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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query lamb. Sort by date Show all posts
I have been carrying on a love affair with Mexican food since I first tasted it some 40 odd years ago. It was not something that we grew up with. My parents did not really go in for foreign food. The only spices my father liked mom to use was salt and pepper.
She did get away with cooking us what she called "Italian Spaghetti" now and then and it was nothing more than a pound of ground beef cooked with a can of Catelli spaghetti sauce and served over noodles. Not my favorite thing.
She discovered oregano when I was in high school, and she started using that in everything. She also discovered Chili con Carne, which was a recipe from off a tin of tomato soup. I wasn't fond of that either, but my father loved it.
Then there was pizza which one of my boyfriends taught us how to make using boxed Chef Boy Ar Dee Pizza mix. That was as foreign as we got in our home!
The first real Mexican experience I had was when my children were growing up and I tried a recipe for Enchiladas out of a Sunset cooking book. The original recipe was for Chicken Enchiladas, but I made them with leftover turkey. We all loved them.
We all fell in love with Mexican food and it's a love affair that has been growing ever since! I have never been to Mexico, but I love the flavors.
There was a Mexican restaurant in Fredericton we used to love to go to called Mexicali Rosa's. They brought fresh tortilla chips and salsa to the table while you were waiting. I loved to order the fajitas or the tacos.
I saw this birria tacos recipe on a blog called Grandbaby Cakes. They looked fabulous. I could not wait to try them. I ordered some special ingredients that were needed from Amazon and then I made a half recipe of them, and they were the most delicious tacos I have ever eaten.
Fork tender, rich, and succulent beef in a rich adobo sauce, with plenty of cheese, all tucked into corn tortillas and fried until crispy. Served with a spicy broth for dipping. It doesn't get much better than this!
.JPG "Ingredients for chili paste")
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BIRRIA TACOS
There are actually two components to the dish. A feisty and delicious chili paste that you make first and then there is the beef and stuff needed for the broth. It looks like a long list, but it's mostly spices.
For the chili paste:
- 2 dried ancho chilies
- 1 dried guajillo chili
- 2 Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup (60ml) crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 TBS red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp whole oregano leaf
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp paprika
For the meat and dipping sauce:
- 1/2 TBS light olive oil
- 1 3/4 pounds of beef, cut into chunks
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 2 cups (480ml) beef stock or broth
- 1 cup (140ml) water
For the Taco assembly:
- 9 corn tortillas
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
- shredded Oaxaca or Monterrey Jack cheese (I used Jack)
I ordered the dry chilies and the chilies in adobo sauce from Amazon. I had everything else in my store cupboard. For the meat I used a round roast that I bought marked down, which I cut up into cubes. It worked beautifully. You could also use lamb if you can find it.
I buy my corn tortillas at Sobey's here in Nova Scotia. They are actual real corn tortillas from Mexico!
About a week after I made these my friend Victoria in California send me some Mexican chilies from where she lives along with a Mexican tablecloth, so next time I cook Tex-Mex, you will have a much more adventurous background to see!
HOW TO MAKE BIRRIA TACOS
You might think these are complicated, but they are very simple. Basically, they are just stewed meat, shredded, stuffed into a tortilla with cheese and onion and fried. Served with a broth for dipping. Kind of like a Mexican French Dip. (LOL talk about fusion!)
Start by making the chili paste. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles. Add about 1 cup/240ml of water to a medium size pot and bring to the boil. Add the chilies, cover and leave to sit off the heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
At the end of that time add the chilies to a heavy-duty blender or food processor along with the remaining ingredients for the paste. Blend until smooth and thick.
Preheat the oven to 325*F/160*C/ gas mark 3. Add the oil to a flame proof casserole dish and heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Brown it in batches in the hot oil, removing it to a bowl as it browns.
When the meat is done, add the onion to the pan and sauté until it starts to brown. Return the meat to the pan along with the chili paste. Add the bouillon cube, and water to the casserole and give everything a good stir. Bring to a simmer and then cover.
Roast/braise in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is falling apart. Remove from the meat from the broth and shred with two forks. Taste and adjust seasoning on the broth as desired. Remove and set aside about 3/4 cup of the broth (about half).
Return the beef to the remaining broth. To the reserved broth add some coriander and the onion. Set aside for use as the dipping sauce.
Heat a knob of butter or some oil in a skillet over medium heat. Dip a tortilla into the top part of the broth in the casserole.
