Quick Pickled Jalapeno Rings – I Hear These are Great on Nachos!

Unlike nacho cheese sauce, the nutritional label on a jar of pickled jalapenos isn’t very scary at all, so you can’t use that as an excuse when your non-foodie friends start making fun of you for having too much time on your hands. Nope, you’ll just have to fess up to making these pickled jalapeno rings for the simple reason that you knew how.

While these are a no-brainer topping for your nachos, the fun doesn’t stop there. These make any sandwich more special, and any salad less snoozy. It would be faster to list things that this wouldn’t make more delicious.

As I mention in the video, these are intended to be used relatively soon after making, but they will last for a while in the fridge. You don’t have to be too worried about getting sick, as not much bad happens in a brine, but eventually they start to break down, especially if you slice them thin. Having said that, if you enjoy these as much as I do, they won’t be around very long anyway. Enjoy!

Please note: recipe below makes enough for two (8-oz) jars of peppers. I only pickled enough peppers for one jar, and saved the rest of the brine for something else.

Ingredients:

10 large jalapeno peppers, sliced

3 tbsp sugar (I like these kind of sweet, so use less or no sugar if you don’t)

3/4 cup white distilled vinegar

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1 clove garlic

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Here's a collection of video recipes featuring fantastic food inspired by the cuisines of Central and South America. You never forget your first love, and when it comes to ethnic food it was the foods of Mexico and points south that first captured my heart and imagination some 28 years ago, as I began eating my way across San Francisco. I realize Cinco de Mayo is a bigger deal out here in California, but no matter where you live, I hope you give some of these festive recipes a try. Enjoy!



Salvadorian Chicken Stewed in Cream







Chicken Chili (or Chile) Verde









Pineapple Pork Al Pastor








Mexican (Spanish) Rice








Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops









Chicken Chimichanga








Scallop and Mango Ceviche

Shortcut Green Chicken Enchiladas - Perfect for Your Americanized, Unauthentic Cinco de Mayo Fiesta!

This recipe doesn't pretend to be anything it's not - this is simply a super-fast casserole that shares a few similarities to chicken enchiladas. If you are Mexican, and were/are lucky enough to enjoy authentic enchiladas, this will not remind you of Mom's - or even Dad's.

But having issued the standard ethnic recipe disclaimer, I'll say, these aren't bad. As long as you choose a high-quality green sauce and a decently cooked rotisserie chicken, you should end up with a nice, easy, fast dinner.

Please buy some good cheeses and grate them yourself. You'll see me using a pre-grated Mexican cheese blend, which was me not wanting to waste a product sample I had received for a review (the verdict? Grate your own cheese!)

This low-quality video was posted on YouTube a long time ago, but for whatever reason was never posted here. In fact, I don't even have a decent photo of the final dish, which is why you see this crappy screen shot here. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese
8 oz cheddar cheese
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
3 cups green enchilada sauce
10 corn tortillas
2 tbsp hot sauce

Photo (c) Flickr user Sung Sook

Chilaquiles - The Best Thing to Happen to Hangovers Since Menudo (the spicy soup, not the band)

As promised, here is my basic version of chilaquiles, a classic Mexican mixture of fried tortillas, cheese, and salsa verde, often made with eggs to produce one of the world's great breakfasts. Like all the great breakfasts of the world, it has been long touted as a superior hangover cure.

It's ability to revive the body, mind, and soul from the ravages of alcohol poisoning is reportedly second only to the famous Mexican soup, menudo. Since mendo takes much longer to make, and traditionally contains, among other things, brains, cheeks, tails, hooves, and other organs, I tend to prefer the chilaquiles as my remedy.

According to the extensive research I did regarding the name, and by that I mean the three minutes I spent on Wikipedia, the word "chilaquiles" is derived from the Nahuatl word chil-a-quilitl, which means "herbs or greens in chile broth."

I can't say how that particular recipe eventually became what you'll see here, but thankfully it did - I can't imagine a bowl of stewed greens in a chili broth would work as well after a late night out at Senor Diablo's Casa de Las Margaritas Grandes. Enjoy!



Ingredients for curing 2 hangovers:
5 eggs
3 corn tortillas
1/2 cup cheese
1/2 cup salsa verde
vegetable oil
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Check Out These Other Great South-of-the-Border Video Recipes:

Aunt Mary's Pollo en Crema

Pineapple Pork Al Pastor

Spicy Tomato Rice

Chicken Chili Verde


Margarita photo (c) House Of Sims' Flickr photostream

Pineapple Pork Al Pastor - A Very Americanized Version of a Mexican Recipe Invented by the Lebanese

My all-time favorite fast food in the whole world is a Taco al Pastor. I live right next to the "Mission," which is San Francisco's Mexican neighborhood, and there are literally three or four taquerías per block selling this amazing treat.

It's a huge stack of thinly sliced pork, marinated in chili, pineapple juice, and other secret ingredients, piled up on a vertical spit and cooked rotisserie-style. The tender, aromatic meat is then sliced off and served on tortillas, usually with onions, cilantro, and a little hot sauce. It's too good to describe.

