Texas Tijuana Taco Pasta

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Each Thursday my husband refuses to take lunch to office and my daughter finds every excuse to go to dad’s office. All for “Texas Tijuana Taco Penne” which is served by the restaurant “Pasta Ya Gotcha” at their café. That is generally followed by him vigorously running at the gym to get rid of the 750 calls accumulated in one meal.

So one Thursday I relented to his repeated requests and drove down to his office to try it out. It helped that the chefs made it live and I could observe how they cooked. The taste was out of the world and I finally understood the lure of Thursday café lunch which so much enticed the rest of my family. So after careful analysis and couple of attempts I think I got it albeit in a more healthier form :)

Ingredients

1. 1 cup store bought dry pasta of your choice
2. 1 cup ground chicken (coarse keema)
3. 1tsp. minced garlic
4. 2 cups whole milk
5. 1/2 cup heavy cream
6. 1/2 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
7. 1tsp. all purpose flour
8. 2tsp. butter
9. 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
10. 1/2 cup chopped green onions
11. 3tbsp. readymade taco seasonings (amazon link)
12. Salt to taste

procedure

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the water and keep it ready.

In frying pan melt butter and add ground chicken to it. Fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes and remove them.

Heat rest of the butter and add minced garlic to it. Don’t forget to reduce the heat to low else it will turn brown.

Add one teaspoon flour to it and fry on medium heat for few seconds. Now pour milk and cream to it.Mix well so that it doesn’t have any lump inside. Bring them to a boil while stirring continuously.

While the sauce is boiling add half of the cheese and cooked ground chicken to it and allow it to simmer till it thickens. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and taco spices. You can make the sauce in advance and keep it refrigerated. In that case you have to warm up the sauce just before.

Take the cooked pasta on a pasta bowl and pour ladleful of sauce over it. Top it up with grated cheese and green onions.

You can dump the drained pasta in the sauce  and mix it well. Garnish with cheese and green onions.

Shrimp Enchiladas – Indian Style

When my dad came to visit us in the US, we went on couple of road trips. One was to a nearby Bavarian village at Leavenworth. Since he doesn’t like to experiment with food, I was a bit worried about how he’d take to the local fare. I steered clear off European food. It's a common consensus that Mexican and Indian food has a similar taste and hence I headed to a local Mexican restaurant which our hotel’s receptionist recommended.

My dad just loved the fresh tortilla and black beans served along with the enchiladas and referred to it as “daal rooti”. He was enraged that they’d not just serve the “daal rooti” and we are forced to have the enchiladas as well. As with most senior citizen logic had little bearing.

After we came back, I made his new found love multiple times, obviously Indianizing it a bit. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients For Sauce

1. 1/4  cup tomato ketchup
2. 1 tsp. paprika or Kashmiri chili powder
3. 1 tsp. minced garlic
4. 1/2 tsp. black pepper power
5. 1 tsp. corn starch
6. Salt to taste

Procedure For Making Sauce

In a mixing bowl mix all ingredients other than the corn starch with 3 cups of water. Transfer the content in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat. Mix it well and taste the salt whether it is rightly balanced or not. Adjust accordingly. Now in a small bowl mix the cornstarch with 2 tbsp. of water. Slowly add the corn starch mixture to the boiling sauce. Stir it continuously to avoid formation of the lump.Once you add the corn starch you will see the sauce becomes thick. Remove from the heat and keep it for later use.

Ingredients for Black Bean

1. 1 cup dry black turtle bean soaked in water for 2-3 hrs.
2. 1 tsp. chopped ginger
3. 1 tsp. chopped garlic
4. 1 tsp. chopped onion
5. 1 tsp. sugar
6. Salt to taste

Procedure For Making Black Bean

In a pressure cooker add the drained beans and all ingredients listed above with 2 cups of water. Cook it on high heat till the first whistle. Now reduce the heat and cook it for another 20 minutes. Wait till the pressure releases on its own. Remove the lid and check the seasoning. Adjust accordingly. If it is little watery crank up the heat and allow the excess water to evaporate. I sprinkled about a tsp. of Bengali garam masala powder over it.

Note: Alternatively you can use store bought ready to use canned black beans.

Ingredients For Stuffing

1. 15-20 medium sized shrimp cleaned and cut into bite size pieces   
2. 1 medium onion finely chopped
3. 1 tsp. grated ginger and garlic
4. 1/4 cup chopped carrot
5. 1/2 cup chopped cabbage
6. 1 tsp. black pepper powder
7. Salt to taste.

Procedure for making the stuffing

Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a frying pan and add chopped ginger garlic to it. sauté for a while. Now add chopped onion to it fry on medium heat till it turns pink. Next add shrimp pieces. Season with salt and black pepper and fry it all together for about a minute. Add the chopped vegetables and toss them really well. Give it a taste test and adjust. Cook till the vegetables are done. Remove and keep it aside.

Ingredients for Salsa

1. 2 large ripe tomatoes
2. 3-4 jalapeño pepper deseeded
3. 1/2 cup cilantro (coriander leaves)
4. 1 medium onion
5. 2 clove of garlic
6. Juice of one lime
7. Salt

Procedure of making Salsa

In a food processor take all of these ingredients and coarsely chop them. Now transfer the content in a serving bowl. Your salsa is all set to go.

Things you need to bring everything together

1. 8 corn tortillas
2. 400 gm. sour cream (You can use hung curd alternatively)
3. Shredded parmesan cheese
4. 2 large avocado ( Remove the huge seed and scoop out the flesh inside. Make a smooth paste of it. Season with little salt.)

Bring them all together

Pre heat oven or 350F.

Brush little oil on both sides of each tortilla and heat them up in microwave for 30 seconds. This makes the tortillas more pliable. Spoon some shrimp mixture in each tortilla and fold over. Place them seam side down on a oven proof serving plate.Top them up with enchilada sauce and shredded cheese. Keep a spoonful of black bean in one side of the plate. Bake the enchilada for about 15 minutes till the cheese melts.

Garnish with salsa, avocado and a dollop of sour cream before you serve.