Homemade Tortillas

THIS is my favorite homemade flour tortilla recipe. I used to make tortillas with shortening and then one day I decided to use olive oil instead. The end result is a tortilla that stays soft. Yeah, that's right. These are going to change your life. 

By the way, store bought tortillas are nothing compared to fresh, warm homemade ones. We never buy store bought. EVER. You shouldn't either. After you try these you won't want to.

Homemade Tortillas

Recipe Source: © The Taste Tester

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup good quality olive oil

3/4 cup hot water

Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, add in the olive oil just until it makes the dry ingredients crumbly. Add the hot water little by little until your dough is soft and shiny but not sticky (sometimes I need all of the water, sometimes I don't--- you may even need a little more than 3/4 cup depending on humidity). Divide the dough into eight balls of the same size.  

Lightly flour a clean surface and a rolling pin. Use the rolling pin to roll each ball of dough into a 6-8" tortilla. You can also use a tortilla press. By the way, David (my husband) if you are reading this I'd like a tortilla press for my birthday. Please and thank you!

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook each tortilla for 1 minute on the first side. It should bubble up. Flip and cook for about 30 seconds on the second side. Remove to a plate and cover with a towel to keep warm. For best results store tortillas in a ziploc bag at room temperature (they stay softer this way) though you can also refrigerate them. I usually make them in large quantities and freeze them.

Serves: 8

Calories: 215

Carbs: 28g

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Mini Mexican Pizzas

I'm experiencing some pretty severe writer's block right now. Also, it is almost midnight (since I write these posts the night before they go live) and I have been cleaning my house for the past three hours.

What I am trying to say is I'm tired right now and to be honest there aren't many words I could use that would do these little pizzas justice. They are wonderful and addicting. I could have eaten all twelve, but I had to share them with my husband. Bummer.

These are my new favorite appetizer. P.S. They'd be perfect for football parties.

Mini Mexican Pizzas

3-4 large whole wheat tortillas

1 cup lean ground beef, cooked

1/2 cup refried beans (homemade or store bought)

1/2 cup salsa (homemade or store bought)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded cheese, I used half monterey jack/half cheddar

1 small can sliced black olives 

optional toppings: shredded lettuce, sour cream, salsa, diced tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a 3-4" round cookie cutter, the top of a drinking glass, or the top of an empty metal can, cut twelve circles out of the tortillas.

Spray a 12-count muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Press each tortilla circle into a muffin tin using your fingers.

Mix together cooked ground beef, refried beans, salsa, chili powder, cumin and salt together in a bowl. Scoop 2 tablespoons of filling on top of each tortilla round in the muffin pan. Sprinkle cheese over each mini pizza. Place olives on top of cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are crispy. Remove from oven. Using a table knife loosen the edges of each pizza from the pan and scoop them out with a fork. Serve immediately with desired toppings.

Recipe Source: The Taste Tester, adapted from Dashing Dish

Shared here: Pin Me Fridays @ Diana Rambles

Slow-Cooker Refried Beans

Oh, I'm so obsessed with beans. This recipe is so good and VERY easy, two things I absolutely love. I consider this one of my favorite lazy day meals because its just a few ingredients thrown in a crock-pot and cooked for eight hours. We eat our refried beans on {open-faced} tortillas with cheese, green onions, sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about how delicious this simple meal is. They would also make a great side dish for any mexican feast.

These beans are not technically "refried" (in fact there is no added fat in this recipe), but you'll never be able to tell. I almost forgot: you don't have to pre-soak the dry beans!

Slow-Cooker Refried Beans

Recipe Source: adapted by The Taste Tester from 100 Days of Real Food

2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed

1 large onion, peeled and halved

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

2 bay leaves

6 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a crock-pot. Cook on high for 8 hours, stirring every couple of hours, until beans are very soft. Drain excess liquid off of beans into a bowl. Set aside. Remove onion halves and bay leaves from crock-pot and discard. Mash beans with a potato masher, returning some reserved liquid to the beans in order to reach desired consistency. Serve hot. Leftover beans freeze well.

Shared here: Totally Tasty Tuesdays @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Pin Me Fridays @ Diana Rambles, On the Menu Monday @ Stone Gable

*EASY* Restaurant Style Salsa

I have absolutely no idea what to say about this salsa except that it's delicious. It has left me speechless every time we've made it. I've had this recipe for two years now and we've eaten it many times. When David and I were dating, we often bonded through conversation while eating a whole bag of tortilla chips and a giant bowl if this salsa.

Yes, we love it. You will too.

If you like a mild salsa take out the jalapeños altogether. I'd say this recipe as it is written below makes a medium salsa. To make it hot, you could keep the seeds in on one of the two jalapenos (or both if you want something really really spicy--- pronounced 'spy-say' with attitude). But you'll have to make it and be the judge of your desired heat level.