This pork recipe is NOT a true al pastor (fyi: shepherd-style), but simply a nice, easy marinade using some of the same ingredients to fairly delicious results. The main ingredient is the pineapple juice, which not only gives the meat a great flavor, but also has enzymes that makes it very tender.

Of course, I decided to use some pork tenderloin I had, which sort of defeats the purpose, but this marinade really pays dividends when using the much cheaper, and more traditional pork shoulder.

One of the key spices is cinnamon, which is no surprise since the origins of this recipe trace back to Lebanese immigrants living in Mexico City, where they were clearly showing off their shawarma-rich heritage. Lamb shawarma is a similar preparation, and you can watch me do a faux-version of that here.

This is one of those recipe that I just happened to have the camera on as I cooked. I didn't measure things, I forgot to film the cinnamon addition, and never even added cumin, another traditional spice. Nevertheless, it was wonderfully tender and tasty, and I'm happy to share it with you, flaws and all. Enjoy!

Note: Vimeo is still having sound issues, sorry.



Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloin
6 oz pineapple juice
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp chipotle
2 dried chiles Pasilla, seeds discarded
3 dried chiles Guajillo, seeds discarded
cayenne to taste
cumin, optional
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp white vinegar
salt to taste
vegetable oil for grilling

Al Pastor Photo (c) Flickr user Alaskan Dude

It Takes Some Huevos to Cook on a Ranch

I was very excited when I saw Huevos Rancheros on my assignment list for About.com. It's one of those breakfast recipes that I love, but never remember to make.

Huevos Rancheros simple means ranch-style eggs, and if you've ever worked on a ranch, like I have (I picked corn one summer), you understand the importance of a hearty breakfast.

There are many variations of this dish, all which includes some kind of eggs topped with some kind of tomato and chili-based sauce. This video recipe shows a fairly traditional preparation with two slight twists. I like my ranchero sauce kind of smooth - where as most classic versions are quite chunky. Also, instead of the plain tortilla base, I slip in a slice of cheese for a little quesadilla action.

If you decide to go ahead and try this (and when you see the money shot at the end, you really won't have much choice), you should follow my lead and have it with the rice and beans. I love homefries the much as the next ranch hand, but there's something about the way the egg yolk and ranchero sauce mix together that works so well with frijoles refritos and arroz.

Since this recipe was produced for About, the following video link will take you off the site to watch the video, just don’t forget to come back. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 tsp of vegetable oil
1/2 cup diced onions
big pinch of salt
2/3 cup diced green chilies - combination of hot or sweet i.e.jalapeno & Fresno chilies
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp oregano
14.5-oz diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of water
salt and cayenne pepper
Corn tortillas
Pepper jack cheese
2 eggs
Cilantro

Homemade Flour Tortillas - Guest Starring Blanca Díaz

I just filmed a flour tortilla video for About.com, but since I'm not sure when it will air, I thought I would post this video I found on Youtube, which uses the same basic recipe.

It stars the lovely and talented Blanca Díaz. She doesn't do a voiceover, but this is a very well done, and easy to follow clip. I hope she inspires you to make some homemade tortillas. Enjoy!

Side Dish Stagnation? Spicy Tomato Rice to the Rescue!

This short and fascinating video recipe for spicy tomato rice will hopefully add a very nice, all-purpose side dish to your repertoire. Believe it or not, Chefs have a much tougher time coming up with starchy side dishes for meals than they do with the main items. Is this an issue for you as well?

This is probably due to the fact that new recipes for main courses seem almost infinite. At last count there were 2,769,241 ways to cook a chicken. By the way, while I typed that last sentence, 793 new ways to cook chicken were just invented.

Side dishes are another story. I do about five or six variations on mashed potatoes and that's it. Seems you can only do so many things to make it interesting before you run out of ideas. Kind of like Survivor. So, don't underestimate the importance of adding a new side dish to your arsenal.

This Spanish rice-inspired spicy tomato rice recipe is super easy to make, and is always a crowd-pleaser. When was the last time you had Spanish rice? The last time you went to Spain? That time you went to that Mexican place for that thing with those guys? If you can't recall, then it's time to watch this video and get busy. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 tbsp of butter
2 cups of white, long-grain rice
1/3 cup diced jalapenos
1/3 cup diced green onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp chili powder or paprika
1/2 tsp chipotle and/or cayenne
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup of tomato sauce


Do you have a rice cooking phobia? You're not alone! You may want to watch my How to Make Perfect White Rice video recipe.




* Please help support free video recipes, and visit my new sponsor, MOZO Shoes. Find out why chefs (like me) are buzzing about their great shoes!

The Sacred Tamale - Another Victim of the American Casserole

Ask someone from Mexico or Central America about homemade tamales, and you will see love in his or her eyes. Ask them about the all-American tamale pie, and you'll see contempt. Real tamales take hours of careful preparation, using secret formulas perfected over generations. They are more ritual than recipe.

