Rio Grande Fritter Cakes Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a grill pan to medium-high or heat an outdoor grill.
• Peel and rinse the tomatillos. Halve the tomatillos and thread onto metal skewers along with the onions, peppers and garlic. Spray the skewered ingredients with cooking spray and grill for 15 minutes. Scrape the charred ingredients into a food processor and add the cilantro, the lime zest, lime juice, honey, cumin and salt, to taste. Process to form a sauce - if too thick, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup water. Add the chicken and the sauce to a large bowl and toss together.
• Char the tortillas on a grill or over a flame burner. Spray a cake pan with cooking spray, then add a tortilla and top with 1/4 of the chicken mixture, 4 rounded teaspoon-sized dollops of creme fraiche or sour cream and some shredded Swiss and Monterey Jack. Add another tortilla and continue to build until you have 4 layers of chicken and cheese ending with a tortilla. Spray the top tortilla with cooking spray and put the pan in a preheated 400 degree F oven or on an outdoor grill with the lid down to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes. Put a plate over the pan and invert it onto a cutting board. Cut into 4 wedges and serve.

Steps:

• For the sauce, warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chile, breaking it into lumps. Gradually pour in 1 quart of water, stirring to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it coats a spoon thickly. (The sauce can be made several days ahead, then cooled, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat before proceeding.)
• Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a nonplastic mixing bowl and the yolks in a separate medium bowl. Whisk the yolks lightly, just to combine, then add the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat the egg whites with a mixer on high speed until they are stiff but not dry. Gently fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites. It's fine to have a few streaks remaining.
• Heat 1-inch of oil to 375 degrees F in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Drop a large spoonful of the batter gently into the oil. Within seconds it should puff up to be about double in size. Fry briefly until golden-brown and crisp, turning as needed to cook evenly. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Cut into the fritter to verify that is has cooked through but is still moist with a nearly melting center. Adjust the oil temperature a bit if necessary to get the desired result. Fry the remaining fritters a few at a time until all the batter is used. Spoon chile sauce on a platter and arrange the fritters over it. Serve immediately, passing any remaining sauce separately.

Steps:

• Let steaks rest from refrigerator for a few minutes to take the chill off.
• Preheat grill pan or indoor electric grill to high heat. Combine spice rub ingredients: ground Ancho chile, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Rub spice blend into steaks.
• Coat sliced red onion with a drizzle of oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• Grill steaks and onion slices 5 minutes on each side. Remove from heat. Let meat stand 5 minutes for juices to redistribute. Season steaks with salt. Top with separated rings of red grilled onions. Serve with hot Cracked Cornbread and Cheese Squares and Mexican Salad.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with butter. Stir cheese, corn, and scallions into packaged mixed corn muffin batter.
• Pour batter into baking dish and bake at 400 degrees F until golden, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Yield: 4 + servings
• Cut avocados in half, working around the pit. Separate the 2 halves. Remove pit and scoop out avocado flesh with a spoon. Wedge avocados and pile in the center of a large platter. Seed and wedge tomatoes and arrange around the avocados. Spread sliced onion over platter. Sprinkle platter with cilantro. Squeeze the juice of 2 limes evenly over vegetables. Season with coarse salt. Drizzle platter with oil and serve.
• Yield: 4 servings

Steps:

• Preheat the grill to medium-high.
• Grill the corn until slightly charred black in some areas and has good color. Remove the corn from the grill to a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut the kernels off the cob. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add about 1/8-inch of bacon fat to a 10-inch cast iron skillet and put it in the oven to heat up. While this is going on, mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl add the cornmeal, reserving about 1/8 cup, the salt and the baking soda. When the oil is hot, remove the skillet from the oven and sprinkle the bottom with the reserved 1/8 cup of cornmeal. Stir it into the oil and return the skillet to the oven to brown the cornmeal. In a large bowl add the eggs, creme mexicana, corn, chiles, water, remaining bacon fat and the onions. When the cornmeal roux is nice and brown, remove the skillet from the oven and pour in half of the batter. It should sizzle a little in the hot bacon fat. Now sprinkle the goat cheese evenly across the top of the first layer of batter. Gently pour in the remaining batter, being careful not to upset the layers, and bake until the top is golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk the eggs, orange juice, butter and orange zest; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. , In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls, a few at a time, into hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Dust warm fritters with confectioners' sugar.