Tortilla Roll Ups with Cilantro Lime Blender Salsa

The first time my friend Maretta and I 

made this we sat and ate most

of it.  This is such a fun and

easy appetizer and with a salsa

that you just pop in the blender,

it whips up quickly.

(Recipe from A Pinch Of Salt Lake -

The Junior League of Salt Lake City.)

Let's start with the simple blender salsa.

This is one fast and easy salsa that 

tastes fresh because of the fresh cilantro,

lime, onion and garlic.

Cilantro Lime Blender Salsa

1 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1/2 large sweet onion, cut into chunks

1 clove fresh garlic

1/3 - 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

1-2 T. pickled jalapenos

Juice of 1-2 limes

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and cilantro

into the blender.  Pulse on chop mode until

the onions are small (leaving a few chunks).  Remove and pour

into a bowl.  Stir in the seasoning and lime

juice, adjusting to taste.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour

to let the flavors blend.

Store in the refrigerator.

Click here for printable recipe.

Now let's make the yummy 

Tortilla Roll Ups.

Tortilla Roll Ups

6-8 8 inch flour tortillas

3 8 oz. packages cream cheese

1/3 C. chopped pecans

1/4 C. chopped green onions

1/3 C. chopped canned green chilis

1/4 C. chopped black olives

Soften the cream cheese and stir in the

remaining ingredients.  Spread about

1/8th of the mixture on each tortilla to edges.

Roll up tightly.  Wrap each in plastic

wrap and refrigerate for at least one

hour for the flavors to blend.

Remove from the refrigerator and slice

diagonally.  You will not use the end 

pieces.  

Serve with salsa as an appetizer.

Click here for a printable recipe.

Whip either or both of these up when

you need a fun and new appetizer or

when you just want a creamy, yummy snack.

I will be posting this with

Foodie Friday

Chilaquiles with Chicken and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

 

Chilaquiles are popular breakfast food

in Mexico, but we like them for a quick

dinner.

They originated as a leftover dish using up

the stale tortillas and leftover red or green

sauce, meat and cheese.  Sometimes they

have scrambled eggs on top for a 

breakfast dish.  Our favorite is

with green sauce and chicken then topped

with cheese.

I chose to fry my own corn tortillas but we have made

them with tortilla chips when we were in a hurry.

I also made my own salsa verde but you can use

a bottled or canned variety too.

The tortillas are topped with the salsa and chicken

and then cheese is added and melted on top.

You can cook your finished chips in the salsa verde but

I like to keep mine crispier so I just top them with the salsa.

Chilaquiles with Chicken and 

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 dozen corn tortillas cut into strips or triangles

oil for frying tortillas or tortilla chips

2 C. cooked chicken, cubed

salsa verde (homemade recipe follows or

we like World Table Salsa Verde from Wal Mart 

or Herdez Salsa Verde)

3 C. monterey jack cheese

Fry the corn tortillas in oil brought to 350 degrees in

small batches until crisp.  Drain on paper towels

Layer the chips, salsa verde, and chicken and top

with lots of cheese on an ovenproof or microwave proof

dish.  Drizzle a little additional

salsa verde on top.  Heat until the cheese is melted

in a 350 degree oven or in the microwave.

Dig in and enjoy.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 1/2 C. fresh tomatillos, rinsed

2 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno chile, seeded

1 1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon powder

3/4 C. water

1 medium white onion, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Place cleaned, chopped tomatillos, garlic and

seeded jalapenos in a large skillet.  Cook over

medium high heat until tomatillos are blackened

and soft.  Do not use oil.  Remove and let cool

a few minutes.  

Place the water, bouillon and the chopped onion

in a saucepan and cook until the

onions are soft. Remove and let cool a few minutes.

Place the tomatillo

mix and the onion mix in the food processor

with the cilantro and puree.

Transfer the salsa to a saucepan and

bring to a 

boil and simmer until a nice salsa consistency. 

 Best if refrigerated for

about 3 hours, but it is great right away.

Makes about 1 quart

This salsa verde has a great fresh tangy

flavor.  We loved it.

(Adapted from Cooking With Baja Magic Dos -

a cookbook printed in 2005 that was left in 

our Cabo home for me to inherit - fabulous. You can 

buy it from Amazon.  Everything we have made in it is great.)

Click here for printable recipe.

Don't miss out on this traditional Mexican favorite.

It is super quick if you use tortilla chips

and canned salsa verde.  I really like Wal Mart's

World Table (my favorite) or Herdez's Salsa Verde.

You can have it with or without chicken and you

can also serve it with scrambled egg, but this is

our favorite way to serve it.

Harvest Apple Salsa and Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

                     Sweet, crispy, juicy apples

in all their glory.

Here's a wonderful and unique treat to enjoy while

apples are at their peak.

We have lots of apples this year and we need

lots of recipes for them.

Some of you may have read a trick I read on-line

to keep the birds from eating all of your apples.

You hang CDs in the tree and the constant

moving and reflection will scare the birds

off. 

Well, it worked and in almost 20 years, this

is the first year we have had an abundance

of apples! 

