What Did You Eat?

Cinco De Mayo: Enchilada Stack

Happy Cinco De Mayo!  It doesn't take any urging to get me to eat Mexican recipes.  It's one of my favorite cuisines.  And on the fifth of May in California, we have marvelous parades and festivals, with delicious food, to celebrate the defeat of the French by Mexican troops in 1862. For the whole story, read this account.  I decided to make this simple recipe, which has all the same ingredients as enchiladas.  But instead of rolling the tortillas, you stack them.  I used the smaller sized 6 inch tortillas, but the larger ones work fine too. The store had beautiful blue corn and regular corn tortillas, perfect for a colorful stack. 

This is a recipe that you can fix to suit your own taste. Use chicken, beef, pork or make it vegetarian by substituting beans or sauteed vegetables for the meat. 

WHB: Chicken And Tomatillo Stew (Cumin)

Tomatillos had me the first time I laid eyes on them.  Who can resist their appearance, with the papery covering on each one, like a gift ready to be unwrapped?  And once unwrapped, they add a delicious  tangy taste to sauces and stews.  As soon as I saw a pile of them at the grocery store, I decided to make this stew. The original recipe calls for pork loin, but I decided to use boneless chicken thighs that I had on hand instead.  The resulting stew was delicious and comforting, improving as it aged, so it's the type of dish that can be made a day ahead and will taste better.  It's low in fat, filling, and full of healthy veggies.  It also has cumin in it, one of my favorite spices. But, we'll call it an herb this week, to qualify for Weekend Herb Blogging, created by the fabulous Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen, but hosted this week by the very talented Pille at Nami Nami.  She will have a round-up of herby recipes posted on Monday, so don't forget to check out her site.

Weekend Breakfast Blogging: Jalapeno Corn Pancakes

When I was a small child, my grandmother served wonderful breakfasts.  She fixed eggs, bacon, grits, and rolled biscuits at the blink of an eye.  Frankly, I didn't appreciate them, I just wanted a bowl of cold cereal.  Later, I came to love those large, calorie laden breakfasts. It's my favorite type of meal. But, I don't have them very often. Now, I eat cold cereal or oatmeal because they're healthier.  But every so often, it's nice to have heartier fare.  This month, Glenna of A Fridge Full Of Food And Nothing To Eat is hosting Weekend Breakfast Blogging, which was created by Nandita of Saffron Trail.  This month we were asked to prepare a breakfast with an ethnic twist. 

One of my favorite breakfast meals is huevos rancheros, tortillas topped with fried eggs and salsa.   But, I also like corn pancakes made with masa, so I decided to make them with jalapenos and fresh corn folded into the batter.  I served them with a fried egg, black beans and avocados. I didn't put salsa on the pancakes because I felt it would overwhelm their light corn taste.  It was a very good meal, the runny egg yolk mingling with the pancake and the beans.  My kind of breakfast, savory rather than sweet.

WHB: Meatless Tamale Pie

I like tamale pie.  I generally make it with ground meat, but decided to make a meatless version that received high marks on Epicurious.   I thought tamale pie was pretty well known, but the check-out clerk at the grocery store was puzzled when told I was making it for dinner.  "How do you do that?"  She asked me, looking confused.  So, I explained it and she looked relieved. "I couldn't figure out why you would put tamales in a pie," she told me.  She's right, tamale pie is really a casserole, with a cornmeal layer on the bottom and the top.  Instead of meat, this recipe uses a mixture of corn, tomatoes, cheese, black beans, and poblanos.  It has oregano, cumin, and cilantro, which is my favorite herb.  So, I decided to feature it for Weekend Herb Blogging, the fabulous event created by the lovely Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. This week WHB is being hosted by the talented Scott at Real Epicurean.  Make sure to check his site this weekend, when he may have the Roundup of herby recipes from bloggers around the world. 

Tortilla Pizza And Centerpiece Of The Month

When it comes to tortillas, I prefer them made with corn.  But, a local company here in my area makes a thick flour tortilla that's good for making quesadillas or pan grilled "pizza."  I often turn to these tortillas when I'm not in the mood to think very much about making dinner.  What would life be like without tortillas? A lot more stressful, in my opinion.  On Sunday, I cooked these tortillas in a heavy skillet with Jack cheese, caramelized onions, roasted asparagus, and some fava beans braised in a bit of cream.  Very simple, and a great way to use up odds and ends from the fridge. While it was a thrown together meal, it was delicious. 

As I made the meal, Carrie The Cow watched and silently asked when I would submit her picture for this month's Centerpiece Of The Month created by the lovely Janelle at Talk Of Tomatoes.   Carrie is actually a very cute watering can, but she also does double duty as a vase for flowers. These are from my garden, and help Carrie feel like a Happy California Cow.

