Carnes En Su Jugo

This is a very tasty Mexican dish, popular in the state of Mexico where I was born. It is very fast and easy to make. It is accompanied with whole cooked beans. I'll let you know how to prepare these below.

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Ingredients:

Green Salsa: Look under the label "salsas" for the recipe

Chunk of meat (try and get a really good cut that doesn't have too much fat in it)

1 pkg of bacon

2-3 bunches of green onions-chopped

1/4-1/2 small onion-chopped

salt to taste

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Cut bacon into small pieces, cook, and place over paper towels to remove excess fat. Set aside.

Cut meat into small bite size pieces and place them in a pan, add salt and cook in medium heat along with the chopped onion (not the green onions). Note: I didn't really specify an amount of meat because it depends on how meaty you want it. Anyway, when the meat is ready, add the cooked bacon, green onions and green salsa. Make sure you make enough salsa because the finished product is supposed to be soupy. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Serve over beans

To cook beans all you need is dry beans, water and salt.

Wash beans and place them in a pot with enough water (water evaporates pretty fast so make sure you added enough from the start), add salt. It will take about two hours to cook the beans unless you are using a pressure cooker (if you do, the process is way! faster). The beans are ready when soft.

Corn tortillas are the best with Carnes en su Jugo, specially when they are home made! Enjoy

$250 Nieman-Marcus Cookie Recipe

This is an EXTREMELY delicious cookie recipe, my husband begs me to make these cookies for him. This recipe is also very popular as an internet search because of the story behind it. You wanna hear the story??? Well it goes something like this.....

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"My daughter and I had just finished a salad at Nieman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Nieman-Marcus Cooke." It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not." Well, I said, would you let me buy the recipe? With a cute smile, she said, "Yes." I asked how much , and she responded, "Only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, just add it to my tab. Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Nieman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 fro two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe- $250.00." That's outrageous!! I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them the waitress said it was "two-fifty," which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Nieman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe-we absolutely will not refund your money at this point." I explained to her the criminal statutes which govern fraud in Texas, I threatened to refer them to Better Business Bureau and the State's Attorney General for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't give a crap, and we're not refunding your money." I waited, thinking of how I could get even, or even try and get any of my money back."

"I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250.00 cookie recipe from Nieman-Marcus... for free. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "Well, you should have thought of that before you ripped me off, and slammed down the phone on her So, here it is!!! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 dollars for this... I don't want Nieman-Marcus to ever get another penny off of this recipe."

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What a story huh! All I can say is thank you to whoever this lady is for passing the recipe, because the cookies are super yummy! Anyway, here is the recipe. Note: This recipe makes a ton of cookies so you may want to make just half.

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Ingredients:

2 C butter
4 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
5 C blended oatmeal (I measure the 5 c first and then blend it)
24 ounces chocolate chips (I use half milk chocolate and half white)
2 C brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 8 ounce Hershey bar (grated)
4 Eggs
2 tsp baking powder
3 C chopped nuts
2 tsp vanilla
2 C sugar

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Directions:

1. Blend oatmeal in a blender and mix with all the other dry ingredients
2. Cream the butter and both sugars
3. Add eggs and vanilla and then combine wet ingredients to dry ingredients
4. Mix chips, Hershey bar and nuts
5. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Sopapillas/Scones

A lady from my husband's mission in New Mexico gave him this recipe. She called it "Sopapillas", but when we made it in Idaho we called it "Scones". Here in California "scones" are a dense breakfast bread whereas this recipe is more of a dessert (part of the doughnut family). So call it what you wish and enjoy!

5 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
2 pkgs yeast (or 2 Tbsp)
3 tsp salt
1 egg
3 heaping Tbsp of shortening

Soak yeast in 1/2 cup water with 2 Tbsps sugar for 5 min. Mix all ingredients, knead and let rise for 45 min. to 1 hour. Roll out dough to pie dough thickness, cut in squares and let rise for 10 to 20 min. Fry in hot shortening or lard in deep fryer or kettle. Serve hot with honey butter spread.

