Chipotle Chilli Mushroom Tostadas

There’s no missing the meat with these tostadas!

Mushrooms are such great carriers of flavour and these aren’t too spicy, I’ve been known to eat any leftovers for breakfast.

If you are not avoiding dairy, a little sour cream over the top when they are hot is a lovely addition, otherwise I like a squeeze of lime and some fresh coriander.

I like to just crisp my corn tortillas up in a hot oven or on a hot pan, you can fry them in oil the traditional way but we are trying to cut down a bit so baking it is!

Serves 2 as a starter.

Ingredients

30mls olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

1 small red chilli, finely diced

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

pinch chipotle chilli

250g mushrooms, I quarter mine

salt and pepper

a little fresh coriander and lime juice to finish

4 small corn tortillas

Method

In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the fresh chilli and onion, cook until soft.

Add the chipotle chilli and smoked paprika followed by the mushrooms, cook quickly over a high heat.

Once cooked, spoon onto your tortillas and sprinkle with coriander and a little squeeze of lime juice, serve immediately.

Butternut Pumpkin with a Spicy Crust

This recipe came about in an effort to get the boys to eat more vegetables and it worked!

Now a firm favourite in our house I often make double and and the extra goes into my vegetarian enchiladas.

Ingredients

1 butternut pumpkin

80g ground almonds

100g Parmesan, finely grated

1/2-1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade.

Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Cut the pumpkin in half lengthways. Remove the seeds, peel and slice, around 1cm thick.

Lay the slices onto the prepared baking sheets.

Combine the almonds, Parmesan, chipotle chilli powder, oregano, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the cheese mix over the pumpkin and bake for 30-40 mins until the squash is cooked through and the topping crisp.

Chicken Fajitas

Fajitas are a fantastic quick meal, I make my gluten free corn tortillas, recipe in the blog, to wrap the meat in, along with lettuce, capsicum, and a few slices of jalapeño chilli.

Ingredients

4 large skinless chicken breats, cut into thin strips

2 limes

4 teaspoons dried oregano

4 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

2 jalapeño chillies, finely diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 red onions, sliced

Method

Combine the chicken, lime zest and juice, oregano, smoked paprika, thyme, chipotle, jalapeño and oil in a ziplock bag.

Set aside for 4 hours in the fridge.

Heat a large frying pan over high heat.

Tip the chicken and marinade into the hot pan along with the onion slices.

Cook over high heat until the chicken is cooked through and coloured a little.

Serve with wraps.

Roasted Cauliflower with Mexican Flavours

The cauliflower takes up the lovely spicy flavours and really shines.

Topped with a little sour cream and freshly snipped chives and eaten with one of my soft corn tortillas this makes a lovely vegetarian meal, alternatively, barbecued meat with a squeeze of lime goes beautifully too.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

2 shallots, peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 large jalapeño, 40g, deseeded and diced finely

3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

2 teaspoons salt

60-100mls oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Remove the leaves from the cauliflower. Cut in half and cut out the stalk.  Break half the cauliflower into small florets.

In a food processor, process the the cauliflower stalk until couscous like size, pour into a roasting tin.

Process the cauliflower half, that hasn’t been broken into florets, until it resembles couscous, add to the roasting tin.

Process the onion and garlic, add to the cauliflower mix.

Add the florets, chilli, smoked paprika, oregano, salt and 60-100mls of oil to the roasting tin, mix very well.

Roast in the oven for 60-75mins, stirring regularly.

Bacon and Cheese Sausage Balls

These evolved from an old Texan recipe for sausage balls that we once had at a party in the States years ago.

I love the combination of cheese and bacon and with the use of the Mexican cornflour these taste as if they have crushed corn chips in them plus, it makes them gluten free!

These freeze really well too, simply make up until the baking stage, instead of baking freeze them in single layers in ziplock bags for a later date.

Makes around 60 balls.

Ingredients

700 pork, minced

400 g bacon, minced

1 tablespoon dried sage

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried marjoram

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

300g Cheddar cheese, grated

60g tapioca flour

100g rice flour

60 g masa lista, Mexican corn flour

1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder

60g butter, cubed

Method

Combine the minced pork, minced bacon, sage, oregano, marjoram, chilli flakes, chipotle chilli, salt and pepper in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, weigh out the flours and baking powder, add the butter and rub in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the cheese and mix well through.

Add the flour mix to the meat and mix really, really well.

Form into balls, around 25g each.

Preheat the oven to 200degrees Centigrade.

Bake the balls, well spread out for 20 mins on lined baking sheets until golden.

Lime, Oregano and Smoky Chipotle Roast Chicken

I seem to be cooking with a lot of limes at the moment, maybe it’s with the start of summer and the temperature rising. This chicken is in the oven for longer than normal, this is to allow me to runaround picking up and dropping off the boys at their various playing fields and it makes the most succulent chicken that I pull off the bones and chop, skin and all, and serve with tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa and sour cream. Leftovers are perfect for filling quesadillas and the stock from the bones  makes an amazing stock for black bean soup. Serves 8-10. Ingredients 2 x 1.2-1.4kg chickens 3 limes 4 tablespoons oil A handful of fresh oregano 4 cloves garlic 4 teaspoons chipotle chilli powder 2 tablespoons sweet smoked paprika 2 teaspoons salt freshly ground pepper Method Preheat the oven to160 degrees Centigrade. Process the zest and juice of the limes, oil, oregano leaves, garlic, chipotle powder, paprika, salt and pepper to make a smooth sauce. Place the chicken in a roasting tin. Take the squeezed limes and oregano stalks and place them in to the chickens cavity. Pour the sauce over the chooks and rub well in with your hands. Take a piece of baking parchment, the size of your roasting tin, scrunch it up and run it under a tap. Squeeze the water out and place it over the top of the chicken, tucking it into the sides. Now, cover tightly with foil. Pop in the oven for 2 hours. After two hours, remove the foil and paper and baste, return to the oven. Baste regularly for a further hour. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 20-30mins before taking the meat off the bone, with the skin attached, and chop into bite sized pieces.