Really Good Mexican Style Corn Condiment

I know I stole this recipe from somebody, but I can't remember who. Anyway, its really easy to make and you can now steal it from me! The general idea is to grill corn (although steamed or boiled works fine as well), and, prior to serving, slather this stuff on top of it. Three ingredients! You can do it.

INGREDIENTS

Roth Kase Cojita Cheese (what is it about those folks in Wisconsin? I am really liking their products, which I have been buying at Zabars. ). You can also find the real thing in Mexican Supermarkets, but I have come to like our friends from Green Bay Country.
Mayonnaise
can of Habernero peppers

Shred the cheese and mix about 1:1 with mayonaise. Mush peppers with your hand and add to taste (they can be wicked hot, so add slowly). Slather on corn.

It was a great success last night.

Mexican Style Flank Steak Marinade

Flank steak is another inexpensive grillable meat that, when seasoned properly, can be a tasty part of any summer get together.  Marinating it adds flavor, and also helps tenderize it.  It also helps to slice it real thin.  Although I claim no authenticity at all in this recipe, the meat tasted great on tortillas served with some salsa and my not for vegetarians black beans (below).  The marinade recipe here is useful for 6 pounds of flank steak; you can certainly half the recipe if you want.

INGREDIENTS

1 bottle of beer (I used Corona this time, but Negro Modelo works well, too)

3 limes, cut up and juiced

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

optional (teaspoon pepper)

Combine all of the ingredients and place in plastic "zip-lock" bag.  Add the meat, and store in refrigerator for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally.  

Before grilling the meat, shake off the excess fluid and salt the meat as you would if there were no marinade at all!  Really.  I think flank steak tastes best cooked medium rare to medium.

Taco Hamburger Meat Recipe: Beats The Heck Out Of Mix

Tacos do not necessarily bring out the love in most adults. Although many restaurants have come up with fancy variations on tacos, at home they often remain the provenence of Old Ortega. Although I don't profess to any great knowledge of Mexican cooking, I have come up with my own variation preparing chopped beef for tacos. Its simple, its tasty, and your kids will eat it, too.

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef (chuck is best)
one onion, sliced

one tablespoon cumin
one tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
small can of tomato paste (you will need about two heaping teaspoons)
bit of water
vegetable oil (I prefer canola)


EQUIPMENT

Heavy skillet (I prefer cast iron)
colander

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix together all of the spices and place in a bowl. Brown the onions. Really sit on them long enough so that they actually turn golden brown before removing them from the heat. Brown the hamburger meat and drain in the colander. Place the meat and about 1/3 of the onions back in the pan and add the spices on a low heat. If you are looking for plainer tacos, add less spice. You may need to add a little extra salt in this instance. Add the tomato paste and a few tablespoons of water and mix in. Cook for about 10 minutes until the liquid absorbs and you are ready. Salt as needed and, if you are extra fancy, add some fresh cilantro. Serve with taco condiments and use the extra onions for the adults tacos.

Saint George, Utah: Can't Eat Out Here

I'm actually in Vegas as I write this. Vegas, baby! Actually, its sort of gross. But back to more important subjects, in this case decent Mexican food in Saint George, Utah. As previously noted, St. George has no shortage of chains, franchises and gas station convenience emporiums. Eating out was a problem however. The one decent restaurant that we ate at was called Cafe Rio. They are a local chain of Mexican restaurants. You wait in line, order your typical Mexican dish, pay, and sit down. The restaurant itself is attractive, and the food was clearly the best we had. They have multiple locations throughout Utah, including ski areas (our exercise-o-phillic friends were very excited to find out they were opening in Ogden Utah). All other Mexican restaurants in the area should be avoided like disease.




One discovery we made in Utah was cheap Mexican spices. Available at 3 Amigos, and made in Los Angeles, Tampico brand spices included both regular spices such as basil and thyme as well as combinations such as taco mix (pictured and excellent) and tamale seasoning. I have seen inexpenive bagged spices in Indian markets, but not Mexican ones. If anyone has seen them in New York, drop me a line.

The 3 Amigos: Mexican Market in Saint George, Utah

Greetings from Utah, where I have survived my first day of tennis camp. All that exercise can make you hungry, and so far I have not been impressed with my meals out here in Saint George. The easiest way to sum up the culinary offerings here is this: if its a Western Franchise, its here. Since we are staying in a condo, I have taken to cooking more and more. Saint George has at least 3 huge supermarkets, of which I have now been to two. Each contains the usual supermarket stuff, good produce, etc. Much more interesting than these typical behemoths is the 3 Amigos Market, located at 325 North Bluff Street (435-652-0180).

The 3 Amigos Market is a Mexican Market catering to the local Mexican community. It has a large variety of fruits and vegetables, and avocados cost half what they did at Albertsons. They also have such specialty items as tomatillo (good enough to eat raw) and several varieties of coconut. There is a dairy case where you can buy classics such as queso blanco, and a full service butcher. We bought chorizo and green chorizo. Although we ate the green chorizo, and liked it, we're still not exactly sure why its green. There are a large variety of pork products and pork parts for sale. This includes pickled ears. Taco meat is available pre-seasoned and ready to cook. Spices are very inexpensive.

We also bought some of the ices and ice milks available. My personal favorite was the rice pudding, although the coconut with pineapple was also good. There is a selection of traditional Mexican sweets available as well as baked goods.

In a town like Saint George, 3 Amigos is a welcome relief from that franchise feeling that permeates the restaurant scene. Although I still will buy some items from a traditional supermarket, adding the chorizo and using the spices for other dishes made our bar-b-cue dinner at home much better.

