Chicken Tortilla Soup

I'm tempted to go on a quest/rant and figure out why chicken tortilla soup is not called its rightful name, Aztec Soup. Perhaps the name suggests that it is a soup made from Aztecs? Well, whatever the reason is, there is one thing that is clear, this soup is delicious and one of my go to meals when I'm sickies (the spiciness will clear your sinuses!) or need some comfort food.

This is a recipe that I did not learn from my mom. I've developed this recipe from trial and error and taking ideas from other people's versions. The one that most inspired me was served at my brother's wedding, which took place in my hometown in Mexico. It was one of the million courses that resulted in me having eaten the equivalent of three days' worth of meals, and although it is Aztec soup, I was lucky that Montezuma did not take revenge on me.


Chicken Tortilla Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients

4 cups of shredded chicken (I use both breast and thigh meat)

4 medium tomatoes, roasted (instructions for roasting to follow)

2 dried pasilla, guajillo, or ancho peppers, stemmed, seeded

1 cup yellow onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 bay leaf

½ tbs ground cumin

1 pinch of dried oregano

8 cups of chicken stock

1-2 tbs of salt

1 tsp pepper

3 tbs of olive oil

1 cup of vegetable oil for frying

10 tortillas, cut into strips

Directions

In a large soup pot, heat 2 tbs of olive oil over high heat. Tear the pepper into pieces and add to pot, cook for about 1 minute. Remove the pepper pieces from pot and set aside. Remove pot from heat and let cool for about a minute. Return to heat and lower to medium, add the onions and garlic, cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add oregano and bay leaf and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Remove the onion-garlic mixture and put in a blender (try to get as little oil as possible. Do NOT clean pot). Lower heat.

In a blender, add the cooked onions and garlic, roasted tomatoes, and puree.

Turn on the heat to high, add 1 tbs of oil, add the blended mixture and fry for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and cumin, let simmer for about 25 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, cover and let sit.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil has reached frying temperature (350 degrees F or test it out with a piece of tortilla, it should start to fry immediately), add the tortilla strips in batches. Fry for about 1-2 minutes or until golden and crispy. Remove each batch and let drain over a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve in bowls. Garnish with fried tortilla strips, a lime wedge, and your choice of toppings!

Topping suggestions: Cheese (queso fresco, Monterey jack, cotija), cilantro, sliced avocado, finely shredded cabbage, corn, beans, and sour cream.

Sopes

For today's post, I bring you the awkward stylings of Maria Palafox! I'm tempted to speak in third person only because I don't want to admit that it's me who you are about to witness attempting to make a "How to" video.

For this recipe, I thought it more important to actually show you the technique instead of rambling on in a wall of text. Since I am no stranger to making a fool of myself, I decided to post these videos of me rambling and awkwardly flaring my nostrils in order to teach you how to make a Sope. I also feel the need to throw out as many disclaimers as I can, like how the audio and video are pretty bad because it's amateur night at Pretty Picante and all I have for recording equipment is my iPhone (for now).

Sopes are a traditional Mexican dish that is served as either an appetizer or a main course. You begin with the base, which is made out of masa (cornmeal dough), and formed into a sort of thick tortilla, deep fried, and filled with different toppings. There is a technique for making the base, which can be easily learned after a few attempts and hopefully not too many burned fingers. I'm providing you with two how-to videos that will hopefully simplify the process.

In the videos, I use a tortilla making "machine," which can be usually found in Mexican grocery stores. If you can't find one, you can just as easily use two cutting boards or even two books! I also use a large ziploc bag that I cut to the size of the machine to line the inside in order to prevent the dough from sticking.Many of us don't have access to a corn mill, so it might be difficult to get a hold of good quality masa. Instead, you can purchase some from a Mexican grocery store that has already been prepared or use a product like "Maseca," which is pretty tasty.


