Friday, July 24, 2009

Tricks Perfect Nachos!

Trick's Perfect Nachos! If at all possible, fry your own nachos by cutting corn
tortillas into quarters and frying at 375 for about 2
minutes in peanut oil. Peanut oil is great for frying at
high heat, therefore keeping a great flavor.
I've got an Emeril Deep fryer for about $149 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond,
and it should last about 2 years before you have to replace the element.
Whatever you get, try to get one with the oil filtering system.
Mine just went out.
Once you've fried the tortillas place on paper towels and
or newsprint. Newsprint has a great way of drawing out
the excess oil from fried foods a bit better than just
paper towels. If this process is a pain in the ass for
you; no problem, just get your favorite tortilla chips
from the store. Actually the publix round tortilla chips
are pretty damn good for store brand chips.
But if you decide to do it all yourself, take a further
step and add some of my "House Seasoning Salt" to the
chips just about 1 minute after the come out of the
fryer. Just a light sprinkle over them all.
Spread desired amount of chips on a plate and add a handful
of jalopenos then cover with generous amount of
(but don't overdo it) Monterey Jack cheese or, even
better "authentic mexican melting cheese" which you can
get a big round block at wal-mart for $4.99. I suggests
you DON'T use any other american or cheddar. I'm strongly
against any "orange cheese" on mexican food even though
truely mexican foods don't have that much cheese anyway.
Yes, I'm writting a novel on MY Way "Tricks Perfect
Nacho's"! Back to the recipe, Put in
microwave for about 45 sec to a minute. You don't wanna
overcook the cheese. Have these items set out and ready
to top the nachos in this order: sour cream in small
dollops evenly over the nachos, medium sized handful of
pico de gaillo (see recipe in previous recipe sections)
spread over the nachos, small handful of black sliced
olives, and finally, a little bit more of fresh cilantro
(1 tbsp) over all that. And as usual, if you wanna push
it up a notch, spill a little Cholula hot sauce over as
well, along with a little more of the seasoning salt for
presentation.
If you do it just like this...You'll impress anyone just
by the looks of it. Eat em up!
Seasoning Salt:
1/4 cp salt (regular; as much as I'm an advocate of
kohsher salt, sea salt, grey salt, etc...regular salt is
for dusting)
1/4 cp finely ground black pepper
2 heaping tbsp of garlic powder
2 heaping tbsp of onioh powder
2 heaping tbsp of mexican chili (or regular) powder
2 heaping tbsp of paprika
1 heaping tbsp of ground oregano
1 heaping tbsp of ground cummin
Mix well and place in a shacker (can be gotten at any
restaurant supply type of place). I used this just about everything
in place of regular salt...especially on homemade fries...but thats another
post!

Quick Fix Meal...Fried Chicken Tacos

Hello everyone! It's been a while, I know, and if you know me, this should be a 100% freshly prepared, cuz thats how I roll! Was at Publx today and they had the 8 piece mixed friend chicken for $4.99. Had the wings and drums for lunch and here's what I've done with the rest for dinner and prolly lunch tomorrow. You can also do this with a rotisserie as well. With the 2 breasts and 2 thighs I took the meat off the bones with the crunchy crust, and cut in to small/medium pieces (julien slivers). I then prepare some pico de gaillo
(1cup diced tomato, 1 cup diced onion, handful of finely chopped FRESH cilantro, juice of 1/2 lime, salt and pepper to taste) which I usuall always have in the fridge. And instead of iceberg lettuce, I like to thinly slice fresh spinach just to add more flavor and health.

Fill some flour tortillas ( I used whole wheat) with some of the spinach. Top with a handful of the chicken. add some sour cream - If you really want to cut fat, use fat free or reduced fat sour cream (for me sour cream has always been about texture more than flavor) - some pico, and I like Cholulah Mexican Hot Sauce as my heat (cholulah hot sauce has an intense flavor-not so hot, but intense flavor) . Also, I'll add a bit more of cilantro just because I love that stuff soo much. Eat 'em up just like this or make it a meal with some black beans and yellow rice (yeah, I know, thats more cuban, but I am here in FLA and this is MY food blog!) I think I'm also gonna have a steak taco with that chicken taco...hahahaha...the marinated steak recipe for those will be up soon. Gotta tweak that one before posting .

Note: Seriously, try the Cholulah hot sauce with the fat free sour cream on anything you'd normally put sour cream and hot sauce on , and you'll understand my "texure and contrast" theory in the culinary world. A great sharp and warm flavor versus a cold and creamy texture. You'll never miss anything in the sour cream thats been taken out.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Blue Corn Fried Tuna Fingers

1lb Tuna Nuggets (less expensive than the tuna steak)
1cp Blue Corn meal http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Blue%20Corn%20Meal.htm
1/4cp masa
1/4 cp flour
1tbsp paprika
1tbsp chili powder
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper
1cp salsa verde (see recipe below)
Canola or corn (or the mix) for frying
1cp sour cream
1/2 cp monterey jack cheese
cholula hot sauce

Cut the nuggets so that all the pieces are somewhat the same size. Place in bag or bowl with the salsa verde for 15-30 min.Heat the oil. Dredge tuna tuggets in the dry mix and deep fry for 4 minutes at 350 degrees. Place on paper towel to drain and(opotional) top with the cheese so as to melt.
Serve with cholula sour cream mixture for dipping.

Salsa Verde (or Tomatillo Sauce)
1lb fresh tomatillos (husked and washed)
1 small-medium poblano pepper
2 serano peppers (or 2 small-medium jalopenos)
1/4 medium onion
1/4 green bell pepper
4 cloves garlic
juice and zest of 1 lime
handful of fesh cilantro
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatillos, peppers,onions,and garlic in a pan and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Basically until you see the skin char or get tough. Let cool for about 10 minutes. place all ingredients in blender or food processor. blend until almost smooth. May
need to add a little bit of water.

Cholula Sour Cream dip
1cp sour cream
3 tbsp cholula hot sauce
Mix until smooth.