You got Mexican Corn in my Pasta!

I don't know when this whole "Mexican Street Corn" thing started, but it's delicious, so screw authenticity. Also, I love pasta. PS, you can eat this hot or cold.

Mexican Corn Pasta

Serves 6

For the Dressing:
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup mayonnaise
juice and zest of one lime
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Tapatio)
salt and pepper, to taste

For the Pasta Salad:
8 oz. farfalle or rotini pasta

2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cups corn (frozen and thawed, fresh removed from cob, or canned and drained)

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced finely
4 green onions, green parts only, thinly sliced
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese (or queso fresco, or a combo)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish


Mix all ingredients for dressing in a large bowl. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to directions in well-salted, boiling water. Drain and set aside.

Heat a skillet with the olive oil and add the corn kernels and peppers. Cook over medium-high heat until starting to brown- don’t stir too often. You should get nice dark color on some pieces.

Combine all ingredients together in a serving bowl. Stir to combine.

  

7-layer tacos

When I was a young freelance musician (I am now an old freelance musician), I used to rely on Taco Bell's 7-layer burrito, which was $1.79 in the late '90s in mid-Michigan, to get me through long drives to and from gigs. It was vegetarian, which I was at the time, and a total fat bomb that kept me full for hours. These tacos remind me of those times, only I can eat them at my dining room table and not drop food all over my concert black. (PS, you can use real ground beef if you hate animals, but Morningstar Farms Grillers crumbles are actually delish, and that's not a paid sponsorship).

7-layer Tacos

Makes about 6 tacos

6 small tortillas (I like the flour-corn hybrid ones)
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 oz. (1/2 bag) of Morningstar Grillers Crumbles or ground beef
1 garlic clove, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
6 oz. black beans
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 large chopped tomato
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained
guacamole (preferably homemade)
sour cream or plain yogurt
Crumbled fresh queso or shredded Mexican blend cheese
chopped fresh cilantro and lime wedges for serving

Warm the tortillas and wrap in foil until ready to use.

Place the black beans, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and a dash of lime juice in a medium bowl and smash together with a potato masher, fork, or back of a wooden spoon until it resembles refried beans.  Heat those bad boys up in chef Mike (the microwave) for about 60 seconds if you want.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet and add the garlic, Morningstar crumbles, scallions, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon chili powder.  Saute about five minutes over medium heat.

Build your tacos: lay down a tortilla, smear some "refried" beans all over it, then top crumbles, tomato, corn, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese.  Sprinkle some cilantro on top and squirt some lime over the whole thing.

Recreating those great salsas from your neighborhood taco joint

...oh, you don't have a neighborhood taco joint?  Neither did I until I moved to northern Colorado, and my first trip up to the salsa bar was mind-boggling.  I've settled on three favorites, which I find work perfectly with everything from barbacoa to zucchini tacos or just dipping the chips you use to soak up your tequila-induced alcohol poisoning, and they're all quite simple to make.  Get to work on these recipes while you can still get fresh tomatoes and peppers from your garden or local farmer's market!

Creamy Avocado Salsa

3 ripe avocados
3 tomatillos
1 serrano chile

1 small lime
1 clove garlic
4 tablespoons Mexican cream or sour cream
6 tablespoons water
1 tsp salt

Pit the avocados and remove the flesh. Peel and wash the tomatillos. Remove the stem from the serrano chile. Peel the garlic clove. Squeeze the juice from the lime.

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until very smooth. If the salsa is too thick to blend add water 2 tbsp. at a time until the salsa blends smoothly. Add salt if necessary.

Classic Pico de Gallo

4 fresh tomatoes

1/2 jalapeno, minced

1 tablespoon minced red onion

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

juice of 1/2 a lime

salt to taste

Cut the tomatoes in half and gently squeeze the seeds and excess juice into a bowl. You can reserve this for soups or freeze into cubes in your ice cube tray for later use to add tomato flavor to anything. 

Dice the tomato flesh and add all other ingredients in a serving bowl.  Mix and salt to taste. 

Smoky Four-Pepper Salsa
8 ripe plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 poblano peppers
4 Anaheim chile peppers
1 jalapeno chile pepper, or more to taste
1 large green bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon mesquite flavored liquid smoke concentrate (optional)

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat.

