Category Archives: Mexican/Spanish Recipes

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

An Easy Breakfast for Easter or Cinco de Mayo

Yum! Cornmeal pancake with egg, pico de gallo and sour cream! This breakfast is so tasty I wanted to get it out in time for Easter although its Mexican flavors certainly fit with the Cinco de Mayo theme. The initial recipe came from my local grocery store, Raleys, but I adjusted it to low carb and made a couple of tweaks in it. Add a little ground beef flavored with taco seasonings and you have a great brunch meal.

To get a little of the cornmeal taste into the corn cake, I used one tablespoon of corn flour instead of two and used one tablespoon of golden flax meal that has a similar texture and compliments the taste. I hope you’ll give these a try because they are really good.

I do have to add that with the cornmeal in them, they are not technically legal on Phase 2 and 3 Atkins, but the carb count is low and it should be a fairly safe “cheat”. I am on maintenance and still stay within my body’s carb limit, which is low, so I want my food to be as low carb’d as possible. If you prefer to make it without the cornmeal and use two tablespoons of golden flax instead, it will save you a little in the carbs, but you will lose the cornmeal flavor.

Fiesta Cornmeal Pancakes & Eggs

 

For the pancakes:
1/4 cup Carbquick or New Hope Mills Pancake Mix*
2 tablespoons heavy cream plus 1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon golden flaxmeal
2 tablespoons shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon Mexican Blend Seasoning
1 tablespoon beaten egg
1 teaspoon olive oil
butter for skillet

For the toppings:
2 fried eggs
2 tablespoons Fresh Pico de Gallo
2 tsp. sour cream

* You can make your own pancake mix using 4 tablespoons almond flour or 2 tablespoon coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (with the almond flour) or 1 extra egg white (with the coconut flour).

In a small bowl, mix together the pancake ingredients, except cheese, until well mixed. Add the cheddar cheese last. If batter is too thick, add a little water until it is easy to spoon out.

Heat an omelette pan or small griddle on the burner until it is hot enough that water sizzles when dropped on the pan. Lower the heat a little to a medium high. Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the pan and pour half the batter onto the griddle and spread to make a 4 inch pancake. Put a lid over the skillet or tent aluminum foil over the pan to hold the heat and begin cooking the top. This will help to cook the pancake through without burning it. After 2 or 3 minutes, remove the lid and turn the pancake. Cook about 4 minutes on the back side until golden brown. Remove to a warm plate and place in an oven or cover with foil to hold the heat. Repeat with the second pancake.

Corn cake off the griddle.

Melt the rest of the butter in an egg pan and when it bubbles, carefully break an egg into the pan. Use the spatula to keep the egg white around the egg. To cook a sunny side up egg, cover the pan with a lid for about 3 minutes, then check the egg white to see if it is solid. If so, remove the egg, place on top of the corn cake and top with a tablespoon of pico de gallo and a teaspoon of sour cream. Repeat with second egg. You can cook the eggs any way you prefer. The one at the top of the page is over easy, but you can also scramble them if you wish.

Serve hot.

Makes 2 servings

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 301 Fat: 24.4 Net Carbs: 5.4 g Protein: 13.4 g

Fiesta Taco and Egg Corn Cake

Same ingredients plus:
1/4 lb ground beef
1/4 teaspoon taco seasoning

Cook the ground beef in a small skillet until lightly browned. Add taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of water or beef broth. Stir the seasonings into the meat. Drain and set aside.

Follow the instructions above, but add pre-cooked ground beef to the toppers and about 2 tablespoons cheddar jack cheese per serving.

I also added a tablespoon of guacamole to my brunch taco corn cake, so that’s an option also.

Nutrition Info: (without the guacamole)
Calories: 481  Fat: 39.1  Net Carbs: 5.9 g  Protein: 23.2 g

Originally Published 04/18/2014 on my previous blog.

Breads, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Rene’s Corn and Flax Tortillas

Corn is a high carbohydrate food and there is just no way to use masa to make a low carb corn tortilla for this reason. Still, I can do something similar by using a little bit of corn meal, flax meal, ground up baby corn (which is surprisingly low carb) and almond flour. It isn’t the same as a corn tortilla, but it does have some of the flavor. I plan to keep experimenting to try to get closer to the flavor, but in the meantime, this one is a pretty good substitute.

2 tblsp Corn Meal
1/4 cup Almond Meal
1/4 cup Flax Meal
1/4 cup ground Baby Corn
1 tblsp Shortening
2 tblsp Water
Pinch of Salt

Grind the baby corn up in the food processor until it is the texture of meal. (I used canned Dynasty baby corn, which is low in carbohydrates.) Mix the corn meal, almond meal, flax meal and salt together, then add the ground corn. Stir in the shortening and water and mix well until the grains are moist and they pull together into a dough. Add a bit more water if needed.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Heat a griddle to medium heat in preparation.

Divide dough into 6 pieces and roll each into individual balls. Spray a quart sized plastic bag with cooking spray inside, put dough in it and roll with a rolling pin or glass until it is about 4 inches in diameter. Don’t press too hard. The tortilla should be about 1/8″ thick. Very carefully remove the tortilla from the plastic bag by sliding your fingers gently between the bag and the dough. Slide your hand in to support the dough, then flip the bag and work the bag away from the other side. Continue to support the tortilla with your hand until you get it on the griddle.

Place tortilla on the griddle and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over and cook the back side another 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool. The tortillas will be delicate so handle them carefully. When cooled, they will break if you try to fold them.

I cook one tortilla before rolling out the next one to minimize the time the dough has to stick to whatever surface it is waiting on. Once the tortilla is on the griddle, you can repair any breaks by pressing lightly with a wet fingertip. Resist the urge to press down on it with the back of a spatula as it will likely stick to it. Once the tortilla is flipped, you can press on it.

As someone once said, uneven sizes and edges are a sure indicator that it’s homemade.

To reheat them, bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or fry them, one at a time, in a little oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and use to make tostadas or tacos. Or fry them until crisp, salt and cut into wedges for chips.

Makes about six 4″ tortillas

Nutrition Information for 1 tortilla:
Calories: 85.7 Fat: 6.1 g Net carbs:2.9 g Protein: 2.4 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 5/4/2013 3:02 PM