Mexican Night: Tacquitos

Yes, I love Mexican food. And for good reason . . . this is yet another excellent addition to my repertoire- Tacquitos, which I think are a bit of a cross between burritos and enchiladas.

The three main ingredients are chilli, grated cheese and (store brought) burritos. I used a vegetarian chilli made with beans, chopped onions, capsicum and tomatoes, garlic, coriander, and because I like it to have a bit of a kick: chopped chilli and chilli sauce.

Spread 2-3 tablespoons of chilli across the middle of a tortilla and sprinkle with grated cheese. Then roll it up, as tight as possible without losing chilli out the sides and pop into a greased baking dish. Repeat until your dish is full.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 220 degrees
for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown:

And serve with guacamole
(avocado, chopped tomato and red onion, lime juice and coriander)

Yum!

Mexican Night: Tamales

I've tasted Tamales previously, but just the one time, on honeymoon in America, and have not since come across them anywhere in NZ. So I thought I'd give making them myself a go. And for a first attempt I thought these were pretty impressive, if I may say so myself!

First things first. The key ingredients, Corn Husks and Masa Harina are available here in Tauranga from The Good Food Trading Company. 

The whole process with Tamales takes some time. The Corn Husks need to be soaked to soften them, recommended for a minimum of two hours and overnight if possible. I left the decision to make these to a little late in the day so I soaked for a couple of hours before blanching in a pot of boiling water. Worked a treat.

While the soaking takes place you are left with plenty of time to put together the other main elements - the masa dough mix and tamale filling:

Masa Dough ingredients:

200 grams of butter

2 cups of Masa Harina

2 teaspoons baking powder

handful of coriander

Salt and Pepper to season

1 cup vege stock

I used my food processor for this. Whip the butter and then added the masa, baking powder, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix together well before adding the stock slowly until the dough forms a firm ball.

 

For the tamale filling whip up a chilli - I made mine vegetarian, with an onion, one can of black beans, a can of mixed beans (mashed), chilli, garlic, and coriander. You want this to be a fairly thick/ dry chilli mixture. 

And then I grated some cheese.

To assemble the tamales, lay out a nice wide Corn Husk and spread onto it about a quarter cup of the masa dough. I found the best technique was a combination of using my hands and a rolling pin covered in glad wrap. To the middle of this dollop 2-3 tablespoons of the filling and a sprinkling of cheese. 

Roll the masa over to encase the filling . . .

. . . before wrapping up into a little parcel. Cut a few husks into strips to use to tie the parcels. This was a lot harder then it sounds. Apparently you can also use twine, I didn't have any, but may source some for next time around. By the last tamale I got pretty lazy and was just twisting and tying each end.

Cook the Tamales by steaming them for at least an hour and a half. 

And then they are done! Well worth the wait . . .

they are so delicious - really really tasty! 

I didn't use nearly as much of the filling mixture as I would have expected, so reheated what was left, mixed in a can of chopped tomatoes and served up as a side to the Tamales with a dollop of guacamole.

Yum!

Mexican Night: Lime poached fish

Feel like something a bit different for dinner tonight?  We are so spoilt for fresh seafood with the fish market right in town and so I am always trying to come up with new recipes. This is pretty much poaching fish in a mexican cocktail! Yum.

Lime poached fish

2 large fish fillets (this was Blue Moki)
1/4 of a finely chopped onion
1/2 cup of lime juice 
(I used bottled juice as limes are so damn expensive here!)
1/2 t cayenne pepper
Dash of tequila!

In a pan place fish fillets in a single layer.

Mix together all ingredients, and pour over fish. Add enough water to just about cover the fillets. Slowly bring the water to a simmer. Let the fish cook through for approximately five minutes before flipping and allowing other side to cook through too. 

Serve with mexican rice and salsa.

Mexican Rice - Into my rice cooker goes:
1.5 cups of rice
1/4 of a finely chopped red onion
1 can of chopped tomatoes
2.5 cups of vegetable stock
1t crushed garlic
1/2 t cayenne pepper

Flick on to cook and wait. Stir regularly.



Salsa

Two chopped tomatoes
Two chopped avocados
1/2 can of corn
1/4 of a finely chopped red onion
Juice of one lime

Mix together all ingredients. That is all. 

Delicious. This is unbelievably easy but looks and tastes quite impressive.  

My kind of cooking!! Enjoy xx

Mexican Night: Chicken Chimichangas!

Sometimes if you want to do something right you've got to do it yourself! Unfortunately with the recent close of Mundo Mexicano for renovations we are left with slim pickings for a mexican restaurant in the vicinity. There is Flying Burrito Brothers, but while their cocktails are tasty I would recommend that you steer clear if you are looking for a really authentic mexican meal.

So Saturday night we decided to do a little experimentation and whip up a few chicken chimichangas in the comfort of our own home. These are basically fried burritos, not the healthiest option, but occasional indulgence never hurts!

Chicken Chimichangas (5 servings)

Ingredients:

1 diced onion

2 finely chopped chilli peppers

Half cup chopped jalapenos

1t chilli powder  

1t minced garlic

2 chicken breasts, oven cooked and shredded
salt and pepper

1 cup cooked rice

Coriander

Extra large tortillas

Oil 

1 cup Grated cheese 

Wooden toothpicks

 

In a pan saute onions until soft. Add garlic, spices and jalapenos (the ratios above made for quite a spicy mix, if you prefer your mexican mild just reduce quantities or leave out completely, although this is not recommended!). Add chicken and rice and season with salt and pepper. 

Preheat oil for shallow frying (using an electric fry pan is always a good option) 

Now comes the assembly - warm tortillas in microwave. Lay flat on counter and spoon about half a cup of the chicken mix into the middle. Add cheese and torn coriander. 

Fold in from four sides and secure with toothpick.

Fry on each side until nicely browned. If you don't have a large pan and need to fry these one by one you could also pop in an oven preheated to 180 degrees, just to be sure everything is at good temperature for serving. You will come out with a lovely crispy tortilla outer, almost tasting like pastry!

Serve with guacamole, sour cream, kaitaia fire (for the brave!)

Enjoy! x