Easy Blackened Chicken with Cilantro Rice

This is a really great summer dish!! The flavors are amazing and if you use the avocado sauce the combination gets even better! I know that blackening meat can be a bit scary but this is a really easy way to do it without ending with leather stripes in your mouth, or a black kitchen. The trick it to keep an eye on the chicken while in the oven and take it out just in time, that way you'll have a really juicy piece of poultry with a really tasty and spicy crust.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

• 2 chicken breasts halved
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1/4 teaspon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil

For the rice:

• 1 Cup Rice 
• 2 Cups Chicken Stok
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Juice and Zest from Two Limes
• A Dash of Salt and Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Combine all dry ingredients and rub on both sides of the chicken, let it marinate for at least one hour.
3. Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side.
4. Place the chicken on a greased baking dish and bake for 5-10 minutes, check it from time to time to avoid drying it out.
5. In a medium sauce pan add the chicken stock, butter and rice. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat and cook for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on, until all the stock has been absorbed.
6. Add the warm rice to a large bowl. Toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.
7. Serve the chicken sliced on a bed of rice.

Tip: The chicken can be a bit spicy for some people, you can add a very simple avocado sauce to take some of the heath off: place the flesh from an avocado along with two tablespoons of Greek yogurt (or sour cream) in a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour over the chicken. You can also use the chicken as filling for a nice sandwich.

Zucchini Pasta

I am generally not a fan of foods pretending to be other foods for health or shock value. In general if you want to eat pasta….......then eat pasta; but this is kind of an exception to my rule. This way of preparing zucchini is called pasta because it looks like pasta and the texture can really fool anyone! It goes really good with pretty much any kind of pasta sauce but I have found out that it tastes better with a simple butter-cheese or tomato sauce, something that is not to heavy or chunky...... but my son loves it with a good old bolognese sauce too!! You could also use it as pasta replacement in a salad pasta for a summer BBQ, the texture and mild taste really works with anything! I didn't add any sauce recipe because I believe that if you are trying this for the first time it is best to make a sauce that you are used to, this way you'll get used to the idea of eating "fake" pasta easier!

I usually use one zucchini per person but you can use more or less depending on what you are making. Some people don't even bother boiling the "noodles", this tastes good too (it is a bit more crunchy and with a stronger taste), if you want to give it a try all you have to do is slice the zucchini, salt them for 20 minutes and rinse to soften them. 

Ingredients:

• Fresh Zucchinis 
• Water to boil
• Salt to taste
• Any pasta sauce you like

Directions:

1. Use one medium large zucchini per person. Wash it thoroughly and pat dry.
2. If you have a mandolin this will be perfect for the job, but if you're like most people, you probably don’t have a mandolin, so you can either use a vegetable peeler or a knife. The peeler method will give you long flat noodles, and with the knife you'll have to work a bit more: just cut the zucchini into thin slices, stack up, and cut again lengthwise into thin strips.
3. Boil some salted water, and add the zucchini noodles to the water to cook for about 1-2 minute. I have found that cooking them a bit longer works great for kids but for adults 1-2 minutes is more than ok.
4. Take out and immediately and blanch in cold water to prevent over cooking (The hot sauce will heat up the noodles sufficiently)
5. That's it, serve with your favorite pasta sauce and enjoy!

"Drunken" Beans

Frijoles Borrachos or Drunken Beans is another of those typical Mexican Sunday Family recipes. There are a lot of variations of this recipe within Mexico: some people add a few more ingredients and call them Frijol en Chipilin, some don't use beer at all, add more meat to them and call them  Frijoles Charros, these last ones being the most common ones. However the use of beer gives this dish a really good flavor and lets face it: makes it a bit more exotic! The original recipe asks for some chorizo or pork chops but I have left them out to make it a bit lighter. As for the beer, Negra Modelo (a rich dark Mexican beer) is hands down the best beer to use in this recipe, but any other beer will do, preferably a dark one. 

