Mexican Cuisine

Serves 4 – 30 mins

These Black Beans are great to have with Mexican food. They use much of what will be in your store cupboard and are quick to make. They are also delicious in tortillas and nachos or on their own.

INGREDIENTS

1 tin of black beans
3 spring onions finely chopped
tsp of cumin
Dash of hot sauce (or adobo sauce from can)
1 clove of garlic grated(or tsp minced from jar)
1 tsp of dried mexican oregano or dried European oregano
150 ml of stock(chicken or vegetable)
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Optional -chopped coriander leave, feta cheese and tomato for garnish

METHOD

Step One

Heat up Olive Oil in heavy bottom pan and add onion, garlic and cumin. Stir and cook over a medium heat until onions are soft and translucent.

Step Two

Rinse the Black Beans and add to pot, add stock, hot sauce and oregano and stir. Cover pot and leave on a low heat for about 15 minutes.

Step Three

Remove from heat and serve sprinkle over chopped coriander, feta and chopped tomatoes if you want to make the plate look a bit more exciting.

Serves 4- 30 mins

So….. hands up who doesn’t like FAJITAS!!!!!! OMG this recipe with homemade tortillas(weekend only too much hassle during the week), guacamole, salsa, iceberg lettuce, sour cream(or if you are in this house natural Greek yoghurt as always have a tub in the fridge)and grated cheese(yes I know that it is not technically what you put in a fajita but believe me and my children it works!!)

Because we are lucky enough to live in a very sunny warm BBQ loving country we have slightly changed the way that we do fajitas. In BBQ weather we actually skewer the marinated chicken to make kebabs that sit on the BBQ over the flame and the vegetables are cooked on the hot plate.

When we have been camping and made Chicken Fajitas I have used the ready made packets of seasoning and they work well but nothing beats making your own.

INGREDIENTS – SERVES 4/6 (DEPENDS HOW HUNGRY YOU ARE)

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
juice and grated rind of 2 limes (I find that the micro-plane works best for grating rind as you do not get too much pith)
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp of ground oregano(if you can get Mexican oregano even better)
1 tsp hot smoked paprika (because I love it and it imparts some smokiness to the dish) or cayenne pepper to taste
tsp ground cinnamon
2 onions (any colour or mixed is really nice at end dish)
3 peppers/capsicum (any mixture of colour but not just green) seeded and sliced
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
salt

Method

Step One

Slice the chicken breast into strips and place in a large bowl or zip-lock bag(I prefer this as easier to mix and does not take up tons of room in your fridge), add the lime juice and rind, sugar, oregano, cinnamon and paprika the mix everything together, leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes – if not longer.

Step Two

When you are ready to get cooking peel and chop the onions into strips of about 1.5 cms and place with the seeded and sliced peppers/capsicum.

Step Three

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and start by stir frying the chicken strips for about 5 minutes. Throw in the onions and peppers and continue frying until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are soft and tender.

Step Four

Tip the chicken mixture into a warmed serving platter and take it to the table.

Step 5

Serve with salsa, guacamole, warm tortillas and sour cream/yoghurt (and cheese if you are me).

Serves 4 – 30 mins

This is a very versatile dish working with many different types of meat and cuisines. We like it with BBQ Chicken.

INGREDIENTS

1.5 kg small waxy potatoes
5-6 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 large red pepper/capsicum seeded and sliced
2 tbsp smoked paprika (either sweet or hot dependent on taste)
2-3 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt

Method

Step One

Steam potatoes until almost tender,drain(you can peel them if you want, but I feel life is too short to peel new potatoes.

Step Two

Heat up Olive Oil in heavy bottom pan and add potatoes

Step Three

Add the tomatoes and cinnamon stick stir and turn the heat down to low – allow this to simmer for about an hour to hour and half, stirring occasionally if you are around.

Step Four

Drain and rinse the beans and add to the chilli along with the finely chopped coriander stalks- leave for another 30 minutes to hour.

Step Five

Remove the chilli from the heat and add lime juice to taste and the coriander leaves reserving a small amount to sprinkle over chilli once on plate. Once happy with balance of flavour serve to your hungry hoard.

Tips

I serve this with fluffy white rice, avocado and natural yoghurt as a side for those who cannot deal with the heat(i.e my daughter and myself). This Chilli is also good warmed up in wraps the next day with grated cheese, sweetcorn and yoghurt.

Serves 4 – 30 mins

Mexican night is a highly anticipated night in our home. It does however take some preparation to get all the parts organised in time for dinner, my husband and I split the jobs and there is always a child around to scoop and mash(see eat) the avocado and taste final dishes for seasoning. This is the recipe for the guacamole that even my tomato shy teenager will eat(and it’s green!!!)

Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes
4 ripe avocados (we generally only get Hass)
2 cloves of garlic minced – use fresh for this recipe
1/2 small onion finely chopped- I like to use red when I have one in the fridge
Small bunch of coriander chopped
Fresh red chillies – taste for heat as I find they vary greatly and some chillies can blow your head off!
Juice of 1 lime(fresh is better)
salt to taste

Method

Step One

The tomatoes have to be peeled, seeded and chopped, I do this in a large batch and split between salsa(see recipe)and guacamole therefore not repeating the same job again. Cut a small cross in the base of each tomato and place in a heat proof bowl. Pour boiling water over to cover.

Step Two

Leave the tomatoes in water for about 3 minutes then lift them out of the eater using a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl of cold water. Drain the bowl. The skins will have began to peel back from the cross that you made. Remove the skins and quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds and chop the flesh – set aside.

Step Three

Cut the avocados in half and remove the stone. Scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl, mash with fork or potato masher.

Step Four

Add the chopped onion, minced garlic and juice of lime to the bowl.

Step Five

Remove the stalk for the chillies and slit them removing the seeds with either a small knife or a teaspoon. Chop finely and add to the avocado mixture along with the chopped tomatoes.

Step Six

Check for seasoning and cover – put this in the fridge if you have time for about an hour to allow the flavours to develop – if not eat away!.

Serves 4 – 30 mins

Is there anything nicer with a Mexican than a freshly made tomato salsa? The jars are no comparison. This recipe as well as the guacamole can turn fresh tomato-phobic children (both of mine) into fighting for the last spoonful!

Ingredients

1 large white onion
Grated rind and juice of 2 limes
8 ripe tomatoes
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 large bunch of coriander
1/4 teaspoon of white sugar
Jalapeno/Serrano chillies from the jar finely chopped

METHOD

Step One

Finely chop the white onion place in bowl with the lime juice and rind(the lime juice helps soften the onion)

Step Two

The tomatoes have to be peeled, seeded and chopped, I do this in a large batch and split between guacamole(see recipe)and salsa therefore not repeating the same job again. Cut a small cross in the base of each tomato and place in a heat proof bowl. Pour boiling water over to cover.

Step Three

Leave the tomatoes in water for about 3 minutes then lift them out of the eater using a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl of cold water. Drain the bowl. The skins will have began to peel back from the cross that you made. Remover the skins and quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds and chop the flesh – set aside.

Step Four

Put the diced tomato in a bowl and add the chopped onion and lime mixture.

Step Five

Finely chop the coriander and add to bowl.

Step Six

Add the chillies and sugar and gently mix until sugar has dissolved and all the ingredients have been coated in the lime juice.Taste to ensure you are happy with the seasoning

Step Six

Cover the salsa and place in fridge for at least an hour to allow the flavours to blend. Then eat!

I love this salsa it is so clean and fresh tasting, it keeps well for about 3 days in the fridge