Mexican Corn Ice Cream

Have you ever had Mexican corn? This is going to sound crazy, but hear me out before you go all Nacho Libre on me:

Ok now that you are in a good mood let me explain the beauty that is Mexican corn and why that is the only way we eat it in our house.

Source (Not my picture) 

Mexican Baked Eggs

We are lovers of all things breakfast in the Coats house. If you were to look at our meal plan every week you would most likely see brinner (breakfast for dinner) at least once. Breakfast food is so good! I don't know what it is about it. But with our busy schedules, we don't often eat good breakfasts. I mean who has the time to cook a huge breakfast in the morning? Not us.

I did a summer study abroad in Mexico while in college and we stayed with this sweet Mexican woman. She was so nice and treated us like her kids...maybe better than her kids. She left for work early in the morning, but still managed to make breakfast for us before she left. Knowing we were lazy college kids she didn't wake us up, but instead left our food covered up and ready to heat back up. Every time I woke up it was like Christmas morning going down stairs, giddy to see what delicious gift was waiting to be unwrapped. Then we would watch some Mexican version of Jerry Springer and try to figure out what was going on while we ate. Those were simpler times.

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

If you ask me, a meal isn't a meal without some meat. Don't try to put a salad in front of me and call it a meal. A salad is a side! It's what you eat before your meal comes. Put some meat on it...maybe, but it's a stretch! My wife thinks differently than I do. Maybe because she is more refined, and less of a neanderthal than I am.


We had some friends over and one is a vegetarian. I use that term loosely because just a couple of days before he came over he ate a plate of ribs. Luckily Holli had a meal planned that was vegetarian friendly. Remember what I said about a meal not being a meal without meat? Well this was the exception! It was hearty and delicious. I didn't even miss the meat...well it would be good with meat too. Other than the time it takes for the spaghetti squash to cook it only takes about a half hour to make. Cheap and easy! Also, leave out the cheese and its vegan. I'm looking at you Kelly!

 we didn't manage to snap a pic ourselves, but here is the Source

Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes (a replica of the Cheese Cake Factory)

Photo by Holli Coats

Thank you all for voting! Out of 45 votes, 15 of you (or 33%) voted for the Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes for the win! It was a close race and it pulled ahead of the Chicken Piccata in the last minute. I have been wanting to make these for a long time now, but laziness had gotten the best of me.


If we are going to the Cheese Cake Factory it is guaranteed that I will order them every time. It is just one of those things that is unique. I have never had anything like it. If you have never had these they are in the appetizer section. Normally Holli and I will order this and split an entree, because seriously who really needs all of the food they give you?

Huevos Rancheros mis amigos!

After a brief hiatus from the blog, I am back! Holli has done a great job blogging lately and has even posted some recipes! Poor thing…she’s a good cook, but just doesn’t like to do it. Working full time and with the baby I just don’t get to do the extravagant meals that I enjoy. However, on our way to Utah I took a gander at Spirit magazine on Southwest Airlines. I must admit I love their dollar bill origami. In April’s issue the main article was on eggs and I found this recipe. One thing you must know about me is I love eggs. If I can put an egg on something I will. The Moco-Loco Hawaiian plate lunch (rice with a beef patty gravy and an egg on top) LOVE IT! The Royal Burger from Red Robin (Burger with an egg on it) LOVE IT! Eggs Benedict LOVE IT! I wouldn’t go as far as the Rocky raw egg shake, but let it be known I love eggs!

Chili Verde and Salsa

Merry Christmas everyone. Because it's Christmas this will be a very special blog post. The Coats family loves Mexican food. We can put some Mexican away- especialy my sister Lindsey. We love Mexican food so much we forgo the traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, ham and the works and have a Mexican feast! The main attraction of our Holiday feast is the ever popular Chile Verde. We have a recipe that my Dad holds as a benchmark for all mexican restaurants we go to. I still don't think he has found one that has satisfied him. I have been holding this recipe back for a special day. It is as close to a secret family recipe as we have in my family and today I found out that I had it's origins all wrong, but that's a story for another day. Well now that I am stuffed with our blessed holiday tradition, here is the recipe. I also included a nice blended salsa recipe. You can put this on a tortilla or over rice or just put it on a plate with beans, rice, and whatever other Mexican stuff you like.

Chili Verde
3 TBS vegetable Oil
1 large (5-6 lbs) Pork Boston Butt(boneless if possible), cubed 1 1/2" - 2"
1 16oz can (or equivalent in small cans) Ortega whole or diced green chilies
1 large white onion, diced
1 8oz canned crushed tomatoes (not drained)
3-4 TBS garlic powder
4 TBS cumin powder or more to taste
2 cans chicken broth (enough to cover meat)
1 - 2 TBS Salt to taste
corn Meal (if needed)
1 C. blended Salsa (if desired)

Brown pork on medium high heat until there is no pink. Add onion and chile and saute 5 - 10 min until onion is soft. Add tomato, garlic powder, cumin and stock. Add enough stock to cover the meat. Boil 2 hrs uncovered. Add salt to taste. If too thin add 2-3 TBS corn meal to thicken. You can add 1 C. Blended salsa (See next recipe) 30 min before Chili Verde is done.

Blended Salsa
1 large can whole tomatoes
1 large bunch of cilantro
1 bunch green onions (green parts only)
1 small can pickled jalepenos
garlic Salt to taste

Add all ingredients into blender. Pulse a few times and taste. Add more salt or jalepenos until you reach desired hotness and saltiness. Remember that the salsa will get hotter as time goes on. You can also cut out the middle of the Jalepeno rings to make salsa more mild. If you want the salsa to be a little chunkier be careful how many times you pulse it. If you want a more blended salsa pulse more until it has reached the desired consistency.

