Mango Salsa

Posted on by aurorameyer


Watching the Super Bowl also means eating chips and dip. But it’s winter and fresh salsa in the winter is usually pretty disappointing. But when the new grocery store in town had mangos on sale for 19 cents each, I jumped at the chance to have just a little taste of summer. C made up this amazingly refreshing mango salsa. As we were eating it, we decided it would also be delicious on fish tacos, salmon, pork and of course tortilla chips. It was super easy to make.

Mango Salsa

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 ripe mangos diced (smaller is better. And keep the pit!)
  • 1 orange bell pepper diced
  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 1 roma tomato diced
  • 1 serrano chili pepper diced fine
  • 2 tablespoons garlic more or less to your taste
  • 1 red onion diced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lime for juice
  • torn cilantro for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Dice all ingredients into roughly the same size. This part is important because if the mango chunks are too big, they'll fall off the chip. Or worse, break the chip.
  • Add ingredients to a bowl.
  • Mix with a spoon.
  • Squeeze the juice from the mango pit into the bowl.
  • Feel free to use the side of a metal spoon to scrape off the fruit attached to the pit.
  • Squeeze the lime juice.
  • Mix again.
  • Add salt and pepper, tasting in between.
  • Garnish with cilantro.
  • Serve immediately, or chill and serve later.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
As noted above, usually fresh salsas made in the winter lack flavor, maybe it’s because we let the mangos get really ripe, but this was full of flavor and very tasty. Don’t be afraid to try it on something other than tortilla chips!

Homemade Mag Mud

Posted on by aurorameyer

In honor of tailgate season (and Mizzou’s first SEC game against Georgia!) I wanted to share one of our most favorite tailgate dips, Mag Mud.

In Austin, Texas, is the most amazing restaurant, Magnolia Cafe. My very, very dear friend B insisted (it didn’t take much!) we go there whenever I visited her and it was always packed and always delicious. Regardless of time of day or night, B and I always started with their famed Mag Mud. It’s surprisingly easy and if you make it in a crock pot, last well through a long tailgate.

Ingredients:
1-2 cans black beans, drained (or if you prefer to soak your beans, feel free to do that instead just make sure they’re ready to go)
1 package Velveeta Queso Blanco, cut into squares
1 can Rotel, drained (we used medium, but go with the level of spice you want)
2 avocados, sliced
1 cup pico de gallo (store bought is fine!)

Directions:
Put the black beans in the bottom of the crock put. Turn crock pot to high. Wait about 20 minutes and add the cubed Velveeta. Stir. Let Velveeta melt (about 15 to 20 minutes). Stir. Add the drained Rotel. Stir. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips by topping cheese with avocado slices and pico.
*Note: The time depends on your crock pot. Ours has three levels, keep warm (low), Low (medium) and high. If your dip is a bit too runny (or slides right off the chips!), you can thicken it by adding shredded Mexican Blend cheese. We used about a half cup.

My opinion:
The original Mag Mud is layered, this one isn’t. Other than that, I can’t think of a single thing wrong with it. So good!

Texas Two Step Chili

Posted on by aurorameyer


Texas Two Step Chili Quick Chili recipe by Aurora Meyer on aurorameyer.com

Texas Two Step Chili

With the frigid temperatures and nearly two feet of snow, we made a lot of soups this week. One of our favorites and one of the easiest is chili. At our local Schnucks, they have Cookwell & Company All Natural Texas Two Step Chili Mix. It smells heavenly in the jar. We combine it with a pound of ground beef to make the most amazing chili.
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Ingredients
  

  • One jar chili starter
  • pound ground beef
  • cayenne to taste optional
  • lime juice optional
  • shredded cheese such as cheddar or Mexican blend optional
  • tortilla chips optional

Instructions
 

  • Heat the jar of sauce in a sauce pot over medium heat. Brown the beef. Drain. Add to sauce pot of chili. Cover. Let cook at least an hour. The longer cooking time means the flavors meld more.

Notes

My opinion:
J likes to add some cayenne pepper to give it a bit more spice. He also adds some lime juice and shredded cheese, but even without the additions, the chili is delicious. If you wanted to bulk up the vegetables you could add an onion and peppers.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Copycat Luby’s Tortilla Soup

Posted on by aurorameyer

Copycat Luby's Tortilla Soup by Dispatches from the Castle

The best tortilla soup is either at Luby’s in San Antonio or Magnolia’s in Austin. Seeing as how I no longer live in Texas, it was high time I learned to make this amazingly tasty, wonderful, cold winter night meal.

Copycat Luby's Tortilla Soup by Dispatches from the Castle

Copycat Luby's Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onions
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1 poblano pepper seeded and chopped
  • 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves we were out, it is winter after all!
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 avocado diced
  • tortilla chips broken

Instructions
 

  • In a large heavy pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, peppers, salt, cumin, and coriander for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice, and stir well. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Notes

We modified and put everything in the crockpot minus the tortilla chips and avocado. Let it cook on medium for about 6 hours. In the future, we’ll up the spices and use more jalapenos. It was very close to Luby’s version.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Don’t forget! #cookchat this Thursday, January 20 at noon! Hope to see you there!