Frijoles de la Olla {Cooked Beans}

Beans are the most important part of the Mexican diet. If you were to walk into an average home here in Mexico, I'm sure you would find cooked beans in the fridge. Cooked beans are known as "Frijoles de la Olla" (beans from the pot).

Frijoles are rich in protein and iron. It's no wonder that bean broth is the first food offered to infants in Mexico.

But beans aren't exclusive to Mexican kitchens. I still remember how my paternal great-grandmother, a true Southern belle, would serve cooked beans over a slice of buttered cornbread.

In Mexico, frijoles are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Beans can be prepared in a variety of ways, most of which I'll will be sharing with you in future posts.

There are numerous methods on how to cook beans, such as soaking the beans overnight or cooking them with onions and garlic.  The possibilities are endless.  My grandpa liked to cook his beans with garlic and a patita de puerco (pigs foot).  And my grandmother preferred to add a couple slices of bacon.  This recipe is very basic. All you need is water and dried beans. You can cook the beans in a pot on the stove or you can use a crock pot. (That's how I cooked beans in the States.) Whichever cooking method you choose, I recommend that you don't add the salt until the beans are fully cooked.  Once cooked, the beans can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

My bean of choice is the peruano, but pinto beans work just as well.

When cooking beans, just make sure you are in a good mood.  Legend has it that if you're mad or upset while cooking beans, the beans won't soften, no matter how long you cook them.

Frijoles de la Olla
(Cooked Beans)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound peruano or pinto beans
• 6 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Fill a 3-quart stockpot with the 6 cups of water. Bring water to boil over high heat. Sort through beans and remove any rocks. Rinse beans with cold water.

Add beans to boiling water. Cover stockpot and let beans cook for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let simmer 1-1/2 to 2 hours until beans are fully cooked. (Add additional water to pot, if necessary.) Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt and let simmer an additional 5 minutes. Serve with Chile de Molcajete and warm corn tortillas. Enjoy!!!

With Love,

Leslie Limón

Chicken Taquitos (Flautas de Pollo)

When I was a little girl, my grandparents and I would go out to eat every Friday. The restaurants would vary between a Swedish smorgasbord, KFC and a tiny, Mexican restaurant that was only 2 blocks away from where we lived. El Burrito was my favorite! I always ordered the same thing. Not because I was a picky eater, but because I really loved their chicken taquitos served with a side of guacamole.

Chicken taquitos are still a big hit around my house. They're quick, easy and the kiddies love them. I cook two boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. But this is a great recipe to use up any leftover chicken.

Chicken Taquitos (Flautas de Pollo)

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 cups shredded chicken
• 12 to 16 corn tortillas
• 1 cup Vegetable oil (for frying)
• Guacamole
• Sour Cream

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet, a griddle or a comal over medium-high heat. Warm the corn tortillas on the griddle: wrap in a kitchen towel or aluminum foil to keep warm.

Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of shredded chicken in center of corn tortilla; roll up tightly. (To prevent taquito from unrolling, secure with a toothpick.)

Heat vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully place taquitos seam-side down in hot oil. Fry 4 or 5 at a time for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until a light golden brown.

Serve with Guacamole, Sour cream, Mexican Rice, Refried Beans. Enjoy!!!

With Love,

Leslie Limon

Arroz Poblano {Poblano Rice}

Rice is a great side dish with any meal. One of my favorites is Arroz Poblano. It's made with roasted Poblano peppers. Poblano chilies offer a wonderful mix of sweet and spicy. For those of you that can't handle a lot of heat, this is the chile pepper that you should try.

I like to use fresh peppers in all of my recipes, but canned chilies can be used for this recipe. Roasting peppers is not as difficult as it seems. It's quite easy. Most Mexicans roast their chilies on the stove top, using a comal or small skillet. And you'll love the smell!

Arroz Poblano
(Poblano Rice)

Ingredients:

• 1 poblano chile
• 1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup long-grain rice
• 1/4 or 1/2 cup canned corn kernels
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Heat the chile pepper until the skin begins to blister and turns a dark brown. Turn the pepper until it is evenly roasted on all sides.

Place the pepper in a plastic bag and set aside for 5 minutes. (This causes the pepper to sweat, which makes the skin much easier to remove.)

Peel the blistered skin off of the pepper. Carefully, slice off the top of the pepper. (Cut as close to the stem as possible.) Remove seeds and veins with a spoon. Slice or chop the Poblano chile.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in medium saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and the garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice and the Poblano chile; saute for 3 minutes. Stir in the corn kernels.

Pour the water over the rice. Season with the chicken bouillon and salt. Cover saucepan and bring rice to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until all liquid has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!!!

With Love,
Leslie Limón

*Note: If your hands come in contact with the seeds, squeeze fresh lemon juice all over your hands; rinse well. If burning sensation continues, apply a paste made with equal parts of baking soda and water, to your hands. Let paste dry, then rinse your hands.

