Gourstada, as in gourmet tostada.

Tostadas have to be one of the easiest and quickest meal or snack to make.  We make some sort of variation of a tostada meal at the very least once a week. Whether it’s our huevos rancheros, a simple bean and cheese, or loaded with random delicious it always proves to satisfy.

On this tostada we used almost all home grown vegetables! Starting from the top- straight from the garden, 3 anchos, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil were combined with balsamic vinegar and salt to make a fresh Italian inspired salad. Just beneath baby bella mushrooms sauteed in plum sauce with home grown kale. Below that are black beans warmed with fresh jalapeno from… you guessed it, our garden!  And of course at the base of it all are El Ranchero’s tostadas.

Ingredients : cherry tomatoes, basil, ancho, balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, baby bellas, kale, plum sauce, black beans, jalapenos, El Ranchero tostadas, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.

At the base of most our our tostadas we use some sort of bean, in this one we used black beans- no, we did not grow them. However the jalapenos were fresh cut from the pot, our first actual harvest of peppers all year! We may have picked these jalapenos a little soon, but they have been growing for quite a while & we just wanted to try them. There are plenty more where they came from; our jalapeno & “red” chili pepper pot is growing like crazy. So many peppers to go. Now, if only these supposed red chilis would turn red. Back to the black beans and jalapenos- drain black beans and simmer on low heat with diced jalapenos while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Next prepare your salad for the top.  We used all the red cherry tomatoes from our garden, which was about ten and an additional handful from our organic produce delivery. They were chopped in quarters from the top making small wedges, a perfect bite size for this dish.

3 anchos were hollowed out, sliced in thin rings and then halved. They were the largest of our peppers so far, although they probably would have grown a little bigger; we felt it was time to cut them down as the slender stems could barely hold them up anymore and were not producing any more flowers. They were perfect for this meal though, very crisp and had a nice mild spice to them.  The basil was sliced into thin strips as well. All ingredients were combined and tossed with some balsamic vinegar and kosher salt to taste.  Set aside and refrigerate until serving time.

The last step in preparation for this meal is the mushroom kale layer.  First chop kale into small pieces.  Remove the stem from the center and slice or tear the leaf into small bits.  Set aside and slice the mushrooms, in a large frying pan heat up a 2-3 tablespoons of plum sauce and a splash of olive oil, sautee mushrooms coating them with the plum sauce flavoring.  Toss in kale and saute a bit more. Once they are done cooking it’s time to plate your tostada.  Remove from heat and get ready to assemble your meal.

Joe and I made 4 tostadas, 2 each and it was the absolute perfect amount.  We were both completely full but not even a little bit over stuffed!

To assemble : lay El Ranchero tostadas on the plate, add beans and jalapenos, sprinkle with cheese if desired- we used a mixture of shredded cheddar and mozzarella because that’s what we had. Next make a layer of the mushroom and kale with plum sauce and top it off with your fresh ancho, basil, and tomato salad.

Generally we think of tostadas as being a mexican flavored dish, we still used a lot of the same traditional ingedients (beans, corn tostada, tomatoes, and jalapenos) but introduced some completely different flavors to the dish as well. I really enjoyed this combination because the bottom layer of beans was a bit spicy and totally cooked, the middle layer was cooked a bit but still somewhat fresh with sweetness of the plum sauce, and the top layer of salad was also a bit spicy and flavored with basil but very fresh. It’s an odd mix of flavors but they all add something interesting to the dish and complement each other quite nicely.

I can’t believe it took me this long to experiment with tomatillos!   Seriously, I have always loved salsa verde and have wanted to try making it for a long time.  Something about the mysteriously wrapped green tomato has always been intriguing to me but I was never exactly sure how to use them. I would eye them at the grocery store every time and pass them by instead of picking them up.   But this past trip to the market was different, we finally brought tomatillos home to use!

It’s possible that i might be a little too excited about these green relatives of the tomato, there have been recent reports of me talking in my sleep about them! “Tomatillos are so beautiful, they’re a real treat!”  – it’s true whether i’m awake or asleep i do feel like they are a beautiful treat.  Making our first tomatillo sauce was so much fun, full of surprises, and super easy!

Because this was the first time we have ever used tomatillos I can’t claim to know the best way to make a salsa verde.  However, without using a recipe it turned out absolutely delicious anyway.  As usual, improv salsa was a great success!  I cannot wait to do it again….

