Mexican Fiesta Revisited

My favorite Mexican dish to cook is a Mexican Lasagna.  Not very traditional, I know, but it's everything I love about Mexican food all in one awesome dish so I can't help myself from making it time after time.  I usually get one chance to make this classic after each visit to the US because I bring back enough corn tortillas, spices, etc for a one time use.  So to celebrate the agotaring of my stock, I invite all the peeps over and have a feast.  This time I made Mexican rice and homemade refried black beans to go along side.  Check out the recipes below and get cooking!

Stewing the chicken in tomato sauce

Cooked chicken before shredding

Shredded chicken

Rice before adding liquid

Sauteed onions for beans

Cooked onions ready to add to beans

Chicken filling

Mexican Lasagna

A bit of everything

Somehow hats got involved

And we all took a turn with the hats

Mexican Lasagna - Ingredients and directions can be found in my previous blog post.

Mexican Rice - I was inspired by this recipe (ignore the website name), but use all the stewing liquid from my chicken to cook the rice.  Whatever faltas, add water.

Refried Black Beans - 500 grams of dried beans soaked overnight.  Rinse them and cover with water.  Bring water to a boil and then simmer until cooked through.  About 2 hours.  I boil them with some salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and bay leaves.  Drain once done and return to pot.  You can do this a day ahead of time if you want.

In a separate pan saute chopped onion, garlic, a jalapeno in about a 1/4 stick of butter.  When the onions are cooked through, add to beans and mash until they are re-fried looking.  This is probably not the technique whatsover, but it's my interpretation.

Healthy Kale Pizza

Kale, Mushroom, Panceta, Goat Cheese, Cranberry Pizza

I probably make a pizza for lunch or dinner once a week.  There is no better surface than a pizza to try out different combinations of ingredients.  This was a good, healthy, but slightly rare combo that I liked: Kale, mushroom, pancetta, cranberry, and goat cheese.  I really love a hint of sweetness in my pizza.  My favorite combos are ham, pear, and cheese with a honey drizzle or fig, balsamic reduction, and cheese.  Squash, corn, and goat cheese is a good one too.  They are so easy to make especially with the premade crust from any bakery or market.  I also opt for Hausbrat's whole what pre-pizza chica.  The crust is delish! 

WARNING: This recipe is NOT for Argentine's.

Ingredients: 
Pizza Crust
1 bunch kale with stems cut off
10 button mushrooms sliced large
5 slices thinly sliced pancetta
Large handful or dried cranberry (raisins would work too)
Goat cheese
Garlic powder, salt, pepper, olive oil


Directions: Chop the kale, place on baking sheet, and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.  Roast in oven for about 15-20 until it's wilted and reduced in size enough to fit on the pizza.  You can do this in a pan on the stove, but I find that it's so much you either need a big-ass pan or multiple.  The oven is just easier and gives a richer flavor I think.

Place the pancetta in a pan on the stove.  Let the fat render off and pancetta brown a bit.  Remove from pan and drain.  Chop into bite-size pieces.  With the bacon fat still in the pan, add the mushrooms and saute for 5-10 min.  This is the KEY to the pizza's deliciousness.

Add the kale, pancetta, mushrooms, cranberries, and cheese to the pizza crust and bake in oven until the cheese begins to melt or brown.  10-15 min and voila!