Authentic Mexican – Chef Pablo's Recipes

Rubio’s™ Hot Sauce Recipe

Chef Pablo — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 01:17:20 +0000

Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill™ has locations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Ralph Rubio started his first restaurant in San Diego. As a surfer he would take frequent trips to Baja California and enjoy fish tacos from the street vendors. Fish tacos have become the official food of San Diego. Having lived there most of my life, I have periodic cravings for these but they have to be exactly right or it doesn't satisfy. One of the items I had the most trouble with was Rubio's™ hot sauce. Finally, I discovered the secret and life is great! I use this sauce on everything now. It's even great with a bowl of chips. It was my love of Rubio's™ that raised my interest in finding restaurant recipes. Make sure you take a look at the recipe for their world famous fish tacos as well.

Ingredients

1 can (29 oz) Tomato Sauce
1/2 oz. bag of Crushed Red Pepper (I actually prefer using the whole peppers, but this works well)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Method

Step 1

Caution: I recommend you fry the crushed red pepper OUTSIDE. Frying chili peppers releases a fume that can be very irritating to your throat. I use the side burner on my gas grill.

Step 2

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. You're going to add the tomato sauce to this pan, so make sure it can accommodate it.

Step 3

Toss in the red chilies or crushed red pepper and stir constantly until they've darkened nicely. You don't want them to burn, but you do when them to be very dark.

Step 4

Add the can of tomato sauce to the pan along with the salt and sugar. Continue to cook over a medium high heat and let the sauce reduce for about 10 minutes.

Step 5

Pour the sauce into a suitable container and refrigerate before serving.

The post Rubio’s™ Hot Sauce Recipe appeared first on Chef Pablo's Recipes.

Grilled Chicken Taco Recipe

Chef Pablo — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 01:36:56 +0000

Grilled chicken tacos are probably one of the easiest recipes to make but one of the most authentic, capturing so much of the Mexican flavors. If you're only experience with chicken tacos came from Taco Bell or another fast food restaurant, think again. These are going to give you something new to crave several times a week. My favorite way to eat grilled chicken tacos is to have a stack of warm homemade tortillas right next to the grill, then as the meat comes off, it gets chopped or shredded and put straight into the waiting tortilla. Top this with some fresh pico de gallo, some guacamole (if you like) and a sprinkling of finely grated cotija cheese. It's the way we did them in Southern California and it's a great way to enjoy a Mexican fiesta with friends and family all talking and laughing as we're gathered around the grill. The marinade for the chicken is made up of the trifecta of chicken seasonings, chili powders, lime juice and cumin. If you've ever wondered how some Mexican restaurants get that unique flavor in their chicken, it's probably from the cumin. I think I put cumin on chicken every time I'm making a Mexican dish. Just don't overdo it. Marinading in the lime will help to tenderize your chicken and it gives it a nice crisp and fresh flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
6 cloves garlic
2 lbs chicken breast or thighs, boneless and skinless (your preference)
2 dozen corn tortillas (I recommend homemade)
4 Medium tomatoes
1 bunch of cilantro
2 medium yellow or white onions
1/4 of a lime
Pinch of salt
1 cup grated queso fresco or cotija cheese
Guacamole (optional)
Sour Cream or Crema (optional)
Hot Sauce (optional)

Method

Step 1

Put the olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin and garlic in a blender and mix at a medium speed until the garlic is minced and the ingredients are mixed.

Step 2

Place the chicken piece in a large ziplock back and cover with the marinade. Seal and work the marinade around all of the chicken. Let marinade in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes and up to overnight.

Step 3

Grill the chicken using your preferred method. I like it on the outdoor grill best, but I will use my George Foreman grill if I'm in a hurry. Once it's cooked through, remove and let sit for 3-4 minute.

Step 4

Cut into 1/2" cubes. For a different texture, you can pull apart or shred the chicken as well.

Step 5

Chop the tomato, onion and cilantro into 1/8-1/4" bits and combine in a bowl then squeeze the lime over the bowl and season with the salt.

Step 6

Stir and let it sit in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Cool and crisp is best.

Step 7

Warm your tortillas. I usually put them in a ziplock bag and steam them in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. If you're making homemade, they will come of the grill and go straight into the towel-lined tortilla warmer.

Step 8

Place a warm tortilla on your plate Lay out a good amount of grilled chicken, but remember, you have other toppings.

Step 9

Garnish with a couple spoons of Pico De Gallo and then sprinkle some cheese on the top. I usually use about 1-2 teaspoons per taco, but feel free to adjust to taste.

Step 10

If you like, add the guacamole or sour cream along with your favorite hot sauce.

The post Grilled Chicken Taco Recipe appeared first on Chef Pablo's Recipes.

