I get home Tuesday night to a big Fed-Ex box waiting at my doorstep.  Immediately I act like it’s Christmas, I tell Mando “Grab some scissors so I could pop this box open.”   I spy to see the return address is Melissa’s Produce, this sets excitement to my creative mood.  Pulling the flap up to the box  a crowd of HATCH CHILES reveal themselves.  I see the chiles have decided to group into cliques labeled “HOT” and “MILD”…. Who do I want to enjoy first?  I know,  I will test the waters with the mild chiles initially and work my tolerance up to the hot…. Sounds like a plan.  Here’s what happened next:  Brainstorming, market run, roasting chiles over an open flame, and peeling all the charred skin away. Corn bread strata is what I came up with for the mild hatch chiles, wait a couple of days and I’ll deliver what kind of dance the hot hatch chiles did for me! Thank you again Melissa’s Produce!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for hatch chile corn bread:

3/4 – cup milk

1 – cup grilled corn

1/2 -cup melted butter

2 – beaten eggs

3/4 – cup mild hatch chile (roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped) (about 3 chiles)

1 1/2 – cups yellow cornmeal plus 1/4 cup

1/4 – cup flour

1 – teaspoon baking powder

1/2 – teaspoon baking soda

1 – teaspoon sugar

1 -teaspoon salt

1 – cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

First start by roasting hatch chiles over an open flame. Then once skin is charred place in a ziplock bag and let steam for an hour. Remove from bag, and peel off charred skin under a slow stream of water. Then remove stem and seeds from chile. Lastly cut into long strips then chop into small pieces.

Next take your grilled corn on the cob and remove kernels.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Then take a 9×13 metal cake pan and grease with butter and shake with 1/4 cup of cornmeal. This will ensure your corn bread does not stick.

In a mixing bowl add milk, grilled corn, butter, eggs, and mild hatch chiles. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Whisk together. Then add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix until combined.

Pour into prepared metal cake pan, and spread evenly. Then top with 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Corn bread is done!

Ingredients for strata:

1 – pan of hatch chile corn bread

1 – cup grilled corn

4 – mild hatch chiles (roasted, peeled, seeded, and butterflied)

5 – ounces artichoke hearts (chopped)

1/2 – cup pepitas

2 – cups grated jack cheese

1/2 – cup chopped green onion

1/2 – tablespoon dried chili flakes

1 – teaspoon black pepper

1 – teaspoon Lawry’s

2 – cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 – tablespoon spicy brown mustard

8 – eggs

1 – cup milk

1 – cup 1/2 & 1/2

Butter a 9×13 glass baking dish. Then take corn bread and cut into small pieces. Then line glass baking dish with corn bread pieces. Make sure to leave 1/8 of corn bread behind for a later use.

Then sprinkle with grilled corn.

Then add butterflied mild hatch chiles to the next layer.

Now add the artichoke hearts and pepitas.

Now for the jack cheese, chopped green onion, dried chili flakes, black pepper, and Lawry’s.

Now take the remaining cornbread (that 1/8 you saved), and break it up over the top.

Let’s be fair and sprinkle in some sharp cheddar cheese to the top.

In a bowl beat mustard, eggs, milk, and 1/2 & 1/2.  Then pour mixture over the top of the strata.  It should look like this from the side.

Now cover the strata and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or over night. This is the hard part. Waiting.

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.  Bake strata for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean!

Enjoy!  Serve for breakfast with some sausage on the side or with a side of black beans and sour cream.  I’ll take both. 🙂

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Melissa’s Produce hatch chiles to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

In the words of Annabella from Bow Wow Wow…. “I Want Candy!” Aside from wanting candy all the time, I also want my favorite nut, pistachios. Why not combine the two for a perfect pairing and take my sweet nutty cravings to a new level of BIG LOVE.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for pistachio toffee:

1 – cup butter (melted)

1 1/3 – cups sugar

1 – tablespoon corn syrup

2 – tablespoons cold water

1/2 – teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 – cup salted Wonderful Pistachios

12 – ounces chocolate chips (melted)

First line a cookie sheet with a non- stick baking mat or wax paper. I use both, but I’m a freak… One method is good enough.

