They were free this time around. Free to choose which meal of the day to prepare. Free to choose what they wished to make.
So of course, Brittany immediately chose something with an insane amount of chocolate. As any 11-year-old girl would, I suppose!
She wanted to make chocolate pancakes. But not just that. She wanted chocolate chips in the pancakes, and to sandwich the pancakes with a layer of peanut butter. And top with more chocolate chips. I knew I had to find a way to make this breakfast just a touch healthier than it would seem. But I had to be sneaky. These were supposed to be fun pancakes, after all!
So I turned to my two friends – coconut flour and agave nectar. I love using coconut flour in baked goods – it’s gluten-free, lower in carbohydrates, and high in fiber. It also seems to create fluffier, lighter baked goods than some other gluten-free flours – always a good thing when we’re talking pancakes. Agave nectar has less of an impact to blood sugar levels than sugar - an added bonus for you when you’re serving a sweet treat to kids – no crazy, out-of-control, hyped-up-on-sugar children! These weren’t health food by any means, but I did feel a bit better knowing I was making a few tweaks for the better.
These pancakes were pretty tasty – just the right amount of chocolate, and they were very filling. And for once, all of the kids enjoyed the meal! (If I haven’t told you before, I live in a house with some picky eaters.) I say that means these are definitely a keeper.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes
5 eggs, separated
5 T butter, melted
1/3 c milk
2 T agave nectar
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
1/3 c coconut flour
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 c chocolate chips, plus more for topping pancakes
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Separately, beat egg yolks until foamy. Fold together, along with melted butter, milk, agave nectar, salt, and vanilla. Whisk in coconut flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Stir in chocolate chips.
Heat a nonstick pan to medium heat. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan. Allow to cook for 3 minutes or so and carefully flip. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes more or until cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with toppings such as peanut butter, maple syrup, and whipped cream, and top with additional chocolate chips. Makes about 9 pancakes.
Apparently I cannot get enough soups and stews this season. But what’s wrong with that? They’re filling, comforting, and many times, can be healthy. Take this stew, for example. It’s vegetarian. (Vegan, even, if you omit the Parmesan.) It’s gluten-free. It’s packed with fiber and nutrition. But that’s not even the best part. It’s cheap to make, and it’s fast and easy! If your December has been as busy as mine has, this will be a blessing! I made this the other night for dinner, which left me with plenty of time to wrap presents. It was delicious and so guilt-free that I even had seconds.
I’m a bit ahead of schedule for New Year’s resolutions, but I’ve already decided on one resolution – to incorporate more vegetarian and vegan meals into our diet. The reasons are plentiful – swapping more plant-based foods for the meats means our grocery bill will be lighter. Meals can be healthier. And our carbon footprint will be smaller. While I am not aspiring to become a vegetarian full-time, I do acknowledge and appreciate the benefits that healthy vegetarian meals can provide. (Healthy being the key word here – while french fries, ice cream, and candy can be vegetarian, I am not opting to pick up a steady diet of such things.) This will be a bit of a change of mindset for me. I am accustomed to making a grocery list and planning meals according to what proteins (aka meat) is on sale that week, or what meat I have in our freezer. I will have to make a concerted effort to plan for at least one meatless dinner every week. I’m excited about it. I hope to share with you some meatless, gluten-free meal options very soon!
For now, I hope you’ll enjoy this quick stew.
White Bean, Kale, and Tomato Stew, adapted from Serious Eats
1 ½ lbs kale, larger stems removed, and leaves chopped (can substitute swiss chard or other leafy greens)
¼ c olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¼ t crushed red pepper
1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can of white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan
Fill a large stockpot halfway with water. Bring to a boil and then toss in the kale leaves. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 6-8 minutes or until leaves are tender (not mushy). Drain leaves in a colander.
Wipe out any excess water from the pot. Place back on burner and turn to medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, and red pepper, and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the beans and broth, and bring to a boil again. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
Reduce heat to a simmer and add the kale. Cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with Parmesan.
Serves 2-3.
So I finally did it.
I took a deep breath…
Closed my eyes…
And I took the plunge.
What “plunge”, might you ask?
I joined the Daring Kitchen and became an Official Daring Cook and Daring Baker! For those of you who are not aware, individuals can choose to become Daring Cooks or Bakers to challenge themselves to learn new techniques and recipes in the kitchen. Each month, one of the Official Daring Cooks/Bakers chooses a recipe, and all of the other Daring Cooks/Bakers join in the “challenge” by making that same recipe. It’s a wonderful way to step outside your comfort zone. And if you cook or bake gluten-free (like me!), sometimes it forces you to step WAY outside that comfort zone!