Authentic Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Chef Pablo — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 14:24:28 +0000

If you normally make ground beef tacos and season it with one of those “taco seasoning mix” packets, you’re going to love this recipe. If you like it extra hot, you can customize and kick it up a few notches; if you want to keep it mild for the kids in the family (or yourself), you can keep it cool so everyone enjoys your delicious tacos. Making your own taco seasoning mix instead of the packets means you can control the sodium and even design your own unique flavors with a tiny bit of experimenting (and I do encourage you to experiment with this). It also means you’re going to save yourself a good sum of money. The amount of seasoning in a typical packet is about 42g (or 6 Tablespoons) and it costs between $1.25 and $2.00 per packet.

Why Make Your Own Taco Seasoning Mix?

My quest for a homemade taco seasoning mix came along when I started eating healthy and wanted to watch the sodium levels as well as keeping out any extra ingredients. With the Paleo Diet, I’ve started to eat “Lettuce Wrap Tacos” and I’ve fallen in love with them. You make Lettuce Wrap Tacos the same way you do a regular taco, but to make it Paleo Diet friendly, you replace the taco shell with the center leaves in Romaine Lettuce (also called "hearts of romaine"). You’ll want to skip the cheese and sour cream to stay in line with the Paleo plan. Whether you’re making Paleo taco lettuce wraps, traditional tacos, burritos, enchiladas or even a taco salad, this is the perfect seasoning blend for the beef or even on shredded, diced or ground turkey or chicken. We even use this seasoning blend when making Mexican Chicken Soup. I’m going to give you the recipe to make about 2 pounds of ground beef. If you'd like, double or triple the recipe, that way, you can make it up in one go and store it in your cupboard, ready to go for the next Taco Tuesday in your house.

What Are the Ingredients in the Taco Seasoning Mix Packet?

When I looked at the back of a packet of taco seasoning, I saw a very basic set of ingredients:

Paprika
Chili Powder
Cumin
Potato Starch (to thicken)
Onion
Whey – Milk
Sea Salt
Sugar
Garlic
Citric Acid

We happened to have the 30% reduced sodium packet which really is a lot better for you, but still not as good or delicious as your own homemade variety. No Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), maltodextrin or silicon dioxide, which most other packets contain.

Caution if You're Lactose Intolerant

The first thing I noticed, being lactose intolerant, was the presence of milk in the powder. This explains why I was getting an upset stomach with my Lettuce Wrap Tacos even though I wasn’t having cheese or sour cream. I also noticed there’s sugar in the packet and I was trying to cut that out of my diet. Based on what I know about Mexican recipes, the packet ingredients could use a slight boost in flavor simply by adding in a bit of oregano. This is a very common ingredient in a lot of Mexican recipes, so I know it would work well for tacos. I decided to add in a bit of ground coriander. In case you don’t know, coriander is the seed from the cilantro plant. Keep in mind, cilantro is a very popular flavor in Mexican dishes, but it’s also something some people detest, so you may want to leave it out if you have one of those cilantro-haters in your house. Another change I suggest you consider is the use of fresh crushed garlic and minced onions when you make your tacos. This is always going to give you a better flavor than dehydrated onion or garlic powder. Of course, if you like the convenience, add it in to the mix and you’ll still have a wonderful seasoning. Remember, this is a starting point for your own recipe. Take out a notepad and write down exactly how much of each item you use. Then the next time you make it, take out that same set of notes and see what you want to change. The key is to make sure you write everything down when you make the changes, otherwise you won’t remember what gave it the flavors you like the most. Also, make sure you make some notes under your recipe so you can indicate any items you thought were too strong or weak. Ok, so let’s start with this basic recipe.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp ground Cumin
½ tsp ground Coriander
½ tsp Oregano
¼ - ¾ tsp Cayenne Pepper (adjust for heat)
½ tsp Garlic powder (or fresh when you make it)
¼ tsp Onion powder (or fresh when you make it)
1 tsp Sea Salt (optional if you’re watching sodium levels)
1 tsp ground Black Pepper

Method

Step 1

Combine all of the ingredients until well blended

Step 2

Store in an airtight container

Step 3

To make Taco Filling: Brown 1 lb of ground beef and drain the excess fat.

Step 4

Add 2 Tbsp taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of water. Mix and bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced to a light coating on the meat.

The post Authentic Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix appeared first on Chef Pablo's Recipes.

Huevos Rancheros

Chef Pablo — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 16:18:29 +0000

Like so many authentic regional foods, there are about as many different ways of making Huevos Rancheros as there are families in Mexico. The basis for all of these recipes come down to three things: Eggs, tortillas and tomato-chile salsa.

There are variations on how the eggs are cooked, what type of tortillas are used, along with how they're cooked and lastly, huge variations on what goes into the tomato salsa.

Variations

The traditional way Huevos Rancheros are prepared is with corn tortillas, lightly fried and topped with a fried egg, sunny-side up. The tomato-chile salsa is then put on top of this and garnished with a small amount of Queso Fresco, a soft white Mexican cheese. Other than having my eggs cooked "over-easy" I stick with this traditional preparation.

