Posole-inspired Stewed Chicken

The hubby and I have made several trips to Mexico, where we discovered some very tasty food.  I like to recreate many of the things we've eaten, and have never met a recipe I can't make, tho I often alter them to suit my family's tastes.

Posole is typically a chicken soup made with tomatillos, green chiles and hominy.  My husband's not a fan of hominy, so I substituted sweet corn I got at the farmer's market.  I also wanted it to be less of a soup and more like a thick sauce over the meat.  The result is thick, sweet and a bit spicy.

Here's what you'll need:
1 chicken, cut into 8 or 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 lb tomatillos, quartered
4 poblano peppers, stems removed & cut in half
1 jalapeno, stem removed
1 bunch green onions, white and light green parts only
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch cilantro
1 - 1 1/2 c water or chicken stock
juice of 2 limes
1 tsp salt
2 ears sweet corn

Preheat oven to 400.

Arrange the tomatillos, peppers, onions and garlic on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake until the tomatillos break down, about 20 minutes.

Using a gas burner or grill, char the 2 ears of corn.

Turn when they show color, until evenly charred.  Remove from heat.

When cool enough to handle, slice the kernels from the ears with a sharp knife.  Set aside.

Heat about 1 TBSP olive oil in a large skillet.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and cumin.  Quickly sear them in the skillet, about 1 minute on each side.  Remove from the heat.

When the vegetables are done transfer them to a blender or food processor.  Add the cilantro and 1 c water.

Pulse until the mixture is smooth, adding enough remaining water to make a sauce.  Stir in the lime juice and salt.

Pour the sauce over the chicken in the skillet.

Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer.  Cover and let cook about an hour, until the sauce thickens and reduces.

Stir in the corn kernels.

Bring back to a boil.  Cook 1-2 minutes, until the corn is warmed through.

Serve with steamed rice or warmed tortillas.

Enjoy!

Salsa Verde

My salsa garden has been exploding this year!  I've been making all sorts of red tomato-based salsas, and they're all delicious.  But sometimes I like a change, and salsa Verde is the just  the thing.  I found some gorgeous poblano peppers at the local farm market this morning, so it was the perfect day for this.  It doesn't get much fresher than this.

Here's what you'll need:
2 lbs tomatillos, husk removed, quartered
3 qt poblano peppers (about 20)
5 jalapeno peppers
1 onion, roughly chopped
6-8 cloves garlic
olive oil
salt & pepper
1 LARGE bunch cilantro
1 can vegetable broth
juice of 5 limes
1 TBSP salt

Preheat oven to 400.
Arrange the cut tomatillos on a sheet pan.  Lightly drizzle with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Arrange the peppers, onion and garlic on another sheet tray.  Drizzle with olive oil' sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake the tomatillos until they are soft and begin to break down, about 20 minutes.

Roast the peppers until they are charred and soft.  Remove some of the charred skin and the seeds from the peppers.

Transfer the tomatillos to a blender.  Pulse until mostly smooth, adding lime juice as needed.

Repeat the blending process with the peppers, onion, garlic and cilantro adding vegetable stock, as needed, to process the peppers.

Pour all the blended into a large pot.  Stir in the salt.

 Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.

At this point, I used a hot water process to can my salsa.  It's also ready to eat, as is, or it freezes well in zip top bags.  Makes about 10 cups.

Enjoy!

Carnitas

Carnitas is pork that has been marinated in chiles and then braised in the broth for many hours.  The taste is rich and smoky, and the meat's fork-tender.  It's delicious served with warmed tortillas or over a bed of rice.
For all you food purists out there, this is not the authentic recipe, this is my version.

Here's what you'll need:

3-4 dried Guajillo peppers
boiling water or chicken stock
The juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1 lb pork loin or chops, cut into 1 inch chunks
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil
flour tortillas, salsa or Mojo and sour cream, for serving

Guajillo chiles are smoky and not too spicy.  They give a ton of flavor without burning up your taste buds.  I bought this big bag at Walmart.  You can also get it at international grocery stores.

Break the stem off the peppers and put them in a bowl, breaking them to fit.

Add enough boiling water or broth to completely cover the peppers (about 2 cups).  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.

When cool, pour the softened peppers and their liquid into a blender.  Pulse until smooth.

Add the lemon juice and salt, then pulse until well-blended.

Put the pork cubes into a shallow dish and pour the pepper mix over it, stirring to coal it all.

Cover and refrigerate 2-8 hours.

Get a cast iron skillet or dutch oven screaming hot.

Add the oil.  When it just begins to smoke, add the pork cubes, turning to sear all sides.  Cover.  Place the skillet in a 350* oven.  Bake until the pork easily breaks apart with a fork.

