Smokehouse Chili Relleno

 

Say Cheese!

This recipe for chili relleno is so simple you really will be smiling. Technically relleno means “stuffed” with cheese but in this case our chilies are layered with it – to make things simple for you – hence all the smiling.

Prep time: 5 minutes; Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

·         12 oz. Smokehouse Organic Creamy Jack Cheese by Sierra Nevada Cheese Company

·         Four large Anaheim peppers

·         Fresh Red Salsa

I love to shop at our regional market, Haggen because of their diverse selection of original ingredients so I’d recommend their smokehouse jack and their fresh red salsa for this recipe– the smokehouse jack adds just a hint of smoky flavor and the cold salsa’s fresh and crispy jalapeños and onions make for the perfect complement to the hot, smoky taste of the melty relleno.

 

 

 

Directions

Cut off the tops of the Anaheim peppers and slice them down the middle. Remove seeds and set aside. Cut your smokehouse jack into thin strips. Coat a square or round glass pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom of the pan with half of your cheese. Place sliced Anaheim peppers on the top and then layer the remaining cheese on the peppers. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove tinfoil and bake an additional 15 minutes until cheese browns and bubbles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve with a healthy spoonful of fresh red salsa and smile, this time because it’s so so so delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mexican Shepherds Pie

I looked in my fridge yesterday to get inspired for dinner when I discovered leftover homemade bean dip and homemade garden salsa a friend brought over for our Super Bowl bash. On my counter I found the leftover tortilla chips and decided we needed to go round two with these delicious ingredients. I made up a pound of taco beef, chopped up some red lettuce and cherry tomatoes I needed to use up, and decided to wing it...

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the bean dip and salsa were already really yummy and had a bunch of good stuff in them, but this Mexican Shepherds Pie turned out amazing! You could call it a "touchdown." Pretty sure I ate half the pie myself. Here's how I put it together:

Bottom layer - Spread crushed tortilla chips on the bottom, the really good restaurant style.

Next layer - Spread your bean dip over the chips as best as possible. It'll be messy and totally fine if it's not a perfect layer. My bean dip already had cheese, jalapeno, and I think sour cream in it...so some add-ins you might consider mixing in to yours.

Next layer - Spread the chunky salsa over the bean dip. My salsa had all the good stuff in it like onions, peppers, herbs, even corn...so more good stuff to consider adding for flavor.

Next layer - Spread your taco beef over top, straight from the skillet so it's hot.

Top layer - Top with a healthy amount of Mexican shredded cheese.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Top with chopped lettuce, diced tomato, and a few heaps of sour cream to complete this fiesta.

Watching the game inside while hanging outside - best seat in the house!

Emily's son, Grahambo, and I putting on our best game faces.
Not bad experiencing your team's first Super Bowl win at just 1 year old!

Crispy Chicken Mexican Salad

I know what you're saying to yourself right now: I had you at Crispy Chicken. There’s something about that warm, crunchy crispy goodness on a nice cold salad. Stop thinking this isn't good for you; it isn't. But if you must make yourself feel better about it, think about all the beautiful greens you're consuming accidentally as you poke your fork around hunting for the fried bites of chicken.

Crispy Chicken Mexican Salad

Salad Ingredients
Lettuce/Salad Greens
Black Olives, Canned black beans, Slices of Avocado, tomato, onion, whatever!
Shredded cheddar or jack cheese
Crispy Chicken, cooked. Use something like Tyson’s Crispy Chicken Strips.
Crumbled up tortilla chips
Hot Sauce

Salad Dressing
1 part sour cream to 2 parts of your favorite salsa

Directions
Cook the chicken pieces according to package directions. While cooking, combine all salad ingredients and dressing, save for the tortilla chips and hot sauce. Serve salad and add crispy chicken to the top on each plate. Sprinkle with crumbled tortilla chips and hot sauce.

 

For another version of this delicious salad, make it Oriental by using lettuce, water chestnuts, mandarin oranges, green onions and crispy noodles. Toss with an Asian Vinaigrette or make your own dressing with soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Add your crispy chicken and - BAM!

Rice, Corn and Bean Salad

 

My fun and fabulous sister Linde came to visit a couple of weeks ago with her cutest little man, Jackson. When Linde and I were both pregnant at the same time back in 2007, we couldn’t wait for our boys to become best friends. We pictured ourselves taking lots of vacations, drinking on porches and snacking on delicious food while watching them play. Fast forward 6 years and well, Ansen and Jackson get along…for the most part. But their fighting doesn’t keep us from drinking and eating. And running!

