Recently I visited the food truck El Burro Por Delante in Agua Prieta, Mexico and had a huge bacon wrapped burrito. This is my attempt to get that taste, but on a smaller scale.
If you’re interested you can get an idea of what they do, they also have meter long burritos…… Let that soak in for a minute.
My easy salsa chiltepin recipe was perfect with this but use any salsa that you like.
Make your marinade, 1 cup of beer (use something that you like), 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon Mexican Oregano and 1/2 teaspoon Salt.
I used a 10 oz rib eye for this. Trim any excess fat, mine was thick so I cut it into thinner slices. If you’re buying meat for this buy thin cut meat of your choice.
Add the beef to the marinade and let it mingle for at least 1/2 an hour.
Cook the steak to almost well done…. Sorry to all my hard core medium rare loving steak friends.
Dice up the steak.
Heat an extra large tortilla to make it pliable and add the fillings. I used avocado, diced hatch chilies, tomatoes, meat and salsa. Then do the standard burrito fold.
Lay down 4 slices of bacon and roll up the burrito.
Cook the burrito on all sides until the bacon is crispy.
Here in the State of Sonora, Mexico salsa made with chiltepin is very common. Traditionally it is made with fresh tomatoes but after tasting several salsas from taquerias I decided to try making it using El Pato tomato sauce. The first time I made this is was popular with the guys at work, the only complaint was it was to spicy. Chiltepin peppers are very spicy and this salsa is not for dipping chips in. Its good the first chip or two but after that your mouth will start to burn. But it is great on tacos or in burritos. I made this batch for a bacon wrapped burrito.
We need to boil 1/2 of a small onion, 1 clove of garlic and 1/4 cup chiltepin for 5 minutes. Use enough water to cover everything.
Strain and add the ingredients to a blender .
Also add Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano and 4 cans (7 3/4 oz) of El Pato tomato sauce.
Blend, wait at least one hour before serving. It is better (and hotter) the next day.
For me nothing satisfies quite like a plate of noodles loaded with veggies and moist tender chicken. This recipe has a lot steps but it is mostly prep work that must be done before you start to stir fry.
The key to getting very tender and moist chicken is to use the velveting technique. Veleting can be done by pass the meat thru water or oil. Most restaurants use oil but for chicken at home I prefer to use water (less mess to clean up).
First we need to velvet or chicken, and yes it can be done ahead of time. Slice up an 8oz chicken breast.
We need to marinate the chicken. To the sliced chicken add 1 Tablespoon egg white, 1 teaspoon rice wine, 1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil, pinch of salt and mix well. Now add 1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch and mix until no white spots are left. Cover and place into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This gives time to prep the veggies.
Juliane about 1/4 cup carrots. I am lazy so I use a julienne cutter.
Slice 1/4 of a large onion
Slice up half of a bell pepper, color is up to you!
Split and cut up 2 green onion. Photo shows three but I only used two.
Roughly chop 1 Tablespoon Ginger and 1 Tablespoon Garlic.
I used 4 baby bok choy but any thing from the cabbage family will work. Just roughly chop it up, it will shrink during cooking.
Chow Mein must have mushrooms, locally I was not able to find shiitakes so 2 crimini mushrooms it was.
Time to make the sauce: 1/4 cup stock, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce mix and set aside until ready to use.
Add the chicken to simmering water and cook for 40 seconds. Strain and set aside.
To the same water add 8oz of fresh egg noodles, stir and cook for 10 to 15 seconds.
Rinse in cold water, drain and add 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and mix. The sesame oil helps to keep them from sticking together.
Now that all of the prep is done and everything is within arms reach it is time to stir fry. Heat your wok and add one to two Tablespoons of oil. When the oil starts to get hot add the ginger, garlic and green onion. This will season the oil.
When the oil is hot add your carrots, bell pepper and mushrooms.
About 1 minute later add 1 cup of bean sprouts.
30 seconds later add the bok choy.
After the bok choy is mixed in add the sauce.
About 1 minute later after the sauce comes to a boil return the chicken.
30 seconds or so later add the noodles. Mix it all up and let the noodles soak up the sauce. This should take about 2 minutes. Plate and serve.
Summer is coming and as soon as I can get vine ripened tomatoes from the farmers market the cravings for BLT’s will start to rule my life. As much as I love mayo (homemade is better) on my BLT’s the addition of Avocado Basil mayo takes them over the top.
To make our Avocado and Basil Mayo to our mortar and pestle (I am actually using and iron wood Molcajete) we start with one clove of Garlic, 1/8 teaspoon salt and one Tablespoon olive oil. Then we mash it into a paste.
To this paste we add 1/4 cup fresh Basil that has been roughly chopped. Then we grind it into the paste.
To one medium avocado add the juice of one lime and mash the avocado until smooth.
To the smooth avocado add the garlic basil paste and mix well. Place into the refrigerator for 1 hour.
The bacon was cooked on a flat griddle on medium low tempature. Cooking in medium low allows some of the fat to render out and make the bacon nice and crispy, perfect for sandwiches.
