Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!! This day is
widely celebrated in the states and regionally in Mexico, most people think it
is a Mexican holiday. It celebrates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory against
the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 under General Ignacio Zaragoza
Seguín. What is so interesting about this battle is that it was believed that
Napoleon was going to give aid the south Confederacy during the Civil War, and
it was this great victory that helped prevent the French from splitting America
in two!!
What we have for you today is a mango
margarita, a pork taco with salsa verde, and a chicken taco with what we like
to call lazy mole! So when you are enjoying your Mexican beer and your Mexican fare,
don’t forget to cheers General Ignacio!
Ingredients: makes 10 tacos
Tacos:
10 corn tortillas
3 skinless chicken breast
3 Tablespoons old bay seasoning
1 ½ Lb pork
2/3 cup pomi or any plain tomato sauce
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
2 ears of sweet yellow corn
1 green Chile
5 tomatillos
Cabbage for topping
Sour cream for topping
Salt and pepper to
taste
Margarita: serves about
5
¼ cup grand marnier
¼ cup tequila
10 limes
2 mangos
½ cup limeade
Make the margaritas
first so you can have one while you are cooking, and then chill the rest.
Simply place all liquid ingredients in blender, then juice the 10 limes, and
then cut the meat out of the two mangoes, and blend! Yay!
To start the tacos you
will want to get your meat going first. Heat a grill pan on medium high heat,
and heat oven to 425 degrees. Season chicken with old bay seasoning, and season
pork with salt and pepper. Place both meats on grill pan to get some nice grill
marks, about 5 minutes each side. Next place in oven and cook chicken and pork
for about another 25 minutes, or until both internal temperatures are a 160
degrees. Be sure to check the internal temperature with a thermometer, because not
all ovens run the same heat, mine can be a bit hot! Or shall I say caliente!
While those are cooking
shuck your corn and take all the kernels off my holding it by one end, and
using a knife, run it down away from your, cutting the kernels off. Set aside.
Next, peel all the
leaves off the outside of the tomatillos, and roast them. You can roast them as
simply as turning the flame on your stove and using tongs, hold tomatillo in
the flame and turn, until it browns all around. Let cool. Cut top of Chile and
remove seeds, then roasting the same way. Let cool. Once all cooled, blend in
blender with a pinch of salt.
Now for the lazy mole,
my favorite part. In a sauce pan heat the tomato sauce, cumin, cayenne,
cinnamon, and paprika until it simmers. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, then
adding corn and heavy cream, stir and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove from
heat and cover.
Your meat should be
done about now. Remove from oven, and place on cutting board and let rest for
about 7 minutes. Next slice both meats in thin strips.
Place tortillas in oven
for about 4 minutes to heat.
Serve all your
components on separate plates, along with cabbage and sour cream, so everyone
can have a margarita and put together their own tacos! Have a blast, and Happy
Cinco De Mayo!!!
In honor of National Picnic
Day which was last week and the gorgeous weather we have been having here we
have made the perfect picnic sandwich which has been deconstructed…so that when
you get to your picnic…you can reconstruct! Avoid gross soggy bread, and bring
your components to your next picnic. Your friends will not only be impressed,
but they can make their sandwich their own way, and hey, maybe you can compare
tupperware.
What we have made for you
today is a grilled chicken sandwich on sourdough, with a bit of arugula, gouda
cheese, pickled onions, and a roasted artichoke aioli. Picnic away!
*Requires a grill pan, or
grill if you feel up to it!
Ingredients: serves 2
1 loaf sourdough bread
Gouda
Chicken:
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Pickled Onion:
1 small yellow onion
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 star anise
3 juniper berries
2 cloves
Grilled artichoke aioli:
2 artichokes
1 egg
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon olive
oil
¼ cup grape seed oil
Salt to taste
We love this pasta, not to mention it is
delicious even cold the next day! We have made pasta as healthy as it can be.
We have taken a mix of fresh and light flavors which are so refreshing, with
some classic flavors of a simple Italian pasta. We have taken a whole wheat
pasta and done it up right!
So enjoy our walnut kumquat pasta
tonight!
Ingredients: serves 4
1 box whole wheat pasta
½ cup raw walnuts
4 large cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil
6 kumquats
4 tangerines
4 leaves of arugula
1/4 cup plus more salt
Pepper
This recipe was absolutely new for Mikey
and I, we absolutely love Thai food, but have never dared cook it. I think it
is partially because it seems like something that would be very intimidating,
there are special ingredients, and I don’t want to burn my mouth out with
spice. I won’t lie the first try of this dish was so spicy I could smell it and
my eyes would tear up (don’t worry it has been adjusted). However, none of
these things are true. If you find the right stuff, pay attention to the
recipe, it is actually quite simple to make a wonderful panang curry. Not to
mention that it will open up a whole other world. To purchase our kaffir lime
leaves and curry paste we went to a wonder market called Simpang Asia on National
near
Overland in Los Angeles, and we are officially obsessed!
Panang curry is probably my favorite of
the Thai curries out there; it is incredibly fragrant and a bit milder than
other curries. It is unlike most curry dishes because it is not soupy, it is
rich and the sauce really sticks to the meat. The flavor of kaffir lime,
coconut, and the curry paste are really fresh, and bring a bright pop to your
palate; things that we tend to crave in the spring. So try this recipe out, serve
it with rice or on its own, you can even substitute the beef with chicken or
firm tofu.
Ingredients: serves 6
*if you want to make rice, I suggest
brown rice!
2 ½ Tablespoons red
curry paste
8 kaffir lime leaves
1 large red bell pepper
1 large yellow onion
½ cup bamboo shoots
6 sprigs basil
2 teaspoon fish sauce
4 teaspoons tamarind paste
2 ½ 12 or 14 oz can unsweetened coconut
milk
2 lbs filet mignon tips
1 Tablespoon grated ginger
Start by setting your mise en place up.
Cut all of your meat into thin strips, thinly slice your onion, and cut your
red bell pepper into 2 inch long and ¼ inch wide strips. Your bamboo shoots
should be in little strips if not, cut them that way. Heat a rather wide sauté pan,
with a little pam in it, and brown your meat on both sides, but don’t cook all
the way through. Set aside, draining the meat from the liquid.
In the same pan, heat ½ of a can of
coconut milk, the kaffir lime leaves, and curry paste on medium high heat. Cook
and whisk until the mixture thickens. Add remaining coconut milk, onion, and
basil. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce temperature and simmer
for 10 minutes, constantly stirring until everything thicken and is fragrant.
Add the meat, bell pepper, bamboo,
tamarind paste, fish sauce, and grated ginger. Stir and cook until the meat is
cooked through. Serve alone or over rice.
