Cheesy Ground Beef Enchiladas

     I lost my camera before I was able to upload them here for this recipe. Really sorry. But, you can check out the pictures over at The Pioneer Woman. Sorry about that. I HATE cooking something when I don't have a visual to look at. It makes me not want to cook the meal. I love to see what the finished product should look like, so I know if I did something wrong. Plus, the picture is what makes me decide if I want to cook the meal or not. Sometimes the ingredients are questionable, but if it looks really yummy in the picture, I'll give it a shot. So, ultimately, sorry for the mishap. But really, we should all be more sorry about the fact that I lost my camera... sad day. Let's all take a moment of silence for my poor camera, out there in the world, thinking that it's owner has abandoned it. I can't talk about this any more...


     I was in the mood for a little something different, so I chose to use flour tortillas instead of corn this time. Definitely different than corn enchiladas, but they were still really good, kinda chewy and very soft, which we liked.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 7oz can chopped green chiles
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp coriander
20 medium flour tortillas
8oz freshly grated cheddar cheese
8oz freshly grated monterey jack cheese

Sauce:
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp flour
1 28oz can of your favorite enchilada sauce
2 C chicken broth
salt and pepper

Directions:
For the sauce: In a saucepan over medium, heat the oil and flour for 1 minute (not 2), and whisk together continuously so as not to burn it... like I might have done one, two, maybe three times. Add the enchilada sauce, broth and salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Brown the ground beef and onions and drain. Add the green chiles and all of the seasonings. Mix well and sautee for several minutes to let the goodness seep into the meat and make it all flavorful. This step is important, and made a big difference in the outcome of my enchiladas, as compared with previous efforts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shred the cheese and mix together (Freshly grated cheese is super important here people... I am now a firm believer, I have been converted to block cheese, it's pretty much all I use now!)

Spread some sauce on the bottom of a pan (I used a baking sheet, like you would use for cookies. It's a Paula Dean, and I think it's a little bit bigger than a typical cookie sheet and the sides are a teensy bit higher, and it works perfectly for enchiladas).

Make your enchiladas: Hold your tortilla in one hand, and pour 2 -3 tbsp of the meat into the center, making a line. Sprinkle 2 tbsp cheese over the top. Pour 2 tbsp sauce over the top and roll tightly. Place in the pan and continue to make the rest of the enchiladas. Pour sauce over the top and bake for 15 minutes.

Take the enchiladas out and* sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

*Next time I would pour a small amount more of sauce over the top of the enchiladas because they looked a little dry. They weren't dry, they just looked it, probably because I didn't dip them in oil before I assembled the enchilada. But it was okay, they didn't taste dry at all, they were super cheesy, super soft and chewy.

Recipe Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

Chile Verde

     Mmmmm, there's something so wonderful about sitting down at the end of the day, and diving into a meal that's been cooking all day long; very satisfying. The whole house smells like the delicious aroma of what's been simmering on the stove for hours, and it's intoxicating! The only thing is... you really have to plan out your day around the meal, b/c you have to make sure that you have enough time to do all the steps... especially when you have a little baby that is so demanding! geesh! :)

     Thankfully, said baby was extra wonderful on Saturday when I started this project. When she was down for her morning nap, around 9am, I thought I'd get started, and boy am I glad I did! While this Chile Verde is by no means hard at all, it can be considered a bit time consuming. Now, there are ways to get around this by buying canned tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic, chiles, etc. But, when you want the satisfaction of making things from scratch... you buy the ingredients and do the roasting yourself. Also, another way to cut time... a lot of time, is by buying your meat cut into chunks already... or at least asking your butcher to cut the meat up for you once you pick our your slab. I, however, did not do that... and cutting up the meat took the LONGEST time. I won't be doing that again, I don't care if the meat quality is slightly less. It got old after a half an hour of trying to cut chunks off a bone-y slab o' meat. Never again!

