Category Archives: Mexican

Mexican Seasoning – tacos or fajitas

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This makes enough seasoning or rub for a few meals – use it on anything you want to barbecue, grill or saute.  We like to keep it on hand for so many purposes.  Add some to your favorite vinaigrette and you instantly have a salad with a Mexican twist.   Hayley and Mike perfected this one to create a well balanced flavour but you should experiment with the seasonings to make it your own.

3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 tbsp cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp black pepper

(feel free to use ancho or chipotle chili powder for a richer taste)

Tonight this seasoning mix created some delicious fajitas for the family, but it is just as easily transformed into fantastic tacos – using the ground meat of your choice – and if you should crave vegetables it is marvelous with those too! 

Go ahead and try it your way …

Pork in Salsa Verde

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This is so unbelievably good you will suddenly think … oh no, maybe we should keep it for ourselves and order pizza for the company tonight …. something I hear from my husband regularly … Seriously, not many ingredients, a bit of prep time at the start, and then nothing but relaxing while your kitchen smells so inviting.  

Preheat oven to 350 and get out a heavy bottom saucepan suitable for cook top as well as braising.  Total prep, and cooking time should be about 3 hours – give or take a bit as you like.

SALSA VERDE (Green sauce)                

1 pound tomatillos – husks removed

4 -5 whole serrano chiles (to your taste)

1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 medium bunch fresh cilantro – tough stems removed

sea salt to taste  (and not much!)

PORK

2.2 lbs (1 kg) pork shoulder, or butt, cut into 2″ pieces

1/4 cup flour

salt

oil or lard

Honestly, I don’t often use lard, but in this case I think it just adds such a depth of flavour and gets such a crisp finish on the pork pieces that I think it is worth it.

PREPARATION

In a large pot of boiling water bring tomatillos, onions, chiles and garlic back to a boil.  Boil just until tomatillos begin to crack – watch carefully as you don’t want them to fall apart. Once they have started to crack scoop out all ingredients to your blender and reserve the cooking liquid in case you need to thin out your salsa verde.  I like to just leave it sit in my blender at this point to cool down – NEVER blend hot items unless you leave a spot for the steam to escape.

While the tomatillo mixture is cooling – prep your pork.

Toss pork cubes in a bag with flour and salt – shake as much flour off as possible and allow to sit.  In small batches of hot oil or lard (using the same saucepan you boiled the vegetables in) brown pork pieces on all sides, removing to a plate to keep warm while you work with the rest of the pieces.

Pour out the remaining oil or lard – again BE VERY CAREFUL with hot oil or lard.

Now that your tomatillo mixture has cooled down, blend it, adding some of the cooking liquid if you need to so it thins out a bit.  Once you have it blending – push the cilantro down through the lid opening – you want to blend it enough to have a liquid, but not so much you lose the color of the bits of cilantro.  Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.

All chiles are so unique for the heat level – I like to add just 1/2 the whole cooked chile – seeds and all.  Then taste it, and if you like more heat go ahead and add it. IT IS SO MUCH EASIER TO ADD HEAT THAN REDUCE IT!  (Just ask my unsuspecting family – they often get handed a spoonful of something …”Here just taste this” … and then run for something to cool them down.)

Once you are happy with your salsa verde, pour it over the pork and place the whole thing in the oven to cook for at least 2 hours – check it at that point, adding more liquid as necessary and even turn the heat down if you need to.  By the time you eat it (I like to allow 3 hours total) the meat should be melt in your mouth tender and delicious enough for you to also wonder if you should feed your guests pizza…

Our Fathers Day Mexican Fiesta was perfect with this, Spanish Rice, Roasted Cauliflower, Asparagus with lime, feta and almonds, Nationalist Guacamole and Mexican Black Beans. – try it yourself!

Asparagus with lime, feta and almonds

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There is nothing like asparagus season!  During that brief time we eat it most days … for our Fathers Day Mexican Fiesta I wanted to give it a Mexican twist – complimented our main of Pork in Salsa Verde –  just the way we wanted it to.

Asparagus – break off woody parts at the end

lime

feta cheese

extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

juice of 1/2 a lime

Asparagus is best if you dress it after it has been grilled or roasted.  If you are able to grill it – so much the better.  Just grill on the surface of your grill until just fork tender.  This does, of course, require a grill master – someone who actually stays with the grill and looks after it!  If you don’t have either that luxury or the weather – preheat an oven to 375 and then roast it for about 20 minutes – just until fork tender – do not overcook.

