Mexican duo of meats

Tonight I was “only” cooking for my 16 year old son.  That means whatever I make has to have a kick.  I used a marinade that works for both beef and chicken as I made 1 entree using each cut of meat (leftoves for the next 2 days as I play Mr. Mom).  Even though I was cooking for only 2 people, I do not believe I ever used more pots and pans.  Oh well!

As I like to do, there were many layers to the finished product.  As noted, each cut of meat was marinaded for about 5 hours.  The marinade was a simple recipe that I grabbed by just googling for a Mexican marinade. I also used the marinade in the poaching of the chicken and for the simmering of the beef.  I put the chicken in a mexican cheese sauce taken from a cook book call Viva la Vida.  I made a variation on a recipe they call Peruvian Pepper Chicken.  I served the above with refried beans, spanish rice (mexican whole tomatoes added for look and taste) and black beans spiced up with cumin and anchos in adobo sauce.  I know, there is a lot of starch going on here.  Have I mentioned that I served the meat on gorditas or at least something that was in the same family (they did not really rise upon cooking)?

  And for the recipes.
Marinade:

1. • 1/3 cup cider vinegar
   • 1/3 cup white vinegar
   • 1/3 cup olive oil
   • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
   • 6 cloves garlic, minced
   • juice of 1 lime
   • 2 tablespoons cumin
   • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
   • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
   • 1 teaspoon salt

   Preparation:

   Combine all ingredients and mix well. This marinade works best if it is made a day in advance so the flavors can blend. Marinate beef, lamb and pork for about 6 hours, poultry for 4 hours and fish for 1 hour.

1. In large sauce pan, poach chicken in enough salt water to barely cover and poach for about 20 minutes.  (As shown above, I first marinated the chicken breasts and then used some of the marinade in addition to the water.)
2. Remove chicken form the water mixture, allowing to cool and reserving the broth.  Once cool, shred or cut chicken in to bite size pieces
3. In a blender or food processor, combine 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 – 12 oz. can evaporated milk, 1 piece of matzah (I didn’t have saltines in the house) and 6 oz. of queso blanco cheese.  Puree and set aside
4. In a saute pan add 1 tsp oil, 1/2 of a yellow onion and 1/2 tsp ground tumeric (makes for great taste and color).  Cook on medium heat until softened, maybe 3 or 4 minutes
5. Add the milk mixture and stir.  Reduce the heat to low.
6. Add in 2 cups of the reserved broth and add the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes aiming to get the sauce to thicken up.