Pork Chimichangas - an easy meal that tastes delicious

We discovered this one when we had left over pulled pork from a summer barbecue.  We wanted to use the pork but had enough sandwiches to last a lifetime and wanted to change things up.  We decided to go south of the border on this one and knocked it out of the park.  This is an easy dish to prepare and most likely you will have all the ingredients in your house already, except of course the pork, in which case chicken works just fine.  (editor's note: this goes quite well with a margarita or a cold cerveza)  Here is how I do it....

Servings: 2

Ingredients
2 Burrito size tortilla shells
1 large onion, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
1 lg clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 cups shredded pork (or cooked chicken/beef)
salt to taste
1 TB of cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic
shredded monterey jack cheese
queso sauce (recipe follows)
pico de gallo (recipe follows)

In a large skillet, saute the onions, peppers and garlic in 2 TB of vegetable oil until the veggies are tender (about 5 minutes at medium heat).  Next you will want to add the pulled pork and chicken broth.  Continue to stir until all of the ingredients are incorporated.  Next you will want to add the spices.  If you would like your chimi with a little heat, feel free to add some diced jalapeno or crushed red pepper.  Allow the pork mixture to cook at low heat for about 10-15 minutes to allow all those good flavors to get to know one another!

Next, brush both sides of the tortilla shells with vegetable oil...those sides are going to be the outside of your chimis.  Flip the tortilla over and place the pork mixture in the center of the tortilla (don't just plop it in the middle in a big ball...you will want to spread it evenly through the middle but not getting it close to the ends that you fold, to allow easy folding of the tortilla).  Once the pork is on the tortilla, place a handful of shredded monterey jack on top of the pork.  To fold the tortilla you will want to take the side closest to you and bring it over the pork and tuck it tightly under the pork before folding in the sides.  You will then slowly roll the tortilla away from you to make a nice tight chimi!
Place both pork chimis in a baking dish and bake (that's right, these are baked...not fried) at 450 for 10-15 minutes or until the tortilla is a very light golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Queso Sauce
2 TB flour
2 TB melted butter
1 cup of milk
1/2 lb of white american cheese
3 TB of jalapeno pickled juice

Melt the butter in a saute pan and add flour to make a roux.  Once the roux has become a very light tan color, slowly whisk in the milk.  Once the milk has begun to thicken you can start to add the cheese a little bit at a time stirring constantly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Once all the cheese has been added, you can add the jalapeno juice and take off the heat.


Pico De Gallo
1/4 cup diced onion
3 diced roma tomato
1 minced garlic
1 TB chopped cilantro (or parsley if you aren't a cilantro fan)
2 TB of lime juice

To essemble:  Cooked pork chimi's, queso sauce and pico.

Beef Soto

This is a great date night meal, or any special meal for that matter.  Now, most people would think that doing anything other than just grilling a filet is a crime but I challenge them to tell me this isn't delicious.  This will literally melt in your mouth if done correctly.  Here is how I do it...

Servings: 2
Ingredients
3 TB of butter plus 2TB later on
3 TB of flour
2 cups of chicken broth
1/4 cup of white wine
juice of 1 lemon
1 pint of fresh mushrooms, sliced and cooked
provel cheese (provelone if outside St. Louis)
bread crumbs
2 beef filets


To begin, season your filets with salt and pepper.  Place about 1 cup of bread crumbs in a shallow dish and lightly coat both filets with bread crumbs.  Set the filets aside until you are ready to cook them on the grill.
For the sauce, you will need to melt 3 TB of butter in a saute pan.  Once the butter has melted, add the flour...you are making a roux so keep stirring and cook long enough to allow the flour taste to cook out (about 2 minutes).  Grab a whisk and slowly add in the chicken broth.  You will want to continue to whisk until the roux has incorporated into the chicken broth.  Add the wine and the lemon juice and let it all come to a slow boil to allow the sauce to thicken a bit.  Once the sauce has thickened  you will want to taste it at this point and add salt and pepper to taste.  Add the mushrooms and keep the sauce on low just to stay warm while you grill the steaks.
You will want your grill at medium to high heat.  To ensure even cooking for your steaks, allow the steaks to come to room temperature before placing them on the grill.  For steaks that are 1 inch thick, allow them to cook 5-6 minutes per side for medium rare.  A good way to test the steaks are to push on them with your finger, the more firm it is...the more well done they are.  Remove steaks from grill and place them in an oven safe dish.  Pour the sauce equally over the steaks and then cover the tops of the steak with provel cheese.  Place them under the broiler until the cheese has melted and you can't wait any longer to sample it out!

Enjoy!

Picture Below