     This was pretty good! The husband liked it, and the guests enjoyed it as well. This is one of those meals that is a special occasion kinda meal. Enjoy!


Ingredients;
1 1/2 lb tomatillos
8 garlic cloves (3 finely chopped, 5 unpeeled for roasting)
2 jalapenos, chopped (I kept in the seeds and membranes, and it had a bit of a kick, but not too much)
2 Anaheim or Pablano chiles
1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned

3 1/2 - 4 lbs pork sholder (pork butt), trimmed of fat and cut into 1-2 in chunks
Flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp cumin
2 1/2 C chicken stock

Directions:


Here are your greens for the sauce:

onions, jalapenos, anaheim chiles, garlic, cilantro, and tomatillos

Get your broiler started, and place your 2 Anaheim chiles under the broiler and continue watching them closely, b/c you will need to turn them every so often to make sure they blacken on all sides. This took approximately 10 minutes; but SO much easier than putting them over an open flame on the stove and waiting as it blackens at a snails pace. 

Once the peppers are done, and completely black, place in a container and cover with plastic wrap to allow the skin to steam and come off easily. Let those chill and steam while you work on the tomatillos.

Take the husks off the tomatillos, and rinse. Be careful because they are quite sticky once you take the papery husks off. Slice the tomatillos in half and place on a foil-lined baking sheet, face down. Take your 3 unpeeled garlic and place on the pan with your tomatillos.

Here's the part where you can do one of two things, either broil or bake. I prefer broil b/c it takes a LOT less time. The only problem is... my broiler is under the oven, so I had to keep an eye out and continue bending over to check the tomatillos, which was a little irritating, but I prefer it to waiting for an hour or more for the tomatillos to roast in the oven. So go with your fancy. (If you roast in the oven, roast at about 350-400 for an hour or so). Otherwise... broil for 7-10 minutes. (B/c my broiler was under the stove, a pan wouldn't fit, so I had to place them on the broiler sheet individually with tongs, which was fine, just make sure those legs are bendy!)

Chop your jalapenos, and place in a blender, along with the tomatillos, cilantro leaves, the roasted garlic that you have now peeled, and the Anaheim chiles. (Once the tomatillos are done roasting, take your chiles out of the container and gently peal off the skin and chop. I kept the seeds) Pulse ingredients until smooth and all mixed together. It will smell wonderful!

The next step is a bit frustrating... only because the pork butt can be a little hard to cut if you get a whole chunk of it. Next time, I will definitely get the meat pre-cut, this step took up way too much time! While everything is roasting, begin cutting the meat into chunks. Pour a tbsp of oil into a hot skillet. Place some flour in a bowl, and put a few chunks into the bowl and roll 'em around to coat. Working in batches, so that the meat will brown evenly and get a nice crispy coating to it, put some of the meat into the skillet and cook for a minute on each side. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside.

You can do this next step at the same time as the meat, or wait until you are finished with the meat (I tried to save time so I did this step while the meat was cooking and then just transferred the meat right into the pot). In a large pot, add the chopped onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the meat, oregano, and cumin. Let the seasonings cook into the meat for a minute before adding the tomatillo mixture. Then add the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let cook for 2-3 hours.

Serve with white rice and tortillas. Mmmm starch and more starch!
And, those I served this dish to liked the addition of some sour cream.

Recipe Courtesy of: Simply Recipes

BBQ Chicken Enchiladas

     Who doesn't love a good enchilada?! I know I do!

     I like making enchiladas, and I really try to make them as authentically as possible... besides the whole making-your-own-sauce thing... which probably is a setback on making them authentically, but o well.

     I recently had some friends over... friends from Mexico... and of course Grant requested enchiladas for dinner... way to go Grant. Invite the Mexicans over for my wanna-be-Mexican-enchiladas, and I'll try not to embarrass myself. They were very gracious of course. But, I chose to use the time as a chance to ask them how to really make enchiladas authentically. They proceeded to give me a whole speech about how to make them.... did you know that authentic enchiladas are NOT baked in the oven? WHAT?! That's outrageous! There's some kind of cool pot type of thing that they use... I won't try to explain it... but trust me... it's cool! I told Grant that I needed one of those things... stat! yeah right... that thing will never see the light of my kitchen!