Fry for a few seconds in the oil, and then flip over. Top with meat, onion, coriander and cheese allowing the cheese to melt and get gooey. Remove from the pan.
Repeat with all of the tortillas. Serve with the dipping sauce and enjoy!
These are a truly amazingly delicious treat. I am in love with them! My recipe makes 9 which is more than enough for two people to enjoy with leftovers for the next day. (Everyone loves leftover tacos right?)
If you are a fan of Tex Mex you just might also enjoy these recipes:
QUICK & EASY BAKED CHICKEN TACOS -These are so quick to throw together. You can have them made, baked and on the table in about 20 minutes, ready to enjoy. Not only are they quick and easy, but they are also very delicious!
CHICKEN FAJITAS -These delicious Fajitas are a tiny bit different than the usual. Sized for two but can easily be doubled. You need to marinate the chicken for 1/2 hour prior to cooking.
Birria Tacos
Yield: 9 tacos
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 2 H & 50 M
I half sized a recipe for these delicious tacos filled with tender beef in a rich adobo broth. Fried to perfection they are delicious enjoyed repeatedly dipped into that lush sauce/broth.
Ingredients
For the chili paste:
- 2 dried ancho chilies
- 1 dried guajillo chili
- 2 Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup (60ml) crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 TBS red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp whole oregano leaf
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp paprika
For the meat and dipping sauce:
- 1/2 TBS light olive oil
- 1 3/4 pounds of beef, cut into chunks
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 2 cups (480ml) beef stock or broth
- 1 cup (140ml) water
For the Taco assembly:
- 9 corn tortillas
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
- shredded Oaxaca or Monterrey Jack cheese
Instructions
- Start by making the chili paste. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles. Add about 1 cup/240ml of water to a medium size pot and bring to the boil. Add the chilies, cover and leave to sit off the heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
- At the end of that time add the chilies to a heavy-duty blender or food processor along with the remaining ingredients for the paste. Blend until smooth and thick.
- Preheat the oven to 325*F/160*C/ gas mark 3.
- Add the oil to a flame proof casserole dish and heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Brown it in batches in the hot oil, removing it to a bowl as it browns.
- When the meat is done, add the onion to the pan and sauté until it starts to brown. Return the meat to the pan along with the chili paste.
- Add the bouillon cube, and water to the casserole and give everything a good stir. Bring to a simmer and then cover.
- Roast/braise in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is falling apart.
- Remove from the meat from the broth and shred with two forks.
- Taste and adjust seasoning on the broth as desired. Remove and set aside about 3/4 cup of the broth (about half) and set aside. Return the beef to the broth.
- To the reserved broth add some coriander and the onion. Set aside for use as the dipping sauce.
- Heat a knob of butter or some oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Dip a tortilla into the top part of the broth in the casserole. Fry for a few seconds and then flip over. Top with meat, onion, coriander and cheese allowing the cheese to melt and get gooey. Remove from the pan.
- Repeat with all of the tortillas. Serve with the dipping sauce and enjoy!
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Today's recipe is the type of recipe everyone should have tucked up their sleeve. It comes in very handy when you are not ready yet to go shopping and you find yourself with a few bits in the refrigerator which are still good to use, but not enough that a person could make a meal of them on their own.
I will often find myself with a piece of a head of broccoli, an onion, perhaps a carrot or two, a couple pieces of bell pepper, a tomato, etc. You know what I mean. There is nothing wrong with them but for the fact that there are not huge amounts of them.
Its happened to us all, but that doesn't mean that any of these tasty vegetables should go to waste, or that you need dash to the store until you really want to. You can make a delicious, quick and easy stir fry with them by adding a bit of this and a bit of that and a lot of ingenuity!
One thing I love about stir fries is you don't need a lot of anything really, not even the protein part . . . and almost anything works protein wise. Beef, chicken, pork, fish, tofu . . . quorn. You can even use leftover cooked meats if you really wanted to, but I like to use fresh myself.
That way I can marinate the protein first and really get some flavour into it, but I suppose you could marinate cooked meats as well if you really wanted to. A few nice flavours such as soy sauce, sesame oil, hot chili oil, garlic, five spice powder, garlic . . . and all of that lovely veg and protein thrown together in a pan and cooked into a delicious chinese feast. All you need on the side is a bit of rice, and Bob's your Uncle.
