Ch-Ch-Ch-Chimichanga

The chimichanga is one of the greatest Tex-Mex foods that has come into existence.  As a child dining out with parents at Mexican restaurants, I would always order the chimichanga.  When I moved to Mexico, I was a little shocked that chimichangas weren't really a 'real' food down here (although a quick Google search about the history of chimichangas says that they exist in the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa (Sinaloa is the state in which I live)).  I quickly learned that all the "authentic" Mexican restaurants that I had visited in the USA were not good representations of Mexican food.  Don't even get me started on Taco Bell.  After a few years living down here, you start to miss the Tex-Mex foods.  Crazy, I know, but it's true.  I researched some chimichanga recipes and ended up combining a few to create this recipe. 

Shea and I make about 9 or 10 chimichangas each time.  We freeze the ones we don't need that night (assemble each one, just don't bake).  They taste so good and are such a quick thing to pop into the oven on busy days.  They're even better than the frozen entrees you find in grocery stores!  Try it next time you want some Tex-Mex!  Oh, Shea adds some jalapenos to the ones he makes. 

Chimichangas (yield: 8-10)

1 pound ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 small can corn, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 - 2 cups salsa (I use part enchilada green salsa and part red salsa)
2 teaspoons chile powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 cans refried beans
shredded cheese
8-10 large flour tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (I usually light the oven when I am done browning the beef.)

2. In a large skillet brown ground beef.  Drain grease.

3. Add onions and corn and cook until onions are tender. 

4. Stir in salsas, chile powder, garlic powder, and cumin.  Heat through. 

5. Assemble the chimichangas.  Place a layer of refried beans on tortilla,  Add small portion of beef mixture in the center.  Top with shredded cheese.  Fold sides inward to create a rectangle/square thing that resembles the chimichangas you have seen before.  =)  At first, I used extra refried beans to act as a glue to hold it together, but have changed to using toothpicks.  Either method works fine. 

6. Place chimichangas on baking sheet, seam side down. 

7. Bake 30 minutes, turning half way. 

Bon appetit!

Grillmaster

Here is the recipe that saved us yesterday!  I had already planned on having kabobs on the grill and had already been marinating the chicken and veggies all day.  I had planned on having rice alongside to complete the meal, but we were so pleased with the flavor that we didn't miss it. 

I made two portions of the marinade.  One for the chicken and another for the veggies.  I marinated everything in separate ziplock bags for 24 hours.  I soaked my wooden skewers in water for about 4 hours to make sure they didn't burn.  I did not marinate the mushrooms -- I wasn't sure if they would hold up to being soaked in liquid for a long period of time.  Comments on this????? 

Chicken and Veggie Kabobs Marinade

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced

3 chicken breasts, cubed
1 green bell pepper
large handful of cherry tomatoes
1/2 package of button mushrooms
1 onion, quartered with stem left in tact
3 rings of sliced pineapple


1. In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, honey, soy sauce, black pepper, and minced garlic cloves. 

2. Pour into a large ziplock bag.  Add cubed chicken and vegetables.  Marinate in refrigerator up to 24 hours.

3. Save a little bit of the vegetable marinade to baste over kabobs during grilling process.


Marinated kabobs fresh off the grill

I took some pictures of tonights meal, too.  I guess we will be using the grill the whole weekend!  Tonight we went freestyle and had some portobello "burgers" with a vegetable medley of zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and bell pepper.  It was delicious!  

Shea, the grillmaster

Two portobello mushrooms, one burger patty, and lots of vegetables.  The vegetables were seasoned with salt, pepper, and EVOO. 

Who's got gas?

Thank goodness for planning ahead.  Let me tell you today's events.

This week is "Holy Week" for Mexico.  Much of the country is on vacation, inlcluding my employer.  It has been a relaxing week where I have been able to get all my runs in for my 1/2 marathon training plan, practice many many hours for my upcoming auditions and give daily mock auditions to friends, and I've been trying some new recipes this week.  As the week progresses, more and more businesses are closing for the holiday.  The streets are going to start looking like a ghost town as more and more people head out of town to be with family and relax at the beaches. 

One more little tidbit about living in Mexico.  All apartments and houses use gas - to heat water and for the stove/oven.  My current landlord insists on herself buying the gas for a common tank that my entire apartment complex shares.  It usually gets filled one time a month, but of course, it all depends on the use of all tenants in the building.  If we make it to the first of the month without it running out, the landlord automatically gets it refilled.  The only trouble happens when it runs out before the end of the month. 

Like today, for example. 

Yes, I woke up this morning and realized that the gas tank was empty.  No cleaning dirty dishes, no hot shower, and no cooking any food.  But the problem gets 10x worse in this situation -- the entire country is going on vacation and many businesses are closed so the possibility of refilling the gas tank is slim to none from today until Monday morning. 

That's right.  No gas until possibly Monday morning.  And it's only Thursday. 

This makes a sticky situation for someone who has ambitious cooking plans for the rest of the week.

