Quick Dinner: Chicken Tamale Pie

Funnily enough, I had all of the cupboard staples for this recipe. I also had some leftover rotisserie chicken and this recipe was a perfect use for it all. This is a great, hearty and healthy dinner that’s good for any fan of Mexican food. If you don’t have rotisserie chicken, use any cooked shredded chicken you want. This is a great dish for leftovers as well. If you have vegetarians, simply replace the chicken with some sautéed bell peppers. And if you can’t find creamed corn, you can always use a can of regular corn but be sure to add some milk to replace the moisture. Enjoy!

Ingredients

~2 cups cooked leftover chicken, shredded

1 package/can of ready Enchilada sauce

1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 can creamed style corn

~1/2 cup sour cream or milk

1 large egg

~1 cup shredded cheese

1 small can 4.5oz can Green Chilies

~1 tsp ground coriander

~1 tsp ground cumin

~1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 can black beans

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

~2 tbsp garlic, chopped

~1 tsp ground cumin

bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine the corn muffin mix, creamed corn, chilies, sour cream, egg, cumin/coriander and half the cheese. Spray a large casserole dish and add the mixture. Bake about 15 minutes until it starts to set. Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic and heat with oil in a small saucepan. Add the cumin and can of black beans (do not drain). Simmer for about 10 minutes until it starts to thicken. Shred the chicken and heat through with the enchilada sauce.

Once the corn mix has set, remove the dish from the oven. Using a fork, poke several holes all over. Spread the beans all over, leaving a border. Next layer with the chicken mixture. Finish by topping it off with the remaining cheese (enough to sprinkle all over). Bake for another 15-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the casserole is puffed up. Finish with some fresh chopped cilantro and enjoy!

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Quick Dinner : Cheesy Quesadillas

With my husband traveling a lot for work recently, I’ve been on my own for dinner. Since I’ve been busy myself, I often resort to picking up take away or ready made meals. Sadly it’s not easy to cook for just one. And you can only eat leftovers for so long.

So one solution is the quick and cheap quesadilla. Really all you need is two tortillas and cheese. If you want to jazz it up, you can add any of these options:

* Butter to add a nice golden crisp
* Thin slices of any meat such as ham, chorizo or even chunks of chicken
* Mix up the types of cheeses you use (pepper jack, cheddar, red Leicester, goats cheese, etc)
* Thinly sliced vegetables can go in raw like peppers, mushrooms or onions. Or you could quickly cook them to soften.
* Serve a salsa or creamy dip on the side if you’d like too

All you need is a large frying pan. The key is to be on a low to medium heat. You don’t want a burnt tortilla with hard cheese inside. Let some butter melt. Place your first tortilla. Add cheese and other filling. And top with your second tortilla. Wait a minute or so and check if your bottom layer is browning. Then flip over with another bit of butter.

If you’re not in the mood to wash a pan, just turn your oven on and turn your quesadilla into a pizza! Just as yummy!

Happy eating.

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Quick Dinner : “Mexican” Rice Bake

Sometimes you just need a quick weeknight dinner! Here’s a great idea that’s low in cost and a perfect way to sneak in a vegetarian meal. But if you’re feeling carnivorous, just add some cooked chicken or chorizo. And if you like a bit of kick, add some chopped jalapeños or even better serve some pickled jalapeños on the side! The combination of the cold, spicy crunch and the warm, cheesy rice is a perfect winter comfort food!

INGREDIENTS

~2 cups of cooked rice or single package of cooked rice
~2 (bell) peppers
1 red onion
1 can of corn
1 can of taco beans
1 packet seasoning (either chilli, fajitas or tacos)
~3 eggs
~couple of spring/green onions
~large handful grated cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 200C. Chop peppers into a dice and toss into hot frying pan with dash of oil. Meanwhile chop red onion. When the peppers start to soften, add the onion and cook for few more minutes. Add some of the seasoning packet. Add the rice and combine. Heat through a couple of minutes. Fold through the corn and beans.

Scramble the eggs in small bowl with rest of seasoning packet. Chop the spring onion and mix through the rice. Fold the eggs through. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

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Vegetarian Recipe Suggestions

For my sister whose future in laws are vegetarian – I found some great recipes. I haven’t made them but they look pretty good with options to put your own spin on it!

