Tag: Mexican food

Casseroles · Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Green Chile Chicken Casserole

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Tonight we took dinner to our kids. Tuesday evenings are pretty hectic in their household so it has been so neat to cook for them and have them walk in to their house to dinner.
They like chicken so I always try to think os something that will be easy to carry over there and yet something that everyone likes. Today I decided to make this casserole because it is so easy and they loved it.

1 can of mild green chile enchilada sauce (10 oz can)
2 chicken breasts cooked an diced (save some of the chicken broth that you cooked the chicken in ”
1/2 cup onion
1 oz package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 oz package of cream cheese
3 tables butter
18 yellow corn tortillas
garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste
1 tables corn starch stirred into 1/3 cup water or chicken broth.
Oil for searing tortillas

Spray a 7×11″ baking dish with Pam.
In a skillet, melt the butter and add the diced onion. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until onion is clear and tender. Add the garlic powder, salt and pepper and stir. Add half of the can of the green chile sauce to the onion mixture. Pour about 1 cup of the chicken broth into this mixture. Stir in softened cream cheese. Mixture will be thin, cook over low heat for a few minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in the corn starch mixture a little at a time stiring continually until mixture thickens. If it thickens to much, add a little more chicken broth or more green chile sauce from another can. (I always buy two cans for this reason.)
Set this aside.

In a separate skillet heat oil. Taking the corn tortillas one at a time, drop in oil for 2-3 seconds per side until all 18 have been heated in oil. Drain on paper towel.

Pour other half of remaining sauce that is in the can in the bottom of the baking dish. Layer 6 of the tortillas on the bottom. Sprinkle 1/2 of the chopped chicken over the tortillas. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over this. Layer 6 more of the tortillas,now the rest of the diced chicken and another 1/3 of the cheese. Layer the remaining tortillas on top. Pour the sauce from the skillet over the entire casserole and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until casserole is bubbling and cheese is all melted and lightly browned around the edges.
We served this with a pot of pinto beans and Spanish rice.

Daily Thoughts · Meats · Soups · Uncategorized

Indian Taco Soup?

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You are probably thinking I have totally lost it. But…hear me out. Saturday we were at Costco and of course if you have been reading my blog for any length of time or have read some of the stories in Princess on the Porch, you know that Mr. Adventure loves to go to Costco and see how many samples he can eat before they run him out of the store. Well, I do have to admit, this past Saturday was one of the best sample days we have had in a long time. First of all, they were giving away samples of CARAMEL APPLES! There were about 5 different flavors so I ended up hiding around the corner because I was too embarrassed to keep going back for another sample, but not Randy. He would ask me what flavor I wanted this time and would just head on over to the counter and take another sample and bring it to me. After about 4 times, I told him that he just couldn’t go back. But Oh my goodness, they were delicious. If you are wondering why I didn’t just buy one, I had just had the report from my doctor that my Bad cholesterol was 150 over what it should be, not to mention the total cholesterol of 311. So I had better just stick to samples until I can get my numbers down just a tad. BTW, the way this doctor got my attention was this; “well, Trudy, since you cannot take statins, will you promise me you will stay off fats and start exercise? Then three months from now, we will check your numbers again and see if you are a women of your word.” WHAT? A woman of my word? You are kidding me. So what am I suppose to do with the 6 lbs of butter in my fridge and the 3 lb block of cream cheese? Do I just pour my quart of whipping cream down the drain and use my 5 lb sack of shredded cheese for potting soil? Of course I’m a woman of my word. When I say that butter is my life, I truly mean it!

Back to Costco. One of the samples on Saturday was Tasty Bite Madras Lentils. Absolutely delicious. Both of us agreed that they were so good, and I’m sure very healthy, as they are lentils for petes sake, that you could actually use them as a topping for cheese enchiladas. (oops, there I go again, stop it Trudy, you cannot have cheese anymore) So we bought a box of them. They tasted just like a really good chile, but with no meat, just lentils.

This morning, trying to make up for the caramel apple samples I had on Saturday, oh, and the Mexican breakfast of huevos rancheros yesterday… and the Kentucky Butter Cake last night, I thought maybe a low cholesterol taco soup would be good for us tonight before I go to Bunco and snack on the bowls of M&M’s the ladies always have at the tables. So I gathered up all the veggies in the fridge and even used a 1/2 lb of ground turkey instead of beef. After all, us high cholesterol gals need to learn to eat turkey in place of beef, right?

