A Success Story: Shredded Beef Tacos

Well last week I told you about my dinner failure - and thank you Andrea for pointing out that if Aidan was happy that it really wasn't a dinner fail (I still think that if you can't eat your food, it is a fail). Today I want to share a success - those are always way more fun!

A few weeks ago, I shared my experience with a recipe from America's Test Kitchen for Carnitas. The pork was moist and fork tender and the flavors were amazing. I thought to myself, you could use this recipe for other meats - beef or chicken so I headed to the grocery store and picked up a Chuck Roast (it was on sale and would be enough to easily feed the family). I also asked my sister to whip up some of her yummy guacamole.


I followed the recipe for Carnitas fairly closely. My roast was about 3-3.5 pounds and when I cut and trimmed it, I cut out a little more of the fat. I also added some fresh squeezed lime juice, the lime rind and some whole chili peppers to the cooking liquid. I did end up needing to cook the meat a bit longer to really make sure it was tender and could be pulled apart with forks.

The results were amazing! I actually like the beef cooked this was more than the pork. Lydia went back for seconds, maybe even thirds and even my son liked the meal! It was really easy to do, it just required extra cooking time. So if you were going to make this, make sure you give yourself a 3-4 hours to fully cook the roast. Most importantly, don't forget the fresh lime to squeeze on the beef when you eat it - it really brings out the flavors and adds freshness to the meal!

Carnitas - Straight Out Of America's Test Kitchen

Every Saturday at 4:00 pm, our local PBS station airs America's Test Kitchen. It is a 30 minute show full of great recipes, gadgets and interesting personalities - I love it and try to watch before I head off to work. A few weeks ago, they aired a show on making Carnitas which is braised or roasted pork in Mexico. This dish looked so mouth-watering good, I thought I would give it a try - and I am so happy that I did!

The meat fell apart and with the addition of a little fresh squeezed lime juice was a little taste of heaven!! I could not find pork butt at my grocery store, so I used pork shoulder and it turned out wonderfully. I also had Lydia make some fresh guacamole to go with the carnitas, because there is never a bad time to add guacamole.

This and many other recipes are available on the America's Test Kitchen website, so I encourage you to check them out and watch the show.

Here is the recipe for Carnitas - you can also watch the show (and many others) on their website!

Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)

From the episode: Supper From South of the Border

Serves 6

We like serving carnitas spooned into tacos, but you can also use it as a filling for tamales, enchiladas, and burritos.

Ingredients

Pork

• 1 (3 1/2-to 4-pound) boneless pork butt , fat cap trimmed to 1/8 inch thick, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 small onion , peeled and halved
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lime
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium orange , halved

Tortillas and Garnishes

• 18 (6-inch) corn tortillas , warmed
• Lime wedges
• Minced white or red onion
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• Thinly sliced radishes
• Sour cream

Instructions

• 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine pork, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cumin, onion, bay leaves, oregano, lime juice, and water in large Dutch oven (liquid should just barely cover meat). Juice orange into medium bowl and remove any seeds (you should have about 1/3 cup juice). Add juice and spent orange halves to pot. Bring mixture to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until meat is soft and falls apart when prodded with fork, about 2 hours, flipping pieces of meat once during cooking.
• 2. Remove pot from oven and turn oven to broil. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to bowl; remove orange halves, onion, and bay leaves from cooking liquid and discard (do not skim fat from liquid). Place pot over high heat (use caution, as handles will be very hot) and simmer liquid, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy (heatsafe spatula should leave wide trail when dragged through glaze), 8 to 12 minutes. You should have about 1 cup reduced liquid.
• 3. Using 2 forks, pull each piece of pork in half. Fold in reduced liquid; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread pork in even layer on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet or on broiler pan (meat should cover almost entire surface of rack or broiler pan). Place baking sheet on lower-middle rack and broil until top of meat is well browned (but not charred) and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, flip pieces of meat and continue to broil until top is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Serve immediately with warm tortillas and garnishes.

Vaction Food, Part 2

In my real life, I don't get to cook much.  I've mentioned it before, but my husband has a crazy/awful work schedule (he gets home at 9:30 pm), so I don't get to cook dinners the way I'd like to.  When you have to reheat dinners, you tend to go with things that won't dry out in the microwave...argh!  The mister's schedule is the bane of my existence.

