Posada season is upon us and I could not be more excited.  This year came and went in the blink of an eye and I want to make sure I enjoy these last few weeks left of the year to the fullest.  From Day of the Dead to Thanksgiving to now Christmas season, November and December are my favorite months of the year.   So many more things are happening in the next few weeks.  I am heading to Indio, CA to be part of this year’s Tamal Fest (yes, that exists here in California).  I partnered with Tabasco and bringing this Pozole tostada recipe to the festival.  I’m so excited and hope to meet some of you there!  I am also heading to Puerto Vallarta for my friends wedding and off to Oaxaca for the Holidays.  It’s been a crazy year and I’m very much looking forward to spending quality time with my family and cooking with my mom.  We are already thinking about what to have for our Holiday dinner.  Thinking rabo encendido with my mom’s green spaghetti or maybe a good barbacoa.  Who knows, but I will be sure to keep you updated on my Instagram.

In the meantime, enjoy this Pozole Tostada recipe.  The dehidrated hominy with oregano makes a huge difference.  You are going to love putting these on everything!  Make sure you don’t overcook them and that they remain soft on the inside, and crunchy on the outside.

Happy Cooking and Provecho!  

POZOLE SALAD TOSTADA

Makes 6 Servings

 Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For Baked Hominy

1 1/2 cup canned Mexican Hominy, drained

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ground oregano

For Guajillo Peppers and Oil

1/4 cup olive oil

2 dried guajillo peppers, slices in 1/4-inch rings

For Tostada Dressing

1 cup Mexican Crema

2 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon TABASCO® sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

For Salad

3 cups shredded cabbage

3 radishes, finely chopped

2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped

1/2 lime, juiced

1/2 teaspoon TABASCO® Sauce

For Tostadas

Rotisserie chicken breasts, shredded

tostadas

PREPARATION

For Baked Hominy:

Preheat oven to 300F

Place the hominy on a parchment lined baking sheet so they are evenly spaced out.  Sprinkle sea salt, pepper and ground oregano.  bake for 15-20 minutes until hominy is dried and crunchy, but soft in the inside.  Set aside 

For Guajillo Peppers and Oil

In a cool pan, add the olive oil and giajillo peppers, and simmer over low heat for 7 minutes.  Remove peppers from oil, cool and reserve both the oil and pepper rings separately. 

For Tostada Dressing

In a bowl, whisk in the crema, oregano, garlic salt, chili powder, black pepper, TABASCO® Sauce, and cayenne pepper.  Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the reserved guajillo oil, 1 teaspoon at a time, until dressing is thickened and emulsified.  

For Salad

in a large bowl, combine cabbage, radishes, onion, lime juice, TABASCO® Sauce, and baked hominy. Mix well and let marinate for a few minutes.

Serving Suggestion

To assemble, spread each tostada with dressing, then layer it with shredded chicken, and top with salad.  Garnish with guajillo pepper rings

About a month ago,  Benjamin "El Elotero" Ramirez was threaten on the street, had his food cart turned over by a man walking down the street and caught everything on video.  It was hard to watch the video. I must admit that when my husband first told about it, I didn't want to see it.  I didn't want to believe something like that had happened.  When I finally watched it,  I was filled with rage, and sadness at the same time.  But I also felt  extremely proud of the Benjamin for stepping up to that man who flipped his elote cart over.  What Benjamin did, took a lot of courage.  Everyday people get attacked, violated and taken advantage but those who have a false sense of superiority.  I am so happy Benjamin had the courage to not only record the incident, but to also share it on social media amidst our political climate.  The video of course went viral and after only a few hours, El Elotero had thousands of people behind him, supporting him.  

If you heard of or watched the video, I encourage you to also make a donation to his GOFUNDME page.  Donate a few dollars to Benjamin, one dollar can mean the world to him.  You gotta give to get. 

In the meantime, here is a little Elote recipe I created a few weeks ago with our Guelaguetza mole! Enjoy and please remember to tag me @bricialopez and #moleandmore if you recreate any of my recipes.  I LOVE seeing your pics on Social Media! 

MOLE STREET CORN

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place corn, in its husks, directly on the oven rack. Roast until tender and cooked through, about 40-45 minutes.

3. In a blender, blend butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and dash of salt

4. Peel down the husks. Rub each ear of corn with lemon, plus the butter/mole mixture

5. Serve immediately, sprinkled with cotija cheese

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ears corn, unhusked

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 tablespoon mole coloradito

• 1 lemon, its juice plus its zest

• salt

• 1 lemon

• 1/4 cup grated cotija cheese

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To continue with our Northgate Lent-Recipe series, this week I cooked up stuffed zucchinis (aka, calabasitas rellenas).  The dish is vegetarian, very easy to make and looks super fancy once plated.  This is perfect to make when you have friends come over and want to look like you spent hours in the kitchen.  I made a batch before having my super mama squad come over and they all complemented me on how delicious and fancy the dish looked.  Again, it really is super easy to make.  I recommend keeping the calabasitas in the oven and removing from the oven just a few minutes before your guests arrive.  Also, try panko breadcrumbs if you can, it will give the dish just a little extra crunch. 

provechito! 

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CALABASITAS RELLENAS

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Slice zucchinis in half and use spoon to scoop out the flesh. Set flesh from all zucchini aside.

2. Boil water in a pot and throw in zucchinis for 3 minutes. Make sure zucchinis are fully covered.

3. Remove zucchini from boiling water and set them aside.

4. Chop zucchini flesh you had set aside. Place in mixing bowl. Set aside.

5. Place saucepan with olive oil over medium heat. Once warm, sauté garlic and onion for 4 minutes. Add chopped zucchini flesh and cook 2-3 minutes.

6. Remove mixture from heat and set aside. Throughly mix in bread crumbs and egg.

7. Preheat oven to 350°F.

8. Stuff zucchini halves with sautéed mixture and top with cheese.

9. Place zucchini in baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned.

10. Boil tomatoes, garlic, and onion for sauce. Once softened, blend tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

11. Serve stuffed zucchini with sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 zucchini

• 1 cup of shredded El Mexicano mozzarella

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 ½ tbsp. of onion, finely diced

• ¼ cup of bread crumbs

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp. of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Sauce

• 3 medium tomatoes

• 1 garlic clove

• ¼ white onion

• ½ tbsp. olive oil

• Salt

• Pepper

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