Mexican Style Slaw

As the self quarantine works into the second week, I realize I need to make sure we don't waste any produce. As I planned on making carnitas, it seemed reasonable to use up my cabbage to make a Mexican style slaw to serve with (or on) them. I got to use up some produce and ended up with a tasty slaw! This would also be a serviceable side salad. You can ramp the heat up or down with more or less jalapenos. Yes, I will be having this meal with margaritas. I'm not a total savage. As always, notes are in blue.

Mexican Style Slaw

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cabbage, cut into thin ribbons
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 3 radishes, finely chopped
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered (or 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped)
• 1 can (14.5oz) black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup corn
• 2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos, chopped (feel free to use more to spice it up. Also, fresh is fine if that's what you have on hand)
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons dried cilantro
• 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning

Directions

1. Throw the first 7 items in a big bowl
2. In a smaller bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and whisk to incorporate.
3. Pour the contents of the small bowl into the large bowl and toss to get the dressing mixed evenly among the slaw.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Good times!

Steak Chimichangas

Bit of history: my dad and I used to go to this Mexican restaurant, Las Palmas, where we would always order the same thing. "Number 11 with steak." It was rice and beans, a chili relleno, steak burrito, and steak chimichanga. That steak chimichanga was always what I would save for last. It was absolutely amazing. I decided I was going to try my hand at replicating it. While I didn't exactly nail it, I did make a damn good steak chimichanga that even Deadpool would approve of. They were actually super easy to make and there's room for customization. You could easily switch with chicken, pork, or ground beef. Give it a try. Or don't. More for me. As always, notes are in blue.

Steak Chimichangas (makes 4)

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pound top sirloin, cut into cubes (feel free to use stew meat if you want)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup refried beans (we just used canned refried beans from Aldi)
• 1 can 8oz. tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped (again, right from the can)
• 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
• 4 large (10") flour tortillas
• vegetable oil for frying
• shredded cheese of your choice (optional)

Directions

1. Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the cubed meat, onion and adobo seasoning. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until meat is browned and onions are starting to get soft. Remove from heat.
2. In a bowl, add refried beans, tomato sauce, and chipotle pepper. Mix ingredients until they are all incorporated. 
3. Take 1/2 of the sauce and add it to the meat. Mix until meat is evenly coated.
4. In a deep cast iron pan (if you don't have cast iron, find something you can fry in) heat about 2" of vegetable oil. 
5. Fun part, take 1/4 of the meat mixture and put it in the center of the tortilla.

   

   Visual aid.

   Roll the tortilla into a burrito shape using your favorite tortilla rolling method. There are tons on the internet. We just picked one that basically had us fold one side over, tuck in the sides, then roll it up. Like I said, hit YouTube, somebody more competent than I can show you how to do it. 
6. Drop the bad boy into the hot oil. One at a time. Fry for about 2-3 minutes, then flip it over and do another 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown all around. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat process 3 more times!

   

   Glorious

7. Serve chimichanga on it's own, or top with the reserved sauce and shredded cheese.

   

   OH MAIS, OUIS. Wait, that's French.
   
   

   

   Good times!

   
   
   

Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas

     Call me a purist, but I like my enchiladas filled with meat. When I see fillings like beans and rice I tend to wonder why somebody would put the side dishes inside my main course. However, The Wife wanted to try this recipe and if The Wife ain't happy, nobody's happy. After making these, I will grudgingly admit they are pretty good. Granted, they would be much better if there was shredded chicken or ground beef in there. Next time I may add that along with the regular filling. We made a few notable changes and it resulted in a pretty spicy enchilada. These even served as a breakfast with some scrambled eggs and hot sauce. All in all, we'll call this one a winner and likely add it into the rotation. As always, notes and changes are in blue.

Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas
via Taste of Home Everyday Light Meals

Ingredients

• 1 green pepper, chopped (we used a yellow bell pepper)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles (didn't have this. We used a can of fire roasted tomatoes and added a couple teaspoons of chopped pickled jalapenos)
• 1/4 cup picante sauce (I never have picante in the house. I doctored up a sauce from a leftover can of chipotle peppers in adobo)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 8 flour tortillas (8-10 inch size), warmed
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheeze
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a large, nonstick skillet, saute pepper, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the beans, tomatoes, picante, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until heated through and mixture thickens. Add rice; cook 5 minutes longer or until heated through.
2. Coat a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Spoon a rounded 1/2 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla. Fold sides over fill and roll up (sides? How does a circle have sides? Maybe the top and the bottom side, but I don't think that's what they mean. Possibly the edge? Fold the edges over? That sounds right. I'm guessing they must have failed geometry) Place the rolled-up tortillas in the baking dish. Spoon salsa over each tortilla. Cover with foil and bake at 350F (180C, Gasmark4) for 25 minutes.

   

   Here's The Wife hard at work assembling the enchiladas.
   Her tiny little hands are perfect for this sort of precision work.

4. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro. Bake 1-2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Good times!

Slow Cooker Margarita Chicken and Black Beans

     I'm pretty sure there's about 150,000 different slow-cooker Mexican style chicken recipes floating around the interwebz, so I figured why not add another? This particular recipe assembles quickly and makes for a fairly versatile meal. We served it over rice, in tortillas and as a nacho topping. Just make sure to drain off any excess liquid if you're using it in tortillas, tacos or nachos, otherwise everything will get soggy. This is very mild. I wound up adding habanero hot sauce to mine, but I really like the heat. As always, any notes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Margarita Chicken
and Black Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped (any color is fine; we used red)
• 1 tablespoon pepper in adobo sauce (you can find these canned in the ethnic section of most grocery stores)
• 2 ounces tequila (optional if booze isn't your thing)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (I used the stuff from the little plastic lime. I love that sort of thing)
• 1 teaspoon Pilsen Latino Seasoning (from The Spice House)
• for those who don't have access to the above seasoning, it includes: coarse Kosher flake salt, garlic & onion powders, Mexican oregano, Tellicherry black pepper, hot red pepper flakes.

Directions

1. Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Unceremoniously dump all other ingredients on top of chicken.
3. Give a quick stir. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours.
4. Remove chicken from cooker, shred and return to cooker. 

UPDATE: Now there's a YouTube video for this recipe!

Slow Cooker Pork Loin and Hominy

     The school year is in full swing, which means the slow-cooker has been brought out for heavy use. Generally we throw together a few things in our cookers on Sunday and eat on them for lunches and dinners during the work week. I started this week with an idea that had been knocking around in my head for a couple of days. Pork and hominy seemed like a good mix, so I decided to use those as key ingredients and give it a generally Southwest feel. I used my own home-canned chili tomatoes. Any canned chili tomato will do. The recipe below is written assuming you're using plain old canned tomatoes. If you find pre-seasoned chili tomatoes, omit the chili powder, cumin and paprika. If you drain the liquid, this makes a decent taco filling. It's also good over rice. It doesn't have a ton of heat, so you can fine tune it as you need.

Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Hominy

Ingredients

• Pork loin, about 3 pounds
• 1 can white or yellow hominy, drained
• 1 can black eye peas or bean of your choice
• 1 quart canned tomatoes, undrained.
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 3 cayenne peppers
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 can cream of celery soup

Directions

1. Heat some oil in a large pan. Cook loin about 3 minutes on each side, until just starting to brown.
2. Pour tomatoes and spices into slow cooker. Lay the loin, fat side up, on top of the tomatoes. 
3. Spread remaining ingredients over top of loin.
4. Cook 4-5 hours on HIGH or until meat breaks apart easily with a fork.

UPDATE: I have added a YouTube video of the actual cooking process! How exciting! Or not. Depends on how low you set the bar.

Good times!