Hannah is one of the Young Women in our church and

for our activity one night she had us over to our home

and taught the girls 16-18 years of age how to make a

Sunday Dinner.  Hannah decided on this activity by

herself and decided on the menu she wanted to teach.

Hannah started by chopping apples for the salsa.

Apple Salsa Recipe

2 apples, preferably 1 red and 1 green,

cored, sliced and roughly chopped

(She used 1 Granny Smith and 1 Fuji)

Mix in a bowl:

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 C craisins

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. caramel ice cream topping

Toss the sauce with the apples and serve

with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips.

Then she showed us how to make homemade cinnamon

tortilla chips to have with the salsa.  We even did a taste

test on commercially made cinnamon tortilla chips.

They didn't stack up to the homemade.

Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Flour Tortillas

Butter

Cinnamon Sugar

Butter your tortillas, then sprinkle generously

with cinnamon sugar.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Place

on a cookie sheet.  Bake in 350 degree oven for

7-9 minutes until lightly browned.  Let cool.

(She says she has found the commercial ones

at Target if you want to use those.)

These were seriously amazing.  Your family

will love this and it is so unusual!

Hannah continued with the rest of the meal, showing

us how quick it was to put together.

She included steamed rice pilaf with steamed vegetables,

crock pot roast beef with gravy and finished with

a German Chocolate Cake.

The cake by itself would have been a great activity.

But that wasn't all, she also set the table beautifully in a color

to match the apples.

Love the green and yellow polka dots.

What a cute napkin fold too.

These young girls have so much talent and are so

fun to be with. 

What an amazing instruction and meal.  Everyone loved it.

Thanks Hannah.  You can teach us anytime!!!

(Her mom said she did it all by herself

 except the gravy because of time constraints!)

I will be posting this with

Made By You Monday

Market Yourself Monday

Tasty Tuesday.

Killer Quesadillas and Homemade Salsa

The garden is just going crazy here at Purple Chocolat Home

and if you saw the posts on my garden you realize that it

is planted amongst the flowers but I still get a lot of

produce, just not enough to really can.

Yet, there are more tomatoes than we can eat so

last year I hit upon a great way to use up all those

tomatoes and get the fam to consumer plenty of

lycopene!

I adapted this recipe from our neighbor Jeff

who would bring us his salsa all of the time.

  He used canned tomatoes.  He

adapted his from the back of a vinegar bottle. 

I can't get that vinegar, so I made my own, so let's start there.

Santa Fe Chili Pepper Vinegar

Clean and sterilize glass bottles with tops or screw caps.

In clean bottles place:

 1 T. whole peppercorns

3 whole cloves garlic

3-4 small green or red chili peppers

sprig of basil

sprig of oregano

Fill with white wine vinegar.

Replace cap and let sit for at least 3 days

for the flavor to develop.

To make the labels:

I downloaded a picture of chilis from http://www.photobucket.com/

a free photo sharing site and added the title

then printed it off on label paper and attached it to the

bottles.  What a great gift this makes.

 Click here for the instructions that I gave

previously when making the labels for

 Garlic Basil Oil.

Several people wanted to know where I got

that photo for the label on the basil oil. 

 It was on page 13 under Herb Garden

(not Herb Gardens) on the Photo Bucket site.

Yes, a little hard to find but worth it.

Fresh Salsa Recipe

8 C. fresh tomatoes

1 large onion

3/4 C. mild pickled jalapeno peppers

(or 3 T. hot pickled jalapeno peppers,

or 2 fresh jalapeno peppers or to taste)

1/4 - 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

1 tsp dried cumin

1 T. minced fresh garlic

1 T. salt

1 T. sugar

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper (optional)

1/4 C. Santa Fe Chili Pepper Vinegar

(you can use regular unseasoned vinegar)

Blend 3/4 of the tomatoes, leaving a few

chunks.  Remove and blend the remaining

tomatoes with the remaining ingredients.

Mix all together.  The flavors will blend as it sits

in the fridge.

(If you want to make this during the winter

with canned tomatoes, use 4 - 14 oz. cans

of tomatoes and reduce the salt by 1 tsp.)

Killer Quesadillas

8 - 10 inch flour tortillas (we love Costco's

ready to cook tortillas)

2 C.shredded or cubed cooked chicken breast

4 C. shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

8-12 slices cooked bacon

chopped fresh cilantro

chopped fresh red onion

Butter or spray with cooking oil one side of each

cooked tortilla.

Layer one cooked tortilla with cheese, chicken,

bacon, cilantro and red onion.  Top with

second tortilla.  Cook in frying pan on medium

high heat or on griddle until cheese is melted.

Serve with fresh salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

My friend Monique taught me how to make these

at Lake Powell.  They are also great with steak.

I hope you enjoy your tomatoes this year and maybe

these recipes will help you enjoy them even more!

I will be posting this with

Just Something I Whipped Up Monday

and

Tasty Tuesday.

Corn Salsa or Cowboy Caviar

A little red white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July

This would be great anytime of year.

My good friend Annette served us this tasty salsa

when we went over to her home.