1. Ricotta-Spinach Tacos
2. Chile Cheese Casserole (like chilaquiles)
3. Tofu Tacos

For the ricotta-spinach tacos, you could easily replace the ricotta with maybe feta, cotija, goat cheese or even halloumi. To make it heartier you could add zucchini/courgette or even mushrooms. Add some kick with some chipotle powder.

For the casserole, you could easily make this non-vegetarian by adding some chorizo or diced ham. If you wanted it to be heartier you could add a layer of pinto/refried beans before adding the tortilla chips. Some sliced green/spring onion as a garnish might also add some nice bite to it. Or you could even add them with the last layer of cheese and let them melt in.

The tofu taco is a pretty straightforward one. They simply replaced meat with tofu. You could look into other veggie options such as soy meat. I know Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs are delicious. They’re recommended for Italian dishes, but there’s nothing stopping you from using it in a Mexican dish!

Hope you enjoy!

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Couple Things I Miss About The States

I am now back in the UK waiting for school to start, and I must confess I am missing a few things about home. However, for the past six months I’ve also been missing certain British foods but I’ll save that for another day. 

First and foremost, the food I have a really difficult time accessing here in the UK is Vietnamese food. According to Wikipedia, the largest Vietnamese community is in Lewisham which is more south-east of London and I’m more north-west. Fortunately there is one Vietnamese restaurant (2 locations) in London that I can access pretty easily that’s pretty decent – Pho Cafe. Nonetheless, nothing beats homemade Vietnamese food. I just look at the photo below and I can smell the cha gio (egg rolls) fresh from the fryer… traditionally made with rice paper and filled with ground pork, glass noodles, shrimp, carrots and more. They take longer to cook, but when my Mom takes the time you are in for a treat. The proper way to eat them is with lots of fresh herbs. Take a piece of lettuce (Romaine is fine), add some cilantro/coriander and maybe some mint, place the egg roll in the middle, wrap it all up and dip in some nuoc cham (a salty-sweet dipping sauce made with fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, lemon/lime juice and chilli). In that bite, you’ll get an explosion of flavors and textures. First the refreshing lettuce and herbs, then the crisp of the fried rice paper, the warm meat filling and the salty/sweet/spiciness of the sauce. For some additional crunch or freshness, you might have a slice of cucumber on the side. These are seriously addicting. I went a little overboard last Vietnamese New Year and ate at least a dozen or more 🙂 

Cha Gio (Vietnamese egg rolls)

 

Another cuisine that isn’t that popular over here (but a bit more accessible) is Mexican food. Being a California girl, I really loooove Mexican food. Also having studied in Venezuela and having Colombian friends, I just really love all Latin food period! Excluding central London, everyday Latin food isn’t the easiest thing to get in the UK. There is the odd Mexican restaurant, but it just doesn’t seem to be as main stream as it is in the US. What IS popular though is making Mexican food at home. And by that I mean buying a fajita or taco kit (usually the Old El Paso brand) which comes with taco shells or tortillas, seasoning for the meat and packaged salsa. Basically the view of Mexican food is pretty commercial here, at least that’s been my experience. But that’s not to say that other dishes like tamales, mole or chilaquiles wouldn’t be popular here. Even less well known are empanadas, arepas or even the idea of a breakfast burrito (which I find a little funny since even McDonald’s sells a breakfast burrito in the US). 

Anywho, the good news is that you can find pretty much all the spices you need to make Latin food. So I do my best to make what I know which isn’t really rocket science. I just do the basics – various salsas (pico de gallo, corn, bean or mango), guac, fajitas/tacos, etc. I do have to share a funny story about my first experience at a British supermarket a couple years ago. I was in the chip aisle (known as “crisps” here) and a lady who works there was showing a man where the tor-TILL-lah crisps were (meaning she did not pronounce it tor-tee-ya). Haha oh I nearly died… 

Yas, Ana and I in '08 @ El Compadre

 