So here was my taco soup with ground turkey, onions, celery, yellow squash, fresh spinach, chopped cabbage,carrots, a little left over rice and added a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles, plus a 2 cups of waterAdd your garlic, cumin and chile powder, and wa la….you have taco soup. But wait; what if I added a packet of the Madras Lentils to it? Wouldn’t that just add a little more spiciness and flavor? So I opened it up and poured it in and put the pot of soup in the oven. Baked it at 300 for 2 1/2 hours. The soup is delicious. But then I looked at the packet of the Madras Lentils to see all of the ingredients.  It is actually an Indian food! Really? Either Randy and I have totally lost our taste buds or Indian food taste a lot like Mexican food. All I know is that it added such a great flavor to the taco soup that we will make all our taco soups with it. Isn’t Madras a Spanish word? You have got to try these Madras lentils. Now for the kicker. They might sound healthy, but when you look at the ingredients on the package, (which I guess I should have done before adding them to the soup), they have butter and cream in them. Now my low choldestol taco soup isn’t very low cholesterol, but it sure is good.

Lesson learned from this Costco trip. Indian people use Spanish words in their foods. Caramel apple samples are not the kind of apples that “one a day keeps the doctor away.” If I don’t want to disappoint my doctor by my character, I guess I’m going to have to stay away from Costco Sample Saturdays!

Beef · Casseroles · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Starches · Uncategorized

Chile Rellanos Ole’

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Tuesday evening we had dinner for some friends of ours who has given me a really bad time because I fry my own chips and make my own salsa.  Because one of our friends who I won’t name, OK, I will name her, Judy’s words to me was, “really, you  fry your own chips? Just go to the store and buy a bag of chips for Pete’s sake” So I thought I would show her why I make my own chips and once in for all, settle this question of why I choose to spend the better part of 2 hrs frying chips for a Mexican dinner at our house. So here it was Monday and I am scrolling through the internet looking at different recipes for chile rellano casseroles when I came across Mario Batali which he made when visiting the TV program The Chew. When I read over it, I decided that it sounded so much better than the last rellano casserole I had made.We drove to the store to pick up the necessary grocery items and Randy decided that he wanted to buy Anaheim peppers and roast them himself instead of using all canned green chiles. So we bought 8 of them.

Tuesday morning arrives and we are decorating the table to seat 8 friends and find our Mexican dishes to serve the homemade chips, salsa and casserole. I had made the salsa on Monday evening so that the flavors would have time to blend and after sampling it, found that it was really really good. Randy roasted the peppers and I start frying chips. After an hour and a half, I figured that if they had eaten all the chips I had fried, they certainly could then go to the store and “just grab a bag of chips”. I smelled like grease from head to toe, but it was worth it. The chips were amazing. We sprinkle Lawry’s Seasoning salt and a little pepper over them as soon as they come out of the fryer.

Around 5 I begin to put the casserole together. I deseeded the peppers he had roasted and skinned. Spray baking dish with Pam! Pour enough mild green enchilada sauce to cover bottom of baking dish! Lay enough of the green chiles (cut in half vertically) over enchilada sauce  in the bottom of the Paula Deen casserole dish, I covered them with 1/2 lb of fried and crumbled ground beef. Then comes about 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar. Because we had about 1/2 of package of Mexican cheese (the white cheese used to stuff chile rellanos or use in quest dip, I cannot remember the exact name) I crumbled that over the cheddar. Then I poured about 2/3 cup mild green chile enchilada sauce over this mixture. Running out of our roasted anaheim peppers, I opened up a can of Hatch whole green chiles and sliced them in half (vertically), removed the seeds and used those to top the layer of casserole that was already in the pan. I repeated the second layer with the rest of the hamburger meat, the rest of the Mexican cheese, another 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar,  another 2/3 cup green chile sauce and then poured my milk mixture (see below for the milk mixture)*over the top of the layer. Finally, I used another 2 cups of shredded cheese and  baked it in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 45-50min! If mixture begins to brown too quickly cover it with foil the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking time.  To make cutting easier allow mixture to sit at about 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

The friends who we served it to all wanted the recipe and each guy ate two servings. It truly was the best chile rellanos casserole we have had and just finished the last two servings for lunch today. (Yes, Randy was so impressed with how hard I worked frying all those chips Tues, he took me to Costco for a hot dog yesterday, so we had leftovers for our lunch today. Mr. Romantic strikes again)