Always Dependable: Tostadas

The dependable ones.  Fried rice.  Spaghetti.  Enchiladas. Anything stir fried.  Those are the meals that never fail to please in our house, and can be prepared with odds and ends from the pantry and fridge.  All of these are based on rice , pasta, or tortillas.  I can't imagine life without tortillas. They're so useful--ready to be used in many different ways.  I always say that you can wrap almost anything in a tortilla and it will taste great. Well, maybe not Jello.  Yesterday, I looked into the fridge and saw a smidge of this and that--a little cooked chicken, a quarter of yellow sweet pepper, a chunk of cabbage, and a package of corn tortillas.  I knew that it was tostada time.   

The best thing about tostadas is the way they taste.  The second best thing is that you put all the ingredients in bowls and let people assemble them the way they like.  So everyone is happy.  These weren't fancy, but they were enormously satisfying.  I made a slaw with the cabbage, bell pepper, and cilantro, dressed with a cumin vinaigrette.  It added a delicious tang to the tostadas.   Of course, you can skip frying the tortillas and turn this into soft tacos. Heat the tortillas in the oven and let everyone make their own tacos. 

My Day: Start With Tamales...End With Egg Fried Rice

Sunday was a good day. Saturday I didn't feel good, and it was cold and rainy.   But, we had sun for a good part of yesterday and everything was much better. At dawn, Bob went off to do some rowing and stopped off at a local produce stand on his way back.  He planned on just buying some pistachios, but as is often the case, came back with a bag full of nuts, cookies, fruit, and tamales.  So, we had tamales for breakfast. They were good, but not as good as the ones from the Davis Farmers Market, which are a work of art.  But, it was nice to start the day with these. I had a chili cheese and a potato tamale.  And a cookie.

Here's some of the goodies Bob bought.  Actually, he did a good job. This stand stocks lots of snacky items, and huge baked pies, which he didn't buy.  The stand is about five minutes from our house and is a good resource when the farmers market isn't open.

Super Bowl Sunday

Like millions of people in this country, I found myself in the grocery store yesterday looking at chips, avocados, cheese, etc.  When almost every basket around you has those items, it's a good bet that it's Super Bowl Sunday.  Since my mom was a diehard Bears fan, I decided to join in.  I bought my favorite, thick cut tortilla chips and the requisite avocados. I made my own refried beans for my nachos.  They were simple, just chips, Monterey Jack cheese, beans, guacamole (Elise has a very good recipe), and sour cream.  No meat--I didn't want it to interfere with the taste of the beans which I dearly love.

Then I tried to make a Chicago Style hot dog. "Tried" because the hot dog buns were awful, squishy things, not the Rosen's Poppy seed buns sold in Illinois.  And I couldn't find a hot dog made with a natural casing--to give that nice pop when you bite into it. In Illinois, I always had a Vienna hot dog, which is the gold standard, I think.  Bob said the hot dog was good, but I was not happy with them.

What is a Chicago style hot dog?  It's a dog with tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, pickle relish, chopped red onion, yellow mustard, and little "sport" peppers. No ketchup please.  Really, NO KETCHUP.  It isn't done.

Am I being too picky?  I don't think so. After-all, I knew this meal would throw my psycho GERD into a frenzy and I would suffer because of it. So, that being the case, a fabulous hot dog would almost make it worth the pain. 

The Problem With My Enchilada Stack Is......

...they never look like a proper "stack".  They start out looking tall and layered, then slump down into flat little slabs while they cook.  They taste good, but I clearly have not figured out how to make them resemble a tower of tortillas.  I tried this before, when I made Enchilada Stacks With Chicken And White Beans.  They were delicious, but were seriously lacking in height.  So, when Scott at Sugar and Lard issued a Tower Of Tortillas Challenge, I  figured I would give it another go.  Well, it was the same result as before--a flat, but tasty disk.  As Scott is giving style points for height and number of tortillas used, I'm clearly doomed. But, I think I may have spotted where I went wrong. If you're a master of making a stack, let me know your secrets.

WHB: Mexican Black Bean Soup With Sausage

Not the greatest looking picture--but the soup is very nice.  This is a fast and easy recipe that I made for the first time today.  It took less than 30 minutes, but tasted like much more labor was spent making it.  The rich, smokey taste comes from chipotles and smoked kielbasa sausage.  It also contains  Penzeys Mexican oregano, so that makes it a good candidate for Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen.  And this week, WHB returns home to be hosted by Kalyn!

Mexican oregano comes from a different family than European oregano and has a slightly sweet, stronger taste that's ideal for dishes containing chilies.  It contains high amounts of antioxidants and is prized for it's medicinal properties in some cultures.