Chicken Enchiladas

Wow, it's completely apropos that my last post... SIX MONTHS AGO... was complaining about juggling work and daycare. I literally have no time at all between waking at 6 (if I'm lucky!), breakfast, nappy bag, changing baby, feeding baby, cycling baby to daycare, cycling on to work, shower, work eight solid hours, cycle home via daycare, empty dishwasher, cook dinner, refill dishwasher, put baby to bed, then crash back to bed at 9pm. I've taken to making my dinners in advance at the weekend, so that the "cook dinner" part of that deluge is just a 5-10 minute reheat and serve. That means a lot of repeated, tried-and-tested recipes, and a lot of pretty boring staple food, like beef stew or lasagne.

I was at a friend's birthday party / pot luck, and another friend wanted to know more about the food I was preparing: huevos rancheros. I explained what I was up to, and she asked me if it was on my blog. I said yes... but I haven't been updating it recently. We had leftover refried beans and I said I'd probably make some enchiladas to go with; so here is the recipe, for my friend who wanted to know what exactly I DO with leftover refried beans :)

Ingredients

• a medium roast chicken (ready-roast from the supermarket is fine)
• two red peppers (capsica)
• a large brown onion
• four cloves of garlic
• 1 flat tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1-2 tsp chilli flakes (to taste)
• a cup or so of tomato salsa
• 8 tortillas
• cheddar, colby, or monteray jack cheese
• 3 spring onions
• sour cream

Method

Strip the meat off the chicken, roughly chop, and reserve. If the chicken came with stuffing, feel free to eat it, or chop it in, too. Dice the red peppers; halve, and finely slice the onion. Fry them together in a little oil for 10-15 minutes over a low heat until extremely sweet and tender. 

(Or, you could roast a chicken whole, surrounded by halved onions and red peppers, then dice everything up afterwards. Your call!)

Crush the garlic into the red pepper and onions, and fry for another minute, then add the cumin, cocoa, and chilli, if using; fry for another minute, until fragrant. Stir in the diced chicken, and half of the salsa.

Spoon the mixture into the tortillas, rolling them up and pushing them together in a deep roasting tray. Scatter grated cheese and finely diced spring onions over the top. You can cover and refrigerate it at this stage, and it'll keep in the fridge for a few days.

Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes (or 20 from the fridge), until the cheese has melted and the edges of the tortillas are just beginning to crisp.

Serve hot, with the rest of the salsa, sour cream or guacamole, and refried beans, if you like :)

Corn Bread Tamale Pie

Happy New Year! Champagne and oysters for everyone!

I didn't post much toward the end of last year because I was away for almost all of November and December. Now that I've recorded most of my usual meals, and all the discoveries I made in 2012-2014, I find myself using the blog more as a resource and inspiration rather than a daily recording. So I think I can probably manage a weekly update from now on, and that more achievable target will hopefully inspire me to cook at least one new thing per week.

In late December I stayed with some friends who live in the US South-west and they kept talking about  Mexican food, which really made me miss the food of my childhood. When I got back I figured that The Joy of Cooking would be able to help me out with some ideas, so I tried out its corn bread tamale pie. It was really good! I think it was thoroughly Americanised Mexican food but I just love corn bread, and this one had ingredients I could actually find, as well as feeding us for days.

Ingredients:

• 450g ground beef
• 1 finely chopped white onion
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin red kidney beans
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 cup of hot beef stock
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• a green pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 3/4 cup polenta/cornmeal
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

In a large oven-safe casserole pot (e.g. a big Le Creuset), fry the ground beef and onion together until the beef is browned and the onions are translucent. Let them rest occasionally to get a bit of colour, but don't burn. Tip in the tomatoes, sour cream, sugar, stock, spices, beans and green pepper; stir to combine; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C.

Sift and mix all of the remaining dry ingredients together, then gently fold in the egg, milk and vegetable oil. When the chilli has been simmered through, give it a generous season, a stir, and then gently pour over the corn bread toping. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the topping is risen, golden and set. Let rest a few minutes before serving with buttered corn or salsa.

Huevos Rancheros

After an awesome holiday filled with concerts, food, LEGO, and looooooads of games (Seven Wonders being a particular hit this year), the time came to depart, and with it the opportunity for a farewell lunch together. Briefly tempted by something light, we eventually opted for our favourite huevos rancheros, which meant we were pretty much full until about 10pm. It's great preparing this recipe for loads of people, because you can cut the tortillas into wedges first and overlap them out on massive trays, without worrying (too much) about the toppings sticking to the trays. We also split the toppings between two kinds: tomato and egg, and refried beans. Both topped with plenty of cheese, of course!

Huevos Rancheros

Decided to do something a little different after Zumba today - well, I decided the night before, since it helps to cook the refried beans in advance. In the morning, it was a matter of minutes to put the ingredients together, and then enjoy a protein-rich meal with a big cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

• 400g refried beans
• three cloves of garlic
• a tin of chopped tomatoes
• Cheddar cheese
• 4 tortillas
• 4 eggs
• fresh coriander
• guacamole or sour cream

Put the tortillas on a large, foil-covered or well-oiled baking tray. Spread on the refried beans. Drain the tin of tomatoes and slice the tomatoes into wedges; dot on top of the beans. Try to make a bit of a well with the beans and the tomatoes. If you like your egg runny, separate the white and pour it into the well; cook under a hot grill for a couple of minutes until it is almost cooked. Cover with cheese and plop on the yolk, then grill for a further minute until the cheese is sticky and melted and the yolk is hot. Cut into wedges and serve garnished with a few leaves of fresh coriander, with plenty of guacamole or sour cream to go with.

