Category Archives: mexican

flank steak tacos

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Living in the desert definitely has its shortcomings – intense summers that make you want to die, the kind of sun that makes you feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, extreme lack of vegetation or color (besides brown, that is)… but it has a couple perks, too. Perks, you say? Yes, perks.

One of the main perks of living in the desert? Year-round grilling season. That’s right, year-round. While the rest of the country is huddled inside under layers of blankets, we desert-dwellers get to grill out. No snow to shovel, no ice to scrape, no gray skies – just sunshine and cool air. It’s almost perfect, really. If only we could hold onto that weather year-round.

What’s the best thing to grill? Anything, actually, but one of my favorites is always tacos. They’re just not the same if they aren’t cooked on the grill. Even the tortillas taste better after a minute on the grill. Something about the spicy steak, crunchy veggies, and sweet peppers all wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla is just … perfect. This steak recipe is the perfect way to end the summer grilling season. Add some grilled veggies and fresh home-made tortillas, and you’ll be in taco heaven.

So, while some of you may have to do your grilling indoors soon – we’ll be outside livin’ it up. 🙂

Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs flank steak

1. Mix seasonings, lime juice, and oil together in a plastic bag or shallow dish. Add steak and let marinate at room temperature about an hour.

2. Remove steak from bag and grill over high heat 4 – 6 minutes per side. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

3. To serve, slice against the grain into strips. Serve with grilled and fresh veggies in warm tortillas.

 

 

[ Adapted from SE ]

home made flour tortillas

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Tortillas are often taken for granted. We just fill them and eat them without so much as a second thought. It’s unfortunate, really, since your typical store-bought tortilla is completely boring, flavorless and dry.

I wanted to go back to what I used to enjoy on my trips to Mexico, to what our exchange students Ana and Kendra would make. Most of the recipes I found called for baking powder – an ingredient I didn’t recall in their tortillas. I did try a baking powder recipe once (thinking it would give my tortillas lift) and I ended up with hard, flour frisbees. Supposedly if you go past the first one or two tortillas, they end up less frisbee-ish, but I never made it that far (I’m easily discouraged). I’m sure there’s no way the baking powder recipes would be so prevalent if everyone had the same results, so by all means try one of those if you like.

So finally, I asked Kendra for her recipe, which would have made enough to feed an army, scaled down it resembled a recipe I came across on the kitchn. So, I went for it, mashing the recipes, with what i remembered from our visits to Mexico, I finally found a suitable tortilla. Simple ingredients, subtle flavor.

Just flour, salt, fat, and water. That’s all you really need. You can roll them very thin, or keep them a little thicker if that’s what you’re into. I like to cook mine on the grill; everything is better on the grill. You could also add extra spices to the flour mixture, or even a bit of whole wheat, but I like to keep mine simple (you don’t want the tortilla’s flavor to overpower what you put in it). Although, I’ve been known to snack on just the tortillas…

Home-Made Tortillas

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 2 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 5 Tablespoons shortening
  • 3/4 cup Warm Water

Whisk together flour and salt. Add cubes of shortening and mush through your hands until the mixture forms coarse crumbs (alternatively, you could use a food processor, it depends on how motivated you are).

Add water to flour mixture and stir or work with hands until a dough is formed (if using food processor, pulse until it comes into a ball)

Knead gently until dough comes together; roll into 10 – 15 balls, depending how big you want your tortillas. Toss balls into the same bowl you used to mix them for storage, covering with a damp towel to keep them from drying out. Let rest about 30 minutes. (This 30 minutes is a good time to cook your taco filling, giving it time to rest while you get back to your tortillas)

 

 

 

 

 

Flatten with a press and/or rolling pin until they are your desired level of thinness. I like to flatten mine with the press AND roll them (the press gets them much closer to a circle shape than they would otherwise end up).

 

Cook over medium-high heat on a nonstick skillet or grill until bubbly. Flip and continue to cook, should take about 30 seconds per tortilla. Be careful not to burn them, if that means you have to flip them a little more often, go for it. Wrap in foil and/or a kitchen towel until it’s time to serve.

* If you use a tortilla press, be sure to place plastic wrap (or a ziploc bag with the sides cut open) over the press to make your tortillas easier to remove (otherwise they will just end up stuck to the press)

* You can make the tortilla balls a few days ahead of time, keep them covered in the refrigerator and use them throughout the week to always have fresh tortillas on-hand.

* If going the food-processor route – whir flour and salt together. Add shortening and continue processing. Stream in water and pulse until dough forms a ball. Pour onto counter and knead into cohesive dough, then roll into balls.

[ Adapted from the kitchn & my good friend Kendra ]

spice rubbed chicken tacos

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I know it’s hard to believe, but humans cannot run on sugar alone. Despite my best efforts, once in a while I am required to actually make something of some nutritional value. It sucks, I know, but you gotta do what you gotta do I guess. And apparently my nutritional needs require more than just adding fruit to whatever I’m baking. (Darn!)

This recipe was actually recommended to me by my boss. Every week he has “taco night” with his family and they try out new taco recipes. On the weeks his wife cooks, she will usually bring me some of the tacos for lunch. His wife is the sweetest person in the whole wide world, but that’s another story.

