Chicken & Pinto, Green & Red Enchiladas, take one.

Here is an easy dish that will fill you up, is tasty and relatively healthy* to boot!
I came up with this recipe my usual way. First, I decided that I wanted to make chicken enchiladas, but didn't really have any kind of go-to recipe.  So I searched my regular on-line sources, and found that there seems to be no real "standard" recipe.  So I looked through the cabinet to see what cans I had there, and I looked at the cans in my closest Italian themed supermarket to see what was offered in the limited Mexican section available to me.
I ended up with the following ingredient list:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound, 2 ounces in my case)
1 can Pinto Beans, drained
1 can Mild green enchilada sauce
1 can Mild red enchilada sauce
1 can diced tomatoes and chilies (Like Rotel)
1 large yellow onion (about 1 cup chopped)
2 cloves garlic (about 2 Tbsp chopped)
1 Long Hot (or whatever) Pepper (You could use a small can of chopped green chilies)
1 Tbsp taco or enchilada seasoning (I used a nice sprinkle each of Cumin, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Pepper)
5 or 6 large whole wheat tortillas (you could use corn and be authentic, I prefer wheat.)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

Start by poaching (somewhere between a simmer and a full boil, it keeps the chicken tender) the chicken breasts for 15 minutes or so, until fully cooked.

Pull the meat apart with two forks, shredding completely.  Set aside chicken.

While the chicken is boiling, start on the rest of the filling.  Chop your onion fine, and saute with a a bit of cooking spray in a large pan.

Remove the seeds and pith (the white stuff) from the pepper and cut into thin strips

Chop the pepper, and add to the cooking onions

Peel, smash and mince the garlic and add that as well.
You may need another shot of cooking spray.

Then add the tomatoes and chilies...

...pintos and mild green enchilada sauce.
Bring to a low boil, then simmer for a little while, until it thickens slightly...

Then add the chicken and mix well.  When it comes back up to temp, remove from heat.
We are now ready for assembly.

Spray the inside of a large casserole with cooking spray...

and stage your mixture and tortillas next to the casserole

Spoon a nice amount of the mixture into tortillas, then pick up by the dry ends, and roll in the casserole, keeping the seam underneath...

...till you are done.  Hopefully you will run out of mixture and tortillas at the same time.  I ran out of mixture with one tortilla remaining... oh well.

Pour the red enchilada sauce on top, spreading evenly, and sprinkle the cup of shredded cheese, also evenly.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so, until all bubbly and melty.  Serve with a salad or Mexican rice.

*Here is the breakdown for each enchilada, courtesy of nutritiondata.com's recipe analyzer.  Hey, I said it was RELATIVELY healthy! The canned ingredients really REALLY jack up the sodium count, and the beans and tortillas jack up the carbs, but HEY, they ARE enchiladas!  On the good side, there is a whole lot of protein. One enchilada per serving, as made, is quite filling, and it is VERY tasty and satisfying!  As sodium is on my "bad" list, I will be looking for a better way to cook these next time.  I'll let y'all know when I do!

Hot, spicy African Groundnut Soup for a cold winter's day.

HEY! Howsitgoin?  Happy New Year!  It's been a while, and with the holidays and some travel, I haven't really had the time or energy to write.  In the spirit of getting back to things and starting off the new year on a good, healthy note, I bring you African Groundnut Soup, A la Top Chef's Carla Hall.  As with most people, I find all TV reality shows to be truly lame, with the exception of the ones I watch, and the one I like to watch without exception is Top Chef.  Go figure.    This season is exceptionally cut-throat, as it is an all-star season, featuring contestants who finished in the top three of their season, or who were, for some reason or another, ousted early from the show for one bad day in a thousand.  In other words, the cooking talent is truly top notch.  The recipe that follows is a version of "cheftestant" Carla Hall's week 4 episode winning entry.  I am used to making soup that takes a short time and only a few steps to prepare, and then cooks without my interuption.  This one has a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients, and it took forever to prepare, but the taste is unforgettable and well worth the trouble... at least once!  I have simplified a few things and altered ingredients for convenience (mainly to save me a trip to Whole Foods in the snow!), but I believe the taste profile is pretty close to the original.  Warning:  The recipe makes a lot of soup... like 12 to 18 servings as pictured.  You may want to cut it in half.
Here is Carla's ingredient list, with my alterations:
Spice Mixture
3 Tbsp Cumin
1 1/4 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp cayenne pepper
5 Tbsp Chermoula Spice Blend
I had to look this last ingredient up, and found out it is frequently a paste, and that the ingredients change a bit according to where you look.  I found a recipe for a dry chermoula spice blend that is as follows:
1 X ground cumin
1 X ground coriander
2 X sweet Paprika (I used 1 X smoked and one X sweet)
1 X cayenne pepper
Pinch (large pinch) of saffron threads, ground between fingers
You can make as much as you want and save what you don't use.  In my case X=1 Tbsp.
Combine these ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Broth and Vegetables
3 Tbsp cold pressed peanut oil (I didn't have any, so I used extra virgin olive oil.  Maybe canola oil would have been a better substitute, but I didn't think of it in time, and didn't really notice in the end...)

