If you're unfamiliar with ceviche... it's basically a Latin American dish of raw seafood of one sort or another cured (which basically cooks it without any heat application) in citrus juice, usually like a salsa with seafood. It's different from region to region, you'll never get the same one twice! Crab, white fish, lobster, shrimp, octopus, squid, whatever!
This is a Chicago kind of post! We were watching chef Rick Bayless' show on PBS - he has several restaurants in Chicago and while I never had the opportunity to try one while I lived there, he's a name I've known well for a long time. Bayless did a green ceviche with shrimp that looked amazing and it's been a while since Justin and I made a ceviche, so one day I texted Justin at work with a list of ingredients, and a deal - if he stopped at the store on the way home, I'd make him ceviche. We ended up doing it together anyway (because he's a nice guy like that). I pretty much followed Rick Bayless' recipe, but I made a few alterations to the sauce and I quite liked it the way it came out, so I wanted to share. Definitely can't take credit for this recipe... it's really all Rick Bayless, but here's the way I made it. I'm not actually sure how we have never used a Rise Against song on our blog, because they're also from Chicago and I love them! I was actually just listening to some the other day thinking surely I used at least one, if not several, of my favourite songs on the blog. But nothin'! Disgraceful. So here is Rise Against with "Black Masks and Gasoline". -jen
CEVICHE VERDE CON CAMARONES (altered version of Rick Bayless recipe) Time: 35 minutes Difficulty: Too easy Serves: 4-6
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6 ounces fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed and roughly
chopped, 4-5 medium
1 cup (loosely packed) fresh cilantro plus some 1/4 cup chopped
1 medium-sized jalapeño (seeded for mild heat, include seeds for medium heat)
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
3 medium-sized green onions, rough chopped plus 2 medium green onions diced
1.5 tsp salt
a few cranks of fresh ground black pepper
1 pound very fresh uncooked, medium shrimp,
peeled and deveined, chopped into bite size
2 medium avocados, cut into 1/2" cubes
tortilla chips
In a food processor or blender, combine lime juice, chopped tomatillos, 1 cup cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, 3 green onions, salt and pepper. Blend until slushy consistency. Combine shrimp and sauce into bowl, making sure shrimp is fully covered and refrigerate for 30 minutes. After refrigeration, stir in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 2 green onions diced and avocado. Give it a taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve with tortilla chips.
I was at the laundromat with Justin when I came up with this idea. I'm not sure where it came from... I knew we had a pound of chorizo in the freezer and I think I was just trying to come up with some sort of "different" salad idea.
It came out really tasty! I'd describe it as a Mexican-style mushu... or a warm slaw? One of Justin's coworkers had gifted us with a huge zucchini, so I just scooped that out (I actually sauteed the scooped zucchini filling with my onion and poblano), rubbed some olive oil on the inside and outside, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked in a preheated 425 oven for about 17 minutes, until tender. Then stuffed it with the chorizo and cabbage salad. Very good! But the next day, I just ate it in a bowl by itself like a salad.
I don't think we've used any Good Riddance with our recipes yet - "There's No 'I' In Team". -jen
WARM CHORIZO AND CABBAGE SALAD Time: about 30 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 8 cups
1/2 pound chorizo sausage (the meaty kind, not the melty kind)
In a large skillet, brown chorizo until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon, place in a large bowl and set aside. Using 2 tablespoons of the sausage grease, saute onion, poblano and oregano until softened and onion is translucent. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside in same bowl as sausage.
Delicious brown bits!
While pan is still hot, add white wine and salsa, scraping up the browned bits from the pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5-7 minutes, until reduced to half. Add cabbage, carrots, corn and beans, stirring to coat with sauce. Cook for just a few minutes so that cabbage is still crunchy and not cooked all the way through. Toss with cilantro and green onion. Add a little salt and pepper if necessary.
Can be served as just a salad. Can be put into zucchini boats (I halved my large zucchini, scooped it out, salt, pepper and olive oil on inside and baked for 15-20 minutes at 425 on a greased cookie sheet until tender), then stuffed with cabbage salad. Could be rolled into a burrito, served as a taco, rolled in an egg roll wrapper and fried. Served with rice or pasta. Whatever!
I've been making this salsa over and over and over again the last few weeks. We've just been plowing through it.
