Green Chilli and Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken enchiladas aren't something you really ever find on a Tex-Mex menu in the UK. If you do see them it's going to be some variation of the idea, but never a complete picture of the real thing. If I was going to stick true to my mom's recipe I'd only be able to follow the exact recipe whenever I came across an American product called 'rotel'. Rotel is a brand of canned tomatoes and green chillies. Slightly spicy, and mostly used in Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes. It's particularly good in queso but of course I never have it.

For any expats reading this, I have basically found a really easy way to make it. I drain a can of chopped tinned tomatoes, and roast two green peppers and a green chilli. After it's roasted for about 40 minutes in a 200C oven, I wrap the chillies and peppers in cling film until it becomes room temperature, then remove the cling film and the skin of the chillies and peppers just peel off. I take out the seeds of the green pepper, and reserve the seeds on the chilli to make it as hot as I'd like. Then mix it with the drained tomatoes. Voila! Instant Rotel. The good thing about it is you can make it as hot or mild as you want. Anyways, this is what you need for the chicken enchiladas recipe that I'm making of my mom's.

Sometimes if can get to Coolchile.co.uk in the right season, they sell poblano peppers which are infinitely better in flavour when compared to green peppers. But since those are hard to come by, this is a really easy short cut to the recipe. And oh yea, I forgot to mention the other difficult part to this recipe. Corn Tortillas. Never in the UK have I ever tried to make enchiladas with the crap that Old El Paso tries to sell as corn tortillas. I have to order mine at about £2.50 a dozen from CoolChile.co.uk. Fair enough because they're the exact right kind I need for this recipe. I have linked to the exact ones I use for reference. They have a 'bakers dozen' I believe which is 13, so I that's what these make 13 fat enchiladas. Adjust as you like, but these are pretty authentic to my moms.

On another note, I usually do everything in advance and then just assemble on the day.

Ingredients:
1 1.3kg small chicken boiled and deboned
13 corn tortillas from coolchile
350g mild lighter cheddar cheese finely grated
1 large onion chopped in a food proc
2 green peppers
1 chilli
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes drained
750ml chicken stock – I used the liquid from the boiled chicken
40g butter
40g flour
1 clove garlic

To Start:
Boil the chicken and debone. Of course you can use pre deboned chicken, you'll need about 500grams. I boil mine with onion, pepper, garlic and salt.
Roast the bell pepper and chilli for 40minutes at 200C, wrap in clingfilm and wait till room temp.
Dice and set aside.
Grate the onion in a food processor.
Grate the cheese on the fine setting, put in the fridge if not using immediately.


For the Sauce:

For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan then add in the flour, and stir continuously for about five minutes to cook off the flour.
Next take off the skin on the green pepper and remove any seeds (see instructions in paragraph), and chop finely.
Stir into the butter and flour mixture until coated.
Slowly add in the stock 250mls at a time, and add more when it boils thick. Add stock slowly and simmer until you get a thick sauce that covers the back of the spoon. You might need slightly less than 750ml, so eyeball it.

1) spread some sauce around

2) fill the tortillas

For Assmebly:
Spoon about a quarter to half a cup of sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread around so the enchiladas don't stick.
Get your assembly station set up, cheese, grated onion, and chicken all in a row.

3) roll up and snuggle side by side

4) Pour over some sauce 

Microwave tortillas 5 at a time for about 30-45 seconds until soft.
***Make sure you leave about a third of the cheese for the top at the end.
Pour over the sauce, (if you're using two dishes, make sure to appropriate enough for both), then next with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 180C for about 40 minutes uncovered for 5 more.

Serve with rice, salad, and pinto beans.

5) cover with cheese 

6) Bake

Ignore my cat towels :D

Easy Chicken Mexican Pizza

Ok, so there's nothing gourmet about this dish. It's just a simple craving that I had and I know that this isn't even close to the real thing. Sometimes you just want junk on a Friday don't you? Back hom we have 'Taco Bell', I have't really been there in probably 10 years or so but sometimes I get a hankering for the idea of things. For this it was their 'Mexican Pizza', simply put a few tortillas with beans, grouned beef, some spices and cheese. I'm sure that this is utter garbage and will make your stomach churn with discomfort at the thought of the calories and nutrirtional value but I decided to do my own take on it. Obviously taking inspirations from all places sometimes leads to really good ideas!