Tortillas

I've seen Huevos Rancheros prepared with flour tortillas, but this is more of a Tex-Mex variation and I believe it looses some of the great flavor you get with the corn. Using corn tortillas also makes this a gluten-free recipe. If you'd like to cut out a bit of the fat in this recipe and not loose the flavor, try coating the corn tortillas with a cooking spray and baking in the oven at about 350 for 5-10 minutes. Even though I'm somewhat of a "tortillas snob" (almost always opting for homemade), I use the thinnest store bought corn tortillas for this recipe. I've tried using thicker tortillas but found the flavor and texture was compromised a bit too much for my liking. Go thin!

Eggs

The traditional way eggs are prepared for Huevos Rancheros is fried sunny-side up. When you do this, you can serve them on the corn tortillas and then spoon a small amount of the salsa around the outside of the eggs. The presentation with this is fantastic, with the yellow yoke in the middle, a bit of the egg white around that and then the deep red salsa around the outside. Give it a try and wow your family. I cook mine over-easy, trying my best to keep the eggs runny, but not always succeeding as you'll see in the video below.

Another variation you can try with the eggs is to poach them in the simmering tomato salsa. This is another way to cut down on the amount of fat in this dish. When the salsa has been simmering for a while and you're about to serve it, turn the heat down to low and crack a few eggs into the sauce, separating them from each other and letting them sit undisturbed. Cover the pan and cook until the whites are firm. To serve, use a large spoon to scoop out each egg, placing it on the fried tortilla and then top it with additional salsa.

Tomato Salsa

I won't even attempt to cover all the varieties I've seen with the salsa, but I'll give you a few you can try. The first thing you should decide is whether you like it spicy or not. I prefer to make mine mild so the entire family, kids included, can enjoy it. I'll then add in a good amount of hot sauce to my plate. If you know you're going to want it spicy, chop up some peppers, Jalapeños, habanero or serranos, and cook them along with the onions and bell peppers.

You can quickly and easily change up the texture your Huevos Rancheros simply by adjusting the way the onions and peppers are prepared. I usually chop mine because it gives it a nice chunky look and feel. If you or someone you're serving it to doesn't really like onions or peppers, consider dicing them or even putting the salsa in a blender after it's done cooking. Another way I like preparing this is with long thin strips of onions and peppers, which looks fantastic when served.

My Quick and Easy Huevos Rancheros Recipe

Now that I've given you all those different ways of preparing these, I'm going to give you my favorite recipe, which happens to be incredibly easy and quick. If you've got an aversion to using a can-opener, you're not going to like this because I use canned tomatoes, enchilada sauce and chicken broth. Obviously it wouldn't take much for you to make up fresh versions of each of these items and offer a truly homemade version. However, if you're busy and you just want a quick and delicious meal to offer for breakfast, brunch or even dinner, this one will always please.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (additional 1/4 cup noted below)
1 Lg Onion, chopped
1 Sm Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Tsp Cumin Seed, Whole
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Can Diced Tomatoes (approx. 15 oz)
1 Can Red Chile or Enchilada Sauce (approx. 14 oz)
1 Can Chicken Broth (approx. 15 oz)
1/4 Vegetable Oil
6-8 Corn Tortillas
6-8 Eggs
1 Cup Cheese, Shredded or Crumbled (I recommend Queso Fresco)

Method

Step 1

Chop the onion and bell pepper into approx 1/2" pieces. As noted, you can prepare this in a variety of ways, so be creative.

Step 2

Heat a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat and add 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Step 3

Add the onions and bell peppers and saute until soft and lightly browned.

Step 4

Add the oregano and whole cumin seed and continue to cook for about a minute.

Step 5

Add the tomatoes, red chile or enchilada sauce and chicken broth. Raise to a high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently

Step 6

Once it's come to a boil, reduce to a medium-low heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until it's reduced to approximately half. While the salsa simmers, prepare the tortillas and eggs.

Step 7

PREPARE TORTILLAS: In a small frying pan (large enough to hold one tortilla) add approximately 1/4 cup vegetable oil and place on a medium heat. Test the oil with a small piece of tortilla to make sure it's ready. It should start to bubble immediately, but make sure it doesn't brown right away.

Step 8

Place a corn tortillas into the oil and cook for about 30 seconds then flip over and cook for an additional 30 seconds. You want them to be fried but not hard.

Step 9

Drain each tortilla on a plate lined with paper towels. Continue until all of the tortillas are done.

Step 10

Fry each egg to your liking. I recommend leaving the yokes runny as that adds something to the flavor of the dish. Of course, if you don't like them like that, it's fine.

The post Huevos Rancheros appeared first on Chef Pablo's Recipes.