It was the second year in a row Linde was able to come up to Bellingham to run the Chuckanut Foot Race with me. The first day she was here I decided our motto would be “We do what we want!” so we started the day off eating at the Bagelry and having ice cream at Mallard’s. But then she wasn’t feeling well and I took her to Urgent Care and they diagnosed her with Kidney Failure. After a check in at the ER, lots of crying and me mentally prepping myself to donate a kidney it turned out she was perfectly fine and just needed antibiotics. So then about 15 minutes later we found ourselves at Fred Meyer waiting for a prescription and shopping for cute running outfits. Because, I mean, what would you do if you thought you were dying and then realized you could still run in the race the next day? Ovbi.

We got lots of comments on our socks. I, personally am a fan of the Three's Company pink shorts.

So we ran the race and it was awesome and fun and then we came home and made a delicious Rice, Corn and Bean salad to bring to my friend Kathryn’s house for a Mexican themed BBQ. This dish is a Linde Specialty, altered a bit from my cousin Beth Sobel’s recipe. It is a serious crowd pleaser.

Salad Ingredients
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
12 oz. frozen corn
2 15 oz. cans black beans
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
½ cup Feta Cheese

Salad Dressing
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder (or minced real garlic)
Juice of one large Lemon
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
½ teaspoon thyme
a few generous sprinkles of hot sauce

Directions
Cook rice and let cool. Bring frozen corn to room temperature, or heat up in a pan. Combine all salad ingredients. Combine dressing. Toss! This recipe makes enough for a three family BBQ.

Linde. Alive and well, both kidneys in tact, and slicing green bell pepper like a boss.

 

 

Here are some other fun things we did while Linde and Jackson were in town:

Linde and Jackson and my youngest, Asher age 3, at the Pride Parade. Asher kept saying, "This is a crazy parade mama!" and "Look, that guy is only wearing underwear!"

 

We went to visit Uncle James at Alki Beach and we took the water taxi to downtown Seattle to ride the Big Wheel.

 

Ansen, Jackson, me and Uncle James on the Seattle Big Wheel. We got to go three times around and it was a shit ton of money so I don't think I'd recommend it. But now I can say I did it!

Other Linde related recipes on this blog:

 

Sangria
Belinda's Bellini

 

'cause a girl's gotta have her cocktails.

 

2-in-1 Meal: Carnitas to Pulled Pork & Caramelized Onion Paninis

Like Missy I went the slow cooker route with a Mexican theme. We had a few friends over for dinner so night one I made carnitas in the crock pot for tacos and then Curtis and I used the leftover meat for paninis, and then more tacos, and then paninis again and it went on and on - we had enough shredded meat for several meals!

Night 1: Carnitas

Ingredients:
Pork Butt or Shoulder
Rub made up of your favorite spices
Chicken broth
Can of tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Chilies (optional)

Tortillas
Your favorite taco toppings such as cheese, cabbage, salsa, onions, cilantro, avocado, lime wedges and sour cream.

A day (or two) ahead rub your pork all over with your favorite spices (I used a 7 lb. pork shoulder from Costco and rubbed it with taco seasoning, chili powder, brown sugar, cumin and a few other random things I had in the spice cabinet - there's really no science to it). Place fat side up in the slow cooker and put in the fridge until the day you're ready to cook it.

That morning pour in some chicken broth, canned tomatoes, large chunks of onion, fresh garlic and dried chilies if you'd like. Cook on high for 8 - 10 hours until the meat is falling apart.

Shred the meat and use as carnitas for tacos.

Night 2: Pulled Pork Paninis 

Sourdough bread
Leftover pork
BBQ sauce
Onions, caramelized
Provalone cheese

Pile everything on your sandwich and toast in a panini press or frying pan.

And because babies are cuter than tacos and sandwiches, here's the latest of Graham:

Homemade Mexican-style Pinto Beans

I’ve always been a bit of an over-achiever. This month’s theme of 2 in 1 meals, turned out to be 4 in 1 meals. For as long as we have done this blog, I’ve looked for a good excuse to post my family favorite recipe: All Day Beans. They’re actually Mexican-style pinto beans but my husband started calling them “All Day Beans” because, well, they take all day. It is a very long and loving process in which I cook them, stir them, coach them, spice them, sweet talk them, and mash them to perfection. And in the end we have a huge bowl of beans that we can use all week. And we really do use them all week. My mother always made these beans when I was growing up and the smell of them cooking still reminds me of home. We call them Buggy's Beans, because, well, we call her Buggy. Which is a story for another time. My brother also has his own version...but I'm not sure what he calls them. I'll get back to you on that. All three of us make them a little bit differently.

Anyway, this is a dream recipe for any busy family. All it takes is one weekend day when the chef is home to create meals for the rest of the week. What follows is the recipe on how to make the beans and four examples of what you can do with them.

