17 Cinco de Mayo Recipes

Turkey Chipotle Posole

Yeah, yeah, I am always late to the game. I always forget I have a bunch of recipes you can make for Cinco de Mayo. But heck, don’t let that stop you from making any of these recipes on any other day either! UPDATE: I can NOT get some of my links to work, so if you want to look at a recipe here without a link, please try the search box in the upper right corner. Sorry ’bout that!

Turkey Chipotle Posole (lead-in photo)

Marcos Pollo Tacos

Marcos Pollos Tacos

Chorizo and Beef Enchiladas with Cheesy Hatch Chile Sauce

Chorizo and Beef Enchiladas in Cheesy Hatch Chile Sauce

Mexican-Style Beef and Cabbage Soup

Mexican-Style Beef with Cabbage Soup

Hatch Chile Fire-Roasted Salsa

Hatch Chile Fire-Roasted Salsa

Chunky Guacamole Grilled Nachos with Chicken

Grilled Nachos with Chicken and Chunky Guacamole plus Grilled Mexican Tortilla Pizza

Chile Relleno Chicken Rollups

Chile Relleno Chicken Rollups

Skillet Huevos Rancheros with Homemade Tortilla Strips

Skillet Huevos Rancheros with Homemade Tortilla Strips

 

Chicken Enchilada Skillet

Chicken Enchilada Skillet

Chicken Chile Verde Posole

Chicken Chile Verde Posole

Authentic Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas with Chile Gravy

Authentic Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas with Chile Gravy

 

Large Batch Taco Mix

DIY Taco Mix (Large Batch)

Carnitas Tacos with Spicy Pickled Red Onions

Creamy Chicken Chili and Beans

Creamy Chicken Chili and Beans

Chicken Fideo Soup

Chicken Fideo Soup (Mexican Chicken Noodle Soup)

Black Bean, Potato, and Chorizo Soup

Black Bean, Potato, and Chorizo Soup

And last but not least!

Charro, or Borracho Beans

Cinco de Mayo Charro, or Burracho Beans

Happy Eating Y’all!

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Marcos Pollo Tacos

Marcos Pollo Tacos

We have a local restaurant that serves an amazing Mexican chicken dish called Marcos Pollo. It’s a creamy/spicy dish filled with chicken and mushrooms and served with rice and beans and tortillas. I decided to recreate this as best I could, and my husband thought it was spot on! Aside from telling me it was delicious, he wants me to add more mushrooms, increase the sauce, and make the chicken cubes smaller next time. Ever the critic, isn’t he? 😀 But I did agree with him except the chicken chunk size. I like a nice mouthful of chicken with each bite!

Marcos Pollo Tacos

3/4 to 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons paprika
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons minced chipotle in adobo sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock, reduced to 1/4 cup
1/2 sweet onion, cut and sliced in quarters
4 to 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced thick
1/2 cup heavy cream, Mexican crema, or Half and Half
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water
Cilantro, for garnish

Cut the chicken into bite-sized cubes, then mix with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the paprikas and minced chipotle in adobo in a non-reactive bowl or zip-top baggie. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan, then lightly boil until the stock has been reduced to about 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and set aside. This took about 20 minutes.

Chicken and Onions Browning

Meanwhile, slice the onions and mushrooms. After chicken stock has reduced, add the chicken and onions to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a clean bowl and set aside.

Deglazing Mushrooms ~ I haven’t quite mastered an in-focus pouring shot…

Add the other tablespoon of oil to the skillet then cook the mushrooms until golden brown, about another 5 to 7 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the reduced stock.

Add the chicken and onions back to the skillet, then stir in the cream and sour cream until combined. Next add the corn starch/water slurry, then simmer and stir until the sauce has thickened.

Creamy Spicy Chicken and Mushrooms

Remove from heat and serve over cooked rice, black beans in warmed corn tortillas. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Marcos Pollo Tacos

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

 

Unorthodox Enfrijoladas

Enfrijoladas ~ photo by Adam J. Holland ~ The Unorthodox Epicure

Well, these are not really unorthodox, they are actually quite authentic. But this new recipe came to me from my good foodie friend Adam J. Holland, who has a most interesting foodie blog called “The Unorthodox Epicure” with a fun sidebar called “Confessions of an Aspiring Food Snob.” He is neither unorthodox nor snobby, that I can tell. But he’s a fellow Texan and cooks some great authentic Tex-Mex as well as authentic Mexican food, therefore he’s OK in my book, ya heah????

