I am sad to say that this is the last post in my Old El Paso Ambassador program. It has been so much fun and my whole family is pretty excited that we’ve been eating Mexican food more often. I hope that you have gotten a few tips and see that Mexican food can be easy (thus their hashtag You-Mexi-CAN!). This month they threw us a bit of a curve ball. The threw down the challenge to go to a local Mexican restaurant, take pictures and then come home and recreate one of the dishes you ordered at home.
Sounds easy, right? Well, Dewey and I decided to try out Calgary’s newest Mexican restaurant, Xcolat. I must admit that I didn’t know *that* much about it before we got there. Then we looked at the menu and everything was very high end and very avant garde. I had hoped I would be making Enchiladas Verdes at home since they are my fave!
When I had to decide what to make at home, it was a bit difficult. I love ceviche but Evan would not touch it with a ten foot pole. Arugula spaghetti tasted great but not something I can make at home. Pineapple pearls? No. So, I decided to make the sope that they gave us as a taster at the start. It was delightfully delicious and I had half a hope that Evan would eat it.
I hit the Interwebs looking for a recipe that didn’t sound *too* hard. Many required many steps or ingredients that I just didn’t have. Finally I found a recipe that sounded more my speed. The sope at Xocolat was filled with refried beans, salsa and queso fresca. I could not find the cheese anywhere so I improvised. I also decided to make Papas con Chorizo as an additional filling. the results were so delicious that Dewey declared that it could be served in a restaurant and Evan ate three (which is a miracle since he eats about as much as an anorexic sparrow).
Shaping the Sopes.
While the sopes are a bit of work, they are definitely not difficult. I will be making these again and again because they are just that good. The picture below shows a sope filled with refried black beans, fresh salsa (recipe below) and jalapeno monterey jack cheese.
Sopes with Papas con Chorizo
A fantastic dish that is much easier to make than you might think.
Ingredients
Fresh Salsa
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 medium sweet onion, diced fine
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, diced small without membranes or seeds
- Juice of one lime
- Salt to taste
Sopes
- 3 cups Mesa Harina corn flour
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 Tbsp Salt
- Canola Oil for frying
Papas con Chorizo
- 300 grams fresh chorizo
- 5 red potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4" cubes
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice, we used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 jalepeno monterey jack
Optional Sope Toppings
- 1 can refried black beans or pinto beans, heated
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheese of your choice
Instructions
Fresh Salsa
- Mix chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, jalapeno and lime juice.
- Let marinate for at least 1 hour.
- Salt to taste. Great for a condiment on the sopes or with chips.
Papas con Chorizo
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove chorizo from casing and place in a 11X13 baking dish, cover with foil and place in the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until chorizo is fully cooked (no pink). Check after 10 minutes to make sure it isn't burning, though.
- Do not discard the fat that is released.
- Meanwhile, bring potatoes to a boil in a medium saucepan full of salted water.
- Cook until just starting to soften.
- Drain potatoes.
- Once chorizo is cooked, stir in potatoes, sprinkle on cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Set papas con chorizo aside to fill your sopes.
- [img src="https://merryabouttown.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Papas-con-Chorizo-620x348.jpg" alt="Papas con Chorizo" width="620" height="348" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6458"]
Sopes
- Mix mesa harina, water and salt in a medium bowl until well mixed and forming a soft dough.
- Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Turn out on to a surface lightly dusted with mesa harina and knead until completely mixed and starting to soften (about 5 minutes).
- Form a ball about as big as a golf ball and flatten it in your hand until it is 1/2 inch thick. Then form an indention in the middle to form a lip around the edge.
- [img src="https://merryabouttown.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Shaping-the-Sopes-620x620.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="620" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6459"]
- Drop formed sopes in to oil and fry until golden brown and crispy.
- [img src="https://merryabouttown.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Frying-the-Sopes-620x348.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="348" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6457"]
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 513Saturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 1631mgCarbohydrates: 61gFiber: 7gSugar: 4gProtein: 20g
Did I mention that Evan LOVES Sopes? Yep!
Don’t forget to check out the latest deals, recipes and news over at the Old El Paso Canada FB page. I’m sorry this ambassadorship is over but I hope you have seen that you Mexi….CAN. I would love to hear all about your adventures with Mexican food!
Disclosure – I am participating in the Old El Paso Blogger Campaign by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills, and received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Sheri Landry
Saturday 2nd of November 2013
These look amazing. My husband is a fantastic cook when it comes to Mexican so I'm sharing this with him. Fingers crossed that its on the menu this week.
SamiJoe
Thursday 31st of October 2013
These look really awesome! And I'll have to check that restaurant out too! We love Mexican but I know we've never eat some of those things!