Ridiculously fast to make if you need something for guests or a party or late night munchies, which is generally our case. I'm having a hard time deciding if I like this salsa more? Or pico de gallo more? I think I must like them equally for different reasons.
I'm not sure why I didn't take better pictures of any of the batches I made. All I did was take a quick pick in a plastic storage container. We fancy. Next batch (which won't be long) I'll try for some better pics.
Here's a band from my home state, Illinois - Blue Meanies with "The Infidelity Song". -jen
RESTAURANT STYLE SALSA Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy Makes: 4 cups Need: Food processor or blender
2 cans (14oz each) diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 onion, rough chopped
1 jalapeño, rough chopped*
5 medium-sized garlic cloves
1/2 cup packed cilantro
juice of 1 lime (about 1-1.5 tbsp)
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
*For a medium spicy salsa, leave seeds in. For a mild salsa, remove seeds. For a hot salsa, add a second jalapeño.
No Cook Version: Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until desired consistency.
Cooked Version: I prefer to actually cook the canned tomatoes in a sauce pan over a medium-high heat for about 15-20 minutes, then let them cool about 10 minutes before placing in a food processor or blender with all the other ingredients and pulsing until desired consistency. Cooking them takes away some of the "tinny" taste from the can. I've made it both ways and they're both good! This is just my preference.
TheseChorizo and Jalapeño Deviled Eggs came out so freaking good! Generally, I'm not even a hard boiled egg fan, but I really wanted to dye eggs during the Giant Purple Bunny holiday, and since I don't have kids I can use an excuse, I had to use cooking as my excuse. We'd had a lot of Mexican food on the menu, so I was in that mindset and I really thought that chorizo and jalapeño deviled eggs was a completely original idea... but it wasn't. I see there are other recipes out there. However, I didn't even look at them because I didn't want my idea to be tainted by what they did! (Mmm, tainted eggs.) And in the end, these eggs were fantastic!!! I just ate a leftover one this morning while typing up this recipe and they're one of those foods that's even better the next day.
I'd just like to note that I had to go to four different stores on Easter Sunday in order to find an egg dying kit. Either the people were there at 7:00am to wipe out the store for candy, or the stores had already wiped out their own holiday displays to make way for summer barbecue crap! We put some time, energy and gasoline into these eggs, man!
I heard the holiday was about dead people rising, so Strung Out's "Exhumation of Virginia Madison" seemed to fit the bill for tunes! -jen
1/4 cup cooked Spanish-style (chunky) chorizo, minced
2 tablespoons green onion, minced
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeños, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Peel eggs and slice in half length-wise. Gently scoop out the yolks and place into a small bowl. Use a fork to break apart the cooked yolks and mash them. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, yellow mustard and lime juice - mix until smooth and combined. Stir in chorizo, green onion, jalapeño, and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Some chorizo is more salty than others, that's why you have to taste it before you add salt!)
Evenly distribute the filling back into the egg whites using a spoon or piping bag. (I just used a quart-size zip bag like a piping bag, cutting off the corner.) Serve immediately or keep refrigerated.
How to Hard Boil Eggs: Place eggs in single layer in a sauce pan or stock pot. Cover with 1" of cold water. Bring to a boil. Then cover and remove from heat and set aside for 8 minutes. Drain and cool in very cold water/ice water. Hard boiled eggs can last for a week refrigerated if their peel is left on.
Pozole... a Mexican soup with a history of human sacrifice. If that doesn't make you want to eat it, I don't know what will!
According to Wiki, "...pozole was made to be consumed on special occasions...on these special occasions, the meat used in the pozole was human.After the prisoners were killed by having their hearts torn out in a
ritual sacrifice, the rest of the body was chopped and cooked with maize.
The meal was shared among the whole community as an act of religious
communion. After the Conquest, when cannibalism was banned, pork became
the staple meat as it 'tasted very similar', according to a Spanish
priest."
Pozole garnish
Pozole is made with corn (maiz) that is treated in an alkaline solution, a process called nixtamalization. Wiki also says, "Maize subjected to the nixtamalization process has several benefits over unprocessed grain: it is more easily ground; its nutritional value is increased; flavor and aroma are improved; and mycotoxins are reduced.
Justin decided to go with pork instead of long pig for this recipe and it was delicious! Garnishes for pozole vary - we used cabbage, radishes, green onion, cilantro and lime. I've also had it with salsa and/or sliced avocado.
