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.
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.
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)
Diamonds for Diamond
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)
* * * * *
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