I keep wondering how Rick Bayless can come up with such simple recipes that taste so complex and wonderful.

The pork and potatoes in this recipe took about 15 minutes to prepare and then simmered in the slow-cooker for 6 hours.

I bet you could cut up the make the guajillo sauce, cut the pork shoulder and potooes the night before. Then wake up, throw everything in the cooker and come home to a great dinner with no effort.

Sounds good to me.

Cube pork shoulder and wedged Yukon Gold potatoes:

Canned tomatoes, garlic, oregano, Worcestershire and toasted guajillo chiles:

Everything together:

After 6 hours:

Garnished with onions and cilantro:

Guajillo Chiles:

Toasted and pureed:

Some Monterrey Jack and Quesadilla Cheeses:

Corn Tortillas:
Chile base simmering with chicken broth:

Tortillas filled with shredded rotisserie chicken:

Top with Chile Sauce:

And Cheese:

Bake until golden and delicious:

I honestly can't say I've been so pleased with something so simple.

Pureed chipotle chiles en adobo:

Carmelized onions:

Combine those with some skirt steak and salsa:

This is the reason I love Mexican food and Mexican Everyday.

The idea that something so simple can taste so wonderful.

I'm going to be honest here. This one didn't live up to my expectations.

I can't really say what what it was but it just didn't click for me.

It sounds great and I would probably try it again but this is the first time that something from Mexican Everyday wasn't perfect.

Oh well. You can't win them all, right.

Here are the chicken breasts cooking with some oil, garlic and ancho chile powder.

Next time I'll try the Yucatecan version using achiote paste and some lime juice.

Here is everything getting all cozy and warm together (chicken, onions, rice, and beans):

Final Dish topped with some store bought chipotle salsa:

FYI: We got a 6 quart dutch oven for Christmas and it as proved very valuable for the recipes from Mexican Everyday. It's perfect for the rice being that it is oven proof and it's big enough for the soups and one dish dinners like this one. I don't know how we would have cooked many of these without it.

When I was younger I hated salad. Every time we went out to eat and the waitress asked what kind of dressing I would like on my side salad, I would lean over and ask my mom what she likes. Because I sure as heck didn't care. You probably could have coated it with chocolate and caramel and I wouldn't have eaten it.

Nowadays I can eat a salad. It's not my favorite food by far but I can finish a bowl in mixed company to look sophisticated.

However, I actually like spinach salads. Much more than anything with iceberg or romaine lettuce.

15 years ago, my mom would have laughed at the notion of me eating a salad with onions and mushrooms. Who would have thought I actually enjoyed it.

The salad is simple enough to make. Roast the chorizo, mushrooms (oyster here), and onions in the oven. Toss with salad spinach and drizzle the dressing on top.

So after a week off we come back with a great taco recipe.

I don't like mushrooms. Never have, probably never will. Something about the texture and flavor and smell and well, everything.

However, even to me, chorizo, potatoes, and mushrooms seem to make a perfect match.

Simple enough to make: Cook some chorizo. Add some onion and mushrooms. (shiitake here)

Throw in some grated potatoes:

Cook till potatoes are soft, serve with tortillas and in this case salsa verde:

I also made some well-fried black beans, not to be confused with RE-fried beans.

I decided to use a couple of cans of black beans and cook them with some vegetable oil and a couple of cloves of garlic. Delish:

Next time I'll use some home-cooked beans and maybe some bacon drippings and see if I can notice a difference.

There you have it. And even though I'm not a mushroom fan these were great. The chorizo and potatoes blended with the mushrooms so well I cound't help but like them.

Next time we'll continue with the chorizo and mushroom idea and look at a great salad.

Slow Cooked Chicken with onions, potatoes, cilantro, tomatillos and jalapenos.

This is a simple chicken salad that is reminiscent of a chicken Caesar salad.

Grilled chicken with a lime, garlic, chile, and cilantro glaze that doubles as a dressing.

Which is just enough to give a good flavor without over powering the whole salad, as Caesar dressing tends to do.

Add guacamole and some cheese and you have an easy, delicious and healthy meal.

I'd make it again and I don't even like salad that much.

Tortilla Soup.

Simple, easy and delicious on cold winter night.

This is the soup base consisting of a toasted pasilla chile, can of diced tomatoes, onion, and garlic that had been blended.

The pasilla was perfect and gave the soup a nice flavor. Next time I think we'll try an ancho chile or chipotle for some spice.

Add the chicken broth and let it do it's thing.

The recipe called for a sprig of fresh epazote at this point, however I have not been able to track any down here yet.

Definitely will have to get some before the next batch.

Shredded Chihuahua cheese.

Cheese, tortilla chips and guacamole waiting for the soup to come and make it a party.

Final product. Oh yeah, there is chicken in there too.

You'll see some black flecks on top of the soup. That is another toasted pasilla chile that has been crumbled on top of the soup.

Rick says it's more common to crush the chile pod over the finished soup than to add chile to the base. He does both in his restaurants.

I definitely recommend doing both.

Chicken tacos are a staple around our house.

About 3-4 times a month we'll grab some chicken, taco seasoning, flour tortillas, and some canned black beans.

That was good and worked for us.

Until now.

The rice was dead simple and the convenience of finishing it in the oven can't be beat.

 

I think next time we'll leave out the peas. My wife isn't much of a pea fan and I can go either way.

Here are some pan-roasted tomatillos and garlic about to get salsafied. Fresh salsa works better as seasoning for tacos as opposed to some packet of spices. Everything tastes so much more fresh and healthy.

Poblano chiles getting the flame roasted treatment.

Sometimes we'll get some bell peppers and do a fajita style taco, which is kinda what we have going on here.

The poblanos, however, taste much better.

Here we have the roasted poblanos mixed with some sauteed onion and the chicken. MMMM....

Here is the finished product. With some added Monterrey Jack cheese and sour cream to finish it off.

Also, I learned corn tortillas taste so much better than flour.