Tortas

There are rare, incomparable meals I have eaten that embody the Platonic ideal of certain foods. At the time, all you can do is revel in their glory. You are ecstatic to have the experience of tasting such delectable perfection.

But then problems begin. No matter where you go, no matter how hard you search, you cannot find anything to replicate that original experience. Everything else you taste comes up short.

I once had the best fish and chips from a hole in the wall joint in Auckland, New Zealand. I subsequently spent the better part of three weeks attempting to replicate the experience. I searched all over the North and South Island. No dice.

The same thing happened in Mexico City. Across the street from the apartment where I lived, there was a hole in the wall (the best places always seem to be of the hole in the wall variety) taco place Chip's--pronounced cheeps in Spanish--which were a better version of Tim's.) In the intervening 12 years, I have yet to encounter a torta that is even in the same ballpark as Watsy's. They. Just. Don't. Compare.

called--of all things--Watsy Taco. For months my friends and I were regulars, and we always ordered the same thing: a chicken torta with cheese. (For a perfect pairing, consume with a green bag of jalapeño

To make a torta, it is best to have a very special type of soft, wide bread called a telera. I randomly encountered teleras in a Wilsonville Albertson's recently, and couldn't pass them up. For my first attempt at making tortas, I did not hope to achieve the apogee of the Watsy Torta. But the nice thing about a torta is that it will be still be delicious, even if you are not in Mexico City.

 Tortas

~Print Recipe~

• Telera rolls, cut in half and toasted-1 per person
• Refried black beans prepared, or homemade: diced onions, minced garlic, broth
• Chicken, or meat of your choice 
• Cheese
• Grilled onions
• Avocado slices
• Salsa
• Sour cream
• Cilantro
• Pickled jalapeños
• Other toppings of your choice (tomato, grilled peppers, etc)
• Spices, to taste

1.  Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add cumin, chipotle, chile powder, paprika, salt and pepper, etc. to taste. Add diced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Add black beans and a couple tablespoons of broth. Mash the beans together.
2. Toast telera in a toaster oven or broiler. Cover one side with cheese, so it melts. 
3. Spread sour cream on one side and refried beans on the other. Build the sandwich by layering the meat, onions, avocado and other ingredients. Drizzle with salsa and top with telera.

Nachos

Oh tasty nachos, they are based on a type of food formula I love to make and eat: ingredient layering. This same formula can also be found in waffles, ice cream sundaes, hobo pies, lasagna, you get the idea. I usually find myself eating nachos during a pub happy hour, or perhaps when Lauren makes her chili nachos, but I rarely find myself making nachos myself. If I am craving a taco inspired meal, I usually fall back on my favorites: taco salad, stuffed quesadillas, or tortilla soup (a hidden benefit of all these is they are very inexpensive meals).

On a recent ski trip to Mammoth, we made taco salad, and after having it a couple nights, ended up taking all the leftover ingredients and making nachos for the Super Bowl. A couple nights ago we made tortilla soup, and again found we had some leftover ingredients, which were perfect for whipping up a batch of nachos. Moral of the story? Make up a dinner of your favorite mexican theme, and instead of having leftovers of the same dish for a week, save ingredients to make nachos later in the week.

Nachos are an incredibly flexible dish. They can be made with any toppings you choose, or you have on-hand. They can be made single serving or for a crowd. It takes minimal preparation, and is incredibly affordable. Plus, your nachos will taste so much better than the local pub! The recipe below is merely a guideline, feel free to experiment and add different types of fresh ingredients you have on hand. I would recommend keeping it simple though, so you don't end up with soggy nachos.

What's in it

Tortilla chips or totopos (homemade tortilla chips)

cooked chicken (perhaps leftover from enchiladas or tortilla soup)

cooked ground beef

can black, kidney or refried beans

can jalapenos

can chile

chopped fresh vegetables - bell pepper, chile, onion, green onion, tomato, olives

grated cheese (I recommend colby jack)

sour cream or mexican table cream

lime

avocado or guacamole

salsa

chopped cilantro

tapatio or hot sauce

get crazy - pineapple, cooked squash or potato, peaches, grilled shrimp...

