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Gary350
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Re: Mexican Food

Vanisle_BC wrote:
Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:11 pm
I can never get those Chinese cabbages to head in the garden. But I have thought the grocery store Napas keep longer than the other types.
I learned from chinese YouTube video how to grow cabbage, lucky I took notes, at 40°F seeds do not germinate & plants do not grow, plants set there waiting for warmer weather. Seeds germinate good at 60 to 70°F. Plants make heads between 55 & 65°F. Plants make big leaves 70 to 75°F. Plants bolt at 80°F. Seeds will not germinate at 80F. For Savoy cabbage. Other cabbage temperature is slightly different. 7 years ago I had very good luck growing Napa 28°F to 65°F some were 15 to 18 lb heads.


HEADS

Napa big heads at 50 to 65°F

Round green cabbage heads at 55 to 65

Savoy, heads at 60 to 65F




FREEZE temperature.

Collard greens, 0 degrees F

Turnip greens, 5 degrees F

Spinach, Lettuce. Cauliflower, 10

Cilantro, parsley, Russian Red Kale, green Swiss chard, 15

Savoy cabbage 20

Boc Choy, Red Swiss Chard, Napa, 25

Green round Cabbage, Blue Kale, Broccoli, 28

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Most Chinese cabbages and mustard do not form a head. Napa or (Won Bok) cabbages do make a head. They are sweeter than head cabbage. I prefer the Napa cabbage too, it is not as tough and it is versatile. I rarely eat it raw, but I have seen it in salads. Asians cuisine usually blanches, pickles, or cooks vegetables. The modern fusion style would have raw vegetables in salads or as a garnish.

Napa cabbage sounds like a good substitute for lettuces in tacos and Mexican salad.

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Feliz Navidad!
I made Mexican for dinner - not traditional, but my friend likes it, and here is the only place he gets it. For only two, I wasn't going to make tamales - a traditional holiday food - but still made some favorites. I made some guacamole, to snack on, while I was making all that mess - not too often do I run my DW twice in one day! lol The smell of these Mexican sauces is fantastic! It started when I toasted the 4 types of chiles in the oven, @200°, for 20 minutes, then the slices of onion and all the cloves of garlic @325°, for 25 minutes. This is easier than doing all this in a dry skillet, and I often use this method when using a lot of these toasted ingredients.
I also used one of my pints of grilled tomato purée, to replace the broiled fresh tomatoes in each recipe.
ImageMole coloradito, still in the Vitamix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageStarting to cook the mole. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMole, after cooking down 7 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageBlack beans, with greens and mole. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The chipotle shrimp was faster to make, since the salsa negra was already made. And that was the hottest dish I've had since the last time I made Mahogany Fire Noodles - the hottest dish I make on a regular basis. And I only used 3 tb of that salsa negra, for 2 lbs of shrimp! Just put 4 shrimp, plus some sauce, on each corn tortilla, all of which were heated over a flame. I only ate one tortilla with the beans, to save room for several with the shrimp.
ImageChipotle Shrimp by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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I know burritos can be frozen, but could I freeze tacos? I tried freezing tortilla shells and that did not go well. They crumbled in the freezer. The fillings froze fine, but I don't know what to do with them afterwards. If I am going to freeze a meal, I want something I can just microwave and eat. I can only use a couple of tortillas in a package so it is such a waste. I have frozen burritos and that was o.k. although, I could not freeze them with all the trimmings. What other Mexican dishes would freeze well.

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imafan26 wrote:
Sat Dec 26, 2020 6:45 pm
I know burritos can be frozen, but could I freeze tacos? I tried freezing tortilla shells and that did not go well. They crumbled in the freezer. The fillings froze fine, but I don't know what to do with them afterwards. If I am going to freeze a meal, I want something I can just microwave and eat. I can only use a couple of tortillas in a package so it is such a waste. I have frozen burritos and that was o.k. although, I could not freeze them with all the trimmings. What other Mexican dishes would freeze well.
We stopped eating hard shell tacos because they break so easy and slow to bake them crisp so now we make tacos with soft flour tortilla shells same as burritos. We fill them with, meat, cheese, sauce, then roll them up and freeze them. Our fast food is a microwaved taco with lettuce on top after heated. Frozen hard shell tacos are harder to do.
Last edited by Gary350 on Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Thanks Gary. I actually never thought about using taco filling for burritos. I'm glad it wasn't just me who could not keep the taco shells from crumbling.

