Beef Enchiladas

First off, I have a confession to make, and it is nothing related to this enchilada recipe.  I love really, really bad horror movies.  For example, while I was flipping through the channels recently, Mega-Shark Vs. Giant Octopus was on.  Most people would scoff, mumble something like, "do people seriously watch this garbage?" and continue surfing.  Well, since one of my favorite pasttimes is going to the video store (the Be Kind- Please Rewind store back in the day) with my oldest brother and finding the worst possible movie ever, I love watching these.  I came in about 2/3 the way through, but I just had to see the Mega-Shark and Giant Octopus, so I kept watching.  Two of the main characters were a blonde lady and an older Asian man.  Right as I started watching, they started kissing, and then "took a walk" to a janitor closet and went to town.  I texted my brother and wrote, "Okay... That blonde chick that looks like Debbie Gibson and the older Asian dude would not hook up in real life."  His response, "Because that is the most implausible thing in that movie... I believe giant flying sharks might exist, but Debbie Gibson would never be singing 'I think we're alone now' to a guy that could work at Panda Express."  I about fell over laughing.  And it turns out, it was really Debbie Gibson, and she's in a sequel called "Mega-Python Vs. Gatoroid" with Tiffany!  Attack of the 80s icon pop singers in a cheesy horror film!  Maybe not as cheesy as these enchiladas though!

This recipe came from The Pioneer Woman cookbook, and I thought they were pretty good.  I love Mexican food, so I'm always busting out this stuff.  This isn't my favorite enchilada recipe, but I thought thy turned out tasty, so I'm sharing the recipe with you.  :)

"Simple, Perfect Enchiladas"

source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks (this is a good cookbook and good enchiladas, but I would not call these perfect enchiladas.  Sorry, Ree!)

4-5 servings

Sauce:

1 T canola oil

2 T flour

14 oz can Enchilada Sauce

1 c chicken broth

1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

1 T chopped cilantro

The Meat:

1/2 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 4-oz can chopped green chilies

1/2 t salt

The rest:

10 corn tortillas

canola oil for frying

1/2 c chopped black olives

1 c chopped green onion

3 c grated cheddar cheese

cilantro

To make the sauce, combine the oil and flour over medium heat.  Whisk it and let it boil for one minute so it thickens. 

 Pour in the enchilada sauce, chicken broth, salt, and pepper.  Whisk to combine.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer while you prepare the rest.

 Chop the onion.  Brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet until browned.  Drain.  Add the green chilies and salt. 

 Heat the canola oil of medium heat.  Don't use your fingers like the picture, please.  Use some tongs.  I did this to quickly take a picture.  Fry the tortillas for only a few seconds on each side to soften them up.  Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. 

 Preheat the oven to 350. 

Spread about 1/2 c of the sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Pour some of the sauce into a pie plate.  Dip a softened tortilla into the sauce.

 Top with some of the ground beef mixture, olives, green onions, and a generous serving of cheese.  Roll it up and place it seam side-down in the prepared pan.

 Pour any remaining sauce pan into the saucepan.  Add 1-2 T chopped cilantro and stir. 

 Pour the sauce over the rolled enchiladas.  I always leave a couple without extra sauce for my kids. 

 Top with some cheese.  If you like cheesy, watch Meag-Shark Vs. Ginat Octopus.

 Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, if you'd like.  I totally forgot because I wanted to eat.  :)

This is a good, basic enchilada recipe, but check out the Mexican section of my blog for my favorite enchilada recipes. 

After watching the last chunk of the movie, I had to get up for 45 seconds to open the door for my daughter who came home from kindergarten.  When I came back, I totally missed what happened to the shark and the octopus.  I had to go on instant watch on Netflix to see the ending.  *sigh*  These bad movies get me every time. 

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Not so long ago, I went to a baby shower.  Not just any baby shower, though.  This was baby shower Bingo!  It was, by far, the best idea for a baby shower.  We went to someone's house, brought some food, and played bingo for two hours- they have the bingo cage, the Bingo bopper-things, and prizes for winners.  After we all played Bingo, we opened the baby presents.  This was pure brilliance.  Not only was the idea of playing bingo brilliant, but this dip was among the food table, and it was brilliant.  Never in a million years did I think that I would eat a cranberry salsa on top of cream cheese and say that it is amazing.  However, this stuff was ridiculous!  One of my friends sitting next me must have eaten three or four helpings of this stuff.  I only had one helping, but it's only because I had splurged on every sweet concoction on the table before I indulged in this.  Luckily, the girl that made it not only had recipes already printed out, but she had some left-over salsa that she gave me to take home.  Score!  This dip would be a lovely addition to a Christmas Eve buffet since it's got the red and green.  Or, shoot, eat it any time for a taste sensation.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip
source: Lil (thanks, pal!)

