Friday 17 June 2016

Friday 17 June 2016

Taco (Tuesdays) Martes!!!





From Mole to Tamale! Lush guacamole to Elote- Mexican food is quite the party in itself! I’ve always loved the big-cheesy-burrito at the local takeaway, it must be an obvious indicator of my addiction when the burly waiter on seeing me would shout out ‘The usual today senorita?’(eh,hm) With a sheepishly big smile, I nod a silly nod and tuck into 10 minutes of heaven!



I must say, I had quite conveniently succumbed to the notion of Mexican cooking being ‘over the top complicated’.  I felt certain ,with my amateur (read super basic) cooking skills,  that I wouldn’t turn out to be the Mexican cooking gaucho- even in my wildest of dreams –until I had a telly moment on  a Saturday morning , As I watch  Anna Jones whip up some Black Bean delicacy only to kindle a Mexican inferno in me!





Anna’s recipe is refreshingly easy and with tons of vegetables, it really qualifies to be a super-meal!Black Beans is a power house of proteins and has amazing nutritional value-it’s even said to boost weight loss!
This meal mainly comprises of 4 elements- glazy black beans,   rich spicy gravy, guacamole  and salsa.




Serves 2
Cooking time:20-30 mins approx

Ingredients
For the beans
garlic cloves, finely chopped
olive oil, for frying
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle paste or 1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 x 400g tins black beans
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ white Onion
½ cup water




For the salsa
20 cherry tomatoes
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
few sprigs fresh coriander, leaves picked
½ lime, juice only
extra virgin olive oil, to taste





For the guacamole
1 ripe avocado, stone removed and peeled
½ lime, juice only


For the sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ carrot, finely chopped
250ml/9fl oz good-quality vegetable stock
1 tbsp ground cumin
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp chipotle paste, or to taste
½ lemon, juice only


To serve
8 wheat or corn tortillas
4 free-range eggs, fried
handful of grated cheese, such as manchego or queso fresco
bunch breakfast radishes, cleaned and chopped
Chopped Red Cabbage
Cherry tomatoes
Grilled Corn
natural, sheep or coconut milk yoghurt (optional)
a few coriander sprigs




Method

Heat the oil in a pan and add thinly sliced onion and garlic once the oil is warm. Add the cinnamon, cumin, and cook for a few minutes and then in goes the Canned Beans. I drained the juices in the can and just added the beans alone to the pan. Add some fresh water to cook the beans, this would take approx. 5 mins –once the beans are soft   and tender  add salt to taste and set aside.

The Sweet Chilli Sauce will last you more than a meal and you can easily store in a glass jar and put it in the fridge. In a pan, heat the oil, add the finely chopped onion and carrot, Sauté till the vegetables are soft.Add the stock and other ingredients apart from the lemon and allow it to boil.Once the gravy thickens take it from the flame and allow it cool(***super important***) and then use a blender to blend the gravy to a smooth sauce. 


Check for seasoning and finally a good squeeze of lemon to give the gravy a good punch! If chipotle sauce isn’t available in your local super market you can use red chilli and had tiny bit of tamarind as it would give the tangy sour flavour.

For the Salsa finely chop up the tomatoes, the red chilli. Once this is done add the coriander and squeeze some lemon- Tadah that’s job done!

Guacamole is super easy –roughly chop up the avocado, add some salt, pepper, and big squeeze of lemon. I avoided chilli in my guacamole, as there was loads of heat in all the other elements.


Chop up the radishes, red cabbage, cherry tomato and any vegetable you are in the mood for  and keep it ready for serving.



Heat some corn tortilla on a griddle pan or alternatively you can use tacos as well. Machengo and Queso Fresco are the most popular Cheeses used in Mexican cuisine. 





If you do not find these, you can perhaps substitute with Mozzarella or even some nice crumbly feta.



You can pan fry some chicken breast if there is an ardent meat lover in the household  or fry up some sunny side eggs instead!





So there you go, a 'Mucho easy' Super-Mex comfort food perfect for your weekday supper!


Until Next Time


Adios! Cuídate !






















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