A Mexican Feast! Ole!

I have a new friend!

The lovely Sarah has just moved here from New York, and I invited her, and her gorgeous black pug to lunch. I decided to do Mexican, mostly because I hear from my American friends it is what they miss most, a good Mexican place.

The only thing was, I loath re-fried beans, and I didn't want to do tacos, or fajitas, etc etc.

So a quick check on a few different American cooking sites and I'd found some fabulous recipes to try out. On the whole, it wasn't too bad at all (I think). I learnt a couple of things along the way, and will be improved for next time! but it really was a yummy and health meal. I will definitley be making these again!

The Menu

Spiced Shredded Pork

Mexican Corn Cakes

Avocado Salad

Rocket & Pepita Salad

Spiced Shredded Pork

This is really easy, and you could make it ahead of time: it would be delicious cold. A note, if you aren't going to do the avocado salad, then put a slice of avocado on top of the corn cake, then top with the pork.  

500g pork fillet

500ml chicken stock

2 small onions, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped

(I couldn't find a fresh one, so bought a jar & used that. Jalapeno really does have a distinctive flavour, so I'd try and use even preserved jalapenos, rather than use 'asian' chillies)

1 bunch coriander (enough for 2.5 loosely packed cups)

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons bitter

2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup sour cream

1) Combine the pork, stock, half the onions, the jalapeno, coriander, cumin, bay leaf & 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan & bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 mins, stirring
occasionally. If you have a thermometer, you want the pork to reach 60'C (140'F).

2) Remove pork, and shred using 2 forks. I overcooked mine, which is why it is diced in the picture above! My bad - too much white wine & chatting!

3) Combine the shredded pork w/ the remaining onion, butter & 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season well. Place under the griller until golder brown (4-7 minutes). Actually, the recipe said to 'broil'. I think this means grill, but since I wasn't sure, I grilled it for a while, and when not much happened, I just threw it all in a frying pan over strong heat. If you know what broiling is, please tell me!

4) Serve atop the corn cakes w/ the sour cream & tomato. 

Avocado Salad

This was, for me, the highlight of the meal! It is so easy, and it was delicious. Don't be put off by the picture above & all that raw onion. When they are combined with the lime juice etc below, the end result is quite mild, and really delicious!

1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons, plus 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 jalapeno chilli, chopped (per the pork recipe, I had to buy a jar of japaleno's)

1 cup lightly packed coriander leaves

1/2 cup olive oil

4 avocado's, thinly sliced

salt & pepper

1) In a small bowl, combine the onion w/ 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, tossing to combine. Let the lime-marinade onion mixture soak at room temperature for at least one hour (or for a day, covered in the fridge). The onion will soften, and brighten (like your favourite fabric softener!).

2) Make the dressing: combine the 1/4 cup lime juice,jalapeno, coriander & remaining 1.5 teaspoons of sugar, seasoning with salt to taste. Blend until smooth (I like to use my bamix thing for this). With the motor running, add the oil in a steady stream until incorporated.

3) just before serving, slice the avocados & arrange on a serving plate. Top with onion, drizzle with the dressing & serve.

Mexcian Corn Cakes

These are so yummy! They are easy to make, and would go so well with a variety of toppings. They would also be quite nice cold, taken to a picnic.

The recipe (which is from Martha Stewart) calls for 'Cotija', which "is a crumbly, aged white cheese". I am a resourceful woman, but I am confident that there is no where in Australia where I could find this! I used haloumi instead, because it seemed a better choice than feta (it isn't as strong, or as salty etc). You could probably use some goats cheese too. I will try that next time.

FYI - As I've said before, this is like 'Maize' flower here, and you can buy it in health food shops. What is sold as 'cornflower' in the supermarkets is a thickening agent, and will give you an awful result!

One last thing: The mixture I had left after I'd made about half was quite dry, so I added more water, actually more than I intended to, so the mixture was quite 'wet'. I found this gave a much better end result than the dry ones! The warm water quantities listed below are per the original recipe (another Martha Stewart!), but add more water if you want. By 'wet' I mean that they were kind of sticky, almost sticking to the palm of my hand when I rolled them, but not quite.

1.5 cups corn flour

1/2 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated haloumi (or just slice very thin)

2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 2 ears)

3/4 - 1 cup warm water

4 - 6 tablespoon vegetable oil, for frying

1) Whisk together the flowers, baking powder & salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the haloumi & the corn kernels. Add the water, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until the mixture holds together.

2) Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Scoop a heap of the mixture, and use your hands to shape a patty. I could have made mine a little flatter I think.

3) Fry the patties in batches, turning once, until golden brown, or around 3 - 4 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate lined w/ a paper towel to drain. Add more oil to the pan, if necessary, for the next batch. You can cover them w/ foil to keep warm whilst the remainder cook.

Rocket and Pepita Salad

1/3 cups pepitas
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bag of rocket
salt & pepper to season

1) preheat oven to 180'c. Spread the pepitas on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown, 10-15 mins. You can do this a day ahead & store in an air-tight container.

2) In a large bowl, combine the vinegar & cumin, whisk in the oil. Season w/ salt & pepper. (This dressing can be stored in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days). Add the rocket, tossing to combine, then scatter over the pepitas.

Skillet Cornbread!

I just love cornbread. I know it is Not My Friend (the carbs! the carbs!), but who am I kidding - I make my own ice-cream!

This is the only recipe I have ever used to make it, and it always turns out very well, and is very quick to make. If you whip up a batch of this, and pop it into the oven, then get cooking on your meat & capsicum, you will have a fantastic Mexican meal ready to roll in around half an hour! How Good Is That!

FYI - corn 'flour' and corn 'meal are confusing terms. Cornflour as sold in the supermarkets is a thickening agent. If you make cornbread with this stuff it would quite possible be the most revolting thing you have ever eaten.

What they mean in the recipe below is what is often called 'Miaze Flower' here. You can find it in healthfood stores, and it has a lovely yellow colour to it.

This is the brand I used. I have no association with the company, and I only use this brand because it is what my local healthfood shop stocks. But I thought a link might be helpful, so here it is:  http://www.organicsaustraliaonline.com.au/prod415.htm

Finally, this is called 'Skillet Cornbread'. I just cook it in a solid based (i.e. not springform) pie tin. By melting the butter per the instructions, the cornbread turns out of the pan perfectly.

Skillet Cornbread
1.25 cups yellow cornmeal (see above re: cornflour)
1.25 cups plain flour
2 tbs sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
1.25 tsp coarse salt
1 large egg
1.75 cups buttermilk (or same quantity of full cream w/ a squeeze of lemon juice)
4tbs unsalted butter

I apologise for the tablespoon butter measurement. This is an American thing and for the life of me I can't see how it is easy to measure something like butter in tablespoons! Give us a weight Martha!!

I just kind of roughly figure it out, lopping tablespoons out of room temp block of butter.

1) Preheat the oven to 220'c. Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl & set aside. Whisk together the egg & buttermilk, then stir into the flour mixture.

2) Melt the butter (!!) in a 10-inch skillet or baking dish in the oven. remove the skillet, and swirl the butter all over to coat the bottom & sides. Pour in the batter, and bake until a tester comes out clean, around 20 - 25 minutes. Cut into wedges & serve.