No need to shop right away, and everyone is happy. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. Just add them from the order of the ones which will take the longest to cook to the quickest cooking ones and it will all work out well. Cheap, cheerful and cooked to order. You can't get much better than that! Enjoy!
*Clean Out the Fridge Stir Fry*
Serves 4
A great end of the week supper. Quick and easy to make. Serves 4
1/2 tsp five spice powder
2 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 tsp grated ginger rootcut into wedges)
rice to serve
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a TBS of peanut or vegetable oil. Drop in the meat. No need to drain. Cook and stir, flipping it around and adding vegetables as required and according to the length of time it will take them to cook. Add the ones who take the longest first and work your way up to the ones which will cook really quickly. Keep flipping and stirring until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are crispy tender. Serve hot with rice.
I am in the process of testing side dishes for the up and coming holidays and this week I really wanted to try this recipe I found in a book by Diana Henry. The name of the book is Pure Simple Cooking.
It is filled to overflowing with an abundance of simple recipes which require very few ingredients and not a lot of effort. When you are talking holiday meals, any recipe which meets those requirements is a plus for me!
I adore onions. They are quite simply one of my favorite vegetables and they go really well with roasts of any kind! Turkey, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, even ham.
These delectable onions would be a perfect side dish with any one of those meats. And when I say delectable, I mean delectable. These onions simply melt in the mouth.
Are you the person who always wants to pig out on that onion which has roasted in the middle of your roast chicken? (and who isn't!) If so, then this recipe is built just for you!
I don't know why I am always amazed when such simple ingredients and techniques come out crazy delicious. I shouldn't be. We all know its the simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure after all!
Caramelized onions are one of my favorite things to eat, but they are rather time consuming and you do have to keep a close watch on them. Worth the effort, but still . . .
When you are cooking a roast dinner you have plenty of other things to do, without having to babysit a skillet of onions! With a tiny bit of prep, these quite simply cook themselves! Easy peasy!
As you all know by now, I am a no fuss no muss kind of a girl. You can call it lazy if you want to, but the truth is I like recipes that can get me in and out of the kitchen with little or no effort.
Yes, they have to taste delicious, but recipes that cook themselves? Sign me up!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE MELTING ONIONS
Very simple ingredients are needed to make these onions and you only need four ingredients.
- medium sized brown onions, skins on
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- salted butter
HOW DO YOU MAKE MELTING ONIONS
Nothing could be easier to make. With just a tiny bit of prep, these can be in the oven and roasting in no time at all.
First of all you will need six medium sized brown onions. By brown onion I mean onions with brown skins. You need to do a bit of prep on them, but not a lot.
Wash them really well and dry them and then trim all those hairy bits from the root end. You can just cut them off as close to the root as possible. You want essentially to make sure that the root end stays intact.
Although it is not essential you will also want to trim a bit from the stem end of the onion. I like to cut a thin slice from the top, discarding it.
You then need to make a deep cross cut down the height of the onion towards the root end, only going down 3/4 of the way.
Make sure you don't cut them all the way through the bottom. You want them to stay together.
You then rub them all over with some extra virgin olive oil. This is when you want an oil with some flavor, so extra virgin olive oil is perfect. You will also be seasoning them with some salt and pepper.
I like to use fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Once you have rubbed and seasoned them you need to pop them into a roasting dish that is small enough to hold them all snugly in a single layer.
This helps to keep them intact during the long roasting time. I used a 6 inch cake tin because I was only roasting 3 onions today for testing purposes.
They are then covered tightly with some more foil and popped into a moderately hot oven. (375*F/190*C) Initially they need to roast for a fairly long period of time. 70 minutes.
But essentially, they are cooking themselves. You can just walk away and get on with whatever else you need to be doing.
At the end of the that time you remove from the oven and add some butter. Just plain salted butter.
I cut it into slivers and inserted it into the cuts of the onions so that the flavor gets right in there.
Back into the oven they go for another 25 minutes, until that butter gets all nut brown and golden and the onions get to the point where they really do melt in the mouth.
You will need to baste them a couple of times with the melted butter. Not a problem. The end result is something that brings pure and simple taste satisfaction.
You can also turn these delectable little morsels . . . cheesy melted onions . . . by adding some grated strong cheddar cheese and popping them back into the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt.
