Chicken Enchiladas

Recipe By: Chef JJ’s Back Yard
Serving Size: 16

Ingredients:

3/8 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs. skinless boneless chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 1/4 tablespoons cumin powder
1 1/4 tablespoons garlic powder
2 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
2 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
32 corn tortillas
3 cups enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded queso fresco
Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Directions:

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin and garlic powder before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Stir well to combine. Add tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Wrap tortillas in foil and heat until warm. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees using indirect heat until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving.

Fajitas

Recipe By: Chef JJ’s Back Yard
Serving Size: 16

Ingredients:

2 orange, juiced
4 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
6 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce
3/8 cups roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 lbs. skirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat cut into thirds or 8-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
4 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 large onion, thinly sliced
Lime juice, olive oil, optional
24 flour tortillas, warm
Guacamole
salsa

Directions:

In a small 2 cup measuring cup, or something similar size and shape, combine all the marinade ingredients. Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the beef for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.

Preheat grill to about 350.

Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest.

Once the beef is off the grill and resting, add the bell peppers and onions tossed with lime juice and olive oil, if using. Grill the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, wrap tortillas in foil, and grill for a few minutes to heat.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.

Guacamole

Recipe By: Chef JJ’s Back Yard

Ingredients:

5 ripe Hass avocados
3 to 4 limes, juiced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 serrano chile, chopped
1 big handful fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Drizzle olive oil

Directions:

Halve and pit the avocados. With a tablespoon, scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash the avocados with a fork, leaving them still a bit chunky. Add all of the rest of the ingredients, and fold everything together.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole so it doesn’t brown and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Mexican Pork Chili

Recipe By: Chef JJ’s Back Yard
Serving Size: 12

Ingredients:

4 1/2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 1/2 teaspoons toasted fennel seeds, ground
13 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
Extra-virgin olive oil
22 1/2 whole tomatillos, husked
4 1/2 poblanos
3 white onions, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 bay leaf
3 limes, halved
1 1/2 big bunch fresh cilantro
1 1/2 quart low-sodium chicken stock
1 1/2 cups masa harina, to tighten it up

Directions:

Preheat grill to 325 degrees F.

Season the pork shoulder with salt, pepper, fennel and cumin. Take a large roasting dish and place over medium-high heat. Add a 3-count of olive oil and sear pork shoulder all over until golden brown on the outside, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add vegetables, spreading out tomatillos, poblanos, onion, garlic and bay leaf around the seared pork shoulder. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze lime juice all over and season with salt and pepper. Cover the whole tray with aluminum foil and roast using indirect heat for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the pork is falling apart. Remove from grill, set the pork aside and pull apart. Rake all the other ingredients into a blender (a bit at a time) with the bunch of fresh cilantro and process until smooth. Pour into a large Dutch oven. Set over medium heat and add chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and whisk in masa harina to thicken the sauce up. Fold in shredded pork shoulder and season with salt and pepper to finish.

Tres Leche Cake

Recipe By: Chef JJ’s Back Yard
Serving Size: 16
Yield: 1 13×9 dish

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil
6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces sugar
5 whole eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the glaze:
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half-and-half
For the topping:
2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the grill to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake using indirect heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:
Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Topping:
Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.