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Soft corn tortillas - my favorites - freeze well, as long as you vacuum seal them (they don't last as long otherwise, and start getting frosty). The ones I had last night I got in early April, when the pandemic was starting, and I Foosdsavered and froze 8 packs of them, from the Mexican store, since I didn't know how long this was going on, and the extent of it yet. I was surprised how well they froze.

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imafan26 wrote:
Sat Dec 26, 2020 8:30 pm
Thanks Gary. I actually never thought about using taco filling for burritos. I'm glad it wasn't just me who could not keep the taco shells from crumbling.
We buy 10" diameter tortilla shells in 20 count packs. I wish I could get corn shells 10" diameter but corn are too soft if not cooked. Sometimes we make tacos & I put refrigerator left overs inside tacos. Last week I put left over baked beans in the tacos it turned out good. I have tried chili in tacos and pulled pork. Wife makes breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs, onions, bell peppers, hash brown potatoes. We had tacos yesterday I opened a bottle of my new garden taco sauce. Sometimes tacos have sliced jalapenos in them. Once we made tacos with left over meat loaf. Tacos are fast food even if not frozen we can make tacos for lunch in about 3 minutes if we have something in the refrigerator for filling. Wife likes cottage in tacos. Sour cream is good in tacos. I like LOTS of lettuce in my tacos I want it like a hand held taco salad the 10" shell makes it easy to fill with lettuce. When a bag of corn chips is almost empty and only crumbs in the bottom of the bag pour the crumbs inside the tacos. Flour shells are quick after the filling is inside microwave tacos 25 seconds they are ready to eat. Last week we had left over Chinese & rice in taco shells. Chicken tacos are my favorite with onions & peppers.
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I did not like the flour tortillas before because they were chewy and sometimes had that raw flour taste. I guess I should read the directions. They looked cooked, but I did not know for a long time that you are supposed to dry roast them first. You have opened my eyes to other possibilities. The only other thing that tacos were used for here was fish tacos which I don't like. I have made breakfast burritos and that might be something I could do as a fast food breakfast bite and make a few and freeze them for later. I did not consider other things like meatloaf or cottage cheese. I have had spinach rolls appetizers. I wonder if it could be used like a dessert crepe with chocolate mousse and whip cream? It would probably be a bit more chewy than a crepe. I like the idea of pulled pork, egg salad, or adobo as a filling.

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imafan26 wrote:
Sun Dec 27, 2020 1:50 am
I did not like the flour tortillas before because they were chewy and sometimes had that raw flour taste. I guess I should read the directions. They looked cooked, but I did not know for a long time that you are supposed to dry roast them first. You have opened my eyes to other possibilities. The only other thing that tacos were used for here was fish tacos which I don't like. I have made breakfast burritos and that might be something I could do as a fast food breakfast bite and make a few and freeze them for later. I did not consider other things like meatloaf or cottage cheese. I have had spinach rolls appetizers. I wonder if it could be used like a dessert crepe with chocolate mousse and whip cream? It would probably be a bit more chewy than a crepe. I like the idea of pulled pork, egg salad, or adobo as a filling.

Look at the back of the tortilla package. They list, fat, lard, & other things on the back. We don't buy tortillas with high fat they are chewy & don't taste as good as lower fat. 4% fat is the lowest we can find, some are 8%, 9%, 10% fat. Tortillas with high fat develop a bad flavor as they age. Fish & shrimp tacos are gross. Correct way to cook flour tortillas is to fry them in a very hot skillet with no oil. My mother & sisters put tortillas directly on the electric stove burner, slide the tortilla around on the burner then flip it over then slide it around on burner until it gets cooked about 15 seconds on both sides. I cook tortillas in my cast iron skillet. Not many people know correct way to cook in a cast iron skillet food will never stick if you learn the correct way to cook with it. I heat my cast iron skillet very hot then throw in a tortilla it only needs to cook about 15 seconds on each side. If you have a cast iron skillet cook 2 slices of bacon in it then wipe it clean with a paper towel and NEVER wash it with soap. You can run hot water in the cast iron skillet while scrubbing it with a brush or cloth but never use soap. Dry skillet it is ready to cook in nothing will stick to cast iron if you learn how to use it, there is a very thin amount of oil on the skillet after it is wiped clean. Don't let skillet get smoking hot, if skillet is too hot it will burn the oil off then food sticks. Always use bacon grease in cast iron not factory made oil. Factory oil becomes sticky like glue. If you put flour tortillas in a bowl then bake them in the kitchen oven you can make your own taco salad bowls. Bake at 350° to 375° maybe 400° depends on how accurate your oven temperature control is. It only takes 5 minutes to make a taco salad bowl in the oven, when golden brown & crispy it is done. You can cook with olive oil if you don't get it too hot, heat breaks down the no stick properties of the oil. Here is photo of 1 egg cheese omelet for breakfast cooked in cast iron.