     The other day I found a recipe for enchiladas with a twist... BBQ Chicken enchiladas... wow! I just knew I had to try this out! And I was not disappointed! These were pretty tasty, and Grant and my mom agreed that these were good. What's better... they could NOT be easier! These are in no way trying to be authentic at all, which I love. I probably should invite my Mexican friends over for this enchilada dish, b/c it's so different that it wouldn't seem like I was poorly trying to make enchiladas like they are used to.

Ingredients:


8 large tortillas (I am not used to buying Large tortillas, I'm used to small ones, so this was weird!)
1 roasted chicken, shredded
28 oz can red enchilada sauce (I used Las Palmas, which isn't my favorite, but it was good with this, it's definitely got a spicy kick though, so if you want something more mild, try my favorite brand, La Victoria)
1/2 C BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays Brown Sugar)
1/2 large sweet onion, sliced
1 tbsp BBQ seasoning (I used McCormick... it smells soooo tasty!)
Pinch of Cayenne
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 C shredded Mozzarella

Directions:


Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat and sprinkle with a little salt to sweat those puppies out and get the juices going. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes until they start turning a golden brown color.

In a medium bowl, mix together the enchilada sauce and the BBQ sauce; dip your finger in there and taste it to make sure that you like the balance of flavors. I added another giant squirt of BBQ sauce.

Once the onions look nice and golden-y, add the shredded chicken, half of the cheese, and 1 C of the sauce mixture. Let saute for a few minutes to get all the chicken gooey with the cheese and sauce. Restrain yourself from eating all the chicken right then.

Pour a little sauce at the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish, and begin making your enchiladas. Put an 1/8 of the chicken mixture onto a tortilla, wrap it up, and place in the casserole dish. I made four at a time before wrapping them up just to make sure that they were all evenly stuffed. Then squish the enchiladas over to fit the other four.

Pour the remaining sauce mixture over the top and then top with the rest of the shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

These enchiladas are HUGE! You'll think that you might need to double the recipe b/c you're only making 8 enchiladas... but trust me... you don't need to. I only ate one enchilada, and I was full. You might have 2 at the most, but not more than that probably... these are big. Remember, you're using Large tortillas, not your normal small tortillas that you normally see enchiladas made out of. It's almost like a small burrito!

These were so tasty! Given 'em a try, so good and super easy!
Ps. Don't you just love my Lego plates? Classy right?

Recipe Courtesy of: how Sweet it is

Tamale Pie

     Grant's mom makes tamale pie. And he loves it. Which means that if I make it, it's gotta be good. Because she's a good cook. She's one of those comfort food, Weight Watcher, Taste of Home, recipes-you-never-would-have-thought-to-try-but-are-delicious kinda cooks! Thankfully, I have a husband that doesn't feel like he can't like my cooking just because he likes his mom's so much. Awesomely enough, he really enjoys my food, most of it, at least that's what he continues to tell me. There was one time that an experiment went awry... so awry that we couldn't even pretend to finish it and had some PBnJ on stale bread b/c anything would be better than what I dished up. But that's for another time.

     So, when I asked Grant what he wanted for dinner when I was making the menu for last week, he promptly said: Tamale pie! And the hunt for a great recipe began! I searched for hours that day just trying to find the perfect recipe! I couldn't find the perfect one, so I combined a couple that turned into my own version... and it became the perfect Tamale Pie recipe! (You can find the link to the two recipes that I adapted mine from below.) Let me tell you... I unfortunately don't have a picture, but I can tell you that it was super delish and you should go to the store right now and get the ingredients to make this for dinner! Do it!


