American, Mexican Recipes
14 recipes found
Flour Tortillas
Homemade flour tortillas give every single store-bought one a run for its money and will elevate any burrito or quesadilla you make. The process is somewhat laborious, and it can be challenging to get them to be perfectly round, but perfection is not necessary, as you are going to roll or fold them anyway and your shapes will improve as you practice. This recipe uses vegetable shortening, which makes the tortillas accessible to vegetarians and non vegetarians alike. Taking a cue from the El Paso and Ciudad Juárez region, these tortillas de harina fronterizas are made with hot water and baking powder and the dough rests twice, the second time with the portioned dough nicely rubbed in fat. Follow these simple steps, give the dough a chance to rest and make sure the tortilla is fully cooked: When done on the outside, brown freckles appear on both sides, and it’ll be cooked through on the inside when it puffs. The results will be worth your while, as the tortillas will be soft and pillowy. Tuck any leftovers into a sealed container and enjoy the fruits of your labor for days.
Burritos de Chile Verde con Papas (Chile Verde Burritos With Potatoes)
One of the most popular and traditional burritos of the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez borderlands, this chile verde burrito is referred to as a purist burrito: It has no toppings, no garnishes and no salsas or crema to drizzle on top. It is neat, clean, slim and tightly packed; its filling is intensely flavorful, but delicate in its texture and bite. Everything in it is cooked al punto, on point: The Anaheim chiles are fire-roasted to bring out their exuberance, tenderly cooked over soft heat with almost-caramelized onions and soft-to-the-bite potatoes, and then coated in creamy crema. The fact that the best renditions of this burrito are made with freshly made flour tortillas makes the experience sublime.
Pumpkin Empanadas
During the fall, many Mexican American households and bakeries simmer winter squash with sugar and spices to make a purée then stuff it into disks of dough to make pumpkin empanadas. This recipe from Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, a cookbook author and food blogger, is similar to her grandmother’s, but opts for convenience with canned pumpkin. When Ms. Marquez-Sharpnack was a child living in El Paso, her grandmother – from Chihuahua, Mexico – would cut up an old jack-o’-lantern and simmer it to make the filling, similar to ayote en miel. While Ms. Marquez-Sharpnack recommends making the dough from scratch, you could also use store-bought empanada disks for baking, which are less sweet and slightly firmer but incredibly easy to work with.
Roasted Potato Hash
I had one of the great breakfasts of my life on San Juan Island, north of Seattle, in a dockside coffee shop The grated hash brown potatoes there were cooked in thin sheets and run under the broiler beneath a handful of grated cheese to create crisp pancakes that could be used as a platter on which to serve fried eggs, or as a hat to top them, depending on your mood. When I got home to New York I started making them for dinner, which was labor-intensive and eventually annoying because one of my children wanted them for dinner all the time. Together we worked out a hack. It is this recipe, and you can easily double, and serve with just about anything, especially fried eggs. Omit the bacon if it's not your game, and replace with a couple of tablespoons of butter. Omit the red peppers if you like. Add a drizzle of chipotle mayonnaise on top, if you don’t like sour cream, or swap out the chipotle for nothing if you don’t like spice. Make the recipe your own. The point is simply to aim for a thick, caramelized crust of potatoes. The interiors will be soft and sweet.
Vegetarian Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
Enchiladas can be a bit of a project, but here, the process has been streamlined, making them a truly possible weeknight endeavor. Begin by sautéing peppers, onions and garlic until charred in spots, then blend half of the vegetables with canned tomatoes and chili powder for the sauce and combine the rest with black beans, shredded cheese and cumin for the filling. If you’re short on time, you could use store-bought enchilada sauce (you'll need three cups), but quality varies, so taste it and add whatever you think is missing: chipotle in adobo or chili powder for smokiness, hot sauce for heat, dried oregano or fresh cilantro for complexity and salt for overall flavor.
Esquites
Esquites are the salad form of elotes, charcoal-grilled Mexican corn on the cob that is slathered with a creamy sauce, seasoned with chile powder and lime juice and topped with Cotija, a crumbly, aged Mexican cheese. This version doesn’t require a grill, and instead chars the corn kernels in a hot skillet until browned and caramelized. Cotija brings salty, milky accents to the salad. Ancho chile powder adds smoky notes, but you can use any type of chile powder you favor. Leftovers transform quickly into a great pasta salad the next day; simply toss with cooked pasta and olive oil.