One awesome part of being on vacation was getting to actually COOK a few meals.  I even grilled a few times (that's a big deal for me since I don't own a grill, thank you very much).  Here's one of the better meals I made:

Argentine Grilled Steaks with Peppers and Onions
I found this yummy sounding steak rub called Argentine Steak Rub while wondering around Cost Plus prior to vacation.  The spice rub contains salt, pepper, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme, rosemary, and fennel.  Unlike Greta, I love fennel (side note: have you ever tried grilled fennel? OMG...so amazing!).  Since the spice rub was already mixed and ready to go, I thought this would be an easy option for vacation cooking.

I bought a packet of sirloin steaks from the grocery, rubbed them down with a generous amount of the Argentine Steak Rub and then grilled them over a hot grill.  I like my steaks bloody (red and dripping!) but the hubs prefers his meat to be more on the "done" side, so I let the steaks go a little longer than I would have if I were just cooking for myself.  I let the meat rest and then sliced it up.  I was happy that there was still some pink, even if the blood wasn't running the way I like it.  I squeezed a lime over the sliced meat and served it with tortillas, peppers, onions, and guacamole.

I love fajitas--the combo of onions, peppers, and meat can't be beat!  So to add to my dinner, I sauteed some red, yellow and orange peppers with a Walla Walla sweet onion in olive oil.  I threw in garlic, salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of sugar to the peppers/onions and let them get good and cooked.  Nothing is better than caramelized onions and peppers!  I usually add thyme to my onions and peppers, but I wanted to keep things simple since I knew the meat was going to add all the herbs and spices I needed.

I also smooshed up an avocado together with a few cloves of garlic, a few scoops of already-made (store bought) salsa, and the juice of a lime.  I've been craving guacamole ever since my molcajete experiment, so I did a quick and easy version to satisfy my culinary urges.  Let me say this right now: I am freaking awesome with an avocado!  Though my quick guac paled in comparison to the real deal I made recently, it was fresh and yummy.  I even got my husband to try some and he actually liked it (this is a big damn deal!).

To finish the dinner off, I threw some tortillas in foil and tossed it onto the grill.  The bottom tortilla got slightly burnt by the grill, but this was a happy accident.  We used it to scoop up the guac when we were done with dinner, and I swear--that was better than any dessert I could have whipped up!

Burnt tortillas & guac--a happy accident!

Even though I had to cook and my poor (but well-fed) husband had to clean, this was one of the best meals we had all vacation.  I still have no plans to buy a grill, but I could get similar results on my grill pan, in the dead of winter when I need to conjure up some summertime memories.

The Answer To Leftovers - Casserole

What do you do with leftover taco fixings (aside from have tacos again)? My answer, to make a casserole.

As Lydia said in her post yesterday, we had tacos for the fourth of July and with it, lots of leftovers (no guac though). I didn't want to have the same dinner over, so I mixed everything together in a large bowl - this included seasoned taco meat, refried black beans, Spanish rice, tomatoes, onions, salsa, sour cream, and crunchy taco shells (broken into bite sized pieces). I then put the mix in a casserole dish and covered it with leftover cheese (I added a bit more cheese too) and cooked it at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

I still had shredded lettuce and 1/2 an avocado, so that became a salad. I added some carrot shreds and hot peppers and Mom made a vinaigrette for it and we squeezed a fresh lemon over it all. The salad went nicely with the casserole and gave us something fresh to eat.

When I served the dish, we ate it with leftover tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream (some of Lydia's guacamole would have been delicious too). It was a really good use of taco leftovers and I would make it again! The best part is you can add anything you like to the dish and it will probably work well!

Holy Guacamole!

Since our family is not big on sticking to the rules when it comes to food and celebrations (remember: we had tachos for Thanksgiving!), this 4th of July we got together and ate tacos!

Greta pulled everything together (tasty, seasoned ground beef, refried black beans, Spanish rice, and all the taco fixings), so I felt like I should at least make one contribution. My molcajete has been thoroughly seasoned and has been waiting to be used, so I decided to make guacamole for the family dinner.
A few days ago, I went to one of my favorite places, Trader Joe's. I was all set to pick up my guacamole ingredients, but super-fabulous TJ's had something better--a guacamole kit! For about $3.50, I picked up almost everything I needed: two avocados, a roma tomato, a couple cloves of garlic, a jalapeno pepper, a lime, and a shallot. Perfecto!

