Corn Tamalito

This is so delish! You may have had it before, they serve it at Chevy's Fresh Mex. It is usually on the side of fajitas or combination platter etc. I love it. I always order a side for the girls they love it too, so I thought hey I should try to make it. I did and it is now a Heuton household favorite. I make it with all Mexican side dishes. It looks kinda different but I promise if you like corn, tamales, or anything of the sort you will love this.

Start out with some Instant Corn Flour it is called Masa you will want to use 1/4 cup. Add this to a mixer along with the next couple ingredients

1/3 cup white sugar

5 tabl spoons butter or margarine softened

Cream all this together til it is fluffy

then in a food process add 1 cup of the corn kernels

and 1/2 cup water

blend on high till smooth

add the two mixtures together and fold

Mix in the remaining corn 1 cup

1/2 cup corn meal

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp salt

4 Tbl spoons milk

mix until the batter is smooth.

Place the baking dish over a large saucepan of simmering water.

Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap

steam for 50 to 60 minutes, or until firm.

Check water occasionally, and refill if necessary.

Stir with fork before serving to give it a consistent texture, it should be smooth.

Serve along side some yummy mexi dish or eat all by it self you will like it either way.

~Sassy~

Spicy Pulled Pork

There is something amazingly soul filling about slow roasted meat. It is tender smooth and ohhh so yummy. This recipes is no exception it is amazing. I love to use it to make tacos, bbq sandwiches, tostadas, pretty much whatever you can think of. My favorite straight out of the oven is tacos.

I didn't ever think I would be one to own a huge cast iron dutch oven, let alone use it all the time. I find that the more I use it the more I am falling in love with it. I have made everything from honey biscuits(on an open fire) to beef stew in my dutch oven. I will have more dutch oven recopies threw out this new adventure. My favorite is the beef stew cooked in hot coals when we go camping, that will have to wait till summer tho.

For now here is some Spicy pulled pork.

First start out by buying a Pork Shoulder any where form 4--7 lbs. This one is 5lbs. The cook time will depend on how many pounds it weighs I cooked this for 5 hours so I would say an hour per pound at 300 degrees. Make sure you start out fat side up.

Get out your food processor and put in the low blade. To this add

1tsp crushed res pepper flakes, add more if you want more kick.. I think next time I will add more kick.

1tsp dried chives, as you can see I put this in pretty much everything

1tbl spoon Cayenne Pepper, this will add kick as well so add more if you like.

1tbl spoon Cumin

4 cloves of garlic.. I love garlic it's what dreams are made of!

half a cup brown sugar

2tbl spoons red or white wine vinegar

half a cup of this yummy stuff, I use this in a lot of stuff I make it has a great flavor!

1tbl spoon of Baja Citrus Marinade*if you can't find this it is still just as good with out it*

Quarter one small onion and add it in as well

Blend all the goodness for about 30 seconds

Add some Olive Oil

and blend for about 30 more

Pour all the mixture over the Pork

Work it in with your hand getting in all the little crevices

Yummm

now add one and half cups water

Cover and put in the oven

you will want to turn this every couple hours.

Then the last 20 minutes jack the heat up to 400 to crisp up

take out of the dutch oven and put it on the serving platter you intend to use. let it stand for 15 minutes

then take two forks and pull it apart. It won't be hard, the hard part was getting it on the serving platter with out falling apart =)

Then serve.. I promise you won't be disappointed. Tonight we had tacos with home made flour tortillas and corn tamalito. Those two recipes are going to come tomorrow and the next day.

Enjoy

~Sassy~

Shrimp Tacos

I have to say that these babies are my new favorite thing. I usually make steak tacos. I have never thought I should do shrimp or chicken or fish... I just stuck with steak they tasted great and everyone likes them.
I was at the grocery store a couple weeks ago standing in the seafood dept. I thought what can I make with shrimp, something new... then tacos popped in my head. I've never made them and didn't really know where to start besides buying the shrimp and the rest of the groceries and heading home. I told Nathan my idea and he suggested I make the steak and try some shrimp on the side in case we didn't like them. So I only cooked a handful of shrimp and made the steak as usual. Well when we sat down to eat I was disappointed I didn't make a million shrimp. They were delish, I was hooked! I hope you try these out! I know if you like shrimp and you like tacos you will love love love these. If you don't then you're a weirdo! haahaa just kidding, no really I will think you're a weirdo cuz they are great!

I bought 1lb of 21-25 count fresh shrimp. 21-25 count means that is how many you will get in a pound.

I took the shells off, washed, and devained them, put them in a medium bowl.

Cut one lime in half, poke with a fork

Squeeze the juice into the bowl.

Buy this, it is great! I got it from Pampered Chef, I know I know you can't just go to the store and buy it, but it is worth it!!

Add one tablespoon

You can use a Serrano or Jalapeño pepper it is up to you. I like the Serrano

Cut in half

take all the seeds and such out.

chop finely, add to the bowl.

Grab a handful of Cilantro off the bundle.

Chop up, add half to the shrimp and save half for garnish later.

Mix all the shrimp and ingredients together and set aside to marinate

Start the rice. For every cup of rice and twice the amount of water, for example 1cup rice 2cups water

Set the temp to high add the rice and water and cover. When the water starts to boil reduce heat to low and let it sit for 15 minutes. Half way through add two tablespoons butter, a little salt, pepper and some of the jerk season you used in the shrimp marinade.

Open a jar of this, mango salsa

Put some in a little cup, put on a plate with the rest of the cilantro and cut up some avocado in to strips, and a few lime wedges.

Open a bag of these 4'' white corn tortillas use as many as you will need,

I used 12 for me Nathan and the two small girls.

In a small sauce pan heat some canola oil. Heat each tortilla for about 10 seconds on each side, just to make soft.

Put on a paper towel to take off excess oil

When you are done heating the tortilla shells heat two table spoons butter on medium high heat.

When the butter is melted and the pan is screaming hot add the shrimp and all the marinade. Cook for about three minutes.

Turn over each shrimp when they look like this, cook for a couple more minutes,

Then when the sauce starts to get sticky mix the shrimp around. The shrimp will be a little charred and I love it like this! A little crunch is nice.

Remove from the pan, and add some lime juice.

Then build your taco, add a little rice, a slice of avocado, some of the mango salsa, the shrimp and garnish with cilantro and squeeze some lime on top.. Wow Yum!

Enjoy!

~Sassy~