Chile Rellenos Casserole

My mom and I used to be Mexican food connoisseurs while I was growing. I mean, we used to frequent Casa Ole AT LEAST once a week. ;) My mom used to always order chile rellenos, I could practically bet money on it that she would order them. I attempted to eat one once and thoroughly did not enjoy it. It was mushy and peppery and soggy and just plain gross. Since that day, I had never tried once again.


The dish that started it all. It's the little dude on the right.

UNTIL, I went to New Mexico this summer. I inadvertently ordered one. It came on the New Mexico special plate. A green hatch chile stuffed with white cheese and fried. Ohmygosh, it was delicious, I couldn't believe I had missed out on this for so long. Since July, chile rellenos have been my weakness at Mexican food restaurants. But on Friday, I had my first bad chile rellenos incident. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it just didn't live up to my standards. I decided to take the task of making chile rellenos myself but I decided to try and bake them in a casserole style so I don't have to worry about frying. My results was TASTY but not too pretty. I'll keep working on it though. I had an odd amount of chiles so you can either go down to four for two layers or up to six/seven for three layers. Your choice. And once again, I'm using some regional ingredients, so I don't have a substitution suggestion...yet. I'll keep working on that for you.



Serves 4

1 14 oz. can Hatch 5 Pepper Enchilada Sauce
8 poblano chiles
1 round sliced queso asadero cheese
6 eggs
1/3 c. crushed tortilla chips
Splash of milk
Salt/Pepper to taste

Turn over to broil and move rack to top shelf. Place chiles directly on oven rack. Blacken chiles on each side (just be warned, they will pop and hiss at you). Once chiles are thoroughly blackened, remove and place in a plastic sack (an old HEB one works fine) and tie the bag to let steam for 15 minutes or so. Go ahead and change the oven to 375 degrees. After 15 minutes, remove chiles from bag, (and it works best if you work over said bag), remove skin from chiles. It will be a thin layer that should have blackened. It should come off relatively easy. Then, seed chiles, remove stem and spilt in halves. Do with all remaining chiles.

Pour half of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Place chile halves down to cover the sauce. Think about putting them in a single layer, much like you would lasagna noodles. You might need to tear some of the chiles to fit. Next, tear your queso asadero cheese slices with your hands and place them on top of the chiles. You don't want them next to each other because they will melt (and oh so nicely I might add) and spread. Repeat chile/cheese/chile.

In a bowl, mix/whisk eggs, splash of milk, crushed tortilla chips and salt and pepper throughly. (Here, I made the mistake of not whipping the eggs thoroughly and I had some patchy areas in my casserole.) Pour this layer over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

When eggs are set, but not browned, place remaining slices of cheese on top. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. This next step is VERY important, but will be very hard to do. Remove from oven and let it set for ten minutes! If not, you'll end up with a short layer casserole with cheese sauce in your dish that you'll have to spoon over tortilla chips, and while tasty, it would be much better in between the chiles. Queso Asadero is a very melty cheese. It WILL run out of the layers if you don't give it time to set. That's why my picture looks short and small. Slice into pieces and spoon remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Serve with some refried black beans and you are done!

Dos Leches Pan Dulce Bread Pudding

I've been in Harlingen for 5 weeks now. I must admit I'm a HUGE fan of Mexican cuisine. I've become addicted to the Mexican bakeries around here. Each of them sells the same thing for the most part; various kinds of cookies, empanadas and pan dulce which is a round loaf of bread that has a slightly sweet flavor. At a few of the bakeries, they have day old pan dulce loaves 5 for $1.00. Since I love bread pudding and it's a great deal, I decided this would be a good medium to try it with. I'm also in love with the different items you see in the grocery stores down here that generally aren't found in the rest of Texas. One such is Media Crema. It's in the baking aisle with sweetened condensed and evaporated milk. It's a thick cream in a can basically. It's even thicker than half and half and probably heavy whipping cream. If you can't find Media Crema, whipping cream would probably do the trick though.