Ingredients:

• 250 gr dry pinto or black beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes finely chopped
• 2 serrano peppers finely chopped (you can also use jalapeños)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• salt to taste
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 can of your favorite beer (negra modelo works best if you can get it)
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 150g bacon, chopped
• Enough water to cook the beans (this will depend on how watery you want your beans to get)

Directions:

1. Rinse and clean the beans, making sure to remove any stones they might have.
2. Soak the beans overnight in water.
3. Cook the beans in a low pressure pan for 25 minutes or 2 hours in a normal pan; drain the beans and save most of the water (again it's up to you how much water you use).
4. Heath a skillet or a pan on medium heath and bake the onion till transparent, add the tomatoes, peppers and cilantro.
5. Allow it to cook for a few minutes and add the beer; let it cook for a little while and add the water, season with salt and lower the heath. 
6. Cook for 20-25 minutes.
7. Serve with extra cilantro, onions, chopped peppers or avocado and a wedge of lime.

Wrapped Spicy Chicken

Chicken filled with cream cheese and jalapenos, rolled and wrapped in bacon, then grilled to perfection. Sounds good? Well it  is!!! This is a great appetizer but it can make a great main dish or BBQ treat too! It is extremely simple to prepare and as always it can be easily adapted to your needs/taste. You can leave out the jalapenos or skimp a bit and use some fresh chives, spring onions or basil instead.

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breast in halves and flattened 
• 200g softened cream cheese
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (you can also use pickled ones)
• 8 slices bacon cut in half

Directions

1. Dab 1/2 teaspoon (more or less) of cream cheese on top of each chicken tender. Sprinkle a scant 1/4 teaspoon of peppers over cream cheese. 
2. Fold or roll chicken to enclose cream cheese mixture. Wrap each roll with one piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
3. Grill until bacon is brown and crispy on both sides and chicken is cooked through.

Tip: Try flattening meat inside a zip-lock bag, it makes the work and cleanup much easier. 

Fish Veracruzana Style

You might have noticed I don't really post a lot of seafood recipes, I like fish but I'm bit picky about it and therefor my family is a bit picky too! So we don't really eat seafood that often.....but one of the ways I do love fish is "Pescado a la veracruzana", this recipe is one of the most famous seafood dishes from the Port of Veracruz on the coast of eastern Mexico. The ingredients and seasonings show a strong Spanish influence and to me is really one of those recipes that are close to my heart. Red snapper is the fish most commonly used for this dish, but any firm white fish fillet will do. In Mexico, the fish is sometimes left whole for this preparation.The original recipe asks for green olives but I don't really like olives so I have left them out, you can add 1/2 cup if you wish. You can also leave the peppers out to make it child friendly or you can add a few more to give it more kick!

Ingredients:

• 6 White-fleshed fish fillets 
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 Onion sliced
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 green bell peppers sliced (optional)
• 1 cup Stock or water 
• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano 
• 1 Bay leaf 
• 1 tablespoon capers  rinsed 
• 2-3 Pickled jalapeño peppers (optional), sliced into rounds
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Add the fish, lime juice and salt to a large bowl and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
2. While fish is marinating, heat the oil over medium flame in a large pot or skillet. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and continue sautéing for another minute.
3. Add remaining ingredients except for the fish, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes and reduce the sauce a little. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Add the fish fillets and cover them with some of the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until fish is cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. 
5. Serve with rice.

Tip: Be careful how much salt you add to this dish. The capers will add their own salt to the sauce, and it is easy to overdo it. Wait until the sauce has simmered for a while before you season it.

5 de Mayo Fiesta

I have to admit I have never really celebrated 5 de Mayo, I was born and raised in Mexico and to me it was just a free day from school and work, sure, I know the history about the Battle of Puebla and what it means for Mexico, but we just never really celebrated it, in fact I believe it is more celebrated abroad (specially in the USA) than in my own country. 

But now that I have a little one it is a great excuse to share with him a bit of mexican culture and traditions, as well as some nice mexican food. So here are some recipes to get into the mexican mood, enjoy and provecho! 

