Category Archives: Mexican

Mexican beef short-ribs

July 6, 2015 1:54 pm / 3 Comments /

Mexican beef short-ribs

This is Neil Perry’s recipe which hit the top 2013 list here. The difference is that I have converted it to cook in the steam or combi oven.  Neil firstly boiled the short ribs for over an hour in a pot on the stove, changing the water twice then baked them in the oven for about an hour and a half so that the meat was falling off the bone. No need for all that messing around with a steam oven.  You can steam them instead of simmering (no need to bring to boil, replace water and wash up another pot) and then either cook them in the combi with extra moisture if you want a thinner sauce or if you only have a steam oven, bake them covered in a conventional oven.  Only one dish to wash up and preparation time is less.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 kg beef short ribs (ask the butcher for the thick, meaty end)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 long green chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
large pinch sea salt
freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground all-spice
400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
1-2 tbsp pickled jalapeño chillies, chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
350ml chicken stock (I have reduced it, use more for a thinner sauce)
juice of 1 fresh lime
1 bunch coriander, leaves picked

Method

  1. Start this preparation a day ahead if possible.
  2. Place the ribs in the solid steamer tray.  Steam @ 95°C for one hour.
  3. Drain and set aside to cool.
  4. While they are cooking make the sauce:
  5. Heat the olive oil in a deep frypan that will fit into your oven or combi.
  6. Add the green chilli, garlic and spices and saute for 1 minute until fragrant.
  7. Now add all the other ingredients except the lime and coriander.
  8. Return the cooled ribs to the sauce and marinade overnight if possible.  Neil didn’t do this but it’s bound to give the ribs more flavour 🙂
  9. Next day cook in the combi oven on Combination mode 160°C + 30% steam, uncovered for 2 hours.  Stir and turn occasionally.  If you don’t have a combi then cook, covered in a conventional oven at 150°C.   I wanted a thick sauce that stuck to the ribs so I cooked mine, covered in a conventional oven for 3 hours.  They were delicious and the meat was falling off the bone.
  10. To serve stir in the lime juice and sprinkle with fresh coriander.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Main Courses, Mexican, Party Food, Steam Oven

Mexican Picadillo

March 28, 2014 9:26 am / Leave a Comment /

Mexican picadillo

This is my American friend, Maria’s recipe that she cooked for us at their Mexican Fiesta night.  She knows a lot more about Mexican than I do so I knew this was going to be good!

Made with mince meat this dish could be the next big craze as the ‘quick family meal’ and even tackle the humble spaghetti bolognaise as Mexican versus Italian is battled out in Australian homes everywhere! Although, you will have to convert your little darlings to eating spicy first as this does pack a punch.  My kids would have loved this growing up 🙂

Maria served it in either a soft tortilla or baby cos lettuce leaves.  We liked it in the lettuce as it gave that added crunch and texture.

Served with a squeeze of lime, and fresh salsa or salad, it is a nice change to a richer pulled-pork type filling which I have made here on another occasion.  Simon requested the Watermelon salad again as he enjoyed it so much the first time.

As with all things spicy it is even better cooked the day before.

Ingredients:  Serves 8

1 Tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced finely
4 cloves garlic, crushed
900 grams lean beef mince
3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped (about 3 ½ cups)
1 cup pitted stuffed olives (pimento), measured then sliced
1/3 cup currants
3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican if possible, it is quite different.  Buy from Fireworks)
2 tsp ground black pepper
1½ tsp sea salt
fresh limes for serving

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the onion to the hot pan and sauté until translucent, about 6 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
  3. Add the beef mince and sauté until it is just cooked through, making sure to break up any large pieces with a wooden spoon.
  4. Now add the dry spices and stir well.  Cook for about 1 minute.
  5. Add the remaining  ingredients (tomatoes through salt), stir to combine and turn the heat up to high. Once a boil is reached, turn the heat down to medium and simmer uncovered until the tomatoes are broken down and the mixture has thickened, about 15 minutes.
  6. Let stand ~10 minutes before serving.
  7. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime.
Posted in: Main Courses, Mexican, Party Food

Forbidden Mexican red rice

February 25, 2014 2:42 pm / Leave a Comment /

Mexican red rice

We had our first Mexican Fiesta evening with a few friends after our trip to the USA last year.  We were inspired by the fantastic Mexican cuisine that we ate in all parts of the States with memorable meals in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.  The food was amazing, which has now inspired me to get into the whole Mexican thing.