1 12 oz pkg fresh cranberries
1/4 c green onion, chopped
1/4 c chopped cilantro
1 small jalapeno, deveined, seeded, and diced
1 1/4 c sugar
1/4 t cumin
2 T lemon juice
dash salt
2 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

Chop the cranberries by hand, in a mini-chopper, or a food processor.

Add the chopped green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno to the cranberries.  Add the sugar, cumin, lemon juice, and salt to this.  Mix it together, cover, and refrigerate it for four hours.  The sugar and the cranberries blend together or something because they are not bitter at all! 

After four hours, place the cream cheese in your serving plate (preferably something with a rim) and spread it.  Top with the cranberry salsa.  If you don't want to bother with spreading the cream cheese, you can just plop the softened brick of cream cheese on a plate and top it with the salsa like I did in the picture. 

Serve it with Wheat Thins, Ritz, tortilla chips, or whatever other crackers you like. 

I know it looks crazy, but don't judge a book by its cover!  This stuff is glorious!

Chocolate Oreo Cake

When life hands you lemons, make a chocolate cake for no apparent reason and savor every last bite.  Goodness, gracious, me.  This cake was delicious.  I found the recipe in the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion- a cookbook my husband got for me for Christmas.  That book is an arsenal of recipes like this one.  This is some very good ammo. "Say hello to my little friend!"  I think even Scarface would have chosen this cake over a machine gun... maybe.  The guy that we had over was pretty much bribing the kids to be done with their cake so he could have their leftovers.  He said, "I'll give you a dollar to be done with that cake."  It always makes me smile when folks savor every last bite of something I whipped up.  Plop some ice cream on the side of this cake, and you'll start humming "Happy Birthday" to yourself. 

Chocolate Oreo Cake

source: King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook

Cake:

1 3/4 c sugar

2 1/4 c flour

2 T cornstarch

3/4 Dutch-processed cocoa (regular should work fine)

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

2 lg eggs

3/4 c buttermilk

1/2 c vegetable oil

2 t vanilla

1 c hot water

Marshmallow Filling:

1/4 c shortening

1/4 c butter

pinch of salt

1 t vanilla

1 c powdered sugar

1/4 c corn syrup

3/4 c marshmallow creme

Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 c heavy cream

2 T corn syrup

pinch of salt

1 heaping c of semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 Oreos

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients.  Whisk to blend.  Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Turn the speed down and add the hot water.  Stir it in.  It will be very thin. Pour it into the prepared pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Cool for ten minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack. 

Filling:

Beat together the shortening, butter, salt, vanilla, and sugar until it's fluffy.  Add the corn syrup, a little at a time, until it is well incorporated.  Beat in the marshmallow creme.

Glaze:

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients.  Cook and stir until the chocolate is melted, and it is smooth.  Remove from the heat and let it rest for 10-15 minutes  or until it thickens slightly. 

Assembly:

If the cake domed as it baked, use a long, serrated knife to cut the dome off the top of the cake layers.  I saved the cake tops to make cake balls later.  Freeze the leftovers, if desired. 

Place the cut-side down on your serving platter.  Evenly spread all the filling on the top of the bottom cake layer. 

Place the second cake layer, cut-side down, on top of the filling.  Pour the cooled glaze on top of the cake and use a spatula to spread the glaze evenly across the top.  Spread it close to the sides so the glaze will drizzle down the sides of the cake. 

Place the Oreos in a ziplock bag and crush them with a meat mallet to make coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle them all over the top of the cake.  The original recipe called for crushed peppermint candies or mint-chocolate cookies.  I had oreos on hand, so I just used them.  Although, I wouldn't be lying when I say that Thin Mint girl scout cookies would be amazing on top of this cake.  :)

There is a lot of work creating the different layers from scratch, but it is worth every second!  The cake comes out tender and soft, the filling is perfect, and the chocolate glaze will make your toes curl.  And who doesn't love Oreos?  My mom.  She doesn't love Oreos, but everyone else in the world does.  :) 

Grilled Pork Loin Stuffed with Craisins and Feta

As I was sitting on the couch with the kids this morning, I heard, "Hey... Callie... It's me.  You know, that pork roast in the fridge that needs to be cooked.  Don't leave me hanging here.  You know how bad old pork smells."  So, I got up off the coach and gathered a few cookbooks to look through to find a good recipe.  After looking at pulled pork, pork carnitas or other tacos, and a myriad of the other recipes, I found this one.  The weather was lovely today, so I decided to go the grilling route.  It turned out wonderful!  The original recipe called for dried pears, walnuts, and gargonzola, but I didn't have any on hand.  I did, however, have craisins, pecans, and feta.  Score!  It was a good substitution.  Either way, it's a nice twist on a pork roast that doesn't take that much effort.

