Mexican Recipe Thread

Minder

Let's have your Mexican recipes here....

Adobo sauce recipe

Called a sauce, the result is more of a paste and it will solidify after a few days in the fridge. I add a couple of tablespoon sized chunks to chilli recipes in place of chilli powder.

1 dried chipotle chilli
2 dried ancho chillies
50 ml red wine vinegar
90ml orange juice
30ml lime juice
50g chopped onion
30g chopped garlic
100g honey
10g salt

Dry roast the chillies, cut open and remove the seeds. Place the chillies in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 30 minutes.
Put the soft chillies in a food processor with 30ml of the soaking liquid and pulse. Add everything else and pulse until smooth.

I find the chipotle are too fiddley to try removing seeds, so I leave them in for the extra heat. The ancho peppers are large dark purple (almost black) and have a lot of seeds so worthwhile trying to get those out. I use the recipe as a guide rather than accurately measuring everything. I store it in a jar in the fridge and it last ages - all that smoke, sugar and vinegar are natural preservatives.

Carne Machaca

This widely popular, and extremely versatile, dish is seen in every corner of Mexico. It can be used to fill tacos, tamales, the Mexican pizzas–tlayudas, top nachos, fill pambazo sandwiches, or just be eaten on its own with simple sides.

Marinade:

2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
Juice of two limes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Tablespoon of chipotle chili in adobo minced (substitute chili powder)
Teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Machaca:

3 pounds of chuck or skirt steak (although any affordable, tougher cut would work as well)
1 large onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced (substitute a green pepper)
1 Jalapeno, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes (with or without chilies)
Tablespoon dried oregano
Tablespoon ground cumin seed
Teaspoon of hot pepper sauce such as Tobasco
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying

Process:

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a large freezer bag.
Cut the meat into 1/4 lb. pieces and place in the bag. Refrigerate over night.
In a large stock pot, fry the pieces of meat enough to get a brown color on the outside. This step will deepen the flavor of the final product.
Once the beef has some coloring, add the onion, peppers, oregano, and cumin. Cook until the onions are soft.
Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan for all the brown bits as these too will add flavor.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add water or beef broth if needed. The meat should be to the point of falling apart.
Remove the pot from the heat and remove the meat pieces. Shred with a pair of folks and return to the liquid.
Reduce liquid until the meat is almost dry.

I made a Carne Machaca recipe at the weekend with a kilo of beef shin cut into very large pieces to prevent the meat getting too tough or drying out.

Instead of using the poblano and jalapeno chillies in the recipe above, I used extra adobo sauce.

Cooked for two and a half hours, I shredded the meat and returned it to the very reduced sauce. We had this with wraps, salsa, sour cream and shredded lettuce.

Batigol309

hey...great thread..love mexican food

Anyone know where I could get chipotle chillis paste or adobe chillis in Cork or online.

Heard they really add to food!!

Honey-ec

Three Bean Enchiladas - makes 5

400g tin kidney beans
400g tin chickpeas
400g tin cannellini beans
500ml passata
1 large onion, diced
1 large red chilli, diced
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs & 1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
Pinch ground coriander
Pinch ground ginger
Salt & pepper
5 large flour tortillas
Grated cheese of your choice (I love parmesan on these)

1. Heat the passata in a small pot with the teaspoon of cumin, paprika, coriander & ginger. Season to taste and set aside.

2. Heat a little oil in a large pot and saute the onion & chilli until softened. Add the tablespoon of cumin and the oregano (I sometimes add a tsp of cumin seed too). Season with more salt and pepper. Add your drained beans and enough of the passata to loosen the mix slightly - about a third of it.

3. Divide the bean mix evenly between the tortillas (5 seconds in microwave first will make them more pliable), roll up and place in a single layer in a dish just big enough to fit them snugly. Pour over the remaining passata, scatter over the cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 200c until the cheese is bubbling and golden.

Serve with a big dollop of natural yoghurt and a spinach & coriander salad, dressed with lime juice. 1 per person is plenty, they really are very filling. Bulk up with a bit of garlic bread if you need to.