Sopes



Ingredients

Maseca or "Masa for Tortillas"
2 cups oil
Refried beans
3 cups of filling (i.e. chicken, carne asada, potatoes)
2 cups of finely shredded cabbage
1 cup diced white onions
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup cotija cheese (or parmesan)
Sour cream
Salsa


Directions

Prepare the masa following instructions on label. Make sure to cover the masa with a damp cloth to prevent drying. Once the masa is ready, make equally sized balls of dough by rolling between the palms of your hands. Flatten to make a disc. Use your tortilla machine to gently flatten. Remove and place on a warm griddle (or pan). Let cook for 1 minute on each side. Continue turning until both sides have turned a slightly darker color and have developed a slightly hard exterior. Please see video below for details.


Once the sopes are cooked through, you will need to form them and here's the video to show you just that!


Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Gently place each formed sope into the oil and fry until they are golden light brown and slightly crispy, about 1 minute on each side. Remove and drain on paper towels.

The final step is to top them with lots of goodies. You begin by laying down a base of refried beans. Add a heaping tablespoon of your favorite filling, top with cabbage, onion and cilantro, salsa, sprinkle a tablespoon of cotija cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and salsa!

Wait, the final step is to put on a bib and get ready for some deliciously messy eating!

Chiles Rellenos

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to lose weight? Then, I suggest you move along... move along... because these aren't the recipes you're looking for. Before you go about your business, if you do allow yourself a cheat day, indulge in this recipe for Chiles Rellenos!

Chiles Rellenos are quite the treat! It's a roasted poblano pepper stuffed with your choice ingredient (usually cheese or ground beef), then egg battered, deep fried, and bathed in a savory tomato sauce. For this recipe, I like to use queso fresco. The smooth and salty flavor of the cheese really compliments the smokey flavor of the poblano. If you don't have queso fresco, feel free to use a mixture of half mozzarella and half monterey jack cheese.I hope you have a good electric mixer or a really big muscley arm to beat some egg whites and get to stuffing!

Note: See that little tomato icon down there? That's my super fancy way of noting that this is a vegetarian friendly dish!

Chiles Rellenos
Serves 4



Ingredients

4 poblano peppers
2 cups of queso fresco, crumbled
1 cup all-purpose flour (reserve half for dredging)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
5 egg whites, room temperature
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1-2 cups of vegetable oil
Tomato sauce (recipe to follow)
Crema Mexicana (Mexican cream), creme fraiche, or sour cream
10 toothpicks


Directions

Place the peppers on a skillet over medium-low heat. As each side gets roasted (turns black), turn each pepper, making sure that all sides have been roasted. Once the peppers have been roasted, and cooked through, place in a plastic bag and close tightly. Leave them in the bag for about 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes are up, remove the peppers and begin peeling the charred skin off. Once all the skin has been removed, cut a slit down the side of each pepper (lengthwise), remove seeds, and veins.

Take a handful of your filling (i.e. cheese or beef) and compact it in your hand, forming a sort of "ball" and insert into each pepper through the slit that you made earlier. Be gentle when handling the peppers, you don't want them to tear. Close the slit and pin together with toothpicks. Try to use the same number of toothpicks for each pepper. You'll need to remove them later and this makes it easier to know how many need to be removed from each pepper. Dredge each pepper in flour, dusting off excess, and set on a plate. Once you have dredged all the peppers, cover, and let them set in the freezer for about 25 minutes.

Mix 1/3 cup of flour, salt, garlic and onion powder in a bowl and set aside. In a separate, chilled, bowl, beat the egg whites until the whites form a stiff peak. Gently fold in the egg yolk and flour-salt mixture. Once everything has been incorporated well, remove the peppers from the freezer and dredge them in flour again, dusting off excess. Hold the pepper by the stem and dip into the egg batter, making sure it is fully coated (be gentle).

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil has reached frying temperature, gently place the battered peppers into the oil and fry on both sides until golden brown. Use a large cooking spoon to gently pour oil over the side that is facing up, this helps when you have to flip them. Remove peppers to a paper towel-lined plate. Now for the tricky part. Gently feel around and find those pesky toothpicks. REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS!