It is a great salsa to make at this time of year because you don't need fresh tomatoes (which we all know are disgusting, mushy, and flavorless during the winter).

Restaurant Style Blender Salsa

1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro

2 jalapeños, seeded and roughly chopped

1 (8-ounce) can Chile de Fresco sauce (Pato Sauce)*
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes (diced tomato with green chiles), undrained
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
the juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8-1/4 teaspoon pepper (to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until it reaches your desired consistency. We like ours mostly pureed with little chunks in it. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. This salsa is best when refrigerated for at least 8 hours before serving. 

*usually located by the tomato sauce in any grocery store

Recipe Source: The Taste Tester, adapted from a recipe given to me by Kayla Jenkins

This week I'm partying at!

MamaBuzz

Tamale Pie

This one is so, so good guys! Especially if you make it with this homemade red enchilada sauce (p.s. if you have not heard, it is the best enchilada sauce EVER).

My favorite part about this dish besides the sauce, is the corn layer of the casserole. It is sweet like a good cornbread, but moist and dense like the masa in an actual tamale. It is one of our favorite recipes; try it and it will be one of yours too.

Extra bonus: this casserole is a lot easier to make than little individual tamales. In fact, from start to finish, including making the enchilada sauce (if your chicken has already been cooked and shredded), this should only take 45 minutes. Less really, if you make the enchilada sauce during  the first 20 minutes of bake time.

It is delicious topped with avocado, chopped cilantro, and sour cream (at least that is my favorite combo of toppings).

Make it. Eat it. (I know you'll) Love it.

Tamale Pie

1/3 cup fat free milk

1 egg
1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5 ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 1/2 cups homemade red enchilada sauce (or one 10 oz can)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (or other white cheese)
cilantro, green onions, avocado and crumbled Cotija cheese for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a nine-inch glass pie plate. Combine the first 9 ingredients (milk through green chiles), in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into prepared pie plate.

Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes. While corn mixture is baking, toss the chicken in enchilada sauce. When corn is done, it will be totally set around the edges, just barely set in the middle anda deep golden brown. Pierce the entire surface liberally with a fork (it will stick a little bit to the fork). Spread chicken mixture over corn; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 6 or 8 pieces; top each piece with desired toppings.

Recipe Source: The Taste Tester, adapted from Pinch of Yum

This week I am partying at:

The BEST Red Enchilada Sauce

Once you try this sauce, you are never going to buy canned enchilada sauce ever ever ever again. I'm not even exaggerating.

In fact, I went into my food storage to find some pistachios the other day, and out of the corner of my eye I spied a small can of store-bought enchilada sauce from way back in the day when that was what we used. For some reason it had ended up shoved behind all of our canned beans (I am guessing my husband hid it there after the first time we had this homemade sauce... sneaky sneaky).

Regardless of how that little can of enchilada sauce ended up where it was, I actually wept inside just thinking that for one last time I would actually have to use store-bought blandness before I could make the homemade goods again.

If you don't believe me the good news is that this recipe is very easy to make (it whips up in about 15 minutes). In other words, you have no excuse not to try this recipe. It is not a mild sauce (I give you fair warning) and it is actually quite spicy in my own opinion. It is so delicious and would work well in ANY of your favorite recipes that call for red enchilada sauce.

Don't have any favorite recipes that could use this yummy goodness? Well, lucky you! I have one coming your way this friday. It WILL end up on your favorites list, fo sho.

Red Enchilada Sauce

Recipe Source: Gimme Some Oven

2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil

2 Tbsp. flour
4 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. oregano
2 cups chicken broth

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Let it cook for one minute. This will cook out the flour-y taste. Stir in the remaining seasonings (chili powder through oregano) and the chicken broth gradually. Whisk to remove any lumps. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 10-15 minutes. The sauce should get thick and bubbly.

Use immediately. Yield: 2 cups (in comparison to approximately 1 1/4 cups in a 10-ounce can of enchilada sauce) 

This enchilada sauce will last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Ali (the blogger who developed this recipe at Gimme Some Oven) also recommends substituting 1-2 tablespoons of chipotle powder for some of the chili powder if desired. I have never tried this but from what I have read chipotle powder will actually give it a sweeter taste (a little less spicy).

This week I am partying here!

Make Your Own Frozen Pizzas

If you are a normal person and you love pizza, then I have a feeling you are going to love love love this post. One night a few weeks when I was really dreading making dinner, David suggested that he go buy a frozen pizza.

There were two problems with that suggestion:

1. I rarely enjoy a store-bought frozen pizza (especially not the cheap ones which are usually all we can afford anyway).
2. Well... you know what happens when you send your husband on a quick grocery store run. One item turns into twenty. You get my drift.

