Muy Bueno Cookbook Spotlight & Cookoff: Lick It Up

Welcome to Week 2 of the Muy Beuno Cookbook Spotlight & Cook-Off hosted by Heather of Girlichef.

It's blogger's choice this week, so anything can happen!  And happen it will.

Check out the list of participants here for all the dishes made this week.

Next week will be the wrap-up with a review from each blogger.

Silly me.  Did I mention there are giveaways?  Hippocrene has allowed for each and every participant in the Cookoff to give away one copy of  Muy Bueno Cookbook: Three Generations of Authentic Mexican Flavors by Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, Veronica Gonzalez-Smith, and Evangelina Soza.

I'll have a giveaway here next week.

So with all that business taken care of, let's get down to some other business.

Last week I mentioned that my son doesn't like mushrooms.  I failed to also point out that he doesn't care for  scrambled eggs either.  And I went and served mushroom salsa over scrambled eggs like the mean mom I am.

Vengeance.  Eye for an eye.  Get even.  Paysie-backsies.

Ever since he saw beef tongue in a corner store The Boy's been begging (taunting) me to try it.  Tongue is actually quite popular around here and is usually served on sandwiches.

But I've never had it.  Nor have I even thought about wanting to have it.  I've always said I don't want to taste anything that can taste me back.

Along comes The Boy, a strange mix of picky and adventurous eater, to seek his revenge for all the times I served mushrooms, scrambled eggs, French fries, mashed potatoes, grits, tomato pie.

He'll tell you that revenge is a dish best served on tortillas.  Homemade tortillas.

Beef Tongue With Tomato (Lengua Entomada): The Husband handled the tongue because he knew if I worked with it, I wouldn't eat.  And he knows if I don't eat, I get cranky.  And if I get cranky everybody better look out.  He's a smart guy.

He made this let the crockpot make this while I was at work.  I came home to a house that did not smell like tongue--though I don't really know what tongue smells like since neither my nose or my tongue reaches that far.  (Did you just stick out your tongue to see if it reached your nose?)

My house smelled like pot roast.

The tongue was much, much more tender than I imagined--almost like eating veal.  But let's pretend I didn't just say that since eating veal seems villianous.  It tasted like a rich, slow cooked pot roast.  And everything was fine until The Boy started jumping around yelling, "This tongue is awesome!  Awesome!  I'm eating tongue and it's delicious!  Tongue!  Tongue!  Look some bumps.  Taste buds?  I love tongue!"  Then I got a little bit skeeved out.

But.  But, people.  The leftovers were very good.  So good I didn't get skeevy once.  Sitting in the fridge, lapping up all the tomato, onion, and garlic, the tongue was even better leftover.

I had to serve something besides tongue, right?  These Jalapenoes with Soy Sauce caught my eye since they are easy, have very few ingredients, and used ingredients I already had.

A friend gave me a huge bag of miscellaneous peppers, so I used them.

Jalapenos With Soy Sauce (Jalapenos Toredos): A mix of jalapenos, banana peppers, and whatevers were used.  This recipe was super easy and produced an unusual and unexpected side dish.  The buttery soy sauce was salty and velvety and just plain good.  The only issue I had was that the peppers are cooked with the sauce in foil.  What drew me to the recipe in the first place was the picture in the Muy Beuno Cookbook...the char-like marks on the peppers made them look so good.  But, really, they are steamed in the foil and don't develop the browning that the picture shows.  After the peppers cooked through, I popped them under the broiler to get a bit of a tan.  That did the trick.  I tripled the recipe and was glad I did.

Beef Tongue With Tomato (Lengua Entomada)
from Muy Bueno Cookbook: Three Generations of Authentic Mexican Flavor

2 1/2 to 3 pounds beef tongue
3 cups water
1 small onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons sea salt
gorditas (I used tortillas)

Sauce:
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled or diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup chopped white onion
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Prepare the tongue:
Place beef tongue, water, onion, garlic, and sea salt in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Once it's tender, take the tongue out of the stock to cool off.  Peel off the outer layer of skin when you are able to handle the tongue.  It's easier to take the skin off while the tongue is warm.  Dice tongue into 1/2 inch cubes and set aside.

Strain the stock and set aside.  It's always better to refrigerate the stock so you can skim the fat off and discard.  If you have a fat separator then you don't have to refrigerate.

Make Sauce:
Puree tomatoes in a food processor or blender and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes.  Add flour and stir for 2 minutes.  Add pureed tomatoes and let come to a boil as you stir.

Add diced tongue, 1/2 cup reserved stock, black pepper, and garlic powder.  Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes to thicken.  If it is too dry, you can add more stock, however, this recipe should not be runny if using for filling gorditas.

If using for gorditas, fill each gorditas with about 1-2 tablespoons of the prepared tongue and garnish with cilantro 

* We made soft tacos, topping them with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese.



Jalapenos With Soy Sauce (Jalapenos Toredos)
from Muy Bueno Cookbook: Three Generations of Authentic Mexican Flavor

5 jalapenos
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place jalapeno peppers on a piece of foil and drizzle with soy sauce and butter.  Wrap tightly and place packet on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.
*I placed the opened packet under the broiler to brown the peppers.


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*This post is part of the Muy Bueno Cookbook Spotlight & Cook-Off sponsored by Hippocrene and hosted at girlichef* 

*I was provided with a free copy of the cookbook.  Opinions, images, and bad puns are all my own.*
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 Also linking with:

Food on Friday: Offal @ Carole's Chatter