Rub tomatoes with oil and grill for 10 minutes, turn. Place poblano, Anaheim, jalapeno chiles, and the green pepper on the grill. Grill 5 to 7 minutes per side, being careful not to let them burn. The skins should blister and brown. Remove tomatoes to a separate bowl. Place the chiles and pepper in an airtight container to let them steam while they cool so they're easier to peel.

Peel tomatoes and drain excess liquid. Peel and seed peppers. Place the tomatoes, chiles, green pepper, cilantro, vinegar, onion, garlic, and salt in the container of a food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times. Add liquid smoke and more jalapenos if desired. Pulse until salsa as chunky or smooth as you like.

Mexican Corn Salad revamped

There have been several versions of this dish going around the interwebs this summer, from Taste of Home's Pinterest account to an overly complicated vegan version in which you make queso out of tofu and use precious vegannaise in the dressing. It's not a bad combination of flavors, and reminds me quite a bit of the corn on the cob I had in Rhode Island to accompany my fatty-ass lobster dinner there in June. But there are a couple of things I've changed about these recipes--the vegetable content and the amount of mayo, for starters.  I have a lot more (not very Mexican) basil than I do cilantro in the garden, so I made that trade, as well. Here's my version.  Since it's no longer just corn, I guess we should call it...

Mexican Corn and Squash

Serves 4 as a side

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. corn kernels (frozen is fine, but thaw and drain first)
2 small-ish yellow summer squash, sliced and cut into half-moons
2 scallions, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 small jalapeno, minced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1 tablespoon thinly sliced basil leaves
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat and dump in the corn and squash with about a teaspoon of salt.  You want to get it a bit charred in places, so spread it all out into a single layer and let it sit there for a minute or two, then stir it up and do the same again.  When you're satisfied, lower to medium heat and add the scallions, garlic, and jalapeno. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and the jalapeno has softened a little.  Remove from heat and stir in the mayo, lime juice, paprika, and basil leaves.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the goat cheese on top.

The Better-than-Chipotle Rice Bowl

I don't eat fast food unless I'm travelling and either trying to be cheap or am in a big hurry. But when that is the case, I do like Chipotle.  I love the green rice, and I appreciate the variety of fresh-like ingredients I can add to my nicely cooked black beans.  But it's way too much food! One burrito will keep me full for over 24 hours, and I'm pretty sure that's not good for your system.  

Work a little less hard to digest your food while enjoying that comforting Tex-Mex flavor at home with these fast and easy chicken (if you want), bean, and rice bowls! And as with most of my recipes, you can easily swap out ingredients to make this more your own. Mine, below, is a facsimile of the included recipe, but doused with Tapatio hot sauce, as well. 

Better-than-Chipotle Rice Bowl

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 small serrano, thinly sliced (remove seeds for a milder meal)

1 chicken breast, cut into 2-inch chunks

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 large garlic cloves, minced

¾ cup corn kernels

2 15-oz. cans black beans (drain one, use the liquid from the other)

Green rice:

1 cup long grain white rice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

Salt to taste

Garnish:

Small avocado, cut into chunks

1 medium tomato, cut into chunks

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt and black pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan or your rice cooker, cook the rice according to package directions. 

Meanwhile, heat the oil on medium heat in a large skillet. When it shimmers, add the bell pepper, onion, and serrano and sauté until soft, about five minutes. Add the chicken along with the cumin and chili powder and some salt. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the chicken is almost cooked, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic cloves, corn, and black beans, reduce to low heat, cover and let simmer about 15 minutes.

Prepare the garnish: combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

When the rice is done, fluff with a fork while stirring in the cilantro, lime juice, and salt.

To build bowls: place equal amounts of rice into the bottom of each bowl.  Top with equal amounts of the bean mixture and then the garnish. 

Migas for Joe!

A certain evil genius flute repair tech I know is, like me, a big fan of migas. It's basically a pile of eggs, cheese, fried tortillas, and possibly other things you see fit to add, like vegetables or beans. It's traditionally a way to use leftover tortillas that didn't get eaten the day before, and any other leftover scraps you might have in the fridge from last night.  So it has the same function as lasagna or soup--a way to clean up the scraps.