Sticking with the theme of eating people, let's listen to this cover of a song I knew growing up - The Meteors covering "Little Red Riding Hood" (originally done by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, and I think it was titled "Li'l Red Riding Hood"?) Anyway, I dig this cover. Eat pork, not people. Unless you really want to - I'm not the boss of you. -jen
POZOLE VERDE DE PUERCO (GREEN HOMINY SOUP WITH PORK) Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: about an hour, including simmering Difficulty: Medium Makes: about 2.5 quarts
1 pound country-style pork ribs, cubed to bite size
Put cubed pork in a large Ziplock bag and add salt, black pepper, paprika and cinnamon. Massage bag to distribute seasonings evenly over meat.
In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium-high and add seasoned pork, browning on all sides. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan, using the pork drippings, add onion, celery, tomatillos, jalapeños, green onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. Saute until vegetables are tender and translucent, 3-5 minutes. Once vegetables are cooked, add broth and hominy and the browned pork. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer about 40 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in 1/3 cup cilantro.
Serve hot with cabbage, radishes, green onion, cilantro and lime juice on top of each serving, or serve on the side for folks to add their own.
This soup came out a little like a cross between tortilla soup and a Mexican minestrone... way tasty! I was pleased with it. Just enough heat to hit, but not enough that you break a sweat because your tongue is on fire. I made mine tonight with the beef broth leftover from our Slow Cooker Chile Colorado. But if you don't want to do two nights of awesomeness, well... I guess you can just add some store-bought beef broth. I did, however, also use the leftover chile sauce from that recipe... so really, why not just make the Chile Colorado first, freeze your broth, and make this soup when you run out of Colorado!?
I chose a little ska in Spanish for my recipe with Sublime singing "Chica Mi Tipo". -jen
*If you're trying to watch carbs, you can totally eliminate the masa harina and the soup will just less like a tortilla soup and more like a minestrone.
In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add diced onion, Anaheim, poblano, jalapeño, carrots, mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender and onions are translucent. Add corn and tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes. Add the beef stock, beans, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, lime juice, chile sauce and cilantro. Bring to a boil.
While soup is heating to boil, mix masa herina and hot water in a medium-sized mixing bowl with a wire whisk until masa harina is fully incorporated. With the wire whisk, whisk into soup and bring back to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Mmm... even as I type this, it's been a few hours since we ate and I still have the awesome, awesome flavour of the chile sauce in my mouth. I was tired of chicken and ground beef in my tacos and enchiladas, we'd been eating a lot of pork lately and I didn't want that, so I thought I'd do something with a little more pop. Came out so good!
I woke up today with Nerf Herder's "Pantera Fans In Love" stuck in my head... no idea why! So it's what I'm using for the recipe tunes. -jen
12 oz beer of choice (I used PBR because that's what we had)
1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce (see recipe below)
Trim excess fat from chuck roast. In a small dish, mix together salt, pepper, oregano and cumin. Sprinkle evenly over entire roast (bottom too!) Place roast in slow cooker and cover the top with the minced garlic. Add chiles and onion, making sure to cover the top of the roast with them. Pour lime juice over veggie-covered roast and then add the beer, pouring it on the side of the roast (not over it!)
Cook on high for 6-8 hours, until you can shred the roast easily using two forks. While roast is cooking, make your chile sauce and pico de gallo (see recipe below).
When roast is done and shredded, drain over a bowl and set broth aside. Put the beef back into the crock pot and add 1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce, as well as 1/2 cup of the reserved broth. (You can refrigerate or freeze the broth to use later in a delicious soup, like Spicy Mexican Pepper Soup!) Turn slow cooker to low and cook another half hour.
Serve in tacos, tamales, burritos, enchiladas, over rice, on nachos, whatever!
1/4 pound dried guajillo chiles (if you like it hot, use 1/8# dried guajillo & 1/8# dried chipotle)
1 medium onion, chopped
9-10 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup packed cilantro
1 jalapeño (optional, for spiciness!)
juice of 1-2 limes
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Caldo de Pollo (or 1 chicken bouillon cube)
2 cups hot water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. If you want a hotter chile, tear off stems but leave seeds in dried chiles. If you want a mild one, tear off stems and empty out seeds. (I recommend at least keeping half the seeds.) Place seed pods on baking sheet and roast for 3-4 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Let chiles cool to touch before packing them into a large blender. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, oregano, Caldo and carefully pour the hot water over everything. Blend until completely pureed.