Tamale Pie


Ingredients
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 C onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
1 15oz can corn
1 medium can of olives, sliced
1 small can chopped green chiles
1/3 C raisins (I was a little worried about this, but oh dear goodness it adds a subtle hint of sweetness that is too good to ignore!)
1 tbsp crushed garlic or 1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
6oz shredded cheddar cheese
Cornbread mix (and ingredients to make cornbread, usually milk and 1 egg)

Directions
In a skillet over med high heat, brown the ground beef and drain. Add onion and red pepper to ground beef and saute for a few minutes until soft.

Add cans of tomato sauce along with corn, olives, green chiles, raisins, garlic, and seasonings. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.
Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle generously with shredded cheddar.
(By the by, I've started lining every single baking dish with foil beforehand, and it's saved me so many hours of cleaning dishes! yah!)

Prepare the cornbread and pour over ground beef mixture. I poured several rows and then used a spatula to spread it out. The cornbread batter is thick, so I wouldn't pour it in one spot and then try to spread it from there, I don't think it would reach everywhere. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough batter in fact because I was having a hard time covering the whole casserole, but it worked out.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Here's all I have left for you:

Recipes courtesy of: Simply Recipes and All That Splatters

Huevos Rancheros

     Sorry for the super huge long absence! Having a baby sorta makes it hard to find the time to post new recipes, as if I was so great at it before anyways! But here's to a new resolution of trying to get more recipes on here, if not frequently, at least not once every 5 months!

     I was watching the Food Network one day last week (my computer was acting up) and caught an episode of Paula Dean cooking with her son. It seems like she can never cook alone anymore, every show as someone else on it, usually one of her sons, but whatever. I'm not the biggest fan of Paula like everyone else is, but I think she has some good recipes. I've just made a few that weren't all that great before. But this one is pretty great! Although, it's not really hers, it is her son's, so yah for Paula's son! I did change up the recipe just a bit based on what I had at home, and the fact that my weird husband doesn't like chorizo, sad day for me! Anywho, a link to the original recipe is below.

     I'm salivating right now just looking at the picture wishing I had some to eat right now!

Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients
1 15oz can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
1/4 C diced yellow onion
1/4 C cilantro leaves
1 large clove garlic (I just used crushed garlic I have in a bottle, works perfectly for everything!)
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded if desired; I just took out the membranes, but left all the seeds)
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz or 1/2 pkg of Jimmy Deans Sausage Crumbles . They're really good! I use them for all kinds of things!
Vegetable oil
4 6-in corn tortillas
1 16oz can refried beans (I used half the can for 2 servings)
4 eggs
shredded pepper jack or your favorite cheese for topping

*This made 4 servings. We each had 2 tortillas and 2 eggs, and there was just enough of the sauce and beans  for 2 more servings the next morning!


Directions
In a food processor (or blender, if you're me and too lazy to get the processor out and then clean it afterwords), combine the tomatoes (with juices), onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, and salt and puree until smooth. Transfer to a medium skillet and simmer over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

After you let it warm up a bit, add the already cooked sausage crumbles to the sauce while it was thickening to allow them to heat up.

Place a tortilla in the skillet and cook until warm and pliable, about 30 seconds. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds. Transfer to an individual plate (2 tortillas to a plate), and cook remaining tortillas.

Heat the beans up in the microwave while the sauce is cooking and spread about 1/3 - 1/2 C onto tortillas

Add another tbsp of oil to the skillet. Crack one egg into the pan (I use a small skillet) and cook until the bottoms are set and the edges golden about 1-2 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until set, about 1 minute more. Place one egg on each tortilla (so, 2 to a plate), and spoon the sauce over the eggs. Then you can add any toppings you want, I sprinkled some shredded pepper jack cheese and chopped up cilantro over it, as well as a little dusting of salt to bring out the yummy flavors.