Ingredients:

·         One 32 oz. bag of dried pinto beans
·         10 cups water (at least)
·         ½ onion, not sliced or diced

·         1 overly ripe tomato, whole

·         4 cubes chicken bouillon (or a couple of healthy spoonful’s of chicken bouillon granules)

·         1 tablespoon dried oregano

·         A few healthy dashes of Tapatio (or equivalent)

·         Freshly ground pepper

·         2-3 cloves garlic, diced

·         One lime, squeezed

·         (SAVE THE SALT FOR LATER OR YOUR BEANS WILL BE TOUGH)

To Soak or not to Soak?

Disregard any and all instructions on the bean packaging. They will tell you to soak your beans overnight. But if you do that, the beans will soak up the flavor of water and not the flavor of the broth you’re about to cook them in and then they don’t taste nearly as good. Also, if you soak them ahead of time it takes less time to cook them. But you have all day, right? There’s also information out there that will tell you that soaking the beans will make you less gassy. Our family has not found that to be true. Beans are the musical fruit. Regardless of whether or not you soak them.

Directions

Cooking the beans will take at least 6 hours. So, by 10:00 a.m., Rinse your dried beans and put them in a large pot on the stove. I love using a Dutch Oven to cook these. Add 10 cups of water. (As the beans cook they will soak this water up like a sponge so you may have to add more eventually). Add half onion, whole tomato, chicken bouillon, dried oregano, dashes of Tapatio, freshly ground pepper, diced garlic, and a bit of lime juice. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for a couple of hours.

Beans in a bath of yumminess

After a couple of hours, check your beans and make sure they have enough water. If most of the water is already soaked up by the beans, add about 2 more cups, stir, then cover up again. Check again in about an hour. In fact, you can check these babies as often as you want. It’s better to add water as you go than to start out with too much water and have watery beans in the end. You want just enough water to barely cover the top of the beans.

Perfect amount of water

As the onion gets really soft you can remove it. The tomato will disintegrate eventually. Cook beans for another 4 or so hours. Once the beans are really tender and soft they are done.

Done! Perfection!

You can keep them whole or mash them so they act like refried beans. I like to mash. 

Taste them to see if they need salt. If so, add a bit at a time. Over-salting the beans can be bad (I’ve done this) so it’s important to start with just a little. Especially because you’ll want to dip tortilla chips in them and those have salt on them too. Don’t ever salt the beans until after you cook them or they will get tough.

It looks like I'm about to feed you here. I'm sorry about that. It was a really yummy bite.

So, the beans are done! Yeah! Now, what can you do with them?

For the first night I made Chimichangas. Which is basically like a fried burrito. I filled tortillas with beans, cheese and chicken, wrapped them tightly, then fried them in a little bit of oil in a pan. Once they were golden brown on each side, I put them on a baking sheet covered with a paper towel and placed them in the oven on warm, which helps them dry out a bit and stay warm while I cook the rest. Top with guacamole, salsa and dashes of Tapatio. YUM!

These are my favorite new tortillas. They taste like corn but are malleable like flour.

Don't over-fill. You want your ingredients to stay inside.

Just a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan will make you swear that you are eating a deep-fried burrito, except you can't figure out why you don't feel bad about yourself.

Pop in the oven on a paper towel and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Que Bonita.

After you make your first meal, put the beans in a big bowl and let them cool for a half hour. Then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

Night two: Baked Burritos. Picture us coming home on a Monday evening, house is a mess from the morning hectic rush to get out of the house, kids are throwing their muddy, wet coats on the clean floor, and I cannot wait to get out of these shoes. This one is so easy. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, fill tortilla with whatever you want on the inside (leftover chicken, cold beans, cold cheese, jalapeno slices) and wrap into a burrito. Then wrap that in tinfoil, stab a hole for ventilation in the top, and pop in the oven for 45 minutes. If you’re in a rush, use the microwave. Without the tinfoil, obviously.

On the third night Andy was out of town, so I fed the kids bagels for dinner, put them to bed and did what I just LOVE to do when I’m alone: Watch episodes of Glee while eating nachos and drinking wine. I heated a bowl of beans for dipping. It just so happened to be the episode on guilty pleasures. Perfect!

Night four: I’m sick of beans. Let’s take a break.

Night five: one of my absolute favorites! Mexican Lasagna! Take a pie dish, spray with non-stick spray and then layer: One tortilla, top that with a thick layer of beans and cheese, then add another tortilla, top that with chicken, salsa and cheese, then another tortilla, and top that with salsa and cheese. Cover with tinfoil and bake on 350 for about 30 minutes. Then remove the tinfoil and bake an additional 15 or until everything is bubbly and saucy. You can put anything in a Mexican lasagna and layer however you want. Just make sure you use either salsa or enchilada sauce or it will come out too dry.