Sopes de Chorizo

Mexican sopes are some sort of cousins to the tortillas. Sopes are made with the same ingredients as tortillas. However, their size and thickness is much different. Sopes are smaller that tortillas in diameter. In fact, the are only about 7.6cm across. Furthermore, they are significantly thicker than tortillas. Despite their difference in shape and scale, sopes are used in a manner that is quite similar to tortillas. Like tortillas, they can be filled with cheese, beans, avocado, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, chorizo, and chicken, to name a few of the most popular fillings. They are great for lunch or snacks for a mexican themed party, but you can also have them as side dish. 
You will need a tortilla press to make the sopes, but if you cannot find one you can the bottom of use a glass jar to flatten the dough. 

Ingredients:

For the sopes:

• 2 cups corn flour or masa harina
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• Vegetable oil (canola) for frying

For the filling:

• 1 can fried beans warmed
• 100g chorizo cooked and drained
• 75g Queso fresco (or low salt feta) crumbled

Directions:

1. Mix the masa harina, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Gently add the warm water and mix slowly until the masa is consistent and without clumps. You may have to add more warm water if you find that it is difficult to form the sopes with your hands.
3. Start rolling the dough in your hands and make each of the sopes from a ball of dough around the size of a walnut. Make all of the balls in advance and cover them with plastic wrap to avoid drying out.
4. Place a damp towel on your kitchen counter. Place each ball of dough in your hand and gently press it flat until it is the size of a golf ball. Put the ball of dough on the damp towel when you are finished.
5. Flatten each ball of dough further with the bottom of a glass bottle or a tortilla press until the sopes are roughly 6-7cms in diameter. Raise a little border around the sopes to hold the filling in.
6. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add enough canola oil so that the bottom of the pan is coated completely.Place each of the sopes into the frying pan and cook them for about a minute on each side, or until they are golden brown. 
7. After you have cooked each of the sopes, place them on paper towels or a clean towel to soak up the excess oil.
8. Wait until the sopes are cool enough to handle and spread a thick layer of beans on them, sprinkle with some chorizo, cheese and lettuce. Serve with salsa and guacamole.

Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup or Aztec Soup is one of those WOW dishes for me, it is so rich and tasteful, not to spicy but with some kick, with crunchy tortillas and nice creamy avocado: I just love it! It is a really old recipe that has managed to still be present at mexican tables. The original version has no chicken, carrot or zucchini but I added it to make it richer and yeah, to "hide" veggies for the kids. (but you can leave them out to make it more traditional)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 4 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 kilo corn tortillas 
• 2 tablespoons chopped carrot
• 2 tablespoons chopped zucchini
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped seeded jalapeno or ancho pepper
• 1 bay leaf (if you can get some epazote use it instead)
• 1/4 cup cubed avocado
• 1/4 cup shredded Fresco cheese or some monterrey Jack
• Sour cream for garnishing

Directions:

1. Brush the tomatoes, onion and garlic with 1 teaspoon oil. Roast close to the heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until tender. Peel and discard charred skin from tomatoes; place in a blender. Add onion and garlic; cover and process for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste; bake for 5-6 minutes on each side. 
3. Cut the tortillas in fine strips.
4. In a large saucepan, heat remaining oil. Fry tortilla strips until crisp and browned, careful not to burn them; remove and set aside on a paper towel.
5. In the same pan, cook the carrot, zucchini, cilantro, cumin and chili powder over medium heat for 4 minutes. 
6. Stir in the tomato mixture, chicken broth, tomato puree, jalapeno and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
7. Cut chicken into strips and add to soup; heat through. Discard bay leaf. Add the tortilla strips.
8. Garnish with the avocado slices, sour cream and cheese before serving.

Green Sauce Chicken Tamales

Tamales are a favorite comfort food in Mexico, eaten as both breakfast and dinner, and often accompanied by hot atole or champurrado, maize-based beverages of indigenous origin. Street vendors can be seen serving them from huge, steaming, covered pots called  tamaleras.

The most common fillings are pork and chicken, in either red or green salsa or mole. Another very traditional variation is to add pink-colored sugar to the corn mix and fill it with raisins or other dried fruit and make a sweet tamale (tamal de dulce). This recipe is for chicken soaked in a medium spicy green tomato sauce, and even when it does take some time (and patience) to prepare them, they are really worth it!

