Granini's Chicken Enchiladas

We eat "Mexican" food at least once a week. It's such a versatile meal, can be made in a variety of ways, and is always a crowd pleaser. We make everything from enchiladas with corn tortillas, to sour cream chicken enchiladas with flour tortillas, to burritos, fajitas, tacos, taco salad, or just chips, guacamole and salsa.

And occasionally cheese crap (also known as queso and chips).

We love Mexican food.

And after reviewing my ancient blog, I have discovered I have yet to post any of my "Mexican" food recipes.

So, for all y'all who are eating your way through the Covid pandemic, here are a few recipes from my standard enchilada meal.

Ingredients:

Chicken Enchilada Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, frozen or fresh

1 package of Taco seasoning (I use Lawry's)

½ cup salsa (I use my canned salsa I have in the pantry)

1 can chicken broth

1 large can of red enchilada sauce (I use mild because we're wusses)

1 package of super soft corn tortillas

1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 ½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated

(Optional: Sliced olives)

cooking spray (for the glass pan)

Bean and Cheese Enchilada Ingredients

1 can refried beans (I use refried pinto beans, but you can use refried black beans if you prefer. I think this recipe is better with the refried beans than the whole beans, so I save the whole beans for other recipes).

½ cup salsa (I use my canned salsa I have in the pantry)

1 large can of red enchilada sauce (I use mild because we're wusses)

1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 ½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated

cooking spray (for the glass pan)

Tasty "Mexican" Rice Ingredients

1 cup rice

2 cups liquid from the crock pot

Roasted Salsa Ingredients

3 tomatoes*, cored, topped, and cut into four chunks

1 red pepper

1 jalapeño pepper

1 onion, peeled and cut into large chunks

Cilantro (about ¼ to 1/3 cup, depending upon taste)

1 lime, squeezed

salt

sugar

(*I use regular tomatoes on the vine, although I've been told that roma tomatoes work well too.)

This is for the smallest batch of roasted salsa I make. When I have people over, I double or triple the batch, depending upon how many people are coming over. Doubling should be fine for 6 to 8 people. Unless they love salsa. Then make as much as you can.

Pico de Gallo Ingredients

4 tomatoes cored, topped, and diced into small pieces

1 bunch of green onions

1 jalapeño pepper

Cilantro (about ¼ to 1/3 cup, depending upon taste)

1 lime, squeezed

salt

sugar

(*I use regular tomatoes on the vine)

Again, this is for the smallest batch of roasted salsa I make. When I have people over, I double or triple the batch, depending upon how many people are coming over. Doubling should be fine for 6 to 8 people. Unless they love salsa. Then make as much as you can.

Guacamole Ingredients

(Optional: Sliced olives)

4 lovely avocados**

1 lime, squeezed

salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup of salsa (either roasted, or pico de gallo)

**My husband is the Avocado Whisperer. He can go to the grocery store a week before we plan to have enchiladas (or burritos, or taco salad), and he'll be able to pick out the most perfect avocados for the date that we're going to eat them. If we're going to eat them the next day, he can do the same thing. Two days ahead? He's your man. He has this magic knack for aptly picking the perfect avocados. I don't know how he does it. I'm super jealous of this talent. I don't have it. I can't do it. Mine are always too hard, or all brown and gross and stringy on the inside. Thank God he passed on his lovely gift to our favorite daughter. (You do know by now we have but the one daughter, right?) So she, too, can pick out perfect avocados. It is now their job, their duty, their responsibility to keep our house in avocados.

Here's a mediocre picture of the fantabulous guac and salsas...

The guacamole is the green stuff in the front, the roasted salsa is in the back on the left (more orangy in color), and the pico is in the back on the right.

  I do apologize for the picture not being more, well, picture friendly. My kiddos dug into them before I could get a better picture. Alas. My daughter says there is no apology coming, because my guac is so good that she couldn't help herself. And you won't be able to help yourself either. So. There is that.

Tell you what. The next time I make salsa (either roasted or pico), I'll take better pictures. I can't promise you anything on the guacamole. It always gets eaten -- almost immediately after completion. Sometimes before completion. I have been known to ask others to taste test it to make sure it has enough lime, and before I realize it, half the bowl is empty and there are green goo smiles all around. No apologies anywhere. Sigh.

So.... for those of you who want to read HOW to make the stuff, please read through the stuff below.

The Blah Blah Blah of my Blog Blog Blog

I am currently eating my way through the mandatory lockdown of the Covid Pandemic, and my brain is having the greatest challenge doing anything other than making jewelry and cooking/baking/eating food.

