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Breakfast Cups

Appetizers, Bacon, Breakfast, Cheese, Game Day, Kids, Sides, Snack - No Comments » - Posted on May, 14 at 2:30 pm

I have to admit, I like planning things to do for Mother’s Day. I will also admit that my wife works pretty darn hard every week, not only in her full-time job, but also taking care of the kids. So as the ‘big day’ quickly approached this past weekend, my job was to make sure Mom stayed calm, laughed a lot, and to had the best day ever. What does that mean? Well, it means it is a pretty darn good challenge for me, and probably my biggest challenge was to keep my kids from arguing with one another, throwing fits, and well, spoiling the day. I have to admit they did pretty good, well, for most of the day.

Breakfast Cups with cheese, egg, and Canadian Bacon

I started off the day, much like most Mother’s days by making my wife breakfast. As my taco cups recipe was a major hit with my wife, I decided to play off that recipe and make some breakfast cups. I wanted to surprise my wife with something new and wonderful, and boy did these ever hit the spot.

Breakfast Muffin Tins Recipe

Ingredients:

Now you see I have two things going on here right? I have flour tortillas, and I have mashed potatoes. Why? Well, I like to try and create new things. I’m glad I used both because they were both really, really good.

For my mashed potatoes, I used a rutabaga that my son brought home last week. He said his classmate’s dad gave it to him because he knows I like to cook and thought I could do something with it. Well, I did. I cooked the rutabaga, along with some russet potatoes, added a bit of milk, butter, and salt to them and mashed them. Let’s just say they were good, and good enough to form a mold into one of my muffin pans.  If you don’t want to try using mashed potatoes in your mold, then just go ahead and use the flour tortillas.

Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Next, melt one tablespoon of the butter into a skillet, and add in 6 slices of Nueske’s Canadian bacon. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, then remove it from the heat. Cut them into small rounds using round cutters, or something that is small in diameter. Your goal here is presentation. After all, it’s Mom you are cooking for, remember? Take the remaining Canadian bacon and go ahead and eat it. Nueske’s bacon, and well, all of their product is amazing. This will get you excited as to what is going to come.

Take your scramble egg, and cut those into the same size as your Canadian bacon. Each item should not overlap your muffin tin.

Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Rub the insides of six of the muffin tins with the remaining butter. Take about 4 tablespoons of the mashed potatoes and place inside one of the muffin tins. Repeat with however many more potato muffins you want to eat. Working with the back of your spoon, form them in the tin, making sure there is a nice pocket. Your goal here is to cook the potato in the shape of the muffin tin so that you can stuff it with the remaining ingredients when it is nice and crisp. Potatoes will take about 15 minutes to stiffen and crisp up.

If you are using just the tortillas, go ahead and take your cut tortillas and place them into the muffin tin that you have rubbed with butter. Tortillas will take about 5 minutes to cook and form into a workable shape.

After they are cooked, fill each cup with the shredded cheese, top with the egg round, and then top with the Canadian bacon.  Place back in the oven and cook another 5 minutes.

Remove, and plate.

The great thing about these breakfast cups is that you can stuff them with your favorite breakfast toppings. A two bite breakfast, these little morsels will have you making them time and time again. Let’s just say that after we had them, we both wanted more. Next time, and that time will be coming by shortly, I am going to fill the entire muffin tray with creations. Simple, fun, and definitely comforting. These breakfast cups are sure to please!



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Mexican Hot Dog Torta

Beef, Bread, Game Day, Mexican, Sandwiches - 1 Comment » - Posted on May, 9 at 6:52 pm

I’m a huge fan of the Mexican torta. It is a sandwich unlike any other. Well, there are plenty of awesome sandwiches to he tried, that is for sure, but the Mexican torta is a top contender to many. Why do I say this? Well, because the Mexican torta is simple to make, has a base of great and healthy ingredients (for the most part), and can be eaten any time of the day.

Mexican Torta with Hot Dogs

I first encountered the torta in Wisconsin, believe it or not. I lived in Dallas for many years and you would have thought I would have eaten a torta in Tex Mex country, but that was not the case. I first experienced the torta at a Mexican supermarket known as El Rey. They have a small restaurant inside that makes some awesome food. As I initially steer towards authentic tacos, I decided to take on the torta. Wow, was I ever surprised. It was a sandwich, sure, but it was a sandwich, when taken a bite of, that just had everything you would expect in a delicious bite. There was texture, and flavor written all over it. As I typically go for the torta milanesa con pollo, or something else traditional, I decided to make something different this past week, the torta with hot dogs.

A couple of my kids are huge fans of the hot dogs. I always buy the all beef wieners as I think they are much better flavored, and have less parts if you know what I mean. The hot dog doesn’t scare me as it might some people who think that every wiener is packed full of parts and stuff. I tune that all of that out, because when biting into a hot dog, well, you end up with a great snap of casing, and some saltiness which gets balanced with other ingredients. Enough said, let’s get you making this torta.