Ingredients:

For the Dough

• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups masa harina
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening or lard
• 1 cup dried corn husks (not sweet corn)
• 1 cup sour cream

For the filling

• 220g dried corn husks (outer shell of the corn to wrap the tamales in)
• 450g tomatillos rinsed (green tomatoes)
• 4 serrano chiles chopped
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 2/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• salt and peper to taste

Directions:

Filling:

1. Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water utnil they are completlty covered and allow them to get soft 9anything from 3 hours to a day).
2. Broil the tomatillos until they blacken in spots turning once, about 5 minutes per side. Once soft transfer them to a food processor or blender and mix until smooth (you can also use canned tomatillos, and mix them directly with a little bit of their water)
3. Add the chiles and garlic and mix well.
4. Heat oil, add the tomatillos and cook for a few minutes, reduce the heath and allow it to reduce to a thick sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Stir in the chicken and cilantro to the sauce, cover and set aside.

Dough:

1. Beat the shortening or lard using an electric mixer, add 1 tablespoon of broth until fluffy.
2. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt. Stir into the shortening mixture adding more broth to form a somewhat spongy dough.

Preparing the Tamales:

1. Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 3cm thickness.
2. Place one tablespoon of chicken mixture into the center.
3. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the center and place in a steamer (you can also tie the ends on both sides to prevent the filling from coming out).
4. Steam for an hour and serve warm.

Beef Milanesa

This is the mexican version of a Wiener Schnitzel, it is a very typical dish in Mexico and Latin America; unlike the veal Austrian Schnitzel, the milanesa is made out of a thin slice of beef or sometimes chicken.

It is a really great dish for kids, I remember eating this pretty much every week and I loved it. You can serve it with some rice and beans in typical mexican style or with some french fries and salad for the kids. In Mexico is is really common to use the milanesa as a sandwich or torta filling for lunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg 
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste) 
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (to taste) 
• 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
• 4 thin steaks or cube steaks, pounded thin 
• vegetable oil (for frying) 

Directions:

1. Pound boneless steaks thin.
2. In a bowl or deep pan, beat the egg very well. In a second bowl mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Put the bread crumbs in a third shallow pan.
3. Dust the meat lightly with flour, dip into the beaten egg, and coat with bread crumbs. 
4. Put the breaded meat on a plate lined with wax paper and refrigerate about 1 hour. 
5. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil to a depth of about 2 cms.
6. Fry the meat until brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken enchiladas are served all over Mexico, it is one of those "must have" dishes and as it can be expected there are many variations to them. In truth, it was a tough choice to include this baked version of the recipe because it’s more common in Mexico to make enchiladas by frying the tortillas–you don’t actually see the oven used a whole lot in authentic Mexican cuisine. But this is a much faster way to prepare them and the end result is just as tasty as the "typical" ones. 

You can prepare the enchiladas in advanced and pop them in the oven just at the last moment, which makes this dish really great for a dinner party or for a special ocasion. Kids love them too, and as always you can leave out the pepper for them.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 jalapeno chopped (you can remove the seeds if you want it to be less spicy)
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 12 soft corn or flour tortillas
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the onion, jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and oil. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened. 
2. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar, and cook until fragrant. Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a simmer.
3. Nestle the chicken into the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 12-20 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the chicken breasts you are using.
4. Transfer the chicken to a plate, and set aside to cool. Continue to simmer the sauce over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
5. Strain the sauce through a strainer into a medium bowl, pressing the onion mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. Season sauce with additional salt and pepper to taste.
6. Transfer the leftover onion mixture from the strainer to a large bowl and set aside.
7. -Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to the onion mixture in the large bowl. Also stir in 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese and the cilantro. Toss to combine.
8. Warm the tortilla on a skillet or microwave.
9. Spread the tortillas on a clean work surface, and spoon 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each. Tightly roll each tortilla and lay seam-side down in a greased baking dish.
10. Heat oven to 220 C. 
11. Pour the enchilada sauce evenly over the top of the enchiladas. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes, or until heated through.
12. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes, until cheese browns. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.
13. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, additional cilantro, if desired.