Post your best Mexican Food Recipes

16 March 2006 | expatguy

[expatguy]

Looking for the absolute best authentic Mexican food recipes - anyone care to share?

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

At one time we did used the flour and masa tortilla dry mixes, but now we just purchase the packaged tortillas. As another poster in the know stated, most all good ingredients involve lard, to some a turn off, but it is necessary.

[samiam1972]

The Rotel tomatoes are already seasoned. Nice and spicy! That's what makes it so easy. It really does not need anything else. If you can't find Rotel brand, try to find canned tomatoes with green chilis and other seasonings.

[Xenalyte]

This isn't "authentic Mexican," per se, but it's gooooood.

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing
4 cups water

1. Brown ground beef with onion; drain.

2. Drain pintos, kidneys, corn. Add to meat.

3. Drain tomatoes, Ro-Tel; add to meat. Add dry mixes.

4. Add water.

5. Simmer.

It's the ranch dressing that seems to make this recipe so good. It cooks up fast if you want it; it's also ideal for a crockpot meal. Dump everything in and leave it on low all day!

[Chena]

Thanks for that info, Elyse. I have company coming this summer so this recipe just might end up on the menu! :)

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

Spanish Rice

1 cup of long grain white rice
2 cups liquid ( I use 2 cups homemade chicken broth or 1 cup canned ch. broth plus 1 cup of water)
1 sm. can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
4 medium cloves of garlic ( more or less to your taste)
pinch of sugar
2-3 table spoon's of Oil or lard

In a medium sauce pan heat oil. Add rice, cook on med. high heat stirring rice until golden brown. Add veggies and garlic stir for about 30 seconds. Add liquids, tomato sauce and seasonings. Stir. Taste to see if more salt needs to be added. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes. Do not lift the lid or stir. Keep an eye on rice the last 2 or 3 minutes as rice may scorch on bottom.Stir and serve right away.

hints: This recipe can be adjusted to your tastes. Add some cilantro or commino if you like. Use vegetable or other broth. Use just water(will have much less flavor). Keep your liquid to 2 cups plus the tomato sauce.

This recipe came from my Hispanic Mother-in-law and is my favorite recipe for spanish rice.

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

Does anyone know how to make those great little tacos you can buy from Taco trucks? They are made with chopped beef and served in 2 layers of small steamed corn tortillas.

[poobear]

BTW if you add thinly sliced lemon rounds over the salsa it doesnt dry out, also for sweeter salsa add pinapple and butter.

[Chena]

Your mother-in-law's recipe sounds delicious. I'm going to print it off and add it to my NEW collection of Mexican recipes thanks to those who posted here.

I don't know what the tacos are like from a "Taco truck" as I've never even heard of one. LOL Hopefully someone else on this thread will be able to help you out.

Thank you for sharing your recipe! :) chena

[JRios1968]

I usually become a singer...and also, I loooooooove everyone in sight...in fact, this guy next to me...he's my favorite person!

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

You are very welcome. :) I hope you enjoy the recipe.

[Spunky]

Thanks for the info. I just asummed Rotel Tomatoes was a type of tomato and not a brand that had all the seasonings in it. I will give the receipt a try.

[politicalwit]

Mexican Pot Roast

3 T. olive oil
2 lbs eye of round roast
salt & pepper (optional)
½ Cup flour (divided use)
2 cans diced Rotel tomatoes
1 package Taco seasoning
1 Cup H20 (divided use)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat. While oil is heating, season roast with salt and pepper as desired. Please ¼ cup of flour in a shallow dish, dredge roast in flour covering all sides. Place roast in Dutch oven and brown all sides. Remove roast and place in crock pot. Mix ½ cup of water, Rotel tomatoes and taco seasoning in a medium bowl. Cover roast with mixture and cook slowly in low heat for 8 hours. After 8 hours remove roast, wrap in foil and place in 200 degree oven. Pour Rotel mixture in sauce pan and heat to boiling. Mix flour and water in separate bowl. Add slowly until Rotel mixture begins to thicken….
Place roast on serving plate, pour over sauce. Serve immediately.


Sopapilla Cheese Cake


2 Cans Crescent Rolls
3 8oz pkgs Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 T Vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
2 cups sugar (divided)
2 T cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13 X 9 casserole dish. Melt butter. Press first can of crescent rolls in bottom of casserole dish. Press seams together. Cream together 1 ½ cups of sugar, vanilla and cream cheese. Spread over first layer of crescent rolls. Lay out second can of crescent rolls to lay on top of mixture. Pour melted butter on top of rolls then sprinkle remaining sugar and cinnamon on top.

Bake 15 minutes or until brown @ 350 degrees.

Serves 8-10

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

Chena, here is another recipe for you for a type of salsa, she calls it chili:

Ok, first of all, this is my M.I.L. recipe and she doesn't measure any of the ingredients but if you get it right it tastes great!. I just made some and it was quite good, though I need to play with the ingredients a bit better as it isn't quite as good as M.I.L.'s.