This video recipe for hot tamale pie is further proof that we Americans can take any sacred ethnic recipe, and turn it into a quick and easy casserole. While this tamale pie has very little to do with its south-of-the-border namesake, it's a really delicious recipe all the same. So, with apologies to real tamale makers everywhere, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 cups diced peppers of your choice
1 16-oz jar salsa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chipotle pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
4 oz cheddar cheese, divided
4 oz jack cheese, divided
2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin/bread mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
8 oz frozen corn, thawed

Aunt Mary's Pollo en Crema - Sorta Salvadorian Chicken Stewed in Cream

Aunt Mary's was a popular brunch restaurant here in San Francisco that served a wonderfully homey array of Mexican and Salvadorian dishes. Michele and I used to go every Sunday for a late breakfast (that's what brunch used to be called). She would always get the Huevos Rancheros, and my usual was the Pollo en Crema, which is the subject of today's video recipe.

Sometimes it's fun to cook a recipe that ignores the standard techniques that usually rule the production of my food. This recipe is a simple boiled chicken - no browning, no deglazing, no reducing, and no layering of flavors. As you'll see, you just toss all the ingredients into a pot and simmer it until tender and delicious.

My standard ethic recipe disclaimer applies; I'm not, nor have I ever been, Salvadorian. This is what I used to get at a restaurant that claimed to serve Salvadorian food, and they called it Pollo en Crema. I'm sure those of you in the know will point out if, and how, this varies from the "real" authentic recipe, but what I can tell everyone is that this simple pot of chicken is great food. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 big chicken
1 onion
2 red bell pepper
2 jalapeno
2 Roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
cayenne
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup sour cream, or Mexican crema
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
fresh chopped cilantro

Back By Popular Demand: Robert Rodriguez Does Puerco Pibil

Gee, if I knew the reviews of RR's cooking skills were going to be so great I wouldn't have featured him! As you know, I work alone, but I guess I can share the spotlight for one more day. Here is something called Puerco Pibil, which I've never made, or know anything about, so I'll let Chef Rodriguez take it from here. Enjoy!

(Rated NC-17)

Chicken Chili (or Chile) Verde - Celebrating the Mysterious Tomatillo

During culinary school I worked at a Mexican restaurant in Saranac Lake, NY, called Casa Del Sol. Which, as we used to joke, means "Casa of Sol." My favorite dish was the Chile Verde. Large chucks of pork shoulder simmered slowly in an exotic green sauce of tomatillos and chilies. The tomatillos we used were caned - and I was fascinated by the mysterious tomatillo graphics that decorated the label - but it wasn't until I arrived in California that I saw the real thing.

What an odd vegetable, or is it a fruit? As you will see in video, it sort of looks like a green tomato, which it isn't. It has this strange, veiny, paper covering, like a giant green gooseberry - and the flavor is even more perplexing. It's sort of tart, kind of sour, with hints of citrus and green apple. I sound like one of those wine geeks (no offense). Paired with sweet onions, and savory chicken, this recipe a great way to experience tomatillos for the first time.

The real way to spell this recipe is "Chile" verde, not "Chili" verde. But, both spellings are used, and since this particular recipe is more about the chicken simmered in spicy sauce, than the green peppers, I used the Americanized "Chili." Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut up in 6 pieces
8 tomatillos
2 jalapenos
6 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
3 cups chicken stock
1 onion
2 tbsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 lb potatoes
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
yogurt or sour cream

Dulce de Leche - How a Sweet Mistake by an Argentinean Maid, or a Night Watchman at a Dairy, Produced the World's Most Popular Caramel Sauce

Dulce de leche means "milk candy," and it's basically a thick caramel-like syrup made from slowly cooking milk and sugar. It is extremely popular throughout Latin America, and pound for pound, it's the world's most popular caramel confection.

Legend has it that a maid was making "lechada," a traditional boiled milk and sugar drink, and she forgot all about it. A few hours later she returned to find the pot bubbling with a thick caramel-colored syrup…dulce de leche was born. I'm sorry, but there is nothing worse than a boring "how this recipe was invented legend." Here's my version.

In 1836, an Argentinean dairy caught fire when it was hit with a bolt of lightning, during a terrible thunderstorm. The night watchman, Juan Manuel de Rosas, ran next door to the general store, "Walmartes" to grab a sack of salt, which in those days was commonly used to smother and put out fires. He accidentally grabbed a bag of sugar and began throwing handfuls everywhere. But, he was too late and the fire ended up burning down half the dairy. He panicked, stole a horse, and road out of town, never to be seen again (although rumors circulated that he moved to Peru and opened a shoe store).

When the firemen entered the building they found several pots of sugar-dusted milk that had slowly cooked near the fire. As the pots where being moved to start the clean-up, some of the mixture splashed on someone's hand, was licked off, and dulce de leche was born. Now that's a legend! I hope you try this simple and amazing sauce. Enjoy!