Best way to get a good black patina on a cast iron skillet is to cook 2 slices of bacon at about 350° to 375° for 30 minutes. Hotter than 400° can burn the patina off of the skillet. When bacon is cooked remove it but keep heating the oil. When skillet is cool to room temperature wipe skillet clean with paper towel or cloth but NO SOAP. Never wash with soap. Cast iron is no stick, nothing sticks to it. Add more bacon grease or lard with paper towel anytime you need to cook patina will naturally ware off so a thin layer of lard will add to the patina each time you cook.

https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube ... Kr-LOACg16
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Mexican food or specialty ingredients are not that easy to find here. There was a better supply when the 29th army division at Schofield had a largely Mexican makeup. They have since rotated out. The local Mexican population is very small compared to other ethnicities. I don't have many choices in brands or types of Tortilla, but the Mission tortilla are the most common ones and I will look for the lowest fat ones from now on. Thanks for the tip.

Stores have gone back to their regular shelf space and main ingredients. The store I go to serves the base so they have a larger Mexican section than most stores. It has almost half an aisle, plus one 4x5 section in the bread section for tortillas.

What I buy mostly from that section is Sazon, pork, and ham bouillon, which is hard to find in any other store. When I did make salsa I got the canned green chilies and enchilada sauce for the 2 enchilada recipes I have. It is the only place I know of that regularly stocks masa and they used to stock lard, but I haven't seen that in a while either. They ran out of tamarind paste a long time ago and while the guava paste came back (briefly), the tamarind did not. I could not even find tamarind paste in the two Asian groceries closest to me (7 miles away). I have not gone to Chinatown (23 miles) this year at all because it is usually crowded on a good day.

The only seasoned pan I have is a carbon steel wok. Technically, the wok should also work for cooking the tortillas. The non-stick pans have also worked.

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Am I the only one furiously taking notes? Thanks for bring this up @ imafan And thanks for your experience-experiment based answers @Gary350 ...and we can always count on Pepperhead to have insights especially regarding spicy foods like Mexican and SE Asian ethnic foods :>

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You could make your own flour tortilla shells. I have a tortilla press I have not used in 30 years. Roll dough balls the size of golf balls then press them flat for 8" tortillas. Be sure to use very hot water flour & lard mixes better and soft dough press flat very easier. You can roll dough out like pie crust with a rolling pin easy. Do not use liquid oil.

Here is a picture of the 1972 Mexican cook book that I have. Here is a link to cook book for sale on ebay. There might be better cook books but this 1 is old before Americans changed recipes to suite them better.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Favorite-Mexic ... SwcU5f5O4F
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Here's a photo of some of those corn tortillas, that I froze in April. Note, the calories are far less than flour tortillas, due to the fact that flour tortillas have fat added to them.
Image8 month old frozen corn tortillas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I used to have to make my own corn tortillas, but when they became available locally, I stopped. Back in the mid-90s, I discovered a tortilla factory over in Avondale, PA, where I could smell the masa from a half-mile away! I would buy up to 24 lbs of them, to bring home to vacuum seal and freeze (and share some with a friend). They also had a great Mexican grocer in town - a place that had a barrel of carnitas frying slowly in lard, at all times. I am lucky that place wasn't any closer! lol

I still occasionally use the tortilla press to make things like quesadillas, where I fill the raw dough, and seal them, before frying or baking.

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Wife made Mexican meat balls for dinner last night they are very good. My 1972 Mexican cook book has Mexican meat balls but I never made them, I thought meat balls are too American to be good Mexican. This is a very good easy recipe. I should have taken a picture last night, this picture is my lunch today.

Mix 1 lb of lean ground beef with, onions, garlic, chili power, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, egg, cracker crumbs or bread crumbs. Form into balls then brown them in a large hot cast iron skillet. Sprinkle cheese over hot meat balls.

Sauce. 1 quart of whole tomatoes, 1 can of RoTel, 1 can of tomato paste, 1/2 cup rice not cooked. Mix well then pour over the meat balls.

Place skillet in the oven to bake at 350° F until rice cooks an most of the liquid cooks away making a thick sauce. Remove from oven top with cheese & jalapeno slices.