Then take your bag of Wonderful Pistachios, cut it open and GET CRACKIN! I like to shuck my pistachios before I start making the toffee.  Once done removing shells place 1 cup of pistachios to the side, and with the remaining 1/4 cup coarsely chop.

Let’s get the toffee rockin and rollin…. In a big pot over a medium flame with a candy thermometer attached to the side, drop in butter and allow to melt. Mix with rubber spatula.

Then add in sugar, and mix in completely before adding in corn syrup and water. From this point forward you will be mixing constantly.

Keep stirring your buttery sugar mixture until your candy thermometer reads 300 degrees fahrenheit.  This will take about 15 to 20 minutes and your mixture will go from pale brown to deep golden brown. Then remove from flame and add vanilla. Your mixture will bubble and pop. This is good news!

Add 1 cup of Wonderful Pistachios, and mix well.

Then pour onto prepared cookie sheet and top with melted chocolate.

Spread chocolate carefully over top of toffee to coat it!

Then if your anything like me…. you’ll run off and hide somewhere and eat the chocolate off the spatula.

Okay back to work…. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup pistachios on top of chocolate, and place in the fridge overnight or for at least an hour.

When ready to eat. Break it into pieces or eat the whole slab! Enjoy!

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Wonderful Pistachios to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

Makes my mouth water.

Before my blog I had my finger on the pulse of celebrity gossip.  Well to be quite honest with you, these days I have NO IDEA who’s dating who and the newest baby name trend. I’m out of the loop.  The only pairings I do know about are  the couples that have
fallen in love in my kitchen.  Their have been a few lately.  Plus I’ve always enjoyed playing matchmaker, and don’t ever mind making the initial introduction.  Recently I was snacking on a handful of All Natural Almond Accents happily lost in their crunch and freshness, then all of a sudden a light bulb in my head went on…..  They would couple well with Gorgeous Green Salad.  The rest is history.  I hear they’re living in a big beautiful bowl somewhere.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for Gorgeous Green Salad:

4 – cups mixed greens lettuce

1 – cup thinly sliced red cabbage

1 – cup thinly sliced cucumber

1/2 – cup chopped red onion

1 – small orange bell pepper (sliced)

5 – mushrooms (sliced)

1/2 – cup dried cranberries

4 – sliced radishes (about 2/3 cup)

1- cup cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)

1/2 – cup carrot shavings

1 – large avocado (sliced)

6 – ounces crumbled feta cheese

1 – green apple (cored and sliced)

3/4 – cup Almond Accents

Top with favorite dressing

Optional:

crumbled bacon

parmesan toast

Add mixed green lettuce to a BIG salad bowl. This will serve as your base.

Then add red cabbage and cucumber. I like to lay all ingredients out nicely.

Next layer in red onion, orange bell pepper and mushrooms…. it’s starting to look pretty.

Now for the dried cranberries, and radish. Once you’ve got that done…. add the cherry tomatoes and take a peeler and shave your carrot.

Add avocado and crumbled feta cheese.

Last but not least add green apple slices and introduce Almond Accents to Gorgeous Green Salad.

I like to top with an Italian salad dressing, crumbled bacon, and a piece of parmesan toast.