I like to scramble my eggs along with a bunch of vegetables and some black beans, if I have them, and pour the whole mess over the fried tortillas, which have been smothered in (green, please) chile. But there are many variations, depending on how you like your eggs, what leftovers you have in your fridge, and just how soft you like your tortillas.  It has been hard work, but I tested many recipes for you Joe, and here are the two variations I like best:

Here's the basic idea (for one), using scrambled eggs:

2 corn tortillas
Vegetable oil
Butter
1 tablespoon diced bell pepper
1 tablespoon diced onion
1 tablespoon diced tomato
2 eggs + a little milk

salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, fry corn tortillas in hot vegetable oil until crispy. Drain. Remove oil from heat, Cut tortillas into bite-sized pieces. In butter, saute bell peppers and onion until soft. Add tomatoes. Beat eggs well with the milk and some salt and pepper. Add eggs to sauteed vegetables. Add tortilla chips. Scramble until eggs are done.

Now, to this you could add some leftover black beans or cooked, crumbled/shredded meat of any kind (throw those in with the eggs), something spicy (sliced serrano or jalapeno to sub for some of the bell pepper, or hot sauce added at the end), and of course, many people (me) are going to insist on cheese. Slice, crumble, or shred whatever you like--pepper jack, queso fesco, cheddar, etc.--and stir it in near the end of cooking time, when eggs are still a little wet but close to done.  I also like to season with fresh chopped cilantro and serve with a lime wedge, but you can do what you want. 

For a vegan version, simply swap out the eggs for a block of soft tofu and a sprinkle or two of nooch (nutritional yeast), break it all up with your hands until it looks scrambled egg-like, and toss it in when you would add the eggs. Obvs., you can't have the cheese either, unless you eat that horrible Daiya shit.)



And here's one using fried eggs and bread.  Its roots are Spanish. This one is much fussier and probably better suited to a purposeful meal with friends and family, so this recipe serves 4-6. I think it's nice with chorizo, but that's optional:

For the fried peppers:
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch julienne
2 Anaheim chiles, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch julienne
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the migas:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium yellow onions, diced
4 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
5 ounces chorizo, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 5-inch links)
1 tablespoon Sazon seasoning
3 cubed day-old bread
Salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil or butter
6 large eggs

To make the peppers:
Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large frying pan over high heat until drops of water sizzle. Quickly fry the pepper strips in small batches until the skins begin to blister and brown slightly, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Season well with salt and pepper.

To make the migas:
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan and add the onions. Cover and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Uncover, add the garlic, and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the chorizo and cook until it gives off most of its oil, about 3 minutes. Add the sazon and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the bread, making sure they absorb all the juices from the pan, and cook until the mixture is lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture into an ovenproof dishe and garnish with the peppers, tucking them in and around the breadcrumb mixture. Keep in a warm oven while you cook the eggs, or, if made ahead, reheat in a 250°F oven just before you cook the eggs.

To cook the eggs, heat 1/8 inch of oil over high heat to the smoking point. Break 1 egg into the hot oil. Season with salt and pepper. Working very quickly, fold in the edge of the egg white with a heat-resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Then spoon some of the hot oil over the egg so that it puffs up and crisps around the edges. All of this must be done in a matter of seconds so that the yolk remains soft. Using a slotted spoon, remove the egg and place it on top of a hot migas. Repeat for each serving. To serve, dived the bread mixture among six plates, then top each with an egg. 

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

I honestly have nothing to add to this Pioneer Woman recipe for Tex-Mex (Austin) migas, It's kind of like what your mom would make--you went out and bought all the ingredients just for this dish, cut everything up nice and pretty, and made it look super special for guests.  It's good, though, if missing the spirit of the original. Gimme Some Oven's is even more ornamental, but she has way pretty photos.




Of course, those of you who have been reading for a while may remember a lazy-girl migas, as my friend Jess calls it, I lovingly prescribed for a hangover back in December 2010. The big shortcut is that you just use leftover tortilla chips. I actually do this a lot, and I always save the broken up bits at the bottom of the bag in anticipation of my next hangover. Er...




[PS--migas or chilaquiles?  After reading enough that I thought I understood this to be a regional difference, it turns out it's not that cut and dried. I'm chocking it up to semantics, and I think this recipe for chilaquiles for a group by Rick Bayless is pretty spot on, too.]

A quick stop in Utah

I went to the Moab area and up to SLC this week.  It was pleasant, though I cant say they have anything on Colorado in terms of food or beer.  In Moab, I hiked in Arches (best) and Canyonlands (also nice) National Parks, and stayed in nearby Green River, which was a sad little town but way cheaper.  There was a darling taco stand set up at a brokedown gas station, and the barbacoa was delish.