I have already gained the Covid-15.

So for those of you who want news on Jack Diamond Book #3, it's this: Jack Diamond has no idea how he's going to handle the Covid pandemic, so he went on hiatus, and Granini is taking over the world and baking and cooking each and every day. Mostly bread items. Today it's donut day. I'll share more about that on a later blog entry.

Meanwhile, my favorite daughter has recently returned prematurely from her study abroad, and while we're unbelievably disappointed that her program was cut short, we are quite relieved that she made it home safely. We'll find out in the next day or two if she caught the virus in one of the four airports or three airplanes during the 27 very long hours it took her to get home. 

But for now, we are enjoying having her home.

My doting mother persona (aka Granini) has erupted and I am coping with the stress of the Covid-19 pandemic by making (and eating) her favorite foods while she's home with us.

My favorite daughter happens to be a vegetarian, whilst the rest of us are most definitely carnivores. Whilst she lives with us, I try to adapt my recipes so that we eat about 40% of our meals vegetarian, and 60% of our meals I make in two forms, one with meat, and one without. I try not to go too far out of my way to adapt my meals for either of my kids (my favorite son is the sweetest of peas, but he's a bit persnickety when it comes to things he prefers not to eat). Yes, I adapt my meals for my kids. Yes, they can choose not to eat what I make. And yes, they can choose to eat a salad or some fruit or veggie in lieu of what I serve. However, sometimes it's just a minor detour for me to adapt the meal I want to serve to satisfy their desires. So I go out of my way to make them happy. 

It's just what I do.

So.

I make enchiladas two ways. One with chicken, and one with beans and cheese.

Enchiladas are probably one of the easiest, least time consuming main dishes I make. But I make up for it by making two different kinds of enchiladas, as well as flavored rice, salsa two different ways, and making a vast vat of guacamole to go with them.

So here's how I make this lovely meal:

Recipes:

Chicken Enchiladas (Part 1)

1. Spray the inside of a crockpot with cooking spray.

2. Throw in the frozen chicken breasts, the salsa, a packet of Lawry's taco seasoning, and a can of chicken broth.

3. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Roasted Salsa

Roasted salsa takes about ½ an hour to bake, and about 10 minutes (or more) to prepare. So I always get it going long before I'm ready to start assembling the enchiladas.

Preheat your oven to 425ºF

1. Spray the inside of a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with sides) with olive oil spray.

2. Prepare your veggies for the oven. Core and cut your tomatoes. Plop them onto your pan. Cut the ends off your peppers and remove all the seeds. Then cut into large chunks. Pan 'em up. Remove the peel from your onion. Cut in half. Then cut into large chunks. Sprinkle them onto the pan with the rest. Cut the ends off your jalapeño pepper and remove all the seeds then dump those onto the pan. Unless you like super hot and spicy salsa. Keep the seeds. I dare you. Just remember to have lots of heartburn medicine on hand before you go to bed.

3. Spread all these veggies onto your jelly roll pan. Lightly spray with olive oil. Pop in the hot oven and bake until all the veggies are soft (about 25 minutes).

4. Once the veggies are all soft, transfer them (and the pan's juices) into a bowl. 

5. Use an immersion blender (or a Cuisinart or a blender) and blend the veggies into a thick paste like heaven.

6. Mince the cilantro. Add to the salsa.

7. Add lime, salt, a teeny tiny pinch of sugar. 

Taste it, multiple times, and add more lime and salt as needed. It will take more lime than you think it needs. It will taste somewhat sweet. That's fine. Just keep adding lime and a little bit of salt until it's just right. Do it little by little, though, so as to not go too far.

Try not to eat all of it all by yourself before the rest of the dinner is ready.

Chicken Enchiladas (Part 2)

4. Once the chicken has cooked all the way through, pull the chicken out and place in a bowl. With two forks, shred the chicken. Ladle a small amount of broth over the chicken to coat.

Save the remaining juices for the "Mexican Rice" dish (see below).

5. Set the oven to 375ºF

6. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

7. Pour a small layer of enchilada sauce over the bottom of the glass baking dish. It doesn't have to be a lot. Just enough to coat the bottom of the dish.

8. Assemble the chicken enchiladas. Place a corn tortilla on a plate. Put a small amount of shredded chicken along the center line of the tortilla. Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the chicken. Gently roll the corn tortilla and place it into the glass dish.

