Carne Asada Arroz y Frijoles con Guacamole

Have you ever gone to a Mexican restaurant with the anticipation of having a great, authentic meal and left....hugely disappointed, unsatisfied and barely full cause the food wasn't even good enough to stuff yourself?? Yeah well that happened to me recently and I swore I was gonna come home and duplicate the meal and it was gonna knock my families socks off!!

I still think it's sad though that I had to be the one to do it!! I'm just some mixture of Italian and Portuguese among other things!! ;o) Oh well....I got the job done!!

This dinner came out just divine!!! It was by far the best guacamole and carne asada I have ever made!! I love it when that happens!! And well...beans and rice....I can do in my sleep.

Carne Asada

carne asada meat (they usually sell it sliced like that at the grocery store)

1 lg lemon, zested and juiced

2 limes, zested and juiced

1 Tbls chili powder

3 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic, mashed into paste

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp black pepper

3 Tbls oil, I used canola

Put meat and all ingredients in a large ziploc or large bowl or plastic container and mix until all meat is coated!! Refrigerate at least several hours or preferably overnight. Cook either on the bbq or in a frying pan or on a griddle.

Guacamole

2 avocado's

1 small tomato chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, made into paste

small handful cilantro chopped

salt to taste

1/2 lime juiced

(I also added about 2 Tbls of the green tomatillo salsa that I posted a few days ago. You can do that too, or add chopped jalapeno or leave it out. Whatever you like!)

Mix all ingredients, I don't like to completely mash my avocado's I like it kind of chunky. But you can do what you like!!

Make mexican rice.....I think the key to rice is frying it before you cook it!! Just fry it with oil and tomato for about 7-10 min, then add your liquid and salt.

Boil your pintos with an onion cut in half, 3 cloves of garlic, a jalapeno, and salt until beans are cooked. Approx. 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I usually reserve about a cup of whole beans then throw the rest in the food processor. Then mix them all together. Then in a frying pan I heat some oil and add 1/2 of a very thinly sliced onion. Brown the onion, then add the beans and fry.

I served this meal with corn tortillas....of course!!

Fabulous Fish Tacos

I love fish taco's!!! I was bored....and when I'm bored....I cook or bake!! So I whipped up some fish taco's for dinner tonight. Freshly fried corn tortilla's, homemade mango salsa, homemade spicy green salsa, cod with garlic and butter, lettuce and sour cream lime sauce! How much better does it get?

Fish
1 lb cod or any white fish (or shrimp....mmmm)
Cook or bake how ever you'd like.

Tortilla's
Fry corn tortilla's however you like them....extra crispy or soft and bendy...that's how I like them. I season them with season salt, it's my favorite! ;o)

Tomatillo Salsa
10-12 tomatillo's
1/2 med onion
1 jalepeno
3 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lime
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
handful of cilantro
Boil tomatillo's, onion and garlic for approx 15 minutes. Strain out tomatillo's, onion and garlic reserving the liquid. Put that and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. Pour as much of the reserved liquid to make the consistency of the salsa as thick or runny as you like it. Salt to taste.

Sour Cream Lime Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
juice of one lime
1 tsp agave or sugar
Stir well.

Mango Salsa
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 of a mango, diced
handful of cilantro, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped finely
Mix all of the ingredients, and salt to taste.

Don't forget to chopped lettuce, assemble the taco's and EAT THEM!!

My first....and VERY successful attempt at Chile Rellenos

OMG!!!! These came out sssssssssssoooooooooo good!! I have NEVER made them before, but LOVE Chile Rellenos so much. So I just thought....I can do this!! And I did!! =)

I am so happy!! I will be making these again!! It was over all pretty easy, didnt take more than an hour. The only bad thing was that by the time I was done frying them all I had eaten 3 and I was full so I didnt get to sit down and enjoy them!! ;o)

1 lg can green chiles

monterey jack cheese

1/4 to 1/2 cup flour + 1 Tbls

6-8 eggs separated

1 tsp season salt

oil or shortening to fry

Take the green chiles out of the can and place them on paper towels to dry them. Dust them with the 1/4 or 1/2 cup of flour (however much is needed to dust them completely). Cut thick slices (1/2") of monterey jack cheese, then cut the slice in 3 long strips. Cut as many as needed for your chiles (1 per chile). You can use toothpicks to hold the chile and the cheese together. It's ok if the chile rips, cause the egg is gonna act like a nice comfy blankie to hold it all together!

