HOMECOOKING WITH TERESA

I'm not sure this salad is very traditional but I have now made it a few times and is on the list of favourites! It is very yummy! The different layers of vegetables make it a meal on its own.  But the star of the show is the zesty lime dressing! That's what makes this salad so delicious.  To make it even a more complete meal, yesterday we added some hot smoked salmon as one of the possible ingredients suggested.  A really top recipe! Ingredients 1 Tbsp olive oil 300g fresh corn kernels (about 2 corn cobs) 500g snow peas, trimmed and blanched (or raw and thinly sliced) 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered 1 red onion, thinly sliced 4 radishes, thinly sliced 2 large handfuls of coriander leaves, roughly chopped 1-2 jalapeños, thinly sliced 200ml Zesty lime dressing (see below) pinch of ground cumin pinch of ground allspice pinch of sea salt 3 large avocados, stoned Bacon 80ml / 1/3 cup vegetable oil 500g smoked bacon, cut into lardons 150g / 1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 1 larg...

  There are so many steps involved that you really need to start the day before..... It's a recipe from a cookbook called Cantina from Paul Wilson. I am discovering the more 'real' Mexican recipes, and so far both Rod and I have been very surprised about the complexity of flavours we have encountered. To make today's recipe, I had to start yesterday by making a Chipotle stock and then use it to cook the pork belly, let it cool in the stock and then keep overnight on the fridge, with some weights. The colour of the stock is just amazingly red from the achiote paste. I have now kept the chicken wings to use them later, maybe on a soup. Today I had to make the Mexican pickling brine to put on the pineapple, which was delicious, with a mixture of spices, apple cider vinegar, sugar and orange rind and juice as well as fresh herbs. Then, I had to make the caramel pineapple adobo sauce (luckily I already had the adobo sauce in the freezer) to cook the pork. And last, but not l...

  This is basically a guacamole with sour cream. You can use leftover guacamole to make this recipe. Ingredients  3 overripe avocados juice of 3 limes 90g sour cream 1 garlic clove, grated 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/4 tsp allspice pinch of onion powder pinch of ground coriander sea salt to taste Method Halve the avocadoes lengthways, remove the stones and scoop out the flesh using a large spoon. Combine the avocado, lime juice, sour cream, garlic and spices in a food processor and blend to make a smooth thick sauce. Season with salt. Avocado crema is best used on the day it is made. Here it was served to accompany the Pork carnitas with pineapple adobo sauce .

  This is a very interesting sauce used in many Mexican recipes. I used 2 x 250ml jars and froze one of them to be used in other recipes. However, when I make it again, I might even use smaller jars. The first time I made it was to go with these fish tacos, from the same book. They were unbelievably delicious!! See recipe link below. Ingredients Adobo sauce 2 dried guajillo chillies 75g dried chipotle chillies 100ml olive oil 1l chicken stock 3 large red capsicums, halved lengthways 1 red onion, quartered 1 garlic bulb, peeled 3 long green chillies large handful oregano leaves 75g smoked paprika 1 Tbsp Mexican spice blend (see below) 115g caster sugar 125ml sherry vinegar sea salt to taste Mexican spice blend 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon 1 Tbsp ground cumin 1 Tbsp smoked paprika 2 tsp ground allspice 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 tsp ground star anise 1 tsp ground cloves Method To make the spice blend, combine all spices and store in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Preheat...