Pico de Gallo and Guacamole

I told you I had a few things that I would throw at you before I move. Guacamole has to be one of the most frequently requested recipes that I make. I have posted a guacamole recipe or two, but I have never put this simple, fresh, limey, and I guess I could also say traditional guacamole to the page. There is a catch.....you can't make guacamole with out first making pico de gallo. Did I hear someone say "yes you can"? Well, whatever...this momma say, "you can't". Not if you want yourself some really good guacamole. And hey a little pico on the side never hurt anyone did it?

Get out your best choppin' up knife, a cutting board, and get prepared to chop.

It's best for the chip and for distribution of the flavors if you are careful to chop all your vegetables small. Not chunky. Small. Not minced. Just small...itsy bitsy.

Same for the tomatoes. First cut in half.

Then slice through again lengthwise, then slice into thin strips, all the while keeping the tomato together. This takes a sharp knife. Dull knifes are the DEVIL. Then slice the tomato through again crosswise and there you have it perfect, itsy bitsy diced tomaters!

Traditionally pico de gallo or fresh salsa is simply tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, cilantro and lime, but I have this love affair with red bell peppers that I cannot shake. I love him. Red Bell pepper come to momma....I know I'm playing with fire. Let's let this be our secret. I'm going to use just half of him this time. Slice in half, remove the white foamy membrane and seeds, cut in long thin strips and then cut again crosswise for those itsy bitsy pepper pieces.

Now for the hot one. Jalapeno. I use one whole jalapeno pepper, if you like less heat only use a half, if you like more heat then bring it on brother, use more!

Chop off the stem.

You may want to wear plastic gloves while working with jalapenos or any pepper with heat. If you choose not to wear some sort of cooking glove, then I suggested not rubbing your eyes or picking your nose at any time during or after the jalapeno chopping process. I would actually suggest that you refrain from nose picking entirely while cooking, but that's just my opinion. (I've got a funny booger recipe that I will have to share with you sometime...now is not the time, but I promise someday I will share.)

Slice in half, revealing the seeds.

Using your sharp knife, run the tip of the knife underneath the seeds. Removing them and the white membrane in one quick slice.

Voila!

Now for the mincing. Slice pepper into very thin strips, then take knife and chop like a maniac. Chop, chop, chop, chop don't stop until you have very tiny micro bits of jalapeno pepper.

You will need some of this. Morton Nature's Seasoning is my favorite seasoning....I think I've said that before. I use it everyday. It's a perfect salty seasoning blend. Get yourself some.

As you chop your vegetables place them in a bowl, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the seasoning salt.

The most tedious task of this whole recipe, for me anyway, is the cleaning and de-stemming of the cilantro. Run your Cilantro through a salad spinner, getting it nice and clean. Or if you don't have one of those doo-hickeys then run cilantro under cold water and lay out on paper towels to dry. Remove leaves from stems. You will need a good handful or approximately 1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped.

Let it get all cozy with the other ingredients, give the cilantro a toss.

That looks fabulous, does it not??? But there is one more ingredient that is not to be forgotten.

THE LIME.

Roll, roll, roll your lime...gently on the table...give it a squish with your palm, and cut through the.....

meeeedle.

Ah the songs of my youth! Seriously if you roll the lime along the counter with some pressure, it will loosen the juices on the inside and make it easer to juice. If you have a juicer well then great, if not you can join me in my fork juicing method.

Fork juicing method 101: After rolling, and cutting in half, hold one half of the citrus in the palm of your less dominant hand, ram the fork into the middle of the citrus....

Squeeze hard while twisting the fork. Squeeze, twist....squeeze, twist....the juice will run flow freely from the citrus. It's marvelously simple.

Toss the chopped vegetables with the lime juice. Take tortilla chip in a pincer grip, scoop some pico on the chip, and enjoy!

Oh but wait....now you need to make Guacamole! Have you ever heard this song? It makes me giggle.

Look at that. It takes my breath away. The color. I really need to paint a room in my house this color. I'll get right on that one...NOT. I hate to paint walls. I leave that up to the professionals.

