Pasilla Pepper Sauce for meat

Chicken Soup

A delicious favorite on a cold day: Chicken Soup!  This recipe is very Caucasian friendly.  It has no hot chili peppers cooked into it.  If you want to spice it up, just add some red salsa while at the table.

8-10 Chicken Legs
THE VEGGIES:
2-3 potatoes (clean and quarter)
2-3 stalks celery (cut into 2 inch pieces)
4-5 ears of corn (break in half)
1 Chayote (a potato-like green Mexican veggie: cut into quarters)
 2-3 carrots (cut long ways and into 2 inch pieces)
1/2 head of cabbage (cut again in half or quarter)
1 onion (cut into quarters)
1 bunch cilantro (chopped)
garlic
oregano
thyme
salt


At the grocery store I go to, I can buy a pack of the veggies that go into this soup.  If you are not able to find all the veggies in a pack, I listed them out for you.  I add extra corn, carrots and another potato on top of the pack as well. 



Skim off the oils and scum of the chicken legs.



How to make it:

Boil chicken legs in a large pot of salty water with one teaspoon-tablespoon of jarred garlic and 1/2 to 1 onion cut into quarters.  Water should completely cover the chicken with plenty of room for the veggies that will be added later.  While cooking, skim off the bone marrow scum that bubbles at the top about two times.  This will create a nice clear broth.  When legs are cooked (after about 40 minutes) add all the veggies.  Make sure there is enough salt.  My husband always adds more salt than I do and his always tastes better.  Add about 1 tablespoon oregano, one tablespoon thyme and one tablespoon garlic.  Last time I made this, I used garlic powder and it worked out well.  Cook for another 20 minutes until the veggies are tender and they sink into the broth.

Serve soup in a large bowl with a scoop of rice in the bottom of the bowl.

On table have quartered limes and red salsa (recipe to come) or hot sauce.

Ready to eat?  Squeeze a lime (or four) into the soup and enjoy.

I plan to measure the salt that is added and including more exact measurements.  Really, if there is not enough salt, you will get a kind of earthy taste.  Adding the right amount of salt will heighten the flavor.

Chicken Enchilatas with Green Sauce

So, once you make the Green Salsa, you can create some other dishes too.  Another favorite: Chicken Enchiladas!  Three main components are the chicken, green salsa, tortillas and garnish.  Order of operations:

Chicken:

• Boil chicken breasts in salty water with a quartered medium onion and 1-2 teaspoons of jarred garlic
• (You could buy a rotisserie chicken and just skip the first steps)
• When fully cooked drain hot water and run cold water over it in order to cool it off for shredding
• Shred chicken by just pulling it into pieces- like the width of half a straw
• Set chicken aside

Green Sauce/Salsa:

• Boil tomatillos Serrano peppers and one onion until you see the tomatillos turn a lighter shade of green. (If they are boiled too much, the tomatillos will break apart, but still okay to use.)
• Blend:
• 20 tomatillos
• 6 Serranos peppers
• 1/2 of an onion
• One handful of cilantro
• About one teaspoon jarred garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon of salt (roughly)
• one teaspoon black pepper
• couple shakes of oregano and thyme
• Blend up in batches on medium/high- if you make a batch that is too spicy, do not use as many Serranos in the next batch and it will even out
• Blend the salsa until it no longer is chunky and the cilantro is in fine bits

FYI: 

• Leaving out spices will change the flavor, but if you are like my sister, she leaves out the cumin because she does not care for it.
• Salt dramatically changes the flavors of hot peppers (spicy peppers such as Serranos).  My husband always adds way more salt than I think would be necessary, but it greatly improves the flavor.  My suggestion is to just try it out... Spoon out a small bowl of the green salsa and add more salt to it.  Eat with a piece of tortilla (not a chip since they also have salt) and see if you like it.  I have begun to add more salt when I cook and then we do not have a salt shaker at the table.  Food is much tastier if seasoned properly.  Watch Top Chef- the judges never add salt while eating. If the food is poorly seasoned, it is not rated very highly.

Tortillas:

• Warm a skillet with a teaspoon of corn oil on medium high
• Place a tortilla in the skillet, swirl it in the hot oil, heat both sides for about 30 seconds... enough time to heat, but not crispy or brown.
• (You might want to use tongs so as to not burn your fingers)
• (No need to soak the tortillas in the oil, just enough to soften them for rolling)
• Place heated tortilla on plate
• Arrange a line of shredded chicken on the tortilla and roll it up
• Roll 3 or more tortillas with chicken on a plate-depending on how hungry you are. (OK, I get 4 usually)
• (Some people cook/fry up the tortillas and place them onto a paper towel.  When you have all you need, take one tortilla, dip it into the salsa, place on plate and roll it up with the chicken.

Garnish and Enjoy:

• Smother the rolled chicken tortillas with Salsa Verde (your green salsa)
• Top with crumbled Queso Fresco (which means Fresh Cheese), chopped cilantro and diced onion, maybe even some extra shredded chicken or Quesadilla Cheese.
• Serve with black beans and sour cream on the table.