Ingredients:

To start, prepare all of your ingredients. I first boil my hot dogs in a bit of water to fully cook them, then I slice them in half, but not all of the way through. Once halved, drain the water and return them back to the skillet and sear them; caramelizing them for the most part. Once they caramelize, you need to remove them from the heat. Remove the hot dogs and add in the queso quesadilla, or the soft Mexican cheese. Let this sit there and melt. Don’t worry if it burns, it will be fine.

Now we build the torta.

Mexican Torta Recipe

Take your sliced bolillo roll and to the bottom of the base slice, spread the warm and cooked refried beans. Cover the bottom roll. Next, top with the sliced hot dogs. Add the melted cheese to the top of the hot dogs, top with the shredded lettuce, and cover that with the avocado. Feel free to mash the avocado if you want. My avocado was soft and perfect and did not need to be mashed. I was content with it.

Feel free to slice it on the diagonal, or feel free to to add the top piece, give it a gentle press, and dig right in. As I was asking a former colleague the proper way to define the to torta in terms of Torta de perrito caliente, or Hot Dog Torta, or something other, his response was “Hot Dog Torta”,  and used the word “gross”. I will have to say, I’m going out and calling this the Hot Dog Torta, or maybe Awesome Hot Dog Torta.

This sandwich is great. It’s got the creaminess around the exterior, saltiness in the interior, and the crunch from the lettuce. If you are looking to try a new sandwich, give this one a shot.



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One Response to “Mexican Hot Dog Torta”

  1. Crystal @ A Lovin' Forkful Says:
    May 11th, 2012 at 12:25 am

    I am also a big fan of Mexican Tortas. I have never made them at home but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I love this hot dog version you have here. Tortas are so unique and I think a hot dog seems like a perfect fit.

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Chorizo Fried Rice

Appetizers, Barbecue, Ethnic, Kids, Pork, Sides, Vegetables - No Comments » - Posted on May, 7 at 3:25 pm

One of my kids favorite things to eat is the fried rice at our local hibachi restaurant. For a kid that does not like many vegetables, and eggs to boot, he will sit there and watch the chef flip and crack the eggs, do the knife stunts as he slices and chops vegetables, only to be nicely plated on his plate. Those carrots I lay out during dinner, and those carrots he refuses to eat, well, he eats them in the fried rice. Same goes with eggs. He will not touch them if they are fried, scrambled, or hard boiled, but put it in fried rice, and he will have a second serving. As a parent, I latch onto that, and if my son loves it that much, well, you better believe that I am making him fried rice, with veggies, and egg, as often as I can.

Chorizo Fried Rice Recipe

So as I typically make a standard fried rice for the kids, I thought I would try sneaking in something new for the kids. I love making attempts at this. I know that if they love something, and if I can incorporate something new into the recipe, well, I make every effort to get them to try something new whether that is a vegetable or meat. In my case, I thought I would incorporate Mexican chorizo into the recipe, as after all I made this on Cinco de Mayo.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe], Serves 6

Begin by heating a large, non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add the oil, and toss in the garlic, cooking and stirring until fragrant. Next, add in the celery and carrots. Give a good stir, and cook for a few minutes. You want them to soften slightly but want some of the crunch. Add in the uncooked chorizo, and begin breaking it up, cooking along the way. The chorizo will begin releasing its fat as it cooks, and this is perfect as we will use this to assist us in cooking and crisping up that rice. The chorizo should take about 5 minutes or so to cook. Continue breaking up any pieces of chorizo.

Ingredients for making fried rice recipe

Add in the butter, and let that begin to melt. This will not only add great flavor to the rice, and I think is a secret weapon when it comes to making fried rice, but it also crisps up the rice. Add in the eggs, and let them cook, breaking it up as it cooks. As the butter melts and the egg cooks, add in the rice, breaking it up with your wooden spoon. Flip, toss, stir. Do you kitchen magic. Impress those around you with those flips of the wrists. Mix everything, that is your goal. As you incorporate all of the veggies, chorizo, and butter into the rice, it will begin to crisp up and make an amazing rice. You are ready to serve.

Feel free to plate in a large serving bowl for the table, or individual bowls. My son loved it, and loved it so much he requested another large bowl of it. Looks like we are winning after all, at least on sneaking in vegetables and eggs, and heck, a new meat he has never tried.

I can’t blame the kid for loving this fried rice. It’s got everything you would love with a fried rice, and replaces that soy sauce, the chili and paprika notes from the Mexican chorizo. If you are looking for something to use in your fried rice recipe, give this one a shot.

 



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