Ingredients used…
About 10 medium tomatillos
About 20 sprigs of cilantro leaves
3 jalapeños chopped with seeds
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
juice of 2 limes
kosher salt to taste

el ranchero chips

I did a little research to see how other people make this sauce; almost everyone said that they roasted the tomatillos before blending.  I bet it’s not difficult to do and I’m sure it’s delicious, but roasting is for next time, this time I chose to boil them instead.

When I unwrapped the papery shell from the tomatillos I noticed that they were very sticky and greasy, so I washed them before blanching.  Place tomatillos in a pot of water, bring to a boil for about 5 minutes.  I was surprised to find that the color changed so much once they heated up.  It made a lot of sense because it resembled the color I’m more use to seeing in a salsa verde.  I used the color change as an indicator of when they were cooked enough.   Strain the water and let them cool while you prepare the other ingredients.

Collect the cilantro leaves from the sprigs, skip this step if you’re lazy and blend the whole stem.  Cut jalapeños and crush garlic.   3 Jalapenos made it very spicy, so beware, include less seeds if you prefer it to be less spicy. Sautee garlic and jalapeños in oil to mellow flavor.  Set aside.

Remove stem base from the blanched tomatillos with a knife.  Place all other parts (seeds, juice, and skin) in a blender. Add cilantro, jalapeno, & garlic. Squeeze lime juice in to the mix and blend.  Add salt to taste and enjoy with El Ranchero chips or add it to any meal for an extra kick!

Huevos Rancheros can be served in many different forms. It seems as though every restaurant has their own way of preparing essentially the same meal.  This is because there are many ways to make this concept delicious! The staple ingredients of Huevos Rancheros include tortilla, eggs, sauce/salsa, avocado and beans. Joe and I make this meal frequently and have about 4 or 5 different “preferred” ways to do it. This particular style is referred to “huevos rancheros, B-style” or “huevos rancher-B’s”  (soon to come- Huevos Rancher-Joe’s and Eggs Arhar Daal).

B- style rancheros require crispy corn tostadas to be stacked vertically. We use 2 fried eggs, shredded cheese (usually cheddar), homemade salsa, avocado, black beans & spinach.   If you didn’t make your own salsa use another delicious salsa and add some diced tomatoes to freshen it up.

Ingredients : Tostadas, black beans, spinach, 2 eggs, salsa, cheese, avocado,

Begin with preparing your black beans. Drain one can of beans and add frozen or fresh spinach, warm up. Spinach is good for you, add as much as you’d like.  We also like to add a bit of cayenne pepper or black pepper, cumin, and a dash of cinnamon for some extra spice.   Other ingredients to consider are mushrooms, corn, artichoke hearts, and edamame.

Next get your plate ready with one tostada and some cheese on it.   Begin frying your eggs (we fry four at once for two dishes), once eggs are flipped put your first layer of beans & spinach on the tostada.  Place one egg on the first layer of beans.   Add another tostada and repeat with another layer of beans, the 2nd egg and another sprinkle of cheese.  Top it off with some salsa and avocado.  Serve with a glass of orange juice and eat with a fork & knife… or if you’re like me you prefer a Spork for almost everything.

Salsa is one of the most obvious and easy snacks, especially when you can just pour it out of a jar or pick up a fresh batch from your local grocer.  But wait!  That salsa has onions in it! This situation comes up frequently; almost all salsas and guacamole contain onions, lots of fresh onions (the worst). Bummer.  Have no fear, making your own salsa can be easy and will most certainly be fresher and taste better.   We make a fresh salsa at least once a week. The recipe always varies slightly and is never disappointing.  It’s actually much cheaper than buying a jar of salsa and you end up with a lot more if you make it yourself.  You really can’t lose with this one.  Here is an idea on how to make your own….

In this salsa we used :: 4 tomatoes, 1 medium cucumber, 1 yellow pepper & 1 red pepper, jalapeño, limes, salt, cilantro, garlic, and NO onions.  Looks can be deceiving; the cucumber kind of looks like onion for those who are expecting it ;)

Dice up all of your ingredients into small bits. Combine tomato, cucumber, peppers, & cilantro. Then add your flavor enhancers to taste, jalapeño, garlic, salt & lime.  Enjoy this refreshing snack.