Authentic Mexican Rice

So Hannah sent me this great recipe for Mexican rice. I really like it and make it a lot. I have a jar of the tomato bouillon powder instead of cubes because that's easier to me---I will be making this rice until the end of time because the jar is so amazingly large. You can find the original recipe here. You should go to that post because she gives great tips for making perfect rice. She also includes instructions for adding some veggies that I've never added---it's probably yummy but I haven't done it, so I wanted to post the recipe the way I've made it.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
• 1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 medium onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 2 tomato bouillon cubes, chopped (these can be found in the Mexican food aisle at Walmart or your local grocery store)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/4 cups water

Instructions

• Rinse and drain the rice in a fine mesh strainer.
• In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the oil. Add the rice and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the rice is lightly golden brown all over (about 10 minutes).
• Add tomato sauce, garlic, and diced onion to the pan. Stir. Add the tomato bullion cubes, salt, and water
• Cook, stirring, until bullion cubes are completely dissolved. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes or until the water is completely absorbed.  Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Mexican Rice

Here is the rice I always made with Mexican dishes before I discovered Arroz Verde. I still make it often because it's fast - I rarely actually measure the spices because that makes it take longer. Gary originally found the recipe on allrecipes.com, and only has one slight modification by me (I reduced the water from the original a bit because I thought it was a little gooey.) FYI, Kristen and Kayla, this is what I made with the fajitas when you were here, though I didn't spice it enough then.

Serves 4 (I make 1.5 times this for my fam.)

3 T vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t cumin
1/4 c chopped onion (a lot of times I just sprinkle in dried  minced onion and call it good)
1/2 c tomato sauce
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (water won't make it bad, just not as flavorful)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with salt and cumin.
2. Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Ok, I will make one more suggestion - saute the onions before or with the rice. Sauted  things always taste better. Also, I have never seen the rice look "puffed." Don't despair, just 2 minutes or so, until it's a little golden.

Why am I posting these rice recipes? I just realized I promised I'd post this one, but now I have two I like. We usually have rice with our Mexican food unless I am too sick to cook much - it creates "Sad Gary" if we don't have any.

Arroz Verde

You want this rice. Allison made it for her baby blessing, and I needed the recipe right away. Just whip it up before you start cooking the rest of your meal,  then it will be done baking when you're ready to eat. I always did red rice before, but if I have time and ingredients I will choose this. Yeah, there's a lot of butter.  Let me know if you use less and it works. The spinach cancels the butter, right? It's delish!

In a blender, mix together:

1/2 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves

1 cup spinach leaves

1 can chicken broth

1 1/4 cup milk

1tsp salt

Heat in a skillet:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. butter

Brown in butter/oil mixture:

1/4 cup chopped onion, then add

1 clove garlic, minced, then add

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

Put browned rice mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Pour green mixture over top.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Gary discovered this recipe at allrecipes.com quite a while back. It's easy and yummy, and you can make it just like that. However, given a few more seconds of your time, you can make it something spectacular. I'm talking really only a few minutes. I thought I had written this already, but puzzling-ly, I have not.

Here's what I did the other day:
1 large onion (or 1 1/2 medium/small onions), diced
2 T bottled minced garlic (if you're using fresh, use less, but this is my fast recipe)
1 jalepeno, seeded and diced

Cook those in the bottom of the pot (in a little oil) on low to release their flavors while you go get all of the cans out. Or, to speed things up, cook on medium-high. The flavors get locked in more, but oh, well.

Now dump into the pot:
2 cans beans (I like one black, one pinto, but whatever works)
2 cans diced (or petite diced) tomatoes
2 cans diced green chiles (if you already have them in the tomatoes, you won't need this)
2 cups frozen corn, or a can of corn (really, I just eyeball this, 2 cups is a guesstimate)
1 can Preston-canned chicken or size equivalent of canned or other shredded chicken (rotisserie works great), be sure to add the broth. If you don't you will need more broth than I used.
1 cup chicken broth (or water and boullion)

Stir it all up and season with:
A lot of cumin
A lot of chili powder
some salt
some pepper

Maybe next time I'll measure. But really, if it tastes bland, add more. Measuring takes time. :) It's how you like it.
You may need to add a bit of sugar or red wine vinegar to cut the acid. To taste. Make sure it's hot, but really, everything in there is cooked. It will taste better as it sits and the taste comes together, but you haven't got all day. Unless you do, it will be yummier.

