Simple Rice and Beans

I made a simple dish of rice and beans using some leftover, out-of-the-box Spanish rice I had.  I used some pinto beans from a can, shredded Chihuahua cheese, and some slightly sauteed green and serrano peppers.  I tossed some chopped cilantro on top and it was a great use of leftovers!
I'm not sure if this resembles anything Mexican, Tex-Mex, Cuban, or Southwestern but it worked out well enough.

Soft Chicken Tacos--Easy Weekday Meal

This is an excellent way to make fairly authentic Southwestern-style braised chicken for use in tacos or enchiladas.   This version came from "The Food of Santa Fe: Authentic Recipes from the American Southwest" by Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach, a book of very simple but useful recipes with great pictures.  Years ago this book helped inspire me towards learning more complex dishes.

Simmer 2 bone-in chicken breasts (4 total pieces) for 30 minutes in roughly 1 quart of water with 1 chicken bouillon cube, 1/2 TBSP ground cumin, 1/2 TBSP oregano, and 1 TBSP onion flakes.

Pluck chicken out of the pot, let cool on a plate, then hand-pull and add back to pot and let soak for 5-10 minutes longer prior to using for taco filling.

Warm flour tortillas and prepare sides of shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, etc. If you want to have a more Mexican-style flavor, use cilantro, chopped white onion, and use green salsa (and skip the lettuce and tomato).  If you serve with a wedge of lime and squeeze on plenty of juice, it adds a ton of flavor.  Serve shredded chicken with tortillas and sides and enjoy!

Buen Provecho!

St. Louis Country-Style Ribs

The latest issue of Saveur Magazine, dedicated to real BBQ, had a wonderful set of stories and recipes worth checking out.  I tested out their riff on St. Louis style-BBQ, where cooks grill ribs and pork steaks and then finish them in a sauce in the oven.  Saveur's version works entirely in the kitchen, so it's a great option if grilling or smoking the ribs is not an option (perfect for winter BBQ, or if you cannot charcoal grill or don't have a smoker grill).

It's pretty simple--click on the link above for the entire recipe, but simply saute the onions, garlic, bacon, and ancho chili powder in a pot like I did:

Then I added the tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, etc. until it blended well.  I added a bit of red pepper flakes for some heat.  Separately I browned the ribs in a pan and then added them to the pot and braised it slowly as per the recipe, though I actually used more time and a lower temperature to keep the ribs juicy.

It worked out really well, and the ribs were very flavorful and tender--I ate them with some fresh corn on the cob:

Of course, Saveur's professional photo of their end result is far better, but I can tell you that the flavors worked out really well and I'll have leftovers to use with "al pastor" tacos tomorrow!

Southwestern Corn Salad & Fish

Summer is here!  After spotting fresh Florida corn at Whole Foods, I was inspired to create this dish using Southwestern style flavors.  Here's what I did:

Corn & Black Bean Salad

3 ears fresh corn--boiled with kernals sliced off then chilled
1/4 to 1/3 red onion chopped fine
1/3 to 1/2 cup cilantro leaves chopped fine
1 lime
1 tsp salt
1 15 oz. can black beans--drained and rinsed

Boil the corn ears then slice off the kernals and place in fridge for chilling.  After 20 minutes or so mix all ingredients, adjusting flavors as needed!  Serve as a side.

In the photo, you can see I used this as a side for some sauteed Pacific Snapper.  The snapper was simply marinated with Louisiana hot sauce and olive oil and sauteed quickly.  I sprinkled cilantro leaves on top as shown.  My goal was to serve something hot and spicy with the chilled corn salad to counter it.  Next time I will probably add chopped red pepper to the dish.  Great summertime chow!!