20 Days, 20 Lessons to Become a Better Cook

Hello friends!

I've been MIA for a while and I'm not quite sure why. I love to cook and I cook quite a bit for my boys at home. Fresh, homemade meals are always healthiest and most economical. And when you've got to feed the Mr. plus up to 3 teenage boys on any given day, home cooking is the way to go for our family. But I guess taking care of these boys has made life busy and the blog has been neglected.

But... I just joined a cooking class with The Kitchn and am so excited I wanted to share my experience with you all. It starts tomorrow Monday, October 6 through October 31. It's 20 days, 20 lessons to become a better cook and they will be going over essential cooking topics and explaining what we should know. And there will be tasty homework every day!!! I'm so excited I'm giddy!! I know, I know, I'm a bit of a nerd that way. Anywho, I'll be sharing my experience and homework with you everyday. So if you want to join me in this quest, go to The Kitchn Cooking Class and sign up. You'll get an email everyday. Then come back and share your experience and homework in your comments below, or on our Facebook page at Mexican Family Recipes Facebook Page .

http://www.thekitchn.com/join-the-kitchns-cooking-school-the-kitchns-cooking-school-211087

Here is the schedule:
Day 1:  Knife Skills
Day 2: Onions and Garlic
Day 3: Vegetables
Day 4: Eggs
Day 5: Poultry
Day 6: Meat
Day 7: Seafood
Day 8: Tofu & Tempeh
Day 9: Herbs & Spices
Day 10: Rice & Grains
Day 11: Beans
Day 12: Pasta & Noodles
Day 13: Sauces
Day 14: Saute
Day 15: Simmer
Day 16: Steam
Day 17: Roast
Day 18: Braise
Day 19: Broil
Day 20: Bake

I'm personally super excited about Knife Skills because I want to learn how to use them and how to keep them nice and sharp, Herbs & Spices because I'm trying to grow my own herbs and Braise because I had a fabulous Slow Braised Kobe Beef at Geoffrey's in Malibu last night. Which one are you most excited about?

I've invited my friends to join me in the fun and some are traveling, but it won't matter because it's virtual and we can all doing at our leisure from wherever we are in the world. So let's do this together...who's in??

Sonia

Chicharrones en Salsa Verde

I haven't had these in years...and by years I mean decades!! Mom used to make these when we lived in Mexico City, back in my teens. I'm not sure why she didn't frequent this delectable recipe once we returned to the States. They're delicious and super simple to make. I'm so glad I learned to make these. Here you go!

INGREDIENTS:
15 tomatillos, peeled and washed
1/2 onion
1 /2 bunch cilantro
1 chile pasilla (this was not in mom's recipe, but we added it :-) )
2 garlic cloves (mom said 1 but I used 2)
1/2 lb. of chicharrones, broken into small pieces
salt to taste
vegetable oil
*fried pork rinds found in a mexican market

Roast pasilla over open flame on the stove. You'll need to move it around with tongs, to allow the entire pasilla to get black. Once blackened, place in a plastic bag and let it steam, the black skin will loosen. You can either remove the skin using your hands by rubbing the chile over the bag, or rinse the chile with water. Cut the stem off.

Place all tomatillos in a pot, cover with water and boil.

Blend the cooked tomatillos with onion, cilantro, pasilla and garlic.
Take in the smell of the salsa....YUM!

 

 

Now I'm thinking this salsa can be used on just about anything...enchiladas maybe??!! I'll try it and let you know later.

Warm oil in a pan. Add the salsa with a little water, not too runny.
Add chicharron a few pieces at a time, they don't all fit in the pan until they soften, stirring frequently. You may not need the entire chicharron. Stop adding it to the pan once you see that you still have some salsa. Add salt to taste.

 

 


Serve with refried beans and enjoy!!

 

Tacos de Crema

These have been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Most would call these enchiladas, but growing up mom always called them Tacos de Crema, so Tacos de Crema it is!! These are always a hit too!!

Ingredients:
2 dozen tortillas
2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded*
2 pasilla peppers
8 oz. tomato sauce
16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
vegetable oil
*can also used store bought roasted chicken, just shred it.