Now, for the grand finale. Serve with:
lots of lime
Tortilla chips
sour cream
cilantro
green onions
avocado
queso fresco or cojita . . . or monterey jack or cheddar
hot sauce, should you feel inclined (just a teensy of Chipotle Tobasco, and yum!)

This is super fast. Of course all of the extras are not necessary, but they are really good. You can serve it plain with cornbread, too. If you don't have time to dice an onion you can throw in onion power, if you have no minced garlic, you can throw in garlic powder. You can leave out the jalepeno entirely, but really, it's good, and when seeded, not hot in the final product.

Mexican Sweet Pork

So, there are one and a half billion recipes for "Cafe Rio" pork out there. All of them are good. Never had one I didn't like. However, none of them are quite right. Even Our Best Bites, and you KNOW I worship that blog. I had it in my mind that the first recipe I got 5 years ago was too complicated, but guess what . . . it's not complicated at all. Dumping a few spices in is not hard. Just grab your measuring spoons and stand in front of the spice cabinet with your bowl. And guess what else? We really liked it better than the other recipes we've had  when I made it a couple of weeks ago. One HUGE tip - enchilada sauce is a major ingredient, so it's going to really alter the flavor of your final product. Find one that's really good, or make your own. That's what I've done the last couple of times.

As far as the lime-cilantro rice, I like Our Best Bites' version. Simple and yummy. Cook the rice in chicken broth if you want it to have an extra-good flavor.

As far as the dressing, I think I like the recipe that is already on this blog. Our Best Bites recipe has a better consistency, but needs tons more lime, cilantro, and green salsa.

Okay, on to the pork!

2.5 - 3.5 lbs pork loin roast (smaller works fine, too)

Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper and brown all surfaces on a hot skillet with a little oil in it. Place in a crock pot, then mix up the following:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cups Worcestershire sauce (I use Lea and Perrins)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 T dried minced onion (This is sooo cheap at winco. If you have none, use 1/2 cup regular minced onion.)

Pour on top of the pork, then cook on high for approximately 4 hours. You can also just dump all of the stuff right onto the pork, just mix it up in the crock pot. When the pork is done, shred it up, put it back in the crock pot, then mix up:

1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Pour on top, mix it up, and you're good to go.

Some notes: Browning the pork roast was not in the original recipe I got from Helen the camp director. It's an Our Best Bites idea, and it makes it less greasy and a little more flavorful. However, you don't have to.

As far as juiciness: Some recipes have you drain all of the goodness it cooked in before serving. No, no, that cannot be done. I have thought it was a little flavorless each time I have done that. However, the juiciness can be a little much, so what I do is pour it all out, shred the pork roast, then pour back in however much I think looks right for the consistency.

As far as sweetness: Cafe Rio pork is really, really sweet. I haven't seen a recipe as sweet as it is. So, keep adding dark brown sugar if you would like it to be sweeter.

As far as Coke, reduced-Coke, Dr. Pepper, reduced-Dr. Pepper . . . all of the recipes I've had with those in there are good. However, the entire half cup of a good Worcestershire sauce tastes better than all of those. That's my opinion. Sarah said she'd like to make a few recipes side by side for a taste test. Go for it, peeps, and let me know how it turns out.

As far as the enchilada sauce - I cannot stress how much it matters that you use a good one. I don't know what's a good one, because I so rarely use red enchilada sauce. Let me know if you make a discovery. I used half El Pato, half tomato sauce, and dumped in chili powder, garlic salt/powder, onion salt/powder, and cumin until I liked what I was tasting. Sorry, not a good recipe, I know, but it was easy, cuz dumping is easy.

Green Chile Burgers

My tastebuds are still dancing happily after having this for dinner, so I have to get it on the blog. Got this recipe from Bobby Flay's Grill It, a lovely find at the bookmobile. I have to urge you to try it. It's easy and not really spicy like you'd think. Gary wanted more spice, actually.

Okay, new opinion, months later: Spiciness depends on the peppers. The first time we must have used much milder ones, although they looked the same. The second time it was some spicy stuff! We still liked it, though . . . Know your peppers, Bobby says it's not supposed to be really spicy.
(I typed this recipe last summer, and decided it's time to publish since it's on the menu for this week.)