Quesadillas

A yummy Mexican fast meal - although these might not bear much resemblance to anything actually prepared in Mexico! They're great for using up a last bit of cheese and some leftover vegetables. I like them with a dollop of refried beans or some guacamole.


Ingredients:

• 4-6 soft corn or flour tortillas
• 100-200g grated medium cheddar
• roasted, peeled red peppers, torn into strips
• finely chopped spring onions, blanched or lightly fried
• (or any other cooked vegetables or meat you have!)

Get your fillings ready - they should be at room temperature. Lay out a flour tortilla and add about 1cm height of fillings, leaving about 1cm gap around the edges. Put another tortilla on top. Carefully place in a heated, unoiled, non-stick pan, and dry-fry over a low heat for about a minute, until the tortilla is golden-brown and toasted. Using a large spatula, and a plate if you need to, flip the quesadilla over onto the other side. Toast again for a minute, then remove and cut into wedges. The cheese should be runny and delicious!

Vegetarian Fajitas

We're running down the storecupboard and freezer, and that includes using up lots of tins of beans. I also had a frozen pack of flour tortillas (and about 100 other things...) in the freezer. I was planning to make veggie enchiladas but the afternoon was unexpectedly warm and I wanted something a bit lighter. So I adapted my usual meat fajita recipe to make some nice veggie ones - in fact they're vegan if you skip the guacamole. Although that would be such a shame, it's lovely :) Especially with sweet potato wedges to dip!

Ingredients:

• 1 400g tin of kidney beans
• 2 small white onions or 1 large
• 1 green & 1 red pepper
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 inch pieces of ginger
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 4 flour tortillas

Pop the bean tin and leave it draining in the sink. Peel the onion, top and tail it, and cut it in half down the longitudinal axis. Slice from the skin in toward the same axis, as if you were making thin wedges, although they will naturally fall apart if you have removed the tail. (This gives a nice mix of sizes while keeping them flat enough to fry easily.) Fry over a moderate heat in some vegetable oil until beginning to brown.

Meanwhile, deseed and de-pith the peppers and slice lengthwise into thin strips. Add to the onions and fry for a further 3-4 minutes. Crush in the garlic cloves and grate in the ginger. Crush the cumin in a mortar and pestle and add it as well. If using, finely chop the chilli and add. Squeeze in the tomato paste and add the tin of beans. If your beans came in simple water with no added salt or sugar, add 1 tbsp of sugar and 1tsp of salt. Stir well, cook gently for a few minutes and taste for seasoning. The beans should be sweet and spicy, to contrast with the acid salsa and creamy guacamole.

Heat the tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in a damp teatowel. Serve on hot plates, with all your toppings out on the table. To eat, scoop some of the bean and pepper mix into an open tortilla, and top with salsa and guacamole. Pull two sides in, then fold the bottom edge up to make a wrap. Have napkins handy for when the juices start running down your arms :)

Sweet Potato Wedges

I love these crispy spiced wedges with Mexican and Southern American food. They're fast to make and very forgiving if you leave them in the oven (switched off!) a little longer before serving; sweet potatoes seem to have moister flesh than that of 'normal' potatoes. Brilliant with sour cream or guacamole dips.

Ingredients:

• One sweet potato
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Cut the sweet potato into wedges using a large, heavy knife or cleaver. I usually top and tail it, cut it once crossways, then with the fattest flat side on the counter, cut it into wedges. A particularly large sweet potato may need to be cut into three pieces crossways - or you could just have very long wedges! Just don't make them too thick, or they will take a long time to cook.

Sprinkle over the spices, season with black pepper and drizzle over the oil, then toss until well coated. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until soft and golden, with the edges just beginning to brown and curl.

Tomato Salsa

I love a fresh tomato salsa! It goes so well with spicy Mexican dishes or even just with nachos and cheese. Not that I'm allowed such things at the moment, or it would put my wedding dress fit in danger. Today it made a lovely accompaniment to some vegetarian fajitas.

Ingredients:

• 2 large tomatoes or a bag of cherry tomatoes
• small bunch of coriander
• juice of a lime
• 1/2 tsp large-flaked sea salt or chunky rock salt

If the tomatoes have thick skin, blanch them in boiling water and quickly peel the skins off. Otherwise or afterward, roughly chop and put in a bowl. Finely chop the coriander, squeeze in the lime juice and combine with the tomatoes. Just before serving, add the salt and stir briefly; the tang of unexpected salt is a lovely contrast to the tomatoes.

Refried Beans

This is a classic recipe we use in my family all the time. Tonight it makes up the protein component of a vegetarian meal I put together. I really felt like some grilled aubergines, so I sliced one thickly and marinaded the slices in some lemon juice and mild curry powder, then grilled them under a medium heat until they were crisp on the outside and falling-apart tender on the inside. The beans offered a sweet and filling contrast - I added chorizo but I skip this for the vegan recipe below.

Ingredients:

• a small white onion
• two cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
• 1 400g tin of kidney beans
• half a red chilli (optional)

Finely chop the white onion and fry it gently in some vegetable oil until golden. Crush in the garlic, add the cumin seeds and chilli, and fry for a further minute. Drain the kidney beans and tip them in, then crush into the fried onions with a potato masher. Cook gently for 10 minutes, then crush again and serve. If using as a topping (e.g. on huevos rancheros), you can use a hand blender to achieve a finer texture.