Huaraches Stuffed Prickly Pear Cactus Paddles Stuffed Nopale Recipes

HUARACHES - STUFFED PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS PADDLES - STUFFED NOPALE

Steps:

• Place the whole cactus paddles, onion and garlic in a large pot with water to cover and salt to taste.
• Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until the nopales are tender but still firm.
• Drain and rinse.
• Starting at the wide, curved end, carefully slice each paddle horizontally, as if butterflying a chop for stuffing.
• Do not cut all the way through to the narrow end (the thicker part where the pad is attached to the main plant) but leave approximately 1 1/2" uncut.
• Place a slice of cheese between the two sections and press flat.
• Dredge the paddles in flour.
• Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks, and fold in the lightly beaten egg yolks.
• Pour enough oil into large skillet so that it comes up at least 1/2 inch.
• Heat the oil until sizzling hot.
• Dip the stuffed nopales in the egg batter to coat and fry in the hot oil until golden brown on each side.
• Serve immediately with red salsa.

SHRIMP-STUFFED NOPALES

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a medium-size heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, onion, and tomato and sauté for 8 minutes, or until the pepper is nearly tender. Add the shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes, or until just cooked through. Season the stuffing to taste with salt and pepper, and set it aside.
• Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Using a small sharp knife, carefully cut a slit along one long side of each nopal without cutting all the way through, to make something resembling a pita pocket. Grill the nopales for 4 minutes per side, or until they are tender and grill marks appear.
• Stuff the nopales with the shrimp mixture, dividing it equally, and serve with lime wedges and hot sauce.

BEACHCOMBER'S PRICKLY PEAR JELLY

Steps:

• Harvest tunas (prickly pear fruits) wearing thick gloves. A 2 quart colander full to top should yield about 8 cups juice. Be sure to include a few that still are a wee bit green if possible. Do NOT handle these with bare hands (you will be sorry because they are deceptive- she writes while gnawing at her right thumb pad - LOL).
• Rinse the fruits in a colander (we have a lot of salt spray here). Then put them in a large nonreactive kettle with the 2 cups of water. Cover & bring to rapid simmer. Simmer until fruit soft - about 30 minutes.
• Ladle now mushy fruits into blender & blend with enough water to make thick slurry. Ok to do this after fruits cool if this recipe has been too high risk up to this point. Otherwise blend when hot but be sure to hold down blender lid with a thick cloth between it & your hand because boiling brilliant magenta juice with tiny tiny spines REALLY hurts! (Clorox cleanup gets it off countertops & walls).
• Pour blended fruits back into pan with residual water & stir.
• Drape 4 layers of cheesecloth in colander (which should sit in another pot or bowl) & dampen.
• Pour or ladle then pour the brilliant magenta fruit slurry into the cheesecloth & gather the edges to twist and squeeze the juice out (need to wait a bit if the mush inside is still hot). Your hands will be stained brilliant magenta if you opt not to wear gloves but the cheesecloth effectively sieves out any little spines.
• Rinse out the initial kettle (use those gloves just to be safe) and pour the strained juice back into it. Add lemon juice. Heat to boil & add the 2 packets of powdered pectin. Bring to a hard boil for 1-2 minutes.
• Add 7 cups of sugar, blend well & bring to a hard boil for 2 minutes.
• Ladle into sterilized 1 cup jars, lid & process in covered hot water bath for 20 minutes. Leave 1/2 inch headroom when filling jars & be sure to have jars in hot water bath covered by at least 2 inches of water.
• Remove from bath & place on flat towel on counter. Jars should "pop" within 5 minutes. ENJOY!

TUNA ( PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS FRUIT ) JELLY

Steps:

• Pluck the fruit from the cactus with a long handled fork or tongs.
• Put on rubber gloves to protect your hands: wash fruit under running water, then use a brush to clean (spines left on the fruit will soften during the cooking process and should come off after the fruit is strained).
• Place in stockpot with about a cup of water.
• Stir until boiling, cover pan and simmer until tender and soft.
• Mash cooked fruit and strain using cheesecloth, a jelly bag or a fine sieve; set aside for juice to settle (for very clear jelly, do not use the portion containing sediment).
• Measure sugar into a separate pan.
• Bring juice and pectin just to boil, stirring constantly, and begin to add sugar slowly with constant stirring, taking about 5 minutes to add sugar, and keeping juice nearly at a boil.
• Then bring to a rolling boil and boil for three minutes longer.
• Remove from heat, let stand a few seconds, skim, pour quickly into jars and seal while hot.
• Process for ten minutes in a boiling water bath.