In Moab, both the food and beer disappointed at Moab Brewery, but Sabaku Sushi was great, and the garden veggie roll was probably the best vegetarian sushi I have ever had. The poke was good, too.

Here's some of what I saw in Arches:

                                                          

And Canyonland:

In Salt Lake City, which I had visited briefly before, I hung out mostly in the Capitol (downtown) district, where I had great coffee at a little neighborhood cafe called Alchemy, OK beer and a funny pizza thing with corn and shrimp at Red Rock, and took a pleasant walk on the Capitol Building grounds, which are lovely.

The Great Salt Lake is indeed greatly salty, though there's really no place to walk unless you go to Antelope Island (Utah Lake in Provo is kind of a better park, though smaller and not tasty).

         

On the way out of town I hit the university neighborhood for some tasty Vietnamese rice noodle salad at Indochine (the chicken curry was nice, too).

Gooey baked black bean tacos

I'm not even sure this is a legit recipe.  It started with a bunch of leftovers: some cooked black beans, random scraps of different kinds of cheeses, and a few tortillas that had been sitting in the fridge for too long, getting all fridgey-tasting. I amended with some fresh and frozen vegetables, cranked the oven, and here's what resulted:

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with some foil.

Taco filling: black beans, finely chopped onion, corn (fresh or frozen and thawed under some hot water), and sliced or crumbled cheeses (queso, pepper jack, smoked gouda, cheddar...).

To assemble: warm the tortillas a bit in the microwave so you can bend them (I recommend flour for their flexibility). Cover one half of each tortilla with the above ingredients in whatever ratios you have or prefer, and fold the top half of each tortilla over that filling, like you're putting it to bed.  Lay the tacos on the lined baking sheet and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden.  Flip them over and cook another 5 minutes or so to avoid sogginess.

Make a little salad: toss some lettuce, fresh cilantro, red onion, corn, and red bell pepper together. Squeeze some lime juice over the top and sprinkle with a little salt.

Serve the tacos with the salad, sour cream, lime wedges, and your favorite hot sauces.

Green chile in everything!

Pumpkin-spice-everything seems to be heavily in fashion every September through November, but what I get excited about is the fresh roasted Hatch chiles I can get at my local farmer's market. Every Saturday morning, I can smell them roasting from my front porch as I have my morning tea, and I follow the smell by foot all the way downtown, where I have my choice of mild, medium hot, or "x-hot" (which I'm pretty sure would actually kill me). After the brutal sun and dry Colorado heat of July and August, they are abundant by September, and our local guys spend all morning cranking the simple, antique-looking roaster to fill up zip-top bags with the goods. I'd never enjoyed their splendor before moving out West, and I can never get enough. 

If you can get your hands on some roasted green chiles, a few bits of advice:

• Try to remove the skins while the peppers are still warm in the bag, and they are at their sweatiest.  As they cool, the skins begin to re-adhere, making your job more difficult. 
• Don't rinse them under water to help remove the skins, no matter how tempting.  The flavor gets watered down and less vegetal. 
• Try a bite before choosing to remove the seeds.  You can control the heat this way--if the peppers are very hot, go ahead and scrape them out, but if you got "medium" and wish you had gotten the "hot", leaving the seeds might help bump up the heat a little bit. 

You can chop and freeze portions in bags to add to soups, a pot of beans, green rice, scrambled eggs...etc. etc. etc. For instance, 

Green Chili Deluxe

Green Chili and Potato Gratin

throw some in your New Mexico breakfast burritos

Simple toppings to make your tacos pop

I don't want to post this on Cinco de Mayo, as the whitest person on the planet, and be a total douchebag.  And I eat tacos (well, things piled on top of small tortillas) like, A LOT, so why wait, anyway?

Fillings: any combination of seasoned ground meat or sausage, scrambled eggs, bacon, seasoned beans or lentils, or grilled vegetables or fish work perfectly well as taco filling.  Then comes the fun stuff, which can make every taco taste different:

Pickles: quick lime-pickled radishes or onions (see master recipe below), a jar of pickled jalapenos or other peppers, or this corn relish will fit the bill.

Cheeses: Of course, crumbled queso is all milky and mild and perfect with anything, but did you know manchego is actually great with chorizo? Pepper jack is nice with pulled pork, and feta often adds a great bite of salt, especially if you're going heavy on the sour-sweet relishes (above).

