main dishes

Turkey Sesame Meatloaf with Roasted Cherry Tomato Topping

I was recently going through my photos of things I’ve made in the past few weeks to put up on the blog and came across this amazing little meatloaf that I quickly threw together using the left over ground turkey mixture from my albondigas recipe.

The day I made the albondigas, I had far too much turkey mixture left and didn’t want to waste it; so I put it into a loaf pan, put some cherry tomatoes on top, brushed them with good olive oil and sprinkled the top with fleur de sal.

The meatloaf went into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes and it was so good. The roasted cherry tomatoes gave it a satisfying topping without the sugar that ketchup would have given it.

It was filling and a perfect way to use the leftover meat from the albondigas. Another plus was that I got two meals out of one recipe and had the night off the following day to relax.

Beef Taquitos ala Sol/Taquitos de rez ala Sol

I am a taquito making machine. I can produce 100s of the little flute-shaped delicious finger foods in the shortest amount of time. I’m not quite sure why that is, maybe having four hungry and growing kids who always asked for taquitos (and they were hungry ALL the time) had something to do with it. Maybe it’s that I don’t used that darned toothpick to hold them together.

When I was a little girl, my job was to put the toothpick in the hot taquitos to get them ready for my grandmother to deep fry. It was the only job in the kitchen that I loathed. I hated being bothered with it and always thought there could be a better way. I grew up, had kids and found a better way. I don’t advise everyone to use my method, simply because I have a tendency to just stick my hands too close to hot oil (never been burned) and I would never recommend that to anyone. You can do it using kitchen tongs but in this recipe I didn’t. Aiden had run off with my tongs as he often does with my kitchen tools calling them “my toys” and I couldn’t pry them away for hours. So I used two forks.

You can make taquitos* or flautas as some call them (it means flute) with anything. Shredded chicken, turkey, pork, beef, it all works and is a wonderful way to use left over meat. I even do a special roasted lamb that I baste in tequila just for another taquito recipe and they are to die for. For this recipe, I used shredded beef that I had left over from a pot roast. I just shredded it and set it aside.

I serve these taquitos over a bed of fresh watercress and sliced radishes, then cover them with drizzled crema Mexicana and gobs of mashed avocad0 guacamole.

Guacamole can be made the traditional way, which is just mashed avocados and salt or you can get creative and add more stuff to it. If I’m making it to serve with nion, a little lemon and the liquid from jalapenos en escabeche or fresh chopped jalapenos. For taquitos, I like it plain. I leave an avocado stone in the bowl simply because that’s how my grandmother did it.

Ingredients:

Shredded beef
Corn tortillas (store bought is fine and what I used this time)
Olive oil
Avocados
Crema Mexicana
Watercress
Radishes

some good, hot salsa

Heat olive oil on medium heat.

Heat the tortillas on a comal or right over the flame on your stove which is what I usually do. I usually heat up a big stack and pile them up which keeps the heat in.

Working quickly, add shredded beef to the edge of the tortilla that is closest to you. Make sure you don’t add too much or you will have lumpy, unweildy taquitos that don’t hold their shape or look nice.

Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can and using tongs, grasp it by the middle. Slowly add it to the frying pan of heated oil and hold it there for a bit till the rolled edge hardens enough to hold itself together. Do one after another till there is no room in the pan.

Let fry for a few minutes, then turn. Fry till golden brown and crispy.

Place standing up in a bowl lined with paper towels and let drain.

Serve over a bed of watercress and sliced radishes with guacamole, salsa and cream.

I made a green serrano chile salsa for this. Recipe to follow.

*In San Diego they call them rolled tacos and for some reason, it drives me up the wall. You want to set my teeth on edge call my taquitos rolled tacos and it’s fingernails on a chalkboard. Ugh.

Orange Stuffed Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze & Citrus Gravy

It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m spending a very mellow evening at home with my grandchildren Jasmine and Aiden while their mom is working. We went for a lovely walk in the sunshine to the market to buy ingredients for tonight’s dinner and had a great time doing so. Jasmine was excited to see that her favorite pink tree was once again in bloom and that sent her skipping with happiness. We chatted on the way to the market about what we wanted for dinner and finally decided on chicken.

I had thought to make a crown roast of pork for dinner and have a fancy sit down meal with my daughter-in-law and the kids when she got out of work, but nixed that idea right away. A 2-year old and a 4-year old don’t want a crown roast of pork. Not these two anyway.

I still wanted to have a nice meal but decided to make it just a bit more kid friendly. J&A love chicken, especially my roast chicken stuffed with oranges and sage and coated in a pomegranate glaze, which is just about as fancy as they like it without being too grown up. This, I know they’ll eat up. I’m going to roast carrots along with the chicken and do my famous (in this family) Fragrant Rosemary and Lemon Roasted Potatoes along with a simple green salad.

Orange Stuffed Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze & Citrus Gravy

1 whole chicken, washed and trimmed
2 cloves of garlic, whole
3 navel oranges
a sprig of fresh thyme
about six leaves of fresh sage
1 bunch of carrots
salt and pepper to taste
a few bits of butter
1/8 c. olive oil

Wash and trim any excess fat off the chicken. Pat it dry and place breast side up in a roasting pan.

Slice the bottom and tops off the oranges, then slice into sections leaving on the peel. Set aside.

Peel the garlic and gather the herbs. I have a little planter in my kitchen and just snip from it when I need to.

Peel and slice the carrots into chunks and set aside.

Rub the chicken all over with the olive oil. Stuff the cavity with the garlic, orange sections and sage. Add a bit of butter pieces to the cavity as well. Stuff the chicken until there’s no room left. Any left over orange sections always make a tasty and healthy snack for the kids to munch on while they wait for the chicken.

Lift the skin of the chicken up a wedge in some butter pieces and the sprig of thyme. Jasmine loves helping to do this. She calls it filling the chicken’s pocket.

Add the carrots to the roasting pan. I add then just under the cavity so juices spill out and season them.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then flip it over breast side down to prepare for roasting. Add a couple of sage leaves to the top of the chicken and pop into a 400-degree oven for about an hour, depending on how big your chicken is.

When the chicken is done and tender, drizzle the pomegranate glaze over the top and let bake for another ten minutes.

Remove from oven, let sit for about ten minutes before carving and serving.

Serve with the sides of your choice. We like ours with roasted potatoes and a nice salad.

Citrus Gravy

Brown about 2 tablespoons flour in a heavy skillet. Add the giblets you set aside earlier and drippings from the roasted chicken and whisk till there are no lumps. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.