Secret Food of New York

At the Lovely Wife's "Holiday" party last week a friend of the lovely wife brought us tasty Tamales from the Upper West Side. Filled with pork or chicken, they were moist and tasty. I heated a leftover one up for a snack last night and it was still good, three days later. But here's the catch: the friend bought these tasty snacks from an unlicensed vendor. Because I thought they tasted so good, I dare not publish where and when to get these Tamales (although, surprisingly, it is on the Upper West Side somewhere). And yes, I thought to myself, I am glad that I am heating these pork and chicken filled petri dishes to well over 160 degrees for several minutes to kill any bacteria. So maybe I wouldn't buy sushi on the street. Having said that, I looked into what it takes to serve food on the street in the City of New York and I can understand why an immigrant tamale vendor would choose to take her chances. I have an advanced degree and can't really understand what you need to do.
Let me know if you want some tamales...

I Can't Believe | Like This but...

One of the great things about having friends in a place you visit is that they have a kitchen. Last night we spent New Year's eve with our friends from London. Besides being New Year's eve, it was also our female friend from London's birthday. We had an excellent meal, with Texas style English brisket (more on this later), excellent cheese and great potatoes. The surprise of the night was "Ramapo Nacho Dip" modified by our friend somewhat. The surprise is that its really good, despite basically being from a day camp's photocopied "cookbook." The recipe is easy to make, and here it is:

INGREDIENTS

1 bag tortilla chips (thick chips are better)
8 ounces of cream cheese (called "Philadelphia" here in the UK)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 jar salsa
1 can of whole refried beans

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

8" pan (ceramic is better than metal)

INSTRUCTIONS

Spread cream cheese on the bottom of the pan. Spread the salsa and beans on top of the cream cheese. Add the cheddar on top and then the mozzarella on top of this. Bake in a 400 degree oven for seven minutes or until the cheese is melted. Eat.

Happy Thankgiving and Lime Chicken

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. As I am usually on call for this holiday, the only thing I cook on Thanksgiving is gravy. And that recipe is a secret, mostly because I make it up every year as I go along. In honor of this, I have decided to share with you a recipe that tastes absolutely nothing like any of the stuff you usually eat on Thanksgiving: chicken thighs in a lime flavored broth. This Mexican style dish merges the joys of "fall off the bone" chicken with the light flavor of a lime and cilantro based chicken stock. If you do it right does not put the G in gadempt (My apologies to non-yiddish speakers). The trick in this recipe is to use chicken thighs, which survive the braising and simmering process much better than breasts, which have a narrow window of cooking time between excellent and rubber. If you insist of adding breasts to this meal (it will not work with breasts alone, as they are devoid of fat), add them to the broth 30 minutes after you add everything else.

INGREDIENTS

12 chicken thighs, skinless but with bone
2 3” onions
4 sliced garlic cloves
2 splashes of tequila
2 chipolata peppers from can (I bought these at grocery on 85th and Broadway)
3 limes, juiced (have another ready for taste)
pepper and salt
2 teaspoons dry coriander
fresh coriander
chicken stock (about one quart)

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED

Large pot to cook chicken/stock (dutch oven or other large covered pan would be great)
Skillet to brown thighs if you do not have a dutch oven or other large covered pan
Good knife
cutting boards
Stirring implements
Tongs help a lot


Chop onions and garlic and brown in pan. Remove and set aside. Brown chicken thighs (do it in batches if pan is not large) and set aside. Add onions, garlic and chicken to large pot. After removing grease from pan add a little stock to the pan if it is not burned and scrape off any drippings. Add this to pan.
Place pot on medium flame. Add dry coriander Add enough stock to cover chicken. Add lime juice. Add two peppers from the can (you can add three if you like a lot of heat). Add at least 1/4 teaspoon pepper and not more than 1/2 teaspoon (you can always add more at the end). When the mixture starts to boil, turn down to low and simmer uncovered. Let cook about 1 hour or so. Chicken should be soft and almost fall off the bone. Be sure to skim off the grease!! Re-salt and pepper liquid to taste and add fresh coriander few minutes before turning off flame. Tastes great with rice and tortillas!

Back From Mexico

Did you miss me? The lovely wife and I were in beautiful Carmen de Playa for four days of fun and sun. Unfortunately, we did not encounter much gourmet Mexican dining, although we did like a lot of the breakfasts; some of which I will try to recreate. However, if you include breakfast, I did discover several dishes which I would like to learn more about. The first of these is lime soup, which I was told was a traditional Mayan dish. It is a chicken soup in a lime base, and contained dried tortilla shreds and vegetables. There was a strong hint of coriander, which I am not normally a fan of but which was really good in this soup. We both enjoyed the sopasitas, little corn pone tarts covered in shredded pork, beef or seafood. The best breakfast was huevos Montulenos (pictured), but closely followed by Huevos con Epazote y Chile. While the former was not very different from huevos rancheros, the latter was sort of a frito pie for breakfast, featuring fried eggs, tortilla chips chile sauce and white cheese. Scarily tasty.

Like most beautiful and tranquil resorts, the food at the place the LW and I stayed at was a bit too tortured for dinner. And as this was not a working trip (don’t worry IRS, I have not written this off!) we didn’t venture out of the hotel to eat once, although we did go fishing. So I can’t comment to much on the food of the Mexican Riviera per se. I can say that when its done right, Mexican food can be extremely tasty and I hope to explore that in the future.