Abby's first birthday party is done! We had a great time pictures and a post on it to come, I am at work without pictures! :) But almost everyone asked for the recipes to all the food we had there (a sure sign I picked a good menu i say!) anyway below are all the recipes for what I made
a note i hate recipes and hardly go off of them :) so here is my attempt to right them down...please note spices I NEVER measure i go off look/taste/smell so get the spoon out and try it! :) Oh and i can tell a huge difference when i use kosher salt as opposed to regular salt in these recipes so try it out!
Cafe Rio Rice
3 cups rice
6 cups water
4tsp. chicken bouillon
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 onion chopped
4 tsp. minced garlic
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 can diced green chilies
1/2 tsp. salt
Saute onion and garlic with the butter until the onion is soft. Add the rice and water and all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Homemade re fried beans (you will NEVER go back to canned!)
3 cups dry pinto beans
1 large tomato diced
1 medium onion diced
1 can green chilies
2 tes garlic
2 tes kosher salt
1 tes cumin
1/2 jalapeno seeded (unless you want some spicy beans!:))
put all ingredients in pot and fill with water so it just covers the beans, then let it sit over night in the fridge (yes these beans are a labor of love but I promise you SO WORTH IT!)
in the morning pull out of fridge, almost all the water should be gone now and the beans will have tripled in size! (i was pretty shocked the first time i made them at how much bigger they got!)
Fill up again with water so the water is about 2 inches above beans and bring to boil. Turn to low and cook for 8 hours. check back to make sure there is water and stir occasionally.
After 8 hours put beans and water that is in pot in food processor and blend up how ever much you like! (if you dont have a food processor you can mash them and then beat them with beaters)
After the are blended heat a table spoon of oil in a skillet and fry the beans up! You will have to do it a few times dont put all hte beans in at once, add as much salt as wanted (they need a lot!) and enjoy the goodness of homemade re fried beans! (they do freeze pretty well if you want to make a big batch, i freeze them before the re fry step so i can re fry them when we are going to have them)
Beef Tacos
- take a roast ( i usually get around a 3lbs roast)
- You are going to rub the roast on all sides with garli, kosher salt, peepe,r onion salt, and cumin.
- then sear the roast on all sides (to sear heat oil in large skillet and just let the roast brown up)
- put in a crock pot
- add 5oz tapatio hot sauce (you can add more if you want it really spicy this makes it just a bit spicy)
- add 1/2 large onion chopped
- 1 can diced green chilies
- 1 jalapeno seeded or not just depending on how spicy you want it
- 4 tes. beef bullion
- 2 tes red pepper
- 2 tes pepper
- 1 tes. garlic
- 2 tes kosher salt
- 2 tes cumin
- then add enough water to cover 3/4 of the roast
- cook on low over night and shred beef through out the day!
you might need to add some more water during the day but when you are ready to eat it the water should be about all gone. My favorite way to eat these is on corn tortillas (heated on the stove with some oil) with some fresh pico.
Crispy Chicken Tacos
These were a big hit with those who do not like spicy food
4 lbs chicken ( i used thigh meat it was on sale)
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic cut up
2 tes red peper
2 tes kosher salt
2 tes pepper
1 tes cumin
put in crock pot for 8+ hours (you just want it to shred up)
once its done drain chicken and add 2 cups Mexican blend cheese
2 tesp cumin
2 tes salt
then add 2 cups cup chopped cilantro
grab some corn tortillas and warm them up (i just throw them in the microwave wrapped in a damp towel , note for beef tacos don't hear the corn tortillas this way use the oil and stove we are frying these up so the microwave does not mater here
put chicken mixture in and fry up (about 2 min a side) mmmm tasty and oh so unhealthy :)
Fresh Salsa
4 roma tomatos halved
1/2 onion
1/2 jalapano
1/2 cup ciliantro
1/4 green pepper
1/2 tes salt
1/2 tes garlic
1/2 tes cumin
put in food processor or blender and mix up! I added in some of the above ingredients just diced up so its chunky
( the pico is not really any different then this just no food processor and a bit more green pepper)
DANG writing these out makes me feel like I did A LOT more work then it felt like :) let me know if you try any of them