So I bucked up and made whatever I had planned for that night. But it got me thinking, "Can I make a more delicious freezer-ready pizza than a high quality store-bought one?". I have learned that the answer is undoubtably yes! I am so excited to share this knowledge with you. It is going to save your wallet and your taste-buds from buying something less wonderful than you should.

A-hem. Well I suppose we should just get right down to business. That is why your visiting this blog, right? Here is what you will need:

• 2 (12-inch) disposable aluminum pizza pans
• 1 recipe fail-proof pizza dough 
• non-stick cooking spray
• yellow cornmeal
• 1 pizza stone*
• your favorite pizza toppings
• plastic wrap
• aluminum foil

First, prepare your pizza dough. It takes 1-2 hours to rise so plan ahead. When dough is ready, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees, placing the pizza stone in the oven before you even turn it on (the stone will heat up as the oven does). *Tip: If you do not have a pizza stone you can use an upside down cookie sheet instead.

Spray your pizza tins with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. 

Divide your dough in half. On a floured surface roll each dough half out into a 12-inch circle. Transfer dough to prepared baking pans.

Now here is the most important step. Place the dough in the pan on your pizza stone and bake for 3-5 minutes, or until the dough just barely pulls away from the edge of the pan. Poke any bubbles with a knife. 

Want to know why this step is so dang important? It is going to ensure that the dough can no longer continue to rise while it freezes in your non-commercial freezer that technically cannot really "flash" freeze. Understand? Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

While the crust is cooling, prepare your toppings. Here are some topping tips and guidelines:

1. Some vegetables need to be blanched before they are frozen. To do this bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Clean and cut veggies. Drop into boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove immediately with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl filled ice water (this will stop the cooking process). After veggies have cooled remove from water and pat with paper towel to dry. Blanching vegetables ensures that they will keep their color in the freezer and will not be damaged by freezer burn. You do not need to blanch bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, or zucchini. Tip: For a quicker cook time, use store-bought frozen vegetables.
2. Meats must be fully cooked.
3. Not all cheeses are freezer friendly. For example delicate, crumbly cheese like bleu cheese or feta do not freeze well and can actually lose flavor while in the freezer. Stick to cheeses like mozzarella, cheddar, monterey jack, and colby jack.
4. You want all of your toppings to have cooled so that when you wrap the pizza for the freezer there is no steam trapped in the packaging. Steam will make freezer burn more likely.

For the first layer of toppings on our taco pizza, I spread some cold canned refried beans.

Next comes a mixture of cooked ground turkey and enchilada sauce (also cooled). Last time I made this taco pizza I also put taco seasoning in the ground turkey mixture, and it made the pizza taste way better. I forgot to add it this time. So do add taco seasoning if you are making this version of taco pizza. 

Lastly we topped the pizza with fat-free cheddar cheese, olives, and green onions.

Now all that is left to do is prep the pizza to go in the freezer. To prevent freezer burn you will need to double seal it, first with plastic wrap...

and then with aluminum foil.  

Dum-dah-da-dum!

This delicious little sucker can stay in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

When you are ready to finish cooking your pizza: Place pizza stone (or upside down cookie sheet) back in oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Unwrap frozen pizza, but leave in disposable aluminum pan. When oven is heated, cook pizza in pan on stone for 15-18 minutes or until the crust is a dark golden brown and the cheese is bubbly and hot. Remove from oven. Brush crust with melted butter.

The crust tastes better that DiGiorno, I can promise that much. Plus these are far more cost effective than buying frozen pizza. They are perfect for those nights when you are tempted to order pizza and they are sooooo convenient. Have I changed your life forever? Have I, have I? I hope so.

Another plus + Make a cute printable tag and tie this with some ribbon and you have an awesome meal for a new mom or a sick friend. If no one has brought them dinner already when you bring it to them it only takes a quarter of an hour to reheat from frozen. If they already have dinner that night just slip it in they're freezer. They'll be grateful.

Fail-Proof Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 3 cups bread flour (give or take half a cup depending on heat and humidity)

Cooking Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and sugar into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.
2. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding in remaining flour bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn't stick to your hands.
3. Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away. Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes!
4. Remove finished dough from mixer and shape into a ball. Lightly grease a bowl & the dough (so it doesn't dry out). Put dough in prepared bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours.

Recipe by Lauren's Latest

5 out of 5 stars

Taco Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 recipe fail-proof pizza dough
• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• shredded cheddar cheese
• sliced green onions
• sliced black olives

Cooking Directions

1. Prepare pizza dough according to recipe directions. Split dough in half and roll into two twelve-inch pizzas.
2. Brown ground turkey with taco seasoning until fully cooked. Add enchilada sauce.
3. Spread half of the can of refried beans on each pizza. Top with half of the meat mixture.
4. Sprinkle with cheese, onions, and olives.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes if fresh and 15-18 minutes if frozen.