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Almond Accents to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

A good friend of mine asked me for a dessert recipe that not only taste good, but is simple to prepare and appealing to the eye.  I immediately thought of an up-side down cake.  I happened to have a tribe of pluots hanging out in my kitchen fruit bowl, and a box of cake mix in the pantry.  I thought to myself  “why wouldn’t those little pluots make for spectacular cake?”  They did.  I incorporated blueberries in the mix for an added “OH MY WORD”, and the results left me ecstatic.  Ended up making this cake two days in a row, because I couldn’t keep it around long enough to photograph.  Enjoy!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for blueberry pluot up-side down cake:

1 – box yellow cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)

1 1/4 – cups water

1/3 – cup vegetable oil

3 – eggs

1 1/2 – cups blueberries

6 – tablespoons butter

1 – cup brown sugar

4 to 5 – large pluot (each pluot cut into 4 parts, then each part sliced into 3 pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a mixer add cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs. Mix until combined for 2 minutes. Then add 1 cup of blueberries. Set to the side.

In a small saucepan over a medium flame add butter and allow to melt. Once melted mix in brown sugar. Mix well for 1 minute. Then pour into a 13 x 9 metal pan.

Now neatly place your pluots in a row on top of melted brown sugar mixture. Then sprinkle with 1/2 cup of blueberries.

Next pour cake batter over top of fruit.

Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the tester toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the cake comes out of the oven let it sit in the pan for 2 minutes, then turn pan up-side down onto a big platter and remove pan. PRESTO! Up-side down BLUEBERRY PLUOT cake…. YUMMERS.

So many reasons to love the movie Saturday Night Fever.  First and foremost it arguably has one of the best soundtracks of all time attached to it.  Yes,  the Bee-Gee’s are genius in my world.  A very young John Travolta played Tony Manero so well strutting down the street or getting down on the dance floor.  I love that SNF caught the heart of the 70’s on celluloid to be treasured forever.  The White Castle burger scene stuck with me, being a west coast girl, I had never seen a slider before.  I remember thinking  a tiny burger was the cutest thing.  The first chance I got to travel east I tried a white castle burger.  That was years ago and at that time sliders were not readily available here in California.  At first bite I became a fan of the size. Fast forward to 2011 and you can pick up sliders anywhere and everywhere.  I like it.  I just wish more places would make them with turkey.  Since they don’t I make them at home, and my entire family loves them.  Here’s my recipe.  Enjoy.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for turkey sliders:

2.5 – pounds ground turkey

1 – egg

2 – teaspoons black pepper

2 – teaspoons Lawry’s seasoning salt

5 to 6  – big squirts of worcestershire sauce

1/2 – teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 – tablespoon minced  fresh garlic

1 – teaspoon spicy brown mustard

1/3 – cup chopped green onion

1 – cup chopped portabello mushroom (small pieces)

1/4 – cup chopped fresh basil

1/3 – cup bread crumbs

In a big mixing bowl combine  all ingredients together and mix with hands to ensure all ingredients come together.

Then take a small handful or a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture into your hand and roll into a ball. Then smash down to form your patty. It should be no bigger then the palm of your hand.

On a wax paper surface lay your patty down and get to work on the next one…. Should make about 24 – 26 patties.

Now how you decide to cook these patties is entirely up to you.  If you throw them in a frying pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry on each side for 7 minutes.

If you make them on the bar-b-que (this is the way I usually prepare my turkey sliders), grill them on each side for 7 to 10 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

Top with  a slice of sharp cheddar cheese when the patty is still cooking on the grill or in the pan to melt.  Then take a bolillo bread (I’m a true latina eating my burger on a bolillo… I know) and cut in half to make two separate buns. Slice them across the middle then spread with your favorite condiments and fillings. I use mayonnaise, mustard, a dill pickle stacker, a piece of green leafy lettuce, grilled onions, and a nice slice of tomato. HEAVENLY!

People say I cry at the drop of a hat.  It’s true, I’m sensitive when it comes to a good love story or a sad story with a happy ending.  I call them passion tears.  I love when a person or family gets one up on life.  It makes my day, and it also makes me cry.

