Fall Taco Dinner Party

SMOKY QUESO BLANCO
Makes 3 cups
Ingredients:
8 ounces Monterrey jack cheese - shredded (don’t use pre-shredded)
10 ounces white American cheese - shredded (get this at deli counter in a block)
6 ounces diced green chili
3/4 cup diced roasted red pepper
2 green onion - chopped
1/2 c. cilantro - chopped
1 jalapeno - finely chopped
3 t. cumin
1 t. smoked mild paprika
3/4 - 1 c. milk

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a double boiler over medium heat. Let melt, stirring often until smooth and creamy. Start with 3/4 c. milk and add more until desired consistency is reached.

Serve immediately with tortilla chips & veggies. Use a crockpot or fondue pot to keep warm and creamy.

Serve with chips or crudite.

RED CHILI BEEF TACOS WITH RADISH SALSA & COTIJA CHEESE
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
4 cups low sodium beef broth
1 onion - cut into chunks
6 garlic cloves - peeled
3 ounces dried California or New Mexico chilies (about 12) - stemmed, seeded & rinsed
2 T. cumin
1 T. oregano
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 3 1/2 to 4 pound chuck roast - tied & patted dry
Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
2 T. canola oil oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Heat 2 c. of broth until very hot. Place chilies in a blender and cover with hot broth. Let sit 5 minutes to soften. Add onion, garlic, cumin, oregano & cinnamon to blender and puree until smooth.

Season beef with kosher salt & pepper on all sides. Heat oil in a large pot with lid or Dutch oven until very hot. Brown the roast on all sides, turning with a meat fork. When browned, pour chili mixture over beef and add remaining broth to come about half way up the roast. Bring liquid to boil, cover and transfer to oven.

Bake about 3 1/2 hours or until beef in very tender, turning once while cooking. Transfer the roast to a cutting board. Spoon off fat from pot and boil remaining liquid, stirring frequently, until slightly reduced - about 5 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, shred beef, removing excess fat, and mix with sauce.

Serve with corn tortillas, Radish Salsa & crumbled Cotija cheese.

RADISH SALSA
Ingredients:
2 c. radishes - halved and thinly sliced
1/2 c. white onion - diced
1 jalapeno - finely chopped
1/4 c. cilantro - chopped
juice of one lime
Combine all ingredients in bowl.

GRILLED FISH TACOS
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound skinless mahi mahi cut into 6, 4-oz. pieces
zest & juice of 2 lime
3 cloves garlic – chopped
1/3 c. cilantro – chopped
2 T. olive oil
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Method:

Mix lime juice, lime zest, garlic, cilantro and olive oil together. Toss mahi mahi pieces with marinade and let sit for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour.

Season fish with kosher salt and pepper. Place on pre-heated, oiled grill or grill pan over medium-high heat and cook about 3-4 minutes per side - or until just cooked through. Remove fish and cover with foil.

When ready to serve, coarsely shred mahi mahi. Serve with corn tortillas, cabbage & apple slaw and chipotle crema.

CABBAGE & APPLE SLAW
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients:
2 c. purple cabbage - thinly sliced
1 c. onion - diced
1/2 c. cilantro - roughly chopped
1 apple - diced (I prefer Honeycrips)
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 t. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

CHIPOLTE CREMA
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients:
2 c. plain Greek yogurt
2 T. chipotle sauce (or to taste)

ROASTED SWEET POTATO BLACK BEAN & POBLANO TACOS
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
2 pounds orange sweet potatoes/yams (about 3 medium) - cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 T. olive oil - divided
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
3 poblano chilies (also known as pasilla) - cut into strips
1 T. olive oil
1 15-ounce can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss sweet potatoes with 2 T. olive oil, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt & pepper in a rimmed baking sheet. Spread in single layer.

On a separate baking sheet, toss sliced poblanos with 1 T. olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Roast sweet potatoes & poblanos for 40 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. The poblanos will get a little browned and crispy on the edges.

In a cast iron skillet, heat 1 T. olive oil over medium high heat. Saute the onion, letting it get browned and slightly charred. Add garlic and beans. Cook for 1 minute.

Mix beans with sweet potatoes & poblanos. Serve with corn tortillas, cabbage & apple slaw and chipotle crema.

MINI CHURROS WITH WARM NUTELLA
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
Canola oil
1/2 cup + 1 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 c. Nutella

Method:

In a large saucepan or counter top deep fryer, pour canola oil to a depth of at least 2 inches. Heat oil to 350 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with paper towels (for draining) and combine the 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon in a pie plate.

In a separate saucepan, combine water, butter, salt, and remaining T. of sugar and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the cup of flour, turn off heat and stir until a ball of dough has formed. Then add eggs, one at a time, stirring until smooth after each addition.

Transfer the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Squeeze lengths of dough into the hot oil in 3-4 inch strips, snipping the end with a pair of scissors. Don’t overcrowd your pot - it will take a few batches to do all the dough. Cook about 5 minutes, turning often, until nicely browned.

Drain on paper towels and roll warm churros in cinnamon & sugar.

Warm Nutella in microwave in 10-15 second intervals, stirring in between each cycle, until warm and smooth. Serve churros with warm Nutella for dipping.

Prep ahead ideas:

Although they are best fresh out of the fryer, I made a batch and then kept some warm in the oven at a a very low heat (140 degrees), for a couple hours and they were still delicious.

You can also prepare the dough and pipe out the raw churros onto a sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge for 3-4 hours before frying, so all you have to do is pop them in the oil. OR you can also freeze raw, piped churros for up to a week, defrost for 30 minutes and then fry.