Coconut - Glorious Coconut

I love coconut. I love it fresh, dried in trail mix, drenched in chocolate, and in chewy macaroons. I just made this custard again a few days ago and I wanted to share it and a few other Mexican coconut recipes.

Before we get to the recipes here's a tip for removing coconut from the shell if you want to use your own shredded coconut in any recipes.

Bake the coconut in a 400 degree oven for ten to fifteen minutes. Wrap the baked coconut in a towel, and tap it with a hammer all over. This loosens the meat from the shell. Use a vegetable peeler to scrape off the brown skin before grating the meat.

Cocada (Coconut Custard)

2 cup sugar
2 cup water
3 inches stick cinnamon, broken up
1/2 cup flaked coconut
3 cups milk
4 eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp toasted sliced almonds

In uncovered 2-quart saucepan simmer sugar, water, and cinnamon for 10 minutes. Remove and discard cinnamon pieces.

Add coconut and cook, uncovered, about 5 minutes or till syrup is nearly absorbed, stirring frequently.

Stir in 2 1/2 cups of the milk; cook till mixture is hot.

In bowl beat eggs with remaining 1/2 cup milk. Slowly stir about 1 cup of the hot mixture into egg mixture and stir together quickly. Stir egg mixture into coconut mixture in saucepan.

Cook and stir till mixture thickens slightly but does not boil. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart bowl or individual serving dishes; chill.

Before serving, whip cream and add a dollop to each serving of pudding. Garnish with almonds, if desired.

Serves 8 - 10


Limes filled with Cocada

This one is a bit more complicated but worth the effort!
It's a unique way to serve cocada and will impress even the most accomplished chef.

16 Mexican limes (limónes) or Key Limes
1 tbsp baking soda
3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups water
Coconut Filling (Cocada) (see above recipe)

In a medium saucepan, cover limes with water and simmer, covered, until slightly softened—about 20 minutes.

Pour the contents of the saucepan into a clay pot. Sprinkle with the baking soda, cover, and let stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, drain the limes. Cut a small slice from the top of each and carefully hollow them out. Discard the pulp and return the limes to the clay pot with enough hot water to cover. Cover with a dishtowel and a tight-fitting lid. Let stand overnight again.

The next day, drain the water and replace it with fresh hot water. Let stand, covered, as above.

Repeat this process for 3 or 4 days, until the limes are no longer bitter.

Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the limes, simmering until the syrup is quite thick. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

Let cool overnight. To serve, remove the limes from the syrup and fill with Cocada.


Enjoy!

Linda

You can find all of these recipes and tons more Mexican Food Recipes at my Cook Mexican Food Website.

Make Mexican Rice in 5 Minutes

Mexican rice can be a quick and easy side dish that can go on the table in just a few minutes when you use 5 minute rice instead of rice that takes for ever to cook.

This is how I make it at home when time is short and I need a tasty side dish.

5 Minute Mexican Rice

1 16 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 tsp ground cumin
1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tbsp adobo sauce
2 cups 5 minute rice (like Minute Rice)

Place chipotle pepper, adobo sauce and 1/4 cup of chicken stock in a blender and puree until thoroughly blended.

In a medium size pot, heat crushed tomatoes, remaining chicken stock, chipotle pepper mixture and cumin to boiling.

Stir in 2 cups of 5 minute rice. Remove from heat and let rice sit for 5 minutes.
Fluff rice and serve.

Adjust heat of the rice by adjusting the quantity of chipotle and adobo sauce used.

Enjoy!

Get more free Mexican Recipes at our Cook Mexican Food Website.

Choose Jicama for Low Calorie Snacks and Salads

Jicama (pronounced HEE-ca-ma) and also known as Mexican Potato or Mexican Turnip is a delicious white fleshed vegetable used in many mexican salads.

Jicama is a crispy, sweet turnip-shaped root vegetable with a light brown skin and is dieter's delight. Two cups of jicama has only 45 calories, no fat and tons of vitamin C.

When shopping for jicama look for smaller specimens. As a jicama grows, the natural sugars turn to starch which can make the vegetable taste more like a potato and less like a sweet, crispy fruit.

Larger jicama are great to use in stews and soups but the smaller ones are wonderful in salads and eaten raw as a snack.

I love the white jicama flesh against the backdrop of bright red beets and orange carrots in this salad:

Jicama Salad

1 lb (2 small) jicama, peeled
2 large beets, trimmed and peeled
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch lengths
1 can mandarin orange segments
zest from 1 lime
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, julienne the jicama, beets, and carrots and combine in a large bowl.

Drain the mandarin oranges, reserving liquid, and add orange segments to bowl with jicama.
Whisk the lime zest and juice into 1/4 cup of the mandarin orange liquid. While whisking, drizzle in the oil to make smooth vinaigrette.

Pour the vinaigrette over jicama mixture, toss to coat, and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the jicama salad to a platter and sprinkle with the peanuts.

If you find the vinaigrette a bit tart for your tast, add a drop or two of honey to make it sweeter to your taste.

Enjoy!

You can find this and tons more Mexican recipes at www.cook-mexican.com

Mexican Corn Lasagne Makes a Great Weekend Meal

If you love lasagne like I do, you'll love this Mexican corn lasagne recipe.

It is quicker to make than an Italian lasagne because there are no noodles to pre-cook. You use tortillas direct from the package and which saves lots of time.

Make this Mexican meal ahead to serve on a busy weeknight or serve it as a great weekend meal.

Mexican Corn Lasagne

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 18 oz can whole kernel corn
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup piquant sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
16 oz cottage cheese (low fat or regular)
2 slightly beaten eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
12 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese
1 tsp saltpepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown meat with the onion, salt and pepper. Drain the meat and then add corn, tomato sauce, piquant sauce, chili powder and cumin. Simmer, stirring frequently until everything is heated through. Set aside.

Combine cottage cheese, eggs, parmesan cheese, oregano and garlic powder. Mix well.
Arrange 6 tortillas on bottom and up the sides of lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish, overlapping as necessary.

Top with half the meat mixture. Spoon all of the cheese mixture over meat. Arrange remaining tortillas over cheese, overlapping as necessary. Top with remaining meat mixture and then cover entire dish with shredded Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

You can get this and other recipes sent direct to your email inbox by subscribing to my Cook Mexican Recipes Newsletter.

Linda
Cook Mexican

Mexican Cooking Recipes Delivered to Your In-Box

Hey! We forgot to mention in our last post that we've changed the Cook Mexican Newsletter too. Twice a week, we're sending amazing and delicious Mexican recipes directly to our subscribers email inbox.

Every weekend, just before the start of another busy week, subscribers to the Cook Mexican newsletter receive a quick and easy Mexican recipe that will get great tasting and nutritious food on the table FAST!

Then, later in the week, our newsletter goes out again - this time the recipe(s) will be perfect for weekend fiestas and parties and Mexican recipes for when there is a little more time for more complex Mexican meals (complete with leftovers for the week ahead).

Of course, we also post all of the Mexican recipes that we send out in our newsletters to our website for everyone to enjoy!

Cook Mexican Now Dedicated Solely to Mexican Recipes

We've just finished our website redesign! We've changed the focus of Cook Mexican so that it is now dedicated to serving up the finest Mexican food recipes on the internet.

We're still in the process of adding hundreds of Mexican recipes but we'd like to invite you to pay us a visit and tell us what you think.

Here's a small sample of the recipes you'll find already on the site:

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips
Canned Tomato Salsa
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Classic Margarita
Frozen Strawberry Margaritas
Chicken Tamales
Ice Cream and Bananas
More Mexican Recipes

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