PICO DE GALLO Time: 5 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 2 cups
1 large tomato
1/2 medium onion
1 jalapeño
1/4 cup packed cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon salt
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until desired consistency (I like mine like a relish). If you don't have a food processor, just dice everything small.
Enchiladas are one of our favourite dishes to make and it took us a few years of trial and error
with technique and ingredients before we got it right where we want it. We really didn't think we could make it better...until a few weeks ago. We had left over shredded pork that we'd made in the slow cooker, and I decided to go the "lazy" route and try an enchilada casserole. I'd never had one, never made one, only heard of 'em.
Shockingly... we liked it better than our enchiladas. Justin nailed it when he said it's like a lasagna. The ratios were great. We loved the way all the flavours came together. And it took a lot less time to make than enchiladas because there wasn't the frying process or the rolling process. Just layer up the dish and go.
For this round, we decided to try ground beef instead of the shredded pork. I think we liked the shredded pork better, but the ground beef was still great (and we figured we'd go with it for the recipe because it seemed more accessible and quicker). Shredded chicken would probably be bomb, too! I think the corn and beans really make the dish - corn adds a nice crunch, beans add a great creaminess. We made our salsa verde extra spicy, so we didn't add jalapeños to it, but they would also be great amongst the layers. And since it heats up so well as a leftover, we made the recipe huge so we could have lunches to take to work for the next few days.
We were thinking we hadn't pulled out much old punk in a while. So Justin suggested some Suicidal Tendencies, and one he said he liked. "Memories of Tomorrow". -jen
4 cups shredded cheese of your choice (go for 6 cups if you like it cheesy!)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add diced onion, diced chile and ground beef to pan. Cook until vegetables are soft and meat is thoroughly cooked, stirring intermittently. Drain grease from pan, add about 2 tablespoons of water and taco seasoning. Cook until water has cooked off. Set aside.
Coat a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread a thin layer of salsa verde on the bottom of the dish. Lay out two layers of corn tortillas over the salsa verde. (I found I could get two whole tortillas in, and then broke up a 3rd one to fill in the holes for a single layer.) Sprinkle half of the seasoned meat over the tortillas. Add half of the beans and corn. Spoon another thin layer of salsa verde on top. Add half of the cilantro and one third of the shredded cheese. Repeat another double layer of tortillas, followed by a repeat of meat, beans, corn, salsa verde, cilantro and cheese. Finish with a single layer of tortillas. Top tortillas with a thin layer of salsa verde and then add the remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, uncovered. Remove and let rest 5-10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.
We'd gotten all the ingredients for Mexican dinner tonight - taco and/or enchilada stuff, ingredients for fresh guacamole, fryin' up some corn tortillas for fresh chips. But lunch time rolled around, we'd skipped breakfast, and I decided to make 3-bean salad for lunch. Looking in the fridge, I was staring at all the tasty Mexican ingredients and decided to do a spin on my salad. It rocked! I think we're going to use some of it in our tacos or enchiladas tonight! Way better than refried beans!
Just learned about this band and kind of digging their sound - think
I'll check out more. Latterman singing "We Work the Night Shift". -jen
1/2 cup chopped green onions (about 4 medium sized)
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1/2 a pepper)
1/2 cup chopped green olives (or black if you prefer)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped jalapeño (fresh or canned)
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
Combine all four cans of beans in a colander. Rinse, then set aside to drain.
In a large mixing bowl, combine lime juice, vinegar, and mustard. While whisking, slowly drizzle the olive oil in until combined. Whisk in oregano, cumin, celery seed, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Add the drained beans to the dressing. Add green onions, bell pepper, olives, cilantro, jalapeño and garlic. Toss to coat. Serve at room temp.
I love when a recipe is actually inspired by a song, rather than coming up with a recipe and then searching for a song to go with it! I'd been in a Tim Armstrong mood the other day (when aren't I?), but wasn't feeling like Rancid, so I pulled out both albums by the Transplants. As soon as I heard the song "Tall Cans In The Air", I knew I had to do a beer recipe with tall cans! I brainstormed a lot of ideas (and will still do more), but in the end, I decided going with a Mexican theme. The black beans are Part 1 of my Tecate dinner, and they came out great! I'm not even a big fan of beans, but seasoned with all these great flavours, I couldn't help but love 'em.