How it's made

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet or oven proof plate/platter with foil (for easy clean up). Make totopos (using Alexis' recipe linked above) or use ready made tortilla chips. Layer about a third of your tortilla chips on your pan/plate. sprinkle cheese on top and a few other ingredients like meat and beans. Layer half remaining chips and sprinkle with more cheese and half remaining ingredients (but not salsa, avocado, cream, cilantro, lime). Layer rest of chips, sprinkle cheese, add remaining ingredients (except salsa, avocado...) then top with remaining cheese. Put in oven and bake until cheese is melted and veggies are at least warm, if not broiled a bit. Turn up the heat if need be. It will probably take 7-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with remaining fresh ingredients.

Pictured above: (made from leftover tortilla soup) totopos, colby jack, chopped tomato, chopped green onion, shredded cooked chicken, sour cream, avocado.

Pictured below: (made from leftover taco salad) tortilla chips, cheese, olives, salsa, sour cream, avocado, bell pepper, cilantro, green onion, black beans.

Alexis' Guacamole

Guacamole is a bit of a contentious issue in my house. Everybody has their own way of making it, and while all versions are good, they are quite different. Some cooks are minimalists, others go all out. Either way everybody is usually pretty happy, because how can you not love avocados?! It's hard to go wrong here, but I've sort of honed my guac recipe over the years and feel like it's pretty fantastic.

I've hesitated to post it, but only because I don't usually measure anything. I just add ingredients, stir, taste and repeat until I've hit the right balance. I think it's good to put your own personal spin on guacamole, so please, my all means---go wild. The avocados we bought recently were particularly tasty, so you should probably go out and buy some right now.

I'd be very interested to hear what your favorite guacamole recipe includes, especially if you add something I don't...

Alexis' Guacamole

~Print Recipe~

•  2 ripe medium avocados
• 1/4  of a medium white onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced (or garlic pressed)
• Leaves from approximately 20 sprigs of cilantro, torn or chopped
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup of your favorite salsa (I use hot Pace)
• 4 to 6 drops of El Yucateco Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
• A couple of good shakes of Trader Joe's Jalapeno Hot Sauce
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste (optional; I didn't put any in my last batch)

1. In a medium bowl, mash avocados with a fork. Mark likes to leave it kind of chunky and I tend to go a little smoother. 
2. Add remaining ingredients individually, stirring and tasting after each addition. Add more of whatever you feel it needs.  If you think your guac is missing something, I've found that usually salt is the magic ingredient. Don't be afraid to add more.
3. Serve with a cilantro garnish and fresh homemade tortilla chips.  There is very little in this life that is more satisfying than good guacamole with fresh, warm tortilla chips!

Vegan Sushi

Ok, so I loooove sushi. I could eat sushi pretty much anytime. I often get intense cravings for it. It doesn't help that there's a sushi restaurant in the same building as my gym. Every time I go to work out, I have to walk right by the place!

Since sashimi grade fish is typically a little out of my price range (and takes extra effort to acquire), I usually just make veggie sushi, which is just as good. I never would have thought I could make my own sushi, but a friend of mine gave me a quick lesson and I've been rolling my own seaweed ever since. It's so much cheaper than going out! And it's easy. All you need is a sushi mat, nori and some tasty fillings.

• 1 package nori (seaweed)
• Prepared sushi rice (from 1 cup uncooked)
• carrots
• celery
• avocado
• baked tofu
• anything you can think of that sound good in a sushi roll
• a few tablespoons of water in a small container
  
• soy sauce
• wasabi
  

1. Chop up your fillings. You want little matchstick size-slices---long and thin.

2. Set up your rolling stations. I usually let people roll their own sushi, so they can chose their own ingredients. I have two sushi mats with the rice cooker and the fillings in the middle and the small containers of water near the top of each mat.

3. Center a sheet of nori on your mat, shiny ridged side up. Scoop some rice onto the center of the nori and use a spoon to smash it flat and spread it out so that it covers the nori (to the edges!) leaving only about an inch at the top end uncovered. (This will allow the nori to stick to itself and form a roll.) About a third of the way from the bottom, press a small divot across the rice, creating a little space to nest your fillings.

4. Place a small row of the first filling all the way across the nori to the edges, leaving no gaps, but also not overlapping too much. That way each bite will have all the ingredients you add. Add your remaining toppings in a similar fashion, piling them up on top of each other in the divot area you created. The more toppings you add, the fatter your sushi rolls will be. For very spicy rolls, add chili sauce, or my personal favorite---a thin line of wasabi all the way across the nori.