Thank you Mario Batali for sharing this great recipe. It was such a hit and allowed us to send our friends, Mary Lou and Danny back to Minnesota with a great memory of having  real Mexican food that will have to last them until they come back in November. OLE’

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

1-2 teas chile powder

1 teas ground cumin

1 teas salt

1 (15 oz) can evaporated milk

4 eggs

1/2 cup fresh cilantro (chopped) ( I used a little more than a half cup )

1 tables flour

1 1/2 cups mild green chile enchilada sauce (Mario used salsa, I substituted the sauce)

24 oz of sharp cheddar cheese (Plus I used the remaining white Mexican cheese we had in fridge)

 

To Assemble: brown the meat with the onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink. Add the chile powder, cumin and salt to taste.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, milk, cilantro and flour together with a whisk.

Arrange half the chiles in a single layer on the bottom of the prepared pan over some of the enchilada ssuce.. Top with half of the meat mixture, half of the enchilada sauce, half of the cheese. Top with the rest of the meat, more cheese, rest of enchilada sauce and then pour the milk mixture over the top. Sprinkle rest of shredded cheese and bake in preheated 350 oven for about 45-50 minutes or until edges are brown and cheese is bubbling in center of casserole.

Allow to sit for about 10-15 min so it will firm up before cutting into squares to serve. Top with fresh cilantro and sour cream if desired to serve.

 

 

appetizers · Uncategorized

Green Chile Squares

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Trying to decide what to serve when some of our kids from Texas come in, I went to the queen of Christmas recipes, Paula Deen. The kids had requested King Ranch casserole one night while here, so wanted to have a few side dishes that would compliment it. With a pot of pinto beans and bean and cheese tacos, I thought this would be the perfect dish.

6 eggs

1\2 teas salt

1/2 teas black pepper

1 tables cayenne pepper sauce

3 (4 oz) cans diced green chiles, with juice

1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 1/2 cups grated shar Cheddar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 12×8″ baking dish with cooking spray.

In a bowl, add the eggs, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper sauce. Mix together until combined.

Add the chiles and both cheeses to a large bowl. Pour the liquid ingredients into the cheese mixture and stir well. Pat the mixture down into the prepared baking dish a bake until the center is from, about 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool then cut into small squares and serve.

 

Soups · Uncategorized

Mexican Wedding Soup

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Randy and I love Italian Wedding soup, so when I saw this in the new Taste of Home Magazine, I got excited to see that I could have a recipe that would make it with a whole new taste. Am looking forward to having this soup over the weekend. Thanks Taste of Home!

1 tables veggie oil or canola

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 medium celery ribs, chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/2 cup chopped onion*

1/2 teas garlic powder

2 qts chicken stock

1 cup soft bread crumbs

1 envelope reduced sodium taco seasoning

1 large egg

1 lb ground chicken

1  cup acini di pepe pasta

2 tables minced fresh cilantro

1/4 teas salt

Cubed avocado and sour cream

In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion and corn; cook until tender. Stir in stock. Add garlic powder, if desired. Increase heat to high; bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, combine breadcrumbs, taco seasoning, egg and chicken; mix lightly. With wet hands, shape into 1 1/2″ balls. Reduce heat to simmer. Gently drop meatballs into stock. Cook, covered, until meatballs are no longer pink, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in pasta. Simmer, covered until pasta is tender, 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and salt. Serve with avocado and sour cream.

*I added about 1/2 teas garlic powder and the onion to the soup.

Beef · Casseroles · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Uncategorized

Enchiladas…Kiko’s Style

Chocolate Castles16 Comments

Corpus Christi is where I spent the first 45 years of my life. Back in the early 80’s some friends of ours, Sam & Yvonne Satterfield, introduced us to a Mexican restaurant called, Kikos. We ate there from that point on at least once a week after that. Every trip back to Corpus to see my parents, that was my first stop. Their enchiladas were just so good, with this rich brown-tomato sauce that wasn’t like the typical enchilada sauce that every Mexican restaurant or recipe seems to be. For years, I have tried to copy their great sauce, but to no avail. Every time Randy would be with me he would say, “I think it has cream of mushroom soup in it.” to which I would reply, “of course it doesn’t have cream of mushroom soup, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Well, after 20 years of him saying that and me responding in the same old way, I began to think, “what if he is right and I could have been eating great enchiladas the past 20 years other than when we just go to Corpus.” So last night, I experimented and oh my gosh, we had Kiko enchiladas. I’m not saying that they truly use Cream of Mushroom but I am saying that the sauce I made last night with it tasted the same as theirs. So if you are like us and think that no place else makes enchiladas like Kikos, give this a try. I think you will be pleasantly pleased.

