Confession

While I would love to take credit for the clever title of this blog, it is from an unknown source. It's fun, though, right!?

Thanks for stopping by :)

Tamales

Warning, this post is graphic in it's meat portrayal! I used chicken (gasp!), and pork (gasp!). I also made a vegetarian filling with beans and cheese. So carnivores and vegetarians alike can enjoy this meal :)

Ingredients:

3 lb Pork roast

Corn Oil

2 Chicken Breast

Salt

Black pepper

Garlic Powder

Ground Comino (cumin)

Cumin Seeds

Chili Powder

Paprika

4 lb bag Corn Masa

Corn Shucks

Black Beans

Garlic
Hot Sauce

Directions for preparing the meat/bean filling:

Cook and Shred Pork Roast:

Cut the roast into fist size chunks. Put the chunks into a Pan, and cover with water. Boil for about 1 hour or until it becomes tender. Remove from broth and save the broth for the Masa. After the roast chunks are cool enough to handle easily, shred them with your fingers. Try to remove and discard the fat as you go.

Cook and Shred Chicken:

Cover the chicken with water in a large pot, and boil for 45 minutes until the chicken is done and tender. Repeat above steps.

Combine Pork and Chicken:

Combine both meats in very large pan, and mix together. Make sure that the meats are thoroughly combined and mixed well.

Add the Spices and Seasonings:

Mix the oil and seasonings listed below in a small pan and warm on the stove, then pour over the meat and mix with your hands until it is completely distributed through the meat. (you may not need to use all of the seasoning mix. Save about 1-2 Tbsp for the bean filling. Add to the meat to your taste preference.

Spices and Seasonings:

¼ c corn oil
3 Tablespoon chili powder
1.5 Tablespoon garlic powder
1.5 Tablespoon ground cumin
.5 Tablespoon (or less) black pepper
1 Tablespoon salt.

Prepare the bean filling:

Saute 1 clove garlic in oil for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse 2 15. oz cans of black beans. Add to garlic and warm on stove with the 1 to 2 Tbsp seasoning mix from the meat. Add 1 T hot sauce. Add shredded cheddar cheese to taste. Done! Note: before you assemble the tamales, you must soak the corn husks for an hour. I chose to make this recipe a 2 day process, and I'm glad I did. Day 1, make the meat/beans. Day two, make the masa, cook the tamales. If you do it all in one day it would be a good idea to soak the husks while you cook the meat.

Prepare the Masa:

Start with 2 lbs. of the Masa flour. It comes in a 4 lb bag, use half of it. Now, skim off the fat and discard from the broth that you saved from the Pork and Chicken. Warm the broth. Put the 2 lbs. of Masa in a large bowl. Add the following dry spices to the Masa and mix:

3 Tablespoons paprika
3 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
3 Tablespoons garlic powder

Then add 2 cups of Corn Oil to the Masa and Spice mixture. After adding the oil, begin to slowly work in 2 quarts of the warm chicken/pork broth, about a cup at a time. Work the mixture with your hands to make dough. Slowly add the warm broth one cup at a time as you continue to work the mixture with your hands. If it is too dry, add enough warm water to get it right for spreading. It should be about like thick peanut butter.

Assemble the tamales:


After the husks have soaked lay them on a towel. Place the bowl of Masa, meat mixture and bean mixture on the counter in the easiest way that makes sense for you. Lay out a husk, spread about 1/3 c. masa leaving about 1 inch blank at the top and 2" blank on the right side.



Put about 1/8 c. filling right in the middle of the masa.





Fold the husk from the bottom to the top so that the masa fully wraps around the filling. Pull the husk back toward you to sort of tighten it up. Fold the "tail" or the right end over toward the left, then roll up snugly. Tada, you've prepared one! You might want to do these one at a time, or in assembly line fashion.



Steam the tamales:
Once all the tamales are prepared, place them upright in your steamer. The water should be in the bottom, but it is best to wait to turn on the heat until after you have filled the pot with the tamales so as not to burn yourself with the steam. Cover with a damp tea towel and place the lid on. Let steam on about medium high for 1 hour, until the masa is spongy. Remove from pot to let cool. After about 5 minutes enjoy! I made about 27 tamales and ran out of masa. I had about 1 c. each of meat and bean filling.





We loved these! They are very filling. I'm freezing about 1/2 of them and the rest we will enjoy for lunches this week. 4 thumbs up!

Cream Cheese Brownies

I used an old family recipe for the brownies, then made the cream cheese part with a new recipe found online. These turned out GREAT (regardless of the photo)!

