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Recipes > Main Dish Recipes from Mayan Beach Garden Restaurant

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:
2 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (beef or pork work just as well)
1 Large red Onion -- sliced into 1/4" inch strips
1 poblano pepper -- sliced into 1/4" thick strips
Marinade:
3 Cloves garlic -- minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 Teaspoon Oregano preferably Mexican
1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne or dried red pepper flakes
1/4 Teaspoon coarsely ground Black pepper
Salt to taste

3 tablespoon Lime juice
12 Corn Tortillas
Garnish:
Chopped fresh cilantro
chopped onion
Sour cream or Mexican cream
Salsa
Pico de gallo

Guacamole
Lettuce
Chopped tomatoes

Directions: Place chicken in a nonmetallic container. Top with onions and poblano strips. Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl; mix well and pour over meat and onions. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Remove the meat & onions from marinade, reserving the onions, peppers and marinade.

Place meat on hot grill, basting often with the marinade until done. Remove from heat. Sauté onion and peppers in hot oil - cook just until barely tender and remove from heat. Avoid over cooking and loosing the color in the peppers. When the chicken breasts are done, slice into thin strips and add to the skillet with sautéed vegetables. Heat corn tortillas quickly on the grill, watching and turning them often. Serve skillet mixture hot on the warm flour tortillas with your choice of sour cream, grated cheddar and jack cheese, fresh cilantro, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, salsa, and guacamole.

Servings: 4

Nutrition Per serving: 530 Calories (kcal); 12g Total Fat; (20% calories from fat); 59g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 132mg Cholesterol; 1500mg Sodium

Food Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 7 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates

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Salbutes
Salbutes

NOTES :Nothing typifies Yucatecan and Mayan cooking like Salbutes. These delicious snacks, sold in markets in Merida and other Yucatan towns, are small, "airy" tortillas with a variety of toppings, the most popular topping of all is shredded, cooked turkey or chicken. We serve it at Mayan Beach Garden with a small bowl of soup or beans and fresh fruit for a delicious lunch. SALBUTES ARE FEATURED IN THE TORTILLA 201 CLASS AT MAYAN BEACH GARDEN

Ingredients for masa
2 1/4 cups masa harina -- (Quaker, Maseca, etc.)
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

Vegetable oil for frying

Ingredients for pickled red onions
2 red onions -- peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano -- (optional)
salt and pepper -- to taste

Toppings
1
cup shredded cabbage or lettuce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 cups cooked turkey or chicken -- shredded
2 Roma tomatoes -- sliced
Avocado slice for each salbute -- (optional)

Directions for Masa: Mix the first four ingredients until they are well blended. Divide the dough into 12 equal size balls and press them lightly in a waxed paper lined tortilla press. They should be smaller and thicker than regular tortillas, about 1/8" thick and 2 1/2"-3" in diameter. In a deep skillet, fry them on both sides in hot lard or oil. They will inflate as they cook. Remove each one as it inflates and drain well on paper towels.

Directions for the pickled red onion: Place onions in a saucepan, add water to cover, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Place the onions in a glass container with lime juice, dried oregano and salt and pepper. Allow to sit for several hours before serving. They keep up to one week in the refrigerator.

Assemble Salbutes: Mix 1 tablespoon of lime juice with cabbage. Salt and pepper to taste. Top each salbute with a layer of cabbage, then turkey or chicken, pickled red onion and sliced tomato. Place a slice of avocado, if desired. Serve immediately.

Servings: 12

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Pork steaks in a pineapple and mango chutney sauce

3 cloves garlic roasted
8-10 lean pork steaks or pork chops (cut off excess fat)
salt
pepper
2 TBL oil

Peal and roughly crush the garlic. Rub the the crushed garlic, and salt and pepper into the meat. Heat oil in a heavy frying pan and add meat only long enough to sear the exterior of the meat to seal in the juices. Place in a large glass casserole.

4 TBL Butter
1 TBL Curry
4 cups chopped fresh or canned pineapple
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups chicken stock

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the curry. cook for 3 minutes stirring continually. Mix the pineapple with the butter mixture and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring. Add the pineapple juice and stock and bring to boiling. Boil for 10 minutes. Pour the mixture over the pork steaks and place in the oven for 1 hour at 350. Meanwhile prepare the chutney

1 onion chopped finely
1/4
cup butter
1
mango chopped finely
1 TBL finely shopped fresh ginger
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup sugar
1 clove garlic minced

Salt
pepper
Chipotle sauce to taste

Cook onion in the butter until transparent and slightly caramelized. Add other ingredients. Taste and add salt and pepper. If you like things a little spicier - add some bottled chipotle sauce. Bring to a boil. Remove meat from the oven and pour over the meat and cook for an additional 15 minutes, spooning the juice over the meat so that it doesn't dry out. Serve with rice or oven roasted potatoes.

Servings: 8-10

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Pollo Alcaparrado (Chicken with Capers and Olives)

  • 2 1/2 to 3 lbs chicken, cut up
  • 1/2  TB beef bullion
  • 1 cup sour orange, or 2 TBL Vinegar + orange juice to make one cup.
  • 2 chili poblanos charred until black
  • 1 head garlic roasted
  • 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
  • 1/2 TBL oil
  • 1 tomato chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1 TBL capers
  • 2 TBL raisins
  • 8 olives sliced
  • 1/2 TBL chicken bullion
  • Chipotle sauce to taste
Directions:
  • Rub chicken with bullion dissolved in a little sour orange juice. 
  • Roast chilies and put in a plastic bag while still hot. Let sit until cool enough to handle with fingers.  Remove peeling and cut in strips.  
  • Roast the garlic on a dry pan until charred and soft to the touch.  Set both aside.
  • Saute onion in oil.  Add chopped tomato and continue to saute.  
  • In a large pot, heat the remaining oil on medium high and brown the chicken.  
  • Add the sautéed vegetables. 
  • Cut garlic in half crosswise, removing any parts that are charred.  Add to the pot along with the chilies. 
  • Stir and cook over medium heat .  Add remaining ingredients.  
  • Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.  
  • Serve with Cilantro rice and garnish with cilantro leaves.
Serves 4-6

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