Monday, November 21, 2011

Enfrijoladas

Last week when I smoked the two pork butts, you might have noticed one had the typical reddish BBQ rub on it but the other was looking a little "green".


No, it wasn't a moldy, "special buy because it went out of date two days ago" piece of pork.  I was trying out Albukirky Seasonings new Green Chile Rub. 


Kirk is a fellow Egghead and food blogger who, about a year ago, started his own line of seasonings and rubs that boast the flavor of New Mexico.

This green chile rub is a blend of the famous Hatch chiles, sea salt, garlic, black pepper and other seasonings.  Don't worry about the word chile, it is not spicy as much as it is flavorful.   The rub has an even blend of fine and medium grinds so it has texture to it.  Don't think of it as a BBQ rub per se, it is more of a multipurpose seasoning.  The aroma smells strongly of garlic and black pepper but the taste is well balanced once cooked onto food.


So far I have used it on grilled chicken and on a smoked pork butt, both were very good.  The pork still had the smoked flavor and nice bark but it had a unique Southwestern flair to it.  I have used it this week to make tamales, the fried tamale bites, "green eggs & pork", pork tacos, and tonight, I made enfrijoladas.

What the heck are enfrijoladas?  A week ago I would have had no clue either.  Honestly, I would have thought it was a made up word from Taco Bell's marketing department.

But I saw them TWICE in one weekend at Girlichef (who has never let me down) and Mexico in my Kitchen and knew I HAD to try them.  Click the links for their recipes as I am not posting one, but they are fried corn toritillas dipped in a spicy bean sauce and stuffed with kickin' meat (chicken, pork, or beef, doesn't matter).  

I used black beans, garlic, dried cayenne, and cilantro for my seasonings.


The fried tortillas start to get crispy...


But dipping them into the bean sauce kind of softens them up, resulting in a nice combination of textures.  I should have garnished more but was hungry so I just sprinkled them with cotija cheese.  

Proof that most comfort food isn't photogenic....but it has a nice personality and rocks.
They might not look pretty and that is one of the worst plating/food styling/food photography shots I have done in a while.....but guess what....I don't care.  They were freaking excellent.  All 4 of us were moaning grunts of approval as we devoured them.  I can't believe I've never heard of these things before.

Oh yeah, back to the rub.  Albukirky Seasonings Green Chile Rub definitely works for me and I'll be buying some more.  Speaking of that, you can get it cheaper than I did because it's now on sale.  Kirk has marked it down from $7.99 to $5 a bottle (his other rubs and sauces are on sale too).  Link to Albukirky Seasonings

[Standard Disclaimer]  I pay full price for my Albukirky Seasonings and receive no compensation from them.  Kirk is an online acquaintance and fellow Egghead but that is it.  Based on legal counsel's advice, I cannot comment on rumors that Kirk has compromising photos of me at last year's Eggfest.