Anyways, back to the recipe. For me, I decided to go with chicken on this one, and decided to take inspiration from my mom's chicken tacos, which I remember as a kid and really miss the flavour. I'm sure I can't recreate it near as good as I'm lacking in most of the spices, but you boil the chicken until well done, let it cool, debone it and then refry it with a bit of the water it poached in and some spices. Probably not the easiest dish I've ever made on a Friday as it was a bit time consuming with the chicken but if you wanted to do something else that's easier, like mince beef, or even precooked chicken that you buy, anything will work. I also mashed my own beans which makes a bit more work but I enjoy it anyways. So here's my Mexican Pizza as inspiration for a plethora of any other ideas you might have. This recipe serves two but could easily be made to suit your needs.

Oh, I forgot the sour cream in the photo! MMM

Ingredients:
200-300g cooked chicken meat (from about 500g boned meat)
1 400g black beans
2 onions
4 tortillas
1-2 cloves garlic
1-2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp. Cumin
salsa to taste
150g shredded/grated cheddar
chopped scallions, lettuce and tomatoes for garnish
Guacamole and sour cream to serve

To Start:
I started by boiling the chicken for about 45 minutes with onions, garlic salt and lots of pepper.
Take it out and cool it for about 30 minutes before deboning.
While all this is going on, open a tin of beans and drain until almost all the liquid is out.
Place in a small sauce pan and turn the heat on high and mash with a masher, adding the cumin and 1 tbsp of chilli powder.
You can add small spoonfuls of the chicken stock water if it gets too dry. If there is too much liquid just continue to slowly boil it off.
Cook these until a nice creamy consistancy and then turn off the heat.
For the chicken, when deboned place in a pan with a little bit of the broth, a freshly chopped onion and garlic and 1 tbsp of chilli powder.
Boil on high for about 10 minutes continuously adding the broth to keep the chicken hydrated.

To Assemble:
Fire up the grill to full blast and line a baking tray with foil.
Place the tortillas under the grill for a few seconds to get heated through.
Spread the bean mixture over the tortillas.
Next pile on the chicken and cheese and put under the grill for a few minutes or until cheese is melted.
Top with the other tortilla and spread salsa and more cheese and put under the grill again to melt
Finish with scallions, salad, guacamole and sour cream.

Authentic Tex-Mex Salsa

So the thing with salsa is, everyone and their mom has their own recipe to calltheir own. I am no different from this. In fact, almost every time I make salsa, it ends up being a different variation of this recipe. Simply because salsa is something you make with what you have. Sometimes you might not have fresh coriander, or sometimes you're out of fresh tomatoes and want to use a tin. I don't care what way I make it as long as I have some on my breakfast tacos. Oh yea, breakfast tacos, that's something that Brits will never get. Breakfast tacos are a thing, call it a wrap, call it a burrito, but get on this. It will change your life after you scramble up some eggs with bacon or potato and throw it in a tortilla and shove it in your gob, with some salsa of course. The possibilities are endless with salsa. Anyways, I love salsa. Lets get on to the recipe.

*Disclaimer –I can not verify these chips. They're Doritos lightly salted, which back home would be an absolute travesty to use with chips and salsa, but being in the UK Doesn't afford me much luxuries in the corn tortilla department. This is also something we need to get on as a nation. #soapbox over.

Anyways, lets get to it.

Delicious with chips and a margarita!

Ingredients:
400 ripe tomatoes
½ green pepper
1-2 chillies
3 cloves garlic
1-2 onions
A couple of handfuls of coriander (cilantro)
Pinch of cumin (optional)
1 tsp. Ground pepper
1 tsp. Salt (or to taste)

Method:
First chop up the chillies, pepper, garlic, onions and half the coriander.
Put in a saucepan to boil with about 300ml of water.
Add some salt and the pepper.
Bring to a boil and boil vigorously until the pepper has faded from bright green to dark green or the water is evaporated by more than half.