Justin and I actually were discussing whether or not we could taste the beer in the beans... 3 cups in a recipe is a hell of a lot of beer. However, it didn't really seem to stand out. There wasn't a super distinct beer flavour, but I'm sure after simmering for hours with a load of other flavours, it's just going to blend in with the rest. I wouldn't change the recipe at all... though I might be inclined to try a darker beer next time, perhaps a Negro Modelo?
And so I present to you the Transplants (whom I've been listening to all week), doing "Tall Cans In The Air"... lemme see 'em! -jen
TALL CAN MEXICAN BLACK BEANS Difficulty: Medium Prep Time: Overnight soaking Cook Time: 3-4 hours Serves: 6-8
1 pound dried black beans
8 cups water
5 cups chicken broth
1 tall can (24oz) Tecate beer (separated)
1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped (de-seed for less heat)
3 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
1 can (4oz) diced green chiles
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt
few dashes of Green Tabasco
Sort through dried beans to check for small pebbles. Soak in 8 cups of water overnight.
Using a colander, drain soaking water from beans. Place beans in a large stock pot with 5 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of the Teacate beer. Bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat down to simmer for 1.5 hours.
Add tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeños, garlic, green chiles, cilantro, lime juice, bay leaves, cumin, coriander, oregano, salt, Tabasco, and remaining 1 cup of Tecate. Continue simmering with the lid off for another 1.5-2 hours. Part way through the second simmer, using a masher, mash up some of the beans to help thicken the sauce. Cook down until desired consistency. Sauce should be slightly thickened, but they shouldn't be soupy.
So Jen and I like doing meatballs for dinner every so often and last time we had done a nice marinara we happened to be discussing ways to vary them and thought that a Mexican style meatball would be awesome and easy to pull off. Here is my attempt at this meal and I believe it worked excellently, if I do say so myself.
This can be varied with any type of salsa that you want or if you were feeling extra adventurous you could cover it in a delicious mole. I went with a fairly straightforward salsa that would work warm or cold and be good with anything. Feel free to try a salsa verde or maybe a chipotle salsa if you dig the heat!
To accompany this dish I'm going with some Pulley, specifically "Crawl" because that tune has been stuck in my head and maybe this act will appease whatever gods are responsible for that sort of situation. - justin
1 tsp Caldo de Pollo (Mexican chicken bouillon with some herbs and spices)
Preheat oven to 425. Arrange your halved tomatoes (cut side up) on a, oiled baking sheet along with the halved and cleaned peppers (cut side down). Lightly brush peppers and tomatoes with 2 of the tbsp of olive oil. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil when they are done and let them sit for 10 minutes to cool. This will steam the skins and make them easier to remove. When the veggies have rested the skins should simply pull off of the peppers and tomatoes. Roughly chop them and set aside.
In a saucepan, add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and set burner to medium heat. When hot, add the diced yellow onion and salt and let the onions sweat until translucent, roughly 7 minutes or so. Add the chopped, roasted peppers and tomatoes, the lime zest and juice, the cilantro, the epazote, the Mexican oregano and the cumin. Stir together thoroughly, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Disolve the caldo de pollo in the cup of water and add to the saucepan. Stir to incorporate. The salsa should be very chunky and a little watery at this point. Simmer the water off to thicken it to your desired consistency. If you would like a very silky, smooth salsa, use a blender to puree the mixture. I prefer mine to be a little chunkier so I just gave it a couple quick pulses and called it good after simmering it for an hour or so while I made the rest of the meal.
Meatballs:
2 lbs ground beef (80/20 lean to fat ratio is best for these)
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 1 large clove)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 whole green onions, chopped
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp dried epazote
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
Preheat oven to 425. I find that while the veggies for the salsa are roasting, it's a perfect time to make the meatball mixture and then the oven is already hot and ready to bake meatballs when the veggies come out and you are finishing the salsa.
Mix the breadcrumbs and the milk and let sit for five minutes to absorb. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to mix together. Roll into golfball sized balls and place equidistantly from each other on a lightly oiled sheet pan. It should make roughly 30-35 balls. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. Meatball diameter will determine your total time but check one of the bigger ones after 20 minutes and use that as a judge for how much longer you'll need. You want medium, not well done.