Unfortunately, the other week it was his son’s turn to cook, which means no leftovers for me. 🙁 They made a Bobby Flay recipe with grilled poblanos and chicken; Tom came into work just raving about how good they were while I rocked myself back and forth with a weird tear/drool combination running down my face. It wasn’t pretty.

tacos are not the most photogenic food

I was intrigued by the recipe’s use of brown sugar and cinnamon… in tacos? Weird. But, I tried it out anyway and they turned out great! I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, but more or less used it as a jumping-off point. These tacos are spicy, but not hot, with just a slight hint of sweetness to them. Served with grilled poblanos and onions, these tacos were a hit.

I’ve been really into using slaw on my tacos, and pretty much everything lately. I spent the last 25 years of my life hating mayo and everything it touched. Just within the past year or so I started really giving it a chance. I really wish I hadn’t. All these things that I used to “hate” are things I should probably not be eating so much of anyway: butter, cheese, cream, mayo… Kind of makes me wish I was still picky.

Apparently I need to make up for missing out on coleslaw all these years by eating it on anything and everything I can, tacos included. If you haven’t tried it yet – DO IT! The cool creamy slaw cuts through the spice just enough to give it the perfect balance of flavor, while adding just a hint of “crunch” to whatever you’re eating. It’s great on tacos, sandwiches, and just about everything in between.

Spice-rubbed Chicken Tacos with Grilled Poblanos and Slaw

Printable Recipe

Grilled Poblanos:

  • 3 large poblanos (my store only had pasilla, they looked the same so that was good enough for me)
  • Canola oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coleslaw:

  • 3/4 cup mayo
  • 1 tablespoon oil (olive oil or vegetable oil)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 small head cabbage, cored and finely shredded
  • 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Chicken:

  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle powder (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Canola oil
  • 8 tortillas
  • 2 grilled sliced poblanos
  • Coleslaw

For the poblanos:

1. Rub poblanos with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over high heat or broil in the oven until skin is blackened ( a few minutes per side ).

2. Once blackened, put in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit about ten minutes, this will allow the skin to soften enough to be removed.

3. Once the skin has softened, peel off skin and remove seeds from peppers. Slice or chop peppers to use for tacos. Set aside.

For the coleslaw

1. Whisk together all but the cabbage and onion. Add the cabbage and onion; stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Chill in fridge until time to serve.

For the chicken:

1. Mix together seasonings in a small bowl. Heat grill to high.

2. Rub chicken breasts with spice mixture and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil grill until it has distinct grill marks and a slight crust has formed, about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over, close the lid and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 6 minutes longer. Once cooked through, tent with foil and rest 5 – 10 minutes.

3. While the chicken is resting, heat the poblanos and tortillas on the grill. (I put the sliced poblanos with sliced onions on foil and grilled until the onions were lightly browned).

TO serve tacos: put diced chicken, grilled poblanos and onions, and cole slaw on taco. Eat and enjoy 🙂

[ Adapted from Here ]

in honor of summer fiestas – salsa

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I’ve been hiding this recipe for some time now from my friend, Rob. All that he wanted ever since I started blogging (and really, before I started blogging) was a good salsa recipe. I tried to blackmail him in exchange for him learning wp code and making me a beautiful, glorious webpage… but he held out. What a little turd, right? Oh well, I will give you this delicious salsa recipe anyway. Know why? Because I like you that much. (Close your eyes, Rob!)

I don’t blame him for needing a salsa recipe – I struggled with finding a good one for a long time. No matter what I did, I just couldn’t achieve that restaurant-y salsa that I so badly wanted. I finally just gave up, I could still make pico- and if I must resolve myself to a lifetime of fresh pico – so be it! Never in a thousand years would I have imagined the key to unlocking great tasting restaurant style salsa was in a can.

Crazy, right? All this time I thought it was the fresh ingredients, maybe some secret black market spices, I wasn’t quite sure. I was positive fresh ingredients were an important part… then I saw PW’s recipe. The only recipe that was different from all the ones I’d tried before – using canned tomatoes. Canned?!? I can honestly say that I never in my life thought I would put a can of “Ro-Tel” in my shopping cart, let alone two… I guess there’s a first time for everything… Now that I know the secret of the can, I can adapt this salsa recipe into pretty much endless variations (and now, so can you).

It makes a lot though – so invite some friends over to share. You need them or else you will eat it… all of it. You will just black out and wake up with an empty salsa container and no chips… you poor thing, you. You don’t even know what you’re in for… Congratulations on your new crack salsa addiction. 🙂

Restaurant-Style Salsa – Adapted from PW

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  • 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
  • 1-2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies) OR if you are like my sister and are afraid of heat – you can just add 2 cans of diced tomatoes – no chiles!
  • 1 small onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 1/2 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp Sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin (I used a little less)
  • 1/2 C cilantro
  • 1/2 lime, juiced

1. Throw everything in the blender, then process to desired consistency. Done-zo!

2. Salt & Pepper to taste, if you think it needs it.

Ok, that’s basically it, but since I like to make life more difficult and am maybe medium control-freak, I put the tomatoes only from the can of whole tomatoes, and reserved the liquid so that I could adjust the salsa to be as thick (or thin) as I wanted. Process without the liquid – then add the liquid in as you see fit (if you think it needs it)

Also, if you do ONLY canned tomatoes, you can use fresh peppers of any kind to your liking – which is better to control taste and heat than using Rotel