Serve on a plate and pour a generous amount of tomato sauce over it and a tablespoon of cream.

Now get to om nom noming!


Tomato Sauce



Ingredients

3 medium size tomatoes, stewed
1/4 onion
1 garlic clove
1 tbs chicken bullion
1/2 tsp cumin
Pinch of ground clove
1 tsp Oregano
1 tbs oil


Directions

In a blender, add tomato, onion, and garlic. Blend until smooth.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat on a skillet. Fry the mix, when it starts boiling add 1/4 cup of water, bullion, clove, and oregano. Lower heat and allow to cook for 5 more minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.


Serving Suggestions:
Over a bed of rice
Remove the stem and cut into four parts. Make yourself a vegetarian burrito!
Heat up some tortillas and make tacos.

Produce Selection Tip:
When choosing poblano peppers, look for a deep green color, free of bruising, with a firm skin. For this recipe, pick peppers with a long stem, it will help with the battering process.

Carne Asada

There is an episode of American Dad! where Stan Smith hires a family of Mexican illegal immigrants to manufacture teddy bears out of his basement. In the episode, INS is onto him, so he has to sneak them out in his van in order to get his shipment of bears out on time. Before he leaves, Francine warns him, "If you stop for more than five minutes, they'll have a barbecue." You guys, it's true. It's so true. We love to barbecue. I distinctly remember stopping on the side of the 405 freeway in L.A. to barbecue. If there's grass and enough room to set up some chairs, then you bet we're gonna fire up the grill. We are a resourceful people.

Typically, at our barbecues, we serve "carne asada." It's either flank or skirt steak, marinated or spice rubbed, and cooked on a grill. If you don't have a bbq-happy Mexican family or access to an outdoor grill, fear not! I present to you a stove-top recipe for carne asada!


Carne Asada
Serves 4-5



Ingredients

2 lbs skirt or flank steak
2 garlic cloves
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
2 oranges, juiced
2 lemons (1 juiced)
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
4 sprigs of Cilantro
Salt & pepper
Oil


Directions

Place garlic, onion, orange juice, lemon juice, and worcestershire sauce in a blender and liquefy. Place steak in a glass baking dish and season both sides, generously, with salt and pepper. Place cilantro sprigs over the meat. Pour the onion-orange mixture over the meat. Cover and let marinade for at least 3 hours.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Remove meat from marinade (do not clean off) and place on skillet. Brown on both sides for about 3 minutes per side. Only turn once! The more you move it, the more the juices run. After you turn it the first time, squeeze a bit of lemon and sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish cooking. Remove from skillet and let rest for about 5 minutes.

You may or may not be Mexican, but now that you have five minutes, you can have a barbecue! Serve the carne asada with a side of rice and beans or chop it up into small pieces for tacos or quesadillas.

For tacos, I like to sauteé the chopped meat a bit in some oil (or lard for you crazy people) and provide some toppings for delicious taco making. Topping suggestions: Diced onions & chopped cilantro, salsa, grilled spring onions or scallions, guacamole, radishes.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Do you like chocolate? Of course you do, you're not crazy. Here's a recipe for a delicious cup of hot chocolate, Mexican style. You'll need to find Mexican chocolate bars like the one pictured above. The most popular brands are "Abuelita" and "Ibarra." My favorite is Abuelita because it has a picture of a cute grandma on the box.


Mexican Hot Chocolate



Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup mexican Chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick of cinnamon


Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add milk and chocolate and stir. Continue to stir until most of the chocolate has melted.

Pour the mixture into a blender. Close the lid making sure that there is a bit of an opening to let out any pressure that builds up from the steam. Blend until it gets foamy and you no longer see small pieces of chocolate (about 45 seconds).

Pour into mugs and grate a bit of fresh cinnamon over the top.

You like living on the edge? Try adding a pinch of cayenne pepper into the mix. Adds a nice kick!

Cuddle up and enjoy!