To Finish:
Chop up the tomatoes into big chunks and boil them for about 5 minutes until soft.
Then set aside, to cool for about 20 minutes.
Use a hand blender to blend it up into a nice runny consistancy.
You can leave it chunky but for purposes of being authentic we want a nice watery texture.
Check for seasoning and serve with some chips and drink my pineapple cocktail!

*Note - depending on your ingredients, this salsa will come out more red or more green, or sometimes if you use tinned tomatoes it will be a lot thicker.

Light Mexican Chorizo

When I moved to England, I couldn’t believe how many things I would miss from home! One of the most missed things is waking up early and getting potato, egg, and chorizo tacos on the way to school twice a week. Sadly there’s no Mexican chorizo to be had in the UK. What they have here is Spanish chorizo which is much different. There are similar flavours in that you’re tasting garlic and paprika, but more smoky paprika in Spanish chorizo. The thing I absolutely don’t miss about Mexican chorizo is the grease! Oh it tastes soo good but it’s not good for you!! There is something comforting in a bit of grease running down your arm while you grasp that taco first thing in the morning. However comforting that is, or might be it’s not for today’s recipe! This is super easy to make, and I haven’t taken any photos of things I’ve made with it but I just portion this recipe into four parts and it feeds two each time. I put it in the freezer and take it out for breakfast tacos, or mix with rice or potatoes for a side or main dish. Enjoy!

The possibilities are endless.

Ingredient List:
500g lean pork mince
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. ancho chilli powder
2 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. dried Mexican oregano
¼ tsp. pepper
2 tsp. chilli powder
1 ½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cayenne
¼ c. apple cider vinegar
Small pinch cinnamon
Small pinch cloves

Carne Guisada - A Tex-Mex Classic!

I made this recipe a few years ago and blogged about it, but I haven't made it since and I wanted to revisit the recipe, and tweak things and make it work again! In my childhood it was something I ate quite often. If it wasn't for my mother making it for me, I would be getting tacos at the local shop. It’s absolutely delicious and I never really thought about how it compares to other food in other countries. It really ends up being a stew, so I guess I would describe it as a Mexican stew. I even thought when I was done with it that it would be fantastic in a pie with a crust on it! Instead I went for tortillas, which will be cited below as a recipe. This is a simple dish made with cheap cuts of beef, stewed over a long period of time to make it completely tender and juicy. It’s easy to put this one on to cook and forget it, or you could even start it in a slow cooker although that wouldn’t be my personal preference. I decided to re-vamp the recipe and check all of the cooking times; the old recipe for reference is found here. There isn’t much I would change other than cooking it out a little longer. Depending on how you’re using this recipe, IE pie, or tacos or just simply on its own it can yield 2-4 servings.

Served with hot fresh tortillas :)

Ingredients:
400-500g lean diced stewing beef
2 green/red peppers
25g flour (about ¼ c.)
2 tbsp. tomato puree
4 cloves garlic
300ml water or beef stock
1 tbsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. Mexican dried oregano (regular oregano is fine)
½ tsp ground pepper
Salt to taste
Oil (if not using a non-stick pan)

To Start:
I don’t need oil because I use a non-stick pan, but if you aren’t, then heat oil in a large sauté pan.
Start to brown off the meat in a hot pan
Slice onions thinly along with the peppers.
Chop garlic – set aside.
Add to the pan and salt a bit to bring out some liquid.

To Finish:
When the peppers and onions have softened a bit add the garlic, cumin, oregano and flour.
Push the flour around in the pan for about 5 minutes cooking off the flour taste.
Next add the water/stock, and tomato puree, stir until well combined.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to low, cover and simmer for 1-2hrs.

Note: It’s easy for the liquid to evaporate so keep adding a little more in ¼ c. increments as needed every half hour or so. The meat will be done when the meat is tender and the sauce is a thick consistency. Happy cooking!