Slice avocado in half. Whack your very sharp knife into the pit, and give a tiny twist to remove.

Now cut vertically and horizontally, like so, using the tip of your knife, with out cutting through the skin.

If you are civilized you can take a spoon and gracefully scoop out the flesh of the avocado, or if you are sufficiently uncivilized like myself you can give the avocado half a squeeze and squish it's innards out into a bowl.

Repeat the roll, roll, roll of the lime. Squeeze one entire lime into the avocados. I think that more lime is better, so feel free to add another half of a lime, or more. Always taste as you go. As they say the proof is in the puddin' or in this case the quac.

Mash the lime into the avocados with the back of a fork.

Add 1 cup of the pico de gallo that you just made.

Give it a stir. There you have it heaven in a bowl.

Pico de Gallo & Guacamole

printable recipe

Pico

4 Roma Tomatoes, diced

1 medium sweet Onion, diced

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced

1 hand full fresh Cilantro leaves rough chopped, or 1/3 cup chopped

1 teaspoon Mortons Nature's Seasoning Salt

1 Lime, juiced

Guac

4 ripe Avacodos

1 Lime, juiced

1 cup Pico de Gallo

What's the saying? "It ain't over till the fat lady sings." No that's not it. "All is fair in love an war." "A monkey in silk is a monkey no less." "Great minds think alike." No that's not it either. Hmmm..."what's good for the goose is good for the gander". OO OO OO I got it....

"It's not a party with out some GuacaMoleee, bay-beh."!

Alls well that ends well,

Wet Burrito

I have to apologize for being slow to deliver on my promise, of showing you how we do Wet Burritos, after I posted my Grandma's Red Sauce recipe. Hopefully you haven't been hanging out in Red Sauce limbo until now.

Wet Burritos, my way, may seem like a tad-bit of a process, but you'll just have to get over it, and treat your family and friends to a Wet Burrito that is better than any you will ever have in a restaurant.

The Red Sauce is the KEY. You can make this a day ahead of time. It freezes really well also, just let it cool and then pour into a Zip-loc freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw, pour back into sauce pan, and reheat. You may need to add a 1/2 cup of water or stock to thin sauce if it seems too thick.

So all that being said make "the sauce", and set aside while you prepare the ground beef filling for your burritos.

Wet Burritos

yields 10-12 burritos

printable recipe

1 recipe Red Sauce

2 pounds of lean Ground Beef

1 large Onion diced

1 packet Taco Seasoning

2 ladles Red Sauce

1 can Refried Beans

10-12 Burrito Tortillas

5-8 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Accompaniments: sour cream, extra shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pico de gallo, guacamole

***I have never posted how I make Pico or simple Guacamole, but here are the recipes that come closest to how I do it. Maybe I will get around to posting my versions someday until then HERE they are.

Brown 2 pounds of lean ground beef, and 1 large onion, diced, in large frying pan.

Add in two ladles of Red Sauce.

I realize this does not look pretty or appetizing just hang with me.....add 1 can of Refried Beans, and 1 packet of your favorite Taco Seasoning. I LOVE Trader Joes brand, it's all natural. I can actually read the ingredients on the packet, without needing a degree in nutritional chemistry to understand it.

Stir until it's all nice and purdy. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Turn off and let cool, while you prep the add ons for your burritos.

CHEESE lots and lots of CHEESE. Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Jalapeno Jack, Colby, Cheddar Jack.....oh I LUV cheeese! You will need minimum of 5 cups of cheese, depending on whether you put cheese on the inside and the outside. I personally am an inny and an outy.

Other accompaniments would be, pico de gallo, guacamole, shredded lettuce, olives, more refried beans (plus some Beano for good measure), sour cream, diced onions, diced tomatoes. If there is something you love and I missed it let me know!

Start by warming the Burrito sized tortilla shells to make them easier to work with. I wrap mine in tin foil, five to a pack, and pop them in a 300 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Lay the warm tortilla on the plate you are planning on serving the burrito on, place 1/2 cup of meat filling in the middle of the tortilla(more or less depending on the appetite of the burrito eater, I make them smaller for my littler ones).