Serve with warm flour tortillas (or rice), salsa or mojo and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Mexican-spiced Brownies

I like combining flavors.  Sweet & salty.  Fruit & herbs.  Chocolate & chile. They're subtle flavors that seem to make each other "pop".

I was looking for a treat to send my son who's away at college.  He likes hot things, so I whipped up these chipotle-laced brownies.  They're densely chocolate with just enough of an after-burn to now something else is going on.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 12-oz pkg Special Dark chocolate chips
1 c milk chocolate chips
2/3 c vegetable shortening
2 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 TBSP chipotle puree*

To make the chipotle puree you will need 1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

Put the peppers and sauce into a blender and puree until smooth. What isn't used in this recipe can be stored in a covered container in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 9x13" pan or a brownie pan.  Set aside.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large glass bowl, combine the special dark chocolate chips and the shortening.

Microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Beat the chocolate mixture into the sugar.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend well.  Add the vanilla and chiptole puree.  Mix well.  Stir in the flour mixture, just until blended. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.  Spread the brownie mixture in the prepared pan (for the brownie pan I used a large cookie scoop).

Bake at 350 30-35 minutes (14 min for the brownie pan), or until toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack, completely, before cutting.  Makes 2 doz.

Enjoy!

Churro Cheesecake Bars

If you've met me, you know of my HUGE love for Mexican food.  However, I'm not such a huge fan of Mexican desserts.  Tres leches cake is just so... moist.  Flan is like eating egg jello.  Churros are delicious, but I'm not a big fan of frying food.  So the other night, when a friend invited us over for a Mexican-themed meal and asked me to bring dessert, the challenge was on to find a great recipe.  I saw this one floating around face book, and decided to give it a try.  It's super simple and oh so delicious!

Here's what you'll need:
2 cans of crescent rolls (if you can find the sheets GET THEM.  It'll make your life simpler.)
2 8-oz cream cheese, at room temp
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg,  at room temp
1 c sugar, divided
2 TBSP cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the cinnamon with 1/2 c of the sugar.  Mix well and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese, remaining 1/2 c sugar, vanilla and egg until well blended.  Set aside.

Grease a 9x13" pan.  You can use spray, but I found using shortening worked better to keep the pastry from sticking.

Sprinkle 1/4 c of the cinnamon-sugar mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan.  Shake from side-to-side to evenly coat the bottom and partially up the sides of the pan.  Set aside.

Roll one can of crescent rolls to 9x13 inches, on parchment paper. (This is where the sheets of crescent roll dough will make prep easier.)

Place it on top of the sugar in the pan.  I found it was easier to transfer when I roll the dough, loosely, inside the parchment paper, but it was still hard to get it off the parchment in one piece.

Spread the cream cheese mixture, carefully, over the pastry.  Spread to within 1/2 inch of the edges.

Roll the remaining can of crescent roll into a 9x13" piece.  Carefully lay over the cheese mixture, pushing the edges together.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 c cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until the center is set.  Cool to room temp on a wire rack, then refrigerate until cold.

This is extremely rich, so I cut it into 20 squares.

Enjoy!

Green Chile Chicken Pockets

I'm not big on frying foods, but once in a while I just get a taste for it, especially if there's Mexican flavors involved.  So last night I decided to put together two of my favorites: chicken and green chilies.  They taste a little like what Chi Chi's used to call chimichangas.  Oh so good!

Here's what you'll need:
1 whole chicken breast, poached and shredded
1 small can green enchilada sauce
2 c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
10 lg flour tortillas
oil for frying

Line a baking sheet with paper towels then place a cooling rack on top.  This will serve to both drain off excess oil and keep them crisp while in the oven.  Preheat oven to 250.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat.  You'll not it's hot enough when you stick the end of a wooden spoon in the oil and bubbles immediately for around it.

In a bowl, combine the chicken with the enchilada sauce.  You may not need all the sauce.  It will just depend how large the chicken breasts were.  You want the meat to be coated, but not dripping with sauce.

Heat the tortillas in the microwave 20-30 seconds, just until they are pliable.
Place on tortilla on a flat surface.  Place roughly 1/4 c chicken on the bottom third of the tortilla.

Sprinkle with 2-3 TBSP cheese.

Fold bottom third of the tortilla up over the filling.  The fold in both sides.

Roll tightly, until all the filling is covered.

Continue with each tortilla until all the filling is used.  These cook best if allowed to sit an hour or so first; refrigerating helps, too.

When the oil is ready, gently place one pocket into the skillet, seam side down.  I found 2 fit well without cooling the oil too much.

Cook about 2 minutes, until golden brown.  Carefully turn (I used tongs) and cook the other side.

As each is finished browning, place on the rack over the paper towels, and keep warm in the oven until all are cooked.  Serve with sour cream, salsa and any remaining enchilada sauce.

Enjoy!