Skillet Salsa Eggs

I was going to call this Mexican eggs, but it ended up being almost exactly like huevos Rancheros, but not enough to be called huevos rancheros. So salsa eggs it is! This is more or less something I remember from my childhood. I don’t know where this dish comes from in my mind, but it’s a simple pleasure that strikes a very familiar chord with me. I don’t remember eating a lot of bacon growing up, except at some certain friends’ houses. My mom did always fry up some fresh tomatoes with chillies and put it along with eggs, and perhaps this is where it came from. Either way, in all practicality, it’s a hell of a way to have a hearty Sunday breakfast to cure any heavy night out previous. With its simple ingredients, all you need is a tortilla to sop up the goodness. Enjoy! This recipe is for two people, the tomato sauce can handle a couple more pieces of bacon and two more eggs before you crowd the pan too much!

Salsa, eggs, and bacon all in one pan!

Ingredients:
4 unsmoked bacon rashers ( you can use smoked )
4 eggs
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
½ green pepper
1 chilli
1 small onion
1-2 cloves garlic
2 pinches cumin
Coriander and cheese for garnish
Half can of water
Large sauté pan with a lid (non-stick preferably)
Oil if you’re not using non-stick

To Start:
Get a large sauté pan hot.
Dice the green pepper, onion, chilli and garlic.
Add the bacon to the pan and crispen up, about 1 minute.
Next add the green pepper onion chilli and garlic, stir frequently.
When the vegetables become fragrant add the tinned tomatoes and half a can of water.
Bring to a rapid boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.

To Finish:
When the veggies are soft, season with salt and pepper and cumin.
Make a little hole for the eggs by pushing aside the sauce.
Drop four eggs in the pan and turn the heat down to low and cover.
The eggs should be wobbly at the top and white.
All you need to do is top it with some queso fresco, or feta for those who can’t get it, and some coriander (cilantro).
Enjoy!

Diced Turkey Breast Fideo

For those of you that don’t know what fideo is, it’s a Spanish word for ‘noodle’, but it’s often used to describe one type of noodle dish in Mexican cuisine. Sometimes you’ll find it as a soup called sopa de fideo, but my mom usually just made a thicker version without the soup. I absolutely love to make this, and I was ecstatic when I found vermicelli nests! It’s basically the exact same stuff you would get in a local grocery store back home, except they’re longer and swirled into nests instead of small straight noodles. These noodles cook super fast which makes them a great choice for a quick weeknight meal. This is also wonderful as a vegetarian option without the meat. I hope you give it a try! This serves 3.

Ingredients:
500g diced turkey breast (or you could use mince)
125g vermicelli nests or fideo noodles
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
½ green pepper
1 small onion
1 ½ tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp. oil
Handful of chopped coriander

To start:
Dice onion and pepper.
Heat up your stock to have ready.

To cook:
In a shallow sauté pan, heat the oil and fry together the onions, pepper and turkey meat. About 5-6 min.
When the turkey is nearly done and browned on all sides, crush up the vermicelli nests and drop in the pan and stir to combine. (The point is to toast up the noodles)
Next add the cumin.
Stir thoroughly for another 5 minutes.
Next add the tin of tomatoes, coriander and the hot stock 1 cup at a time. Stir thoroughly, and bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer.
Cover for a further 5 minutes or until noodles are soft.

Chorizo and Potato Quesadillas

I know what you’re thinking, what am I doing in London trying to make quesadillas?! Well, thankfully they have tortillas here and lots of different kinds of cheeses so it’s easy for me to make something up! I had wanted to try this idea for a while, cubed Spanish chorizo with potatoes peppers and cheese, but what cheese was it going to be was the question? Since this was the biggest challenge, I had to do some research and tasting. I was wanting a bit of queso fresco, but since that wasn’t going to happen I made due with some Lancashire cheese, which is wonderfully melty and crumbly. I would suggest anyone getting Spanish chorizo for this, as Mexican chorizo is too greasy, and not firm like a sausage like Spanish chorizo. This recipe will make about 2 large quesadillas. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 large tortillas
1 chorizo ring (200g)
1 clove garlic
1 green bell pepper
1 chilli
½ onion
1 c. grated Lancashire cheese (or any melty cheese you like)
1 tbsp. oil

To Start:
Scrub the potato and poke holes into it with a knife, stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes. (You can fry it in the pan, but who has time for that?)
Dice the green pepper, chorizo and onion.
Crush the garlic.
Grate your cheese.
When the potato is done and cooled, dice it in small chunks.

