicorn Craze!

Last Tuesday I saw pictures of these “uniconchas” on my facebook feed. Several people had been posting about them. Lucky for me, my cousin just came back from El Bolillo the bakery that crafted the uniconcha. Other panaderias are already making their own kind of unicorn pan dulces and I hope they don’t stop. I’m sure eventually i’ll get tired of all the unicorn theme food but for now I just want it to keep on coming!

 

¡Saluda!

Socializing Is Hard For Introverts

The thought of having to talk to someone and give eye contact terrifies me, probably because I’m paranoid that they can read my mind. The word saluda is Spanish for greeting. Being somewhat of an introvert in a large Mexican family is tough.

img_7124Mexican Roots

My parents were born in Mexico but I was born in the United States. We only had one uncle who lived nearby and family gatherings were small. Once my parents got their citizenship we began to make trips to Mexico and that’s where I learned I had a town full of family. My Spanish was terrible even though for years I thought I knew how to speak it. Everyone in the family participates in the daily chores and goes to church. The daily meals usually consisted of nopalitos con frijoles but man was it good! The tortillas were made by hand and cooked on a comal over open fire. It was mesmerizing to watch my grandma place the tortilla down, flip it then watch it slowly puff up.

My mom would constantly tell me my manners were terrible compared to my cousins from Mexico. When called they would answer “mande” politely which would be the equivalent to yes how may I assist you and me well…

I yell QUE!!! from across the room. If we had visitors and I tried to greet them with a simple nod or a smile that wasn’t enough. Naturally my parents would call me out and ask me “ya saludaste” while gesturing towards the visitors and of course I’d get red, embarrassed and frustrated.

 

 

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