Ingredients:

Brownies
1.5 c flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
4 eggs
2 sticks butter-melted
2 t. vanilla

Cream Cheese filling
One 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
Brownies-Combine all dry ingredients. Combine all wet ingredients. Mix together. Spread half in 9 x 13 in greased pan. Spread 2nd half over the cream cheese filling. Run knife through for marbled look. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Cream cheese filling-mix together. Spread on top of first layer of brownie mix.

Enjoy this decadent dessert! Two thumbs up!

Mediterranean Pizza

I got the basic idea for this recipe from a book,but basically just took something really simple into my own hands. It was two thumbs up for sure!

Ingredients:
Make a pizza crust OR get an awesome one from Whole Foods so all you have to do is add toppings.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Brush olive oil all over the crust
Throw on toppings:
cherry tomatoes, halved
fresh basil, cut
goat cheese
feta cheese
mozzarella cheese
olives
Bake for 15 minutes (ish) and serve! Easy, relatively healthy and quite delish. My crust came with two in the pack and I have leftovers of all the cheese, so this is a meal we'll enjoy again soon. YAY!
4 thumbs up

Mexican Sangria

adapted from: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/04/behind-the-bar-jose-joels-mexican-sangria.html

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine

1 cup of tequila

1 1/2 cups of orange juice

1 a cup of brown organic sugar

1/4 cup of fresh squeezed organic lime juice

1 sliced orange

Mixology:

In a pitcher mix ingredients in this specific order. Add ice to chill. The longer it sits in the pitcher the more flavorful it will be. Using a little lime juice, give the glasses a nice brown-sugar rim and then serve and enjoy!

Ah, what a refreshing drink. It was a little strong, so I think next time I'd use a sweeter wine and less tequila. It was fun new drink, though.

4 thumps up.

Cream Cheese Danishes

Ingredients:

16 oz Cream Cheese-softened
1 c. sugar
2 packages crescent rolls
1 egg, separated
1 tsp vanilla
fresh or frozen fruit
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 oz. butter-melted
nuts (optional)

Directions:

Place 1 can rolls on the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan, much like a pie crust. Mix cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla and layer over rolls. Add your choice of berries. Layer next crescent rolls. Brush with whisked egg white. Mix sugar, cinnamon, butter and nuts. Spread over 2nd layer of rolls. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350. Enjoy for a decadent breakfast!








Oh my word these were good. Restaurant worthy if you ask me! I used blackberries on half, MY half. Jeff had the plain side. We both really loved it.
4 thumbs up!

Recipe Review - Olive Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

12 oz cottage cheese
4 oz cream cheese
20 kalamata olives
dashes of season-all, garlic salt, salt, dill and any other seasoning you might enjoy

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in food processor until mixed. Serve with crackers for a wonderful appetizer or snack.




I had a sample of something similar at Whole Foods while doing my Saturday shopping. I thought I'd just check out the ingredients and try to make it myself rather than buy it. It actually called for ricotta cheese rather than cottage cheese, but since I couldn't find any I improvised. Jeff and I both really liked it.
4 Thumbs Up.

Recipe Review - Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

2 T olive or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
½ t allspice
½ t nutmeg
1½ c black beans, cooked or canned
1½ c cooked rice
½ habanero pepper or 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (seeds optional)
1 c bread crumbs
1 t salt
black pepper

Directions:
Heat 1 T of oil and sauté the garlic, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg and sauté for two minutes.

Pour into food processor along with beans, rice, and peppers. Pulse repeatedly, until mixture is chopped, not puréed.

Transfer to bowl, add remaining ingredients, and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Shape into four patties, adding more bread crumbs if necessary.

Fry in 1 T oil over medium heat until crust forms, about 4 minutes per side.

Absolutely wonderful. Seriously, these are the best veggie burgers I've ever had and I've had a LOT! They were very spicy, but that doesn't bother me. And you could remove the spice by replacing the jalapeno with bell pepper or just leaving out pepper all together. The ginger was amazing! I was so surprised by the strong flavor-delightfully surprised. Two thumbs up!

Recipe Review-Spicy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tsp Chili Powder OR Cayenne Pepper
1-2 Tsp salt
4 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and wash potatoes. Cut into tiny slices or you may prefer wedges. Combine olive oil and other ingredients in large bowl. Toss with potatoes until coated. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with catchup or sauce of your choice.

Delicious! I tried tiny fries, but even though I baked them for longer than instructed they still didn’t turn out very crispy. I think next time I will try wedges since I know they will be soft anyway and the flavor of the potato was so yummy. Beware, these were super spicy. You might like to replace the chili powder or cayenne pepper with a milder seasoning of your choice.

I've always wanted to try making these because the two times I've had them at restaurants I've loved them. We give them 4 thumbs up!