Recipe adapted from So Very Blessed

4 out of 5 stars w/o taco seasoning (add the taco seasoning!!!)

To read more about making a frozen pizza visit Home Made Simple.

Brazilian Style Key Limeade

When I was a freshman in college a lot of the girls in my complex had been asked by some boys to the Christmas formal dance. They had planned this elaborate and fancy dinner for all of their dates, and at some point while they were making dinner and getting ready for the dance they had forgotten all about some brownies that were in the oven.

For some reason they decided to come to me with their pan of almost unsalvageable brownies. At first I did not know what to do, but then I miraculously turned the burnt pan of brownies into a layered brownie cake. After that experience I was fondly referred to as "the food doctor" by that group of girls.

While I think that nickname is a little bit extreme and not totally true, I do love the challenge of fixing a recipe and making it taste better.

Yesterday one of my readers wrote this on my facebook page:

Taste Tester,

We made this yesterday for my seniors and it needs some perfecting... Can you perfect it?

Brazilian Lemonade
3 limes

1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
4 cups water
ice

Directions

Wash limes thoroughly. Cut off the ends and slice into eight wedges. Place limes in a blender with the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, and ice.

Blend in an electric blender, pulsing 5 times. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove rinds. Serve over ice.

When I asked her what seemed "off" about it, she responded that it was "disgusting!" She later amended that response to say that it was not disgusting, but just different.

Now, I have actually had the above recipe before and I loved it. But, I am guessing  when this reader said it was disgusting, it really was disgusting. Here is why:

If you read through the whole recipe above you probably noticed that the recipe uses whole limes, not just the juice. This is so that the lime oils in the zest add extra delicious lime flavor to the finished product.

However, most people don't know that there are two parts to a citrus fruit peel. There's the zest (the colorful part) and the rind (the white part underneath the zest). The white part is very bitter. So if you are making the above recipe which uses the whole lime, you need to make sure you get limes with the thinnest peel possible so that there is a very minimal amount of bitter rind to worry about. Like in this picture: 

You can see that you would want to choose the lime on the right and not the one on the left which has a thicker peel. I am guessing that when my reader made this, they may have used some peels that were a little too thick and their drink ended up tasting bitter. Just a side note, I have never liked anything that tasted bitter.

So, as promised I doctored up this recipe for this reader. Not only will it be easier for her to make for her residents in the future, but it tastes awesome. Zero bitterness, no mesh strainer, and no blender needed.

Brazilian Style Key Limeade

1 1/2 cups bottled key lime juice

9 cups cold water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Combine first three ingredients in a very large pitcher. Stir until sugar dissolves. Slowly stir in the entire can of sweetened condensed milk. Add some ice. Serve immediately.

Recipe Source: © Amanda Jenks, inspired by Our Best Bites

Makes approximately one gallon.

Spicy Black Bean Dip

I feel the urge to write in spanglish (part spanish-part english) while writing this post because... well this dip is muy bueno (very good). If there is one thing I have learned in the kitchen, it is that although I enjoy a culinary challenge ever so often, I also appreciate when a recipe is easy and stress free. This recipe takes hardly any time, makes very little mess, and has few ingredients. As a huge plus, it is packed full of flavor, not to mention all the protein and fiber if you are looking for a healthy recipe!

The cumin and cilantro add especially vibrant flavors to the mix. If you need a quick, crowd pleasing dip, this here is the recipe for you.

Did I mention that this recipe come from my new favorite cookbook? If you are interested in buying Perfect One Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson you can find it in my amazon store. Just click the "Shop" tab above and the select "Cookbooks I Recommend" on the lefthand menu on that page. I think it is the first one listed!

Spicy Black Bean Dip

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, packed

2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup store bought salsa

1 tsp cumin
1/4 red onion, diced
Salt*
hot sauce to taste

Pulse cilantro in food processor until coarsely chopped. Add black beans, salsa, and cumin. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Do not process into a paste. Stir in chopped onion. Add salt to taste and hot sauce if desired. Serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.

Recipe Source: Perfect One-Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson

get printable recipe here.

*A note about when a recipe says to "salt to taste". As human beings I think we can sometimes be afraid of salt. Now I realize that there are medical conditions in which too much salt (or any at all) is bad, and I definitely think we should all try to eat healthier. However, there is a truth about salt that, if understood, could make all of the food we cook ten times tastier.

Namely that: salt is a flavor enhancer. That's right, an enhancer. If you put too little salt in something you may find that the flavors are muted or bland. If you put too much salt in something it tastes... well, salty. But if you find the perfect amount of salt for a recipe (in other words "salted to taste") it heightens all of  the flavors in the dish and creates the perfect symphony of taste.

So don't over do it, and don't under estimate how much you need either. Just recognize that salt has an important role in cooking. It is not just about sodium.