Most Mexican desserts aren't sweet by American taste buds. This dessert hits it's right on the spot. Since the bread is slightly sweet you don't need to add any additional sugar to the custard mix. The end result is delicious, sweet enough to qualify as dessert but not overwhelming. If I had to do it again, I might add a little bit of piloncillo to the dos leches that goes on top just to make it an wee bit sweeter and add some depth to it. The neat thing about this dessert is that the colors from the icing on the bread stay intact while baking so you end up with colorful bursts as you slice into it.




Dos Leches Pan Dulce Bread Pudding

8 Pan Dulce (day old), torn in about 1" pieces by hand
raisins (to taste)

6 eggs
4 c. milk
1/2 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 can (7.6 oz.) NESTLÉ Media Crema (can be found in Mexican Grocery Food Store)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 9x13 baking dish.

Place about half pan dulce pieces on bottom of baking dish in one single layer. Let bread sit for about ten minutes to dry out. Sprinkle with half the raisins (I used about 1/3 cup here). Repeat process with remaining bread slices and raisins.

Combine milk, butter, cinnamon, first half of sweetened condensed milk and eggs either by whisk or by blender. Mix until smooth. Pour over pan dulce layers in dish. Let stand for 10 minutes, pressing down on bread so that bread is soaked in liquid.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake.

While bread pudding is baking, combine remaining sweetened condensed milk and media crema. After pudding has come out of oven, pour the two milks (dos leches) over the cake. It will not absorb fully, but you will have a layer of sweet cream sitting on the top. Serve warm (although it's not too bad cold either)!

Heavily adapted from Nestle Meals

Crock Pot Carnitas

Nothing beats authentic and simple Mexican food. These carnitas are super easy to make and with the simplest condiments make a fabulous meal. The best thing is you can use the leftover meat for quesadillas or enchilada casserole.

4 lb pork (shoulder, roast, carnita meat)
1 bottle Miller Chill beer
1/2 fresh orange juice
1/2 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper

Rub the pork with salt, pepper and garlic. Place in crock pot and pour OJ and beer in crock pot and place cilantro around pork. Let simmer on low for 6 hours.

Serve on corn tortillas with lime wedges, pico, fresh avocado, and crumbled queso fresco. Keep it simple! It's so tasty.

Next time, I would add 2 limes (cut into wedges) to the crock pot while simmering. I was afraid that the Miller Chill would be too limey but it wasn't at all. I would also use a different kind of beer. The Miller Chill just didn't do it for me. I don't know what exactly I'd use, but I'd try something different. I'd also just go ahead and add a whole bunch of cilantro (minus some for the pico). Why the heck not? :D

New York Deli II

I'm in the Rio Grande Valley this week which means...sandwiches? You would think being a hop, skip, and a jump, I would be engorging myself on Mexican food. However, last time I was down this way, I was less than impressed with the "Mexican" food. You see, apparently "real" Mexican food and Tex-Mex are waaaaaaaaaay different. I have found that I am a Tex-Mex gal. Real authentic Mexican food is too bland for my personal palate. Nothing seemed to quench my mexican food craving last time, so this time I'm carefully researching it. In the mean time, I hit a relatively new place to town called New York Deli II. Apparently, they did so well in a neighboring town, they opened up one in Harlingen, so it HAD to be good, right? RIGHT! I ordered a traditional corned beef Reuben. There was cheese on both sides of bread and a hearty amount of sauerkraut, something which most places just sprinkles on. With homemade Russian dressing! It was so good, and apparently so popular, that it comes in a bottle, like ketchup would. You also get your choice of potato salad, coleslaw or bagged potato chips. I went for the coleslaw after questioning the waitress about it's creamy-ness or vinegary-ness. She said she totally understood my concern, she's had that question before but the best answer she could give was that it's both.[I was glad to know I wasn't the first to ask!] So I decided to give it a try and was glad I did! The cabbage was finely shredded, like almost to the likes of sprouts, I mean that thin. It was crazy and I couldn't figure it out. But true to her word, the coleslaw was creamy with just the right hint of sweet and vinegar. I would recommend this place without hesitation. The only cons was that it's a small place, about 25 tables and it gets PACKED and LOUD during traditional lunch hours. So come early or late, or be prepared to scout out a table. I wish I had some pictures or they even had a website, but I was ill prepared, but trust me, this is a keeper!

