Tag: Latin American
Tamale Casserole
Tamale Casserole
Love tamales but don’t have the time to make them? Then how about a tamale casserole? Instead of making individual tamales wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves, the tamale dough is pressed in a baking dish. Then tomatillo sauce and shredded pork or chicken is layered in the center, then topped with more masa dough. The casserole is then baked in the oven for an hour. Garnish the tamale casserole with cheese, sour cream, and chopped cilantro.
Equipment
- blender
- standing mixer
Ingredients
- 8 medium tomatillos
- 2 jalapeños
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- salt to taste
- 1 cup lard
- 3 1/2 cups masa harina
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 lb shredded pork or chicken
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
Garnish
- mozzarella cheese
- Mexican sour cream
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Place the tomatillos, jalapeños, and garlic in a pot of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Drain the veggies from the water. Place in a blender along with the cilantro and salt. Purée until smooth. Set aside.
- Beat the lard with in a standing mixer. Slowly incorporate the masa flour and chicken stock. Beat until the dough is somewhat creamy.
- Grease the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Press down half of the tamale dough. Pour over half of the green sauce.
- Top the green sauce with the shredded pork. Season the pork with garlic and onion powder. Pour over the rest of the green sauce.
- Place the rest of the dough over the top.
- Place the tamale casserole in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Empalmes
Empalmes
Empalmes are a popular breakfast dish in Mexico. It consists of refried beans spread in between 2 crispy fried tortillas; topped with a sunny side up egg, piquin chili salsa, and chopped cilantro.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil
- 2 tortillas
- 1/4 cup refried beans with chorizo
- 1 large egg
- piquin chili salsa
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Heat up vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Fry both of the tortillas for 2-3 minutes a side until crispy. Drain grease on paper towel.
- Spread the beans on one side of a tortilla. Place the other tortilla on top.
- Add a little more oil to the skillet. Fry an egg sunny side up.
Birria Enchiladas
Birria Enchiladas
I had previously made birria tacos and made way more than I needed. So I froze down the leftovers for later use, which led me to now: behold the birria enchilada. The leftover meat was put into a corn tortillas with chunks of mozzarella, then bathed in the birria broth. I topped it off with more cheese and baked it for 20 minutes until the cheese was bubbly. Easily the best enchiladas I’ve ever eaten.
Servings: 12 enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 lbs birria meat
- 2 cups birria broth
- 12 corn tortillas pan fried for 1 minute to make pliable
- 8 oz block mozzarella cheese cut into 12 equal wedges
- 4 oz monterey jack cheese shredded
Garnish
- white onion finely chopped
- avocado sliced
Instructions
- Place 2 heaping tbsp of birria meat across the center of a corn tortilla. Top with a chunk of mozzarella cheese.
- Tightly roll up the enchilada. This recipe yields 12 enchiladas.
- Place all of the enchiladas seam side down in a 9×13 glass baking dish.
- Pour the birria broth over the enchiladas.
- Top with more cheese.
- Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Birria Tacos
Over the last 6 months, there has been a huge trend in the Mexican culinary world. All of a sudden, every Mexican restaurant is carrying birria tacos. So what is a birria taco? Birria originated from the Mexican state of Jalisco; also home of pozole and menudo. It all started with caldo de birria, a meat stew in a pepper broth. Traditionally goat and lamb are used, but beef can be substituted. I used a combination of all 3 meats. Corn tortillas are dipped in the birria broth, then assembled with the meat, onions, and cilantro. The tacos are folded over and grilled on a griddle until they are crispy. The tacos are served with a side of the birria broth to dip the taco in; just like a French dip sandwich. I chose to use an Instant Pot to make the birria. It only took 90 minutes to prepare. You can make this in a Dutch oven or a crockpot if you don’t have a pressure cooker. It will take anywhere from 4-6 hours to get the meat tender enough to shred. Either process will get you the same results.
Servings: 24 tacos
Equipment
- food processor
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef chuck cubed
- 1 beef shank
- 1 1/2 lbs bone in goat shoulder cubed
- 1 lamb shank
- 3 dried ancho chilies
- 6 dried guajillo chilies
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 6 garlic cloves
- 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- salt to taste
- 2 cups water
- corn tortillas softened
Garnish
- white onion finely chopped
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Dry toast the dried peppers in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the peppers in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes.
- Dry toast the cumin seeds, cloves, and cinnamon stick for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Dry toast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic for 10 minutes.
- Place the rehydrated roast peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, whole spices(except the cinnamon stick), oregano, marjoram, vinegar, and salt in a blender.
- Purée until smooth.
- Arrange all of the meat in a glass baking dish.
- Pour the sauce from the blender over the meat. Cover with foil and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- Place all of the meat and sauce in the Instant Pot along with 2 cups of water. Toss in the cinnamon stick. Turn the function to pressure cook on high for 90 minutes. Put on the cover and push start.
- Remove all of the meat and bones from the Instant Pot.
- Keep all of the birria juice warm.
- Pick out all of the bones from the meat. Place the meat in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Cook down the meat until the majority of the liquid has evaporated.
Birria Taco Assembly
- Dip the softened corn tortillas in the birria juice.
- Top the tortillas with the meat, onion, and cilantro.
- Place the tacos on a griddle over medium high heat. Fold the tacos over.
- Grill the tacos for 3-4 minutes a side until the tortillas are crispy.
