Berries and Coconut Cream

This is a really easy way to make berries and cream a little bit more fancy and delicious!

2 lbs. mixed berries
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup cream of coconut

-Gently toss the berries, sugar and lime juice.

-With an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream and cream of coconut until soft peaks form. Serve with berries.


Note: I had a difficult time finding the cream of coconut. I heard that you can find it in the asian/ethnic isle in most grocery stores. Supposedly the most popular brand is Coco Lopez. All I could find there was coconut milk (not the same thing). This is the kind that I found, in the liquor isle:

Sexy Strawberries

1 pound of strawberries hulled and cut in half

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Gently combine all ingredients and let sit for at least 1 hour but not more than 4.

Pour over ice cream, pound cake, angel food cake, short cake or just eat them plain.

Watermelon Aquas Frescas

Watermelon Aquas Frescas - Yuka's recipe

Blend equal parts cut up watermelon with water until smooth. Chill and enjoy.

Notes:
1.If you don't want to wait for it to chill and want it icy, just add ice instead of water.
I tried this after watching someone make it at dona rosa, here's what they did: for a single serving: get out the cup you'll be serving the drink in as a measuring guide. Cut up enough watermelon to apporx. fit in cup, add a cup full of ice, blend. You may have to add a tiny bit of water to this to get the ice going.

Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice - Yuka's recipe

1 cup long grain rice (white or brown)
1/2 of an onion diced
1/2 of a bell pepper diced
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
Cumin, salt, pepper

Fry rice, onion and pepper in a skillet w/ some corn oil for a few min.
Combine tomato paste, water, and spices.
Add to rice mixture.
Simmer covered for 15 min. until rice is tender.

Notes: you need more cumin, salt and pepper than you think. I don't have this one down pat yet so if you find some good adjustments let me know....I've also seen this made where you just put in a chunk of onion and pepper for flavor and remove before serving, but I like to cut it up and leave it in.

Laura Daines added at note about her rice:
-i add lots of chili powder along with cumin in my mexi rice, and sometimes some jalapeno, cilantro and maybe some carrots (whatever i have). but the chili powder/cumin/onion/tomato paste mixture is key.

Beans Liquados

Beans Liquados (changed my life! No more Rositas for me!) -- Yuka's recipe

1.5 lbs Pinto Beans
Water (double that of the beans)
2 teaspoons of salt (or more to taste)
corn oil

Boil your salted water. Add your beans and simmer partially covered (tilted cover) for about an hour until soft. RESERVE ALL LIQUID FROM THE POT, this is how you get the smooth or liquido beans). I pour everything from the pot into a big pitcher, see below.

Heat some corn oil in a pan. Fry desired amount of beans in pan, pouring in bean liquid from your pitcher to desired consistency. I was taught to then mash the juice and beans directly in the pan (w/a potato masher), but last night I realized that's probably not a good idea for teflon, so i fried for a bit then transfered to a blender. Here were the smooth refried pinto beans of my bean burrito and huevos rancheros dreams.....

note: If you like them chunkier use a regular pan and mash away. Store the unused beans and liquid in the pitcher in the fridge. Then when you want some more freshly refried beans just pour and scoop from the pitcher.

Common mistake: not enough water in the pot. The first time I did this by myself I didn't have enough water and burnt the beans before they were tender. I also used a high output mega burner. Not a good idea. Last night I used more water than I thought I needed and switched to a regular sized burner and I had a good amount of juice w/o burned beans.

note- using a decent amount of oil and salt makes these yummy. You can add some of that soft white crumbly Mexican cheese on top if you really want to do it right!

Salsas Rojas

Salsas Rojas - Yuka's recipe

3 dried chiles: (the small dried red ones that are a dollar a bag)
roasted 'til toasted in a pan, then deseed and destem those hoties

1 Tomato: roasted like a marshmallow directly over a gas flame - which is really fun
(I like to use romas and spear them w/ a fork to rotate over the flame, the skin will pop, blister, bubble, split and char, take your time and slowly roast (not burn) until it smells and looks roasted

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon white vinegar (you just need a bit, I used a teaspoon- not my tsp measure)

salt/ pepper

Blend all of it in a blender.
(Notes: last night I used 3 small romas and 4 chiles, do what tastes good to you)

Chicken Tamale Casserole

I LOVE THIS RECIPE.
A - it's super easy to make
B - my husband could eat it all day long. And happy husband = happy me.

I found the recipe in Cooking Light and made a few changes. The original recipe calls for a box of Jiffy Cornbread mix but I couldn't believe the fat content in that tiny box, so I tried my favorite cornbread recipe (with adjustments) and it worked great!
Make this TONIGHT and enjoy!

CHICKEN TAMALE CASSEROLE
1 cup (4oz) grated cheese, divided (I used a mix of Colby jack and Sharp)
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 can creamed corn (14.75 oz)
2 Tbl canola oil
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles

1/2 Cup cornmeal
1 1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar (I use 1/4 C sugar, 1/4 C Splenda)
1 Tbl Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup jar-prepared salsa
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Cook chicken breasts or tenderloins (I boil 5 tenderloins in water) and shred with a fork. Mix shredded chicken with 1/4 cup salsa and set aside.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) and mix well. Add the dry cornmeal mixture to the large bowl with the wet ingredients and stir everything together until just moist. Pour mixture into a 9x13 pan, coated with cooking spray.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and pierce entire surface liberally with a fork (mixture will still be slightly gooey, this is normal); pour enchilada sauce over the top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

5. Top each serving with sour cream and enjoy! (we actually ate it without the sour cream and liked it just as well)