Michelada con Clamato

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I do enjoy a Michelada every once and awhile. Perfect on a summer afternoon. Micheladas are a great drink to serve at any party.

One thing that I like about Micheladas is that no exact measurements are required. You can add as much of the ingredients that you want. Recipes for Micheladas vary throughout Mexico. This recipe is how Micheladas are prepared in Yahualica and other parts of Jalisco.

Michelada con Clamato

Ingredients:

• Fresh limes
• 1 Mexican beer, cold
• Clamato, Kermato or V8
• Soy Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Hot Sauce (Tapatio or Valentina)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ice

Directions:

Rub a lime along the rim of a tall, chilled glass. Dip rim in salt. Fill glass with ice. Fill the glass half-way with Clamato. Add a few drops of hot sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime into glass. Stir ingredients until well combined. Slowly, pour the beer over the Clamato mixture until the glass is full. Enjoy!!!

With Love,
Leslie Limón

Quesitos

There's nothing like a lazy afternoon to get me in the mood for baking! That and the kiddies insisting on making quesitos. Quesitos are shortbread cookies, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Quesitos' round shape and white color resembles fresh Mexican cheese, thus the name quesito, which means small cheese.

Quesitos

Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups flour
• Powdered sugar

Directions:In medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar and vanilla until well combined. Stir in flour until dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350º F.

On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch round cookie cutter. Using a spatula, carefully pick up rounds and place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 1 minute on cookie sheet.

Carefully dust cookies with powdered sugar on both sides.

Enjoy!!!

*Note: This recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies. The quesitos seem to disappear before I can count them!

With Love,

Leslie Limon

Caprichos {Carne Asada Quesadilla/Taco}

What do you get when you cross a taco with a quesadilla? You get a capricho. (Atleast that's what it's called in Jalisco.) It has everything that a Mexican taco has to offer, with the added bonus of melted cheese.

For this recipe, I always use Queso Fresco. It's a fresh, Mexican cheese that is delivered to my door, every Sunday. I realize that queso fresco isn't available everywhere, so use whatever Mexican cheese you like most. This recipe also calls for cooked pinto beans, which is something that I always have on hand. I will post my recipe for cooked beans soon. You can also use canned pinto beans.

Caprichos

Ingredients:

• 1 pound thin-cut steak
• 12-16 corn tortillas
• Mexican Cheese
• 1 cup cooked pinto beans
• Chopped onion
• Chopped cilantro
• Red and Green Salsa

Directions:

In small saucepan, heat pinto beans with bean broth. Set aside.

Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook steaks to desired doneness; season with salt. Chop cooked steak into bite-size pieces; set aside.

While steaks are cooking, assemble the quesadillas. Place desired amount of cheese on one corn tortilla; top with another corn tortilla.

When steaks are done, heat quesadillas on skillet until the cheese has melted. Remove quesadillas to plate.

To serve, spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped steak in center of quesadilla. Top with a tablespoon of beans. Garnish with chopped onion and cilantro. Serve with red and green salsa. Enjoy!!!

With Love,

Leslie Limón

Mexican Hot Dogs

With the kiddies on summer vacation, I haven't been able to post recipes as often as I would like. I have however, been cooking up a storm, so there will be many recipes coming soon.

This week, the kids have been pretending that they are away at Summer Camp. My dining room has been transformed into a camp site with the chairs and all of the bedspreads as tents. For the first day at camp, the kids requested hot dogs. That's easy enough!

I was introduced to the Mexican way of preparing hot dogs as a newlywed. The hot dog sausages are wrapped in bacon. (Yum!) Then topped with chopped onion, tomato and canned jalapeño peppers. (Double yum!) The recipe is very easy to follow. No measuring required! So, next time you're in the mood for a hot dog, why not try them Mexican-Style!

Mexican Hot Dogs

Ingredients:

• Pork, Beef or Turkey hot dogs
• Hot Dog buns
• Bacon
• Mexican crema or sour cream
• Chopped onion
• Chopped tomato
• Chopped jalapeño peppers (canned not fresh!)
• Mustard
• Ketchup

Directions:

Pierce the hot dogs with a fork 3 or 4 times. Wrap one slice of bacon around each frank. Grill or saute on a griddle until bacon is lightly browned on all sides.

Remove wire twist from the bag of Hot Dog buns.  Microwave the buns in the bag for about 30 to 45 seconds.  Carefully remove buns from plastic bag: cut open buns.  Spread Mexican crema on both halves of the hot dog bun.

Place a bacon-wrapped hot dog in the center of each bun.

Top hot dogs with mustard and ketchup.  Garnish with chopped onion, tomato and jalapeño peppers.  Enjoy!!!

*Note: Even in Mexico, hot dog sausages are sold in packages of 10 and hot dog buns in packages of 8! Hot dog sausages are also sold in kilos, which is how I prefer to buy them.