Fabulous French Bread

My mom shared this recipe with me. It is very easy and good, but plan on about 2 1/2 hours for finished product. Beware: I made this recipe for a church gathering and have been requested to make it repeatedly since! It is a good one! :)

2 ½ c very warm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp cooking oil
6 c flour, stirred and measured
2 pkgs dry yeast (2 tbsp = 1 package)

Into a large warm mixing bowl, pour warm water, then stir in sugar, salt, oil, half the flour, and yeast. Beat vigorously 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in remaining flour until all dry ingredients are completely mixed in, leaving spoon right in heavy batter.
Allow dough to rest 10 minutes, then stir down. Allow dough to rest another 10 minutes, then stir down. Repeat this process until dough has been stirred down five times.
Turn dough onto floured board, knead only enough to coat dough with flour so it can be handled. Divide into two parts. Roll each part of dough into rectangle about 9 inches x 12 inches and roll up like a jelly roll Rolling from long side. Pinch edge of loaf to seal the dough. Arrange lengthwise on large cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with corn meal, allowing room for both loaves. Cover lightly and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. With very sharp knife, cut three gashes at an angle on top then brush entire surface with slightly beaten egg whites. If desired, sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.
Bake immediately at 400 F or 350 F in convention oven for 25-30 minutes or until brown. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on racks. Makes two loaves.

Roasted Summer Veggies

Ingredients:

2 medium-large potatoes
yellow squash
zuchinni
2 c peppers (you can use a variety or just green if you don't have red and yellow peppers),
1 c tomatoes, cut in long thin pieces like the peppers
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1 tbsp butter, cut into tiny pieces
Ground black pepper to taste

Prick the potatoes (unpeeled) and cook them in the microwave for 3 minutes on high. Cut them into thin slices when done. Cut the yellow squash and zuchinni into thin slices as well.

Grease your baking dish and layer your veggies beginning with the potatoes. Then add slices of yellow squash, zuchini, peppers, and tomatoes. add some of the oregano, salt, black pepper and cheese. Repeat the layers and top with the small pieces of butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes (until veggies are tender). Bake for an additional 10 minutes uncovered to brown them a bit.

This is what your dish will look like before baking.

Gourmet Grilled Fish Tacos

If you haven't had Rubio's Tacos you are missing out! There is a solution though, I found this recipe on the Internet and perfected it. The key is in the sauce and the preparation! For pictures of what a grilled gourmet taco looks like: http://www.rubios.com/menu/

Fish Marinade:
1 cup seeded and chopped tomatoes (about 1/2 pound)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 fresh or pickled jalapeño chilies seeded and minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 pounds of firm fleshed white fish (striped bass, halibut, tilapia)

Rubios Sauce:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
juice of 1 lime salt to taste
(I have made it without the yogurt since I didn't have it on hand and it was good)

Ingredients:
15 small corn tortillas
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Rubios Sauce
Prepared Fish
2 avocados, sliced
your favorite salsa
cilantro, chopped
diced onions
chopped cooked bacon

In a bowl combine the ingredients for the marinade. Add the fish. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

Make the Rubios sauce by whisking the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Can be made two days ahead.

Using foil, make a "bowl" for fish to grill in. Transfer the fish from the marinade and place onto the foil. place another layer of foil over the top and press the edges to "seal" to the foil plate underneath. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill the fish until the center is just opaque.

To prepare the taco, spray grease on a frying pan, take a tortilla and cover it with shredded cheese, flip tortilla on to greased pan cheese side down, grilling cheese over medium heat until melted and golden. Using a spatula, flip tortilla onto a plate cheese side up. Spread a spoonful of sauce over cheese. Add grilled fish and any other fixings you enjoy.

Brownie Cookies

Super easy and super good!

1 package of brownie mix

1/2 package cookie mix

Prepare the brownies. Let cook for about 20 minutes. Then take out of oven and sprinkle cookie dough on top of almost finished brownies. Then put back into oven and cook for another 7- 10 minutes. Enjoy!