Tex-Mex Feast

So I thought my first post would be from my kitchen in Washington, DC but given the snow disruptions and cancelled flights across the the UK I'm writing from my kitchen in Edinburgh.  

But no matter.  Cancelled flights are the perfect excuse for a cheer-me-up Tex-Mexican feast! 

The Menu

Chipotle®-style Steak Burritos

Corn Salsa

Tomato Salsa

Salsa con Queso

Cheese Quesadillas

Yes, it's a big menu.  But people who know me know that I don't do anything by half.  Especially not food!

So normally in this menu I serve fajitas instead of burritos, but today I just had a hankering for a Chipotle® burrito so I tried to create one for my meal.  

Chipotle®-Style Burrito

First, the marinade.  

  1 dried serrano chili (seeds in)

  1 fresh red jalapeño (seeds out) 

  1 teaspoon black pepper

  2 teaspoons cumin powder

  1 tablespoon dried oregano (or 2 tbsp fresh if desired)

  6 cloves garlic

1/2 large red onion, quartered (or one whole small red onion)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

  4  Small Steaks (6 ounces each)

Blitz all the ingredients except the steaks in a food processor to make a loose paste, and add 

it to the steaks in a medium sized bowl.  I let the marinade sit on the steaks for 3 1/2 hours this

time, but it's preferable to leave them overnight.

The marinade on the steaks

When you're ready to eat, simply grill the steak on the barbeque or a grill pan over high heat until 

you've reached your preferred doneness (I like medium rare).  Remember to rest the meat for a 

few minutes.  Cut the steak into bite size pieces.

Build your burrito with cooked rice (mixed with butter, lime juice and a bit of coriander), fried 

peppers and onions, the meat, sour cream, salsa, cheese and beans if you fancy them (I don't!) 

Obviously any combination of the above can be used!

My preferred fillings

Et voila!  The finished burrito!

Tomato Salsa

This recipe is hard to write down because I make this recipe by eye, but I'll try.

  4 beef tomatoes (or whatever you like)

  1 small red onion

  1 fresh jalapeño (seeds in or out to taste, I leave some seeds in)

  1 clove garlic (or to taste)

     lime juice to taste

     salt and pepper to taste

     fresh coriander (or cilantro to North Americans) to taste 

Finely chop the tomatoes (discarding seeds) and the onion and put in a medium sized bowl. 

Then finely mince the jalapeño and garlic and add to the onion and tomato.  Squeeze in the lime 

juice.  Then season and taste the salsa to make sure that it is balanced properly.  If not, add 

anything you might think the salsa may need.  Usually, it'll be salt or lime juice.  Then add the

coriander.  Now, I HATE coriander (I think it tastes like soap).  If you're like me, flat leaf parsley 

gives the salsa a nice, herby freshness without making it taste like washing up liquid.  If I'm 

making this for a dinner party, however, I'll put a token amount of coriander in.  Because I'm nice

like that. 

The 'deconstructed' salsa

Sometimes, when I'm feeling frisky, I'll add 1/2 finely chopped cucumber to the salsa.  It makes 

the salsa really light and summery.  Cucumber shouldn't be added when the salsa is being used 

for hot dishes like nachos. 

 Corn Salsa

  4 ears of corn (or one big tin of canned corn)   

1/2 red onion (or one small onion)

  2 poblano chillis (or whatever kind you fancy)

  2 red jalapeños (or whatever kind you fancy)

     lime juice to taste

     salt and pepper to taste

     fresh coriander to taste 

The first thing to do is roast the corn and the poblanos.  If you don't have a barbeque, a grill pan 

for the corn will do nicely.  You can char the chillies over an open flame (such as a gas burner). 

Leave the corn and chilli to cool.  Meanwhile, finely chop the red onion and mince the fresh chilli. 

Once cool, cut the kernels off the corn and mince the roasted chilli.  Combine the corn, onion, 

chillis in a medium sized bowl with the lime juice, salt, pepper and coriander.

The corn salsa

 Quesadilla

  2 tortillas per quesadilla

    cheese to taste

    tomato salsa (recipe above) 

The quesadilla is, quite simply, some cheese and some salsa sandwiched between two tortillas. 

Then the quesadilla is fried in a dry pan until the cheese is melted (make sure the heat isn't too 

high or else the tortillas will burn and the cheese won't have melted!  You can add chicken or

whatever if you fancy.

Salsa Con Queso

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 onion

  1 fresh chilli

  1 tablespoon dried marjoram 

  10 pomodoro tomatoes

   2 tablespoons fresh coriander

250 grams (1/2 lb) creamy cheese, grated (such as Monterrey Jack or Double Gloucester)

  1 knob butter

  1 tbsp flour

1/2 c milk (approximately) 

  1 dash tobasco

  1 pinch of cayenne (to taste)

  1 dollop of creme fraiche 

This recipe comes courtesy of flatmate Justin.  And it was damn good so props to him. 

First, finely chop the onion, bell pepper.  Saute the onion and bell pepper in the butter until

they are soft but not brown.  Add the fresh chilli and marjoram.  Meanwhile, finely chop the 

tomatoes (disgarding seeds) and the fresh coriander.  Add, along with the tobasco and cayenne

to the onion and bell pepper mixture.  Then add a tablespoon of flour and mix into a roux.  Cook 

until the mixture is no longer floury.  Now add enough milk to make a thick sauce.  Turn the heat 

right down and add the cheese.  Finally, when ready to serve, add a bit of creme fraiche.  Serve 

with tortilla crisps.

So there you have it!  I must say, it was a tasty meal and there's tons left over for tomorrow's lunch.