Summer Living Carne Asada Style!

I need to apologize for the long break I have taken from my food blog, sometimes life gets in the way of things you want to do and that is exactly what happened. I planned on sharing my favorite Mexican recipes for the month of May because of Cinco de Mayo but I was unable to post them all due to my blogger break. Now it is already June (and thank God for that!) because I was in dire need of warm weather and summer to arrive here in the Mid-West after our stubborn lingering winter made our spring season painfully cold.

I must say, I feel like a completely different person in the warmer months: I love living!
There is nothing like good friends, good music, good outdoor fun, and good food of course! I only left out family because that is the one thing I am missing in my life right now. I cannot wait for the times I will get to share with them.

So this meal is dedicated to family, friends, summer, and living it up! I love to cook, but I LOVE to cook even more for family and friends. I am truly blessed to have a husband who enjoys and appreciates every meal I make, but I still do not feel completely satisfied unless we have others to share with the experience of a truly delicious and nutritious meal.

Carne Asada

• Grass Fed skirt steak


• GF Soy Sauce: San J Organic Tamari GF Soy Sauce


• Juice of 1 lime


• Granulated garlic powder


• Kosher or Sea salt


• Freshly ground black pepper

-Prepare the charcoal grill first (that is where my husband comes in handy =)
-Place steaks flat in a large and deep baking dish.
-Add garlic powder and salt and pepper to both sides of steaks.
-Add fresh lime juice and enough soy sauce to cover the steaks.
-Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Grill steaks on each side, I prefer cooked to medium well.

The Fix-ins:

• Enjoy Life GF Whole Corn Tortillas: Found at Whole Foods. Just warm up on the grill after the meat is ready.


• Rebecca's Salsa Verde (see recipe in January 2011 archive)


• Rebecca's Guacamole (recipe coming up soon!)


• Freshly squeezed lime juice


• Chopped cilantro and onion

Don't forget your favorite cocktail!
I prefer a Pina Colada or Mai Tai: Recipes coming soon!

I get affordable grass fed beef from City Fresh Market located at the French Market in Chicago. Look up your local farmers markets for farmers who sell affordable grass fed beef, and by that I mean they are cheaper than Whole Foods Market. You should expect to pay more for good quality food. You will actually save money by staying healthy and avoiding expensive medical bills.

Health Facts:
Grass-fed cows are humanely raised on free range farms and are never fed corn and/or grains because that causes them to get sick and in turn need antibiotics. You are more likely to get food poisening from conventional meat than from grass-fed meat.
Meat from grass-fed cows contains no hormones or antibiotics and contains less saturated and total fats than conventional beef, it contains 2-4 times the amount of Omega-3's and 3-5 times the amount of CLAs, all believed to improve cardiovascular health and fight cancer and disease. Beef is also a good source of protein, iron, and Vitamin B12.

GF Strawberry Liquado

The next addition to my month of Mexican recipes goes to the Mexican version of what we know as the smoothie. This delicious treat is perfect for warm days and will satisfy your thirst and hunger at the same time. Enjoy it as a snack, meal, or even dessert!

I have come up with many varieties of delicious smoothies (which I have yet to share) but when my husband whipped up this version for me I was hooked on the first slurp. This is something his mother, Aurora Camacho, used to make for him when he was a child. I am so grateful for all our wonderful mothers who have taught us so much. Just one of the many important things I learned from my mother-in-law and husband is:
the most important ingredient in any recipe is Love- and love can be found in just about any Latin recipe. I hope everyone, especially all the great moms, had a wonderful mothers day this year!

Ingredients

• 1 bag of frozen strawberries (2 cups)
• 2 cups of unsweetened almond or coconut milk (add extra water in need)
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 2 TBS. local raw honey

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until liquado. Add more almond milk as needed. The key is to have it more liquidy than smoothie.

Sorber!

Mexican May(hem): GF Plantain Empanadas

It is now the month of May and I cannot tell you how excited I am for the recipes I am about to share. This month I will be focusing on all things Mexican! I have been waiting to share my favorite Mexican dishes for a while now and if you have tried mi Salsa Verde or Chilaquiles recipe than you know this white girl ain't no joke. =) I absolutely loved growing up in Los Angeles, not just for the great weather and ocean, but also because it exposed me to authentic Mexican culture and cuisine. Mexican food is not only my favorite food but I believe it to be the most delicious food in the world! Yeah I said it.

My first Mexican recipe for the month of May comes from a restaurant in Mexico City and was shared by Pati's Mexican Table; a cooking show on PBS featuring authentic Mexican recipes. They called it Plantain Quesadilla's, but because of the way it is cooked, how it looks, and a few minor changes I made to the recipe, I am calling them Empanadas. Whatever you call it is not the point, what matters is the end product and how much you are going to love it! It was labor intensive and time consuming, but what authentic Mexican food isn't? And more importantly, what authentic Mexican food isn't worth the time and effort?

Plantain Empanada stuffed with Refried beans

Makes from 6 to 8 large Empanadas

Ingredients

• 4 large or 6 medium yellow plantains
  
• 1 bag dried pinto beans
• 2 jalapenos
• 2 anaheim chilies
  
• 2 hot banana peppers
• 1/2 white or yellow onion
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
  
• safflower or olive oil
• kosher or sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• garlic powder
  

Rebecca's Refried Beans

There are many ways to make refried beans but I like to add a little kick to mine. To prepare: soak dried pinto beans over night in a large pot of water. Drain and refill water at least once, I like to drain twice through soaking process to remove excess acid from the beans so they are easier to digest. In the large pot filled with water, bring the beans to boil then turn heat down to low and cover and simmer for 2 hours. Do not add any salt to the beans until the end of the cooking process (your beans will turn out very hard if you add salt too early). When beans are tender, drain the water leaving a little left in the beans to keep the beans moist. Mash the beans until smooth. Dice all peppers/chilies and chop onion and cilantro. In a large pan saute chilies, onion, and cilantro in olive or safflower oil on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add mashed beans, kosher or sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and garlic powder and mix together. Turn refried beans on low and cook for 10 more minutes.

Plantain Masa

The key to making the masa is selecting the right plantain. There are 3 stages you can cook a plantain: green, yellow, and black. Make sure you use only yellow plantains (they may have some black spots.) Place the whole plantains, with skin on, in a large pot filled with boiling water. Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes, until they are thoroughly cooked. Remove from the water and let cool. Peel the plantains, slice, and mash together with your hands until very smooth.

Make round balls of about 3 inches. Press in between plastic rounds in a tortilla press or roll with a roller until you get a flat disk. Place a tablespoon of refried beans right in the center and fold like a turnover and press edges together with fingers.

In a large deep skillet, add enough oil to have an inch high. One medium heat, about 5 minutes later, when it is hot but not smoking, insert the empanadas a few at a time. Let them fry, about 4-5 minutes on each side until nice and browned. Remove and place on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Optional: Serve with Mexican crema and mi salsa verde (recipe found in blog archive January 2011)

!QUE SABROSO!