8 white corn tortillas

1  1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 -3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz)

1 small can tomato sauce (small size can)

1 -2 cups water (depending on how thick you like your enchilada sauce) ( I used a little over 1 can).

1 packet of taco or enchilada seasoning

1 lb of hamburger meat

3 tablespoons oil

Lawrys Seasoning Salt

Garlic powder as desired

Grease a baking dish that will hold 8 enchiladas. Set aside.

In a skillet, brown the meat with  about 1 cup chopped onion until meat is no longer pink. Add the garlic and stir until well blended in meat. Add the cup of water ,  1/2 packet of Lawry’s taco or enchilada seasoning, can of mushroom soup and small can of tomato sauce and cook over low heat for about 5 min until it makes a  gravy. If it is not thin enough to your liking, add a little more water, maybe up to 1/2 cup. Set aside. *If this is not spicy enough for you, add more of the Lawry’s Taco seasoning packet. (I like the flavor of the taco seasoning more than the enchilada seasoning)

In a small skillet,  melt about 1 tables butter and saute  the rest of the chopped onion until it is clear. Sprinkle about 1/2 teas Lawrys Seasoning Salt, 1/2 teas garlic powder and a little pepper. Place this onion mixture in a small bowl. In same skillet, add the 3 tables oil. Heat until it is sizzling around the edges. Place corn tortillas, one at a time, in the hot oil about 3-5 seconds per side. Drain on paper towels until you have done all 8 tortillas. When cool to the touch, begin by place about 1 teas cooked onion in the middle of each tortilla. Spoon about 1 tables of the shredded cheddar cheese over the onion and roll up. Place in the greased baking dish. When you have completed all 8, pour the meat mixture over the enchiladas and top with more cheddar cheese, to your liking. Bake ate 350 preheated oven for about 25 minutes, uncovered.

 

Daily Thoughts · Starches · Vegetables

Chile Rellanos/Tkbakesalot Style

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image.jpegRandy and I are hooked!  We have such fun making these so we look for anyone who is wanting to try them! Last week we had some family over who loves Mexican food so had told them we would make them! They brought guacamole and I fried flour tortillas into homemade chips!  The difference is that I make green chile sauce to pour over the Rellanos and then sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top and put them in the oven for a min until the cheese on top is melted!  I just googled “recipe for chile Rellanos” which is easy so am only posting the green chile sauce! There are several recipes that are posted for these do pick one that you like and use this sauce to make them extra flavorful!

1 small can (like a soup size can) chicken broth

1 small can mild green chiles (diced)

1 small can mild green chile sauce

1 stick butter

1/3cup flour

sslt, pepper & garlic powder to your liking

melt butter in large skillet! Sprinkle flour a little at a time over melted butter and whisking continually to avoid lumping. When you have a paste of the flour mixture add the green chilies, green chile sauce and chicken broth (a little at a time as you might not need all the chicken broth) and seasoning! Stir continually until mixture is thickened as gravy consistency! Set aside while you make the Rellanos and the top each Rellano with about 2 tables of the sauce mix! Sprinkle shredded cheddar over the entire pan and place in preheated 425 oven until cheese is melted!

I also use this green chile sauce over my chicken green chile enchiladas!

 

 

 

Casseroles · Chicken · Meats · Starches

Enchiladas to Die For (well, maybe not die, but they are worth the calories)

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For the past 3 days,  I have been making casseroles that I sell each year. The two best sellers are Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas and Chicken Spaghetti. Having just finished about 30 of them, I had some of the sauce left over from the Chicken Spaghetti. Not enough for me to make a complete casserole but enough to not throw out. I began to think to myself that maybe if I added a can of green chile sauce to the mushroom spaghetti sauce I could whip up another pan of enchiladas. So I did and the results are so good that the next green chile enchiladas will be made with this sauce instead of what I usually use. OH MY GOSH!!!! Seriously good. Since I didn’t count on them being this good, I didn’t count out exact measurements but these measurements will get you the same results…had a few left over to keep for our dinner tonight (which will be in addition to the 2 I scarfed down “testing them” to see if they were good. So here is what I did.

