More on Grilling Vegetables

Our blog had one of it's busiest days yesterday, so I thought I'd go a little deeper on grilling vegetables! 

Easy Taco Sauce

Ever wonder how that great taco sauce, form the authentic Mexican restaurants is made?  Great with any Mexican dish or chips, it's easy and you can make it!

Flautas with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

Flautas

Flautas are rolled tacos that are fried. They are nothing like those little rock-hard taquitos you find in the frozen-food section of your local grocer. This recipe works well with several different fillings.

Corn oil for frying

2 dozen 6-inch corn tortillas

1 pound pollo deshebrado, Ropa Vieja, or Carnitas

1/2 white onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/2 cup shredded potatoes (I use frozen hash-brown potatoes, thawed)

]Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet to 375 degrees. Dip each tortilla in the oil for a few seconds, but not until crisp. Set the tortillas on a plate covered with a dish towel.

Mix the meat, onion, cilantro, and potato together. (The potato causes the mixture to bind.) Place about 3 tablespoons of the mixture in the center of each tortilla and roll up. Use a toothpick to hold the flauta closed. Deep fry the flautas, 2 or 3 at a time, until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Salt and serve immediately with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa.

Serves 10

Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

This is a wonderful light salsa, great with fish, foul ar any light roasted meats. This is a step closer to Authentic Mexican cooking!

1 Ripe Haas avocado, peeled and cubed

5 Tomatillo, husked and rinsed clean

1/2 White onion, chopped

1/4 C Cilantro, chopped

1 CLOVE Garlic, diced

1 Serrano chile, stem removed

Water

1 TSP Salt

1. Place Tomatillo, Onion, Cilantro, Garlic, Chile, Salt and 2TBL Water in blender; puree until smooth. Add Avocado and puree until smooth. Add more water if needed.

2. Salsa should be a thick liquid, about the consistency of ketchup.

Grilling Vegetables MCTV

Grilling Vegetables is easy. The problem is, the moister content of vegetables is too low so they burn before they can become fully cooked. The answer is, to make a basic vinaigrette and to toss the vegetables in the vinaigrette before grilling.

Basic vinaigrette

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive oil

Juice of ½ fresh lemon

3-5 cloves garlic, smashed

Pinch of Italian Seasoning

Pinch of crushed red chile

1 tsp. dark brown sugar (optional)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Whisk it all together and toss the vegetables well before grilling.

Just keep a few things in mind hard vegetables like winter squash, beets or carrots take about twenty minutes to become soft enough to eat so start them first and when they start to soften add the other vegetables. Secondly the oil in the vinaigrette will flare up so keep an eye on the vegetables while they are directly over the fire. Once they are browned or grill marked enough move them away from the direct heat. Please send any thoughts, comments or questions and I’ll answer ASAP. I hope you enjoy these videos and please share them with your family, friends and online social networks.

Warmly,

Mad Coyote Joe

A Mad Coyote Christmas

A Mad Coyote Christmas

Christmas this year was a hoot. My butchers John and Dean at Bashas’ in Carefree cut me out a nice 6 bone Standing Rib Roast. We try to avoid turkey on both Thanksgiving and Christmas because Kathy has usually been cooking up to 8o turkey dinners… some years more and so we go a different direction.

I rubbed the roast with olive oil, black pepper, Kosher salt and fresh thyme.

I stuff a few cloves of garlic into the cut between the roast and the bones and a tuck a few sprigs of rosemary under the strings the butcher tied the roast with.

I used my new iron roasting pan that I got at a garage sale for $10. I pre heated the oven to 410°f. I popped the roast into the hot oven for about 45 minutes, it was nice and brown, so I reduced the temperature to 375°f for another hour and a half once the roast reached 118°f at the thickest part of the roast I took it out and let it rest for 20 minutes.

It was perfect.

I roasted a few chiles and peeled them and made a quick calabacitas along with some oven roasted tri-color potatoes and baby carrots

We also hadAspargus and creamed Horseradish, a cheese plate and Pecan Pie.

Our kids came by along with my mom. We feasted and drank some good zinfindel and all in all had a great night. If you have any questions on these or any other recipes just ask. Have a great New Year.

Warmly,

Mad Coyote Joe