Turn oven to 325 degrees.

Sauce:
Roast the pasilla peppers over the open flame on your stove. Turn them constantly until the entire peppers are black. You may have to use tongs at times to hold pepper over the open flame from time to time to ensure every spot of the pepper is black. Warning...it  begins to smell delicious now!!!
Once completely roasted, place both peppers in a plastic bag or ziploc bag and let sit for about 10 minutes. The bag will steam up and ease the removal of the black skin. Without opening the bag, with your hands rub the pepper (over the bag) to slip the black skin off. Remove the peppers and dispose of bag. Cut the stem off and place the peppers in a blender.
Add the sour cream and tomato sauce to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Take a whiff of the sauce .....and imagine just how delicious these tacos will be. Place the sauce in a shallow bowl for dipping of tortillas in a later step.

Tortillas:
Warm oil in a pan over medium heat. Sautee one tortilla at a time for about a minute on each side. They should still be soft and foldable, you don't want them fried. Place them on a plate with paper towel to soak up the oil.


Assembly:
Grease a baking dish or cookie tray, you may need two.
Set up a production line to ease assembly. Dip a tortilla in the cream sauce and place it on the baking dish. Add some chicken and cheese. Roll the tortilla like an enchilada, and align it against the edge of your baking dish with the seam down to prevent it from opening up. Repeat until all tortillas are gone....your fingers will be messy through this process, but it'll be totally worth it! It is best not to layer tacos on top of one another, only side by side, as they will stick to each other during the baking process. 
Pour additional cream sauce and mozzarella over the tacos. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve with refried beans to complete the dish.

Just thinking about it is making me crave these, but I'm out of pasillas. Note to self, ALWAYS have pasillas in the pantry!! They can be used to make salsa, in refried beans for added flavor, in potatoe dishes...oh the possibilities. Pasillas are the best!

Fish Tacos, just on time for lent

Just on time for Taco Tuesday...and lent!
Here is my recipe for delicious fish tacos.
I don't care if these tacos are "Mexican" or not.  Just eat them!  
And thank me later.

Tilapia filets marinated in...

-lime juice (squeezed fresh from a lime)
-pepper
-salt
-minced garlic

Pan fried with very little olive oil.  I lke to start at medium heat, then raise it because I like a few seared, well done parts... then really low heat while I heat up the tortillas on the stove (en un comal...how do you say comal?)

Oh, but make the salsa and red cabbage "slaw" first!!

For red cabbage slaw, mix... 

Sour cream
red cabbage
lime juice (you know the deal)
salt

For salsa, blend...

3 dried guajillo chiles and 3 dried California chiles, soaked in warm water for about an hour (poured just a bit of this chile juice in the blender before mixing all this)
1 pasilla chile, roasted then placed in zip lock bag to steam for 15 minutes, then wash the burned layer off)
2 tomatoes (forgot to roast them, dang it)
1 (or more) small chile of your choice for kick
lime juice (esqueeeezeee...)
salt (blow it off your hand like it's fairy dust...)
cilantro
yellow onion (like a fifth of it)
large garlic clove

Put the caggabe slaw mix on the warm corn tortilla.
Follow with tilapia.
Pour some slasa on those puppies.
Then top with cilantro. 

Que rico!  Don't forget to wash them down with a refreshing cerveza.

I should have cooked more fish...I devoured my tacos in minutes.  I'm still thinking about them now, shooot. :)


Provecho!
Sandy

Salsa Fresca - Fresh Salsa

Super easy, quick and tasty fresh salsa.

Sorry, I made this so quickly and last minute I completely forgot to take pictures of the process. But trust me, it's simple.

1  large tomato
2  chiles colorados (red chiles)
1  bunch of cilantro
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste

Place tomato in a pot and cover with water. Boil for a few minutes.
Cut the stem off the chiles.
Blend the tomato, chiles, cilantro and garlic with just a bit of the water the tomato boiled in. Add more water if you need a more runny consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

Done and done!!