Herbs: you've got to have some fresh chopped herbs on top of all that.  Try cilantro, parsley, arugula (finely chopped so it's not so clumsy to eat) or dill, and don't go with the most obvious choice for your filling.

Don't forget the lime wedges, hot sauce (I love Tapatio), and chopped red onion, of course.  What are we, wild animals?!

Quick lime-pickled vegetables

Freshly squeezed lime juice
Sugar
Salt
1 Red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced or bunch thinly sliced radishes, or anything else your heart deisres

1. Whisk together lime juice, some water, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt dissolve. Use approximately 1/2 cup of lime juice, 1/2 cup of water (or up to 1/2 cup more to help submerge onions), 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt for every onion. This amount will also work well for a full bunch of radishes from the grocery store.

2. Add red onion to a bowl and cover with lime juice mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature for about an hour. Stir occasionally.

Keeps in the fridge up to two months. 

Road (and food) trip across Georgia

After a whirlwind 10 days through Georgia (with, impossibly, four stops in Milledgeville, home of "Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo"-?!?) and into South Carolina, I think I could go at least 48 hours without eating or feeling hungry!  But despite the bloat, I wouldn't have skipped any one of the amazing meals I ate on the road:

Strong coffee and a homemade giant cookie, to keep me awake until Athens at Blackbird Coffee, 114 W Hancock St, Milledgeville GA











A veggie and hummus sandwich on homemade marble rye and Louisiana voodoo chips tucked away in an industrial park at Southern Sweets Bakery, 186 Rio Circle, Decatur GA

Poached salmon with pesto and an appetizer of the tenderest escargot on the planet at Circa 1875 Gastro Pub, 48 Whitaker Street, Savannah GA





Penne pasta in red pepper and goat cheese sauce and fried green tomatoes drizzled with Vidalia onion-bacon buttermilk dressing at Last Resort Grill, 184 West Clayton St, Athens GA

Pulled and ground pork sliders and a delicious Moo-Hoo draft brewed locally at Trappeze, 269 North Hull St, Athens GA






Spicy peel-and-eat shrimp and mussels with fennel at Pearlz Oyster Bar, 936 Gervais St, Columbia SC

A pork chop the size of my torso and a mini shepherd's pie made with pulled pork at Manchester Arms Pub, 1705 Virginia Ave, Atlanta GA (College Park neighborhood)








The only delicious banh mi I have every eaten, made with ground pork and served with a side of fish sauce for dipping at Immaculate Consumption, 933 Main St, Columbia SC

True soul food served on the line: fried chicken, butter beans, collared greens, a biscuit, and of course, sweet tea that hurt my teeth at The Bears Den Dine In, 1191 Oglethorpe St, Macon GA









Virginia oysters served with a housemade cucumber dressing, light-as-air gnocchi with octopus and lobster, and fizzy vinho verde at Seven Lamps, 3400 Lenox Rd, Atlanta GA (Buckhead)

A giant tamale made with pork shoulder and served with green chile-mole sauce and inventive bourbon cocktails at Alma Cochina, 191 Peachtree St, Atlanta GA (downtown)

Sweet Potato and Kimchi Quesadillas

This recipe is inspired both by Roy Choi's idea to insert kimchi into, well, everything, and an old sweet potato quesadilla recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook I used to enjoy in my crunchy undergraduate days back in the early 90s.  You can vary this as much as you want--I'm ambivalent about the need for cheese when kimchi is involved, but it does help hold the thing together, for instance. Use a different grated root vegetable, different herbs or beans, etc.  Whatever your creation becomes, it's a great hand-held for the patio with a crisp glass of beer.

Sweet Potato and Kimchi Quesadillas

Serves 4

Teaspoon olive oil
1 small sweet potato, peeled and grated
½ yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked black beans
Handful chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
½ cup kimchi
1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 giant flour tortillas

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  When it shimmers, add the onion and cook, stirring constantly, until it starts to get soft.  Add the sweet potato, cumin, and salt and pepper, and continue to cook in the same fashion until the sweet potato is tender, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the black beans, cilantro, and kimchi and heat through.  Remove from heat.

Fill the three tortillas equally with the sweet potato filling, sprinkle equal amounts of cheese in each, and fold over in half.  At this point, you can either wipe out the skillet and fry each quesadilla in a little oil until brown and crisp on both sides, or you can pop them in a 425°F oven on a lined baking sheet and cook until golden (about 5 minutes on each side).  I prefer the oven because I’m not adding more oil to the dish.