When you take it off the heat, arrange on serving dish, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then sprinkle toasted almonds and feta cheese over top – finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Delicious!

Roasted Cauliflower

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Tonight I wanted cauliflower that would allow me to relax with family  and would taste great with my Mexican Fiesta themed Father’s Day dinner – this was perfect!

Preheat oven to 375

I head of cauliflower, broken into florets

3 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil            

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 heaping tbsp grainy mustard

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

juice of 1 lemon

Garnish with cilantro and scallions (green onions)

In a ziplock bag, combine all ingredients and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Turn vegetables onto baking sheet – I love my clay baking sheet – no matter what I roast on it we get the perfect color and roasting carmelization.

Roast for about 30 minutes – this will depend on the size of your florets, so at 20 minutes, poke them with a fork or sharp knife … nobody likes overcooked cauliflower!

When they are just fork tender, turn into serving dish and sprinkle with roughly chopped cilantro and green onions.

Mexican Fiesta

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Wow.  Sometimes I even surprise myself.  

Check out this Mexican Fiesta for Fathers Day …

Pork in Salsa Verde

Spanish Rice

Mexican Black Beans

Nationalist Guacamole

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Asparagus with lime, feta and almonds

It was amazing!  Try out the recipes and let me know what you think …

Mexican Black Beans

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2 tbs olive oil

1 19 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed very well

½ white onion finely diced

1 tbsp minced garlic

½ minced Serrano chile

½ to ¾ cup chicken stock

Juice of ½ lime

3-4 tbsp minced cilantro

S&P to taste

Saute onion in olive oil until translucent, then add garlic and minced chile.  Saute for a few minutes, then add black beans, chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until beans are heated through and the flavours have had a bit of time to meld.  Puree in a blender, return to the sauté pan and let cook for a further few minutes.  Add juice of ½ lime, chopped cilantro and taste again.  Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

p.s.  I am not sure if any photo of black beans can do the flavour justice, but trust me … these are delicious!!

Spicy Sticky Back Ribs

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These ribs might take a little extra time but I guarantee that you won’t find tastier ribs anywhere – and they are certainly worth the effort. 

Make sure to serve with plenty of napkins and additional barbecue sauce for dipping.

RUB

  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp dry mustard
  • 1 tbsp ground fennel
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika

BBQ SAUCE

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 1 can or bottle beer
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1/4 cup hot sauce
  • zest of lemon or lime
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp soya sauce
4 racks pork baby back ribs, membrane removed

In small bowl combine dry ingredents.  On large baking sheet place rub both sides of ribs with dry rub, pressing and patting it in.  Cover with foil and refridgerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 250 – pour off any liquid on baking sheets, cover ribs tightly with foil and roast for 3 hours, until the meat is tender but not falling off the bone.  Pour off any liquid on baking sheet.

For the bbq sauce:

Melt butter, add onion, garlic and thyme.  Cook over moderate heat until onion has softened.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil.  Stir well and continue to cook at a moderate heat until sauce has thickened. This does take some time, and will taste better if you allow it to slowly reduce.   Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Broil or grill ribs, continuing to brush barbecue sauce over.

To serve, slice between each rib – mound on serving platter and scatter sliced green onions, lemon and lime wedges.

If you love Mexican cuisine, as we do, then make a few substitutions/additions ….

To the rub:  1 tsp smoked sweet paprika, 1 tsp ancho chile powder & 1 tsp chipotle chili powder

To the BBQ sauce:  2 tbsp of the leftover rub, replace the beer with 1/2 cup of smoky mezcal, and add 2 minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (if you can get it add 1 tbsp sour lemon)

Nationalist Guacamole

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Named for the colors of the Mexican flag – white, red and green!

  • 2 large onions, peeled & finely chopped
  • 15 oz FRESH lemon juice
  • 4 large avocados
  • 4 oz fresh cilantro
  • 3 oz serrano chilies, deseeded, deveined & chopped
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 oz fresh pomegranate seeds
  • 2 oz ricotta or feta cheese, crumbled

Marinate the onion in the lemon juice for 30 minutes, then drain and set aside.  (I usually use the lemon/onion juice for something else….) Mash the avocado, add cilantro, marinated onion, 1/2 the pomegranate seeds and serrano chilies. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange in bowl with scattered pomegranate seeds and crumbled cheese on top.