5. Now for the fun part. Once you're satisfied with your fillings, it's time to roll. Pick up the bottom end of your sushi mat in both hands. Lift the mat (and therefore also the nori) up over the row of toppings and tuck it up snuggly on the side of the toppings furthest from you.

You want it to be tight or your rolls will fall apart after you cut them. Using little movements, roll the mat towards the top ( so that the mat ends up more or less folding in half), while continuing to roll the nori onto itself. Stop when you get to the inch you left rice-free.

6. Spoon a small amount of water onto the empty strip of nori. This will be the "glue" that makes the nori stick to itself and will secure your roll. Finish rolling the nori up over the top strip. Look, sushi! My friend said to put the finished rolls on a plate in the freezer while you make the rest. Chilling them slightly will make them easier to cut.

7. When you are ready to eat, cut each roll into bite-sized slices.

Avocado, Bell Pepper and Caramelized Onion Tuna Melts

What happens when you try to use whatever you have in your pantry...

• 4 slices of bread
• 4 slices of cheese (we had cheddar)
• 2 cans of tuna
• Mayonnaise and mustard to taste
• 1 stock of celery, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1/4 of a white onion, sliced into long strips
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• Balsamic vinegar (optional)
  
• 1 avocado, in thin slices
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Heat olive oil in a small saute pan to medium-low (around 4), add sliced onion and bell pepper. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir every once in awhile to make sure the mixture is cooking evenly. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar near the end. It's done when everything is soft and the onions turn a caramel color.
2. Prepare tuna salad to your preference. We used a little mayo, some Sierra Nevada Porter mustard, salt, pepper and chopped celery.
3. Heat a griddle (on about 3) and start toasting all four slices of bread. Flip the bread to toast other side and immediately add two cheese slices to two slices of the bread. Spread the tuna mixture over the other two slices. When the cheese has melted, remove both sides from the griddle.
4. Spread the onion and bell pepper mixture over the tuna. Top with sliced avocado. Add a little more mustard to the cheese side and place on top.

* These are big sandwiches! We only had regular small bread and wished we had something a little bigger to hold all of the ingredients.

Tortilla Soup

I love tortilla soup, but I'd never attempted to make it. I figured that it's so delicious that it must be really complicated, right? Well, I have seen a number of versions ranging from the ridiculously complex and time consuming (from my Dona Tomas cookbook) to the surely too simple to be authentic. Here's my variation on one from Simply Recipes (and before that from a Muir Glen can of tomatoes) that struck me as better than most, yet still remarkably easy.

Even after I started making this recipe, I wasn't sure it would turn out like I wanted it to, but in the in end it was pretty spot on. I'm sure the intense, all day version from Dona Tomas is much more authentic and probably tastier, but this was super quick and ended up just like I imagined it should. Comfort food at its finest.

Tortilla Soup
~Print Recipe~

Tortilla Strips

• 6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  
• 1/4 cup canola oil (for frying)

1. In a small skillet with high sides, heat canola oil over medium high heat. 
2. Cut tortillas in half. Then cut the halves into 1/4" to 1/2" strips--cut strips that are 3" or shorter--i.e. cut the strips width-wise rather than lengthwise).
3. Once it it hot (350 degrees), add tortilla strips and fry for a couple of minutes on each side, until they are golden and crispy.
4. Use a couple of extra tortillas to fry tortilla chips (for snacking--believe me, you'll want some), when fry the strips(for the soup. Let drain on a paper towel.

The Soup

• 1 small onion, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium Anaheim, poblano or jalapeño chile, seeded, veins removed, chopped (We put one Anaheim and two jalapeños--nice and spicy!)
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced fire-roasted tomatoes, un-drained (I found Safeway brand.)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 ripe medium avocado, cut into cubes
  
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (we used cheddar, but whatever you like)
  
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, cut into wedges (I have lime juicer, one of my favorite gadgets! Get one.)

1. Heat a little of the remaining oil (from frying strips) in a saucepan on medium-high. Saute your onion for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and chilies, cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in the chicken broth, the whole can of tomatoes and the salt. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add the cooked chicken. Let it simmer until the chicken is hot.
4. Divide half of the tortilla strips among the bowls you'll be eating from. Ladle soup on top of the tortillas. Top with shredded cheese, remaining tortilla strips, cilantro and avocado. Drizzle with lime juice.