Arroz con Pollo

I had a hard time making a meal plan for this last week. I love to cook and I love food, but for some odd reason when it comes to planning meals for the week I hate it! I had one day left and was having difficulty knowing what to make and then it came to me. Arroz con Pollo! It’s a classic Latin American dish that you can find variations in almost every country in Latin America and Spain. Its Latin American comfort food and I can get down with that! Most recipes I found used saffron which is the most expensive spice and I just didn’t want to drop that kind of money so I kept looking. I decided to look at my go to blog www.simplyrecipes.com and see if they had a recipe. They did and theirs did not use saffron. My suggestion for this recipe is use only thighs or thighs and legs and not breasts. The breasts turned out a little dry. Other than that I think this was a home run.

Arroz Con Pollo Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Chicken

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 to 3 pounds of chicken thighs or breasts, bone-in, with skin on, rinsed and patted dry

1/2 cup of flour for dredging

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice

3 cups* chicken stock

1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained

Pinch of oregano

1 teaspoon salt

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.

METHOD

1 Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet (a skillet that has a cover) on medium high heat. Put the flour in a wide bowl, mix in a generous sprinkling of salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in the flour mixture and put in the pan to brown. (You can skip the flour dredging part if you want. It just makes a nicer coating for the chicken.) Cook a few minutes on each side, just enough so that the chicken has browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove from pan and set aside.

2 Add the rice to the pan to brown. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Stir first to coat the rice with the olive oil in the pan. Then don't stir too much or you will prevent it from browning. Let it brown and then stir a little to let more of it brown. Then add the onion and garlic. Cook the onion, garlic and rice mixture, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened, about 4 minutes.

3 Place the chicken pieces, skin-side up, on top of the rice. In a separate bowl, mix together the stock, tomato, salt, and oregano. Pour the stock mixture over the rice and chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Let cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package, until the rice and chicken are done. Fluff the rice with a fork. If you want you can sprinkle with some peas. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

Best Enchiladas EVER...just keep a fire extinguisher close by

Ok gang (by gang I mean the 3 or 4 people who read this blog)! I have tried out some new recipes this week and I wanted to get these posted before our LOST series finale extravaganza (See post next Monday for more details). This first recipe comes from our William-Sonoma cookbook. I have been messing around with making a green sauce for Chicken Enchiladas for a while, but with little success. I mean they weren’t bad, but it was just lacking something. I should have thought green sauce = tomatillo, but I didn't.

My sister Candice is over this weekend and my family is huge on Mexican food, so I decided to try this recipe. It was super spicy! I don’t know why 9 serrano peppers didn’t throw up any red flags. If I were to make these again I would probably deseed the peppers after boiling or I would use less peppers. If you like spicy things then this is for you!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce (Enchiladas Verdes)

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

2 lb. chicken breasts

1/4 white onion

1 garlic head, halved crosswise

1 Tbs. sea salt

For the sauce:

3 lb. tomatillos, husked and rinsed

9 serrano chilies

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup safflower or canola oil

1 Tbs. sea salt, or to taste

For the enchiladas:

1/3 cup safflower or canola oil

18 thin corn tortillas

1 cup crema or crème fraîche

1 white onion, thinly sliced

1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Directions:

To prepare the chicken, place in a saucepan with the onion, garlic and salt and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool and lift out the chicken, saving the broth for another use. (The chicken can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 1 day before continuing.) Discard the skin and bones and shred the meat with your fingers. You should have 4 cups chicken.

To make the sauce, in a saucepan, combine the tomatillos and chilies with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. If some of the tomatillos remain firm, the pan should still be removed from the heat. Drain and, working in batches, place the tomatillos and chilies in a blender along with the garlic. Process until a smooth sauce forms.

In a fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil until it is smoking. Quickly add the tomatillo sauce and fry, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to bubble. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the sauce starts to thicken, 5 minutes more. Add the 1 Tbs. salt; taste and add more salt, if needed. Keep warm. When the sauce is combined with the tortillas and chicken, the taste of salt will be quite diminished; it should be highly seasoned at this point. You should have 3 cups of sauce. If needed, add some of the chicken broth.

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

To make the enchiladas, in a fry pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until sizzling hot. Using tongs, quickly pass each tortilla through the oil to soften, and then drain on paper towels.

Using your fingers, dip each tortilla briefly in the warm sauce, place on a plate, put a large spoonful of shredded chicken near one edge and roll up the tortilla. Place, seam side down, in a baking dish. Cover with the remaining sauce. Bake until thoroughly heated, about 10 minutes.

Remove the enchiladas from the oven and top with the crema, onion slices and crumbled cheese. Alternately, arrange the enchiladas on individual warmed plates and garnish before serving. Serve immediately enchiladas become soggy quickly.

Serves 6.

Also for breakfast this morning I made a Baked French Toast. It is like a Bread Pudding with a coffee cake crumb on top. It turned out awesome! I can see this being a mother’s day breakfast for our family. I topped ours with Strawberries and homemade whipped cream. This could definitely be a breakfast or a desert. Remember you need a least a few hours to soak. I would recommend soaking it over night. Everything can be prepared the night before so it is really easy to put everything together the next morning.

Baked French Toast

Prep Time 15 Minutes

Cook Time 1 Hour

Ingredients:

FRENCH TOAST

1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread

8 whole Eggs

2 cups Whole Milk

½ cups Whipping (heavy) Cream

¾ cups Sugar

2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

TOPPING

½ cups All-purpose Flour

½ cups Firmly Packed Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ teaspoons Salt

1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces

Fresh Fruit (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Tear bread into chunks (or cut into cubes) and evenly distribute in the pan.

Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add nutmeg if desired. Add butter pieces and but into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.

When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. (If you’re using fruit, sprinkle on before the crumb mixture.) Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.