Chevy's Red Rice

Chevy's Red Rice is a "MUST HAVE" for a Mexican feast. It takes a regular burrito or a Mexican meal to an amazing one. Enjoy!

Chevy's Red Rice

2 cans of diced tomatoes, blended
1/2 tsp  chipotle purée** (See note - you can increase up to 2tsp for added spiciness)
1 tbsp  chopped cilantro or 1 tsp of dried
2 cups of water 
1 tsp  chopped garlic 
2 tsp salt 
1/3 cup canola oil 
2 cups long-grain white rice 
½ cup chopped yellow onion

Blend the tomatoes and chipotle purée then stir in the cilantro and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the water, blended tomatoes, garlic, chipotle purée**(See note) and salt and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot/pan over high heat until just before the oil begins to smoke. 

Add the rice and onion and sauté until ¾ of the grains are bright white or slightly brown, 7 to 10 minutes - don’t drain the oil.

Add the tomato mixture from the bowl to your pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Remove from the heat, cover and let stand covered for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and tasting to see whether the rice is done. 

When the rice is cooked through, fluff with a fork then keep warm until ready to serve.

We usually double this and it keeps well in the fridge and makes great leftovers. 

**Do not omit this ingredient. It provides the main smoky flavor of this rice. CRITICAL ingredient. Chipotle Puree is just a can of "chipotles in adobo sauce" blended up until smooth - easy. They can be purchased at any grocery store, Walmart, Kroger, etc. You can keep leftover puree in the freezer. It will keep up to a year in the freezer. The original recipe calls for 2tsp. My family cannot do spice so I reduced it to 1/2tsp and it provides the flavor with a low spice. 

Julie's Guacamole

Julie's Guacamole

4 avocados
1/4 purple onion, finely diced
1 small tomato, finely diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp of cumin
Squeeze of resh lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients. Mash together but do not overmix, I like chunky guacamole. Taste with a chip and add salt and pepper to your liking.

You can really adjust any ingredients to taste. If you like a lot of onion, you can go up to 1/2 of an onion and if you like a lot of garlic, you can increase the garlic... you get the picture :) This is just my basic starting point.

Great addition to any party, meal, or mexican feast :)

Mexi Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 package of taco mix
1/2 chopped green pepper
1/2 chopped onion
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can mexi corn, drained
Jiffy cornbread mix(  1 egg,  1/3 c milk
1 c grated sharp cheddar cheese

Directions;
Fry up top 4 ingredients.  Add canned beans and mexi corn.  Top with Jiffy Mix batter.
Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.  Last 5 minutes top with cheese.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

It is time for me to post something other than a dessert. :) It's not that I ONLY make desserts, I just get the best pictures with the desserts I do make, so I post them more often. I have another girl scout cookie recipe coming at you, so we needed something to break up the sweets. 

This recipe is perfect. We make this for an "everyday" meal or a meal to entertain company. They are easy, unique and tasty.

melskitchencafe.com

 Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
6 T honey
4-5 T lime juice
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 lb cooked chicken, shredded
10-12 soft taco sized flour tortillas
2 cups colby or monterey jack cheese, shredded
2 - 10 oz. can green enchilada sauce

Mix first 4 ingredients together in ziploc bag and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least a half hour.

With cooking spray, spray a 9×13 pan (or 2 8x8's and save one half of this recipe in the freezer for another meal*). Pour enchilada sauce into the the dish, enough to make a thin layer on the bottom (Approximately 1/2 can for a 9x12 and a 1/3 of a can per 8x8).

Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese. Pour the rest of the can of green enchilada sauce over enchiladas then sprinkle with more cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Put it under the broiler at the end to make the cheese brown and crispy on the top - see pic below.)


 *Freezable Meal: Freeze prior to baking. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake enchiladas, covered (without thawing first) for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer, until brown and crispy on top. OR put in your refrigerator the night before and bake at regular time and temperature.