Just before dinner was ready, I whipped up the guac in my molcajete. Here's what I did:

• Roughly chop the shallot and garlic cloves. Place them in the molcajete and add a hefty pinch of kosher salt. Using the pestle, grind the shallot and garlic into a paste (the salt will facilitate grinding). If you don't have a molcajete, throw the salt over the shallot and garlic and, using your chef's knife, chop everything into a nice paste.
• Slice open an avocado and scoop out the meat into the molcajete (when I made this, I only used 1 1/2 avocado--use as much as you want!). Squeeze the juice of at least one lime over the avocado (I used 1 1/2 limes)--this will help keep the avocado from turning brown. If you don't have a molcajete, just use a normal bowl.
• With your pestle (or the back of a spoon if not using a molcajete), squish the avocado, mixing the lime juice and shallot/garlic combo.
• Finely mince as much of the jalapeno as you like (be sure to remove the seeds and membranes) and add it to the avocado mixture. Stir, or combine with the pestle.
  
• Chop the roma tomato into bite-sized pieces. Add as much as you want to the guac and stir (or grind) well. (I used about 1/2 the roma tomato).
• Adjust the guacamole to your taste--you may want to add more salt, lime, or tomato.
• Serve immediately! It's super yummy on tortilla chips, in tacos, however you want to serve it.
• NOTE: If you like it, you could add some fresh cilantro to the guac!
  

My dad raved about this guac and said it was the best he'd ever had. He said anytime I want to make it, he'd be willing to eat it!

I liked how simple this was to make using the molcajete. You can control how fine the avocado chunks are very easily. It may just be wishful thinking, but I think the molcajete helps improve the flavor of the guac. And I was very happy that the molcajete didn't add any unwanted grit...I worked like crazy to prep the darn thing, so I'm glad my elbow-grease paid off.

Whether you have a molcajete or not, be sure to whip up this guacamole! It's easy, fresh and, best of all, delicious!

Yummy Chicken Bake

I was in charge of making a meal that could be made ahead of time and would still be tasty whenever we got around to serving it. I searched the pantry and freezer and came up with a Black Bean, Chicken, Polenta Bake. It was fairly easy to make, serves 6 and was also relatively low in calories (but still flavorful). Here is my recipe, I made it ahead of time and stored it in the refrigerator for about 6 hours before cooking it. I would also add some sour cream and tortilla chips, but I didn't have any on hand and I didn't want to run to the store. I served this with a simple tossed salad and it was delicious.

Black Bean, Chicken, Polenta Bake
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp fresh, chopped garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 (18 oz) log pre-cooked polenta, cut in to 1/2" rounds (~12 total)
5 oz white cheddar cheese, shredded

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook chicken, onions, and garlic until the onions are translucent and the chicken is fully cooked. Add cumin, chili powder, and salt & pepper. Add black beans, tomatoes and corn and mix well.
• Cut polenta in to 1/2" rounds and line the bottom of a large casserole dish with them. Pour the chicken mixture over the polenta. Top with shredded cheese and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly (about 30 minutes).
  

Viva Mexico!

This year, Greta's been on an Indian food kick. She's been making tons of different Indian dishes and she's been sharing her adventures here on Deliciousness of Yum.

Well, I think it's my turn to embark on an ethnic cooking adventure of my own. For my destination I'm heading to Mexico...here's why: Mexican food is delicious and I have a Mexican mother-in-law who's an amazing cook so I'd love to be able to recreate (or at least attempt to recreate) some of my husband's favorite dishes. (I could get all political and make some comment about the stupid immigration law passed in Arizona and how cooking Mexican food is a minor form of civil disobedience, but that's sort of silly...just like the misguided right-wingers in Arizona!)

Anyway...to get myself started, I went out over the weekend and bought a tortilla press and a molcajete. I'll get to making actually food soon enough, but for now, I am in the process of seasoning my molcajete.

So what the hell is a molcajete anyway? Click here for the full wiki on it, but basically it's a Mexican mortar and pestle. It's made of either basalt or volcanic material and is used for making guacamole, salsa, etc.