9. Repeat. Until the entire glass dish is lined up with enchiladas.

10. Pour enchilada sauce over the middle section of each enchilada, leaving the last ⅓ inch or so on either end without enchilada sauce.

11. Smother in cheese.

12. Set aside and assemble the bean & cheese enchiladas.

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

1. Set the oven to 375ºF

2. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

3. Scoop out a can of refried beans into a saucepan. Add in a large dollop of salsa. Heat up the beans until they're nice and soft and warm all the way through. You don't *have* to do this step, but I have found they're easier to work with when they're heated up.

4. Pour a small layer of enchilada sauce over the bottom of the glass baking dish. It doesn't have to be a lot. Just enough to coat the bottom of the dish.

5. Assemble the bean & cheese enchiladas. Place a corn tortilla on a plate. Put a sizable dollop of beans along the center line of the tortilla. Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the beans. Gently roll the corn tortilla and place it into the glass dish.

9. Repeat. Until the entire glass dish is lined up with enchiladas.

10. Pour enchilada sauce over the middle section of each enchilada, leaving the last ⅓ inch on either end without enchilada sauce.

11. Smother in cheese.

12. Put both the bean & cheese enchiladas AND the chicken enchiladas into the oven

13. Bake at 375ºF for about 35 minutes or so, or until golden brown.

14. As soon as the enchiladas are in the oven, it's time to make the "Mexican Rice."

Mexican Rice

1. Boil the liquid that is left over from the crockpot for at *least* three minutes.

2. Measure the amount of liquid in the saucepan. It should be about 2 cups. 

3. Add rice. You want to have half the amount of rice as you do liquid. So if you have 1 ½ cups liquid, add ¾ cups rice. 2 cups of liquid is 1 cup of rice and so on.

4. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 18 minutes.

Fluff and serve.

Once the rice is on the stove, it's time to make the salsa and the guacamole

Pico de Gallo Salsa

Dice the tomatoes and add to a medium to large bowl. Finely dice the green onions, and add. Cut the ends off your jalapeño pepper and remove all the seeds. Add to the bowl. Mince the cilantro. Add to the bowl. Add in a tiny pinch of sugar (about 1/4 to ½ a teaspoon). Add in a little bit of salt. Squeeze a lime. Add a little lime at a time until the salsa tastes pretty darned tasty. 

Taste it, multiple times, and add more lime and salt as needed.

Try not to eat all of it all by yourself before the rest of the dinner is ready.

Guacamole

1. Cut the avocados in half. Remove the pits. Scoop the avocado into a bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to smash the avocado.

2. Add in about ¼ cup of the warm roasted salsa and about ¼ to ⅓ of a cup of the pico de gallo salsa.

3. Add in lime and salt to taste.

Taste it, multiple times, and add more lime and salt as needed.

Try not to eat all of it all by yourself before the rest of the dinner is ready.

When the timer goes off for the enchiladas, pull them out of the oven. Serve one or two enchiladas per plate. Add a little bit of each of the salsa (and, if you'd like, some sour cream), to each enchilada. Scoop some of the rice (which should be done by now) onto your plate, and DONE!

Enjoy!

The enchiladas are very tasty the next day. Just reheat in the microwave, and then add the salsas and leftover guac (hahahahaha as if there is any) once the meal is heated thoroughly.

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)

* * * * *

Book 3 and the torus vortex

Book 3 and the Torus Vortex

I was listening to the podcast Harry Potter as a Sacred Text while walking my puppy, Charlie the other day, and Vanessa Zoltan and Casper Ter Kuile made an interesting comment about The Prisoner of Azkaban (HP book number 3) as they delved into the final discussions / wrap up of the the book. 

If you haven't started listening to Harry Potter as a Sacred Text, and you're a fan of the Harry Potter books, please go and start listening to the podcast right now. Don't even bother coming back to read this blog until after you've started listening to the podcast. Don't bother to eat. Don't sleep. Don't stop at Go and collect $200. Go. Right. Now. and Listen.

It's amazing.

Soooo, back to the podcast, and their review of book number 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, both Vanessa and Casper seemed to dislike the book as much as they like the first two books.

Vanessa and Casper discuss the importance of having a focus in a book. They describe book number three in the Harry Potter series as feeling unrooted, with a lack of focus -- because so many different characters have so many different energies focused on so many different things. 