To Cook and Assemble:
Heat a little oil in a pan until hot; when hot add the chorizo, potatoes, peppers, onion and garlic.
When the peppers are soft and the potatoes are crispy, turn off heat and set aside.
On a comal or cast iron skillet, heat the tortillas, after you turn them once, place some of the filling around the whole surface of the tortilla, top with grated cheese and place another tortilla on top.
Press down with a spatula making sure that the cheese melts.
Flip carefully (I recommend a very large spatula). Once flipped and the cheese is melted in keeping both tortillas together you can remove from heat and repeat for the next one.
Cut your quesadillas in four slices and enjoy!

Gina's El Charro Pinto Beans

This is just my recipe for pinto beans, and one of my most requested recipes. This recipe can also be borracho beans, which are traditionally with beer, but I generally prefer without, but still love all of the peppers and onions added to the beans. It just adds a different flavour that I think adds a lot of depth. There are so many things to do with the beans after they’re done cooking so I made a section at the bottom with a few ideas in case you’re stumped for ideas! This will feed a giant crowd, and can also be cut in half for practicality if you don’t have a large pot. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
500g dried pinto beans
½ green bell pepper
1 large onion
200g smoked bacon or ham hock
2 tsp. black pepper
100g ( ¼ can) diced tomatoes
2 jalepenos or chillies
1 bunch of coriander
3 cloves garlic
salt to taste

To start:
Rinse the beans until nice and clean and pick out any stones or anything else foreign.
Place the beans in a large pot of water, cover them by at least 3-4 inches.
Turn on the heat to high.
Chop onions, chillies, bacon, bell pepper, and garlic.
Add to the pan along with the pepper.
Do not add salt! (yet)

To cook:
Bring to a boil and then turn down to a low simmer for about 2.5-4hrs.
They are ready to test at about 2.5hrs and cook to your desired softness.
You can now add salt to taste, as well as the tomatoes.
Add handful of chopped coriander when you take it off the heat.

To EAT: (A new section!)
You can do so many things with these beans.
Eat them as a ‘soup’.
Mash them up and make a bean dip.
Mash and make ‘refried beans’.
Add to a chili.
Have as a side dish to any meat.
Freeze what you won’t use in 2 days. It will be good for several months in the freezer.

Note: As a general rule it’s important not to salt beans at the start of cooking. Waiting until the end lends a softer bean and more flavorful in my opinion.

Turkey Tacos!

For the most part here in the UK tacos are a fun dinner idea and not a staple, but it lends for things such as Old El Paso crunchy taco shells, and some semi edible tortillas. Along with that the line makes some good canned refried beans, and salsa to mimic Pace. Overall I’m not too deprived, except I like to blend my own spices and come up with something unique that’s not just out of a packet. This dinner was part of my craving for crunchy tacos. But since I wanted my healthier flare I opted for turkey breast instead of beef. I realise that making tacos is not a new experience for a lot of my Texan friends, but in this recipe it’s all about the spices. Try it if you want and give that 'ol packet seasoning a rest.

What you’ll need:
½ - 1 tbsp. cumin powder
½ - 1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 ½ tsp. onion powder
Pinch Mexican oregano (optional)
Pinch cayenne
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. finely ground pepper
½ onion
2 cloves fresh garlic
Taco shells – crunchy or soft tortillas
Lettuce and tomato
Grated cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Canned refried beans
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

To Start:
Heat the oil in a pan.
Add the onions and garlic to soften.
Next add the meat and brown, spreading it around so it doesn’t clump.
Add all the spices and mix thoroughly.
Cook through until meat is fully cooked.