Chicken Fajitas
You might think fajitas are too fussy for a weeknight, but this easy, foolproof version roasts on a sheet pan and can be ready in an hour. Because the ingredients are thinly sliced, everything cooks in a flash — and with little attention required. Smoked paprika, chipotle chiles and a quick stop under the broiler provide the smoky flavor that would traditionally come from the grill. This recipe is very adaptable: Chicken is called for here, but you could also use shrimp or skirt steak. For a vegetarian version, substitute fresh corn kernels, mushrooms, poblano peppers or zucchini for the meat. Cut the vegetables into sizes you’d want in a taco, coat them in the lime-chipotle marinade, roast until cooked, then broil until charred.
Skillet Refried Beans With Avocado and Radish
This hearty vegetarian mash-up of burritos and seven-layer dip is a crowd favorite for good reason: It’s easy, it’s fast and it encourages diners to gather around the table and fill their tortillas however they wish. Canned refried beans seasoned with a dash of cayenne are heated through on the stovetop, then topped with a generous sprinkling of cheese. Before serving, lots of cool, crunchy toppings like avocado, grated Cotija cheese, snap peas, radishes and romaine lettuce are piled on top. The toppings make it feel like a proper meal, though you could serve it with tortilla chips as a snack or with eggs for brunch.
Brothy Chicken Soup With Hominy and Poblano
This vibrant, hearty weeknight chicken soup is reminiscent of pozole, and achieved in record time. It starts with a base of onion and poblano pepper spiced with cumin, coriander and oregano. Broth is added, chicken thighs are simmered, then shredded, and cooked hominy is added for heft (though cooked rice would work equally well). The toppings stray from tradition: Crumbled tortilla chips provide crunch, as do snappy radishes; richness comes in the form of avocado or sour cream. Lay out bowls filled with various garnishes and let guests assemble as they like.
Dirty Horchata
Horchata, a sweet cinnamon drink popular throughout Latin America, is typically made by soaking white rice in water, straining through a fine-mesh sieve to eliminate solids, if desired, then sweetening the liquid with sugar and cinnamon. But the horchata at Guisados, a chain of taco restaurants in Los Angeles, is different. It's made with whole milk and is served plain, or “dirty” with a shot of cold brew concentrate — and the chain sells up to 700 a day. This is an adaptation of its caffeinated version, and it serves a crowd. (You can leave out the coffee or halve the recipe, if you like.) Enjoy it with something spicy on a hot summer’s day.
Carne Guisada con Papas
Adapted from Adán Medrano, a Houston-based chef and writer, this steak-and-potato guisada, or stew, uses technique and time to draw out flavor from just a handful of ingredients. Beef and potatoes are centuries-old pantry essentials in South Texas, and this dish is served in homes and family-run restaurants all over the region. While many restaurants tend to cook the steak in large pieces, cutting the meat into small cubes allows the beef to soak up more flavor. The key is the Texas Mexican spice blend — black peppercorns, cumin and garlic — plus a little fresh Serrano. Serve with tortillas and an optional garnish of cilantro and chile.
Chili for Chili Dogs
Tacos de Picadillo
In Texas, picadillo is a ground-beef mixture that can be tucked into tacos, stuffed into peppers or burritos, or even eaten like stew with tortillas. Adán Medrano, a chef and writer whose work focuses on the Mexican-American food he grew up on in South Texas, created this dish based on the rolled tacos served for nearly seven decades at the Malt House in San Antonio, a beloved Texas Mexican spot that was demolished in 2018. The meat is flavored with what Mr. Medrano calls the “holy trinity,” a Texas Mexican spice paste of peppercorns, cumin and garlic. While many Mexican-Americans soften the tortillas in hot oil as for enchiladas, Mr. Medrano dips them in caldito, a broth created from the picadillo liquid.
Grits Rancheras
Anson Mills pencil cob grits make a great stand-in here for the corn tortillas that traditionally constitute the base for huevos rancheras. The salsa and the egg yolk ooze into the creamy grits, an unforgettable match made in heaven. Since you are working with the highest quality grits here it would be a shame to pair them with ordinary battery eggs; go out and get the best farm-raised eggs you can afford and just see what a difference that ultra-yellow yolk makes. You can make the salsa while the grits are cooking or you can make it before you begin cooking them and keep it warm. You can also use a commercial salsa ranchera, as long as it is a good one. Note that the grits need an overnight soak before cooking.