Green Chile Sauce
2 poblano chiles, grilled, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 medium red onion, grilled
2 cloved garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or oregano leaves
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine poblanos, onion, garlic, cilantro, 1/4 cup cold water, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust the salt and pepper. The sauce can be made 1 day in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Put green chile sauce on hamburger with Chihuahua, provolone, or cream cheese (cookbook says the first 2, we added the cream cheese because that's what we had. Delish.). Also put on tomatoes and pickled jalapenos. You won't be sorry!

Pickling Jalapenos
One link that looks close:
http://purplefoodie.com/pickled-jalapenos/

We love pickling jalapenos now. So good with tons of Mexican food. And a great way to use up all of the Bountiful Baskets jalapenos. Not spicy, really, either.

Easy Shredded-Meat Tacos

This is delicious. And deliciously easy. Another one of my I'm-not-sure-how-much-I-use recipes, but since I don't really know and never go too wrong, I doubt you will, either.

You will need:
chicken or pork
salsa
brown sugar

Flavors will be enchanced with:
minced garlic (I buy it pre-minced, in bulk from Sam's Club)
dried minced onion (Yes, fresh would be yummy, too, this is my shortcut)
oregano
salt and pepper
cumin

Put a little salsa in the bottom of your crockpot. Put the meat on top. Cover the meat with salsa. Throw a bunch of brown sugar on top, followed by some minced garlic, sprinkle around some dried minced onion, oregano, salt, pepper, and cumin. You can't taste it now, obviously, but don't be afraid to be generous with spicing, it will taste great. If you only put brown sugar and salsa with the meat, it will still taste great.

Today I cooked about 1.5 lbs of chicken on high, and it took about 2.5 hours. Maybe less, that's when I checked. Lower and slower is always good when trying to get tenderness, but mine was just fine. For that much chicken I used about 1/3 cup of brown sugar and a couple of teaspoons of garlic.

SO EASY, DO IT! You dump a couple of things in a crockpot, and then at dinner time all you do is slice lettuce and tomatoes, warm some tortillas, go to all the effort of getting sour cream out of the fridge, and voila! Josh said he loves this food. It's the idea behind all of the Cafe Rio recipes, but way simpler. So, add to it what you want, serve with it what you want, but as for me and my pregnant self, I had a delicious dinner with 10 total minutes of work. Not bad.

Super Fast Chicken Tacos

Gary and I made this up. And you people like it. We like how fast it is. Maybe someday we will measure when we make it . . . but wouldn't that take away from the speed?

You will need:
canned chicken
onion (or onion powder)
garlic (or garlic powder)
cumin
italian dressing
salt and pepper
and maybe some chili powder, lemon juice, vinegar, and/or brown sugar

Start out by sauteing the onion and garlic in a pot. I think this is delicious, but if you have no fresh ingredients or time, skip it.
Add the canned chicken. The broth usually helps keep it moist.
Sprinkle liberally with cumin, italian dressing, salt, and pepper. If you have no italian dressing you can add vinegar or lemon juice. Or nothing. Or add it even if you have the dressing. This is all to taste.
Stir and heat. Taste until it tastes right. Chili powder and brown sugar are yummy, too. Add water if it seems too dry, it will soak into the chicken or evaporate out, so don't worry about it getting watery unless you really go for it on the water.

When it tastes yummy serve in tortillas (we like corn tortillas) with all the fixin's . . . sour cream, salsa, lettuce tomatoes, avacado if you have them, whatever else mexican-ish you want. Rice and beans . . .

Super-exact recipe, sorry. I would say don't be shy when adding the flavorings, it's not as tasty when you add too little. In no time flat you will be munching on tasty tacos!

Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites


6-8 oz. bacon (1/2 of 1 package)
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small (or 1/2 larger) green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 28-oz. can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/8-1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce (no need to measure it, just add a few shakes and go from there)
1 1/2 c. long-grain rice


Cook bacon until crisp in a Dutch oven if possible. Remove from pan and drain the grease, reserving 2 tablespoons in the pan. Return the pan to medium heat and add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent. While the onions are cooking, place the tomatoes in the jar of your blender and pulse 2-3 times to chop them. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice is not burning. Serves 6-ish and makes great leftovers.

Salsa

Just barely made this. Delicious.

2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can whole tomatoes
1 small can diced green chilies
1 small bunch green onions- chopped
1 small can tomato sauce (yellow duck sauce)
use about 1/4 of the can, the more the hotter
salt

Put in blender and turn on-off quickly. Be sure not to make too runny. Best when served after it's sat for a little while.