At this point you can sprinkle cheese over the filling, add in lettuce or tomatoes or both. That is the beauty of this recipe, you can make each Burrito to order. It's fun and interactive. If you have big kiddos let them make their own gol' darnit! Then tell them, "because you are big enough to make your own Burr-ee-tahs now you can clean up the after dinner dishes!" They will be thrilled, I'm sure.

Fold the bottom up over the filling....Yikers! How did my Moms hand get in this picture?

Fold the sides in like so...kinda like a diaper, but lets not go there because I wouldn't want you to loose your appetite.

Voilla! If you blinked, you might have missed that after I folded in the sides, I brought the top down, and gave it a quick flip to hide all the edges. Now your Burrito is ready for garnishing.

Give him a ladle of sauce, or more if you're a saucy one.

Prepare yourself for the inside of my microwave...those black spots on the walls are where the ghost that lives in our home put a tin foil covered pan in the microwave and about blew the whole house up....well not quite, but maybe. Do you have a ghost in your home, that breaks things and spills things and nearly blows the place to smithereens? We do, it's name is Notmeee.

Here you have it the inside of my microwave...I don't know why I feel like I am showing you my underwear drawer or something. Very strange.....

So after you smother your Burrito with Sauce and Cheese cover it with plastic wrap and microwave it on High for 1 1/2 minutes or until the cheese melts.

There you have it. I'm not going to lie this is not a meal I make but once or twice a year. It's alot of pans and plates and prepping. But my family loves it, and it's fun to do with friends. It's a slow eat as you go sort of meal.

One word Delici-o-SO!

Now I need to go finish up my mountains of laundry and pull some weeds.

What are you up to this wonderful Spring day?

Luv ya,

Red Sauce ~ Cinco de Mayo

This recipe comes from my Grandmothers recipe box. I love this sauce. It works well for wet burritos, enchiladas, and really anything you might want to drowned in it. It is perfectly spicy, the mole adds a subtle richness. It also works great for spicing up your taco meat.

If I had to rank foods in order of my favorites, I would have to say Mexican food is my first love. I could eat it everyday! So in the spirit of celebrating Cinco de Mayo I wanted to share this family favorite with you as well as my technique for making Wet Burritos.

The sauce calls for quite a list of ingredients but outside of the Mole I would bet my first child that you have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Red Sauce ingredient list:

printable recipe

1/2 cup Crisco Shortening

3/4 cup Flour

1 heaping tablespoon Mole

4 cups Beef Stock

2 tablespoons Chili Powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground Cumin

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1/2 cup Milk

2 8 ounce cans Tomato Sauce

1 6 ounce can Tomato Paste

2 tomato sauce cans of water

I find this sauce comes together quite quickly if you have all your ingredients out and ready. Oh and you will also need a whisk...the whisk is very important to this sauce. You want it nice and smooth. No lumps allowed.

First melt shortening.

Whisk in flour.

Let the shortening and flour bubble for a couple minutes.

Whisk in one tablespoon of Mole. Not familiar with Mole...you can find it in the Mexican section of you grocery store. Here's the kind I buy.

Whisk, whisk, whisk your mole.....

Continue by gradually adding your Beef Stock, whisking it smooth as you go.

After you have incorporated all of the Beef Stock you can add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.

Now add the milk and whisk again...I told you you would need to whip your whisk into shape!

Once you have whisked all the spices into the sauce you can add the tomatoes. Add in both cans of sauce and the paste.

Now fill one of the empty cans with water and pour it into the sauce.

Now fill the other can with water and pour it into the sauce. This will give you the amount of water you need and will also clean out your cans. One can't argue with clean cans.....clean cans of any sort. Kenny and I recently turned in 980 pop cans for a can drive that my kiddos did at church. I will always, always rinse out my pop cans when I'm done for as long as I live! EwGRody!

After you have given your sauce one last whiskin'. Plop the lid on the sauce pot and simmer on low for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

There you have it! Red sauce. Stay tuned......the Wet Burritos will follow the announcement of the Blessed giveaway winner.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!