(Note: I did not take these photographs, and I don't have info for credits)

A Rice! A Rice Chicken!

(Yes, that title is an ATHF reference)

I've never had so much difficulty figuring out a recipe as much as I did with Mexican rice. It became the one thing I was super afraid of making. The first time I attempted to make it was back in high school with my friend Veronica. My grandfather was visiting from Mexico, so we decided to make him dinner. We were going to make him enchiladas suizas with rice. I remembered all the ingredients my mom used, but we added all of them at the wrong time. We put the bullion cube in while we were toasting the rice and then the tomatoes at the end. It was quite the mess, but my "Pallen" (that's what we call my grandpa) was a good sport and ate it all up, burned bits and all.

There is definitely a right way to make Mexican rice and a wrong way, but you should never eat the stuff that comes out of a box. You deserve better. So, here's my recipe for delicious rice that you can serve alongside all your dishes.


Mexican Rice
Serves 6-8



Ingredients

2 cups of uncooked white long grain rice
3 large tomatoes
1 large onion, quartered
large garlic cloves
4-5 cups of chicken stock
1-2 chicken bullion cubes
1 pinch of cumin
Pepper
4 tbs oil


Directions

In a blender, combine the tomatoes, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 of the onion, and puree until smooth. Add chicken stock to the mixture until the mixture creates 4 cups of liquid.

Meanwhile, dice the remaining onion.

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add 1 garlic clove and saute for 2 minutes. Add the rice, the diced onion and saute until rice begins to toast and turn golden. Remove the garlic clove. Add the tomato-stock mixture to the pot and let cook for about 5 minutes. Add a 1/2 cup of chicken stock. You are adding a total of 4 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, add the bullion cube, cumin, and pepper to taste. Cover and lower heat to a simmer. After about 5 minutes, open the lid (watch out for steam!) and stir, gently. If at this point, not much liquid is left, add the remaining stock. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated and rice is cooked through.

Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Feel free to add some veggies to the rice after you add the liquid. My mom used to add peas or corn. I hated both, but I was a brat.

Taco Tuesday

Every now and then I wish the boyfriend would quit art and become my personal taquero. Then, I remember that he's way too talented and that he can't cook. Instead, this recipe for "Tacos Al Pastor" is my solution for those days when I regret not having answered the cat calls from the taco cart guy.

Al Pastor is a pineapple-chile marinated pork that is usually slow-cooked on a spit (sort of like shawarma). This recipe is a version for those of us who don't have one of them fancy spits or a taquero boyfriend.


Tacos Al Pastor
Serves 6-8



Ingredients

1 large white onion, coarsely chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup guajillo chile powder
3 garlic cloves, halved
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
8 1/4-inch slices of boneless pork chops
1 cup of white onions, chopped
1 tsp paprika (smokey)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Oil
Corn tortillas
Avocado, sliced
Salsa
Lime wedges


Directions

Place chopped onion and pineapple in blender. Add orange juice, vinegar, chile powder, garlic cloves, salt, oregano, cumin, chipotles, and puree marinade until smooth. Place pork in large resealable plastic bag. Add marinade and seal bag, releasing excess air. Turn to coat. Let marinade in fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Grill pork (do not clean off excess marinade) until slightly charred and cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer pork to cutting board and let rest for about 10 minutes. Chop into small cubes.

Clean off skillet and place over medium-low heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and add ½ of the chopped onion. Cook until transparent and add the pork. Sprinkle paprika over pork and sautee for 5 minutes. This is the part when I like to taste the pork and see if it needs any seasoning. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
Meanwhile, add the remaining chopped onion and cilantro in a medium bowl, toss to combine.

Warm and grease a griddle with a bit of oil. Warm tortillas until slightly golden, about 20 seconds per side. In Mexico, they grease the griddle with lard, so if you're feeling adventurous, do that. It's so worth it.
Serve with onion-cilantro mixture, salsa, avocado, and lime wedges.

Give lots of taco-flavored kisses to your loved ones!

