el Alce con Nopalitos (Elk and Prickly Pear)

In our travels to Mexico I have fallen in love with nopalitos.  I first had them in a tortilla with farmer cheese and a yummy different salsa.  They're supposed to be really good for you.  I went searching for the farmer cheese here and found some at the local grocer, but it was more aged, what I found in Mexico was more like a fresh cheese.  But I found nopalitos, in a jar.  Today I had elk steak thawing and Stan asked when we were going to eat the nopalitos.  The wheels started turning and this is what I came up with.  This goes really fast-the longest part was waiting for the rice to cook.

el Alce con Nopalitos

1 1/2 pounds elk steak, cut in small cubes

3 Tablespoons potato starch

1-2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 chipotle pepper, chopped

10-12 ounces chicken stock

12 ounce jar nopalitos, drained and rinsed (the jar I found had serrano peppers, cilantro and onion-bonus!)

Combine potato starch, salt and pepper; dredge elk in mixture. Brown in oil.  Add cilantro, chipotle and chicken stock.  Cook over medium heat until elk is done-5-7 minutes.  The combination of stock and potato starch make a nice sauce.  Add more stock if it gets more thick.  Add nopalitos and heat through.  Serve over rice, or in my case I served it over bean threads.  Stan had the rice and loved it, his exact words were, "Yeah, you can make this again."  High praise for Mr. Cool.

I think I can make it again, too!

Chicken Chipotle

Stan and I have a favorite Mexican restaurant in our area-Fiesta Mexicana.  These folks are from Jalisco and are super nice.  (And excellent cooks!)  Stan has been ordering their Chicken Chipotle and loving it.  This morning I got the bright idea to make the dish myself.  Google and I explored for a while and I grilled Stan on what was in the dish at the restaurant.  What I came up with is not a lot like what Fiesta makes, but excellent anyway, not to toot my own horn or anything!

Chicken Chipotle

2 canned chipotle peppers with a bit of the juice from the can

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 tsp cumin

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tsp honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, cubed (breasts will work, too)

1/2 onion, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced.

2 tablespoons oil

Salt and pepper the chicken and brown in the oil on medium high.  Lift out of the pan and cook the onion and pepper in the pan drippings.until the onion is tender and the pepper is tender-crisp.  While this is cooking, place the chipotle, cumin, lime juice, cilantro and honey in a food processor.  While the processor is running slowly pour in the cream.  When onion and pepper are ready, turn the heat to low medium and add the cream mixture to the skillet.  When it gets hot, add the cream cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.  And the chicken and cook until everything is heated through.  Taste and add more salt if needed.  Serve.

I served mine with rice that I cooked in chicken stock with a bit of cilantro, and refried black beans-one of my favorites.  Tortillas are nice, too, of course.

You can add more chipotles if you like, I might next time.  Stan likes his hotter than I do-I thought it was perfect, but I might be nice to him next time.  If you want to make it a little lighter you could substitute half and half and light cream cheese for the full fat stuff.  I don't think it would hurt the flavor at all.  It wasn't entirely allergy-friendly, there is a bit of tomato in the chipotles, but as long as it's cooked and I don't have too much at a time I can get away with it.  And the rice is something I usually don't eat, but this was a non-GMO rice so once again I allowed it.  I probably won't eat the rice again for a while but it was sure yummy tonight!  Oh, and I picked out the green peppers and gave them to Stan.  I'm not allergic, but my tummy isn't fond of them.