Wednesday, April 10, 2013

TEX MEX NIGHT

I was asked to do a TEX-MEX night for our staff, so last Friday night 30 of my Danish colleagues and I gathered in a local school and made all kinds of yummy things together! Many of them have asked for the recipes, so I thought it might be nice to post them here as well!

The greatest thing about doing this night was that I feel like I am leaving a little bit of MY culture in DK after I move back to Texas...... it was an awesome evening!

So enjoy!


CHICKEN QUESADILLAS

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
Chicken breasts—cut into strips
Slap Ya Mama—AKA: Your favorite seasoning—something with SPICE! 
Olive oil
Yellow onions (sliced, not chopped)
Red bell peppers (sliced, not chopped)
Grated cheddar cheese


Instructions:
Slice the onions and bell pepper (1 each to serve 2-4 people) and cut the chicken breasts (4 breasts will serve 2-4 people) . Grill these in 2 separate pans with a bit of olive oil in each. As you are cooking them, be sure you season them (as much as you would like, depending how spicy you want the quesadillas to be! But don’t be too conservative because you do want FLAVOR!)

Once the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are soft, set aside. Heat a clean skillet (large enough to hold a tortilla) and start “building” your quesadillas. Fill one half with grated cheese (spread out evenly). Top with several pieces of the chicken and a good helping of the veggies. Top with another layer of cheese because remember it is the GLUE that keeps the tortilla together. Fold in half and set in the heated pan (no oil needed!) Cook for a couple of minutes until you can see the cheese melting. Flip and do the same for the other side. Cut it in half and keep it in foil to stay warm while you cook the rest of them.

Serve with sour cream (feel free to spice it up with a little chili powder!) and PICO DE GALLO!

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PICO DE GALLO (for your Quesadillas, as an appetizer with chips, or to serve with Fajitas!)

Ingredients:
Fresh JalapeƱos (seeded & chopped) (2-3—start with 2 in your mix!)
Fresh Cilantro (chopped)  (1 bunch)  (and yes, include the stems too!)
Yellow onions (chopped) (1 large)
Cherry Tomatoes (chopped) (1-2 packages)
Fresh limes (2-3)
Cumin


You may want to make a bigger batch than what you need for your meal because this tastes better the next day after it sits in the fridge, so you definitely want leftovers! CHOP all the veggies and mix them together in a large bowl. Shake in 3 or 4 GENEROUS shakes of cumin and squeeze in the juice from 2 limes. Mix this well and taste it on a tortilla chip. After you taste it, decide if you need more jalapeno, more cumin and more lime juice. It all depends on personal preference. Make this at least an hour ahead of when you want to serve so it has a chance to chill!

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 BLACK BEAN ENCHILADAS


Ingredients:
Corn tortillas
Olive Oil
Cumin
Chicken (chopped/shredded) (3-4 breasts will make about 8 enchiladas)
1-2 cans of black beans  (do not drain them!)
Yellow onions (chopped)
Salsa (as HOT as you like it!)
Fresh cilantro, chopped and SET ASIDE!
Grated “white” cheese (we use Monterey Jack in Texas)


Instructions:
Fry your corn tortillas so they are SOFT and set aside. This is a VERY FAST Process---only about 1-2 seconds on each side. My recommendation is you fry them in olive oil that has been seasoned with 2-3 shakes of cumin. Drain them on paper towels so they are not greasy when you are ready to use them.

Cook your chicken in a little bit of olive oil. Be sure you season it well! J Just before it is done, add your chopped onions and continue cooking until the onions are soft. Sprinkle 2-3 shakes of cumin on the onions and chicken mix and then pour in your black beans and 1 cup (3 dl) of salsa. Let this simmer for about 10-12 minutes so all the flavors come together.

Take off the heat and now you are ready to build your enchiladas. Lightly oil your baking dish so they do not stick and preheat your oven to 400F/200C.
Put one tortilla in your hand and fill the middle of it with cheese. Add the bean/chicken mix on top of the cheese. Just before you roll it up, put a good-sized pinch on top of the mix…spread it down the middle of the mix. Roll up and set in your baking dish. Repeat until all your mixture is gone. Then top your enchiladas with a good handful of more cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes, but check it a couple of times to make sure your cheese is not getting scorched (each oven is different.) Serve with sour cream!
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7-LAYER DIP 

Ingredients & Instructions on how to build it in your dish:
LAYER 1: Refried beans (1 can)- an option is to sprinkle a little chili powder on top of them for a bit more spice!
LAYER 2: Ground meat that has been cooked with 1 yellow onion and 1 envelope of Taco seasoning
LAYER 3: Corn (2 cans, drained)
LAYER 4: Red onion (chopped)
LAYER 5: Salsa (as HOT as you like it!)
LAYER 6: Sour Cream (with a little chili spice in it!)
LAYER 7: Grated cheddar cheese
REFRIGERATE!!
TORTILLA CHIPS (to serve with it!)
(Optional—Make it an 8-layer dip and add a layer of chopped black olives BEFORE the cheese!)

When you serve, make sure you dig down to get ALL the layers in each bite! This is always better after it sits in the fridge for several hours or even overnight!
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Since Slap Ya Mama isn't easy to come by in Denmark, and the average Dane knows jack squat about peppers, I think you might want to include a recipe for a seasoning blend that resembles Slap Ya Mama. Here's mine:

4 parts garlic powder (NOT garlic salt, just dried up, ground garlic)
3 parts cayenne pepper
1 part black pepper
1/4 part dried habanero powder
3 parts salt

I use a clean coffee mill for blending the spices. You can use mortar and pestle as well.

You can leave out the salt, if you prefer to add salt by itself. That allows you to in-/decrease the spiciness without over/-undersalting, and you can leave out the habanero if you can't find it or if you don't like the hot stuff.