What else would you start with but fresh tomatoes?

This salsa also uses canned black-eyed peas

Canned corn, but fresh off the cob would be great too.

Fresh green onions and cilantro

To store any leftover cilantro, cut off the stems and place

in a glass or jar of water in the fridge.

The dressing is Good Seasons Italian Dressing

made according to package directions.

I used apple cider vinegar, but any would work.

Red salsa, white and blue corn tortilla chips are perfect.

These blue chips were "red hot" so they had a little red in them.

Yummy Corn Salsa

(aka Cowboy Caviar

4-6 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1-15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained

1-15 oz. can corn, drained

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2-1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix, made

according to directions.

Mix all ingredients together and then add the dressing.

Optional:  You can add 1-2 cubed avocados right

before serving.

I think I could live off of chips and salsa.

Make something Red Whiteand Blue today.

I will be posting this with Foodie Friday

and

Vegetarian Foodie Fridays.

Steak Fajitas and Sunrise in Cabo

There is something so spiritual about sunrises and sunsets, especially on the ocean. 

At certain times of the year we can see both from our house. 

 

This one is from the beach right below us.  The first one is from the pool.

I am an early riser, so I like to watch the sunrise.

You won't have to get up early in the morning to make these!

Steak Fajitas

on

Homemade Flour Tortillas

4 steaks (I used tenderloin steaks from Costco)

1/2 C. soy sauce

1/2 C. maple syrup

1/2 C. vegetable oil 

juice from 1-2 limes

1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 2 cl. garlic, crushed

1 white onion, sliced thinly

1 green pepper, sliced thinly

Slice the steaks into bite-sized strips.  Mix all of the marinade ingredients and place in a Ziploc bag along with the steak.  Let marinate in fridge for at least one hour.  Heat a heavy pan and pan fry in small batches until caramelized.  If you put too many in at a time, the meat will boil and not fry.  You could also grill the meat. 

Cover the cooked meat and fry the onion and green pepper in the drippings until soft and lightly browned.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

It's true, I haven't made flour tortillas for quite some time since I started buying the "Cook your own" flour tortillas found at Costco, but I tried this recipe and it is worth the effort.  They are so soft!  The first bite with the tenderloin, just melts in your mouth.

3 C. all purpose flour

1/2 C. shortening (We had butter flavored, so I used it - yum!)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the above in the food processor until shortening is well blended in.  With the food processor running, pour in 1 C. very hot water.  Mix until it forms a ball.

Place in a plastic bag or cover and let rest for 30 minutes. (This is critical or the tortillas will not be as good)

Pinch off a ball of dough a little bigger than a golf ball.  Roll into the desired size of tortilla, usually 6-8 inches.  Cook on medium high on a griddle or non-stick pan, flipping it when it begins to bubble on the top.  Keep warm until serving. 

Our family likes to use any leftover tortillas by spreading them with butter and sprinkling with cinnamon sugar.

Serve with pico de gallo and fresh guacamole.  Click here to get those recipes.

Senor Sweets is our favorite for dessert.  It is located on the Marina.  They don't just have great gelato, they have wonderful dinners too.  The salads and sandwiches are great along with crepes and my personal favorite is their Mexican Cheeseburger. 

We aren't very nice people - it's true!  When we have been here without our children, we usually call them from Senor Sweets and ask them what they would like!  We went with one couple who insisted that we return here for dessert each night.  Hal, I won't tell your last name.

This is a Pear Gorgonzola Salad we had at a restaurant called Puerta Vieja.  That means "old door" and the tables are made from old Mexican doors.  It is located on the ocean side of the highway just outside of Cabo.  The food is delicious.  This is half of a salad.  We all decided we should have just had the salad, it was so incredible. 

I was tempted to lick my plate, but I showed some restraint!

This is how I would make it:

Wash and chill leaf lettuce, trimming the ends. 

Candy walnuts or pecans

Slice pears

Wrap prosciutto around the bottom of the lettuce (optional if you don't like prosciutto)

Dressing:

Blend 1/2 C. raspberries (fresh or frozen, thawed) and 1/2 C. Colavita Balsamic Glace (find by the balsamic vinegars, it is very thick and sweet)

Assemble salad, pour on dressing and sprinkle with a good gorgonzola or creamy blue cheese and candied nuts

This was Puerta Vieja's appetizer of roasted aspargus.

It sits on a grilled portabella mushroom and is topped with creamy goat cheese, toasted pecans and balsamic vinegar

This was incredible too.  It would be very easy to copy.

Roasted Asparagus on Portabella Mushrooms

Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven - check after 5 minutes and then 10.  They burn easily.  Chop.

Brush cleaned portabella mushrooms with a little olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar.  Grill until soft.

Sprinkle a little olive oil on cleaned asparagus and roast for 10-15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Do not overcook. 

Assemble and top with goat cheese, pecans and balsamic vinegar.

No wonder we have to walk all over the hills in the mornings and swim all afternoon!

This was a chocolate dessert board from Capella's Don Manuel Restaurant.  Wow!

Well, relaxation has to end - we have kids and a job at home!