Wife left off the Jalapeno slices she can not eat them. I would love to have Jalapeno slices but I know it will be torture for me the day after so it is best I don't eat them. LOL.
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Looks yummy, Gary! I love Jalapenos too but can't eat them anymore.

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@webmaster There are totally heat free jalapeños out there, like Fooled You (I grew this for my sister, and was amazed at the jalapeño flavor) for those who can't take the heat, as well as very mild ones, like TAM. And the aji dulce, with great habanero flavor, and almost no heat.

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webmaster wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 3:51 pm
Looks yummy, Gary! I love Jalapenos too but can't eat them anymore.
I experimented with jalapenos I grew and compare them to the chart that claims they are about 2500. Green jalapeno with seeds are the hottest so they are probably 2500. Red jalapeno with seeds about 1500. Green jalapeno with no seeds about 1000. Red jalapeno with no seeds about 750. There is probably a scientific way to test peppers, I tasted them to see how hot they are so I am guess according to how hot they taste to me. I learned the round tip end is not very hot but 1" from the tip is full hotness. When green jalapenos get those tiny brown lines on the sides that look a bit like tiny cracks peppers are at best flavor & maximum hotness. Leave green jalapenos on the plants it takes a minimum of 1 month for them to turn red color. Pull green peppers from the plants they often turn red in 2 weeks & sometimes 3 weeks.

I sliced green jalapenos about 1/8" thick slices put them in pint jars, some with seeds & some with no seeds then filled jars full with vinegar. Vinegar soaks up about 50% of the heat in 2 weeks. The hot vinegar is good on food and the reduced hotness of the peppers are good on, pizza, sandwich, & other things.

I did the same thing with Red color pepper put them in pint jars full of vinegar.

I did the same thing with 50/50 red/green sliced jalapenos in jars of vinegar. I have an assortment of heat ranges. Red taste a bit different than green and a 50/50 mix has both flavors the blend has a good flavor.

I mixed tabasco peppers with jalapenos & habaneros mixed with jalapenos & a mixture of all 3 peppers in pint jars. I was expecting the habaneros to be so hot they would over power the other peppers but the flavor blend turned out to be the best of all the mixed peppers I tested. Tabascos are green & yellow. Habaneros are, green, orange, yellow, colors.

I put a mixed jars of all 4 peppers & all colors in the food processor and made pepper relish, wow this is good. It is a bit hot so I have to be stingy with it but flavor is amazing.

Tabasco has the best flavor of all these peppers I made 1 jar that was 1/3 tabasco with all the other peppers & colors with no seeds in the same jar of vinegar. I like this best I should have made more than 1 jar.

I lady from Thailand came over I gave her about 90% of my peppers. She said she has several type of sauce she makes, she will bring me some, but not heard from her yet. She is probably staying home until its save to go out.

Next year I make taco sauce with tabasco peppers.

I have seeds that cross pollinated, I had 1 plant this summer that was shaped like large size jalapenos but taste more like green bell peppers. I also had sweet bell peppers shaped like roma tomatoes that were not hot. I had 7" long Mexican chilies that were 1/2 long with round ends like jalapenos. Next garden season I trash my cross breed seeds and buy new plants.
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I have all that butternut squash I wanted to do something with, and I was in the mood for Mexican. So I tossed about 22oz. of the cubes (saved 16 oz for a soup) with just enough oil to coat it, and cooked it in the convection oven for 15 minutes, to dry it out some, and caramelize it some. Meanwhile, I thawed a lb of pork liver, cut it into pieces, , and made a chipotle sauce, with some onions and garlic, and a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, plus about 1/4 cup of that salsa negra. I simmered this uncovered, for about 25 minutes, then stirred in the butternut cubes. I made some soft tacos with this, toasting the tortillas, and lining them with some leaf lettuce, before putting the mix on them. It only took 3 to fill me, so I have a number of leftover tacos to make! This is one of the things that will be a good cold dish.

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I had the leftovers again from that pork liver/ butternut in chipotle sauce. That is even better cold - it seems that the liver tastes even stronger, and the heat is much reduced, which is good to some. I also put some crema on each taco, which definitely gave it a good flavor. Also made some guacamole much earlier - divided that into 3 parts, and I'll probably finish it tomorrow.

