THE MEXICAN FIESTA
- Super Grilled Red Snapper
- Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas
- Grill Chicken for Burritos
- Smoked Guacamole
- Smoked Salsa
- Watercress Salad w/ Orange & Tequila
4 Ancho chilies, seeds and veins removed
3 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of salt, or to taste – (10ml)
1/3 to ½ cup of red wine vinegar – (75 to 125ml)
½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro – (125ml)
1 – 4 pound red snapper, gutted but scales, head and tail left on – (2000grams)
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil – (45ml)
4 corn husk, silk removed
Cover ancho chilies with boiling water in a bowl and let stand for 5 minutes, this will soften the chilies.
Once chilies have softened, drain and transfer to a blender. Add garlic, salt, red wine vinegar and cilantro and blend until the mixture is smooth.
Place red snapper in a noncreative container and pour paste over fish, coating it well on both sides. Cover and refrigerate and let marinate for 2 hours.
While fish is marinating, prepare corn husk. Remove corn from husk, leaving enough of the cob that it holds the husk in place. Soak husk in cold water.
Preheat grill to a medium heat.
Once fish has marinated, rap fish with damp corn husks and place on barbecue rack Cook fish with barbecue lid closed for approximately 10 minutes.
When the fish is cooked, juices will be bubbling and you will be able to lift out the central bone easily.
Serve and enjoy!
1 yellow bell pepper, quartered and seeded
1 orange bell pepper, quartered and seeded
2 red bell peppers, quartered and seeded
2 red onions cut into wedges with root intact
2 Zucchini sliced into 1 inch thick rounds
2 tablespoons of olive oil – (30ml)
14oz of block mozzarella cheese – (400grams)
2 jalapeno, seeded and sliced into rounds
1 tablespoon of Mexican tomato sauce – (15ml)
8 wheat tortillas
Salt and pepper – to taste
Preheat barbecue to a medium heat.
Toss yellow, orange and red bell peppers with onions and eggplant into a large bowl and drizzle with oil, coating the vegetable well.
Place peppers, skin side down on to preheated grill and cook until seared and browned underneath. Then grill onions and eggplants until the have soften slightly and are branded with brown grill marks. Toss all cooked veggies into a bowl.
Cut mozzarella cheese into 20 slices and add to roasted vegetable. Add jalapenos and mix in Mexican tomato sauce, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Grill tortillas on one side only. Lay grilled tortilla on the griddle, cooked side up and pile the vegetable mixture into the centre of the tortilla. When the tortilla browns underneath, put another tortilla on top, cooked side down. Carefully turn the quesadilla over using a wide pizza server with tubular handles and continue to cook until cheese begins to melt.
Remove from griddle with pizza server and serve immediately.
Serve and enjoy!
2/3 teaspoon of garlic powder – (3.5ml)
½ teaspoon of cumin – (2.5)
¼ teaspoon of chili powder – (1.25ml)
1/3 teaspoon of salt – (2ml)
1/3 teaspoon of lemon salt seasoning and or fresh ground pepper – (2ml)
1 pound of boneless and skinless chicken breast - (500grams)
4 large flat flour tortillas
1 cup of Salsa – (250ml) – See Smoked Salsa Recipe
1 cup of sour cream – (250ml)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese – (250ml)
1 cup of shredded romaine lettuce – (250ml)
1 cup of canned black beans – (250ml) – optional
1 cup of canned spicy Mexican rice - (250ml) – optional
Preheat grill to medium heat.
Combine garlic, cumin, and chili powder, salt and ground black pepper. Run chicken with dry rub evenly on all sides. Wrap seasoned chicken in a tight foil package and cook on the grill for 20 minutes.
Warm black beans and prepare rice.
Remove chicken from foil and grill over open flame for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from grill and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing in to ½ inch pieces.
Warm tortillas by placing a piece of foil on barbecue and tortillas on top of the foil, once tortillas are warm add a portion of beans, rice and cheese on half of tortilla. Fold over other half of tortilla and grill on barbecue until brown, flip carefully and grill until brown.
Once burrito is grilled on both sides open at seam and add lettuce, sour cream and top with salsa. Close and serve seam side down.
Serve and enjoy!
6 large tomatoes
4 smoked Serrano chilies
½ of a small finely chopped red onion
½ cup of finely chopped fresh cilantro – (125ml)
1 teaspoon of salt – (5ml)
½ teaspoon of black pepper – (2.5ml)
½ of a lemon
2 large ripe California avocados
2 cups dry Mesquite wood chips
1 cup Mesquite wood chips, soaked for 30 minutes
Remove grill from barbecue and preheat to a medium heat.
Prepare a smoke package. Squeeze the excess water from the soaking wood chips and place in the center of a large piece of tin foil. Add the dry chips to the wet and mix them together. Fold the foil around the chips to create a well sealed package. Using a fork, poke holes on both sides of the smoke package. Set aside.
Half and remove the seeds from the tomatoes and hot peppers. This will remove the bitter taste from the tomatoes and some of the heat from the hot peppers.
Place the woodchip package directly on top of the flame where the grill grid has been removed. Turn the other burners off. Place the tomato and hot pepper halves on the grid over the burners that are off.
Close barbecue lid. Smoke the peppers and tomatoes for approximately 10 minutes, or until the flesh of the tomatoes and peppers are charred.
The skin of the tomatoes and the peppers can know be easily removed. Once skin has been removed from tomatoes and pepper, chop up coarsely and add to a bowl. Add onions, cilantro, salt, pepper, juice of ½ a lemon. Combine mixture well.
Pit and peels avocados. Add to mixture and mash until incorporated but still chunky.
Cover and chill until ready to use, but return to room temperature when ready to serve.
6 large tomatoes
4 smoked Serrano chilies
½ cup of water – (125ml)
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar – (30ml)
Salt - to taste
3 tablespoons of dried cilantro – (45ml)
Mesquite and hickory wood chips soaked in cold water for 30 minutes.
Remove grill from barbecue and preheat to a medium heat.
Half and remove the seeds from the tomatoes and hot peppers. This will remove the bitter taste from the tomatoes and some of the heat from the hot peppers.
Drain mesquite and hickory wood chips and set aside
Place tomato and hot pepper halves on to the grill. Once the barbecue, reaches a medium heat place grill on barbecue along with damp wood chips and close barbecue lid.
Process will only take approximately 10 minutes, or until the flesh of the tomatoes and peppers are charred.
The skin of the tomatoes and the peppers can know be easily removed.
Dice up tomatoes and peppers; add to blender with water, balsamic vinegar and salt. Pulse to a desired chunkiness, add dried cilantro and voila!
Serve and enjoy!
WATERCRESS SALAD WITH ORANGE & TEQUILA DRESSINGDressing
¼ cup of fresh orange juice – (60ml)
¼ cup vegetable oil – (60ml)
2 tablespoons of tequila – (30mL)
2 tablespoons of lime juice – (30ml)
2 teaspoons of honey – (10ml)
1 clove of garlic
Salad
3 large bunches of watercress with tough stems removed
2 tangerines with membrane removed and sectioned
¾ cup of diced jicama – (175ml)
½ cup of thin-sliced mild red radishes – (125ml)
¼ cup of sliced green onions – (60ml)
In a salad bowl, combine watercress, stem removed with tangerines, diced jicama, sliced radishes and green onions and toss.
For dressing, combine in a blender orange juice, vegetable oil, tequila, lime juice, honey and garlic. Pulse until mixture is smooth.
Drizzle the dressing over salad and enjoy!
Yields: 4 servings---
Comments