Mostly Paleo Mexican night at Jeff & Sandie's on March 25, 2013

Menu:

Slow cooker pork tacos

Fish tacos with creamy green chili and cilantro sauce

Mexican cabbage, mango and avocado slaw

Mexican cauliflower "rice"

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos (cooked the day before)

Ingredients
   * 3 whole ancho chiles  (I couldn't find ancho chiles so just used 6 pasilla chiles)
   * 3 whole pasilla chiles
   * 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
   * 2 to 3 chipotles in adobo sauce
   * 1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
   * 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
   * 2 tablespoons honey
   * 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
   * Kosher salt
   * 2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
   * 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
   * 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (trimmed of fat), cut into chunks
   * Freshly ground pepper
   * 2 bay leaves
   * 1 cinnamon stick
   * Corn tortillas, warmed, for serving
   * Assorted taco toppings, for garnish

Directions
Put the ancho and pasilla chiles and the garlic in a bowl; add enough boiling water to cover. Soak 20 min until soft and pliable. Stem and seed the chiles; peel the garlic. Transfer the chiles and garlic to a blender.
Add the chipotles, onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, vinegar, 3/4 tablespoon salt and the oregano to the blender; puree until smooth. Fry the chile sauce in a large skillet over high heat, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Pour in the broth.
Season the pork all over with salt and pepper and transfer to a large slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick, then pour in the sauce. Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender, about 5 hours. Or cook the meat in a large Dutch oven, covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes at 350 degrees; uncover and cook 30 more minutes. (I cooked in the slow cooker for ~6 hrs until the meat shredded easily.)
Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Remove pork from sauce and shred with 2 forks.  Refrigerate shredded pork and sauce in separate containers.  Skim fat off the top of the sauce, then reduce sauce to thicken and pour back shredded pork.  When ready to serve, transfer the pork onto a cookie sheet and place in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes to crisp up the pork.  Serve the shredded pork in the tortillas, along with toppings.

Fish tacos with creamy green chili and cilantro sauce

Sauce:  (I made the day before as it keeps in the fridge for up to a week. Great on fish and pork tacos)
1/3 cup light mayonnaise (I used homemade mayo made with light olive oil)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (I used full fat Greek yogurt)
2 oz. canned diced green chiles (I used 3 oz because 1 can is 4 oz.  Could have probably used all 4 oz.)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Fish:
3/4 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 fillets (4 oz. each) firm white fish, such as Mahi Mahi or halibut (I used cod)
1 tbsp butter
16 corn tortillas

Sauce:
In the bowl of a food processor, puree mayonnaise, sour cream, diced chiles, lime juice, cumin and salt until smooth. Add cilantro and pulse until just combined.

Fish:
In a small bowl, mix chili powder, cumin and salt. Pat the fish fillets with paper towel to remove excess moisture. Rub both sides of each fish fillet with spice mixture.
Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add fish fillets and cook on both sides until fish is just opaque. The time will vary depending on thickness of the fillets.
Remove fish from skillet, let cool slightly and gently pull apart with your hands to form strips.
Wrap tortillas in foil and warm on lowest setting of the oven. Using 2 corn tortillas for each taco, fill with fish, sauce and toppings. Serve.
Makes 8 tacos (2 per person).

Mexican cabbage, mango and avocado slaw (I made the day before to let cabbage soften and soak up dressing and added mango and avocado just before serving, but I think in future, I would make it the day I plan to serve it for more crunch.)

   * 1/2 green cabbage, thinly sliced
   * 1 mango, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
   * 1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
   * 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
   * 1 1/2 tsp honey
   * 1/2 tsp ground cumin
   * 1/4 tsp salt
   * 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
   * 2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
   * 1/2 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (I used leftover diced green chiles)

In a small bowl, whisk together fresh lime juice, honey, ground cumin and salt. While whisking constantly, slowly pour in the olive oil until combined. Stir in cilantro and minced jalapeno.
Pour dressing over the sliced cabbage and toss gently to combine. When ready to serve, add mango and avocado. Serve.
This slaw can be served as a side dish, or as an ingredient in shrimp, chicken, beef or pork soft tacos.