Put all the egg whites in your handy dandy Kitchen Aide mixer and put the whip attachment on it on med high and just walk away! But make sure you walk back when stiff peaks have formed! ;o)

Beat the yolks with the 1 Tbls of flour and the 1 tsp of season salt. Once your egg whites have formed stiff peaks FOLD did I mention you should FOLD.....not stir.......fold in the yolk mixture until well mixed. Now you just dip your chile with the cheese inside into the egg batter and drop it into your preheated oil. When they are golden brown on both sides (you'll have to flip them once) then they are done!!

I served mine with El Pato salsa de jalepeno. You can find it in a can in the Hispanic section of the grocery store. Did I mention how good they were??

My take on a Chicken Corn Soup....mmmmm!!

Ok the first thing I would like to say is.....this is a basic recipe of NOT exact measurements!! I make this stuff up as I go depending on what sounds good!! So I'm gonna give it my best shot trying to remember everything I put in there!! Good luck and may the force be with you.

On a side note....even my kids liked this soup!! That's always a bonus!! ;o)

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or chopped(depending on how many you are feeding)

1 container chicken broth

3/4 cup salsa (I used homemade that I had already)

2 cans corn

1 cup heavy cream, milk or sour cream

1/2 onion diced

1 can diced green chile's

1 cup grated cheese of your choice (cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack)

cilantro

corn tortillas fried until crispy, then broken into pieces

Just cook the chicken and shred or chopped it. In a saucepan cook onions until translucent, I think I threw in a little butter! Add chicken broth, and corn. Now use your fabulous immulsion blender and blend it up a little. Next add in all the rest of the ingredients except the tortillas and cilantro. When cheese is melted serve. Top with broken tortillas and cilantro!! Yummy!!

Christmas Eve Seafood Lasagana...mmmmm

Is it just me, or is seafood a beautiful thing?? I love it all. I have never made a seafood lasagana before, and actually I dont recall ever tasting one before. But I would have to say for a first try, it was very successful!! I used shrimp, crab meat and small scallops!! It was super easy to throw together too and a big hit amoungst family members. Even my hubby, who doesnt love pasta thought it was good!!

1/2 lb lasagna noodles

1 1/2 jars alfredo sauce

3 cups grated mozzerella or any cheese you like

1/2 lb real crab meat, shredded

1 lb small scallops, cooked

1/2 lb small shrimp, cooked

1 small container of ricotta cheese

1 egg, beaten

salt & pepper

parmesean cheese

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. In a small bowl combine three seafoods, salt and pepper to taste. In another small bowl mix ricotta, egg, salt, pepper, and about 1/4 cup parmesean cheese. In a 13 x 9 baking dish which you have sprayed with cooking spray, begin layering. First drizzle a little bit of alfredo sauce (right out of the jar) to coat the bottom of the dish. Layer approx. 3 lasagna noodles, drop some ricotta mixture and spread on noodles, sprinkle 1/3 of the seafood mixture, then drizzle sauce from the jar and finally a thin layer of cheese. Repeat all steps until you reach the top of the baking dish. Topping with cheese. Bake in a 350 oven for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour.

My take on Peppermint Bark

Ok this one ended up looking kinda funny......but it tastes awesome!!!!!!

All I did was melt milk chocolate and semi sweet chocolate together in a 'double boiler' until melted then spread it on a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Then I melted the white chocolate over the double boiler. While it was melting I added about a half a teaspoon of peppermint extract and one tablespoon of milk. When the milk chocolate is set up enough spread the white chocolate over it. Break up some candy canes and sprinkle evenly over the white chocolate. Put in the frig until set up and then break into random size pieces.

That's it!! It is that easy!!

Let the baking begin....

Am I the only one who gets completely excited around the holidays when its time to decide what to bake?? I spend so much time looking through recipes and adding some in then taking some out, and adding some in....and....well you get the idea. It has to be just perfect!! I am always excited to try things I havent tried before, but have the few 'must makes' every year!!

Well it is finally time to begin the process and get ready to give my friends and family the treats they deserve for puttin' up with me all year round!!

Here is the first....

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

All I did for these is make the Nestle Toll House recipe except I added (which is key for flavor!!) 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and some freshly grated nutmeg. It makes ALL the difference!!!