Mexican Manicotti

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 cup refried beans
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 manicotti shells
1 1/4 cup water
1 (8 ounce) can picanté or taco sauce
8 ounces dairy sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped scallion
1/4 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Combine ground beef, refried beans, oregano and cumin; mix well. Fill UNCOOKED manicotti shells with meat mixture. Arrange in a 10 x 6 x 2-inch baking dish. Combine water and picanté sauce or taco sauce; pour over manicotti shells. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 325 degrees F for at least one hour until pasta is tender.

Combine sour cream, scallion and olives. Spoon down the center of the casserole; top with cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Microwave instructions: After pouring water and sauce over shells, cover with vented plastic wrap. Cook on HIGH for 10 minutes, half-turning the dish once. Using tongs, turn shells over. Cook, covered, on MEDIUM for 17 to 19 minutes or until pasta is tender, giving dish a half-turn once.

Combine sour cream, scallion and olives. Spoon down center of casserole; top with cheese. Cook, uncovered, on HIGH for 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

Makes 4 servings.

Mexican Macaroni

8 ounces macaroni
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Mexican-style tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
8 ounces dairy sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain.

Combine macaroni and next 4 ingredients; stir in half of cheeses. Pour into a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish; top with remaining cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Serves 6.

Mexican Manicotti

8 manicotti shells
1 1/2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup cooked chicken
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup sliced or chopped ripe olives
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cook and drain manicotti according to package directions.

In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, chicken, onions, olives, red pepper, cilantro and garlic. Mix well. Fill manicotti with mixture and place in a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

Combine salsa with tomato sauce, mixing well. Spoon over manicotti. Cover tightly and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove cover and continue baking for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese, if desired and bake 3 minutes longer until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

Mexican Lasagna

1 (8 ounce) can Ro-Tel Tomatoes with chiles
2 (16 ounce) cans Hatch green chile sauce (with
    pork and tomatoes) or make your own green chile
1 (16 ounce) can olives, chopped
Shredded Co-Jack cheese, to taste
Flour tortillas
2 cups cooked chicken, cut into strips

Mix tomatoes, green chile sauce, olives and chicken together.

Spray a 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray. Tear tortillas in half (to fit pan). Put down one layer of tortillas, spoon on chile mixture (be generous), layer with cheese and repeat from tortilla layers. Top with cheese.

Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer until brown. You can make this ahead of time and then bake just prior to serving.

Let stand for a few minutes prior to serving.

Mexican Macaroni

From the kitchen of Janet in Georgia

2 cups small macaroni (cooked and drained)
1 (11 ounce) can Green Giant Niblets whole kernel sweet corn
1 to 3 small cans chopped black olives
1 medium-large yellow onion (chopped)
3 pounds ground beef
5 (10 ounce) cans enchilada sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 to 1-pound block mild Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large pot boil water for macaroni.

In another large pot brown hamburger and chopped onion. Drain meat mixture and return to same pot. Add corn, olives, enchilada sauce, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Allow mixture to come to a boil then turn down and let simmer. Stirring occasionally. When water boils add macaroni and let cook till tender. Drain.

At this point add about 1/2 cup grated cheese to mixture. Stir till completely melted. Add macaroni to meat mixture. Scoop half macaroni/meat mixture into large baking dish. Spread a thin layer of cheese over this. Scoop remainder of macaroni/meat mixture over this. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees F for 1 hour.

Serve with garlic bread and green salad.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Posted by Chyrel at recipegoldmine.com 5/11/02 5:12:57 pm

4 Anaheim chiles
1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package shredded cheese
1 can enchilada sauce
1 medium to large baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown ground beef.

While beef is browning, cut the top off the Anaheim peppers. Slice down one side of each pepper. De-vein and de-seed chiles to flavor (The more you leave in, the hotter it is!)

Add taco seasoning to beef when properly brown and prepare based on directions on taco seasoning package.

Place pepper, sliced side up, in a medium to large pan for baking. Stuff each pepper with meat and cheese. Cover all with enchilada sauce. Cover (or don’t - depends on who is cooking) dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Carnitas

Posted by Chyrel at recipegoldmine.com 6/25/02 1:12:52 pm

Carnitas is a very famous Mexican dish. It consists of braised pork and can be eaten by itself (and tortillas, a chili sauce) or as the filling in tamales, tacos and burritos (yuk). The pork is first simmered for a long time to make it really soft and then braised in the oven to make it crispy. Since the recipe is very simple and does not involve any chili sauces everyone likes carnitas. You can add the heat on your own as you eat it.