And that is it, my friends. You truly are only limited by your creativity. And though it may seem intimidating at first, I urge you to try this. With time you'll perfect your very own recipe.
  

Jack's Huevos Desperados

Once famous on this very same blog for his Trailer Park Margaritas, Jack Pirtle (my father) returns again, but this time for breakfast. (I realize I'm posting this a month too late for breakfast month but I figured you'd forgive me.)

Thanks to my wonderful, fabulous, truly talented cousin Janna, for posting this recipe on facebook. Janna visited her parents (my aunt and uncle) in Tucson over Christmas and documented this recipe and even took a picture of it!


From Janna: We had this for breakfast.  Sally told a ghost story.  Buz talked about the aliens.  Mark got the story from Regan about how she found Grandpa George on the Benson Highway with her psychic powers.  Just a regular Sobel/Pirtle/Kaufman/Roberts/Siek/Havens family breakfast.)

From Jack:

Ingredients:

10 farm-fresh Mexican eggs (you may substitute American eggs)

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

16. oz shredded goat cheese

1 cup or less diced green chilies

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup diced red onion

Directions:

Throw the mess into a mixing bowl and mix.  Bake at 350' until eggs set (about 35 min?) Serve to Pancho with salsa, warm flour tortillas, and enough tequila to keep him tranquil for a couple hours or so.  Skip the tequila if you expect Pancho to fix the screen door.  He will be hungry by noon, whether he fixes the door or not, so what do you have in mind for lunch?

History:

Margarita, Pancho Villa's seventh wife, once was challenged by Pancho to present him with an egg dish worthy of a bandit's hearty appetite.  He followed the request with a threat.  Either create the egg dish, or he would leave her forthwith and start a revolution somewhere.  Margarita waited several weeks for him to carry out his threat and leave, until finally taking pity on him and whipping up her now famous "Huevos Desperados."  Having filled himself with the delicious dish one fine Mexican morning, Villa proclaimed everlasting love to Margarita, and promised that he would retire from the revolutionary scene and just hang out around the casa.  Pancho's retirement was not what Margarita had in mind... though perhaps he could learn to be of some help around the house... but she doubted it.  

Chicken Budin {Mexican Casserole} & A New Baby!

We welcomed our son, Graham, into the world on January 24 - four weeks early! Having a small and young baby comes with challenges, but selfishly we're really glad he's here and I'm having a hard time remembering what life was like before him! He's home, healthy, we're learning lots every day and have fallen hard for this little guy. 

Back in October when we found out we were having a boy I asked our readers to submit their favorite boy names. We loved all the suggestions and funny enough, Stef from Haute Apple Pie suggested Graham, which was already high on our list! Curtis and I didn't make a final decision on his name until we were on our way to the hospital, and the first time I heard a doctor address him by his name, and got to hear it out loud, I knew it was perfect! 

Now I'm sure you think I'm a rock star. Brand new baby and already cooking and cranking out a post! But don't let me fool you, my mom and mother-in-law have been taking shifts taking care of us and I haven't cooked a thing (or done a load of laundry for that matter). I was proactive and had this ready to go early. I was also planning to have a post for March ready... but that didn't happen so next month I'll have to legitimately be on top of it. 

This is one of my favorite easy casseroles and works well with a spread of Mexican food or on its own. And our friend Hillary's son, Lucas, loved it so we can even call it kid friendly (although he's an extremely good eater and doesn't let spice stop him!). 

Chicken Budin

Ingredients: 

1 to 1 ½ shredded chicken (I use Costco Roasted chickens)
30 Guerro corn tortillas
1 large block (2 lbs) Monterey Jack or Pepperjack cheese
1 large onion chopped
1 large can (27 oz.) green chilies (cut into ropes or strips)
2 medium jars (16 oz.) La Victoria chili verde (green chili sauce)
Sour cream (32 oz.)

Directions: 

1. Cook onions in oil with a little salt and then add the chili ropes.
2. Cut each tortilla in half.
3. Layer

1st layer – overlap tortilla halves to cover bottom of large casserole.
2nd layer – shredded chicken (1/3)
3rd layer – onion/chili ropes
4th layer – green chili sauce
5th layer – sour cream (32 oz. total)
6th layer – cheese

Repeat two more times for a total of three layers.

Top casserole with tortillas, then more sour cream, green sauce and cheese.

Heat until internal temperature reaches 120 degrees (about 45 min in a 350 degree oven). Broil until cheese melts / browns on top.