"Hermione with her academic achievement, Lupin trying to look after Harry and reorient himself within the Hogwarts system, Snape trying to get revenge, Dumbledore is, like, MIA and then returns suddenly, Trelawny is having predictions, the Weasleys are basically not in this book. Where is Ginny? We like found her? And then she's like not in this book."*

Vanessa and Casper argued that the book almost felt as if the book seemed to miss something. That the stakes felt too small or too low and that something felt narratively missing when the book's focus wasn't on Voldemort.

By no means would I ever compare my books to the Harry Potter book series, but the structure concerns, to me, are relatable and are something I'd like to address.

In my own Book 3, I have the victims, the killer, and Jack Diamond all having their own perspective to a shooting that occurs on a pedestrian bridge here in Portland. By having so very many different things going on, I could have a very real problem -- lack of focus.

BUT

If I were to make the event -- the shooting on the bridge -- as the focus of the entire story, with each chapter unraveling the events through the lens of: each of the people who were on the bridge, or near the bridge, or a part of the shooting that occurs upon the bridge, or first responders to the events that occur upon the bridge -- that could keep the story focused.

STAY FOCUSED ON THE SHOOTING ON THE BRIDGE

Instead of envisioning the story as a snail shell, perhaps it is more like a yoyo, the events slowly unfolding bit by bit as the yoyo heads toward the depth of its trajectory, and then the shocking shootings create the jerk that is sufficient to lead the story back toward its conclusion.

Or, perhaps the story is more like a torus vortex or a tube torus, with each circular piece representing the different people who are involved in the incident, and the incident (the shooting on the bridge) itself being at the center of the entire book.

source

It seems to me that as long as I keep the shooting as the focus of the story -- the people who are on or near the bridge, the shooter, the victims who are shot, and the peace officers and first responders who come to rescue the victims and reduce and remove the threat of the shooter, the story should continue to have the proper focus.

I love this idea.

It is beautiful in its complexity.

Not once, ever, in my entire life, did I ever think that writers put so much thought into how their stories should be plotted out to best serve the readers, and to best make the story an effective, interesting, complicated but lovely book to read. But here I am, before I even truly begin, trying to plot out how this book is going to work before I start writing it, so that it will end up being structured like a torus vortex.

Did I mention how much I love this idea?

* * * * *

Citations:
* Zoltan, V. and Ter Kuile, C. (2017, September 5). Wrap-Up: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast.

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)

* * * * *

Plotting out book 3

Plotting out Book 3

So here I am, once again, sitting down at the computer, trying to figure out how to plot out the complexities of Book 3, the book that has not yet been named.

For those of you who want to know where I was, back at the beginning of January, start here: And so it begins. It's my blog entry about some of the complexities that go into my thought processes when I plan out a book.

What it doesn't say, is that -- like most people -- I have to juggle writing with life. And life has been consistently getting in my way of writing. 

I struggle with that.

When I was a college professor, I went to work each and every day. I spent hours on my commute. I spent hours teaching. I spent hours with students during 'office hours.' I spent too many hours grading. And I loved each and every minute of it.

Now that I work from home, it is a much bigger struggle to say no to other people. Someone needs a ride to the airport. Or to the doctor. Someone else wants to have lunch, and maybe go shopping. Someone else needs something from the store. The groceries need to be purchased, the bills need to get paid, the laundry needs to get done, and someone has *got* to clean up the dog poo and the clean out the litter boxes. 

And when the hubster and the kiddos are at work and at school it is infinitely easier to ask the one person who is at home to do those things. So much harder to ask someone to do something if they are in a physically different location.

The invisible woman who juggles work with home life and struggles to find her own identity in the midst of caring for her work needs, her home life needs, her family's needs, her own needs.

And so now it is March and I have not worked on my book. It has festered in my head. It festers still.

I am struggling with the structure of this next book, and think I've decided on a snail shell. 

Yes, you read that right. A snail shell.

I believe I am going to tell the story from several different perspectives, hour by hour, building upon the people's version of the story, wrapping and coiling the story around until the grand event. And then I'll uncoil the story and unwrap it around as it races to the end and finishes in a grand flurry.

To me, that's like a snail shell.

To some of you, you may think, "mmmmkay. She's lost her nutter."

Well, maybe I have.

And maybe that's okay.

Sometimes I think you have to be a bit mad in order to be a murder mystery writer. My sick and twisted mind, all dark and twisty, is exactly the perfect kind of mind that this type of story telling needs.

And it's the kind of mind my hubster loves and adores, 
so that's just an added bonus.

