Tag: main course
Huevos Rancheros
Huevos Rancheros
Huevos Rancheros is the most popular choice for breakfast and brunch in Mexican cuisine. The meal consists of fried eggs topped on corn tortillas with a red sauce, crumbled queso, and cilantro; served with a side of refried beans and sliced avocado. The dish is easy to put together, inexpensive, and oh-so satisfying.There are also a couple of variations of the dish. Huevos ahogados features the eggs poached instead of fried. Huevos divorciados has a different sauce for each egg: one red, one green. Huevos motulenos, originating from the city of Motul in the Yucatán, features the eggs on tortillas served with black beans, ham, peas, fried plantains, and salsa picante.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 4 corn tortillas
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- queso fresco
- cilantro chopped
- refried beans
- avocado sliced
Sauce
- 2 tomatoes diced
- 1 serrano pepper diced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 green onion chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, serrano, and green onions to a food processor.
- Pulse until smooth.
- Heat up the cooking oil in a pot over medium heat. Pour in the salsa. Fry for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flavor. Season with salt to taste. Set aside.
- Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil on a griddle over medium high heat. Fry the tortillas for a minute on each side until crispy. Set aside.
- In an egg skillet, heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil over high heat. Crack in the eggs and fry sunny side up until the whites are cooked; about 3 minutes.
Smoked Whole Tilapia
Smoked Whole Tilapia
Not only is smoked whole tilapia amazing, it is unbelievably inexpensive to make. I purchase them at my favorite Asian market, Dragonstar, for $1.59/lb, fully cleaned. It costs less than $3 per fish. Once smoked, they taste like they’d cost $10/lb. Since tilapia are a fairly mild fish, they take on whatever flavor you give them quite easily. Kinda like how chicken does. The tilapia only need 1 hour per lb. to brine and about the same to smoke them.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 whole tilapia 1 1/2lbs – 2lbs each
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 3 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- alderwood
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together.
- Score the tilapia 4-5 times on each side of the fish.
- Brine the tilapia for an hour per total weight between the 2 fish. The tilapia were 3lbs together, so they brined for 3 hours.
- Pat the tilapia dry with paper towels. Let rest on a rack at room temperature for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the tilapia in on the bottom rack. Once the wood chips start smoking, turn the temperature down to 215 degrees.
- Smoke the tilapia for 2 1/2-3 hours depending on the size. You want the internal temperature to read 150 degrees at the thickest part of the fish.
- Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Lampreado
Lampreado
Lampreado, aka payagua mascada, are fried patties consisting of ground beef, mashed cassava, and lots of green onions. The ingredients are turned into a dough, formed into patties, dredged in flour, then fried until golden brown. The lampreado can be served as an appetizer or as a main course with a salad.
Equipment
- potato masher or ricer
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 lbs cassava
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 6 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- flour
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the cassava for 30 minutes. Drain and let cool.
- Heat up 2 tbsp oil cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the green onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
- Add in the ground beef. Brown for 8 minutes. Drain any excess grease.
- Add in the beef stock and simmer until evaporated. Let cool.
- Using a potato masher or ricer, mash the cassava until smooth. Stir in the ground beef mix, cumin, salt, and the cornstarch until a dough forms.
- Roll the dough into golf ball sized balls.
- Flatten each ball into a 1/2” thick patty.
- Dredge each patty in flour.
- Heat up 1/2” deep of cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook the lampreado in batches, making sure to not overcrowd the pan.
- Fry for 3-4 minutes a side until golden brown.
- Drain the grease from the lampreado on a rack.
