Mexican Salsa

Its always hard to find a yummy, simple, easy Mexican Salsa.  Mexican food isn't always the easiest to replicate.  Being a big food lover, I watch the food network.  Well one time Emeril made easy Mexican recipes one of them being, Mexican Salsa!  In the past I've found the food network recipes aren't the easiest, some tend to be way more complicated than they seemed on TV.    But Mexican Salsa is a "timeless" appetizer.  We've all been to Mexican restaurant and devoured the salsa and chip.  Here's my own version to Mexican Salsa!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups of chopped ripe tomatoes
• 1/3 cup of diced sweet onion
• 1 tsp of garlic
• 1/2 cup of fresh lime juice (3-5 limes)
• 2 Tbsp of chopped jalapeno pepper covered in adobo sauce
• 1/4 cup of cilantro leaves
• 1/2 tsp of salt

Directions:

1. Combine tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime juice, chopped peppers with adobo seasoning and cilantro in a medium bowl.
2. Season with salt
3. Mix in with hands
4. Refrigerate until cold

Great colors, it smells so fresh and delicious!

I did use fresh Jalapenos and then covered them in about 1 Tbsp of adobo seasoning.  This recipe originally called for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  It comes in a 4.5 oz can and can be found in the TeX-Mex aisle of your local grocery store.  I've tried it with the chipotle peppers, Tumba and I, found the chipotle peppers to be a bit overbearing and took away from the salsa.  The both of us LOVE spicy food but we believe the chipotle peppers are not a good fit with this salsa and ruins the dish.


This is also a great side dish or appetizer for the fried chimichangas! Hope you enjoy this recipe please don't forget to post comments and tell us how great your Mexican Salsa tastes!

Fried Chimichangas - Mexican Night!

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP of vegetable oil (as well as a quart for frying)
• 1/2 cup of diced white onion
• 1 TBSP and 1/2 tsp of chili powder
• 1/4 tsp of ground oregano
• 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 lb of chicken breast 
• 1 tsp of salt
• 4.5 oz of canned diced green chile's
• 1 1/2 tsp of minced garlic
• 6 ten inch flour tortillas
• 1 cup of shredded monterrey jack cheese
• wooden toothpicks
• sour cream
• cilantro (garnish)

The 4.5 oz can of green chile's is the blue can on the left

All of these ingredients are pretty easy to find at your local grocery store.  The 4.5 oz of canned diced green chile's can be tricky to find, it will be located in the "TeX-Mex" aisle.  Also known as the aisle where you buy tacos! It'll be in the same area as the canned re fried beans :) 

Directions!!!

1. On a skillet cook the chicken breast thoroughly. (To save time you may just buy a rotisserie chicken instead of having to cooking a pound of your own chicken)  When done cooking put on a plate and allow to cool.  While the chicken is cooling dice onions and mince the garlic.
2. In a bowl mix minced garlic, chili powder, oregano and cumin.  (From now on will be known as spice mixture)
3. Shred the warm chicken.
4. Put 2 TBSP of oil in a large skillet, on medium-high, when oil is hot add onions.  Saute the onions until they are soft, about 2 minutes.  Add spice mixture cook for about a minute.  Add shredded chicken.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in green chile's and cook for about five minutes.
   
   
   

   

   Chicken Mixture before green chile's

5. Set chicken mixture aside.
6. In microwave heat tortilla one at a time for 10 seconds.  *trick* grab two paper towels, wet them, wring out the excess water.  Place tortilla on microwave safe plate and place paper towels on top.  If you choose not to do this the tortillas may get hard around the edges while in microwave.
7. Pre-heat quart of vegetable oil to 365°F in a deep stock pot or deep fryer.
8. Spread 1/2 cup of chicken mixture on warm tortilla in the center, in a shape of a rectangle.  Spread 2 TBSP of cheese.  
9. Fold the bottom of tortilla over the filling and then fold the sides over.  Fold top of tortilla over the sides and secure with toothpicks.  Place folded side down.
10. Use tongs to lower the "chimichanga" in the oil. Make sure you lower it folded side down first.  Cook for about 3 minutes or until golden brown.  (about 90 seconds per side)  
11. Use sour cream and cilantro for garnish.