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We had spicy New Orleans 100% Pork Hot Dog Tacos for lunch with, cheese, taco sauce, lettuce. Very good, best tacos I ever had. Fastest lunch I ever made, microwave hot dogs & shells, add cheese, sauce, lettuce ready to eat in 90 seconds. Next we try Enchilada Dogs with, cheese, rice, beans, sauce, lettuce.
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I never really thought about using pork in tacos before, but it makes sense. Chicken and pork would be more accessible and cheaper than beef. Since I can freeze the taco's minus the toppings, it is a great make ahead meal. I won't have to deal with so many left over tortillas either. I like bok choy better than lettuce and I can do more with it so it is a good substitute for the lettuce. Could I use beansprouts as well for veggies or would that be too weird?

Could I put some rice in there as well? In Hawaii even with double starches, it really is not a meal if rice is not part of it. I could make beans and rice or Spanish rice for the filling. What do you think? I don't have a lot of lettuce around, but I have other greens like the chard, beet greens, kale and komatsuna which I can get multiple harvests out of. If I put my sweet potatoes in a bigger pot, I could also get sweet potato leaves. I would be like substituting spinach for the lettuce. Even though most of these are o.k. raw, I would probably still cook or at least blanch them first. If I had chayote I could use the shoots as well.

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imafan26 wrote:
Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:11 am
I never really thought about using pork in tacos before, but it makes sense. Chicken and pork would be more accessible and cheaper than beef. Since I can freeze the taco's minus the toppings, it is a great make ahead meal. I won't have to deal with so many left over tortillas either. I like bok choy better than lettuce and I can do more with it so it is a good substitute for the lettuce. Could I use beansprouts as well for veggies or would that be too weird?

Could I put some rice in there as well? In Hawaii even with double starches, it really is not a meal if rice is not part of it. I could make beans and rice or Spanish rice for the filling. What do you think? I don't have a lot of lettuce around, but I have other greens like the chard, beet greens, kale and komatsuna which I can get multiple harvests out of. If I put my sweet potatoes in a bigger pot, I could also get sweet potato leaves. I would be like substituting spinach for the lettuce. Even though most of these are o.k. raw, I would probably still cook or at least blanch them first. If I had chayote I could use the shoots as well.
I read online traditional Mexican food from Spain is pork & chicken. If your every in the southern part of Florida where all the Cubin people live Cuba restaurant food is pork & chicken and sometimes beef for Americans. Columbia south American people eat pork & chicken. When I was in college girl I dated from Argentina thought dorm cafeteria Mexican food was terrible cooked with beef. Beef Mexican food must be an American thing. When I lived in AZ restaurants serve Beef & Chicken but the Mexican grocery stores don't sell beef they only sell port & chicken. Mexican families in AZ cook pork at home and beef at their restaurant. I cooked pork Mexican food at home several times but never liked it maybe I am too accustom to Beef sense that is all I ever get in restaurants beef and chicken. We make TN style pulled pork cook a 1 lb pork roast in crock pot about 3 hours meat falls apart. Once port falls apart mix in, garlic, onion, chili powder, cumin, oregano, any spice you like for Mexican food even rice & beans it makes a very good filling for tacos, enchiladas, taco salad. I save all the broken chips in the bottom of the chip bag for taco salad. If chips get stale microwave them on a paper plate they are good as fresh made chips. It has been about 30 years since I made sprouts with beans or alfalfa seeds they are both excellent substitute for lettuce. My family never grew greens in the garden I never learned how so I never grew greens, that is why I buy iceberg lettuce 85¢ per head but I also like, Napa, Chard, Boc Choy, carrot tops, sweet potato leaves, are very good replacement for lettuce. If you don't like sweet potatoes grow them for the leaves. Sweet potatoes leaves get bitter in hot weather but are good as lettuce is cool weather. I have boc Choy in the garden now they are almost large enough to pick a few leaves for tacos. Wife makes taco meat and freezes it then it is very easy to microwave meat for 2 tacos, add the toppings it is quick easy fast food. We stopped eating corn shells about April almost a year ago & been eating flour tortilla shells, yesterday I microwaved old corn taco shells they taste like fresh made shells. Be sure to microwave taco shells standing up on both edges other wise shells close up when heated in microwave for 25 seconds. Bean sprouts & alfalfa are good on tacos, sandwiches, taco salad, enchiladas . When we moved to AZ 1958 all Mexican food was topped with lettuce so when I cook enchiladas then after putting enchiladas on a dinner plate I top with lettuce. I grew kale in garden a few years ago I put it on everything, sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, salads, nothing weird about it, if it taste good eat it. I don't like beef but I can eat it if it has enough spices to hide the flavor.

