carina, the cajeta-loving, red-headed older sister...

You can't see the cajeta but, I promise, it's in there...

CAJETA FILLED CUPCAKES
Makes 12 cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing pan
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup cajeta*
Mexican Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)
*Cajeta is a Mexican caramel sauce made from goats milk that can be found in Latin markets. If unavailable, use a rich darkcaramel sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour a 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a large bowl, combine the flour baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time then beat in the vanilla extract. With mixer on low, beat in the flour mixture in 2 parts, alternating with milk.
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Using a paring knife, cut a 1-inch-deep piece from the top of each cupcake. Save the cut pieces. Fill each hole with 1 teaspoon of cajeta and replace the cut out pieces. Frost the cupcakes with Mexican Vanilla buttercream Frosting.
Mexican Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Mexican crema or sour cream, plus extra as needed
Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the salt, vanilla extract and crema. Increase the speed to high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, adding extra Mexican crema, as needed, to make the frosting spreadable.

Puerto Vallarta-style Shrimp Burgers with Avocado Aioli
If you want to grill something other than beef this summer, this is it. Positively amazing burgers. The charred, peeled and diced poblano chile makes ALL the difference so make sure to leave it in there. Let me know how it goes. As for the recipe on the Surf and Turf Molcajete, recipe comes right after the burger, keep reading! Besos! Enjoy with an Ice Cold beer!

Photo by Alexander Popovsky

Yield: 6 servings; prep time: 20 minutes; cook time: 6 to 8 minutes
INGREDIENTS
For the shrimp burgers:

• 1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped white onion
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• Bulky Ciabatta rolls, split in half
• 2 plum tomatoes, sliced
• 6 lettuce leaves or a mixture of baby lettuce leaves
For the avocado aioli:

• 1 Haas avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 serrano chile, cut in half and seeded
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
To make the shrimp burgers:
Divide the shrimp in half. Coarsely chop one half and set aside. Put remaining half in a food processor and grind to a coarse puree. Add egg, cilantro and garlic to processor. Process until smooth. Sprinkle mixture with breadcrumbs and process again. Transfer contents of food processor to a large bowl. Add coarsely chopped shrimp, poblano chile and onion. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Mix well. Chill for 15 minutes. Form patties or “burgers” and set aside.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet. When very hot, fry the shrimp burgers until golden, about 3 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Drain on paper towels.
To make the avocado aioli:
Scoop the avocado pulp into the bowl of a food processor. Add the mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic cloves, serrano chile, cilantro, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Check and adjust seasoning.
To assemble:
Serve shrimp burgers on buns, topped with a dollop of avocado aioli, sliced tomato and lettuce.

Surf and Turf Molcajete

Makes 2 molcajetes; serves 4

1 boneless skinless chicken breast half

4 ounces flank steak

8 raw jumbo shrimp, peeled but tails left intact, and deveined

Salt and black pepper

6 scallions

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 onion

1 1/2 whole tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

2 California chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into pieces

2 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into pieces

2 dried arbol chiles, stemmed, seeded, and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon crumbled dried oregano

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon tomato bouillon

2 slices panela cheese

Six to eight 6-inch corn tortillas, warmed

This is a simple dish with an impressive presentation, and it works with any combination of grilled meat, fish, poultry, or vegetables. A molcajete is a mortar made of lava rock that is usually used with a pestle (also made of lava rock) to make fresh salsas. Because it is made with a natural rock, it has an excellent ability to preserve heat and keep a dish hot, and that’s how I use it in this recipe. If you do not have two molcajetes, ovenproof earthenware bowls (about the size of cereal bowls) are an acceptable substitute.
Prepare a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
Sprinkle the chicken, flank steak, and shrimp with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken until cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Grill the flank steak to the desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium. Add it to the platter.
Grill the shrimp until just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Add them to the platter.
Grill the scallions until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Add them to the platter.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, tomatoes, and garlic and cook for 8 minutes, or until the onion is golden. Add all three kinds of chiles, the oregano, cumin, and bouillon, and stir for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add 1 cup water to the saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 minutes, or until the chiles are soft. Let the mixture cool slightly. Transfer the mixture to a blender, add 1 cup water, and blend until smooth. Strain the sauce into a medium bowl.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the same saucepan over medium heat. Return the sauce to the pan and simmer for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Bring to a boil before continuing.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place 2 molcajetes in the oven and heat them for 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a heatproof surface (be careful, as the molcajetes get extremely hot).
Cut the chicken and flank steak into ¾-inch-wide strips. Arrange the grilled chicken and steak strips, shrimp, scallions, and cheese slices around the edges of the molcajetes. Pour the boiling sauce into the center.
Serve very hot, with tortillas to make tacos.

Hola! I promised you a recipe this week so here it goes. This is so simple, so delicious, very healthy and so perfect for this time of year. Summer tends to get me and my son (the rat) terribly off track. He goes to bed and wakes up way too late, I don’t get to exercise properly because of his summer camp hours and we eat out a lot more than I’d like.

It’s September already and it’s time to get back on schedule! If you have kids you know what I’m talking about. Next week, hopefully, everything settles down a bit as the school year starts. Enjoy the taco! Beso, ciao!

Taco Light (Beer-marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps)

Ever since that South Beach Diet came to be, poor little tortillas (and pasta) have been through hell. This is not my attempt to convince you of not using tortillas, my other religion, for tacos. This just happens to be a really light dish that is great for food network cooking and happens to taste really good. This little guy started showing up in “taquerias” a few years ago and has become a staple at my house and my family get-togethers. Instead of the traditional salsa, a light lime-and soy sauce pair perfectly with the beer-and-orange marinated steak. And what to drink? An ice-cold cerveza.

1 cup light-colored beer (preferably lager style) 1/2 cup soy sauce
1 orange, thinly sliced with peel
½ onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, halved and smashed
1 2 1/4-pound flank steak
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced, seeded Serrano chile
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, thinly sliced
1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated for wraps

Scatter half of the orange slices, half of the onion slices and half of the garlic pieces on the bottom of a glass dish large enough to hold the flank steak. Sprinkle the flank steak all over with salt and pepper and placed in the prepared baking dish. Scatter the remaining orange, onion and garlic over the flank steak and pour the beer over. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Prepare barbeque (medium-high heat) or preheat broiler. Remove meat from marinade; discard marinade. Grill steak to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Meanwhile mix soy sauce and remaining ingredients except butter lettuce in a small bowl. Transfer the grilled flank steak to a cutting board and cut crosswise into strip. Make tacos using slices of flan steak and avocados and drizzle with soy salsa.