Time to assemble I used a nice roll, lettuce and tomato. To bad I was not able to get some good vine ripe tomatoes. But summer is coming and I plan to make plenty of BLT’s when it’s tomato season.
I love Carnitas Tacos! Well OK I love tacos… But there is something about perfectly cooked Carnitas, tender and moist on the inside with a slight crust on the outside. Traditionally this is achieved using big copper pots to simmer the pork until tender then the are fired in the fat that they render. For today’s recipe I will cook them in the oven. It will take time but the results are worth it.
For today’s recipe I used 5 pounds of pork shoulder cut into 2 inch chunks. The pork needs to be well marbled with fat, shoulder and Boston butt both work great.
Seasoning is about as easy as can be. To the cut up pork I added two teaspoons of salt. But feel free to season to your liking, black pepper, cumin, bay leaf or whatever you like.
Place the pork in pans but do not crowd the meat. Cut up two oranges and squeeze the juice over the pork. Add the orange rinds to the pan.
Cover with aluminum foil and place into a 275 F oven for two and a half hours.
After two and a half hours remove the pans turn the meat over and return the pans to the oven, uncovered without the foil. And cook for another two and a half hours. Yes a total of 5 hours!
Every 30 to 45 minutes turn the meat and return to the oven. This will help the meat get a nice even crust.
After 5 hours this is what you are rewarded with. Pork that is tender and juicy on the inside with a light crust on the outside. If you want more of a crust the last 30 minutes or so increase the oven temperature.
Serve you Carnitas on a hot tortilla with salsa of your choice, a sprinkle of cilantro, lime and chopped onion on the side.
I am a hard core meat eater so I have no problems with dairy products etc. While this recipe is Raw, Vegan and Super delicious! The spicy dressing goes great with the cucumber noodles.
First we put most of the dressing ingredients in the blender (the avocadoes go in latter).
2 Serrano Chile Peppers (I used 2 large with the seeds you can use more or less)
2 Green onions cut into 1 inch pieces.
1/4 of a Medium Onion.
2 cloves Garlic.
Juice of 1 lime.
1/4 teaspoon Salt.
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil.
1/3 Cup Water.
1 large handfuls of Cilantro.
All of the above gets blended.
Then add 2 Medium Hass Avocados and blend until smooth. If needed add more water.
Use your zoodle cutter to cut a large English cucumber into noodles. I do not keep the seed part. It adds too much water to the salad.
Cut up tomatoes and add to the salad. I used some cherry tomatoes but any tomato will work.
I was at Lee Lee Supermarket in Tucson and saw some very nice looking pork belly and bought some. When searching for ways to cook it and get a good crispy skin I saw a method that I liked. Simple and no letting it sit in the fridge over night. Here is a Link to the original recipe. The main thing I do different is I cook it by internal temperature and not time. All ovens cook different so I prefer to use internal temperature.
Adding Salt
Cover a two pound / one kilo piece skin on pork belly in 75 grams / 2.6 oz (6 Tablespoons / 90 ml) of lightly crushed salt.
Inserting the probe
Insert the probe in the thickest port of the belly.
In the bottom rack add water to a baking tray or cookie sheet.
On a higher rack (just above the middle of the oven) add a the pork belly. I used a wire rack for better air circulation. Cook at 350F / 175C until desired tempature is achieved (this took 20 minutes). In this case I cooked to 165F / 74C .
Remove from the oven. Notice how much the pork has shrunk! Go ahead and turn the oven up to 475F / 250C.
Remove the salt from the skin and remove the probe. It’s no longer needed, but you could leave it in to see what the final internal temp is. Place the pork back into the oven until the skin gets to you desired crispness. If its gets a little black around the edges do not worry. Use a knife to scrape off the black part.
Zoodles make a quick, easy and healthy weeknight meal.
This version is a basic spaghetti and meat sauce recipe. But to lower the carbs use Zoodles and to lighten it up more use ground chicken breast. I can usually find it at Vietnamese markets.
To start I heat up 1 Generous Tablespoon of Olive oil.
2 Cloves of Garlic that I have been chopped up.
1/4 Cup finely diced Onion.
2 Large Baby Bella Mushrooms that have been cut up.
After the onion is soft and the garlic is smelling really good (so good that I want to eat just this) add 1 pound of Ground Chicken Breast.
Lightly season with Salt and Black Pepper, enough for the sauce.
Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes while using your spatula to break it up.
Add 1 28 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes.
1/4 teaspoon (or more if you like) of Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon dried Thyme.
1 teaspoon dried Oregano.
Stir and bring to a very low simmer (to prevent making a mess in the kitchen)
Use your Zoodle cutter to make zoodles from 2 to 4 Zucchini (depending upon size) I used 2 medium but could have used 3 if I had a bigger pan.
Lightly season with Salt and Black Pepper, enough for the Zoodles.
Stir the Zoodles into the Sauce and on a low simmer cook to your desired noodle texture. I simmered mine for about 5 minutes.
Just before serving chop up 2 or three leaves of fresh basil, stir into the dish and serve. Fresh basil will turn black and lose flavor very quickly so just heat it and serve.