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Sounds good. I'll try that sometime. I tried making pulled pork. It is o.k. made Kalua style which is basically salted and either wrapped with ti leaves and foil and baked or put in a crock pot with some water. The shredded salted pork will be combined with something that will mellow the salt like cabbage or poi and it will make it taste sweeter. I don't actually like the Texas style BBQ sauce, so I only did that once. I tried chimichanga and I did not like that. It was a bit too heavy. I did make enchiladas. It was easy and I have a couple of recipes I like. I just can't eat 8 of them so having an option to freeze them is nice. I like fajitas with peppers and onions. I just eat the filling. I usually don't put them in any wrapper.

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imafan26 wrote:
Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:03 pm
Sounds good. I'll try that sometime. I tried making pulled pork. It is o.k. made Kalua style which is basically salted and either wrapped with ti leaves and foil and baked or put in a crock pot with some water. The shredded salted pork will be combined with something that will mellow the salt like cabbage or poi and it will make it taste sweeter. I don't actually like the Texas style BBQ sauce, so I only did that once. I tried chimichanga and I did not like that. It was a bit too heavy. I did make enchiladas. It was easy and I have a couple of recipes I like. I just can't eat 8 of them so having an option to freeze them is nice. I like fajitas with peppers and onions. I just eat the filling. I usually don't put them in any wrapper.
If you have not found a Chimichanga that you like try a different restaurant everyone makes them different. I like grilled Fajita Chicken Chimichanga with, rice, refried beans, cheese filling inside with the onion pepper fajita chicken. I like it topped with, melted cheese, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce with a big scoop of Pico De Gallo. I only know 1 restaurant in town than makes it like this. Here is a video there is a good looking chimichanga 1/2 way into the video on a dinner plate. I don't make chimichanga at home very often because frying in hot oil is too messy & preparation is lots of extra work but wow they are so good. The restaurant we like has 6 different versions of chimichanga we have not been there in almost a year because of covid-19.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUf6P7YhnLU

Here are 3 different versions of chimichanga 1st one looks best, last 1 looks plane.
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These are the best Tacos I have ever eaten. I got this recipe on the cooking TV show last night. People from southern tip of South American make tacos like this. They cook over a fire, we used a crock pot. Put a 1 lb pork roast in a crock pot with 1/2 cup of water cooked it 6 hours 350° F. Pulled pork crumbled up very easy then I chopped it in small pieces with a knife. We only used 1/2 of the pork roast to make 10 tacos. I used a 10" cast iron skillet to cook, 1/2 large onion diced, 3 garlic diced, 3 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 jar of Picante sauce, 1/2 cup water. Stir spices into oil then stir in all the rest then bring it to a boil, stir in chopped pork cook long enough to cook away the water. Oil both sides of corn shells then put corn shells on cookie sheets or pizza pan. Spoon meat onto the shells like mini pizzas. Top with cheese. Bake in oven at 500° long enough too cook the shells golden brown about 5 minutes on oven top shelf. Remove flat tacos from oven, fold them into taco shapes and set them in taco holders. If you have no taco holders stand tacos up in square cake pan or square dish so they don't fall over. Add the toppings you like, sour cream, cilantro, lettuce. Allow tacos to cool about 15 minutes soft shells will get crispy so you can pick them up to eat them. These are so GOOD I will NEVER cook tacos the old way ever again. This was very easy & quick. WOW it is hard to believe how good these are. If you want meat to be a little spicy hot add 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper.
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Last edited by Gary350 on Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

imafan26
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Now, that looks really good and simple to make.

pepperhead212
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That does look good, Gary!

Thursday, when I moved all that food to my friend's freezer (my freezer died several days ago, though stuff was still at 20°, or slightly under), I removed 4 lbs of beef - the oldest ones - and put them in my fridge to thaw for making chili today. 3 lbs of chuck were actually cut up cubes, to make chili, and there was a lb of ground beef. It was wet, which is typical, being frozen so long, but it browned well, as you see from the fond, which darkened it early, after deglazing all that. It has a cup of beer, some chicken broth (unless I have homemade beef stock, which is rare), 4 types of pure chili powders, sweet paprika, caribe, crushed black pepper, Mexican Oregano, cumin, coriander, only 3/4 c crushed tomatoes, chopped roasted and peeled poblanos or Numex, vinegar, and masa harina for thickening.