3 large onions roughly chopped (I used 2 large vidalia onions)

1 bulb garlic, peeled, smashed and minced (this came to about 4-5 Tbsp in  my case)

6" ginger, peeled and sliced 1/4" (I used about 3 Tbsp minced)






1 28 ounce can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes (I didn't have fire-roasted, so regular it was)
4 quarts vegetable stock (I used Fat Free, Low Sodium Chicken broth, again, 'cause that's what was in the cabinet.)
2 fresh bay leaves (If by "fresh", Carla meant "dried", then mine were fresh.)
3 pounds sweet potatoes (I had 2 1/2 pounds, the very last remains of the 2010 CSA goodies!)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 pound Azuki beans (I used Goya "small red beans", as I could not find Azukis.  I have NO idea what difference this would make as I have never had Azuki beans to my knowledge.)
2 Poblano peppers (I used 1 long hot)
3 red peppers (I used 1 red, 1 yellow)
10 plum tomatoes
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch mint
Lime zest, to taste
Garnish
1 cup roasted, salted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 lime wedge per serving
Got all that?! OK Here we go.
First you wanna cook yer beans, as they take a while to soften.

Put them in a large pot with a good amount of water, and two bay leaves.

Boil until soft.  In my case, they took about 3 hours and never got fully, really, REALLY soft.  Sometimes that happens.  Maybe that's where the Azuki beans would have helped!  When the beans are done, drain and rinse them and set aside to cool.

While the beans are cooking, peel and dice the sweet potatoes, toss them in a little oil, add salt and pepper and roast in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes...

until they get nice and tender and oh so tasty!

While this is all happening, roast your peppers and tomatoes on an open flame, or in a broiler.  (I didn't have fresh tomatoes until Erika got back with groceries shortly before I finished the whole project, so I didn't roast them, and I regret that.)

When roasted, put in a paper bag and close top till cool.

When cooled, peel, seed and dice the peppers and tomatoes.  Here, just the peppers.

While the peppers are cooling, start on the broth by sauteeing the onion in oil for 5 minutes.  Then add the garlic and ginger and cook 5 minutes more.  Add 1/2 the spice blend, the can of crushed tomatoes, and the vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer for at least 1 hour.

strain the solids out of the broth, puree in a blender with some of the broth, and then return the puree to the broth.  A nice professional china cap strainer would have been real useful here.

Return to a boil, and reduce temp to simmer.

Whisk the cup of peanut butter with 2 or three cups of broth until smooth, then return to the broth.

At this point the broth is ready, and should just be kept at a simmer.

Combine the beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chopped parsley, chopped mint, and lime zest in a large bowl, mixing gently and seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

...pretty, aint it?

Place 1 cup of the vegetable mixture in a bowl, and ladle the broth on top.

Add a garnish of chopped roasted peanuts, a bit of the remaining spice blend, and serve with a wedge of lime.

This soup is fantastic!  The layers of flavor, the texture, the heat of the cayenne, the smooth roasted potatoes, the sweetness of the beans...  This soup was well worth the time and effort, as I stated earlier, at least once!  ...All that, and it's VEGAN too, well... it would have been if I had had the vegetable stock...

Anyway... Enjoy!

Coho Salmon en Papillote with vegetables, cranberries, and Ricotta Salata (That's "in Parchment" if you don't speak French)

Yeah, I know, It's been a while since I blogged.  I have been busy, and the few major dishes I did try out, I forgot to photograph, and how many blogs do we need about Boef Bourginion and Osso Bucco anyway?  Back to it this week though, and since this Thursday is Thanksgiving and the start of all the rich foods of the holidays, I though I'd kick the week off with some nice fish.  So off to Whole Foods, where I was faced with their new color coded system telling me which fish were in danger of overfishing and which fish are sustainable.  I ended up with Coho Salmon from Alaska, which the sign assured me was being fished responsibly.   I last did this with Lemon Sole, which the new system told me was in trouble.

One technique I have picked up recently for cooking fish is to cook it in parchment, or "en papillote" as it were.  The fish steams inside the paper, and unlike aluminum foil, you can serve it in the paper and the paper does not add off flavors with any acidic ingredients.  for this recipe, which I believe is original, you will need the following, in whatever quantities you desire, in addition to Coho Salmon Filets, around 1/3 to 1/2 pound each.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees when you start assembling.

-New potatoes, sliced very thin 

-Carrots, julienned

-Fresh Asparagus spears, with the tough ends broken off.  (The best way to do this is to hold the asparagus spear about at the middle, and bend the thick end until it breaks off.  It will break where it should)

-Fresh Leeks, cut as shown.  Peel the outside layer, cut off the end, split the leek from where it turns white to the end, and split again to make 4 quarters.  Rinse the split leek well before slicing into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Shown is one large leek.

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, roughly chopped

-Fresh rosemary and thyme

-Fresh, uncooked cranberries

You will also need 

-about 1/4 cup white wine of choice per filet

-about two Tbsp crumbled Ricotta Salata per filet

-Extra virgin olive oil

-kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Start by cutting a large paper heart out of the baking parchment.  C'mon, you remember this from elementary school, right?  Drizzle or brush about 1 tbsp of the olive oil on one half of the heart.

Arrange a mound of the potato slices as a base.

Place the filet on the potatoes and season as desired with the salt and pepper.

Arrange your vegetables in the order you desire.  Here I started with the carrots, added the parsley and asparagus...

then added the leeks, cranberries and herbs, followed by a nice sprinkle of white wine, about a 1/4 cup (I used some cheap Prosecco from Trader Joe's. I love a good a 5 dollar "champagne"!!).

Now it's ready to fold.  Starting at the top of the heart, roll the bottom over the top, and work your way around, being very careful to press hard and twist where you can to make sure it stays shut.  At the bottom, twist the end as shown.

Place in your 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes plus or minus a minute.  Remove and place on serving plate...

Cut the paper open in front of your dining guests and bask in the oohs and ahhs as the steam rises from the perfectly cooked fish and veggies.

Add 1 or two Tbsp of the crumbled ricotta salata (dried, salted ricotta) to the top and enjoy.  The sweetness of the wine and the ricotta salata, not to mention the carrots and leeks, counters the tartness of the cranberries and make this dish a winner!