In eager anticipation of her new TV show…. Thomasina Miers’ ‘Mexican scrambled eggs with chorizo’ – a surefire family hit!

Have to admit that not I, but my wonderful husband, Jon, made these for us all for lunch – I am a lucky woman! Jon loves cooking from ‘Mexican Food made Simple’ by Thomasina Miers and we are both really excited about her new TV show starting this summer! We are trying to introduce Abbie to some Mexican food (as we love it) and try to give her something that is familiar (scrambled eggs/chorizo) whilst also introducing new flavours like chilli. As you can see, we didn’t have any problems in convincing her of the merits of these dishes!

A happy burrito muncher!

It really was incredibly tasty and a geat adaptation to our usual ‘Huevos Rancheros’.

Mexican Scrambled Eggs with chorizo Serves 2 adults and 1 child
5 corn tortillas
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
100g uncooked chorizo sausage
1 deseeded and diced red jalapeno pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 plum tomatoes, quartered
6 eggs, lightly beaten
25ml milk
50g Pecorino cheese, grated
salt and pepper
chopped, fresh corriander

• Heat olive oil in large frying pan and when hot, add onion, chorizo and chilli.  Cook for 5 mins and then add garlic. Stir fry for about 10 mins until onion is translucent and chorizo has released fat into the pan
• Scoop out seeds from tomato and add to pan – cook for a few mins to warm through
• Whisk eggs, milk and cheese together, season with s&p and stir in half of the corriander. Add egg mixture to the sizzling chorizo, turn heat right up and cook as you like your eggs; runny or set – be aware that they carry on cooking after you have turned the heat off.
• Serve scatter with other bit of corriander, in warm corn tortillas

Scrambletastic with warm corn tortillas

Book club….. ‘One Day’ and Mexican food to celebrate Cinqo de Mayo!

Loved loved loved this book!

Our monthly book group convened at mine on Wednesday night to discuss ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls – a book given to me by Jon for Christmas which I had been dying to read and then had the chance to, and not only that but also share the experience with good friends! I loved this book….. the idea is that it follows two people, Emma and Dexter through 25 years of their lives but you only see one day a year – the 15th July! Great concept and a real page turner – Vic read it in 3 days (and she has been known to purchase the audiobook in the past!).
 

Digging in to quesadillas...

Anyway, I thought I would continue the Mexican theme that seems to be infiltrating all my cooking at the moment, especially as Cinqo de Mayo was the next day – that and I couldn’t think of any Star Wars themed nibbles to deliver for May the 4th be with you!

I made quesadillas from Nigella Express, adapting them to omit the parma ham and including olives as the veggie option. This was followed by Margarita Ice Cream (again from Nigella Express). Jon was doubtful when I said I would be making this, but it really was the fastest ever ice cream and I didn’t even need my ice cream maker!! Just a bit of forward planning as I made it in 5 minutes (actual time!) on Tuesday night! The ice cream was a massive hit and I am now inspired to try other cocktails, turned into frozen desserts – Long Island Ice Tea Granita may be next!

Anyway, here is the link for the recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/margaritaicecream_87463

and the most amazing margarita ice cream!!

Leftover roast chicken?.. the solution….. spicy bird tacos from Thomasina Miers

Actually made these on Monday night with chicken leftover from Sunday’s roast, but have been crazy busy so posting had to wait until now! These tacos are so delicious, mostly due to the chipotles in adobo, which we make large quantities of and store in the fridge as they play a major role in many of Thomasina Mier’s recipes and are amazing!

Spicy Bird Tacos – from ‘Mexican Food made simple’ Thomasina Miers

1 tbsp olive oil and a knob of butter
1 large onion sliced
salt & pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
generous pinch each of ground allspice and cinnamon
2 fresh bay leaves
2 fat cloves of garlic chopped
2x400g cans of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons of chipotles en adobo (apparently you can use Discovery chipotle paste, but it is easy to make the real thing – if you are interested I would recommend that you get the book!)
600-800g leftover roast chicken
16 small corn tortillas or 8 larger ones

Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan and then add the onion, seasoning, sugar, spices and bay leaves and cook for 15 minutes then add the garlic cloves and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and chipotles and simmer for at least 15 mins over a low heat. Finally add the shredded chicken and check the seasoning. Remove the bay leaves before serving !

I served these in tortillas with sour cream and salad on the side – oh and a cold beer, natch! It’ll warm you up this week or next!  Have to say that these are too spicy for Abbie, so I make her a quick quesadilla by putting a bit of grated cheese and sliced tomato onto 1/2 of a tortilla, folding it over and then dry frying it on both sides until the cheese melts and the whole thing sticks together. this way she still feels part of the meal, but will actually eat!!

Spicy bird on top of sour cream on a tortilla, served with some leaves from the veggie garden.