To Assemble:
Warm up the refried beans.
Spread on the bottom of the taco shell of your choosing, next fill with the meat, cheese, lettuce tomato, and sour cream.

Serve with my Spanish rice! (You can make it with white rice instead of brown).

Salsa Especial de Regina (Regina's Salsa)

I love this salsa. I make a varied edition about twice a month but this is the basic recipe. I use it on everything but mostly we pile it on breakfast tacos, eggs, fajitas, enchiladas, beans etc...

Ingredients:
2 desired chilli peppers ( you can use any kind you want)
½ onion
3 cloves garlic
1 can chopped tomatoes (no Italian or any other flavor)
Handful cilantro/coriander (optional)
½ tsp. Pepper
Salt to taste

To cook:
Boil the chillies, onion and garlic in a shallow pan with water covering them.
Boil on a med-low heat until most of the water is evaporated and the chillies are soft.
You can either use a hand blender or a food processor.
Combine the boiled chillies with the tomatoes and blend lightly or to desired thickness (Add a handful of coriander/cilantro at this point).
Salt and pepper as needed.
I keep mine in old jars and it’s better the next day! Lasts about 2 weeks.

Crujiente Papas con Paprika

So this is the simplest recipe for a quick side dish, thanks Diana for checking my Spanish. These are "Crispy Potatoes with Paprika". The crispy potatoes you get from baking without having to fry them which is a plus! The paprika adds a really nice warm feel to them. Try!

Ingredients:
New Potatoes (small potatoes, adjust quantity to your needs)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. garlic powder
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

To cook:
Wash potatoes, and par boil them for 10 minutes.
Drain and put on a foil lined baking tray.
Smash the potatoes with the back of a spoon, not to mush, just to open them.
Drizzle the olive oil all over the potatoes.
Sprinkle all the seasonings on top.
Bake in a 200C (~400) oven for 16-20 minutes.

Comfort Soup - Chicken Tortilla

I'm constantly bringing traditions from home into my new life here, this is one of my favourite recipes, and I had the chance to make it again a couple of weeks ago when my husband got sick. Shortly thereafter I found myself ill as well, so the big pot helped soothe my soul. Although a lot of people like chicken noodle soup as a cure for the soul's aches and pains, I enjoy the Tex-Mex twist and familiar flavours of home. Make sure you have a big stock pot to cook this in. Keep it handy in the freezer for a colder autumn day and it'll will guarantee come in handy to cure what ails you.

Ingredients:
400g (12-15oz) on the bone drums or chicken thighs
3 ribs of celery
1 medium green pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 can tomatoes chopped
2 medium onions
50-100g (2 large handfuls) coriander (cilantro)
½ American long grain rice (not the easy cook stuff either!)
½ tsp. cumin
1tsp salt
Garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
4pts water

To start:
Chop celery, one onion, pepper, and clove of garlic.
Heat the water in a stock pot, and add chicken, chopped celery, onion, pepper and garlic. Season liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When it has reached a boil, turn down to a simmer for about 30-40 minutes.
When the chicken is falling off the bone remove and set aside on a plate to cool.

Continue:
Bring the water back up to a boil.
Dice and add another onion.
Re-season with garlic powder, and salt and pepper as needed.
Add the rice, and can of tomatoes.
Take the meat off the bones and remove it back to the pot, and cook for 15 minutes until rice is done.

To finish:
Add the cilantro the last five minutes of cooking.
Serve with Tortilla chips and shredded cheese, garnish with avocado.