Enchiladas for the skeptic

Who hasn't had bland enchiladas in their lifetime? Growing up in the Midwest, they were ubiquitous in Mexican restaurants (along with the seafood chimichanga, for more daring diners), and they generally consisted of some soggy corn tortillas filled with greasy ground beef and covered in ketchup. But with the right sauce, they can be quite satisfying. I have thrown in a couple atypical ingredients to this sauce to help give it a little more personality, and I urge you to try it before calling me nasty names.

Slow Enchilada Sauce

(Makes enough for two small batches of enchiladas in the following recipe)

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 small carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

1 serrano pepper

½ small red onion, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1-2 teaspoons New Mexico chili powder

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

tiny pinch ground cloves

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons red wine

Chop the carrot, garlic, pepper, and onion in the food processor until very fine.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When it shimmers, add the carrot mixture and salt, and saute until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Add the cumin and chili powder and cook, stirring occasionally, another 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes (with juice), cloves (trust me), red wine, and black pepper to taste.  Stir, cover, and lower to a simmer.  Cook at least 35 minutes, but the longer the better. For a smoother sauce, you can run this through the blender at the end.  

Keep in the refrigerator up to one week, or it can be frozen up to one month.  

Enchiladas for the Skeptic 

Serves 4-6

1/2 batch Slow Enchilada Sauce, above

1 tablespoon red onion, finely diced

2 tablespoons cilantro, minced

1 cup frozen or fresh corn, thawed

1/2 cup black beans

1 small green bell pepper, diced

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

8 medium corn or corn-flour hybrid tortillas

1 cup crumbled queso fresco

1/3 cup diced pepper jack cheese

Grease a 9 X 13 casserole dish and lay a very thin layer of sauce in the bottom, swirling to coat. Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a bowl, combine the onion, cilantro, corn, beans, pepper, diced pepper jack, and half of the queso. Season with lime juice and a dash of salt and stir.

Heat the tortillas until pliable, then fill each with equal parts of the cheese-corn mixture. As you roll each tortilla, place it seam side down in the casserole dish. When you have finished this process, cover the tortillas with the Slow Enchilada Sauce. Scatter the remaining queso on top and bake, uncovered, until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes.

Serve with crema or sour cream and guacamole on the side, if desired.

Tacos are my favorite food.

Well, one of them, anyway. Before I moved to the Rockies almost ten years ago, my knowledge of Mexican food was limited to Taco Bell, watching Rick Bayless on PBS (but not actually cooking the stuff, because I couldn't find the ingredients), and that bastion of Midwestern cuisine, Chi-Chi's "Mexican" Restaurant. I liked it.  I liked all the ingredients separately, and I was accustomed to bland food.  Plus there was melted cheese.

Then I moved to Greeley, Colorado in 2003.  Greeley has its low points (it smells like shit all the time from the nearby feed lots, we have a gang problem, the restaurants suck), but a definite plus in my book is the sizeable Mexican population here, and that means we have access to authentic ingredients, great banda music, and real Mexican culture in action.  I still marvel at the festive quinceanera dress shops (like little, brightly colored wedding dresses) dotting a street full of bail bond offices and check-into-cash shops. The local tortillaria makes their tortillas fresh every day, along with beautiful green chili and tamales in the deli section, and some of the most elaborate cakes I have ever seen.  The Cinco de Mayo parade that runs down our street is small, but full of heart and great music (and some pretty kick-ass paint jobs on the low-riders). And in the side of our local grocery market, there is a taco stand, which is where I will always claim I began my induction into the world of authentic, delicious Mexican food.  Small corn tortillas topped with freshly grilled marinated meat or beautifully seasoned vegetables will then be ornamented with the appropriate condiments (cilantro, diced red onion, and a lime wedge for carne asada; queso and pickled onions for the pork). Although I recognize every nation's pride in their unique independence movements, Cinco de Mayo meant nothing to me before moving here.  And it still can never mean to me what it does to the majority of my neighbors, but I feel a deep respect and appreciation for them, their culture, and most certainly their food.