Right so the point is, I can make some basic stuff to feed my Mexican/Latin food cravings, but nothings beats properly made rice and beans (or chicharron, or empanadas, or cachapas, or arepas, or pan de yuca, or sancocho….sigh). A couple weeks ago, I flew out of LA for London and before I left I made sure to make a visit to one of THE best Mexican places in Hollywood – El Compadre. Well, correction, my Colombian friend Ana made me go 🙂 She came to visit me when I was living in LA two years ago, and it’s right around the corner from my old place. Needless to say we ate there three times in a few days. So a return trip was a must. And, as always, El Compadre did not disappoint. The place is one of those hole-in-the-wall restaurants that’s really dark inside. It has these great, old-Hollywood style brown leather booths. And occasionally there’s an actual mariachi band playing. They come around with their famous flaming margaritas too. It’s definitely a strange setting, but you know it’s good Mexican when the tortilla chips are warm and fresh. Even though it was dinner time, I had to get my favorite dish since it’d be our only chance to go there – huevos rancheros with carne asada. This may not look like the sexiest plate of food in the world, but I tell you – if only you could smell it! It’s the combination of earthy, creamy beans, moist rice, ranchero sauce, corn tortillas, fresh salsa, cool sour cream.. Mmmm.. I’m getting very hungry remembering this dish… Sigh, it’s too sad to reminisce any longer. Must try to re-create some day, but feel like it’s impossible without a Mexican grandmother or aunt to teach me secret family recipes. 

Huevos Rancheros with Carne Asada

 

Now that I’ve made myself properly hungry, it’s time to go and cook dinner! But more to come soon about my British favorites and my a Michelin-starred lunch!

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A LITTLE CALIFORNIA LOVE

There are two things I absolutely love to eat when I go to LA – sushi and Mexican food. It’s a Mexican breakfast that I often day dream about – some huevos rancheros, chilaquiles or a breakfast burrito. Growing up in California I obviously love Mexican food, but when I moved to LA I was delighted to find such a variety of good quality Mexican places from gourmet to hole-in-the-wall. Even better, it’s not just Mexican restaurants that have good quality Mexican food. Since the ingredients are so widely available and so many Californians have grown up with Mexican influence, you can eat pretty decent Mexican food at places that have “California cuisine” or “American cuisine”.

For lunch one day in LA, Adi took me to Toast Bakery Café on 3^rd Street. I had driven past this place a lot and the line was always around the block for brunch. So I was excited to finally try it. I was really torn between the breakfast burrito and the Oscar (thin strips of chicken, guacamole, fresh salsa, eggs over medium and melted cheese, sit atop grilled corn tortillas), but I didn’t want to eat too heavily so I went for the Oscar. It was the perfect portion size. Every ingredient tasted incredibly fresh and natural. The corn tortillas tasted authentic and the dish in general wasn’t over salted. It made me really consider getting that tortilla press I’ve been thinking of… Because so far I’m capable of making everything that goes into a Mexican breakfast except for fresh tortillas. And I know when I go back to the UK, I won’t have easy access to homemade tortillas like I do in Arizona (a little corner shop 2 minutes down the road).. Ah well you make do with what you have right!? Maybe that’ll be a Christmas present from Mom and Dad?

The Oscar @ Toast

 ** For all my former NBCU friends working on the Universal lot, please have a breakfast burrito at the commissary for me, with extra salsa.

Now SUSHI.

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101 Chowdown Countdown

5-way chili

If you haven’t discovered this, then I highly recommend it. Tune in to watch the Travel Channel’s 101 Chowdown Countdown. They even used a new word “hungrify” as a warning of the incredible food they’re showing you. 

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Chowdown_Countdown

This show is amazing, but I suggest watching it after you’ve even otherwise it will make you very very hungry. They show a great mixture of cuisines plus a balance between sweet and savory. Some of the food is a little over the top – like a pizza that weighs 30 lbs. or a burger on a donut instead of a bun (don’t forget the cheese and bacon to go with it).

Chinese egg roll, quesadilla, Cuban beans, and more..

The other great thing about it is that you’ll learn about places you’ve never heard of right in your backyard. I’ll be visiting the ‘Chino Bandido’ in Phoenix, AZ some time soon (http://www.chinobandido.com/). The owners are a mixed couple (Chinese and American) who grew up in Phoenix and have blended their at-home Chinese cuisine with the Mexican flavors that are inherent in Arizona. Very interesting.

Another place I have heard so much about but never got the chance to eat at is Sylvia’s in Harlem, NY (http://www.sylviassoulfood.com/). I heard Sundays are packed with all the folks coming in from church, so maybe go on a Sunday.

  They’ve been repeating a lot of the episodes, so I hope you get a chance to watch it! And even better get a chance to eat at some of these fantastic places.

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