Carne Guisada (Ghee-SA-tha)

I grew up with this recipe as a very big staple in our meal regime. We would eat this at least two times a month, with tortillas and fresh Spanish rice and refried beans just like mom would make it. But I know perfectly well that it’s not easy cooking like your mom or grandma but I decided to try my hand at it anyway, to remake this classic Tex-Mex recipe. Note: This goes excellent with my Simple Spanish Rice. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
400-500g (14-16oz) cubed beef
½ onion
½ green pepper
1 chili
½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. flour
2 c water
1 beef stock cube
Freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. tomato puree
1 tbsp. olive oil

To start:
Dice the beef if not in cubes.
Slice onion, pepper, chili, and garlic.
Prepare the stock 1 cube to 2c water.

To cook:
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan.
Throw the beef, onions, pepper, chili and garlic in. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until meat browns.
Add the flour and spices, and cook for a further 5 minutes, being careful not to burn the flour.
Add half the stock and tomato puree and stir, add as much stock as you need to get to the thickness you like (I start off with half the stock to make sure it doesn’t get too thin).
Simmer on the hob for about 15-20 minutes until meat is completely cooked through and tender.
Serve with tortillas and my Simple Spanish Rice.

Easy Ceviche

Ceviche is something that associates its origin with Latin cuisine but has lent a helping hand to a lot of different occasions. Ceviche traditionally is made by cooking raw fish by citrus fruit; lemons, limes, oranges. I tend to make mine with pre-cooked shrimp, squid, or whatever I have, takes out some of the risk. Ceviche is excellent and makes a great starter or a great addition to a table of nibbles at a party. There are a few basic methods of whipping up one, and a variety of versatile ingredients to add. It’s good fun, low in fats, and just a good addition to a your normal chips and dips snack session or as a posh starter to a meal. This recipe can serve 4 as a starter, or several more as on a table. Remember, nothing has to be exact; it’s all about how you like it. So season, and add as little or as much as you want of any ingredient.

Ingredients:
250g pre-cooked prawns/shrimp ( ½ lb.)
1 large hass avocado
2 juicy limes (we want about ¼ c liquid)
1 lemon
6-10 cherry tomatoes
2 handfuls of coriander
Quarter of red pepper
Half red onion
Salt

To Start/Finish:
Dice onion, red pepper, coriander, tomatoes and avocado and add to a large bowl.
Dice the prawns a little to stretch them out, add to bowl.
Add citrus to bowl.
Season with salt to your liking.
Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

3-Tomato Mexican Style Primavera with Chicken

I started cooking this dish just purely out of the things I had in the house. I think you could add or omit anything in this recipe even the chicken and it would still be great as long as you kept the seasoning the same. I really suggest serving over rice but pasta will do. To me this dish reminded me of something my mom used to make and brought back a lot of memories for me, so please enjoy! Serves 4.

Ingredients:
3-4 large to medium chicken breasts
1 ½ zucchini (courgette)
½ medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
1 bunch of asparagus, just the top 3-4inch tips
25 g sun dried tomatoes
1 can chopped Italian tomatoes (or any you have)
3 medium fresh tomatoes
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano (or regular oregano)
½ tsp. cumin
Garlic powder
Salt/pepper
½ chicken bouillon
Water
½ tbsp. oil

To start:
Slice the zucchini rounds. Cut them in half if you like and then slice the rounds.
Slice in onion, red pepper, sun dried tomatoes into strips
Dice garlic
Get all spices out and open jars/cans

Next:
Heat a sauté pan with the oil, and season the chicken breasts with salt/pepper and garlic powder.
When pan is hot sear the chicken breasts on each side for about 5 minutes. Then remove from a pan and set on a plate to rest.

To continue cooking:
Add the onion, courgette, red pepper, garlic and sauté for a few minutes until fragrant in the same pan.
Next add the can of tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, cumin, and oregano and turn up the heat to bring to a boil.
Crumble the chicken bouillon over the sauce and add about a half cup of water to get things moving.
While your sauce is simmering, slice the half cooked chicken breasts and set aside.
Stir your sauce continuously.
As you see the vegetables soften add the asparagus.
Taste to make sure you like the salt and the pepper.
When the vegetables are all soft and fully cooked add the chicken back into the pan and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve over hot rice, or pasta.