Pros: Awesome sandwiches with quality meats and cheese, prompt waitress
Cons: Can be packed and loud at times
Will I Return?: HECK YES!
Rating: 5/5

BY THE WAY, if you happen to find yourself in Harlingen and at New York Deli II, make sure to grab a bag of cookies at the counter. They were from a local place that just had a tag that said "Dulce Vida." They looked like a cookie I remember devouring by the dozen in my past, although my old age prevents me from remembering where I got them. I just had to buy a bag, even though it was $4/dz. However, they were SOO delicious I am thinking of calling the number on the back to get some more before I have to leave town. They were two versions, one with powdered sugar and one with cinnamon and sugar. I opted for cinnamon sugar and they were absolutely fab. They just dissolve in your mouth to the texture of sand [I know it's a horrible analogy but the best way I could think to describe it.] DEFINITELY buy yourself a bag!

Chipotle Tortilla Soup

I love tortilla soup, but I don't like chicken in my tortilla soup. It's one of my weird quirks. I do however love veggie tortilla soup and my favorite restaurant puts zucchini in their tortilla soup. What do you know, my aunt and uncle had an abundance of zucchini about to go bad, so I decided to try and recreate my own. The results? Better than going out!



32oz. low-sodium chicken broth
32oz. vegetable broth
1 can chipotle diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can green chiles, undrained
12 oz super sweet frozen corn
2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
Poultry seasoning
Chipotle chili powder
super secret chili powder
Cumin
7 zucchini, halved and chunked

Garnish: Sour cream, avocado chunks, lime wedges, tortilla chips

Bring broths to a boil. Add remaining ingredients except for zucchini. Boil for 10 minutes, then drop to a simmer. About 15 minutes before serving time, add zucchini chunks. Cook until zucchini is soft. (If you are making this all at once you add the zucchini when you add everything else. However, I like to let my soups simmer for the afternoon and in that case, it has a tendency to break down. So add accordingly depending on how long you plan to cook it.)

The BEST way to eat this is to put some tortilla chips in the bottom of your soup bowl. Pour soup over it. Squeeze a lime wedge (or two) into the soup. Dollop with sour cream and avocado chunks (be generous). Mix in the sour cream to make it slighty creamy. Oh! So good!!!! I mean, of course, the soup is great plain, BUT this way, it's soooo good. In case you haven't gathered, this soup is awesome!

Fuentes - San Angelo

Since I'm back into traveling for work, I thought I'd start postings of restaurants across the state because I can never find any reviews online and I mean really, who better to give you food advice than me? ;) That is in case any one ever reads this besides me. If not, then it'll simply be a reminder of the good (and not so good) places to eat.

For the readers, let me start by telling you what I look for in restaurants and food in general. I generally tend to stick to non-chain restaurants when traveling out of town. I love a cozy atmosphere where I can feel welcome no matter if I'm dressed up for work or in jeans and a shirt relaxing. I like food to be spiced nicely. I hope the never have to add salt or pepper.

As for Mexican food, I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD. You might even say I'm a connoisseur. Let me rephrase though, I love Tex-Mex. I like seasonings and bold flavors. I expect cheese with my beef tacos, enough enchilada sauce to mix with rice and salsa good enough to eat with a fork! (yes, a fork, I like chunky salsa). So I might be a little overly picky with Mexican food, so take that into account. My mediocre might be okay for you.

Here is my review of Fuentes in Downtown San Angelo:

Cheese Enchilada - Great sauce!, cheese not melty, not enough sauce given on the plate
Beef Taco-No cheese (which sucks), sliced tomato (how am I supposed to eat that on a taco?), DRY beef (I like a little juice running out of my taco)
Rice-dry (bleck)
Beans-okay
Tortillas-good, homemade, but she charged me 85 cents for 2! What a stinking rip-off! I could make fifteen tortillas for that rate. Jerks.
Queso-Just okay, came out late, actually AFTER my dinner was served. No extra stuff in it, just cheese.

The atmosphere was very nice and typical Mexican. Mexican style decor was everywhere, including brick archways inside. The waitstaff was very rushed and hardly friendly. It was decent Mexican food, but not something to write home about. If it was cheaper, I'd go back, but it won't be at the top of my list.

Overall: 3.5/5 stars

http://www.fuentescafedowntown.com/pages/home.html