Recently I was shopping at Superior to pick up all the best latino products I usually stock my kitchen with when I noticed the “Maseca te paga la cuenta” (Maseca pays the bill) banners draped all over the market.  I stopped and just stood there staring at the banners, then I felt a little ball growing in my throat and my eyes welled up. I got so happy teary eyed knowing that someone could win right then and there. It was a reflective moment for me as I gathered the details of this great promotion that Maseca is offering to their customers.  You see from June 27th until August 8th 2011 at participating supermarkets in Southern California, North Carolina, Dallas and Houston Maseca representatives are randomly showing up on a daily basis and identifying a winner. This is how it works, if they see a Maseca product in your basket when you are in the check-out line they will pick up the bill for all the groceries in your shopping cart!  Can you imagine how happy that would make a family?  It makes me all mushy teary just thinking about it.

Then I started to think what would I do if I won the prize and Maseca was paying for all the food in my cart? I’d have a 40 person dinner party for my family and closest friends. I would make fancy gourmet vegetarian empanadas/pockets and WOW them with the homemade Maseca masa. Showing them all how easy it is to make something from scratch, and how the difference in taste is monumental.  I’d also have a box of tissue near by to wipe my tears of joy.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for veggie empanadas/pockets:

2 – cups Maseca Amarillo

1/2 -cup flour

1 1/4 – teaspoon baking powder

1 – teaspoon salt

1 1/2 – cups warm water plus 2 tablespoons

1 1/2 – cups sauteed onion

1 – pound grated colby jack cheese or jack cheese

1 1/2 – cups boiled Idaho potato (diced and fully cooked)

1 – cup grilled corn

1 – cup Lindsay whole black olives

1/2 – cup red chile sauce

1 – cup green chile salsa

2 – cups vegetable oil

Let’s make the Maseca masa/dough.  In a big mixing bowl add Maseca Amarillo, flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix with a fork to combine.  Then add warm water and mix with hands till soft and dough comes together, but is not sticky.

Divide masa/dough into 13 equal parts, then roll each part into a 2 inch ball. Keep masa/dough covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent masa/dough from drying out while you are making the empanadas/pockets.

Take a piece of plastic and cover working area of the tortilla press (I have an insane homemade wooden one from Mexico, but they sell them made of plastic and they work just as good). Then place a ball of masa/dough in the center and press down to make a circle.

Let’s fill our empanada/pocket…. Start with a tablespoon of sauteed onions, and place on one side of masa/dough. Then take a nice hefty pinch of cheese (a little under 1/4 cup) and place on top of onions.

Then add 5 or 6 cubes of boiled Idaho potato, a teaspoon of grilled corn, and break the Lindsay black olive in half and place on top. Drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon red sauce.

Then gently fold half of masa over to close empanada/pocket. Press down with fingers all along the edge to seal both ends together.

Once edges are sealed. Fold 1/4 inch of edge in to make a perfect fold.

Place empanada on a cookie sheet lined with foil and topped with plactic wrap while you assemble the rest and are ready to fry. Remember to keep them covered as you do not want them to dry out.

Add vegetable oil to a large frying pan and place over a medium high heat. Allow to get hot.  Add up to 3 empanadas/pockets at a time and fry on each side for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oil and serve warm with a teaspoon of green chile salsa poured over the top….. Mmmmm! Que delicioso! Give it some sour cream for an extra knock out punch! That’s it your done!

This is a sponsored post as part of the Maseca te paga la cuenta promotion.  All opinions and recipes are my own.

How to make the sauteed onions: In a large frying pan over a medium flame add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and allow oil to get hot. Then add 1 sliced onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Fry on each side for a 5 minutes or until onion is limp.

How to make the red chile sauce:

1 – large onion peeled

3 – garlic cloves peeled

1.5 – ounces new mexico dried chile

1.5 – ounces california dried chile

1 – large dried passilla chile

3 – tablespoons salt

4 – cups water

In a big pot add water, 2 tablespoons of salt, all chiles, onion, and garlic cloves. Bring to a boil.  Boil for 20 minutes. Water will turn dark brown.

