Mexican Recipes: Chicken Taquitos

Chicken Taquitos

Mexican food dish most often consisting of a small rolled-up tortilla and some type of filling, including beef, cheese or chicken. The filled tortilla is crisp-fried. The dish is often topped with condiments such as sour cream and guacamole. Corn (maize) tortillas are generally used to make taquitos; when flour tortillas are used, the dish is more commonly known as flautas. In some areas, taquito refers not to the rolled-up tortilla dish, but rather a smaller version of the taco.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil, more for brushing tortillas
1 cup chopped onion

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken meat
• 2 cups low-sodium, gluten-free chicken broth
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco or shredded Monterey jack or cheddar

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 220°C and oil a baking sheet. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onion and cook until starting to soften and turn translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, paprika and salt. Stir to combine and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, until fragrant. Take from heat and stir in cilantro and chicken. Set aside.



Step 2:

Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a skillet or pot wide enough to hold tortillas. When broth simmers, dip tortillas briefly, one at a time, just to soften, 1 to 2 seconds.

Step 3:

 Lay tortilla on a work surface and spread 2 or 3 tablespoons chicken mixture over bottom third. Top with a tablespoon of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Spray or brush tortillas lightly with oil and bake until crisp and lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. 

Serve immediately.

Now in Mexico they would say " Desfrutar da sua refeição " which means;

                                                       Enjoy your meal

Where can we find mexico on our world map?

Nepalese Recipes: MoMo meat dumplings

MoMoDumplings

Momo's are made with a simple flour-and-water dough,white flour is generally preferred and sometimes a little yeast or baking soda is added to give a more doughy texture to the finished product. 

Introduced from Han China, as Momo is a loanword from the Chinese mómo 馍馍, a type of steamed bun. Momos have become a traditional delicacy inTibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Darjeeling district andLadakh. They are one of the most popular fast foods in many regions of the Indian Subcontinent populated with people of Tibetan, Nepali or other Himalayan origins, and in places with a significant Tibetan and Nepalese diaspora.

There are different varieties of momos, such as fried and steamed momos. Momos are usually served with a dipping sauce normally consisting of tomatoes as the base ingredient, from which numerous variations can be made. Momo soup is a dish that has steamed momos immersed in a meat broth. Momos that are pan fried after steaming first are known as kothey momos. Momo can also be prepared by directly deep frying without steaming first. Steamed momos served in hot sauce is called C-Momo. These are some of the most common items served in Tibetan and Nepalese restaurants. Tibetan dumplings are eaten with a fiery sauce of dried red chilies and a bowl of chicken broth.

Ingredients:

Dumplings

- 4 cups of all- purpose flour

- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

- a little water

- 1 pinch of salt

Filling

- 2lbs of ground meat ( beef, chicken, pork or lamb)

- 1 cup of red onion chopped fine

- 1 plain onion chopped fine

- 1 cup of tomatoes chopped fine

- 3 tablespoons of fresh cilantro, chopped

- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic chopped

- 1 tablespoon of ginger chopped

- 1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg ( prefer fresh)

- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

- 1 tablespoon of curry powder

- 3 fresh red chillies chopped fine

- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

- salt and pepper

Step 1:

To make the dough: In a large bowl combine flour, oil, salt and water.
Mix well, knead until the dough becomes homogeneous in texture, about 8-10 minute.
Cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
After the resting period knead well again before making wrappers.

Step 2:

To make your filling: In a large bowl combine all filling ingredients.

Mix well, adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.
Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow all ingredients to develop their unique flavours.
This also improves the consistency of the filling.


Step 3:


Give the dough a final knead, now make 1-in dough balls.
Take a ball, roll between your palms to spherical shape, dust working board with dry flour.
On the board gently flatten the ball with your palm to about 2-in circle.
Make a few semi-flattened circles, cover with a bowl.
Use a rolling pin to roll out each flattened circle into a wrapper.
For well executed MOMO's, it is essential that the middle portion of the wrapper be slightly thicker than the edges to ensure the structural integrity of dumplings during packing and steaming.

Step 4:

Hold the edges of the semi-flattened dough with one hand and with the other hand begin rolling the edges of the dough out, swirling a bit at a time.
Continue until the wrapper attains 3-in diameter circular shape.
Repeat with the remaining semi-flattened dough circles.
Cover with bowl to prevent from drying.

Step 5:

For packing hold wrapper on one palm, put one tablespoon of filling mixture and with the other hand bring all edges together to the centre, making the pleats.
Pinch and twist the pleats to ensure the absolute closure of the stuffed dumpling.
This holds the key to good tasting, juicy dumplings.
Heat up a steamer, oil the steamer rack well.
This is critical because it will prevent dumplings from sticking.

Step 6:

Arrange uncooked dumplings in the steamer.
Close the lid, and allow steaming until the dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Take dumplings off the steamer and serve immediately.
Alternatively, you can place uncooked dumplings directly in slightly salted boiling water and cook until done, approximately 10 minutes. Be careful not to over boil the dumplings.

Step 7:

You may also slightly sauté cooked dumplings in butter before serving.
To serve, arrange the cooked dumplings (MOMO's) on serving plate with hot tomato achar or any other chutneys as condiment.

Now in Nepal they would say " एञ्जोय योउर माल " which means:

                                                            " Enjoy your meal"

Where in the world can we find Nepal?

Italian Recipes: Verdure cuocere ( Vegetable bake)

Verdure cuocere 

This is one of my home recipes and is an Italian one pan dish that is like a stew topped with wonderful layer of crisp French beard and cheese. It is a very simple recipe and can either be cooked on a stove and in the over or even on a BBQ or other hot heat source.

serves: 4 people

Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

• Ingredients:
• 
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 courgettes, chopped
• 1 aubergine, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 black olives, chopped
• 1 tbsp capers, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 x 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 tsp sugar

For the topper

• 8 slices stale French bread
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 200 g cheddar cheese, grated
• chopped parsley, to serve

Step 1:

Heat the olive oil in a large shallow oven and stoveproof pan on a medium heat, then add the chopped onion and cook for around 5 minutes until soft and lightly browned.

Step 2:

Add the chopped courgette and aubergine and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the tomato puree, beans, olives, capers, garlic, tomatoes, stock cube and sugar. Swill out the tomato tin with some water into the pan and then stir really well to combine, season to taste and bring up to the boil. 

Step 3:

Turn the heat down and cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Take the lid off and simmer for a further 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. 

Step 4:

For your Topper:

heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Place the slices of french bread in a single layer on the top. Drizzle liberally with the olive oil and scatter with grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheesy bread is crisp and golden. 

Scatter with chopped parsley and serve with a green salad on the side. 

Now in Italy they would say " Buon appetito " which means;

                                                    " Enjoy your meal"

Where can we find Italy in the world?