Shea and I called the landlord around 9:30 AM.  She is out of town on vacation.  Since she is the one who calls for the gas company to come and also the person responsible for the 5000 peso bill, we didn't quite know what to do.  We called another gas company (Gas Pasa) hoping we could just "put it on a tab" and not pay anything, but still get the gas.  Heehee.  By 2:00 PM the gas company still hadn't arrived yet, so I wanted to head to Walmart to get some sandwich stuff.  We hop into the car and as we drive through a main intersection, Shea says he saw a gas truck coming from the other road.  I stop the car, he gets out and runs back towards the intersection.  The gas truck turns in my direction, but doesn't stop to talk with Shea.  He walks back towards the car and we continue on towards Walmart.  At the next intersection, we run into the gas truck again -- this time, they were making a stop!  Shea gets out and talks with them, eventually finding out that another gas truck was headed for my apartment at that exact moment.  We hightail it back to my place and find a different gas truck in front of my building.  We talk with these guys and learn that our landlord used to use this company and had an account with them, but not anymore.  If we want gas, we have to pay for it ourselves.  Bummer.  But they tell us the name of the gas company that is currently contracted for our building, but of course, they don't have the phone number.  They tell us that there had just been a HidroGas truck near the police station just a few blocks away from my place.  We book it to that neighborhood but couldn't find the truck.  We decide to head to Walmart but stop at an Oxxo store first to ask for the phone number of HidroGas.  While still in the parking lot, Shea calls the company to see if we could still put in a request for gas for today.  The woman says yes, they will send a truck out "ahorita" (NOW!).  More fast driving back to my place (still without the Walmart groceries).  I wait around in my apartment for the rest of the afternoon trying to practice.  Shea goes back to his place to also practice.  No sense in us both simply waiting for the gas truck to show up. 

But, it's 11:46 PM and I still don't have gas.  I'm going to call first thing in the morning and HOPE that the truck comes tomorrow.  While talking with one of the gas trucks we found out that the gas companies are working the rest of the week, so it looks like we might have some luck. 

Good thing I planned on us grilling out for dinner tonight!  I started marinating some chicken and vegetable kabobs yesterday.  The recipe is very tasty!! 

Not sure what tomorrow will hold............ lets pray for some gas. 

Curried Couscous and Chicken

Before meeting Shea, I primarily ate vegetarian meals.  I never really liked the taste or texture of most meats and didn't really know how to season stuff.  I just ate a lot of tofu!  I purchased the "Quick fix Vegetarian" cookbook and quickly went through many of the recipes.  The following recipe is from this cookbook and is a favorite for Shea.  Of course, with some added chicken breast!!!  The flavor of the zucchini is wonderful against the curry powder.  We often wish there was more zucchini.  Don't skimp on it!

We made this again last week and used up the last of our couscous.  Such a bummer because I haven't seen couscous in stores for over a year down here.  Everyone enjoy this meal for us!

Curried Couscous, Chicken, and Vegetables

2-3 chicken breasts
salt, pepper, and coriander
EVOO

1 tablespoon EVOO
1/2 small onion, diced
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 red bell pepper, diced or thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder, plus additional to taste
1/2 cup peas
1 (16 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups broth
1 1/2 cups couscous
salt and pepper to taste
fresh chopped cilantro

1. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and coriander.  Heat EVOO in a skillet and cook chicken until done, about 6 minutes each side.  Set aside.

2. While the chicken is cooking, heat EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, red bell pepper, and minced garlic and cook until onions begin to get soft.  Add zucchini slices and cover with a lid, cooking for about 2 more minutes to get the zucchini softened. 

3. Stir in curry powder. 

4. Add peas, chickpeas, and broth and bring to a boil.

5. Stir in couscous and season to taste with salt and pepper.  If you want a spicier dish, add more curry powder, too.  Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes to allow the couscous to cook. 

6. To serve, fluff the couscous with a fork and transfer to plate.  Add chicken breast and cilantro.

Bon appetit!

Yay!

Unlike many trips to Walmart, today was such a good rewarding trip!!!!  Here are the things that they haven't had in stock for many weeks now, but today we found them all:

lemons (HUGE ones!)
monterrey jack cheese
garbanzo beans (I've never seen them at the walmart.  Usually they take an extra trip to another store)
sweet yellow onion (I've never seen them in Mexico in my 4 years living down here.  So excited!!!)
hummus

Too bad none of my planned menus for this week include lemons.  But next week will for sure be a super lemony week!

Marinades

This is one of the original recipes that I wanted to put on this blog when I first started it.  It makes a ton of leftovers (when cooking for two people) and is just as good the second and third days. 

Salmon Marinade

1-1.5 pound salmon filet
lemon pepper seasoning, to taste
salt, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1. Season salmon liberally with lemon pepper, salt, and minced garlic.  Rub into the fish gently.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, brown sugar, water and vegetable oil.  Stir until brown sugar dissolves.

3. Place salmon in large ziplock bag and pour marinade over it.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  (I usually do 3-4 hours)

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Wrap the fish in aluminom foil.  Cut a 2 inch slit in the foil in the center.  Place fish on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.

6. If you want to use the marinade, heat it with a little cornstach and serve over the fish.

Bon appetit!

Presto Pesto!

Who doesn't love a good pesto sauce?  This is an easy, quick recipe with ingredients that I usually have on hand at any moment.  We used this for our homemade gnocchi (recipe and pictures to come soon), but put this on any pasta and enjoy a simple, light meal!

Spinach and Basil Pesto

1 1/2 cups spinach
3/4 cup basil
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup EVOO

1.  Blend everything except the EVOO in a food processor.

2.  Slowly add EVOO while constantly processing. 

Stores in refrigerator for several days or can easily be frozen.

Bon appetit!