Pambazos

The past month or two every time Colby is asked what his current favorite meal is his answer is always the same - pambazos.  Since I am still making Mexican food every Monday in honor of his mission to Mexico, I decided I would try to make them!  They were easy and DELICIOUS!!!

Pambazos

Ingredients:
15 dried guajillo chiles
1 clove garlic
1⁄2 small white onion, roughly chopped
2 1⁄4 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1⁄2 cup canola oil
1 1⁄4 lb. fresh chorizo, casings removed
6 soft pambazos, teleras  or kaiser rolls, split
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1 cup grated queso Oaxaca or mozzarella
Cotija cheese for the top
Avocado, onion and tomato for garnish

Directions:
Heat a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add chiles, and cook, turning once, until toasted, about 2 minutes. Transfer all chiles to a large bowl; pour over 4 cups boiling water, and let sit until chiles are soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 1⁄4 cups soaking liquid, and remove stems and seeds from chiles. Transfer chiles and reserved soaking liquid to a blender along with garlic and onion; purée until very smooth, at least 2 minutes. Pour sauce into a bowl; set aside.
Bring a 4-qt. saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat; add potatoes, and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat; add chorizo, and cook, stirring to break up into small pieces, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add potatoes, and cook until potatoes are very tender, about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Using your fingers, scoop out and discard the insides of rolls, leaving a 1⁄2"-thick shell. Place about 1 cup potato-chorizo mixture on roll bottoms, and cover with tops; press sandwiches lightly to flatten and compact filling. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Submerge two  sandwiches in chile sauce until thoroughly soaked, at least 10 seconds; place in skillet, and cook, pressing constantly with a metal spatula to flatten and flipping once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; repeat with remaining oil, sandwiches, and sauce. Open
sandwiches and divide lettuce, and cheese among sandwiches; add avocado, onion or tomato if desired. Close sandwiches again and serve warm.

Smoky Tex Mex Sloppy Joses

Something happened last night.  For the first time in MY ENTIRE LIFE, I liked sloppy joes.  It's true.  I can't believe it either.  Not only did I like it, but the kids like it too.  Now, 'somebody' (okay, it was Thom)(smile) had a few critiques, but no meal is perfect.  Especially a meal I make.  I got it out of April's Rachael Ray magazine.  I also don't think it's a coincidence that this recipe includes bacon in it, because it's a well known fact that bacon makes EVERYTHING better.

Smoky Tex Mex Sloppy Joses
Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil or vegetable oil, for drizzling

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 lb. ground sirloin

Salt and black pepper
1 onion, chopped (duh, I omitted this)
2 serrano or jalapeño chile peppers, finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves, garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. chili powder 
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 cup lager beer, at room temperature (I used a cup of beef broth)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. hot sauce, such as Franks® RedHot®
4 burger rolls, toasted

Toppings: crushed Fritos corn chips, pickled jalapeño rings and sweet red pepper relish

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel to drain. Add the ground beef to the pan and cook until browned, stirring with a spoon to crumble it; season with a little salt and black pepper. Return the cooked bacon to the pan and add the onion, chiles, garlic, chili powder, cumin and coriander. Cook, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together the beer, tomato sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire, vinegar and hot sauce. Pour the mixture over the meat, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until ready to serve.

Using a large ice cream scoop, spoon the Sloppy José mixture onto the roll bottoms. Layer with the crushed corn chips, pickled jalapeños, red pepper relish and roll tops.



Thom's critiques were that he wished it had onion in it(oops, did I forget to add that?  My bad....) and chopped red bell pepper.  I GUESS I can do that next time, and there WILL be a next time.  I really liked this.  I'm still in shock because of my lifelong aversion to sloppy joes, but leave it to Rach to make sloppy joes YUMMO. 

Pizza Grilled Cheese

This recipe is not one of my proud mom moments.  This is so unhealthy.  I don't know why, but as soon as I saw this, I knew I had to make it.  I saw the recipe on Pinterest, I can't find it now, but it's out there somewhere.  Don't judge me, please, it was a weak moment......

Of course it was good, how could it not be?!

Pizza Grilled Cheese
Recipe from somewhere out there in the internets


1 box of frozen garlic texas toast (my head is hanging in shame.....)
1 jar of pizza quick sauce
2 cups of shredded mozzerella cheese
1 package of pepperoni

So basically all you do is make the texas toast according to the directions on the box.  Then you make your sandwiches - put some pizza sauce on a piece of toast, then some pepperoni and top with lots of cheese.  Put another piece of toast on the top, then grill it like you normally do a grilled cheese sandwich.  Then enjoy your little bit of processed food heaven!!

Hot Sandwiches

Hot Sandwiches

Recipe for rolls adapted from RecipeShoebox

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups warm water
3 tbsp. yeast
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar or honey
2 eggs
1 tbsp. salt
5-6 cups flour (I used 5 cups white, 1 cup wheat, and threw in 1 tbsp. ground flax seed for good measure!)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and knead for 10 minutes.

After kneading, divide the dough into four equal sections. Roll out each section of dough and with a pizza cutter slice the dough into 4 pieces.

Place on the dough your filling. I had roast beef, ham and turkey available for the meats. For the cheese, we could choose from cheddar, mozzerella, swiss, provolone, american and gouda.

Tuck in the fat end and roll towards the narrow end.

Place rolled crescents onto greased cookie sheet, let rise for 10-15 minutes and bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. You'll want to catch them just as they're beginning to brown.

Pulled Chicken Sammies

Pulled Chicken Sammies

Recipe from Taste and Tell

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped (of course I skipped this ingredient)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 cups salsa verde
1/2 cup sour cream
1 rotisserie-style chicken, skin discarded and meat shredded
4 sandwich rolls, split
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Directions:

Preheat the broiler. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and honey, then stir in the salsa and heat through. Mix in the sour cream. Add sauce a little at a time to your bowl of shredded chicken. YOU MAY NOT NEED ALL THE SAUCE depending on how much shredded chicken you have. Stir in the sauce to coat.



Pile the chicken mixture on the roll bottoms. Top with the cheese and broil to melt.

Steak and Everything Sandwiches

This was pretty good, new recipe I tried. I omitted the mushrooms from my sandwich of course. And the onions. And the green peppers. No, I'm just kidding, I ate the green peppers, what do you think, I'm picky or something????

Ingredients:

1 lb deli roast beef slices, chopped
8 oz cream cheese (use 1/2 to 3/4 or desired amount- 8 oz seems to be too much!)
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/3 red onion, chopped
¼ cup chopped mushrooms
French bread or some other long loaf of bread.
Swiss Cheese
Garlic salt

Cut bread in half in sandwich style. Butter both pieces of bread and sprinkle with garlic salt. Next layer both top and bottom with swiss cheese. Toast in oven until cheese has melted. While the bread is toasting, combine roast beef, cream cheese, bell pepper, red onion, and mushrooms in a pan and heat until cream cheese is melted. When bread and beef mixture are both finished, scoop beef mixture onto bread. Serve warm.