Mexican Challenge

[skdmom]

Who has the best mexican dish ?
Post ingredients and instructions please.

[NulloModo]

Oh my dear... you have no idea what you are about to prompt . Coming soon this week should be a fully photographed in depth cooking lesson featuring: Carnitas!

[JenniferGreen]

OMG, I love carnitas!!!! I have a very involved recipe from Suzanne Somers that is to die for. With guacamole ... ohhhh, I am going to go buy some pork shoulder next week......... I cannot wait to see your recipe!

[texannie]

I have a couple of pretty good ones. You can use low carb tortillas or leave them out completely and the recipes are just as good.


Chilaqueles
8 TORTILLAS
5 EGGS
1 LARGE TOMATO (CHOPPED)
1 SMALL ONION ( CHOPPED)
1 CHILE SERRANO OR JALAPENO (MINCED)
1/4 CAN TOMATO SAUCE
SALT TO TASTE
1 CUP SHREDDED CHEESE (OR MORE IF YOU LIKE)

CUT TORTILLAS IN BITE SIZE PIECES; PUT THEM IN A LARGE SKILLET IN SOME
OIL TO FRY UNTIL CRISP. ADD EGGS, STIR; ADD TOMATOES, ONIONS, SERRANOS,
TOMATO SAUCE, SALT, STIR CONSTANTLY. FINAL STEP, ADD CHEESE AND STIR.
SERVE WITH SOUR CREAM OR GUACAMOLE ON THE SIDE AND PICO DE GALLO ALSO
ON THE SIDE.

Chicken Spinach Enchilada Casserole

8 chicken breasts
1lb. fresh spinach
1 large coarsely chopped onion
8 Tbsp. butter
4 cup sour cream
4 cup chopped green chili
48 oz. grated cheddar cheese
48 oz. grated Monterey Jack cheese
16 large flour tortillas
1 tsp. cumin
2 red bell pepper, chopped
12 garlic cloves, minced

Toppings: diced tomatoes, chopped avocados, chopped scallions, sliced black olives, chopped cilantro

Poach the breasts for 20 minutes. Allow to cool. Remove meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Saute onion, garlic and red bell pepper in butter till limp. Remove skillet from heat and add spinach and cover. Allow spinach to steam in skillet for 15 minutes. Add the chili, sour cream, chicken, cumin and blend well. Line a greased casserole I used a shallow corning ware white casserole 3 1/2 quart) with a tortilla, layer chicken mixture on and top with a layer of cheddar and Jack cheeses. Layer once more again and end with a layer of tortilla covered with a layer of cheeses. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with all the garnishes listed. Delicious

Carnitas
take a 3 or 4 pound pork shoulder or butt.
cut it into large cubes, with as little fat left on it as possible--approximately 2x2 inch chunks.
no need to braise. simmer the chunks in half water and half chicken broth to cover. put in 1T. cumin; 1 large onion, sliced; 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, and a few shakes of oregano. let it simmer for 2 or 3 hours. then take the meat chunks and put onto a baking sheet. cook at 450 for about 20 minutes to 'dry' the edges of the meat.
dice yellow onion and mix with 1/2 cup of fresh, chopped cilantro.
heat a nonstick pan and heat corn tortillas til they are hot but will still bend easily. put some chunks of meat on it. you can 'shred' the meat a little with a fork. add the cilantro/onion mixture and sour cream and hot sauce, if desired. a good squeze of fresh lime is also good on the carnitas taco. very easy to make, it always turns out and the meat reheats easily for leftovers.
add a small salad, or tomatoes sliced with slivers of onion and a vinaigrette

Chicken Enchiladas

3 cups shredded/chopped cooked chicken or turkey
1 medium chopped onion
4 Tbsp butter or margarine
4 oz can chopped green chiles
8 oz cream cheese
12 oz shredded monterrey jack
1 doz whole wheat low carb tortillas
1/2 pint heavy cream
sliced black olives (optional)
dash of tobasco, or to tasteMelt butter in a large skillet and saute onions
until clear. Add chicken and stir until heated through. On low heat, add in
cream cheese (I cut it into 1 in. cubes) a few at a time, stirring to blend.
Add green chiles, mix well, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add
tobasco if desired. Roll a heaping tablespoon of filling in a tortilla and
place seam side down in a 9x13 pan. Once all are rolled, cover with shredded
cheese and pour the cream over the top (particularly the ends, so they don't
dry out). Sprinkle with the sliced olives. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 30
minutes until bubbly. The cheese and cream turn into a yummy sauce. The filling
is also really good in an omelet-

[NulloModo]

My Carnitas - (this isn't the most traditional recipe, but it is darn tasty).