* * * * *

Follow me on Instagram! @kaysmithbooks

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)

* * * * *

Granini's French Toast

Granini's French Toast

So by some weird miracle, we ended up with bread leftover after I made a couple more loves of that yummo French Bread of mine.

Click here for the recipe: French Bread

So this morning, I made French Toast.

I've always just thrown a bunch of ingredients into a bowl, whipped things up, and made French Toast by 'feel' rather than by a recipe. This time, I did my best to get at least some sort of rough estimates as to how much of each item I put into my French Toast batter. Nothing is really exact with this recipe, so if you are a little over or a little under, don't you worry yourselves. It will turn out okay.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
⅓ cup milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
8 or 9 fat slices of French Bread*

and about ¼ cup of powdered sugar to sprinkle on the top (optional)

I think that apple smoked bacon (Trader Joe's is my fav) and freshly cut pineapple are a nice addition to this lovely breakfast, so I recommend getting those too, whilst you're at the store getting the rest of your ingredients.

*If you didn't make French Bread from scratch (bc sometimes you just don't have the time, or the inclination do to so), and you HAPPEN to have Texas toast bread (which is just really thickly sliced white bread), that's a nice substitute. If you haven't got that, feel free to use whatever other sliced bread you have. Honestly. It really doesn't matter.  Some people like bread that has lots of nuts and seeds. Others like white bread. Some people like a nice sour dough. It's all up to you.

Directions.

Set your griddle on or about 325℉. Set a small butter melter on the skillet to start melting your butter. Pop your bacon in the oven. Cut up your fresh pineapple and set aside. I personally prefer half salted, half unsalted butter, but again, melt whatever butter floats your boat. Then heat up some syrup.

In a large bowl, whisk your eggs. Add in the milk and whisk again. Add in the remainder of the wet ingredients and spices until you have a nice frothy mixture.

Once your griddle is heated, quickly dip your bread into the eggy mixture, flip the bread over onto the other side, and then put the damp bread onto the skillet. Don't leave the bread in the mixture for too long or it might get really soggy. The more soggy the bread, the harder it is to cook thoroughly, and it can result in a mushy disaster. Cook until the under side is lightly browned, then flip, and cook the second side.

Once the French Toast is ready to come off the griddle, slather the top side with melted butter and serve.

Some of the folks over here like powdered sugar. Some like heated syrup. Some like a smear of peanut butter and syrup. Some like blueberry gravy (recipe here: blueberry gravy -- which is really just homemade blueberry syrup but it tastes a lot like the inside of a blueberry pie, and if you like that kind of thing, you might just want to make a blueberry pie, and the recipe for my blueberry pie can be found here.)

Eat and enjoy!

If you don't have a griddle, and you want to make perfect pancakes and french toast and grilled cheese sammies, buy a griddle. Seriously. Buy one. They're like $20 at Target, and I'm sure you can find one at Bed Bath & Beyond and use a coupon. They cook your breakfast items evenly, you can regulate the temperature so that your food isn't burnt on the outside and runny in the middle. And you can cook a LOT at once, enabling more of your family and loved ones to eat all at once, and not have to watch them waiting, eagerly, or not so eagerly, with a fork in their hands and a greedy glint in their eyes, with a tense fear that they might just stab you in the back or slip on the pile of drool on the floor whilst they are hangry and anxiously awaiting their breakfast nosh.  Just sayin.

I own two.

For those of you who like pictures, here are a few for you!!

 Crack 6 eggs into a bowl. Don't worry if you crack the yolk. You're gonna whip it all up anyway.

Whisk in the milk and the lemon juice and the vanilla.

Whisk in the nutmeg and cinnamon. It seems like a lot, but I like a lot. And it tastes great. So there.

 Mmmmm French Bread.

Slice the bread up into thickish slices. Not too thick, not too thin. 
The Goldilocks of slices

Quickly dunk the bread into the egg mixture. Don't worry if all the cinnamon floats to the top. That's fine. Just don't keep the bread in the eggs too long, or the bread will get soggy.

Bake on one side until light brown underneath they're ready to flip.

Bake on the other side and then slather in butter. See my cute butter melting thing? I got it at an antique store for like $2. It's amazing. Holds a whole cube of butter. Looks a lot like one I had when I was growing up, but much bigger. Again, highly recommend.

Mmmmm French Toast & bacon.

Here's a link to my French Bread recipe

And, when you're all done with your breakfast, and you've cleaned up the dishes, and you're looking for good book to read, click on the links below! I write murder mysteries!

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)

* * * * *