I Got it From My Momma

Last Christmas, I flew to Illinois to meet my gringo boyfriend’s family for the first time. He wanted me to impress them by cooking a traditional Mexican dish. He told me that his favorite was enchiladas, so that’s what I should make for them. There are a few variations of enchiladas throughout Mexico. The ones that I grew up with aren’t covered with a tomato-chile sauce, but rather, the tortilla is dipped into a guajillo pepper sauce to soak up the flavor and color. To impress my potential future in-laws, I made sure I put my best foot forward. I packed my trusty sack of dried guajillo peppers that my mom sent me from Mexico, and was ready to win them over!

This is a variation of the recipe that I used to cook my way into their hearts, for those who prefer sauce-covered enchiladas. I've also included the recipe I grew up with.


Chicken Enchiladas
Serves 4-6



Ingredients

Variation 1: guajillo enchilada sauce (recipe to follow)
Variation 2: tomato-chile sauce (recipe to follow)
16 corn tortillas
Chicken filling (recipe to follow)
1 cup queso fresco, crumbled
Vegetable oil
Crema Mexican (crème fraîche) or sour cream

Toppers: chopped cilantro, avocado, pico de gallo


Directions

Heat about a cup of vegetable oil in a skillet. Dip the cold tortillas, one by one, in the oil until slightly golden yet remaining soft. This step is really important because it will help keep the tortillas soft and not dry out.

Variation 1: Dip each fried tortilla, one by one, in guajillo sauce for a few seconds. Flip over making sure each side is covered in sauce.

Variation 2: Skip dipping the tortillas in the sauce and go straight to filling them up.

Place the tortilla on a plate and add a little bit of the chicken filling, then roll them up and place them on a plate. Make sure that each tortilla is rolled up tightly and that you stack them close together on the plate.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet (add more oil as needed). Place about 2-3 of the filled tortillas on the skillet and brown on each side (about a minute each side). I find that sticking to about three at a time and keeping them close to each other prevents them from coming apart.

Variation 1: Place 2-3 enchiladas on a plate. Sprinkle with queso fresco and about a tablespoon of crema Mexicana. Garnish with the toppers of your choice.

Variation 2: Place 2-3 enchiladas on a plate and pour the tomato-chile sauce over them. Sprinkle with queso fresco and about a tablespoon of crema Mexicana. Garnish with the toppers of your choice.


I like to serve enchiladas with a side of rice and refried beans. If you want to go the extra mile, make those beans “frijoles charros.” Stick around for that recipe!

Chicken Filling



Ingredients
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 large onion, cut into thin slices (kind of like little parentheses)
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup of chicken broth
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
Oil


Directions

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until tender.

Add the jalapeño and tomatoes. Cook until all ingredients have been cooked through.

Add the chicken and season with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Stir until everything is all mixed in.

Add about half of the chicken broth and cook for about two minutes. Make sure that the mixture is moist. If it’s a bit dried out, add more broth.

Guajillo Sauce



Ingredients

3 cups of dried guajillo peppers (seeded and deveined)
1 large garlic clove
Water
1 chicken bullion cube
Salt


Directions

Place peppers in a blender and fill with hot water. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes. Pour out about 2/3 of the water and save for later.

Once peppers are tender, add the remaining ingredients. Cover and puree until you have a smooth mixture.

Place a fine strainer over a large bowl and strain through. Add salt to taste. The sauce should not be too runny or too thick. If it’s too thick, add 1 table spoon at a time of that water you saved earlier until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.


Tomato-chile Sauce



Ingredients

3 medium size fresh and ripe tomatoes, stewed and peeled
¼ oinion
1 garlic clove
1 or 2 canned chipotle peppers (in adobo sauce)
1 tbs oil
Salt and oregano


Directions

In a blender, add tomato, onion, garlic, canned chipotles, and about ½ cup of water. Blend until slightly smooth. If you prefer a more rustic sauce, don’t blend too much.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat on a skillet. Fry the mix, when it starts boiling add salt and oregano.