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ms mac

Mar 22, 2003, 5:04 PM

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simple Mexican dinners?

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Does anyone have a recipe for simple Mexican meals? I used to enjoy spending hours in the kitchen but not anymore. However, I still like to eat well & healthy. Would love to get some new ideas. Thanks!
ms mac

jennifer rose

Mar 22, 2003, 6:24 PM

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Re: [mary mcclain] simple Mexican dinners?

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Reservations!

Take-out food is extremely easy and inexpensive in Mexico. I’m not talking fancy, mind you. I’m talking about finding a cocina economica or pozole lady whose cooking you like. Some have plastic disposables for take-out, but most don’t, and that’s where you have to plan ahead. Some cocinas economicas have a regular clientele, and after you’ve become one of the regulars, your favorite may start remembering how you like your food cooked. Some cooks only cook certain dishes on selected days, and it’s a matter of learning their schedule.

While many cooking enthusiasts enjoy regaling others with the painstaking steps they take to prepare food, there are a number of shortcuts that you should be able to figure out. I’m not about to make enchiladas or pozole, and risk messing up my kitchen! Particularly on a weekend. And even more so when others cook those dishes much better than I could ever dream. Besides, who’s ever heard of making a small quantity of pozole?

Buy (don’t make) a big bag of tamales, and keep them in the freezer, ready for the microwave.

Use prepared mole paste, mix it with boiling water, and re-heat a pre-cooked chicken (or frozen pre-cooked chicken or turkey slices in it.

Knorr has some excellent ready-to-heat sauces which are worth trying. I’d recommend skipping the Knorr rice mixes though.

Buy nopal pieces or nopal salad already prepared. The possibilities for combining nopal with just about anything are without limit.

--- It just dawned on me that what works in Mexico doesn't necessarily outside of this country. If there's a Mexican grocery store near you, scout out their offerings.

If you feel like investing a couple of hours in the kitchen once a month or so, many components of Mexican cuisine can be prepared ahead of time and frozen in smaller quantities for later use. Shredded beef and shredded chicken, prepared with the right seasonings, freeze well. So do beans. And many cooked sauces. With frozen broth, frozen beans, and some old tortillas, a respectable sopa Tarasca (or sopa Azteca if you omit the beans) can be made in 15 minutes or less.

(This post was edited by jennifer rose on Mar 22, 2003, 8:49 PM)

tim_ pa pa

Mar 27, 2003, 5:59 PM

Post #3 of 6 (492 views)

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Re: [mary mcclain] simple Mexican dinners?

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Hi Mary,

Your question has my mind dancing with Ideas. For me, I make a mess in the kitchen on the weekend because I'm tired during the week when I get off work. So I dirty my kitchen with pozole and other things on the weekend. Simple, healthy fare is not a strong suit. I love my lard! All things in moderation and even the most heart stopping can be o-k. A pounded, marinated, grilled chicken breast or paper thin marinated or seasoned grilled steak take a minimum of time and can be incorporated into any tortilla or salad of your dreams. The mexican part is the seasoning and that which accompanies the meat. Also, poached chicken breast can be used in a great many ways and takes only moments. For moderate use, consider cooking a chuck or pork butt and seasoning it with a good sauce and freezing it in quantities that make sense to you for individual meals. This can be done when you are going to be home anyway and the only prep time is the sauce which to me is the fun part. I love to shove chilis, onion, garlic and a myriad of other ingredients in the blender and see and taste what it turns out to be. I will pass on my latest experiment which was inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Complete Book Of Mexican Cooking by Elizibeth Lambert Ortiz.

Cook in water, onion, garlic, pork butt or shoulder, or loin till tender. A chuck will also work. Defat after cooking and cut into bite size pieces. Subtracting cooking time you shouldn't have to spend more then 10-15 minutes of your time to get to this point. While the roast is cooking or at some earlier time ( even the day before) prepare a sauce by softening some(3) dried anchos in hot water and then into that labor saving device ( the Blender ) Put the anchos, 1 or more jalepenos( I'm sad to say that I am forced to seed and devein my chilis so that I'm not the only one that will eat my cooking), 6 romaine leaves, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, about a cup of tomatillos or a salsa based on tomatillos( with an acceptable heat level, I used Herdez), and 6 sprigs of cilantro. Some liquid will be needed to process(I used the dried chili soaking liquid as necessary)After blending, I tasted and thought it might be to hot but after completing the process(recipe), it was terrific. The sauce will also take about 10 or 15 minutes of your time.The only thing left is to cook the sauce a couple of minutes in a couple of tablespoons of oil to get rid of the raw taste of the dried chilis. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of orange juice to be added at this time. Then mix the meat and sauce together and cook over low heat(approx. 30 minutes)to dry out the sauce and season the meat. So on the same day or on different days, it is not a lot of work and the results can be divided and frozen, the recipe can be doubled without adding any extra time and you could be eating this for months( what a thought). It is very good and will go in, on, or next to most anything. I think if some crema was added to the sauce that it could be served drizzled of a cooked sliced pork tenderloin with excellent results. But not on my budget. Have a great day, and if you happen to be talking to a higher being soon please bring up 'peace on earth'. Tim

viajera

Mar 28, 2003, 9:24 PM

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Re: [mary mcclain] simple Mexican dinners?

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I don't know how you feel about salsa verde Mary, but it's my basic to have on hand. I make a gallon and freeze it in small portions. Used to make chilaquiles, chicken, enchiladas, etc. I think if you have any sauce made, the rest is easy. This is a well known, basic recipe, I learned from my friend, Angelica Garcia, a native of Taxco Viejo:

For every 12 tomates verdes (tomatillos)
2 or 3 chiles serranos
1 clove of garlic (2 if you like)
1/4 white onion
1/2 Tablespoon Knorr Suissa
Optional: Cilantro a su gusto
Manteca (use corn or safflower oil if you don't have access to good lard {manteca})

Boil the tomates and chiles 5 minutes; drain; put all ingredientes into a blender; blend until desired consistency (I like it smoother), throw into a deep skillet of about 1 Tablespoon of hot lard (yikes) but remember it's not bad for you (honest!) keep covered until the spattering stops, and then simmer until bubbles cover the top. You can adjust the garlic, chiles, etc. to your taste before you refreir (fry) the sauce. Mary,
I don't cook foods in this sauce because it gets too strong and turns an unappetizing dark green.. I use it to sauce already cooked pork, chicken, etc. A grilled chicken breast, sauced in salsa verde with a bit of grated cheese always brings raves at my house. My favorite is a breakfast dish of a tostada, covered with refried black beans, a fried egg, salsa verde and grated cheese. A match made in heaven....or in Mexico! Buen provecho!

esperanza

Mar 28, 2003, 9:44 PM

Post #5 of 6 (477 views)

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Re: [viajera] simple Mexican dinners?

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Amen to salsa verde. Sometimes I butterfly and lightly flour half a kilo of shrimp, sauté them in olive oil and butter till they're crispy and pink, and then pour salsa verde over them and serve. Raves...

Or chicken enchiladas...there's a recipe I posted here already, somewhere down the line.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

ms mac

Mar 29, 2003, 4:22 AM

Post #6 of 6 (473 views)

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Re: [viajera] simple Mexican dinners?

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Yum! Muchas Gra cias!
ms mac