Recipe courtesy of: Paula Dean Click here for original recipe

Debbie's Chili Verde

     Chili Verde can be such an intense project! I remember when I made it a few years ago, and I went ALL OUT, I tried to find the most authentic recipe I could! I bought the tomatillos and roasted, peeled, and sliced every single one of those sticky monsters. I dredged the meat, seared it, and cooked it all good! It took forever to do, which normally I don't really care about, except for the fact that for some reason I decided to it would be no problem at all to start this great endeavor late at night. I don't know what I was thinking... clearly, it was a sign that I was still in college, cause it's only been a few years, and I already have a hard time staying up past 10pm.

     Now, I have some good friends that make some great Chili Verde, course they always used to prepare it at home and then bring it over, so I never actually got to see them prepare it. It took a LOT of begging and pleading to get the list of spices that they use in their Chili Verde in order to make mine... but finally Mike caved!

     Well, now I have the pleasure of enjoying lunch with my boss some days, and that sometimes includes eating the scrumptious food his wife makes. A few weeks ago, Grant had an appointment Thursday night, and I had a lot of work to get done, so I decided to stay at work late. At 7 my boss and his wife were ready to eat and forced to me eat with them... which wasn't really that hard to do, anyone who offers me food is not going to be denied! And what a feast she made, salad, chicken fajitas with all the toppings, AND chili verde! It was all so good, I asked for the recipe, and I could NOT believe my ears as I heard that this chili verde only had 4 ingredients! I made it last weekend to see if I could achieve the tastiness she had. Of course I spruced things up a bit by adding some extra ingredients, but with only 4 ingredients, it was still outstanding for an easy chili verde! So, without further ado, I will share this recipe with you!

Ingredients
-4 thick lean Pork Tenderloins (the ones I used were very thin, and didn't make enough)
-1 28oz can Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (the yellow can)
-1 tbsp crushed Garlic
-1 tsp Cumin

*1/2 c. Chicken Broth (optional, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough sauce, but I had A LOT, so this step is unnecessary)
*1 tsp powdered Coriander (which is Chinese parsley, or Cilantro, it has a different taste from the seed, with a citrus note. This is currently my favorite seasoning to use!)
*Salt and pepper (Alert: do NOT make the mistake I did by adding salt. While I only added 1 tsp, it was WAY too much. Pork is already salty, I don't know what I was thinking)
*Dash of Paprika and Cayenne

While Debbie used tortillas, I prefer my Chili Verde with white rice. I made extra when I made the Island Teriyaki Chicken Stir-fry, so I just heated that up.

The best part about this recipe: Crock Pot!

My Crock Pot is a scorcher... even on low. So while Debbie had her pork tenderloin cooking all day on low, I cooked mine for 4 hours on low instead.

Directions
     Pour the enchilada sauce, garlic, and desired seasonings in the Crock Pot. I probably wouldn't use the Chicken Broth again, simply b/c I had enough sauce and didn't to add extra liquid, but if you want. Mix the sauce together and add the tenderloins. Set your Crock for low for 8 hours, depending upon the heat of your pot.
     The pork was very tender, so use a large serving spoon to transfer the chops  from the Crock to a large bowl and shred the pork. (I retardedly used tongs and just smooshed the pork up before I could get it to the bowl). I used a serving fork to just smoosh the pork and it shredded perfectly. Add the desired amount of sauce to the bowl and mix together. Pour over rice, done!

So easy! So good! And for a dish with barely any ingredients and barely any time invested, it still manages to taste like Chili Verde.



Verdict: 4/5

Grant said it was too salty... which I agree. Do NOT add salt to this dish. I barely added any, and it was too late. Let people add salt on their own. Grant and I both like salt a lot, and it was overwhelming. The vegetables I cooked with this dish were super good. I forgot to start them when I was ready to serve the dish, so I quickly sliced the zucchini very thinly, and added them to a hot skillet with a tbsp of olive oil. I added an 8oz container of sliced mushrooms. I added a dash of Lemon Pepper, Garlic Powder, and salt and put the lid on to help them cook fast. I don't like my veggies to be mushy, so they were done cooking in about 10 minutes and dinner was served!