Chili

1 small can of tomato sauce
red pepper flakes
cumino (you will find this on the mexican food isle with the bagged mexican spices, you want seeds not powder)
4-5 cloves of garlic
salt
sugar

Crush the garlic cloves. My M.I.L. uses a mortar and pestle to crush the garlic but I used a food processor and it seemed to work fine. You can get a stone mortar and pestle at many grocery stores like Food For Less

Pour tomato sauce into a jar with a lid(Tupperware will work fine too). Add crushed garlic. Add 1-2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes(depending on how hot you want it). Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add 2-3 pinches of sugar. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cumino (cumino has a strong flavor so start with small amount and add more to taste). Put lid on your jar/container and shake vigorously. You can serve it immediately but the flavor will be better if you make it ahead and let it sit for a couple of hours.

You can leave the cumino out if you don't like it. You can add lemon or lime to the chili for a different flavor. I put the whole sauce into my little food chopper and blended it up real good. You can add or delete more of each ingredient to taste but you need a lot of garlic, it is really what makes this salsa so good. It shouldn't have a strong "tomato sauce" flavor, if it does add a bit more chili seeds, garlic or salt.

Serve this with eggs, meat, any mexican dish, really, anything you would eat regular salsa or hot sauce with. I know the measurements are not precise, so if you have any questions just ask.

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

This ones not "authentic" and is something I came up with but it is very good.

Green Enchiladas

1 whole chicken, boiled and shredded(remove and discard skin before shredding)

*if you boil the chicken with onion, celery, and garlic you will have a fine chicken stock for use with soups and any recipe calling for chicken broth. Strain broth and freeze in 16 ounce portions.

2-3 celery stalks finely chopped
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1-2 green onions chopped
1 sm. can sliced olives
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large can Green enchilada sauce
1-2 cups shredded cheese( I use Cheddar and jack mixed together)
1 package flour or corn tortillas( my family prefers flour which has a milder flavor and compliments the green sauce very well)
One large rectangular baking dish, lined with foil and spray with pam.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute veggies in a little olive oil just until translucent. Reserve a little of the chopped veggies, olives and cheese to garnish top of enchiladas before you place in the oven. Warm enchilada sauce in a pan that is big enough for your tortillas to lie flat in.

In a bowl, combine shredded chicken, onions, celery, olives, about 1 cup of cheese, 1/2-3/4 cup of sour cream, and add about 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.

Set a dinner plate, bowl of chicken mixture, and your baking dish next to pan of warmed sauce. You are about to get really messy so get everything set up so you don't have to stop. Place a tortilla in the pan of sauce, turn it over, then move it to dinner plate. Use a large spoon to spoon some of the chicken mixture near one edge of the tortilla. When it has enough mixture, then roll the tortilla and transfer to your baking dish. When your dish is full, pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Top with cheese and garnish with onions and olives. Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce is bubbly. Serve with spanish rice(see side dish thread) and refried beans.

This dish is easily doubled for large families and works fine with corn tortillas if you prefer them. You will probably need to soften the corn tortillas by frying them in oil for a few seconds on each side then dipping them in the sauce. Otherwise, the tortillas will crack when you try to roll them.If you double the recipe you could stretch the chicken mixture by making the enchiladas a little smaller( use taco size instead of burrito size tortillas) or simply putting a little less of the mixture into the tortillas.

[texastoo]

Be careful of eating out of the back of trucks. Most of this food is not inspected. Many time they will use brains or sweet breads for tacos. They use the very cheapest cuts of meat.

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

Yuck LOL. Don't worry, we don't buy them off the back of someone's pick up truck. These are mobile restaurants and they are inspected. Though perhaps not as stringently as a regular restaurant I am sure. And the meat is clearly recognizable as meat too. I wouldn't eat it if it weren't. I don't eat "parts" , at least not knowingly. I have bought the same kind of tacos at mexican restaurants and they just aren't the same.

[R. Scott]

One of my Platoon Sergeants (SSG Tellez) made some great burritos for our morning meetings. 1/3 ground beef, 1/3 frijoles and 1/3 jalapeño peppers wrapped in a corn tortilla. On special occasions he would use habanero peppers instead of jalapeño peppers.

[texastoo]

I am not trying to be smart as I am speaking from south Texas. So when you laughed, I went to google and typed in Mexican taco brains. Try it.

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

I didn't think you were trying to be smart. :) Sorry if I offended you with my laughter and I do thank you for your concern. I certainly Don't want to be tricked into eating head cheese. I have taken your warnings to heart and will check into it.

[nomorelurker]

Like to make homemade fries? Then make your own homemade tortilla chips. Post #20 above talked about baking them I've never done that always just fried. Get some of the 6in. corn tortillas and cut into strips. I like them wide (maybe 1 and 1/2 inch) so you should get 4 or 5 per tortilla. Just simply fry up like you would french fries. Secret is to use lots of paper towels to drain and absorb grease (put on towels as soon as they come out of frying) also be sure to salt to taste just as soon as you place them on the towels. You can experiment and see if you like them cooked lightly (kinda chewy), crisp, or well done with a more toasty flavor and color. They will keep for days in a large covered tupperware bowl with a paper towel to keep picking up any extra oil. These strips are a lot better for dips than the quartered or other shapes you see at the store. Make some salsa cruda and have fun.