Simple Spanish Rice

Simple Spanish rice
I normally make my rice with white rice, but I decided to try brown basmati. It takes a little longer to cook and needs a tad more water than normal white rice, but I must say this is an excellent example where you need a shallow sauté pan with a tight fitting lid. Ok here we go. This recipe feeds 4.

Ingredients:
½ green pepper
¼ medium onion
¾ cup of brown basmati rice (150g)
2 cloves of garlic
¾ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chilli powder
1 tsp. light olive oil
Half of a stock cube (I use chicken, but use vegetable or beef if you like)
Half a can of chopped or crushed tomatoes (6oz)
1 ½ c water (375ml) + little extra
Pepper to taste
Couple of shakes of garlic powder
50 grams of cilantro leaves (coriander)

To start Dice all Veggies and set aside:
Pepper
Onion
Garlic

Next, measure out all spices in a small dish. (So you don’t have to mess around with measuring spoons when you’re ready to get going)

Heat the oil in the sauté pan, when hot, combine rice, diced veggies and spices in the pan and lightly brown on medium heat. This stage is important, make sure not to burn but gently brown until the spices become very fragrant. 5-6 minutes.

As the pan is browning, measure out the water and open the tomatoes. Pour tomatoes and water in the pan at the same time with minimal stirring for mixing. Shake on some garlic powder , pepper and cilantro, also crumble the stock cube into the water. Stir a few good times to get mixed and TASTE. Taste is so important, if the broth is not as salty as you’d like it, add some more salt. The broth should taste the way you want the rice to taste.

Bring to a LOW simmer and cover tightly, DON’T TOUCH! Cook for about 20 minutes, if you return to it and the edges of the pan aren’t cooked enough give it a big stir and add a tad more water if dry and let it go another 5 minutes.

Turn the heat off and let it steam itself to perfection, and enjoy!

Mamma's Beefy Enchiladas

Finally I have put together my Mexican fiesta meal. It’s a treat for me to make because no matter how you make it, it tends to be higher in calories. I tried to skim the calories wherever I could, but adapt it to whatever you like and use whatever type of ingredients you want. I got this recipe from my mother that got it from her mother in law when she first married my dad. I managed to get it to taste just about the same even with the lighter ingredients. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Will post Spanish rice soon. (PS, it's hard to get the cheese right for this in Britain, I can't stress this enough how hard it was to make them here)

Ingredients:
½ lb mince beef (ground beef) preferably lean
2-3 tbsp chili powder (I used Sainsbury’s mild chili powder)
2 tbsp whole meal flour (whole wheat, any kind you want really)
1 ½ tsp cumin
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 c (or 450ml) water
12 white corn tortillas (the only place in Britain I've found the right kind are at http://www.coolchili.co.uk)
250g grated cheddar (I used Tesco mild lighter cheese)
½ onion shredded/grated

For the sauce:
Brown the beef with the spices and minced garlic. Salt and pepper as you like.
When fully cooked sprinkle the flour and stir till it’s dissolved into the meat and cook for 3-5 minutes on low until the flour taste is cooked through.
Next add the water, stir and bring to a small boil. Stir continuously. If the sauce is too thick after boiling for 1-2 minutes just add a little more water (1/4-1/2c more) slowly. You want the consistency of a creamy soup.

To make the Enchiladas:
Preheat the oven to 160C (350F)
Prepare a rolling station including, baking pan, cheese (set aside 1/2c-3/4c for top), grated onion.
Microwave 5-6 tortillas at a time for about 1 minute until soft
Next put about 1 ½ tbsp cheese and small strip of grated onion on the tortilla and roll it up and place in the pan.
Continue until the pan is full. (Use your judgment, if you can add more into your pan do so)
Pour the Enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas.
Top with cheese (however much you want, I was going for the lighter side so I just barely sprinkled it)
Bake for about 30-45 minutes or until cheese and sauce is bubbling.

Note: It’s hard to find a British cheese that melts correctly for this recipe but making sure you get mild instead of strong cheddar. If you can find a Mexican type shredded cheese it might work close to cheese in the Americas.