For the kids, I just roll up chicken in the tortillas for chicken tacos.

Pork Ribs and Green Salsa

Ok, lets start cooking!  A favorite dish of ours is Pork Ribs with Green Sauce/Salsa.  This was one of the first recipes that I mastered... I mean learned how to cook without asking a lineage of questions directed at my husband. 

Total time: about 2 hours
Active cooking/prep time: about 30 minutes

Ingredients:
about 3lbs Pork Ribs
20 Tomatillos (the green tomatoes with a strange husk that surround them)
6 Serrano peppers (green fresh peppers that are a bit smaller than then jalapeno)
2 medium onions
one bunch Cilantro
Cumin
Garlic (from jar and some garlic powder)
Oregano (optional)
Thyme (optional)
Pepper
Salt

The Meat:

• Boil ribs in salty water with quartered onion- about 1 hour- keep a lid slightly ajar so that the water will not completely evaporate while cooking.
• Drain in a colander and rinse each rib piece clean of the scum that forms from the bones
• Return meat to the now empty pan
• Optional:  Drizzle some oil (corn/vegetable) on the meat and turn on the fire to med-high.  Saute the meat until you see it getting a bit brown (this just adds some flavor and texture)
• The meat is now ready for the green sauce/salsa to be added to the pot.

Green Sauce/Salsa

• Boil tomatillos, Serrano peppers and one onion until you see the tomatillos turn a lighter shade of green.  (If they are boiled too much, the tomatillos will break apart, but still okay to use.)
• Blend: tomatillos, Serranos, onion, handful of cilantro, about one teaspoon jarred garlic, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, one teaspoon of salt (or more), one teaspoon black pepper, couple shakes of oregano and thyme
• Do this in batches- if you blend up a batch that is too spicy, do not use as many Serrano the next time
• Leaving out spices will change the flavor, but if you are like my sister, she leaves out the cumin because she does not care for it.
• When you have blended up the salsa until it no longer is chunky and the cilantro is in fine pieces, pour over the meat
• Cook meat in the green salsa for another 35-45 minutes and the meat will fall off the bone.

Ribs can be bought in a large slab or already cut

Cut the ribs- it would be difficult without a large sharp knife

Boil ribs in salt water with onion, add garlic too if you want

Keep the lid ajar

Rinse the meat

Brown it up, back in the pan- Put some meat aside for any children- keep it boiling in a small pot

 Boil tomatillos and Serrano pepers

 

 Blend it up!

 Cook meat covered in the green salsa.

Serve with Simple Rice and Pinto Beans- cilantro for garnish if you want.

 

Yummy! 

Tortillas and Sour Cream on the table- Gabriel loves the meat dipped in cream!

The Spice Rack

Most of the spices that I use in the Mexican cooking my husband has taught me, you probably already have on your spice rack.  I was surprised to learn how some of them are common in Mexican dishes, like Oregano, which I associate with Italian foods.  So, here is the list of spices and some items you will find them in:

Our Commonly Used Spices:
 Thyme (used in some soups)
Oregano (used in some soups)
Cumin (used in green salsa/sauce)
Red Pepper flakes (like those at pizza places- can spice up soups)
Garlic Powder (add to rice if out of fresh or jarred)
Black Pepper (for just about everything)

This is a pack of bullion cubes which is used in the delicious tomato soup, recipe will be posted later.

The Tortillia and the Chip

Every family has their favorite tortilla.  Of course a hand-made fresh tortilla is definitely delicious, realistically I do not have time to even try to conquer that culinary task.  I can now find out favorite, El Milagro, in major chain grocery stores.  Growing up, my mom would have dinner rolls or sliced bread for just about evey meal.  Now, my own family has tortillias.  I have a flat non-stick skillet that I use to heat the tortillias, just enough on each side... like warm... I like it when the edges are a little crispy, sometimes brown.  Yum. 

El Milagro- Blancas (made with white corn)

Yum- El Milagro tortillia chips

Heat It Up

Essential to Mexican cuisine is the chili pepper.  I buy some fresh peppers on a regular basis while others I keep in the pantry because they are dried.  I have found the dried ones in chain grocery stores, but I suggest going to a Mexican market to purchase them due to the higher quality and freshness.  I found the Scoville Heat Guide picture to give an idea as to the heat of the peppers. 

Four chilies that I always have on hand:

Fresh peppers:
Serrano (for green salsa, soups, or to add heat to beans)

Dried peppers:
Pasilla (makes a great dark red sauce for meats)
Arbol (for red salsa)
Guajillo (for another red salsa)

  

As strange as it may seem, I never use the Jalepeno.  It is lower on the heat spectrum than the Serrano and it would be a good alternative to the Serrano in dishes. Each pepper has a different flavor, but substituting Jalepenos for Serranos will not change your dish that dramatically.  If you want to experiment with the flavors, cut the very end of any given pepper and mash it up with some sour cream.  Spread the mix on a chip for a delicious treat and experience the different flavors of the chilies without burning up your mouth. 

Arbol Chili

Pasilla Chili