Cinco de Mayo goodness

I know, Cinco de Mayo was four days ago.  I KNOW, this is a late post, but we were busy ok?  We don’t really celebrate Cinco de Mayo in this house, and we didn’t really celebrate it growing up.  We sort of snickered at the dumb Gringos who thought that Cinco de Mayo was the independence of Mexico and then we tried to educate them. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. Mean weren't we?

I have been feeling my Mexican roots lately and this has been reflected in my cooking and my blog reading. A has been getting extra Spanish classes and both A and C are eating even yummier food than before. In fact, C has taken to asking if things “pica” before biting in to them. This would include his three morning bowls of Cheerios! Crazy kid. Then again, milk with chiles might not be a bad way to start the day.....

Anyway, we were invited to a Cinco de Mayo party and I was bound and determined to bring something traditionally Mexican that was easy to make and super yummy.  Most, but not all Mexican food is labor intensive. It assumes that you have a muchacha or two working for you and that you can slave in the kitchen all day while someone else watches your kids. I WISH I had that……. Back to the food. Afer tossing around various ideas, I made up a batch of Chilaquiles. I LOVE Chilaquiles. My first memory of this dish was on a Aero Mexico flight from Miami to Cancun when I was studying abroad in Merida, Mexico.  They were amazing, they were hot, had a spicy red sauce, were sprinkled with cheese, and were airplane food!! Can you  imagine? GOOD airplane food???

Since I had decided to make these, I needed to go out and get the essentials. I had fresh local, organic tomatoes and green onions from Sejah Farms, a white onion, a bay leaf(also local), Oregano, salt pepper, and dried chipotle and chile de arbol peppers. I bought two rotisserie chickens, some crappy corn tortillas(they fry better), and the cheeses. I was set to begin cooking, but first I needed a drink - of Horchata (recipe to come) that is.

Here is the recipe I used:

Chilaquiles rojas

500g day-old tortillas, cut into triangles

1 cup vegetable oil, for frying

6 tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

3 stalks of green onion

1 medium white onion

4 dried chipotle chiles soaked in boiling hot water to plump

2 dried chile de Arbol chiles also soaked in boiling hot water to plump

2 - 3 tablespoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

salt to taste

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 rotisserie chicken de meated

100g queso fresco plus 100 g Manchego cheese shredded

finely sliced onion rings, to serve

Frying the tortillas to make the chips.

1.        In a deep pan, heat the oil to around 180 degrees Celsius (or until an introduced tortilla strip fries rapidly). Add about a fifth of the cut tortillas and cook till crisp, repeat with the other 4 batches. Drain well.

2.        Place the tomatoes in a small sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Drain the water out, then puree the tomato, onion, green onion, garlic, chipotle, chile de arbol, bay and oregano together.

3.        Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a wide saucepan, and carefully add the pureed mixture. Add some salt, then fry for 5-8 minutes or until the color of the sauce starts to darken.

Finished sauce.

4.        Add the tortilla chips, chicken, and Manchego (you will need quite a large pan to stir the sauce through thoroughly) and mix gently, trying not to break up the chips too much.

5.        Add to 350 degree preheated oven and bake until the sauce is warm and cheese has melted.

6.        Sprinkle with cilantro queso fresco, and onion slices, serve.

It was super picante and it was great! I totally want to make a batch for breakfast this weekend, but we have a swim meet planned so it may have to be a mid week dinner dish, with less pica for the kids.

photo from delatierra.com

Viva Mexico! Ole!!

Cheesy Quinoa Bites - a recipe

I have discovered Pinterest….. not sure yet if it is a blessing or a curse, but I have found some interesting items there that I either want to make – crafty ways or food that I want to make.  My latest find was Cheesy Quinoa Bites.  They looked simple, healthy, and like something that at least one of my children (Aislin the adventurous) would eat.

Here is the recipe – which of course has my altered version:

4 cups cooked Quinoa

1.5 large carrots

½  a bunch of cilantro

2 green onions

1 clove of garlic

smidgen of salt

2 eggs

2 – 3 tbsp flour

black pepper

4 oz shredded cheese – extra sharp cheddar in our case

Chop/shred/blend all veggie ingredients. I just roughly chopped everything and threw it in my Ninja. I LOVE that thing!

Next add all the rest to a bowl and mix.  Fill sprayed mini muffin pans until heaping. Cook for about 25 min at 350 and enjoy! When they are done, they will pop right out.

They were really yummy. Although, I might add pepper jack cheese next time to give it some more kick. 

As expected, Aislin loved them, and Christopher feed his to the dog.

Happy Eating!

New Traditions

Well, Christmas is tomorrow and boy has it snuck up on me! Stephen's Christmas gift has yet to arrive, some of the gifts are still unwrapped, the house is upside down, and I have started two new traditions today.  If I just started them, does that make them traditions?  Hmmm, I'll have to let you be the judge of that.

Christmas Tradition I: Homemade Overnight Cinnamon Rolls.

What better way to wake up than to the smell of cinnamony goodness permeating the house? They really weren't that hard to make and I was able to tweak the recipe to suit our cinnamon hounds sweet teeth.  I also got to use my stand mixer which I LOVE..... No pictures of these as they all got et as some of my Gillette relatives are wont to say. Here is the recipe though:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 stick butter
• 2 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
•  
• FILLING:
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 
  

Directions

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Add the butter and sugar and stir until melted; let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water, let sit for 5 mins.  Then add the milk mixture. 5 cups of flour, salt and eggs; stir well to combine. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
4. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10x 14 inch rectangle. Lightly brush the far edge with water. In a small bowl combine the cinnamon and 3/4 cup brown sugar and sprinkle over the rectangles. Then sprinkle the raisins and chopped nuts over the dough. Roll up the dough into a log and seal the seam.
5. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces; place the pieces in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan, or 12 inch deep dish pizza pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rise overnight.
6. The next morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Take the rolls out of the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
7. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. 

I did use my stand mixer, so you have to change this a bit for that piece of equipment.  Enjoy them - we did!

Christmas Tradition II: Sushi.

I know, I know..... Sushi does not sound very Christmasy, but the kids LOVE it, I love it, and it lets me do something creative in the kitchen.  I figure this is a nice light supper the day before you go hog wild at the Christmas dinner table, and it is a way to slow down and appreciate working with your hands.

Aislin and I are making loads of different types of sushi but my favorites are the spicy shrimp and the Unangi rolls that are made with smoked eel :) YUM!  I actually started this post earlier, but with rolling the sushi, playing with kids, and going to the Christmas Eve party this isn't getting posted until now.

Whatever your traditions might be, I wish you all a Merry Christmas!