Like a cast iron skillet, it's important to season a molcajete. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Soak the molcajete and tejolote by submerging it in water for 2 to 4 hours. At this point, brush/scrub the surface of the molcajete. When I did this, the water in my sink turned gray and small, sandy particles came off it. The molcajete went from gray to dark, almost blackish gray.
2. Let the molcajete air dry. As it dries out, you can see the color go back to it's original gray hue.
3. When it's perfectly dry, grind a handful of wet, white rice in the bowl. At first, the rice will take on a gray, gritty hue. Dump the rice, add more and grind, and repeat this process over and over again until the rice no longer turns gray (this could take some time!). Clean out the rice and let the molcajete dry again.
   
4. You don't have to do this part, but you can throw some rock salt into the bowl and grind it down so it resembles table salt. Dump it out and do this a few times to shine and smooth the bowl. Clean out the salt.
   
5. Throw a few cloves of garlic, some cumin, and salt and pepper into the bowl of your molcajete. Mash everything together to season the entire bowl. Wipe out any large, obvious chunks of garlic and viola! Your molcajete is ready to go.

The seasoning process takes forever. I'm still in the rock salt stage, but I'm hoping to get this thing seasoned and free of grit soon. Then I'll be able to whip up some yummy guac! I'll post more about this soon.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I love enchiladas and I have made them at home many times. Keeping Cinco de Mayo in mind, I wanted to make something easy, yummy, Mexican(ish) and big enough to feed 6. So instead of hand rolling all those enchiladas and using 2 dishes to put them in, I decided to make a casserole instead.

Here is my recipe, make sure to add anything else you like to it!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole:
1 roasted chicken, shredded
2 large cans verde enchilada sauce (you can use red sauce if you prefer)
1 large onion
1 package mushrooms
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 pounds Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
18 corn tortillas

Add To Taste:
cumin
garlic
chili powder
salt pepper

Garnish:
salsa (see Lydia's post from 5/5/10)
avocado
olives
sour cream

• Rub a tablespoon of cumin, garlic, salt & pepper on a raw chicken. Roast the chicken at 350 degrees until the internal temperature of the chicken is 180 degrees. Remove the chicken from the oven and let about 30 minutes (you can also use a roasted chicken from the grocery store).

• Shred the roasted chicken and place in a large bowl.

• Dice the onion and slice all the mushrooms. Over medium-high heat, saute the onions until translucent. Add mushrooms and season with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.

• Add the onions & mushrooms to the shredded chicken and mix together.

• Pour the verde sauce in a large mixing bowl and wisk in 1 cup of sour cream.

• Add 1/4 cup of the verde & sour cream sauce to the chicken mixture and 1/4 cup of the verde & sour cream sauce to a large casserole dish.

• Place 6 corn tortillas on the bottom of the casserole dish (it is okay to have them slightly overlap). spread half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, then lightly cover with verde & sour cream sauce; sprinkle with cheese (this is the first of 2 layers). Repeat the process starting with the tortillas to create a second layer.

• Top the casserole with a final layer of corn tortillas, then add the remaining sauce and cover with cheese.

• Cook at 375 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and slightly brown.

• Serve over tortilla chips and garnish anyway you like!

Notes:
I had a whole chicken in my freezer, so I thought that this would be a good use for it - in the future, I would use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to save time. This makes a ton, we had it again the following night and it was still delicious - I did add a little chicken broth to keep it moist. Because it makes so much, this would also be a great party dish that people could scoop at with chips.

Make it Better: Salsa

Did you know that salsa is more popular in the US than ketchup? And for good reason: it's got some personality. Apparently, it can also help kill off salmonella!

While jarred salsa is perfectly ok, you can make it better yourself. Instead of picking up a bottle of Pace picante at the grocery store the next time you have taco night, why not make something better...fresher?

Here are a few recipes to try:

Pico de Gallo
8 Roma tomatoes
1/2 red onion (or 1 small red onion, depending on your taste)
1 jalapeno pepper
2 garlic cloves
juice of 1 lime
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Seed and dice the tomatoes. Finely chop onion, jalapeno and garlic. Toss tomato, onion, jalapeno, and garlic together in a bowl. Squeeze lime juice over the chopped veggies and toss well to coat. Add cilantro and salt and pepper to taste; stir well.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The flavor gets better if made a day in advance.
Pico de Gallo with Cabbage (a local Mexican restaurant makes something like this--it's really different and very tasty!) Note: this recipe makes A LOT of pico de gallo--adjust as necessary!
1 head of cabbage
1 large red onion
4 Roma tomatoes
1 bunch of cilantro
3 or 4 limes
1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapenos with 2 or 3 tablespoons of juice from the can
2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Shred with food processor cabbage and red onion into large bowl. Add chopped and seeded tomatoes, juice of limes and chopped up leaves from cilantro. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Can be stored in refrigerator for several days. Stir before serving.