Cheese and onion are perfect partners and this makes for a fabulous finish for what is essentially one of the simplest and most delicious sides dishes you could ever put together. I highly recommend!
PS - Do caution your guests to peel off the skins prior to eating. The onions slip out of them very easily. This tiny bit of hassle is well worth it. Trust me on this.
Melting Onions
Yield: 6 as a side dish (can easily be halved)
Prep time: 8 MinCook time: 1 H & 32 MTotal time: 1 H & 40 M
These will be the star of the show! These delicious onions melt in your mouth.
Ingredients
- 6 medium onions, skins left on
- 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup (60g) salted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5. Have ready a baking dish that you can fit all the onions in upright, snugly.
- Carefully trim the bizarre bits from the root end of the onion, leaving the root and skins intact. Trim a sliver from the other end as well. Make a cross cut into each onion 3/4 of the way down the height of the onion, taking care not to cut all the way to the bottom.
- Rub the onions all over with the oil, season with salt and pepper and then fit snugly into a small ovenproof dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Roast for 70 minutes. Uncover. Divide the butter amongst the onions, sliding it down into the centers. Bake for a further 25 minutes, basting them with the melted butter a few times. Serve at once.
Notes:
You can turn these into melting onions with cheese by adding some grated or cut strong cheddar (about 6 ounces) and stuffing it into the centers of each onion when done. Return to the oven just until the cheese has melted. Delicious!
You can also add herbs to these. Fresh thyme leaves are especially nice.
I am a huge fan of baked rice recipes. They are so simple to do. No fuss. No muss cooking. That is how I like to do things for the most part in my kitchen.
I am also a huge fan of oriental flavors! That's why when I saw this recipe for an easy oven rice on Recipe Tin Eats I immediately popped it onto my "to do" list of things to try!
I knew I wouldn't be disappointed and I wasn't! Its fabulously tasty!
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
I did cut the quantities in half and made a much smaller batch, as well as adapting it to my way of doing things in my kitchen and the ingredients I happened to have on hand. This worked very well for me.
I just didn't think I needed that much rice for just little old me. Not that I don't enjoy leftovers. I do. But these days I am really getting more into small batch cooking because I have found that to do otherwise in my kitchen means waste.
And I hate waste. My freezer can only hold so much.
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
This easy dish makes the perfect mid-week side dish! There is no need to precook the rice ahead of time. Nor the vegetables. You simply stir everything together in a baking dish, cover and bake, leaving your hands free to get on with something else.
Easy peasy. I also like this recipe because it uses ingredients that I normally have on hand, so its a great store-cupboard recipe as well!
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE OVEN BAKED FRIED RICE
Like I said above, simple store cupboard ingredients. If you keep a fairly well stocked larder like I do, I am betting you can even make this today!
- 3/4 cup (160g) uncooked long grain rice
- 1 cup (240ml) chicken or vegetable stock
- 3/4 TBS soy sauce
- 1/2 TBS rice wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 cup (150g) frozen mixed vegetables, unthawed (a mix of peas, corn, carrots and beans)
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 2 rashers of thick sliced streaky smoked bacon, diced
To garnish:
- 1 spring onion, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 large free range egg, beaten
- 1/2 TBS toasted sesame oil
Optional additions: (your choice)
- chopped cooked meats (chicken, pork, beef, prawns)
- finely shredded cabbage (cooked crispy tender)
- bean sprouts
- baby spinach (chop and stir through at the end, the heat from the rice will cook it.)
- a splash of hot sauce (Sriracha is good)
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
I used Uncle Ben's converted long grain rice for my dish. You can also use Basmati, medium and short grain rice. It is not recommended that you use Jasmine rice, brown rice, paella rice, risotto rice, wild rice, quinoa or other specialty rice.
You also don't need to rinse the rice first. I didn't. If you feel that you do, then you need to reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1 TBS for this small batch recipe.
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
Mixed frozen vegetables. I always keep a bag of these in my freezer. I use the mix that has peas, corn, green beans and carrots. This is the most common mix and I find it comes in handy for all sorts.
Pot pies, soups, omelets, etc. I added the vegetables frozen and they were perfectly cooked when the rice was done. Not overcooked in the least.
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
I always have bacon frozen in my freezer. I buy it by the one pound package and separate it when I get it home. I usually buy two packs when it is on offer at the shops.
One I will cook and then freeze for times when I want or need some cooked bacon for whatever it is I am making.