OK, this isn't really Mexican, but close! This is Texas style chili - no beans, to stretch it, because I don't have a freezer to store all that! (My new one comes 2-4) I started in a 9 qt Dutch oven, to brown all that meat, but transferred it to the 5 qt Dutch oven once it is all mixed together, to cook in the oven. After cooking partially covered in the 250° oven for 2 hours, I remove it from the oven, then spoon some of the liquid off the top, to whisk together with some masa harina, then stir this paste into the chili to thicken it. Then, I cover it, and bake another hour, and it's done! I served it with some shredded cheese, and some corn tortillas, heated on the stove over the gas flame.
ImageFond in 9 qt. Dutch oven, after browning 4 lbs. of beef for the chili. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageBrowned onions, with garlic ready to brown, for the chili. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageAbout a half cup of chopped up roasted and peeled poblanos, frozen last season. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Image4 types of chile powder, paprika, caribe, and spices for the chili. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageAdding a little heat to the chili! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageBrought to a simmer, and ready to go into the oven for a few hours. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMasa paste, being mixed in, to thicken, before cooking 1 more hour in the oven. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished chili, after removing a couple of bowls of it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Didn't get around to taking a photo of the bowls and tortillas - couldn't wait to dive in! :lol:

pepperhead212
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I made some shrimp in chipotle sauce - the recipe I used for years, from Diana Kennedy's The Art Of Mexican Cooking, before the one I usually use, from Rick Bayless. I still make this sometimes - it is more saucy, with a little lime juice and white wine added, and made with grilled tomatoes, from the garden. The original recipe called for only canned chipotles, and my only change to it was replacing one with a dried chipotle or 2 moritas.
ImageChipotle sauce, cooked down, before adding the shrimp and onions back into it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageShrimp added to the chipotle sauce, to reheat briefly, before serving it warm corn tortillas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I had a non-Mexican salad earlier, before thawing the shrimp, and starting the rest of it.

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Gary350
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This Mexican dinner started out as failed Mayan Tamales because we have no banana tree leaves & no corn plant leaves to wrap tamales in. Tamale recipe, 2 C garden whole kernel corn, 2 cooked shredded & chopped chicken breasts, 1 onion, 4 garlic, 1 T paprika, 1 t chili powder, salt, black pepper, 1 t cumin, 1 t oregano. Today we added, 1 C sour cream & ½ C Mexican cheese to the Tamale mixture then rolled it up in flour tortillas to make burritos. Then we poured Enchilada sauce over the burritos then topped it with more Mexican cheese & garden cilantro. Wife & I both ate 2 of these each for dinner. Wife said, this is the best Mexican food we ever made at home.
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pepperhead212
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I made some guacamole today - the extent of my Mexican food. I'm trying to use up some of those frozen tomatoes and peppers, and it's almost as good as making it with the fresh.

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Gary350
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Mole Recipe.

Watch the video. I missed the name of the peppers that are not spicy hot and have a smoky tomato flavor? I would like to buy those peppers at our Mexican Flea Market if I knew the name. It took 5 hours to make & cook Mole sauce it looks like fun if you have all the correct ingrediencies. I have 3 jars of mole sauce by 3 different companies we will soon learn what all 3 taste like & which 1 we like best.


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I tried making Mole from a jar and it came out gross and felt difficult. I've given up on making mole!

pepperhead212
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I've made countless varieties of moles, and all were good, some much better than others. They can have a lot of ingredients, some unusual ones, the most unusual ones being some of those chiles. I remember one mole negra in which there were a couple of tortillas, which were burned to cinders, then ground up with the rest of the ingredients. Surprisingly, it did not taste the least bit burnt, and it was relatively mild.

Something that made the moles much easier was that Vitamix! With many of those ingredients needing straining before, even chile skins and seeds grind down to nothing, using the VM.

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Gary350
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Mole sauce experiment

I searched pantry found 1 jar of mole paste. Wife said we trashed the first bottle it was fire spicy hot & gave the other bottle to my son. I bought this bottle a month ago.

No instructions on bottle so I mixed a spoon of paste with enough water to make a gravy it tastes like, spicy chocolate water, not good on the cooked chicken we had for dinner.

Same experiment again this time I used tomato sauce instead of water. This tastes much better on cooked chicken but nothing to brag about. Maybe this can be improved.

Next I mixed mole paste with Honey Mustard dressing. This reminds me of chicken finger sauce at some of the fast food restaurants. This is good but chocolate does not go well with chicken.