Loving the new Mexican series on SBS1 with Peter Kuruvita on Thursday nights @ 7.30pm.  He is correct, authentic Mexican isn’t all soggy cheese and sour cream but is in fact a wonderful combination of earthy flavours and fresh ingredients.

I found this great Mexican cookbook on our travels and made this rice dish with just long grain rice on our return.  A great dish to cook again, this time with the Red rice from Forbidden foods cooked in the steam oven.  Their red rice is a combination of red and white long grain rice which is fantastic with this simple rice dish as it works well with the nuttiness of the rice, spices and colours.  Red rice is just SO Mexican!

Delicious served with my Pulled pork and Mexican Watermelon salad here and no, you don’t need the sour cream (that was just for the pic 🙂 )

Ingredients:  Serves 6-8

1½ cups Forbidden red rice, washed quickly
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1¾ cups chicken stock

Method:

  1. Heat oil and sauté onion and cumin seeds until soft and fragrant
  2. Add tomato paste and red rice.  Stir well
  3. Now add stock and place into the solid steamer tray.
  4. Cook @ 100°C for 30 minutes

Stir and garnish with chopped red chilli and coriander.

Posted in: Gluten free, Mexican, Rice, Side dishes, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Pulled pork burrito

February 18, 2014 7:43 am / Leave a Comment /

Pulled pork

I cooked this after returning from our trip to America last year and everyone raved about it.  Some people ‘wrapped’ it and some people were happy to eat it on the Red Mexican rice so it is a pretty flexible main course.  That’s the beauty of this type of Mexican food.  You can make it a casual buffet style meal or posh it up a bit and serve it on individual plates.  I will probably do a combination of both for this lunch.

The pork has a fabulous smokey flavour from the Chipotle Chillies in Adobo sauce which you can buy in a can from Fireworks.  You can’t substitute anything else but it’s worth it.  I have tried a couple of different brands but they were not the same.  One brand seemed to have more chilli and less sauce, the other is the opposite.  Obviously the one with more chilli is hotter but as the sauce is also hot it is difficult to give an accurate measurement in the recipe.

Nobody complained that it was really hot when I used the brand with more chillies.  I initially served just the meat thinking the sauce was too hot but they asked for more!  If you are not sure about what quantity to use then start with just a couple of the chillies with one tablespoon of the sauce and puree it before adding to the meat.  Remember, you can always add more later.

Great served with a fresh salsa and sour cream.  I am serving it with my Watermelon salad here and Forbidden red Mexican rice.

Make the day ahead if possible.

Ingredients:  Serves 8

2 tbs. olive oil
1.5 kg pork shoulder, unrolled with rind and fat removed.  Cut into about 3 large portions.
2 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
4 clove garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
4 stalks of coriander including roots
2 tsp. cumin powder
2 tsp. smoked paprika
80-100g chipotle chillies in adobo sauce (or half a can, pureed.  See note above)
1  x 400g can diced tomatoes
1-2 cups chicken or beef stock to just cover

Method:

  1. Heat oil and brown meat in batches until coloured.  Remove from pan.
  2. Add diced vegetables, reduce heat and cook 5 minutes
  3. Add spices and cook another 5 minutes
  4. Then add all other ingredients and bring to boil
  5. Return meat into sauce and add stock to just cover.
  6. Cover with a cartouche (paper circle)
  7. Cook @ 130°C for 5 hours until meat falls apart
  8. Shred with a fork, reduce sauce a little if required and return meat to pan.
  9. Serve with fresh salsa, rice, warm tortilla and sour cream.

If you are cooking a larger quantity increase the dried spices to heaped teaspoons and tomatoes to two cans.  The rest of the quantities are perfect for up to 3kg pork.

