Best 5 Vera Cruz Tomatoes Recipes

VERACRUZ-STYLE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add whole garlic cloves, and cook, stirring, until golden on all sides. Remove garlic and discard. Add minced garlic and the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 15 minutes.
• Add olives, chiles, capers, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, marjoram, oregano, salt, canela, and wine. Cook until the sauce has thickened to desired consistency, 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If using fresh whole herbs, remove and discard before serving.

VERA CRUZ TOMATOES

Steps:

• Cut tops off tomatoes and scoop out centers, leaving tomato bowls. Sprinkle salt inside tomato to draw out some moisture, set aside.
• Cook the bacon till crisp in a frying pan. Drain; reserving 2 Tablespoons of the drippings. Crumble the bacon, set aside.
• Cook onion in drippings, stir in fresh spinach. Cover and cook till tender about 3-5 minute Remove from heat.
• Stir in sour cream, pepper sauce, and bacon.
• Pour any juice out of tomato bowls, fill with spinach mixture.
• Bake in pan at 375 for 20-25 minute.
• Top with cheese and heat till cheese melts and is bubbly.

FISH VERA CRUZ

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, boil the tomatoes, jalapenos, oregano, and garlic salt for about 8 minutes, or until tomatoes have cooked down to a liquid. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. *Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return sauce to pan, add chopped onion and cilantro, and stir well. Heat through and keep warm until ready to serve.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (you can use as little as 2 tablespoons oil to up to 1/2-inch deep). Season fish with salt and pepper and then carefully place in the pan; this may require adding the fish in 2 batches if your skillet is not large enough to hold all 4 fillets. Saute or pan-fry the fish until cooked on 1 side (fish will be opaque on that side). Carefully flip fish and continue cooking until cooked on second side and cooked through in the middle; the fish should be opaque in the middle. Cooking time will vary based on thickness of the fish fillets and the type of fish, but it should not take more than 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Transfer fish onto a serving platter or each of 4 dinner plates and top with the sauce. Serve immediately.

VERACRUZ-STYLE TILAPIA ("PESCADO A LA VERACRUZANA")

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the fish fillets on both sides with salt and black pepper, to taste. Saute the fillets until they are opaque and just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the fish to a glass baking dish where they fit snugly.
• In the same saute pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, Anaheim chile, bay leaf and oregano and bring the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and let the sauce simmer until the chiles soften, about 6 minutes. Uncover the pan, add the olives and capers, and cook until the flavors combine, about 4 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Pour the sauce over the fish in the baking dish. Bake until the fish is heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, discard the bay leaf and serve.

VERACRUZ-STYLE RED SNAPPER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion; cook and stir until onions begin to turn translucent, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Cook and stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add capers and caper juice; stir to combine.
• Stir in tomatoes, olives, jalapeno pepper, . Cook and stir until jalapeno pepper softens and tomatoes begin to collapse, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in oregano.
• Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil into a small baking dish. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the tomato-olive mixture. Top with 1 snapper fillet, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Top with more filling and juice from 1 lime. Repeat with remaining snapper fillet, seasoning, and lime juice in a second baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until fish is flaky and no longer translucent, 15 to 20 minutes.