Here are some of my favorite taco attempts at home:


Quick Fish Tacos

Serves 4

1/2 pound firm white fish (I like Swai)
peanut or some other neutral oil
salt + black pepper
about 3/4 cup cornmeal for coating fish
small corn or flour tortillas
condiments: shredded red cabbage, lime wedges, jalapeno slices, sour cream, chopped cilantro

Rinse the fish and pat it dry.  Cut into equal bite-size pieces (about 2 inch x 1 inch chunks), season with salt and pepper, and dredge through cornmeal, shaking off excess.  Heat about 3 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan on medium high heat, and when it smokes, add the fish.  Cook about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve with all remaining ingredients.

Grilled Shrimp Tacos 

Serves 4-5

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chipotle or blended chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 pound medium shrimp (about 20), peeled and deveinned
small corn or flour tortillas
condiments: 1 large chopped tomato, 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed and drained, chopped avocado, sour cream, lime wedges, chopped cilantro, chopped red onion

I like to do these on skewers just so it's easier to turn the shrimp without losing any in the coals.  Combine shrimp with oil, salt, and chipotle powder in a bowl and stir to coat.  Thread through skewers and cook over hot coals about 20 minutes, turning once so that they brown on both sides. Remove from skewers and serve with all remaining ingredients.


And from some old posts...
Tacos with Drunken Pintos and Roasted Veggies
Vegetarian "chorizo" tacos

Drunken Pintos

I like pinto beans.  They're tasty, and they're cheap and plentiful.  I had these recently in tacos topped with roasted sweet potato, onion, and spinach (pictured), but I have also done all of the other suggestions listed at the end of this recipe and I fully endorse them.  This recipe serves as a good base for my version of  Brazilian Pinto Soup, as well.

Drunken Pintos

2 cups dry pinto beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
½  teaspoon cayenne
12 oz. beer
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, finely diced

Place beans, tomato paste, cumin, salt, and cayenne in a stock pot or pressure cooker and add water to cover 1 inch above beans.  Cook 1.5 hours at a low simmer or according to pressure cooker directions (generally 20-25 minutes) or until beans are tender.  Drain off some of the cooking liquid if it seems like too much and pour in the beer.  Stir in the garlic and jalapeno and heat through.  Serve as a soup (you can blend up to 2/3 of it for a thicker, creamier texture), over rice, or drain and serve in tortillas topped with chopped tomatoes, sour cream, and red onion as tacos.

California Burritos

When I lived in Bloomington, Indiana as a student, there was an old Victorian house downtown which had been chopped up and converted into several things--bizarre toy shop, coffee shop employing the most heavily pierced and tattooed people in Monroe County (god, I loved that place), and a goofy burrito place run by a clingy middle-aged woman.  All they had in there was burritos, which the clingy middle-aged woman owner called "California style". Having never visited the great state at that point in my life, I had no idea what she meant; I think now that California style generally means there are a lot of vegetables in it.  The burritos were overpriced and not terribly flavorful (Ha! Maybe that's the California style!), but the formula she used was revolutionary to me: basically equal parts grains,vegetables, and meat.  She didn't offer much in the way of condiments (nor did she season her ingredients before heating them in the microwave), and that was the problem, but the basic model allows for a wonderful amount of creativity.  I recalled that place a few weeks ago when I was trying to use up leftover rice, tortillas, and veggies (you could call the mushrooms the "meat" in this recipe, I guess). And then I remembered the time I brought my dad in there and she unabashedly hit on him all through our meal, and I was glad I would never have to go there again.

California-style Burritos

Serves 4


4 large burrito-style flour tortillas
1 teaspoon olive oil
8 oz. button mushrooms, quartered
4 oz. dried shitake mushrooms
½ yellow onion, chopped
1 small yellow crookneck (summer) squash, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large jalapeno, minced
1 cup loosely packed fresh spinach, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup cooked brown rice, whole wheat couscous, or quinoa
Bottled green salsa
¼ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
6 oz. crumbled queso fresco, feta, or goat cheese
Plain Greek-style yogurt

Soak the shitake mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes or until they are pliable.  Squeeze out excess moisture and give them a rough chop.  You can save the soaking liquid for soup (freeze if you’re not using it within the week).

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil and sauté the onion, mushrooms, squash, and jalapeno.  Cook until soft (about 10 minutes), then add the garlic and spinach.  Cook another minute, until garlic is fragrant and spinach begins to wilt, and then turn off heat.

To build burritos, place equal amounts of rice, mushroom mixture, and cilantro along one side of each tortilla.  Top with salsa, cheese, and yogurt, tuck the ends up over the filling, and roll into a burrito shape.

Oh yeah...HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!!