 This recipe is one of my "tumba's" favorites.  The best part is the leftover chimichangas that have already been fried taste even better the next day!  Just warm in the microwave (and I'm totally against re-heating anything in the microwave!) And serve with sour cream.  Just thinking about how good this recipe is makes me hungry.  Enjoy and please leave comments on how your Fried Chimichangas tasted!

Tyson Frozen Honey BBQ Chicken Wings (done in the oven) ... edible?

99% of everything I make is fresh.  However, I realize sometimes people don't have the time or ingredients to do that, so we turn to the freezer.  I'm sure Gordon Ramsey would be cringing right now.  It doesn't mean it has to taste terrible just because it's not fresh (not matter what tigress (this blogs female author) says).  Bring on the wings!

So basically you have three options when it comes to getting these suckers ready to eat:

1. The Oven (20 min cook time)
2. Microwave 
3. Grill

Now as much as I love to grill, I figured I will try the first batch in the oven, because lets face it the microwave isn't the best option to cook anything UNLESS you are playing "World of Warcraft" 18 hrs straight and need a hot pocket for sustenance.  I digress...

Instructions are simple:

• Pre heat oven to 400
• Place (10) wings on cooking tray and insert into oven
• Cook time is 20 minutes (turning wings over after 10 minutes)
• Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

My 3yr old son saw this pic and said yucky daddy, lol

They may not be as good as your local wing joint, however in a pinch they make a decent appetizer.  Next time I will try them out on the grill (I have a feeling that's the best way to cook'em).

Next blog entry: Perfectly grilled FRESH NY Strip Steak!

Chef Mickey's serves up lunch for the first time, hit or miss?

What I have found about eating at Disney World in Orlando Fla. is that it is often hit or a BIG miss. Breakfasts at the park are typically horrible i.e. Bagel sandwich at either Epcot or Animal Kingdom parks are truly over priced and terrible. However, that's not to say that Disney doesn't offer an awesome breakfast..it does at Boma in the Animal Kingdom lodge, and of course the buffet at Chef Mickey's is known for good food as well, but more of a junction where you can meet all of the popular characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald) without standing in line..as a matter of fact they come right to the table.

I digress, this is after all not about breakfast but Lunch...the first lunch ever served at Chef Mickey's to be exact.

We had a party of 7 (including two 2 year olds). As we arrived we noticed 2 things in particular that didn't bode well.

1. Some staff had no idea about a lunch service (I guess they viewed it as an extended breakfast shift?)
2. No lunch menu was posted by the greeter. Just breakfast & dinner menus where up.

Price: $21 for Adults, $12 for children (3 to 9), and Free for kids 2 & under.

Reservations are a must! This is a very popular spot to eat due to the characters.

Arrival
You check in at a main podium where a greeter will access your reservation. You are then cued up for a group picture with a little mickey statue. I believe the picture is over $30 if you choose purchase it. They have improved on seating times and we sat almost right away.

Decor
We where seated in the back portion of the restaurant that has a glass wall with a good view of the castle. The tables are spaced far enough apart for the character to dance and move about table to table without giving you a feeling of being jammed in or claustrophobic. It is a very plain decor not many notable Disney trademarks other than the characters. The bathrooms are located down a very tight hallway toward the front of the restaurant.

Service
The service was adequate. This is a buffet so not much to expect other than drink orders.

The Food
I wish I could end this review on a positive note however I found the food to by slightly over cooked and bland. NO FLAVOR. I tried just about everything except for the salmon and nothing is memorable enough to comment on. They have a decent dessert bar I guess but I was just so disappointed in the main entrees that it was just a footnote instead of a cherry on top.

I give it 2 out of 5 stars and I would not recommend for the food. If you have small children and you want to meet the characters without long lines this is your best bet.