Cilantro: Love it or Hate it?

Though everyone in our family generally likes Mexican food, there is one food that causes passionate debate: Cilantro. I love the stuff. It takes so fresh and good and honestly, I can't get enough of it. But my father? He hates it. If there's one cilantro leaf in a recipe, he can taste it and nothing else.

Apparently my dad is not alone. And, since this is always the case, there's even a facebook page and website devoted to the hatred of cilantro. Poor misunderstood herb!

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times ran an entire story about cilantro and why it is that certain people can't stand the stuff. I'm not posting the article on my site (since I don't have the proper permission), but if you have a couple of minutes, click here and read the story. It's interesting and insightful, and you'll learn what cilantro has in common with bedbugs.

I think my dad (and all other cilantro haters) are off base. I love it, but to each his own. I personally loathe tarragon and can't eat it to be polite. We all have different preferences, but in the case of cilantro, it seems that we're genetically predisposed to love it or hate it. Where do you fall on the cilantro spectrum?

Make it Better: Quesadillas

Cinco de Mayo is this week, and to "celebrate" we're focusing on Mexican inspired food. Our family loves Mexican food--or, to be accurate--Tex-Mex and Americanized Mexican (though we really do appreciate the real deal, it's difficult to get up in the Pacific Northwest. Such is life!).

To start off our week of Mexican yummies, I'm focusing on a simple dish that's super quick and super easy: Quesadillas. We've all had them and know that they're basically the Mexican version of a grilled cheese sandwich. You take two flour tortillas, stuff cheese in the middle, heat it up and viola--quesadillas!

But if you want to elevate your quesadilla, you need to elevate your technique. And I've found the best way to make them. You don't need to use your microwave or oven...you only need a decent non-stick skillet.

You can fill quesadillas with anything you want. I like them plain--with shredded cheddar and jack only--but you can add deli-sliced ham (my hubby's fave), cooked chicken, crumbled bacon, leftover taco meat (ground beef, shredded beef or shredded pork), grilled veggies...anything you want. And you can also play with the cheeses you use. Anything that you can slice or shred--that melts well--will work.

Here's how to do it:

• Gather all your equipment. You need a decent non-stick skillet (large enough to accommodate your tortilla), a pastry brush, a spatula, and a clean, heavy pot (or some sort of heat-resistant, food safe weight).
• Gather all your ingredients. Have your tortillas, cheese, and filling ingredients at the ready. You'll also need kosher salt and some oil (vegetable, canola, etc. work well--you don't want olive oil for this).
• Put your skillet on medium-high heat.
  
• Prep the bottom tortilla. Using a pastry brush, brush on small amount of oil, lightly coating one side of the tortilla. Sprinkle a little kosher salt over the oil. Place the tortilla, oil side down, in the skillet.
• Add filling ingredients. Leaving about a 1/4 inch boarder, add cheese and your filling ingredients to the top of the tortilla in the skillet (I usually lay down some cheese, the meat/veggie filling, and then more cheese). Work quickly and neatly.
  
• Cover and press. Put your second tortilla on top of the filling and place your clean, heavy pot on top of this tortilla. This will press everything together and will keep the heat locked in so that it melts the cheese and crisps up the bottom tortilla.
• Cook for a few minutes. Depending on your stove and how high the heat is, keep the tortilla pressed and cooking for a couple of minutes.
• Prep the other side. Take the weight off the top of your quesadilla. Quickly brush oil on the top tortilla and sprinkle with kosher salt. Carefully flip the entire quesadilla so the top tortilla is now on the bottom. Put the pot/weight back on the quesadilla and continue to cook.
• Cut and eat. When your tortillas are golden brown (or to your liking), slide your quesadilla out of the skillet and cut into triangles using a sharp knife. Serve with whatever sides you like (I like mine with sour cream and salsa).

Try this the next time you need a quick, yummy, toasty snack. The little bit of salt elevates the normally bland quesadilla and gives it a little more flavor than normal. I also like how crispy and golden the tortillas get using this method. It really is a better way to make a quesadilla!