The other package I will separate into individual rashers. I roll each rasher up and pop them single layered into an airtight container. Into the freezer it goes.
Once frozen you can transfer the frozen rolls into a zip lock bag if you want. These frozen rolls are very convenient for when you only want a few rashers of bacon as they thaw quickly.
Its also super-easy to chop them while the bacon is frozen. If you have ever tried to chop raw bacon that is not frozen, you know how difficult this is! It stretches, etc. Not easy! Its much better to do it when the bacon is frozen.
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
HOW TO MAKE OVEN BAKED FRIED RICE
Nothing could be easier. I am rather lazy at times and this fits right in with that!
Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Have ready a 7 X 11-inch casserole dish.
Place all of the ingredients for the rice, except for the bacon, egg and onion into the baking dish. Give it a good stir and then spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the chopped bacon over top. Cover tightly with foil.
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 12 to 15 minutes. Re-cover and let stand for about 5 minutes while you cook the egg.
Spray a skillet with some canola oil spray. Add the beaten egg and lightly scramble until just cooked.
Drizzle the rice with the sesame oil. Scatter the egg and onion over top. Fork through and fluff with a fork, adding in any optional ingredients you enjoy, or not.
Serve immediately.
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
You can of course turn this into a main dish by adding any quantity of cooked meats (beef, pork, ham, lamb, ground beef), poultry (chicken or turkey) or other protein (think prawns here) at the end, simply stirring them into the rice when you fluff it up. Easy peasy.
If you like more egg by all means scramble two of them! I found one large free range egg to be just the right amount!
.JPG "Oven Baked Fried Rice")
Baked rice, its a good thing as Martha would say! Beautifully textured and nicely flavored. Some other baked rice dishes you might also enjoy are:
BAKED MUSHROOM RICE - A mix of rice, stock, thyme and garlic powder is put into the bottom of a casserole dish and covered with a thick layer of garlic mushrooms. No need to cover as the layer of mushrooms serves as a sort of a jacket for the rice, covering it . . . the juices running down and mingling with the stock and rice beneath it as it cooks. This is fabulously delicious!
GARLIC CHEDDAR CHICKEN & RICE BAKE - Loaded with chicken and rice and plenty of cheese, this delicious and easy casserole is the epitome of comfort food. Its all very simple to make. Just mix the chicken, rice, some chicken stock, grated cheddar and your seasonings together in a casserole dish. Cover and bake. Easy peasy.
BAKED RICE PILAF - Delicious and simple to make. Healthy and economical as well. With carrots, onion, celery and rice, at the end of the cooking time you are rewarded with a delicious perfectly cooked rice pilaf that is loaded with color, veg and fibre! This is a beautiful side dish to go with just about anything. No fuss. No muss.
Oven Baked Fried Rice (small batch)
Yield: 2 - 3
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 42 MinInactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 52 Min
Nothing could be easier than this dump and go dish. Just throw everything into a casserole and bake. No need to cook the rice ahead of time. The end result is a well seasoned and delicious, perfectly cooked dish of rice that tastes amazingly just like fried rice!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (160g) uncooked long grain rice
- 1 cup (240ml) chicken or vegetable stock
- 3/4 TBS soy sauce
- 1/2 TBS rice wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 cup (150g) frozen mixed vegetables, unthawed (a mix of peas, corn, carrots and beans)
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 2 rashers of thick sliced streaky smoked bacon, diced
To garnish:
- 1 spring onion, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 large free range egg, beaten
- 1/2 TBS toasted sesame oil
Optional additions: (your choice)
- chopped cooked meats (chicken, pork, beef, prawns)
- finely shredded cabbage (cooked crispy tender)
- bean sprouts
- baby spinach (chop and stir through at the end, the heat from the rice will cook it.)
- a splash of hot sauce (Sriracha is good)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6.
- Have ready a 7 X 11-inch casserole dish.
- Place all of the ingredients for the rice, except for the bacon, egg and onion into the baking dish. Give it a good stir and then spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the chopped bacon over top. Cover tightly with foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 12 to 15 minutes.
- Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes while you cook the egg.
- Spray a skillet with some canola oil spray. Add the beaten egg and lightly scramble until just cooked.
- Drizzle the rice with the sesame oil. Scatter the egg and onion over top. Fork through and fluff with a fork, adding in any optional ingredients you enjoy, or not.
- Serve immediately.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
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