Street Tacos with Mojo

MEAT:

Pork Roast

I cook mine all day in a crock pot (add a little water and salt and pepper). When it's done I shred it and put it in a pan and pour the mojo all over it and then keep it warm until you are ready to serve it.

MOJO
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapenos, minced (I remove most of the seeds)
fresh cilantro, finely chopped
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 limes, juice of
2 oranges, juice of
2 tablespoons white vinegar

PICO DE GALLO
8 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 small red onions, chopped
4 green onions, white and green parts, sliced
3 jalapeno chilies, thinly sliced
cilantro, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 limes, juice of
1 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper


**(You can make any Pico you have a recipe for)

To Assemble:

Toss a corn tortilla in a frying pan until soft
Add meat
Coleslaw mix or whatever lettuce you want
Pico

** We like a serious kick to our tacos so we drizzle white vinegar over our coleslaw before we add it to the taco.

BYU's Mint Brownies

***Straight from BYU's website!!!

MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.
PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe or purchase some chocolate frosting. You can also search the Internet for chocolate icing recipes.)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Soft Wrap bread

Soft Wrap Bread

Makes 8
3 to 3 1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C boiling water
1/4 C potato flour OR 1/2 C potato buds or flakes (I used potato flakes)
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp instant yeast*

Place 2 cups of the flour into a bowl. Pour the boiling water over the flour, and stir till smooth. Cover the bowl and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the potato flour (or flakes or buds) and 1 cup of the remaining flour with the salt, oil and yeast. Add this to the cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for several minutes (by hand, mixer or bread machine) to form a soft dough. I did mine in my Kitchen-Aid.

Note: You can allow the dough to go through the entire kneading cycle(s) in the bread machine, but it’s not necessary; about a 5-minute knead in the machine, once it gets up to full kneading speed, is fine. The dough should form a ball, but will remain somewhat sticky (the dough is fairly stiff, so don’t be worried – just be careful not to overflour the dough). Add additional flour only if necessary; if kneading by hand, keep your hands and work surface lightly oiled. Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour (I let mine rise up to 2 hours).

Divide the dough into 8 even pieces, cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7- to 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) on a griddle or frying pan over medium heat for about 1 minute per side (I cooked mine about 2-3 minutes per side and they didn’t dry out), until they’re puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag.

*This recipe works best with instant yeast because it dissolves during the kneading process, so you don’t have to knead liquid into the dough. If you really prefer to use active dry yeast, use only 1 cup boiling water for the initial dough, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, and add this mixture to the dough along with the potato flour mixture. It’ll be somewhat “slippery” at first, but will knead in and eventually become smooth.

Chicken Gyros

Chicken Gyros
This recipe calls for straining yogurt. I did not do that. I had some regular plain yogurt in my refrigerator and I used it as is. I am sure it is probably better and creamier if you take the time to strain it but I thought it was great without doing that. The chicken does need to marinade 1-2 hours so allow time for that.

Makes enough chicken and tzatziki for approximately 4-6 gyros. I also cut the tzatziki sauce recipe in half and it was plenty for the three of us.

For the tzatziki sauce:
16 oz. plain yogurt (not fat free unless it is Oikos or Fage or another Greek-type yogurt)
1/2 hothouse cucumber or 1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded (I used 1/2 of an English cucumber)
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press (or finely minced)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken:
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

To assemble:

Pita bread or soft wrap bread
Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Red onion, sliced thin

To make the tzatziki sauce, strain the yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl. Let strain for several hours or overnight, if possible, to remove as much moisture as possible. (You won’t believe how much liquid drains from the yogurt – it makes the yogurt much thicker and creamier. If you want to splurge on Greek yogurt, like Oikos or Fage, you won’t need to strain it like this.)

Shred the cucumber. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet, broiler or on the grill. Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes and then cube.

Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and sliced onions. Serve immediately

French Dip Sandwiches

In a crockpot, place the following:

rump roast

1 can beef consomme’

1 can beef broth

1 can French onion soup

Crock pot on high for several hours. Shread the meat in all the juices and serve on sandwich rolls. Just get whatever sandwich rolls you prefer, slice in half lengthwise, place provolone cheese on the halves, and place the rolls “face up” on a baking sheet or baking stone. Broil on low for just a few minutes, until the cheese is melted (take them out before they get too brown around the edges). Place the meat on the rolls and serve sandwiches with a small dipping bowl of the French dip juices

Recipe from Becky Higgins

Vanilla Cupcakes & frosting

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 20 to 24 minutes

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Yield: Enough to frost 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

2. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

You can store any unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container; let it come to room temperature and then give it a quick whip in the mixer before using.

Almond Lace cookies

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
1/2 stick butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 and spray 2 large cookie sheets. Cook brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a 1 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until smooth. Remove from heat and add flour and almonds. Drop mounds about the size of a marble 3-4 inches apart on sheet and bake in center of oven for 4 minutes-then watch every 30 seconds until they are the color you want. Let cool 1-2 minutes, then carefully lift onto rack with metal spatula.

These are fun and forgiving to make. If batter gets too stiff to spoon easily onto cookie sheet, just reheat. If they get too brittle to get off cookie sheet, just stick back into the oven for a few seconds. You can make them any size-just experiment. These are a great Christmas dessert, serve them with peppermint ice cream. You can cool these over a muffin tin to create a serving cup.

Hot Chicken Salad

1 cup cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
1 cup cooked rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup mayo
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
3 tsp. lemon juice
bread crumbs or potato chips

Mix soup, mayo and lemon juice. Add chicken, rice, celery, onion, almonds and eggs. Mix gently but well. Place in 9x9 inch pan, sprinkle with bread crumbs or chips. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Note: Chopped water chestnuts and or shredded cheese can be added.