 2 (16 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder
1 tablespoon chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 tablespoon cumin (comino)
Corn tortillas
2 bay leaves
1 onion, quartered
Chili sauce, such as Pico de gallo, chipotle or whatever you like

Pre-cooking: Cut the pork meat in chunks and discard big pieces of fat, leave some fat as it adds to the flavor. Chop the cilantro if you need to.

Cooking: Set tall frying pan over mid-high heat. Add the pork, cilantro, cumin, onion and broth. If necessary, add water so that the meat is covered. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 3-4 hours or until the meat is very soft and pulls apart easily. Remove the meat and place it in a roasting pan, discarding the onion and broth, break apart the meat in smaller chunks. Bake for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees F, until the meat is brown and crispy.

Heat the tortillas and enjoy, you can serve it with your favorite chili sauce, chopped onions and cilantro.

Tips:

A pressure cooker really helps here. If you like making dishes like this one often you should consider the pressure cooker. It will cut cooking time to a half hour.

Heating tortillas on a microwave: To heat tortillas you can wrap them in a kitchen towel and put them inside a container. Microwave 15 seconds per tortilla.

Meatballs in “Burnt” Chipotle Sauce

Posted by Annette at recipegoldmine.com 9/21/2001 5:17 pm

Source: Adapted from The Essential Cuisines of Mexico (2000, Clarkson Potter) by Diana Kennedy. Kennedy, an expert on Mexican cuisine, says that every region of the country has a meatball recipe. This one comes from Mexico City.

Meatballs
6 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
6 sprigs fresh marjoram, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf, preferably Mexican
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
8 peppercorns, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg
2 garlic cloves
1 slice stale bread
12 ounces ground beef
12 ounces ground pork, with some fat
1/3 cup long grain rice, partially cooked (See Note)
1 large egg, hard-cooked and finely chopped

Sauce
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes
6 chipotle chiles, dried (not canned)
2 tablespoons pork lard or vegetable oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion
2 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
About 2 1/2 cups beef broth or water

Preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, make the Meatballs: put thyme, marjoram, bay leaf, cumin, peppercorns, salt, milk , raw egg and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour mixture in a bowl and soak the bread in it until mushy, then add the ground meats, rice and hard-cooked egg, work well with your hands. Form into 24 meatballs, each about 11/4 inches in diameter; set aside.

To make the Sauce, first place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and broil about 3 inches from the heat, turning once, until charred and slightly mushy.

Heat a griddle or comal (a Mexican griddle), or a nonstick skillet and add the chiles. Cook, turning occasionally, until they become soft and flexible. Slit chiles open.

Heat lard or oil in a heavy pan, and fry the chiles, flattening them with a spatula, until very dark brown, almost black. Remove from the pan, leaving the fat. Place chiles and broiled tomatoes (skin on) in a blender and blend until smooth.

In same skillet, fry the onion gently, without browning, until soft. Crush the garlic, cumin and salt together in a mortar (or spice grinder). Add two tablespoons water - to clean the mixture out - and pour the mixture into the pan with the onion. Fry, stirring and scraping, over high heat until almost dry, then add the blended tomato mixture and dry over medium-high to high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom constantly, until the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Add the broth and meatballs - the sauce should just cover them - cover the pan, reduce heat to low, and cook gently, turning meatballs occasionally, until they are cooked through and spongy, 30 to 45 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

NOTE: To partially cook rice, follow package directions, but cut the cooking time in half, turning off the heat after about 10 minutes instead of 20.

Mexican Pot Roast Filling

Posted by kdipaolo at recipegoldmine.com May 28, 2001

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup onion chopped
2 1/2 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 8 pieces
1 dash cayenne pepper
1/2 cup beef broth
1 (4 ounce) can green chiles
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
1 dash salt

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté onions, green chiles, jalapeños and garlic about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add beef broth and meat. Sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, cayenne and salt. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours until meat is tender.

Shred beef with fork and mix well with pan juices. Use as filling for tacos, enchiladas, chimichangas, burritos and tamales.

Chipotle and Green Chile with Pork

Posted by Tiffany at recipegoldmine.com 1/15/2002 4:06 pm

4 tablespoons butter
2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 cups yellow onions, diced
1/4 cup jalapeno chile, minced
1 cup dried New Mexico green chiles, seeded,
    remove stem, and minced
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup roasted Chipotle chiles, peeled and minced
1 cup grated Pepper jack cheese
8 flour tortillas (6-inch)

In a stockpot, melt two tablespoons butter and heat. When the butter is hot, add pork, onions, jalapeno, New Mexico dried chiles, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook 1 1/2 hours or until pork is tender.

Add the Chipotle chiles and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Grill the tortillas and brush with butter.

Serve with grated Pepper jack cheese on top. You want to spoon the chili onto your tortilla and roll up and eat.

Makes 4-6 servings