New Recipe Night! Chicken Mole Enchiladas

Well, tonight was a new recipe attempt. I modified the original recipe some (trying to make it a bit healthier). In retrospect, not sure I accomplished my goal. But, it was very tasty!

The original recipe is listed here:


Here is my attempt to recreate Marcela Valladolid's recipe from MEXICAN MADE EASY.

CHICKEN MOLE ENCHILADAS

2 chicken breasts, salt/pepper and bake 15 minutes. Shred chicken into bite size pieces.

MOLE SAUCE:
4 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 1/2 cup HOT water
2 handfuls of tortilla chips
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 3/4 cups chicken stock
3 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
5 oz Mexican chocolate (Ibarra)

ENCHILADAS:
12 corn tortillas
Olive Oil Nonstick spray
Feta cheese

TOPPINGS:
Queso Fresco cheese
Chopped cilantro
Light sour cream

DIRECTIONS:
Soak the dried pasilla chiles by soaking in 1 1/2 cups HOT water for at least 15 minutes. Drain, set aside.

In large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add chopped onion and saute until translucent. (3 minutes or so) Add garlic. Cook another 2 -3 minutes. Do not burn garlic.

Transfer the following to blender:
Onion/garlic mixture
Tortilla chips
1 3/4 cup chicken stock (save rest for later)
Peanut Butter
Sugar
Oregano
Blend until very smooth and creamy.

Transfer sauce to the large saucepan. Bring to boil - be careful! It will splatter. (I know from experience.) Reduce heat to simmer. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the chocolate. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the rest of the chicken broth as needed - mixture can become too thick. I added one additional cup of chicken broth.

ASSEMBLY:
Cover bottom of 9x13 baking pan with thin layer of mole sauce. Heat up large flat nonstick griddle. Spray both sides of tortillas with olive oil nonstick spray. Put the tortillas on the hot griddle and saute both sides to soften the tortillas. I did all the tortillas as Larry filled and rolled. Put a spoonful of chicken in the center of tortilla with a tad bit of feta cheese. Roll and place seam side down in the 9x13 dish. Repeat procedure with all tortillas. Ladle mole sauce over top of enchiladas. Top with Queso Fresco (crumbled) cheese and cilantro. Bake at 375 degrees about 15 minutes until warm.

Serve with light sour cream.

We had refried beans w/cheese and warmed tortillas with our enchiladas. Delicious!

**HINDSIGHT: When I repeat this recipe, I will add a bit more salt than I did, a little less feta cheese. The flavors were very interesting together, but I think we might have overdone the feta. I'm wondering if gorgonzola would be milder than the feta??? Still have some playing around to do with perfecting this recipe, but it is pretty darn good!

Weekends are for...

Weekends are multi-faceted. They are for resting, relaxation, getting everything done at home (such as laundry, cleaning, bills, shopping, the list goes on...). Well, this time of year it is time to add another "to do" to the list! Taxes... So, today was my organizing day. I did pretty well, not done - more to do, but have a good start! I bet by next weekend, I'll be ready to drop everything off. Even though I started the year of 2009 very organized for taxes, I need to follow through all year and stay up to date and organized.

Why is it so hard to stay organized all the time? It seems I used to be very organized... (my nickname is Planner Patty after all), but now I can't keep up. (Sadly enough!)

Well, Abby had a great weekend of resting. I would like to be a dog owned by me! Good comfie life to be sure. The picture signifies Abby's favorite things... the couch; the blanket (have to be warm after all); and her favorite toy - the squirrel. A DOG'S LIFE as they say...

New Recipe Night!

Tonight was Caribbean night in the house! We had a very tasty dinner, another easy one at that. (The best kind after all...) One little mishap with the propane on the BBQ - ran out, so had to drag out the George Foreman grill for the shrimp.

ROASTED VEGGIES
Asparagus pieces
Quartered mushrooms
Sliced Zuchini
Spike Seasoning
Garlic
Olive Oil
Freshly Ground Pepper
Jerk Seasoning

Mix all together. Put in casserole dish (13x9). Sprinkle with just a tad of parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 until veggies are done.

JAMAICAN JERK SHRIMP
1 # raw shrimp (deveined & cleaned)
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
Garlic
Curry
Thyme
Sage
Cayenne
Freshly ground pepper
Cinnamon
tiny bit of sugar
Ground nutmeg
Olive Oil

Mix together all ingredients (except the shrimp) in a bowl. Toss the shrimp in the seasoning/olive oil mixture. Put on skewer and bbq until done.

Chipotle Beef & Black Bean Dinner

By popular request, here is the recipe for a very easy dinner! (and delicious too...) Get a large glass of water and enjoy!

CHIPOTLE BEEF
2-3 lb chuck roast
15 oz beef broth
7 oz chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (can be spicy! if you don't like spice, use less...)

In a nonstick skillet, spray with Pam. Salt and pepper the chuck roast. Saute the chuck roast in the skillet for about 3-5 minutes per side. It will NOT be done. When both sides are browned, put meat into crockpot. Pour over the beef broth, and empty the can of chipotle peppers (and sauce) into the crockpot. Cook on low all day.

EASY BLACK BEANS
2 cans of black beans
chopped garlic to taste
1/2 cup of salsa

Stir together. Put in casserole dish, cover with foil, bake on low heat (225 degrees) for an hour to an hour and a half.

Serve with a salad - wah laa - you have a complete dinner. Low cal, tasty and healthy.