Next I mix mole paste with blackberry jelly then put it on sausage & biscuit. This is actually the best so far. I like spicy sausage. It is common to put Grape jelly on sausage biscuit in TN this is very good too. Combination of spicy mole sauce & jelly goes good with sausage biscuit.
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The label says to use three parts mole sauce to three parts water and to simmer it until it achieves the proper consistency.

That's a lot easier than the directions for the mole in the bottle I had bought.

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Gary350
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webmaster wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 1:50 am
The label says to use three parts mole sauce to three parts water and to simmer it until it achieves the proper consistency.

That's a lot easier than the directions for the mole in the bottle I had bought.
Your right there are instructions, I missed that. I don't see well anymore especially small print inside the house with no real sunlight. This morning I use 1/4 teaspoon measure to put mole sauce inside sausage then I cooked it. I can taste the chocolate & small amount of spicy hot flavor. Tomorrow I try this again like instructions say & pour mole sauce over sausage after it is cooked. I like spicy Hot Jimmy Dean sausage but Super Kroger store seldom has it. I have a sausage spice mix I got from the homemade Sausage Forum but I am being lazy and did not mix any into this new package of sausage. Add small amount of milk to biscuit mix I get biscuits it take 20 minutes to cook. Mix in more milk I get pancake mix it only takes 4 minutes to cook. 1 sausage only takes 4 minutes to cook also.
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pepperhead212
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I threw together a Mexican dish today, which started out only because I had to cut up an onion that there was a bad spot on, and I could smell it! lol I diced it up, and sautéed it in a little oil, and set it aside, not knowing what I would do with it later. I got a craving for some Mexican, so I soaked some dried tomatoes, to make some chipotle sauce, and some dried eggplant, which I nuked for 3 minutes a couple of times, while doing the rest of the prep, to soften it faster. I soaked about 1 1/2 lbs worth of tomatoes, and a little over a lb worth of eggplant. I cut up a pound of cremini mushrooms in large pieces, steamed them in a few tb of water for 7 or 8 minutes, boiled the water off, and sautéed in 1 tb olive oil, until browning, then I combined with the onion and set aside.

Meanwhile, I put the soaked tomatoes, plus soaking water (I had filled a 2 c measuring cup to about 2 c) in the Vitamix, plus a tsp of Mexican oregano and 6 cloves of garlic. I blended this until smooth, then poured it into the wok I cooked the mushrooms in, to cook down, and scrape the mushroom fond into the sauce. When done, I added the mushrooms, drained eggplant cubes, and a little salt to taste. This was served in some open flame toasted corn tortillas, with some Monterey jack, and a little lettuce.
ImageBrowned cremini, mixed with the sauteed onions, waiting for the eggplants and sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Image1.5 oz dried tomatoes, equal to 1.5 lbs, soaked, and blended with chipotle, garlic, and Mexican Oregano by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageStarting to cook the chipotle sauce, over medium high heat. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageChipotle sauce, cooked 7 or 8 minutes, to evaporate much of the water, and concentrate the flavor. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMushrooms and soaked eggplants, added to the chipotle sauce, ready to go into the corn tortillas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Gary350
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Wife said, I am making Chicken Fajita tacos for dinner but I am having mine made like a Quesadilla. I said, I want Quesadillas too. I have an Avocado getting rip in the kitchen for several days so I made guacamole. Wife put 2 kinds of cheese & Queso & tomatoes inside her Quesadillas. I put 2 kinds of cheese inside my Quesadilla & cheese, guacamole, garden tomato on the outside. Fajita chicken was cooked with lots of garden onions & spices. I put garden tomatoes in the guacamole for chip dip. We are eating like a king garden tomatoes & onions are the best.

My mother & sisters use to make a BIG bowl of guacamole with diced tomatoes & chips for lunch. 7 or 8 ripe avocados, 1 jar of hot Picante sauce, 4 or 5 diced tomatoes, juice from 3 limes, 1 tsp salt, it was a very good lunch.

When I make guacamole dip only I like the avocado chucky, not puree.
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Gary350
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We ate lunch at Jason's Deli today they have something new on the salad bar, Mexican Corn Bean salad. After searching YouTube for an hour and watching about 15 videos I think I found the correct recipe. Video uses a equal amount of corn & beans, restaurant used about 5 times more corn than BROWN color beans. Soon as we have ripe garden corn I will boil a few ears and make this with a few pinto beans. Watch YouTube video for recipe. RED color arrow shows the Mexican Salad almost covered up you can barely see it. This is not a white color creamy salad with mayo or cream like Mexican Street Salad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGIKYn000x8
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