Remove chiles and garlic cloves from water. Discard onion. Do not discard water, you will be using it in the next step. Remove stems from chiles, then add to a blender along with 1 1/2 cups of water from the pot, garlic cloves, and a tablespoon of salt.  Blend for 2 minutes.

Once blended get a bowl and take the blended chile and put through a strainer. It will be thick. Add a little bit of water from pot to chile strainer and scrape with a spoon. Use up to 1/2 cup of water for the entire  scraping process. It’s time consuming but your red sauce will be clean and not too thick.

How to make green chile salsa:

5 – tomatillos

5 – guero chiles (yellow chiles)

5 – serrano chiles

5 – jalapeno chiles

2 – garlic cloves (browned/fried)

1/2 – onion (browned/fried)

1/2 – cup water (from water chiles boiled in)

1 – teaspoon of vinegar

1 – teaspoons vegetable bouillon (I use Knorr)

1 – teaspoon black pepper

Fill a pot halfway with water and place over a medium high flame.  Bring water to a boil.  Add all chiles.  Boil for 15 minutes. Then add tomatillos and continue boiling for 20 minutes. Remove from flame. Once chiles are boiled remove from flame but DO NOT discard water… you will need it to blend chile.

In a frying pan with a little oil add onion/ garlic cloves and fry till browned.  Set to the side.

Let’s get blending.  In a blender add chiles (discard stem), browned garlic cloves, onion, water from the pot the chiles boiled in, vinegar, vegetable bouillon,  black pepper and tomatillos.  Blend until chunky smooth about 1/2 minute.  Pour into a bowl.  Set to the side.

Ok so here’s the story 14 or 15 odd years ago Ben and Jerry’s use to make this delish ice cream called “Cool Britannia”.  I loved it, it was my favorite.  Vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered shortbread and pieces of strawberry.  I was seriously in love and had it often.  Like most real true love stories there’s always a tragic twist.  Cool Britannia got discontinued, and my heart still aches over the love lost.

Today I was dreaming up a no bake dessert that would be perfect to celebrate the ice cream month, and keep me from turning on my oven. Then I thought of shortbread crust, maybe some chocolate, had to be vanilla ice cream, oooooohhhhhh and strawberries.  I realized the hole in my heart was calling out to Cool Britannia.  Except I added almonds to this yummy combo just to mix it up a bit, because I’m nuts that way.  Here’s a simple dessert that won’t heat you up, it’ll just COOL you up!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for no-bake crust:

10 – ounces Lorna Doone shortbread cookies

4 – tablespoons sugar

1 – stick of room temperature butter

Add cookies to a food processor. Pulse till powdery/crumb texture.

Add sugar and butter. Pulse till all crumbs come together to form a dough.

Take a 9 inch springform pan, and butter the bottom, press the cookie dough into the bottom.  Then place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm.

Ingredients for ice cream surprise:

2 – cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 – gallon vanilla ice cream (I used haagen daz)

1 – cup coarsely chopped almonds

2 – baskets strawberries

Take ice cream out of the freezer, and place in the fridge to soften while cookie crust firms for 30 minutes. Once cookie crust is firm,  place chocolate chips in a double boiler to melt chocolate. Once chocolate is melted place on top of crust and spread to cover entire crust.

Place back in fridge to firm for 15 to 20 minutes. Then take out ice cream and chocolate covered crust and fill with half of the half gallon of ice cream. Spread it out evenly, and sprinkle top with almonds. Place ice cream back in fridge and place ice cream surprise in freezer to firm up for 30 minutes.

Once ice cream surprise is firm-ish take out of freezer and take ice cream out of the fridge, then add the second half of the half of gallon ice cream to almond layer. Spread even. Cover top with plastic wrap and place in freezer for 5 hours or overnight.

Strawberry time!

Once ice cream surprise is ready to be served chop up strawberries and reserve on the side.  Now pull ice cream surprise from freezer and remove plastic wrap. Release springform pan and cut into desired serving.

Top with strawberries and take a whirl around the gorgeous taste of ice cream a la chingon! 🙂