This month’s Daring Cooks challenge was chosen by Simone at JungleFrog Cooking. The challenge was to make salmon en croute – following a recipe from Good Food Online. Of course, I would have to find a gluten-free version of a shortcrust pastry. Unfortunately, there is not an abundance of gluten-free shortcrust pastry recipes out there. I chose one from The Cook and The Chef, using Pamela’s Baking and Pancake mix for the gluten-free flour blend. I also used spinach, rather than watercress or arugula/rocket, as this was what the grocery had in stock.
As you can see from the photos, my crust was not perfect. It was quite “wet” and so it was a bit of an exercise in patience to wrap the salmon in the dough. It also slid a bit while in the oven and left cracks, in spite of my attempt to cut slits to allow steam to escape. But if you look really carefully, you can see that I did successfully cut a star shape out of the dough to place over my seam in the middle of the pastry.
But in spite of the less-than-perfect aesthetics, the dish was quite tasty. The salmon was so perfectly moist and flavorful, and even my spinach-fearing husband went back for seconds. I think that if I was to make this dish again (and I plan to), I’d search for a different shortcrust pastry – one that is a bit drier – but all-in-all, I’d consider my first Daring Cooks challenge mostly successful. I think once I have the pastry down, this would be an excellent dish for company!
This time of year, decadence reigns. Buttery, cheesy, rich – these are flavors welcomed in December. Chocolate-dipped, whipped cream-topped, caramel-filled? It’s the holidays; why not? And of course, only the prettiest and most elegant will do – perfectly shaped cookies and pretty cakes adorn most food blogs right now. Not that I’m pointing fingers; after all, I posted the most decadent hot chocolate ever just a few days ago, and I have plans to start baking cookies very soon – after I can stop drooling over others’ holiday recipes and narrow down my own “to do” baking list!
But there are many days in December that aren’t holidays. Many of the days in December we are rushing about and stressed, struggling to balance the preparation for celebrations in addition to our daily duties. Those days call for easy meals that still warm the soul and nourish our bodies. Those meals don’t have to be decadent (in fact, it’s best for our health if they aren’t!), and they don’t have to be fancy. Sometimes, simple and rustic is best. A lentil and sausage stew can be perfect for such a day.
I haven’t found many lentil recipes that I’ve truly been in love with. Yes, they’re healthy, full of fiber, a good source of protein; but most of the times, I’ve been on the fence about lentils. Apparently, I just haven’t looked hard enough. This stew changed my mind about lentils – the flavor is so big and bold in this stew that I couldn’t help but enjoy a rather large bowl. The jalapeno sausage brought just a hint of heat to the broth, but the vegetables and parsley truly brightened the flavors, and the smoked paprika added an additional depth. This was a stew I could make again and again. Which reminds me, I still have some left over. Lunch tomorrow? I think so!
Lentil and Sausage Stew, adapted from Good Life Eats
1 T vegetable oil
12 oz jalapeno smoked sausage, diced
½ large yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ t fresh thyme, chopped
2 T sherry
3 c chicken or vegetable broth
2 c water
2 c dried lentils
1 t salt
½ t black pepper
1 t cumin
½ t smoked paprika
1 bay leaf
2 carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch dice
1 c spinach leaves, packed
¼ c fresh parsley, chopped
In a large pot, add oil and bring to medium heat. Add smoked sausage and brown, 4-5 minutes. Remove, leaving as much of the oil in the pot as possible. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and sauté until tender, 7-8 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and sauté another minute. Add sherry and scrape up any brown bits at the bottom of the pot. Then add broth, water, lentils, and seasonings and bring to a boil. Add sausage and carrots and reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer partially covered for 30-45 minutes, or until lentils and vegetables are tender. Stir in spinach and parsley and serve.
A month ago, if anyone were to inquire whether I liked moussaka, I likely would have responded with a “Moose-a-what?” Generally, I enjoy learning about various popular dishes from all around the globe, but this dish must have slipped past my radar. So when one of our Thanksgiving dinner guests (who wishes to remain anonymous) mentioned that she was bringing moussaka as her contribution, I immediately “googled” the dish to learn about it.