I made these last night, and hoo-boy, were they delicious! My entire family enjoyed them. It took hardly any prep time and cooked up pretty darn quick. That’s a win-win in my book! I halved the recipe since there are only three of us, but it still ended up making 8 Enfrijoladas (although I did add both grilled chicken AND cheese to the insides of them). There was one left in the end. All thumbs up. Thank you Adam!

I did take some initial prep photos thinking I might actually do a blog with my own photos on this, but a crazy thunderstorm rolled through as we were cooking this all outside on the propane burner/grill, so by the time we got it all moved inside there was no time with a hungry family to do any more foodie shots after having do all that and preheat the oven.

So sit right back, click on the link below, and enjoy his blog and recipe:

The Unorthodox Epicure Enfrijoladas Recipe

Carnitas Tacos with Spicy Pickled Red Onions

Carnitas Tacos with Spicy Pickled Red Onions

Some days I go on a cooking binge. I can’t help myself! I suddenly have lots of things I want to make and eat, and yesterday was one of those days. Countless hours of dashing around the kitchen, every measuring device in use, pots, pans, bowls, sticky messes covering all countertops. But when it’s all said and done, I’m tired, happy, and full. And have sore feet.

I had two missions to accomplish yesterday: One, was to concoct a fancy dessert (not my forté as you know) from scratch for an online cooking competition using three required ingredients. (You will get to read about that next week.) Second, was to finally try my hand at making carnitas, which is a Mexican dish of slow-braised pork and then broiled up into crispy bits of yumminess. I added a third mission later in the game and pickled up some spicy red onions to accompany the carnitas tacos. Whoa! Talk about a game changer. My photos don’t do that condiment justice. After my first bite, I went back and mounded way more pickled onions into my tacos. Delish!

Spicy Pickled Red Onions

I did learn a couple of things yesterday during all this though. You really should use a cut of pork butt or shoulder that has lots of fat and marbling in it. I only had some country-style boneless pork ribs, and they didn’t have near enough fat to render so had to add a little vegetable oil during the rendering process. I also figured out that by pouring some chicken or beef broth over the pork just before the broiling process lessened the dryness of the pork since it didn’t have the required fat in it. Lessons learned, but it was still incredibly tasty! We have plenty of leftover carnitas for use in either more tacos, burritos, or perhaps even a stew or chili? We shall see what becomes of the rest of the meat, now won’t we? Now on to the recipes!

Spiced-Up Pork and Juices

Carnitas Tacos with Spicy Pickled Red Onions

For the Carnitas:
3 pounds pork butt or shoulder, cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
Juice of 4 or 5 limes (about 1/4 cup)
Juice of 1 large orange (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon Ancho chile powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
Ground black pepper, to taste
About a half a bottle or can of beer
Vegetable oil, if needed
About 1 cup chicken or beef broth, if needed
Cotijo cheese, avocado, spicy pickled red onions, cilantro, and lime wedges, for garnish

For the Spicy Pickled Red Onions
1/2 large red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Juice of 1 large lemon (about 1/4 cup)
6 or 7 thin slices of fresh jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic

Add the pork, juices, and spices to a dutch oven and cover with water to just cover the pork. Bring to a boil, then turn down low to simmer for at two hours. About halfway through simmering, I added a half a can of beer. Why, you ask? Because it was in my hand and seemed like a good idea. Did it make any difference? I have no idea, lol!

Simmering Pork

While the pork is simmering, you can make the pickled onions. Add all the ingredients to a glass jar, microwave uncovered for 45 seconds, cover with lid, and refrigerate until ready to use. Easy peasy!

After two hours, turn up the heat to medium high and cook the pork for about a half hour longer, until all the liquid is gone and the pork begins frying in its own fat. Or, if your pork doesn’t have enough fat, then add a little vegetable oil at this point to help it along.

Crispy Carnitas

Once the pork starts looking crispy and browned, remove it from the heat. Add the meat in one layer to a foil-lined baking sheet, pour about a half cup of chicken or beef broth over it, then put it in the oven on broil for 5 or so minutes. Remove the pan, turn pork over with a spatula, then add a little more broth over it. Return to oven and broil about 5 more minutes. Remove from oven, and serve immediately over corn tortillas warmed up in a dry skillet, with cotijo cheese, avocado, spicy pickled red onions, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Carnitas Tacos with Spicy Pickled Red Onions

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

Spicy Grilled Chicken Tacos

Chicken Fajita Taco

Happy 4th of July! If you are planning on grilling over this festive holiday week, why not include some yummy chicken tacos in the line-up? We’ve had some record-breaking sizzling heat here in Central Oregon, and grilling has been the standard.