8 corn tortillas

1 cup chopped chicken breast

1 small can of diced green chiles

1 cup of mild green chile enchilada sauce

1 regular size can of cream of mushroom soup

1 small can Rotel Tomatoes with Chiles (mild)

1/2 cup of chopped onions, 1/2 cup of green bell pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

About 1/2 to 1 cup of chicken broth

1 cup diced onion (in addition to the above 1/2 cup)

Garlic to taste

Seasoned Salt and Pepper to taste

Oil

First, in a large skillet, heat about 2 tables oil until hot. Add the chopped onions and bell peppers and cook until tender. Add the chopped chicken, 1/2 can of the diced green chiles, seasoned salt, pepper and garlic. Stir while cooking over medium heat for about 5 min.  Take up and place in a bowl and set aside.

Using the same skillet, heat another 1 tables of oil and add the 1 cup of diced onion, stirring until onion is clear. Add the mushroom soup, the can of Rotel Tomatoes and Chiles,  the rest of the diced green chiles,  can of mild green chile enchilada sauce and slowly add the chicken broth just enough to make it the consistency you like for pouring over the enchiladas. Season with more garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, adding chicken broth as needed to keep a nice thick pouring consistency. Set aside. Hang in there, we are almost done.

*If you like a more spicy flavor, get the hotter Rotel chile-tomatoes and the spicier enchilada sauce.

In another skillet, heat about 2 tables oil until sizzling. take the corn tortillas and fry them on each side in the hot oil for about 2 -3 seconds per side. Place on paper towel to soak up some of the oil. If you skip this step, the enchiladas will be soggy and tough.

Now, grease a baking dish that will hold 8 rolled enchiladas. Place about 1 full Tables of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.  Take one of the corn tortillas and place about a teaspoon full of the chicken-green chile mixture and place it in the middle of the tortilla. Sprinkle about 1 teas of shredded cheddar over the chicken mixture. Roll up the tortilla and place in the baking dish. Repeat until all 8 tortillas have been filled and placed in the dish. Sprinkle the top of the enchiladas with more cheese. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 20-25 min.

I did NOT say that these are good for you, I just said they were great tasting. Tomorrow you can go back to your health shake and salads.

 

 

Casseroles · Starches

Tex-Mex Casserole

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

 

 

Finally getting unpacked and having a chance to catch up with magazines which came while we were on the road for 2 months, I came across this casserole which I want to make this week. We are truly back in the land of Tex-Mex, which we certainly take advantage of every Wednesday night. El Fenix still has their 2 enchilada special for $5.99 which includes beans and rice and unlimited baskets of great light, thin chips and great salsa. But between Wednesday nights, I sometimes get in the mood for Mexican food. This time, I have a new recipe which will assuredly satisfy that craving. Thanks to Food Newwork Magazine, this dish is shared…

2 (15 oz) cans refried pinto beans

2 cups frozen corn (preferably fire-roasted)

2 poblano chile peppers, seeded and chopped

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for topping

2 teas ground cumin

1 teas ancho chile powder

1 (16 oz) jar salsa

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (like Rotel)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded muenster cheese (about 8 oz)

18-20 corn tostado shells

2 avocados sliced

Sour cream and picked jalapenos and cilantro for topping (if desired)

Combine the refried beans, frozen corn, poblanos, ¼ cup cilantro, cumin and chile powder in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the salsa, tomatoes and remaining ¼ cup cilantro. Toss the cheddar and muenster cheese in a 3rd separate bowl; set aside.

Spray your slow cooker with Pam and then spread about ½ cup of the salsa mixture in a thin layer of a 6 qt slow cooker. Top with about 6 tostado shells, breaking them as needed to cover the bottom. Spread half of the bean mixture over the broken shells, then sprinkle with 1 ½ cups of the cheese mixture and 1 cup of the salsa mixture. Repeat the layers, (tostado shells, bean mixture, cheese, salsa mixture) then

Top with remaining tostadas, cheese and salsa.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Uncover and let rest 15 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.

*I will not be using the slow cooker, but will use a 9×13 greased baking dish and bake for approx. 45 min to 1 hour, or until casserole is bubbling and is heated throughout.