The exact origin of moussaka is unclear. Some claim it as a Greek dish (it is quite popular in Greek cuisine), but there are variations throughout the Mediterranean, including Turkey and the Balkans. (according to Wikipedia and other sites) Despite the countless variations, most recipes include a handful of principal ingredients: eggplant (aubergine), tomatoes, onions, and a crusty, creamy layer on top, usually comprised of a bechemel sauce. (Bechemel is a white sauce, usually made of a flour/butter roux and milk or cream.) Unfortunately for me (and a great deal of other celiacs), bechemel sauce is a deal-breaker.
So when the moussaka arrived at Thanksgiving, I grilled (as politely as I could, of course, but a gluten-free girl’s gotta know whether she can dig in!) the “cook” about the ingredients she used. As she rattled off the (rather short) list of ingredients, (eggplant, tomatoes, onion, parsley, lamb, yogurt, egg…) I quickly discovered that I would be able to try this delicious-sounding dish! And delicious it was – bursting with savory and rich flavors. It seemed impossible how tasty it was – the dish was indeed more than the sum of its parts. I immediately cast aside all class and grace - I begged for the recipe.
I brought up the subject more than once during the remainder of the evening. Not that I really needed to – she already agreed to send it to me. In retrospect, I probably annoyed the hell out of her. In any case, she emailed me the recipe, so my shameless begging did the trick. I jotted down the ingredients needed on my grocery list for this week, and in spite of the lengthy time to prepare the dish (it takes a little more than an hour, which is usually more than I’ll tackle on a weeknight), I made plans to make this last night.
Let me tell you, it was so worth the wait! The yogurt-egg-cheese topping was beautifully browned with just a bit of a crunchy edge. The eggplant layers melded flavors with the lamb and tomato mixture to create a savory, luscious, satisfying filling. I couldn’t help myself – I had to have seconds. And some more for lunch the following day. This was one of those times where I wasn’t too sad that my husband isn’t a fan of eggplant or tomatoes – it just meant there was more for me!
This is the perfect dish for company. If you wish, you can prepare it up to 3-4 hours ahead of time, waiting only to bake it when your guests arrive. It will make the house smell heavenly. You can always round out the meal by adding a garden salad or a potato dish, if you choose.
Now, how to break the news to this guest that she will be asked to bring this dish next year…
Lamb Moussaka
2 large eggplants, thinly sliced
1-2 T olive oil
1 lb lean ground lamb (can substitute beef, turkey, or pork)
Salt and pepper
1 large or 2 small yellow onions, thinly sliced (should be about 2 cups)
1 t finely chopped garlic
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
2-3 T chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
10 fl oz lowfat plain yogurt, drained (see below for instructions on how to drain yogurt)
1 1/2 c finely grated Parmesan cheese
Lay the eggplant slices in a single layer over paper towels. Lightly salt both sides of eggplant slices and allow to sit for 20-30 minutes. Pat dry. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Brush a very thin layer of olive oil on each side of each eggplant slice. Add eggplant slices in a single layer in the skillet and brown on both sides. Set aside. (You will have to do this in batches) Repeat with remaining slices.
Add lamb to skillet and brown for 5 minutes, crumbling with spatula and stirring as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onion slices and garlic and saute for another 7-8 minutes or until onion softens. Add tomatoes and parsley and bring to a boil. Quickly reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything is completely tender. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Arrange half of the eggplant slices in a single laer in an oven-proof 13X9 baking dish. Add the lamb-tomato mixture, and then layer the remaining eggplant slices on top.
Beat the eggs in a bowl until doubled in size and foamy (I used my stand mixer for this). Add yogurt and continue beating until the entire mixture is fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture over the eggplant slices, spreading out in an even layer. Sprinkle Parmesan on top.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serves 4.
How to drain yogurt:
Draining yogurt results in a thicker consistency, much like Greek-style yogurt. Line a large bowl with several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Place the yogurt into the cheesecloth, then gather the ends and fasten them tightly with a rubber band. Hang the cheesecloth over the bowl, allowing it to drip the excess water into the bowl. (I suspended mine over the bowl by wrapping the ends of the cheesecloth around a chopstick and placing a binder clip to secure. You can also hang the cheesecloth over a cupboard knob and place the bowl underneath.) Allow to drip for at least 30 minutes, or longer if you want an even thicker yogurt.