After putting these under the broiler the last few minutes they turn golden... yum.

Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork

If you've never made this YOU MUST MAKE THIS IMMEDIATELY!!  So Kindra's post got me motivated to take pictures this time.  Cafe Rio Pork has been my FAVORITE meal for about a year now. I make it in large quantities so I can enjoy it day after day for 3 meals a day. :)  We triple everything, except the dressing.  There's plenty of that in a single batch.

You can make this into a Cafe Rio Salad or Burrito(same basic ingredients). We make ours with tortillas, beans, rice, pork, cheese, and dressing. You may also include pico, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, tortilla strips, and coijta cheese. I think the basic combination of flavors is so perfect, I like to keep it simple. We buy the raw tortillas from the grocery store. They are wonderful. If they aren't available in your grocery store(usually by the cheese and such) try this tortilla recipe.

Cafe Rio Pork

Feeds 4-6   Time: 5 hours + Marinade

2 lbs Pork*

1 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 cans Coke

1 + 1/4 c light brown sugar

dash garlic salt

1/4 c water

1 can diced green chilies

3/4 (10 oz Can) Old El Paso red enchilada sauce

Marinate Pork, 1 1/2 cans coke and 1/4 c brown sugar in a ziploc bag for a few hours or overnight.

Drain pork and place in a crock pot on high with 1/2 can coke, water and garlic salt for 3-4 hours(or until it shreds easily).

In a blender combine 1/2 can coke, chilies, enchilada sauce, and 1 c brown sugar.

Drain pork again, shred, and place in crock pot with blended ingredients. Cook for 1 more hour.

*I have heard recommendations for several different types of pork. Boneless pork ribs for example, we tried it, tastes great. We've also tried several different types of pork roasts (whatever is on sale, picnic, sirloin, rump, shoulder). They ALL Worked great!! The only kind of pork that I have found that DOES NOT work, is the kind that isn't cooked enough. If your pork won't shred, cook it longer. If you're using a roast, cut it up into baseball sized chunks. It helps it to cook faster. I did about 6 lbs of meat. I cut it up into chunks and it cooked nicely in my crockpot in about 5 hours plus the additional 1 hour. Please keep in mind, I'm not a pork expert. If you're aware of a pork that wouldn't work, don't try it :) But feel free to leave a comment and save someone else the trouble :)





Black Beans

Makes 2 cups

1 T oil

1 t cumin

1 t minced garlic

1 can black beans

3/4 t salt

1 1/3 c tomato juice

3 T chopped fresh cilantro

Heat pan, add oil, garlic and cumin on medium. Heat until the cumin is fragrant. Add beans, salt and tomato juice. Bring to a boil. Simmer on med-low for 20 minutes. Add cilantro before serving.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

Makes 3 cups

1 t butter

1 t minced garlic

1 t + 1 T lime juice

1 c rice

1 1/2 c chicken broth
3 T fresh chopped cilantro

2 t sugar


Heat butter and garlic in pan. Add rice, 1 t of lime juice, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15-20 minutes.  Combine sugar, cilantro and 1 T lime juice in a small bowl.  When rice is finished, add it to the rice and fluff.

Julie's Cooking Variation: Bring 1 1/2c chicken broth to boil. Add 1 c rice. When it comes back to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20min. Combine garlic, sugar, cilantro and 1 T lime juice in a small bowl.  When rice is finished, add it to the rice and fluff. 

Cilantro Ranch Dressing

Makes 1 quart or 32 oz

1 pkg (3T) Traditional Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (not buttermilk)

1 c mayo

1/2 c buttermilk

2 tomatillos, husks removed, diced

1/2 bunch cilantro

1/2 t minced garlic

juice of 1 lime (3 T)

1 jalapeno, diced (remove seeds, if you don't like spice)

Mix ingredients together in a blender.  Refrigerate.  Let it sit overnight, if you have time.

Yum!

Adapted Slightly From Favorite Family Recipes