Green Chicken Tostadas

Strolling through a popular social media forum, a recipe channel feed was stumbled across where the host was making Tostadas de Pollo al Cilantro. Unsure as to what dialect of Spanish the host was speaking in did not matter as the video said it all: make Cilantro Chicken Tostadas now. And I did. And they were fabulous.

Modifications Made:
Clearly there was a translation error. The written instruction state green tomatoes but the video show tomatillos. Green tomatoes and tomatillos, which are green, are not the same. The opening line of the written recipe says its a green chili sauce but there are no green chilies in the ingredients. A salsa would have implied actual green tomatoes and a sauce tomatillos. From the video, the meal was made more along the line of a sauce. Like enchilada sauce. Once again, that would imply tomatillo, not green tomatoes. Matters not, the recipe was made with tomatillos like a green enchilada sauce and everything else was the same.

As with most meals requiring chicken, a fresh chicken was boiled with onions, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, salt, and pepper until meat was falling off bone. Except for the 1/3 cup of stock and 3 cups of chicken needed for the recipe, the remaining stock and chicken was saved for later usage.

Scaled for Likability: Great
Homemade tomatillo sauce is not new. Have made several versions over the years in various states of heat and ingredients. What was new about this recipe was the ingredients were not cooked or roasted before hand. Instead they were simmered in a pot after blended into a slurry. Once cooked down, the shredded chicken was then added and allowed to simmer in the sauce before topping the tostada. This simmering created a rich full flavor meat. Spread over a layer of refried beans and topped with creamy Monterrey jack cheese, crisp lettuce, a slightly firm avocado, and a heaping spoonful of red salsa, the tostada was everything the video made it seem. The only thing that would have made the tostada better was to have been made with a fresh fried thick corn tortilla like the video showed. This thick tostada would have allowed for the heft of the beans, chicken, and toppings. Store bought tostadas are meant for cheese only. They are wimpy when stout is needed. Delish.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Eating Waffles

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