Shortly after removing gluten from my diet, I set out to conquer the mystery that is gluten-free baking. There have been successes, and oh yes, there have been failures. Gluten-free baking is tricky. You have to throw all of your “wheat flour” baking knowledge out the window. There is no kneading of bread doughs. Bread doesn’t “rise” in the same manner. The batter for cakes doesn’t always look like typical cake batter. Gluten-free batters and doughs react differently. The earliest tests of gluten-free baking either resulted in overly moist, crumbly messes, or dry-as-a-bone bread that you had to choke down. These occurrences happen less and less frequently as I practice, but in the interest of full disclosure, they still do happen from time to time.
But honestly? I feel more comfortable baking now than I ever did prior to my gluten-free days. Why? The need to experiment has freed me. When I used to bake, I felt that I had to strictly adhere to the recipe, or else disaster would result. I did not have an understanding of the roles each ingredient played in the finished product. Not that I’ve since come to a complete understanding of the science behind baking, but the use of alternative flours has opened my eyes. There are so many textures and flavors available. As long as I understand that I’ll need leavening, something to bind ingredients together, and a certain level of moisture, usually I’m pretty good to go. Not “Gee, I don’t even need a recipe anymore” good, but I can honestly say I’m a better baker now than I have ever been.
My current obsession is to take any ol’ recipe and convert it to gluten-free. I’ve had some success with this in the past (remember the tres leches cake?), but I’m still working on it. My hope is to not feel as though sacrifices have to be made because a gluten-free diet is required. We can have our gluten-free cake and eat it too, so to speak!
With this in mind, I present to you these chocolate banana muffins. The recipe is several generations away from its original inspiration (Elise’s banana bread recipe at Simply Recipes). These are some of the best gluten-free muffins I’ve ever made, if I do say so. They were moist and chocolatey, not overly sweet, with a tender crumb that held together well. Perfect for a holiday morning treat, or for any time of year.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins, adapted from Simply Recipes
3 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 c melted butter
3 T peanut butter or almond butter
½ c white sugar
½ c light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ t salt
½ c teff flour
½ c sorghum flour
½ c tapioca starch
1 t xanthan or guar gum
1-2 T turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl, add bananas, melted butter, and peanut butter. Mix on low until combined. Add sugars, egg, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sprinkle baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder and salt over banana mixture, and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, mix flours and xanthan gum. Turn mixer on medium-low and add flours in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed, until well-combined. Pour into prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a minute or two, and remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool. Makes 12 muffins.
Want a chance to win a free 2010 North Texas Food Bank calendar and some other cool stuff? Check out my other blog, Feeding North Texas, for information! The giveaway ends December 18, 2009.
Matt loves pasta. Spaghetti, lasagna, and macaroni and cheese? These three dishes alone could make this boy happy for a long, long time. Italy was his country of choice this time around, which, naturally, pleased Matt. We discussed various Italian dishes, both pasta and non-pasta, but the mention of bacon and spaghetti – two of his favorite things in the world – made spaghetti carbonara the choice for dinner tonight.
Truth be told, spaghetti carbonara is not among my favorite Italian dishes. It’s a bit on the rich and heavy side, in my opinion. As this was the case, I have not made spaghetti carbonara prior to this evening. Nevertheless, I sought out a recipe that was sure to please. Emeril saved the day! (Every Emeril Lagasse recipe I have followed has turned out beautifully!) I followed the original recipe pretty closely – it’s relatively straightforward and simple – and it was pretty darn tasty, if I do say so.
Not one piece of shell was dropped in the eggs!
Matt enjoyed it a great deal. Of course, eggs, bacon, cheese, and spaghetti – what’s not to like?
Gluten-Free Spaghetti Carbonara, adapted from Emeril Lagasse
1/2 lb bacon, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 T chopped garlic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb gluten-free spaghetti, cooked until al dente (I used Tinkyada Pasta Joy Brown Rice Spaghetti)
4 large eggs, beaten
Salt to taste
1 c freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 T chopped fresh parsley leaves
In a large saute pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon with slotted spoon or spatula and allow to drain on paper towels. Remove all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the pan. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, and season with pepper. Add back the bacon and pasta and saute for 1 minute. Season the eggs with salt. Remove the pan from heat and add eggs, stirring quickly, until eggs thicken but do not scramble. Add the cheese and taste; adjust seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley. Serves 4 generously.
That powdered cocoa mix in your pantry? Leave it for the kiddos. It’s time for some decadence. It’s time for some richness.
It’s time for grown-up hot chocolate.