Mexican Cauliflower "Rice"

   * 3 Cups Cauliflower - Grated - I use my food processor to grate the cauliflower
   * 1 Cup Chicken Stock
   * 3/4 Cup Salsa
   * 1/2 Cup Onion - Diced
   * 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
   * 2 Tbs. Garlic - Minced
   * 2 tsp. Cumin
   * 2 tsp. Chili Powder
   * 1 tsp. Garlic Salt

I cooked this in my non-stick wok but a large saute pan will work just fine. Heat your pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil, onion, and minced garlic. Saute until softened.

Add grated cauliflower, cumin, chili powder and garlic salt – Let cook 5-8 minutes – Stir every minute or so.

Add chicken stock and salsa. Reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer until cauliflower is desired doneness or until all the liquid has reduced, about 20-30 minutes.

July 17, 2012 Dinner at Jeff & Sandie's

ARGENTINEAN GARLIC CHICKEN WITH CORN, TOMATO AND PARSLEY SAUCE

SAUCE:
2 cups Parsley leaves, fresh, stems removed 500 mL  (For Chilean flavours, substitute fresh cilantro for parsley; for Peruvian, use basil instead.  I used half cilantro, half parsley)
1/2 cup Sweet onion, chopped 125 mL
8 Cloves garlic, minced 8
1/3 cup White vinegar 75 mL (I used half white vinegar, half red wine vinegar)
1 tbsp Dried oregano 15 mL
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes 2 mL
1/2 tsp salt 2 mL
1/4 tsp Pepper 1 mL
2/3 cup Olive oil 150 mL
3 Field tomatoes, seeded, diced 3
2 cups sweet corn, cooked 500 mL

CHICKEN:
1 tsp Each salt, pepper, dried oregano, ground cumin, garlic, onion powders 5 mL
6 Chicken breasts, boneless skinless 6  (I used thighs)

- SAUCE: In food processor, combine parsley, onion, garlic, vinegar, oregano, hot pepper flakes, salt and pepper; process until finely chopped. With motor running, slowly add oil and process until well blended but with coarse texture. Pour into bowl. Stir in half the tomatoes. Cut corn from cobs; stir into bowl.

- CHICKEN: Combine salt, pepper, oregano, cumin and garlic and onion powders; sprinkle about 1/2 tsp (2 mL) on each side of each chicken breast.
Lightly oil barbecue grill and heat to medium. Place chicken on grill; close lid and barbecue for 3 to 5 minutes per side or until no longer pink inside. Alternatively, roast in oven at 400 degrees for ~20 min.  Serve with parsley sauce spooned over each one. Garnish with remaining tomatoes.

CAULIFLOWER RICE PILAF

1 Raw Head Cauliflower, run through grater on food processor
1/2-3/4 c Almonds, slivered
1/4 c Butter
1/2 c Diced Onions
2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped, or a teaspoon or two from a jar
About a 1/2 c Chicken Broth, more or less
1 Teaspoon or so Dried Thyme

Toast almonds on cookie sheet (use a piece of foil underneath for ease in pouring them into pan later-and cleanup) in oven on 350 until you smell them and they are just turning brown. Watch them carefully because they will burn quickly if you leave them alone. They should only take 5 minutes or so.In a skillet saute the onions in the butter. Add the garlic when the onions have been on for a few minutes so it doesn't burn. Add the cauliflower and stir, sauteeing for a minute or so. Add the broth a bit at a time, just enough to make it moisten up the cauliflower. Remember the 'rice' is not really rice, it will not absorb fluids on standing. Cook, stirring every so often, for 5 minutes or so, covering as much as possible. Add thyme, salt and pepper, almonds and serve!

MANGO PUDDING

1 cup mango puree
1 cup coconut milk
I package Knox gelatin
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup honey (can skip if mango puree is already sweetened)

Put puree into a big bowl.
Mix together gelatin into 1/2 cup hot water. Whisk solidly for two minutes straight. Add the honey to this mixture.
Add this to the puree.
Add coconut milk to the puree as well.
Put into the fridge to set for 2 hours to overnight
Makes five 1/2 cup servings