New Leftover Thread
.....and a Couple of Quick Tips
In making out my shopping list for this week ---- seeing what we still have on hand to use up, considering what meat I have in our freezer and the weekly sales, I have decided it's time for a Mexican thread of meals.
I have been hungry for something spicy for weeks but didn't feel that would be good for me while I was sick.
I'm well now and have a large package of un-cooked, raw,corn tortillas in the refrigerator, the last of the tomatoes, a red onion and the last of the romaine lettuce that all need to be used. And I have cheese, avocados, poblano chiles, eggs, tomato paste, olives, rice and the meats for Mexican food already on hand, so, I should not need to buy much to make all these meals. I will only need chili powder and sour cream. We had beef corn tortilla tacos tonight, after which, while the ingredients were already out on the counter, I fried up more tortillas and made up a tortilla stack with the leftover spiced ground beef, black beans, chopped tomatoes and onions and some cottage cheese because I don't have sour cream yet. I will serve this the day after tomorrow. We will have shrimp salad tomorrow with some too-stale, hard artisan bread that I will steam soft, and then the tortilla stack. I will make our daughter's shredded chiles rellenos, which will make enough for us for two batches, for the freezer, and save the chicken for homemade chicken veggie subs early next week. We will enjoy breakfast for Sunday's midday meal and if we are hungry, a salad in the evening. All the leftovers from the Mexican food will go in the big crockpot with turkey meatballs for Albondigas (meatball) Soup on Monday.The leftover soup will be served in mugs on Tuesday as a side for the chicken subs filled with shredded chicken, Bubbies fermented pickles, cukes, tomato, onion, lettuce, sprouts and avocado served on buns I will make, Leftover soup will be nice for lunches for me since it is supposed to be cold again.
The Quick Tips
Sauces...
* dressing for Mexican salads and tortilla stack or any Mexican dish: mix equal parts sour cream and salsa and maybe a
little avocado mashed with chopped fresh cilantro.
*enchilada sauce---a friend showed me this years ago when I was failing at every attempt to get one that
tasted like Mexican restaurant sauce or the canned stuff. After you have cooked some meat in a pan, add a little water to deglaze the pan, add chili powder to taste, about a tablespoon or so of tomato paste added to cold water with corn meal in it. Stir this together and add to the pan. Whisk well and turn on the heat. Have a little water on hand so if the sauce thickens too much you can add a bit more water if and as needed. Whisk while on medium to high heat---depending on your range/stove top. Essentially my friend told me you are making gravy and adding Mexican flavors to it. When it is ready it will thicken and turn darker and shiny. If too thick add more water and whisk . If it is too thin add more corn starch to a little bit of cold water and add to pan and heat to bubbling again until it reaches the right thickness---that of gravy. It's super easy, inexpensive and very quick. If you are not planning to cook any type of meat just add a little olive oil--say a couple tablespoons---to the pan and mix with other ingredients.
Other spices such as garlic, cilantro, cumin can be added if you like.
Don't be afraid to experiment.
Enjoy your weekend!
Kathi~
.....and a Couple of Quick Tips
In making out my shopping list for this week ---- seeing what we still have on hand to use up, considering what meat I have in our freezer and the weekly sales, I have decided it's time for a Mexican thread of meals.
I have been hungry for something spicy for weeks but didn't feel that would be good for me while I was sick.
I'm well now and have a large package of un-cooked, raw,corn tortillas in the refrigerator, the last of the tomatoes, a red onion and the last of the romaine lettuce that all need to be used. And I have cheese, avocados, poblano chiles, eggs, tomato paste, olives, rice and the meats for Mexican food already on hand, so, I should not need to buy much to make all these meals. I will only need chili powder and sour cream. We had beef corn tortilla tacos tonight, after which, while the ingredients were already out on the counter, I fried up more tortillas and made up a tortilla stack with the leftover spiced ground beef, black beans, chopped tomatoes and onions and some cottage cheese because I don't have sour cream yet. I will serve this the day after tomorrow. We will have shrimp salad tomorrow with some too-stale, hard artisan bread that I will steam soft, and then the tortilla stack. I will make our daughter's shredded chiles rellenos, which will make enough for us for two batches, for the freezer, and save the chicken for homemade chicken veggie subs early next week. We will enjoy breakfast for Sunday's midday meal and if we are hungry, a salad in the evening. All the leftovers from the Mexican food will go in the big crockpot with turkey meatballs for Albondigas (meatball) Soup on Monday.The leftover soup will be served in mugs on Tuesday as a side for the chicken subs filled with shredded chicken, Bubbies fermented pickles, cukes, tomato, onion, lettuce, sprouts and avocado served on buns I will make, Leftover soup will be nice for lunches for me since it is supposed to be cold again.
The Quick Tips
Sauces...
* dressing for Mexican salads and tortilla stack or any Mexican dish: mix equal parts sour cream and salsa and maybe a
little avocado mashed with chopped fresh cilantro.
*enchilada sauce---a friend showed me this years ago when I was failing at every attempt to get one that
tasted like Mexican restaurant sauce or the canned stuff. After you have cooked some meat in a pan, add a little water to deglaze the pan, add chili powder to taste, about a tablespoon or so of tomato paste added to cold water with corn meal in it. Stir this together and add to the pan. Whisk well and turn on the heat. Have a little water on hand so if the sauce thickens too much you can add a bit more water if and as needed. Whisk while on medium to high heat---depending on your range/stove top. Essentially my friend told me you are making gravy and adding Mexican flavors to it. When it is ready it will thicken and turn darker and shiny. If too thick add more water and whisk . If it is too thin add more corn starch to a little bit of cold water and add to pan and heat to bubbling again until it reaches the right thickness---that of gravy. It's super easy, inexpensive and very quick. If you are not planning to cook any type of meat just add a little olive oil--say a couple tablespoons---to the pan and mix with other ingredients.
Other spices such as garlic, cilantro, cumin can be added if you like.
Don't be afraid to experiment.
Enjoy your weekend!
Kathi~
No comments:
Post a Comment