Enchilada Time!

I know, I am kind of cheating. Okay, I am totally cheating.

I have already posted this recipe. However, it deserves to be posted again. It is THAT good!

This is a real favorite in the Smith house. Mr. Smith gets positively giddy when he hears that this meal is on the meal plan. He usually wants it the same night he hears about it. No matter what.

Yes, they are a little fussy. Yes, the enchilada sauce could easily be weaponized. Same with the chipotle in adobo...yikes that stuff can stain ANYTHING.

But the results are completely worth the stains, the orange hands, the reddish grout on the tile counter, the red splotches on my clothes.



The other beautiful thing about this meal, it makes two 9 x 13 pans (gotta love that 9 x 13 action...is there anything bad that comes out of a 9 x 13 pan...I don't think so.) of enchiladas. Cover the second one with freezer wrap and foil (don't put the foil directly on...the tomatoes will dissolve it). Take it out of the freezer when you want to serve it. Bake it for about 30-45 minutes on 350° and serve it with Spanish Rice (Mahatma brand is my personal favorite) and refried beans and everyone will be happy.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 5 canned whole green chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 16 corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
• Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Directions

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.

Recipe from The Food Network, Tyler Florence.

Sauce in a Flash

Back in the day, the Pittsburgh days, I was living with The Dead End Guy. After numerous, extended explosive break-ups, getting-back-togethers, epic battles and absurd negotiations, we moved into a two bedroom apartment. As I look back on this (a good 19 years later), it was not the smartest thing I have ever done.

We were unhappy almost immediately. At least I was.

I remember having a huge argument the day we moved in and wanting to leave right then.

I wanted something more. I knew that much. I just wasn't mature enough to figure out that he was not the man (hell, he wasn't even a damn man, let's face it, he was a boy...probably still is) that was capable of giving me what I wanted or needed.

For a period of time after I graduated from college and was looking desperately for employment when there was none to be had, I played at being a housewife. I wanted that, I wanted to be the perfect little wife, waiting with a delicious hot meal when he got home from class.

I very diligently made meal plans, shopped for ingredients, chopped, cooked, and cleaned. I was play-acting at being a wife, the thing I so desperately wanted. Even though, deep down, I could never envision us being married, let alone happily married.

I would ask him what he would like (this recipe was a real favorite) and then dutifully make it. Hoping that at some dream-like point, he would notice how wonderful I was and realize that he wanted me.

He never did.

This worked for a little over a year. I played this little game that there was something I could do, some meal I could conjure up, something I could wear that would please him enough.

He found someone else he had more in common with, and he eventually, ironically, married.

It was really really hard to realize that the time I had spent trying so damn hard to make him love me had been completely wasted. I should have had the good sense to let go, to let him go, to let the non-relationship go, years and years before I did.

Then, after a really long time...and I am talking about a really long time, I met this guy. He was handsome and sweet. He seemed to like me just like I am (miracle!) so I married his butt as fast as I possibly could!

He likes what I cook. He likes that I cook. He didn't care that I could hardly cook during both pregnancies. He appreciates that I try new recipes and (as long as I don't add nuts) is willing to try the things I am experimenting with.

All that time, all those years...they weren't wasted. It was just training for the real thing. Now I really know how to be a good wife, for real. But more importantly, I know how to accept the unconditional love that is given. No questions asked, no strings attached, just love. No more pretending, no more begging to be noticed and accepted.

Either way, the pasta sauce is wonderful...whether you are serving it to The Dead End Guy or Mr. Smith, although for Mr. Smith, I skip the mushrooms. It is the least I can do.


Sauce in a Flash

3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb. lean meat
1 can (28 ozs.) crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano, or 3/4 teaspoon dry oregano
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 jar (7 ozs.) roasted red pepper or pimento, drained or diced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, shredded or 1 tablespoon dry basil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Brown the meat in a skillet. Drain it if you want to, heck, you can even rinse the fat off of it in a colander. I don't because I don't like getting fat in my colander, but that is just me.

After the meat is cooked, just add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and heat through.

Serve with your favorite pasta shape and enjoy!

Williams Sonoma Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad

This recipe is originally from the Williams Sonoma catalog. This is old school, when the catalog was 5 x 7 and not the slick production that it is now.

I have always been a huge fan. When I saw this recipe, it just looked so good and sounded amazing. After a few days of discussion (my mother is not overly fond of trying new recipes, especially when they require ingredients that may be expensive/hard to find/never used for anything else ever again). This one only had a few oddball ingredients, so she gave in pretty easily.

The results were AMAZING! This salad has become a true favorite in our house. It is just the right balance of ingredients. Just enough chicken, just enough cheese, just enough lettuce. It just has everything.

Over the years, I have streamlined the process and have made the preparation must faster.

Rub for chicken

Skinless, boneless, about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken). I usually cube the chicken and just stir it into the "rub mixture." I then throw it in a pan and saute it until it is cooked through.

In a bowl make the rub by combining:

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper (I usually reduce this to 1/4-1/2 teaspoon, we are lightweights around here)

1 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro (if you can find the stuff in a tube, it is so much easier than chopping the fresh stuff and the results are the same)

salt and pepper to taste

Rub the skinless, boneless chicken breasts with oil/herb mixture (if you are grilling them whole). Grill on both sides until tender, 15-20 minutes, set aside.

Salad dressing

4-6 tomatillos (Get some that are nice, plump and the color of green tomatoes under the husk. If they are starting to shrivel and feel mushy, don't get them. When you are ready to use them, just remove the husk. Make sure to rinse the tomatillo off thoroughly, they have a sticky coating on them. Cut it into quarters and add it to your food processor).

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1-2 seeded ancho chilis (quarter and add to food processor)

1 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro (again, the tube of cilantro will work just fine)

salt and pepper to taste

Process until pureed and set aside.

Wash, dry and tear 3 small heads of red or green leaf lettuce (I like to use a head of each) and arrange in a large bowl.

Cut chicken up (if you haven't already) and arrange in center of lettuce.

Arrange 1 cup each of grated Cheddar Cheese and Monterey Jack Cheese around chicken and pour dressing evenly over salad.

NOTE: This is a big salad, you may not be able to finish it in one sitting. If you want to be able to keep the salad, don't assemble it. Simply keep the components and assemble the salad when you are ready to eat it. It is wonderful if you make it ahead and serve for dinner, it is great the next day for lunch. You can take it to a party, etc. The chicken with the rub is also an awesome addition to nachos or a quesadilla.

I hope you and your family love this recipe as much as we do!

Let me know what you think.