Ingredients:

1 Pork Roast/Butt/Shoulder About 4/5 or so lbs of meat
1 Cup Tequila (optional)
1 Beer (optional)
2 Limes
1 Lemon
5 Chiles de Arbol
1 Dried Ancho/Mulato/Poblano
Oregano
Dried bird chiles/habanero (optional, if you like it hot)
Garlic, a couple cloves
Whole cumin seeds
Salt
Black Pepper
Fat for frying later



Directions:

Chop up your pork into bigish cubes. Do NOT trim any fat away. Fat is your friend in carnitas.

Toss into a big pot, trying to keep to one layer if possible, and add 1 cup of tequila, your beer, and enough chicken stock or water to cover. Alternately, just use chicken stock instead of the alcohol.

Lightly toast and grind your chiles, add them to the pot as well with the other dried herbs/spices. Toast your cumin seeds until fragrant, then throw them into the pot too.

Cut your limes and lemon in half and squeeze the juices in. Alternately you can squeeze then leave the whole fruits in to stew, but you will have to pull them out later.



Sit so that everything is well mixed and let this simmer/light boil until all of the liquid is gone. When it is all gone if there is enough fat that the pork is frying in its own lard, let it brown, occasionally stirring. If more fat is needed, add it now. When fairly browned stick under the broiler and watch till brown and crispy on top.



If you'd like you can make a simple salsa in your blender that goes great with this: simply add -

Onion
Tomato
Chiles (fresh)
Lemon juice
Mexican hot sauce (not shown, optional, for color and heat)



Chop it roughly, and you have something quite tasty.

Plate it all up with some fresh cilantro and a bit of Crema Mexicana and you're in business.

[JenniferGreen]

Oh, Nullo: I am SO BUYING PORK SHOULDER NEXT WEEK! :yikes

This sounds sooooo good. Your recipe is close to mine with a (few) alcoholic additions, which I am going to try!!!

[ana]

omg Nullo I soooo need carnitas NOW!! LOL thanks for the recipe and the pics gotta make this one soon.

I have a pork roast umm well it sorta looks like a part of the leg with the skin still on in the freezer..could I make the carnitas from that???

[skdmom]

Oh those are going to be so good. I can't wait. I could'nt help but laugh when I saw the spices on the top of the stove. I keep all my favorites in the same place.

[Desertthorn]

Ok, I'm also headed for the store too. My mouth is squirtin' just looking at the pictures. I think for an appetizer we can have sliced and peeled jicama, sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and chili power.

[texannie]

Guess I should have posted pictures with mine. :sadblinky

[JoanOH]

If you go up to the RECIPES section, under BEEF, I posted my Mexican Casserole recipe, which is Induction-friendly (no tortillas involved). It's gotten rave reviews here on this board.

Joan J

[ana]

Guess I should have posted pictures with mine. :sadblinky

sorry, texannie your recipes sounded really good too!!! guess we are just
a visual bunch.
p.s chiliaquiles is one of my all time favorites I havent had that in months do you make yours without the tortillas?? if so is it just as good?? I would be interested to find out I just thought that was one of those recipes I would have to do without.

[texannie]

Guess I should have posted pictures with mine. :sadblinky

sorry, texannie your recipes sounded really good too!!! guess we are just
a visual bunch.
p.s chiliaquiles is one of my all time favorites I havent had that in months do you make yours without the tortillas?? if so is it just as good?? I would be interested to find out I just thought that was one of those recipes I would have to do without.

Heck, I didn't even notice my recipes after I saw those pics! LOL
You could use pork rinds instead. I was doing a different low carb program so I just used whole wheat, but I can't imagine that it wouldn't be good without them.

[book]

I am going to make the blender salsa for a mexican tuna loaf recipe I plan to convert.

Nullo, what a great cooking lesson! Super yum, thanks!

book

[ana]

mexican tuna loaf recipe...Hmmm sounds interesting ensive
will you let us know how it turns out book??