Estrada’s Pepper

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Estrada’s Pepper

If you’re a fan of Estrada’s Kitchen cuisine you know the family has not published their recipes even after closing their doors in Fresno and Visalia. What I’m trying to say … the Estrada’s recipes I’ve posted are the closest I can get to the authentic without the actual recipe. I’m working off my taste memory, my brother’s and others’ too who had experienced this great food. This pepper recipe is no different. It was recently shared by an Estrada’s fan on my blog. Thank you Mort. Simply scroll down for the full quick & easy recipe.

I have a few suggestions but this recipe is great just as it is. I found the texture is more reminiscent of the original if you make ahead remove from ramekins and then reheat just before serving. Think food safety if you decide to try this. If you do reheat, 500 degrees F for just a few minutes. I used thickly shredded Mexican cheeses, about 1/4 cup per serving. One 4 ounce can of whole fire roasted Ortega peppers will be more than enough, splitting each in half lengthwise. I do remember the bottom of the original peppers being a bit greasy in the day. If this isn’t to your liking grease each ramekin over entire inside surface sparingly with crisco or lard. I used creme brûlée dishes for baking. They are the perfect size and shape. After cooling I was able to simply peel the contents out in one piece.

Try these other delicious Estrada’s Style dishes under Our Family Tradition.

Our Family Tradition

 

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Our Family Tradition

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Our Family Tradition

Estrada’s Spanish Kitchen in Visalia has long gone but the beautiful memories will last forever. We’re always in search of Estrada’s recipes or the taste-alike version. This enchilada sauce recipe is exact in taste ‘though we’ve been informed no chocolate was used in the original. We’ll never know for sure since all is secret. Whether you’re a part of this history or not you’ll love this enchilada sauce.

If you need help building your enchiladas after you make the sauce here is an easy step by step.

Continue reading for Estrada’s taste-alike recipes. You’ll love them as much as we do! A promise.

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Estrada’s Style Macaroni

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Estrada’s Style Macaroni

Look Alike Taste Alike

Getting close to breaking the code! Just know this recipe is a knock off. The basics of the recipe are similar to the original but some of the products I suggest weren’t even available 100 years ago. In fact, the pasta here lacks the size (diameter) of the Estrada’s macaroni. The secret in part is to cook the pasta past the al dente stage to produce a softer larger noodle. This recipe can be tweaked and maybe even made more healthy in the eyes of some. In 1914 when this restaurant was opened the food experience was different and this recipe is meant to recapture that moment in history. Thank you Debbie for one of the original Estrada’s pitchers … And too helping with the taste test. I have made some changes after this taste test. The roux is all important.

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Game Day Drumsticks

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Game Day Drumsticks

Game Day Drumsticks

Don’t know about your guys but mine pull out all the stops for the Super Bowl. It’s one day we don’t worry about overindulgence. Yep, we pay for it the next day! Steve with his massive rock hard biceps looks pretty cute eating chicken wings. Don’t tell him I said that. Can you imagine the guys eating a few and being satiated! Me either. So, I just changed the chicken wings to drumsticks. You can still serve that special dip right along side.

This drumstick recipe is very simple and we call it Estrada’s Kitchen Chicken, our family’s favorite restaurant in the day. Their chicken was always praised and you’ll be surprised that the ingredients are nothing special. It’s in the cooking. If you feel it’s too plain for you just substitute a little, or a lot, of dry Hidden Valley dip ingredients to the flour. Just know you will need to step back on the salt (or that beer is going to go faster than you thought).

Enjoy!

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Tostada Compuesta

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Estrada’s Kitchen Tostada Compuesta

Look Alike Taste Alike

Whether you have a history with Estrada’s Spanish Kitchen or not you’ll love this Tostada Compuesta! Always served sizzling hot on a plate too hot to touch. If you were a fan of Estrada’s you’ll remember this!

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Mexican Macaroni and Cheese

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Mexican Macaroni and Cheese

Each year around this time I complete an on-line search for Estrada’s Spanish Kitchen recipes … Always hopeful but never successful. (Estrada’s taste alike, here) For forty years our family frequented this restaurant on Christmas Eve. With the passing of three members of our immediate family we held ourselves together and continued this tradition until the restaurant closed in our city, Visalia … the original location of the restaurant which later became a small chain. It was, is, a significant part of our lives.

This year I sorta hit the jackpot. Chowhound Chow message board had multiple entries about this restaurant and the secret recipes. I quickly zeroed in on the Macaroni and Cheese, one of my favorites. The recipe is simple. I had been advised by an Estrada’s family member most of their recipes are surprising simple. There was that Velveeta Cheese! Yikes! Well, it kinda makes sense. Velveeta and Estrada’s made their debut about the same time. And who knew … Velveeta is one of those secret ingredients chefs use for the meltability but maybe like to keep quiet.

About the recipe here, this is very good and oh so easy but sorry for Estrada’s fans … It isn’t even close to the Estrada’s Macaroni and Cheese I remember. But it does provide a starting point. How does this one miss the mark? Not as sweet, sauce is orange not red, spices are too prominent (not a bad thing but not Estrada’s), the right size of bucatini is hard to come by, and well, just maybe Velveeta wasn’t used.

If I was to do this again, and I will, I’d use their authentic enchilada sauce. I have what is supposed to be the Daly City Estrada’s, the last of the chain, recipe. Yet, I am not truly convinced the sauce used for their macaroni and cheese is a modification of enchilada sauce. (I was notified by an Estrada’s family member it’s not a modification of the enchilada sauce.)

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Cheese Enchiladas and Beans

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Cheese Enchiladas and Beans

My first taste of enchilada came early.  Estrada’s Spanish Kitchen was a family owned restaurant in Visalia established long before my parents were born. It was fine dining … Frequented for forty some odd years by our family.

The old Victorian house on Main Street was a business on the first floor and a family home on the second. It was our family’s favorite place to eat especially Christmas Eve … Forty six years in a row according to my brother. As a kid it seemed to take forever for the food to be served. I amused myself when young … picking the enormous wax covered wine bottle that was providing more temptation than candle light … seeing coins embedded in the wax … digging. Yep, I was disciplined. My brother, more self disciplined, just explored the upstairs bathroom, the only one available. But I bet he was really looking for Susie.

I have tried to recreate the tastes of Estrada’s dishes. (Estrada’s taste alike here) A friend married into this restaurant family not too long ago, and had mentioned the recipes were definitely a family secret. Yes, I asked. He said, I could give you the recipes but then I would have to kill you. Of course he was kidding! Do I have to even say that? There were about a half dozen of these Estrada’s restaurants throughout California owned by the same family. Only one now exists … Daly City. (Closed Feb 3rd, 2019)

In my teens, mother, every few months, would form an assembly line of hot vegetable oil, heated canned enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, cheese and onion. She and I would make two dozen enchiladas, some to be eaten … some to be frozen. We used Velveeta cheese … Considered a healthy alternative to cheese in those days.

(For this dish, I will be using a quick sauce recipe I picked up from a former neighbor about 40 years ago. I was shocked at the time to find enchilada sauce got the red color from peppers not tomatoes. Labeling was yet to reach today’s sophistication.)

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