Shrimp Quesadillas and Mango Salsa

(please excuse the bite marks, I was hungry)

Ok I'm addicted to shrimp and making tortillas. It's an addiction and I can't stop. This variation is easy I'm sure you've had it before. It's easy peasy corn tortillas + shrimp and a really great mango jalapeno salsa. The salsa is sweet, salty, smoky and spicy. It was a pain to slice the mango - am I doing it wrong? But I gotta say I'm getting better at making tortillas without a press- instead of using my hands and/or a rolling pin I've been using a pot.

Homemade corn tortillas and corn meal crusted shrimp

Home made corn tortillas are not hard to make at all- I would say they're a bit time consuming if you don't have a tortilla press though. I alternated between using my hands and a heavy pan to get them thinner.

Corn meal crusted shrimp sort of worked, but I think the original fish would taste better. A lot of the cornmeal ended up falling off the shrimp anyways so it was just... a regular shrimp taco. Sigh... don't worry there's a better shrimp taco recipe coming with a mango salsa!

Houston Style Carnitas

You probably get that I'm very inexperienced at cooking meat by now, but I was even able to make these really, really good carnitas. I did exactly what the recipe said and even though it looked and smelled unappetizing in the beginning, I let it keep cooking and by the 2nd hour it was looking like real carnitas.


I added some guacamole, onions, cilantro and lime. Pickled red onions would be a great addition. Make this, impress your friends. (I forgot my camera so these are iphone photos courtesy of Ilya)

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

Unfortunately, no photos of the finished product because I packed this up for lunch. This recipe is from Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines. It's only rated 2 stars on the website, but I thought it was a pretty good recipe. I got chorizo from my neighborhood Sprouts, also another favorite. They sell "bulk" chorizo, spicy italian sausage without the casings in the meat section and it ranges from 1 lb to 2lbs so it's great for small recipes like this.



I made the radish, black bean salsa the day before and added some avocado and sour cream to the mix. Tasty- although I pretty much like anything with chorizo and black beans.

Black Bean Chorizo Subs and Roasted Pepitas

I found this recipe for Black Bean Chorizo Subs around the time that Rick Bayless cooked a state dinner. The recipe sounded strange, but I trusted the POTUS and FLOTUS' taste in chefs. I really liked the sandwiches, but Ilya thought they were disgusting because of the texture so if you're not a fan of smashed beans + meat, you might want to skip this one. It was a great idea to hollow out the bread so the beans/meat would have a place to fill instead of squishing out the sides- I might use that more often.



I've also been experimenting with nuts because I'm trying to eat more of them. Right now I have a big bag of pepitas from Trader Joes and while they're tasty on their own, they are also boring. This recipe for sugar and spice roasted pepitas makes a super flavorful nut mix? bar? I don't know what to call these, but they are super tasty. I would use a ltitle less cumin and chili because it was a bit too much. I really liked the sugar + salt + chile combination though. I might try this with some other nuts.

Wild mushroom lasagna and chicken enchiladas

This is that delicious, heavy, rich wild mushroom lasagna I mentioned earlier. It's... amazing. It's also different from the other lasagna's I've made- no ricotta. This is more like making a gratin. Thankfully there is some tomato to balance out the whole milk, but you probably won't get past the first slice.


This recipe for chicken enchiladas is great- no sour cream sauce! It was easy to assemble and pretty fast to make (except for simmering the chicken...). My first time making enchiladas and it was a big success. I didn't have pickled jalapenos so I used fresh ones- I'm starting to get the hang of chilies.

Mexican Flan

I. Love. Flan. This recipe I got off of Recipezaar and it's better than some flans I've had at restaurants. Very simple and easy to make. The recipe can be found here: http://www.recipezaar.com/Mexican-Flan-Baked-caramel-Custard-12354

Slight adjustments: You WANT to put 1-2 tablespoons of water into the caramelized layer (heated sugar), or the top will come out like a hard glass sheet! I also did not put orange rind and added a little extra vanilla extract. Actually, thinking about making this one again tonight with MEXICAN vanilla extract. (Real yummy Mexican flan calls for authentic ingredients!) I just bought some in Mexico and it's so much more aromatic than the American vanilla extracts...

Summer food

I hate cooking over a hot stove in the summer so my go-to recipe on hot days (Even though I still have to boil water for eggs and pasta...) is a pasta salad, more filling then just a salad. I add whatever vegetables I have on hand. For this batch it was celery, red bell peppers, cucumbers and some red onion. I also added some boiled eggs- I use a 2:1 ratio for just egg whites to whole eggs because I don't really like egg yolks, but it adds some creaminess to the pasta, otherwise it's just cold and crunchy. I added some diced pepperoni as well so it's a little spicy and a bit more flavorful. Then a healthy splash of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt to top it off. It tastes even better the day after.


Lately I've been buying a lot of rotisserie chickens from Ralphs or Costco. They're pretty cheap and you can use it for so many things! Plus you don't have to touch a whole raw chicken. I used mine for chicken tacos this time. Again, no slaving over a hot stove! Just shred the chicken and cut up: onions, cilanto, green onions, avocado. Get some corn tortillas, some sour cream and cheese and, if you can handle spicy, you MUST throw on some Trade Joe's roasted green chiles (they come in a small can so it's worth a try). Squeeze some lime over it and you're done!


And with the leftover bones/scraps of meat, you can make really delicious chicken stock. Just throw the bones into a pot with water (and any scrap of vegetables you have lying around) and let it simmer for a few hours. Freeze it for later use in soups, sauces, anything... I used my stock for a simple broth with somen noodles and green onions.