Chicken Tostada's

Ok, so I've heard them to also be called Tinga's but because I'm so Americanized we will just call them Chicken Tostada's! :) Now if you check my blog for recipes you'll know that most of mine come with more "instruction" than anything! So no difference on this one either! Let's just say I really shouldn't ever go into the recipe book writing business any time soon! :)

Chicken Tostada's

• Shredded Chicken*
• Tostada's (I prefer the brand Perico)
• Sour Cream
• Mexican Cheese, Cotija
• Cabbage/Lettuce (your preference)
• Fresh Salsa

Steps:
1. place tostada on plate
2. cover tostada with shredded chicken
3. add sour cream (if you like it)
4. lettuce or cabbage
5. fresh salsa
6. sprinkle crumbled cheese over top
7. ENJOY!

*Shredded Chicken
For the chicken I usually take some bone in chicken breasts or thighs and add them to a pot of water with a few seasonings; 2 to 3 whole cloves, a piece of garlic, a few slices of onion, salt & pepper. Let boil until chicken is cooked through. Then I'll remove the chicken from the pot and let cool. When the chicken is cool enough to handle I begin removing all the bones and shredding it by hand.

*Fresh Salsa
Dice up tomatoes, jalapenos and onions. Finely chop cilantro and mix all together.

Mexican Rice

This is a very simplified version of my mom's original Mexican rice. She came up with the shortcuts that still gives you the same great flavor! Love simplifications!! :)

Mexican Rice

1 cup white rice
1 can of stewed tomato's
1 piece of fresh garlic
2 cups of water
1 cube of chicken bouillon
pinch of salt

In a blender mix can of stewed tomato's, garlic, water, chicken bouillon and pinch of salt; puree. Fry the rice in about 1-2 Tbsp. of oil until it is a nice golden color. You will need to constantly be stirring once it starts browning. When rice is browned, pour tomato mixture over, turn down heat and cover.

*If you would like some veggies in your rice you could add some frozen veggies when you pour the tomato mix in.

Chili's Rellenos

I LOVE these! They are so simple to make. I love the fresh taste of Green Bell Peppers. My mom makes these two different ways. She makes them this way, how I have done. The other way is my dad's favorite and so unhealthy! I'm not a fan of the other way, she makes an egg dip, dips the bell peppers after they have been stuffed and deep fry's them. And since I don't really like them that way or know all the details to make them that way I won't list that part of the recipe. And I have to apologize I know my recipe's aren't written in the best way but seriously it is hard when the majority of it is "to your liking" :) If you have any questions or need clarification on something feel free to ask :)

Chili's Rellenos

Green Bell Peppers
Mexican Cheese, Cotija
Onions
Oregano
Jalapenos (IF you want them a little spicy)

Pick out a few Bell peppers that would be good to stuff, wash and pat dry. Then cut a slit in them from stem down to the bottom on one side.

I then take the cheese and crumble it down into a bowl, dice up some onions (in this one I just used some little green onion that we grew in our garden, you can use whatever kind you like), dried oregano to liking and some diced up jalapenos IF you want a little kick to them. Mix everything together.

Pick up your bell pepper and and give it a gentle squeeze near the slit and hold it so it will open up a little for you to begin spooning in the cheese mix. At this point you just stuff it as much as you like. I like to completely fill the cavity of the pepper.

Now the next part is by preference. You can cook them on a cookie sheet in the oven turning them occasionally. Or cook them on a skillet on the stove. You can probably see I used tin foil over the skillet, I did that because that's what I use to make my tortillas on and I hate having stuff stick to it! And then just occasionally turn them over. I have done them both ways I prefer on the stove because I am more mindful of them there and since I like mine to have a bit of a crisp left in the pepper, I feel that I can monitor that a little more closely. Jeremy likes them to be softer and I found the oven does a much better job of that. :)

If doing it in the oven I just set my oven to 350 degrees and let them cook between 1/2 to an 1 hour. Again defending on how soft or crisp you want the pepper to be. The cheese will never fully melt but will be come very soft.

Flour Tortillas

So being Mexican flour tortillas were a big part of our meals growing up. I just loved them! Especially my moms, store bought ones don't even compare. But my mom is not one to use recipes, she has this amazing talent of just throwing ingredients together and the outcome?.... a delicious masterpiece! So trying to get recipes for a lot of her cooking has been quite the interesting task.

Flour Tortillas

4 cups of Flour (bleached)
1/2 cup shortening
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix all these ingredients together until the shorting has basically disappeared/ worked into the flour really well.

Next you will add 2 cups of warm water. Now this part is kind of tricky, if the water is too cold your dough will come out kind of hard and not easy to knead but if it is too warm or hot it will become so sticky that you will need to add more flour and then if you add too much flour again your dough will just become kind of hard. So you have to be very careful about getting it just right. Now the other thing is I don't add all 2 full cups of water, I start off by adding between 1 to 1 1/2 cups first and need that in and slowly add in more little by little. Then after it is kneaded and well mixed I cover with some plastic wrap and let it '"rest" for about 15 min. (gives me a chance to put everything away, and get things ready). Then you roll the dough out into little balls and then once all the dough is rolled into little balls you can start rolling out your tortillas.

As for making them round, it just takes practice I do keep flipping the dough over and over as when I'm rolling it out and then kind of stretch it out in my hands like the do with pizza crusts (with out the throwing in the air, I think I'd end up wearing the dough if I ever tried that!).

You definitely want a good solid rolling pin, I dislike the ones with handles, I feel that I can't apply even pressure towards the middle. Just a solid piece of wood.

Anyway, I don't know if any of this will make sense. It all looks/reads complicated but it really isn't. If you have any questions feel free to ask. They definitely are something you need to make over and over to get really good at.