This stuff isn’t a big, huge, steaming mug of mildly flavored chocolate milk. And it’s not low-calorie. This is rich, thick, intensely-chocolatey, oh-I-wish-I-could-lick-the-coffee-cup hot chocolate. You don’t need much – this is why the serving size is on the small side. But let me tell you, this is the after-dinner treat you must make this winter. It’s that good.
The theme for this week’s Holiday Food Fest is Holiday Cocktails, Mocktails and Appetizers, hosted by Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free. I am not much of a cocktail person (I prefer the occasional glass or two of merlot or cabernet, a gluten-free beer, or if I’m feeling “fancy”, a glass of cognac), so my experience in the cocktail-making arena is rather limited. I know margaritas and mojitos, but that’s about it. (Since the temperatures are hovering around the freezing mark right now, neither of those drinks sound remotely appetizing!) I needed to venture outside of my comfort zone a bit. And then I thought – hot chocolate. Who doesn’t like hot chocolate? I had a bar of Valrhona in the fridge just begging to be used. Suddenly, I knew an over-the-top hot chocolate was just the thing.
But even I underestimated the silky, creamy, lushness of this treat. I opted to dip a spoon into mine, rather than sipping directly from the cup, just so I could savor every minute drop. I can envision this being the perfect treat to enjoy on Christmas Eve, relaxing, after the stockings are stuffed and all is quiet in the house.
Adapted from Ghirardelli
4 oz high-quality dark chocolate (I used Valrhona 68%)
1 1/2 c 2% milk
1/2 c heavy cream
2 T amaretto (almond liqueur – I used Disaronno)
1 t vanilla extract
1 c whipped cream
In a saucepan over low heat, bring chocolate, milk, and cream to a simmer, whisking constantly. Simmer 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat; whisk in liqueur and vanilla.
Pour into four small tea or coffee cups. Top each serving with whipped cream.
Serves 4.
Yep, liver and onions. It’s a meal that for many bring bad memories of childhood. You know, the kind of meal where those children with dogs begging for scraps next to the table felt blessed. (So did the dogs!) For my husband and I, though, it’s a bit of a different story.
We love liver and onions.
We both ate this often growing up. I imagine it was because liver was a cheap source of vitamin-rich protein. (Still is!) As we grew older, when we occasionally visited that mecca of a cafeteria known around these parts as Luby’s (which, to be clear, is nowhere near as tasty as I remember it when I was a child), one of the favorites to order was the liver and onions. (Next to the macaroni and cheese, of course!) I’m glad to share this craving with someone else in our home, because, when prepared correctly, it is indeed delicious!
When searching for liver at the grocery, you should look for calves’ liver, which is milder and less bitter than beef liver. You should also try to look for naturally-raised when possible. It may be found in the frozen section, but you can ask the guy at the meat counter, and he should be able to direct you. If you have a butcher that you have become acquainted with, take this opportunity to ask for liver there – it’s more likely you’ll be able to obtain some thick slices and the liver will be of high quality. Thicker slices mean it’s less likely to overcook, giving you tender and flavorful liver.
Liver and Onions, inspired by Luby’s restaurant, converted to gluten-free
2 lbs calves liver (sliced 1/2 inch thick if you can find it – I found some at Sprouts)
2 T butter
1 large onion, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 c milk
2 egg whites (or 1 egg)
1/2 c gluten-free breadcrumbs
2 c gluten-free flour blend (I used Pamela’s bread flour)
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 T canola oil
Soak liver in cold, salted water for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat butter in a large, heavy skillet. Add onion, stirring occasionally, and cook until tender and lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.
Rinse liver with cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels.
In a shallow bowl, whisk together milk and egg whites until well-blended. In another shallow bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and flour mix, and season with salt and pepper. Heat canola oil in the skillet to medium heat. Dip each piece into the milk mixture, and then dredge through the flour/crumb mixture. Place a few pieces at a time into the skillet and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until just cooked through. (Don’t over-cook or liver will become tough.)
Top with onions.
Serves 4-6.
Yes, it’s another “leftover turkey” post. Not because I have that much turkey. (I might after Thanksgiving though – and if I do, I’ll happily make these again.) I’m sharing this post with you because they’re that good. Honestly, they are good any time of year, with just about any filling. Leftover chicken? Great. Ground beef, turkey, pork, chicken? Awesome. Beans and cheese? Wonderful. In fact, I make a version of these throughout the year using ground beef or turkey and a can of black beans. The beauty of the recipe is that it’s flexible. I like flexible.