Pork Loin Stuffed with Craisins and Feta

source: Grill It!  A Better Homes and Gardens cookbook

serves: 5

1/2 onion, diced

1 T butter

3/4 c dried Craisins (or dried pear or apple)

1/4 c chopped pecans (or walnuts)

2 T feta (or Gargonzola)

1/2 T balsamic vinegar

1.5-2 lb pork roast

2 t rosemary

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t pepper

In a small saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the onion and cook for about five minutes, or until they are softened.  Remove from the heat and add the craisins, pecans, and feta.  I totally missed the vinegar when I did it, so you could include it or not. Set the stuffing aside.

Trim the pork loin of any giant fat pockets.  Cut it in half lengthwise.

 Using some kitchen string or other cotton string, cut five strips and place them underneath the pork loin.  This will make it easier to tie the top part on once the stuffing is on there.

 Spoon the stuffing on top.  It may fall all over the place, but there will be plenty to go around.

 Put the other half of the pork loin on top of the stuffing and tie the string around to keep it all in place.  I trimmed my string so it looked a little better.

 Combine the garlic, rosemary, and pepper and rub onto the top of the meat. 

Preheat the grill to medium (about 350 degrees) and place the roast in a roasting pan over indirect heat.  If you've never done that, just place the meat over a burner that is off. 

 Grill the meat for an hour or until the interior registers 150 degrees, flipping the meat halfway through.

 Once it is done, remove it and tent it with foil.  Let it rest for 15 minutes.  The temperature will go up a little more and the juices will redistribute so the meat isn't dry.  After the 15 minutes, remove the string and slice the meat.  Serve to hungry folks.

I really wish my camera took better close-up pictures.  It would revolutionize my blog. 

Grilled Vegetable and Mozzarella Salad

As I was making dinner tonight, I was hoping to find some sort of grilled vegetable side dish.  I stumbled upon this recipe, and by same crazy miracle, I had everything on hand.  Very rarely do I have tomato, yellow pepper, and zucchini on hand.  This is not a recipe that I would have touched during my All-I-eat-is-chicken-fingers youth stage.  Heck- I wouldn't have gone near this even a few years ago.  Luckily, my taste buds have finally matured now that I'm 30.  Now if only my sense of humor would mature a bit.  :)

 I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of flavors and textures in this salad.  It's definitely not a traditional salad by any means, but I think it's a great addition to a grilled meal.  I wouldn't try to make your little ones eat this.  They may look at you, scoff, and claim that they would sooner listen to a documentary about the Harrison presidency- while eating dates and prunes.  Talk about torture!  Grown-ups with refined tastes would be all over this tasty side dish.

Grilled Vegetable and Mozzarella Salad

source: Grill It! A Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (A good one, if you're wondering)

serves: 4

2 medium tomatoes, halved

1 zucchini, halved lengthwise

1/2 yellow pepper, seeded and quartered (a red or orange pepper would be fine to use)

romaine lettuce

2 oz mozzarella, cubed

Italian dressing (optional)

vinaigrette:

1 T cider vinegar

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 T olive oil

1/2 T brown sugar

1/4 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients.  Pour into a Ziplock bag.

Once all of your vegetables and cut according to the ingredient list, place them in the Ziplock bag with the dressing.  Seal the bag and shake to coat.  Let the vegetables marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Also, if you'd like, you can let the mozzarella cubes marinate in Italian dressing while the vegetables are resting and grilling.  This is something I added to the recipe, but I thought it added a nice little zing to the cheese.

After 30 minutes, preheat the grill to medium.  Pour off the vinaigrette and reserve it.

Grill the yellow pepper and onion for 7-10 minutes, flipping halfway through.  Cook the zucchini for 5-7 minutes or until crisp tender, flipping halfway through.  Cook the tomatoes for five minutes or until the skin starts to char.

Once the vegetables are done, cut them all into bite size pieces.  Place some torn romaine lettuce on a platter and toss it with the reserved vinaigrette dressing.  Place the diced vegetables on top.

 Sprinkle the cheese cubes on top of everything and serve the salad. 

There you have it!  If you think the idea of having grilled vegetables atop lettuce is bizarre, feel free to omit the lettuce and just make it a grilled vegetable side dish.  Either way, the result will be tasty.

And please, don't force your kids to eat this or watch presidential documentaries.