Recipe 22: Chiles Rellenos Enchiladas

For the record, I make this recipe a lot, in a lot of different ways.  This is the first time, however, that I have actually made it to the point where I have taken a picture.  It is also, frankly, the laziest I've been about it, as half of the ingredients are like...from a can.  Usually, I just use fresh ingredients on hand for the stuffing; this is also the first time I've used rice.  And I cheated, and used Goya Spanish rice instead of making and seasoning my own.  Whatevs!  The good news is this recipe is easily adaptable.  Use different ingredients for the filling, seasonally.  Use more cheese.  Don't use rice.  Use grits.  Use meat.  Use different beans.  Use seasonal veggies.  Use, frankly, whatever you want.  These are basically Mexican stuffed peppers.  Stuff at will, kids.   I think the secret is in keeping the lid on for most of the baking - it allows for a steaming effect to soften the peppers.  As is, this recipe is pretty easy.  What takes the longest will be your prep time.  Otherwise, it's pretty easy!

Chiles Rellenos Enchiladas

Serves 4

This is an unattractive, bad quality photo of a half eaten batch of delicious
Chiles Rellenos Enchiladas. 

Ingredients

1 box Goya Spanish rice

1 tsp/tbsp butter (depending on what you like)

1 medium/large onion, chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1 medium/large carrot, chopped

1 can drained, rinsed black beans

1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 cups kale, torn into small pieces

1 jalapeno, deseeded and finely chopped

4 very large poblano peppers, cut down the side and deseeded (or something else - I have no idea what kind I used - they were red/yellow and shaped like poblanos.  Maybe banana?  Maybe something else?  This is the trouble with farmshares. If you identify them, let me know.)

1 can enchilada sauce (red or green - or mole sauce, or get crazy and use salsa)

Cheese, to taste (I use cheddar or cotija)

Directions:

1.  Prepare your box of rice as instructed on the package.
2.  Preheat oven to 400.  
3.  In a large sauce pan over medium, saute the onions and garlic for approximately five minutes
4.  Add beans and carrot.
5.  Add tomatoes and kale, stir, and cover.   Saute for 15 minutes stirring occasionally, until the kale has softened and the ingredients are incorporated.
6.  Add 1/3 of the rice to the skillet.  Stir to incorporate.
7.  Add cheese to the mixture if you'd like to.
8.  Stuff your peppers.  You should have a good deal of the vegetable mixture left over.
9.  Lightly spray your Le Creuset with cooking oil to prevent sticking, then pour in your remaining rice.  Cover this with the vegetable mixture, and place your stuffed peppers on top.  Cover the mixture with enchilada sauce.
10.  Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
11.  Remove the cover for the last 15 minutes (total cook time 45 minutes).  If you want to add more cheese, do so now so it melts and begins to bubble.
12.  Let the pot cool five minutes, and enjoy with avocado, or a cold beer.  Or a glass of red wine.  Just enjoy. 

Recipe 23: Country Style Tomato Sauce

     I made this about a month and change ago, when tomatoes were coming in something fierce, and I was getting a million in my farmshare.  It was almost necessary, after I attended my farmshare's Tomato Festival, and came home with, oh, five more pounds of heirloom tomatoes.  In my defense, how can you say no to such a pretty face?  YOU CAN'T. 

     I searched high and low through my cookbooks.  Shockingly, almost none had a recipe.  What's up with that?  Shouldn't every self respecting non-specific cookbook have a recipe for something this basic, that is this much of a staple in kitchens?  

Anydoodle, I took to the Internets, where I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, followed it to a recipe from Lidia, and then took Giada's advice to add butter when I served it.  Ultimately, what follows is rough, and a combination of the recipes I found online, and what I had in my farmshare.  I call it country style because I opted not to blend it; I like a slightly chunky sauce and thought it looked prettier that way because I'd used some colorful heirlooms.  I also did not use very many plum tomatoes - I just used what I had.  All in all?  Totally delicious.  I recommend adding some butter to make it richer; the freshness of the tomatoes makes it very bright.  You don't need to; it's pretty darn tasty on its own.

Recipe below:

Case of the Terribles: Breaking Dawn 2 poster

I'm honestly speechless.

There must have been beeritas involved, because I, noted art dunce,
could design a less ridiculous poster, blindfolded. 
With a beerita.

PS.  THIS.  (drink)

Recipe 24: Lemon Ginger Applesauce

So many apples, so few ideas that
do not end in dessert...

Yesterday, I went apple picking.  Today, I had more apples than digits on my hands and feet combined.  Also, because I am a crazy person, I have decided that I will be going dessert free until October 31st.  That's right kids, one whole month without sweet treats.  Which presented a problem, since all my ideas for what to do with this plethora of apples fell firmly into the dessert family.  But then I realized the greatest way to get rid of many of them and make something that I can eat this month is so simple that babies eat it: applesauce.  Boom.  Plus, color me impressed that even though it is sweet, it has like 0.02% non-apple sugar added.  Applesauce for the win!  I also had a slightly grotty old lemon, so I decided to spice it up and make a lemon ginger applesauce.  I actually think I used too much ginger, and maybe would recommend using fresh grated ginger for more warmth than ground ginger, and would also recommend including zest (my lemon was too leathery). 

Lemon Ginger Applesauce

Adapted from The Apple Lover's Cookbook, by Amy Traverso

Lemon Ginger Applesauce, Le Creuset style

Ingredients

3-4 lbs apples, peeled, cored, chopped into large pieces (mixed types will work fine - better according to the original recipe)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar (more to taste if you want)

Directions

Nearly ready...

1.  With the heat set to medium high, add your apples, water, and lemon juice to your Le Creuset/Dutch Oven, stir, and cover. 
2. When it begins to steam heavily, turn down the heat to a low-medium setting.  Let it cook covered for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The apples will begin to get very soft and break apart.
3.  When the mixture is slightly more than half sauce and the apples break apart easily under your spoon or spatula, turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. 
4.  Add sugar to the mixture, and stir to combine.
5.  If you like your applesauce chunky, stop here.  If you like it smooth, continue.
6.  Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth.
7.  Cool, and enjoy! 

Et voila!

Case of the (unexpected online window shopping) Terribles: or, what I want for my birthday

Friends, I bequeath to you a online shopping experience, a web page filled with Cases of the Terribles (and/or people having way too much money, and not enough brains). Here it is: Case of the (unexpected online window shopping) Terribles.  

Incidentally, take note.  I know what I want for my birthday this year.

Who DOESN'T want a 20 foot Animatronic Triceratops?

Yes, Homer and the Enormous Egg is totally one of my favs. But really, they had me at "based on paleontological approximations of what sounds the original 67 million year-old saurian might have vocalized."