I whipped up a small batch of Chicken Fajitas the other night, recipe here: Chicken Fajita Marinade. After a quick 10 minutes on the grill, we sliced up the meat, and added black beans, onions, avocado, Cotijo cheese, and cilantro on flour tortillas and chowed on dinner in no time.

Grilled Chicken Taco

We are once again off to our RV property for the rest of the week, where it will be a pleasant 70 degrees. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable holiday week!

Roasted Tomato Salsa with Ancho Chiles

Roasted Tomato Salsa with Chicken and Rice

After taking a short break this week from cooking, I decided to plunge head on last night and marinated, roasted, grilled, and boiled to end up with some amazing chicken tacos on our plates. So many flavors danced in my mouth! Smoky, tangy, spicy, a hint of sweet. It took a bit of choreography to get this all ready at approximately the same time, but any of the components could always be made ahead of time separately and reheated (if needed) for serving.

Tomatoes Chiles and Onions Ready to Roast

We had our first sunny, pleasant day in about two weeks and knew I wanted to grill some chicken and settled on Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken. I had also (don’t laugh) taken my Ninja food processor to our RV camp last weekend and made some delicious roasted tomato salsa. I tell you that was a challenge to roast in our dinky RV toaster oven! Last night I decided to kick it up a notch and add some dried Ancho chiles. Wow! It turned an awesome salsa into an amazing awesome salsa. So I figured I would make the salsa and we could assemble some chicken tacos since I also had a ripe avocado. Last, my husband asked if I could also make some Cilantro Lime Rice, and I obliged.

Roasted Tomatoes, Chiles and Onions

If there’s only one thing you could make today, try your hand at this roasted salsa. You don’t need to have tacos to enjoy it, just grab a bag of tortilla chips and dig in!

Roasted Tomato Salsa with Ancho Chiles

2 dried Ancho chiles
4 Roma tomatoes
1/2 large jalapeño pepper
1/2 serrano pepper
1-inch thick slice of a large, sweet onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Olive oil
Squeeze of 1 or 2 lime wedges
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup cilantro

Place Ancho chiles in a glass bowl, and pour boiling water over them. Let sit for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes, jalapeño and serrano peppers in half (deseed the peppers) and place them face down on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Add the onions and garlic, then drizzle some olive oil over the top of everything. Set your oven rack about four inches from the broiler,  and place the pan in the oven on broil. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes until the tomatoes and peppers are charred. The onions didn’t seem to want to char much but they did soften up.

Add the contents of the pan to a food processor and pulse to break up. My Ninja is so small I didn’t have room to add the Ancho chiles until I did that. If you have a larger food processor you could add them at the same time.  Anyways, take the Ancho chiles out of the water and remove the stem and seeds, and add them and the rest of the ingredients. Puree until the consistency of your choice. Serve warm, or chill until ready to eat.

Grilled Chicken Taco with Rice, Salsa and Avocado

p.s. Here is a picture of the Ancho chiles. Ancho chiles are actually dried Pasilla peppers, and can be found under either name, or both.

Ancho Pasilla Peppers

Carne Asada Tacos

Carne Asada Taco

Summer is sizzling and so is our grill! We grilled four dinners this week and here is one of the concoctions that ended up on our plates. I came across a good deal on some thin-sliced skirt steak at the grocery, and knew some kind of tacos would be in the making for them. It was my husband’s “turn” to cook for the night, and aside from the marinating time, dinner only took about 15 minutes to cook and assemble.  I had to tell him what to use for the marinade, and then he surprised me by adding a “secret ingredient” to it which I finally extracted from him later that evening. The tacos also made good use of some leftover white beans we had with our grilled chicken the night before. You can put whatever toppings you want on these tacos, but Carne Asada is traditionally served at least with cilantro and onion. My tacos ended up with baby lettuce and cilantro from the garden, chopped green onion and tomatoes, beans, and a sprinkling of shredded cheese. So yummy!

Carne Asada Tacos

1 pound thin-sliced skirt or flank steak (1/4-inch thick or less)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon Mexican red chile powder
Pinch of cumin
Black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (the secret ingredient!)

Place the steak in a large Ziploc bag. Whisk the rest of the ingredients together well and immediately pour into the bag. Seal and let rest for about an hour on the countertop. This will allow the steak to come to room temperature which makes for better grilling. Meanwhile, chop up your toppings, then sit back with a beverage. When ready to grill, heat the grill to medium-high heat, and grill each side about four to five minutes. Remove steak to platter and tent with foil and let rest five minutes. Slice thinly across the grain and serve on corn or flour tortillas.

P.S. (My husband said adding the baking soda to the marinade will make even the toughest cuts of beef more tender. While I can’t prove or disprove this, the meat did come out fork-cutting tender.)