Tostones:
Frying set up, either a deep fryer or a skillet and a enough frying oil to be a couple inches deep
2 large plantains, peeled and sliced into 2 inch rounds
Heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry enough of your plantains so as to not crowd your oil. Do a couple of batches if you need to or your oil will cool and they will turn out greasier than you want. Fry them for 2 minutes per side (or 2 minutes total if you have them completely immersed in oil). Remove from oil and allow to cool for a couple minutes. Set them upright and smash them with your hand or a spoon so that they squish into a sort of disk. Fry again for 2 more minutes per side and remove to drain excess oil. Salt immediately and set aside.
Completion:
At this point I placed the salsa on the bottom of a plate, set the
tostones in the salsa like little boats and served the meatballs resting
on top of the tostones, like so:
However, you could do the salsa over the meatballs or tostones on the side or whatever you like.
I'm not sure what my inspiration was for this recipe. Justin had chicken thighs thawed and we had most of the items on hand. It sounded like a delicious mix of Mexican, Greek, and American influences. I imagine most food critics or trained chefs would be appalled by this combination, but it came out to be a delicious, soul-warming homemade Hot Pocket! I was a little leery about making and using the gravy in this, but after tasting it, I have no regrets! Imagine crossing a chicken pot pie with chicken enchiladas and wrapping it all up in some crispy, Greek phyllo dough! Play list while cooking consisted of the Operation Ivy Pandora station - Some Op Ivy, Rancid, Goldfinger, Descendents, The Slackers. -Jen
MEXICAN CHICKEN PHYLLO ROLLS (HOMEMADE HOT POCKETS) Makes about 6 phyllo rolls
3 teaspoons seasoning mix, divided (see recipe below)
1 can (4oz) chopped green chiles
2 green onions, chopped
2-3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon, plus extra green Tabasco hot sauce
1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth, as needed
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg (and 1 tablespoon water)
Seasoning Mix
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground pasilla chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground New Mexico chile powder
1/4 teaspoon ground California chile powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Mix spices together.
Place a small strainer over a bowl and empty can of tomatoes into strainer. Toss with 1 teaspoon of salt and set aside to drain.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil. Place chicken thighs in baking dish and sprinkle with 1-2 teaspoons of seasoning mix. Bake at 450 for 25-30 minutes, until juices run clear. Remove from oven and using tongs, place chicken thighs on a plate to cool and set aside. Carefully pour the remaining chicken juice and fat from the baking pan into a bowl and refrigerate.
When chicken is cooled, remove skin and discard. Pull the meat from the bone and place into a bowl. Using two forks, shred chicken meat. Add green chiles, green onions, cilantro, garlic, oregano, cheese, and 2 dashes of Tabasco. Mix together and set aside.
Remove chicken drippings from refrigerator. The fat should have solidified on top. Scoop all the fat solids off the top of the chicken broth, saving 2 tablespoons of fat. Measure out the chicken broth saved from baking and use canned chicken broth to make a total of 1 cup of liquid. Place the 2 tablespoons of chicken fat in a small sauce pan (use olive oil to make up the difference if you didn't have 2 tablespoons worth of fat). Heat on medium and add 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Stir constantly until a paste is formed, making a roux. Quickly add the 1 cup of broth to the roux, turn heat to high, and begin whisking constantly. While whisking, add 1 teaspoon of the seasoning mix. Once the liquid begins to boil, the gravy will begin to thicken. Continue whisking until it's a gravy consistency and remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Since phyllo dough can be a pain to work with because it dries out quickly, it's best to arrange your work station like an assembly line. You'll need your chicken filling and gravy near by, enough room for two working areas for phyllo dough, and a well greased cookie sheet. Make sure your butter is melted and egg wash prepared (by whisking egg and 1 tablespoon of water together) before opening your phyllo dough. Remove one sheet of phyllo dough and keep the rest covered with a clean, damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Brush melted butter over the first sheet of phyllo and cover buttered dough with a second sheet of phyllo dough. Brush second sheet with melted butter. Gently place about 1/2 a cup of filling near the bottom of your phyllo sheets. Top with 2 tablespoons of the gravy. Carefully begin to roll the filled phyllo like a burrito, tucking the sides in as you roll.
Place rolled pouches seam-side down on well greased cookie sheet. Brush tops with egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes before serving.
