In the Kitchen: Twice-Cooked Adobo style & Taquitos

After a day or two of eating the holiday foods, I begin to look at ways to recycle the leftovers, so they can get eaten right away. For left over meats or poultry, I recook them into Twice-Cooked Adobo style or make Taquitos out of them.



Procedure: TWICE-COOKED ADOBO Style
1. Shred the left over meat or poultry (in this case, its turkey) and set aside.
2. Chop some garlic cloves - this is what gives the adobo flavor.

In a warmed skillet or low-deep frying pan, put in a Tbsp. of cooking oil (not Olive oil) and brown the garlic in medium-low heat, until it turns light brown, while stirring constantly.

Then, add the shredded meat, a little bit at a time so it is spread out evenly on the bottom of the pan and will get crispy. You may need to add a little bit more of cooking oil from time to time.

Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the shredded bits turn into crispy flakes. Toss around, every now and then, for even pan-frying.

Repeat the pan-frying step for the remaining shredded meats until your supply is all recooked into crispy flakes.

Serve with a sunny-side up or scrambled egg, with garlic fried rice. This can be your breakfast or luncheon meal.



Procedure: TAQUITOS
1. Shred the left over meaty parts and set aside.
2. Place a number of corn tortillas on a plate, and drape over a wet paper towel that has been wrung out a little beat. Cover with a bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds. This will make the tortillas more pliable when you start assembling the taquitos.

Warm up your skillet at medium heat, then drizzle some cooking oil on the pan.

On a tortilla, place a row of shredded meat, off centered, and roll it to form a taquito and pan fry in your skillet, turning it around to get it browned on 4 sides.

Continue the process, until you have the desired number of taquitos done. Calculate at serving 2 to 3 pieces per person.

Serve with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, with a touch of lemon juice. Then, prepare a side salad of mixed greens as accompaniment.

* Note that my taquitos are a bit darker as I used whole-wheat tortillas. It actually taste better when you use corn tortillas.

These are really simple recycling recipes that will be well liked by whoever you are cooking for. Get started and finish up your leftovers!