I’ve posted enchiladas here before. (and here.) And while those are both good recipes, (I’ve since subbed in corn tortillas to make them gluten-free. Besides, corn tortillas are just better in my opinion.) I have worked throughout the year to improve upon them. Specifically, I’ve worked to improve the enchilada sauce. Why? Because I can’t leave well enough alone. I always have to improve, experiment, and explore flavors. I wanted an enchilada sauce that intrigued the taste buds with a wonderful depth of flavor and a nice heat – not too hot. Finally, I have found it. I think. At least, for now.
This sauce does not use tomatoes in it, as some Tex-Mex red sauces do. Instead, I have opted to use a number of various dried chiles as the base. I could wax poetic about my love for dried chiles. They store in my pantry quite well. They smell amazing. The flavor they contribute is far superior to any store-bought chile powder. In my opinion, they are worth the extra time and effort to use them. I found quite a few varieties at Wal-Mart, but you can usually find the widest variety at a grocery that caters to the Latin American community. You can also find them online. In this sauce I used a combination of ancho, New Mexico, guajillo, pasilla, and chipotle peppers. You can certainly streamline and use fewer varieties, or change it up and use other chiles, but I enjoyed the combination – it added depth and complexity to the sauce.
Another note – when toasting the chiles, it’s probably a good idea to open a window or two. The aroma of the chiles can be overpowering – it makes me sneeze! Again, totally worth it – promise!
These aren’t quite authentic Mexican enchiladas, nor are they true Tex-Mex. I’d like to think I made a new “Tex-Mex” version, taking what I love best about both cuisines and interpreting it in this delicious version. Whatever they are, I hope you’ll agree that they are a wonderful way to enjoy your turkey leftovers!
3 dried chipotle chiles
5 dried guajillo chiles
3 dried New Mexico chiles
3 dried pasilla chiles
3 dried ancho chiles
2 T olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced (I used red, but you could use any variety)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
1 lb leftover turkey, shredded (can substitute chicken, browned ground beef/chicken/turkey, or additional beans)
1 t ground cumin
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 oz cream cheese
2 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese (or a mix of cheddar and monterey jack)
salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for shallow frying
12-16 corn tortillas
Cilantro and sour cream for garnish (optional)
Begin by removing the stems and seeds from the chiles. Tear the chiles into large pieces. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat (I used my trusty cast-iron skillet). Heat another medium saucepan full of water to a simmer. Place the chiles, skin-side up, a few at a time, on the dry skillet. Toast for about 10 seconds and remove and place in the saucepan. Repeat with remaining chiles, toasting in batches. Allow chiles to simmer in water for 20-30 minutes or until soft. (Make sure that the chiles are covered with the water. I usually use a spoon or a spatula to keep them submerged.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, bring a skillet to medium heat and add olive oil. When oil is shimmering, add onions and garlic. Saute for 10 minutes or until soft. If they start to brown, reduce heat a little.
Remove chiles from the soaking water with tongs and place in a blender, leaving the water in the pan. Add the onions and garlic, leaving as much of the oil in the skillet as possible, and add about 1 1/2 cups of the chile soaking liquid. Blend until smooth, adding more soaking liquid if needed. The sauce should resemble the consistency of canned tomato sauce. Pass the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve and discard the pulp. Pour the strained sauce back into the saucepan and place on low heat. Salt to taste.
Add the shredded turkey to the remaining oil in the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Season with cumin, and stir occasionally until heated. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the chile sauce into the shredded turkey, and add the beans, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. Salt and pepper to taste. (If you’re using ground meat instead, you can brown it in the oil, and follow the rest of these steps as written.)
In a small skillet, add enough frying oil to cover the bottom of the skillet by 1/2 inch. Heat oil on medium heat until shimmering. Fry tortillas, one at a time, 7-10 seconds on each side of the tortilla. Lay tortillas on paper towels to drain. (This process helps make the tortillas pliable and less likely to tear and break when rolling.)
To assemble the enchiladas, dip a tortilla into the chile sauce and remove, allowing excess sauce to drip back into the saucepan. Place about 2-3 tablespoons of the shredded turkey mixture in a line down the center of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place it seam-side down in a 13X9 baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Top with a bit more sauce down the center of the enchiladas, and sprinkle the shredded cheese over.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned and bubbly. Garnish with cilantro and sour cream, if desired.
Serves 4-6.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I sincerely wish the best for you and your family this holiday. Be happy, safe, and enjoy the gifts of life. I am thankful for all of you! Without you, there would be no Tasty Eats At Home. Have a wonderful holiday.