Posted in: Gluten free, Main Courses, Mexican

Mexican watermelon salad

February 17, 2014 9:48 am / 2 Comments /

Watermelon salad

I was looking for a fresh Summer salad to serve for our Mexican fiesta and came across this watermelon salad from the Mexican book I purchased in the States last year.  Everyone loved it, a great combination of flavours and balanced out the heat in the Pulled pork and texture of the Mexican Forbidden red rice.

Things are improving on the Mexican ingredient scene in Sydney but we are still not quite there yet…  This recipe called for fresh tomatillos which I couldn’t find so I substituted heirloom tomatoes, but it is not the same.  I did see bottled tomatillos from the Mission brand but that’s not the same either.  I can also buy them tinned from Fireworks who seem to have the best selection of ingredients in Sydney.  Great for other recipes, but not a salad.

I have altered the ingredients to try to achieve a different combination of flavours and textures.  This is an unusual but refreshing salad – try it, you will be surprised 🙂

Ingredients:  Serves 8

3 cups seedless watermelon
1 large avocado, diced into 1cm pieces
2 tomatillos if available husked and thinly sliced or heirloom tomatoes of your choice, sliced.  I used most of a large, mixed punnet.
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
½ cup crumbled queso fresco cheese (substitute Fetta)
handful of coriander leaves
handful of mint leaves
2 tbsp. chopped chives

Dressing:
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh or 1tsp pickled jalapeno chilli or to taste (see note below)
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground coriander

Method:

  1. Cut watermelon into wedges and place into your serving dish or onto individual plates.
  2. In a large bowl combine all the other salad ingredients except the cheese.
  3. Place all the ingredients for the dressing into a screw-top jar and shake well.  Taste.  The fresh jalapeno chillies I purchased didn’t have any heat which I thought was strange. The pickled ones DO have lots of heat so be aware.
  4. Just before serving, toss dressing through salad, place on the top of the watermelon and crumble over the cheese.

Serve immediately as part of a shared meal.

 

Posted in: Mexican, Salads

Gluten-free Mexican wedding cookies

February 14, 2014 10:23 pm / Leave a Comment /

Wedding cookies

My friend Maria served these with another wonderful dessert when we went to their place for a Mexican fiesta.

For our Mexican lunch this time I need a gluten-free version of this biscuit and I have adapted this recipe from glutenfreegirl.com.  I don’t like buying a whole packet of something I don’t have for a tiny teaspoon full so I have substituted chia seeds.  I used black but you can also buy white chia if you don’t want the flecks.  As long as it’s gluten-free you can use just about anything here.  LSA mix would be fine too.

The perfect extra to serve with my Cinnamon ice-cream here.  The results are fabulous: a gluten-free biscuit that doesn’t taste like gluten-free!

Ingredients:

Makes about 30

1/2 cup pecans
3/4 cup pure icing sugar, plus more for dusting
280 grams gluten-free all purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon chia seeds
tiny pinch salt
112g cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
112g cold vegetable shortening, cut into chunks
1 large egg, at room temperature

Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 160° Fan Forced.  Line two trays with baking paper.

Put the pecans & chia seeds in a food processor (or mortar and pestle, if you want to be authentic) and whirl them up until they are finely ground. Add the icing sugar and pulse the food processor until the pecans and sugar are combined. Remove and set aside.

Cutting the fats into the flour. Put the flour and salt into the food processor. Add the chunks of cold butter and vegetable shortening and process until you have a crumbly mixture.  Don’t over work it.

Finishing the dough. Add the pecan and sugar mixture to the dough. Work it in with your hands. Crack the egg into the bowl and combine everything together, thoroughly, using a small bread & butter knife. (And be sure to work quickly. You don’t want that butter and shortening to warm up too much.) Work the dough until it comes together as one ball of dough.

Baking the cookies. Make a ball of dough about the size of a walnut. Pat down the dough ball just a bit with your fingertips. Leaving about 2cm of space between all the dough balls, fill the baking trays. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake the cookies until they are just starting to colour, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Pull the baking sheet out of the oven and immediately dust the cookies with icing sugar. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.

Wait until they are completely cold before eating 🙂

I have just found a great place to buy Mexican ingredients in Sydney as I am now totally into the Mexican wave here:  Fireworks.

 

Posted in: Cakes and Biscuits, Mexican, Uncategorized