Honey-ec

Home-made fajita marinade

3 tbs chili oil
Juice & zest of a lime
1 large red chili, seeds & membrane left in, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
1 tbs paprika (smoked, ideally, but regular will do)
Half tbs chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
Generous pinch ground coriander
Generous pinch ground ginger
Generous pinch sugar
Salt & pepper, to taste.

1. Combine all the ingredients in a non-metallic bowl. Add 1 diced chicken fillet per person (this quantity will do 2-4 fillets, depending on their size), toss to coat, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

2. Fry your chicken for 5 minutes, including any marinade that has run off, then add your usual fajita veg and assemble as usual.

If you can get your hands on liquid smoke, add a dash to the marinade. Waaay better than the powdered mixes, if I do say so meself!

Honey-ec

Boilermaker Chili - serves 8 (generously!)

Be warned, you need a very big pot for this.

2 lbs stewing steak, diced nice and small (NOT MINCE!!!)
1 lb pork mince
Aldi twin-pack bacon bits (can't remember the weight, sorry!)
3x 400g tins kidney beans
2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
4 tbs tomato puree
2 large onions, diced
3 sticks celery, finely diced
2 red chilies, seeds & membrane left in, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced or crushed
500ml can of beer
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4 beef stock cubes
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs Frank's Red Hot sauce, or similar
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tsp hot mustard

1. In a nice, big pot, brown your steak, pork mince & bacon bits (you won't need any oil). Add the onion, celery, garlic and chili and cook until the onion begins to soften. Pour in the beer, using it to scrape any residue off the bottom of the pot, and allow to come back up to a high simmer.

2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock cubes, all the spices, sugar, Franks & Worcestershire sauce. Give everything a good mix, turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer very gently for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the drained beans, stir again and season to taste. Allow to simmer for at least another hour, but this is one of those dishes that gets better the longer you leave it (and will be even better the following day).

4. Taste and adjust the seasoning & chili powder, if needed. Serve in large, deep bowls with warmed tortilla chips and lots of ice-cold beer.

The Sweeper

Home made corn tortillas.

Masa harina, or general stone-ground corn flour. Water. Make a dough. Roll into balls. Flatten. Cook for two mins apiece.

I've just bought a tortilla press, and am a convert.

Had fajitas tonight with home made tortillas - definitely one to revisit repeatedly!

Batigol309

Anyone know of good online store for Mexican ingredients...Im in Cork and cant find Adobe Chillis in Sauce or Chipotle Chillis??

Gracias

Faith

Have you looked in the English Market?

subway

some interesting recipes, thanks everyone.
i have a request, would anyone have a quick recipe for a nice mexican cheese sauce for nachos?

Batigol309

Faith wrote: »

Have you looked in the English Market?

Ye I have checked most places in there and no luck...:(

the beer revolu

Batigol309 wrote: »

Anyone know of good online store for Mexican ingredients...Im in Cork and cant find Adobe Chillis in Sauce or Chipotle Chillis??

Gracias

Tesco's have some dried Mexican chillies, I think chipotles are one of them.
Never seen Adobe sauce in Cork.

emaleth

subway wrote: »

some interesting recipes, thanks everyone.
i have a request, would anyone have a quick recipe for a nice mexican cheese sauce for nachos?

I've done it before with a plain bechamel as a base - an ounce of butter, melted in a good high-sided pot. Add tablespoon or two or flour, whisk to a paste and cook for a minute or two, stirring. Add a pint of milk, whisking madly as you do so, and bring to the boil. When it's thickened, take it off the heat and add large quantities of strongly flavoured cheddar - as far as I can remember I used about a pound of cheddar to a pint of milk. Stir until it's all melted, then add black pepper and salt to taste. Chop a green chili finely and stir it in. If you want it spicier, you can add Tabasco as well - it's lovely. Bear in mind that the longer you leave it with the chili in, the spicier it will be, so don't add Tabasco until you're actually about to use the sauce.