Sunday, May 22, 2011

Green Enchiladas

I hate to call this a casserole (but really that is exactly what it is).  This is one that is even better the next day.
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
garlic salt to taste
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half
1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce (I needed more than this)
1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2.Season chicken with garlic salt. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
3.With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed.
4.Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. Top with 1/2 the chicken, 1/3 cheese, 1/2 the sour cream, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce (I added the top layer of cheese during the last 5 minutes in the oven to keep it from burning.)
5.Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

(I got this one from http://www.allrecipes.com/  )

Apple Butter Pork

I got this recipe from allrecipes
I needed something that I could put in the oven and walk away for a few hours and then come home to a ready to eat dinner.  I really should have done a crock pot dinner (which I think you could do with this) but I didn't think about it soon enough.  We all loved it and the kids thought it tasted like a dessert!  I made a few modifications because we didn't have any apple butter - I am excited to try it again using apple butter.

The Ingredients

2 (2 pound) boneless pork loin roast - I used boneless country style ribs
seasoning salt to taste
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter  (I didn't have this so I put one cup of apple sauce in a pan with 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp cloves - and brought it all to a boil until it thickened up a little - and I used the whole cup)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I added this on top of what I added to the apple sauce)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.Season the pork loins with seasoning salt, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork, and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

3.Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and cloves. Remove pork roasts from the oven, and spread with apple butter mixture.

4.Cover, and return to the oven for 2 hours, or until fork-tender.

So yummy!

Spagetti Carbonara

I keep forgetting to take a picture when I make this meal, and we NEVER have left-overs!  So I am going to post it anyway because it is one of our family's new favorites.

It is from the book Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl.  Most of the instructions are in her words.

1 pound of spaghetti
1/2 lb thickly sliced bacon
2 cloves garlic, peeled (I just use minced garlic)
2 large eggs
black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  When it is boiling, throw the spaghetti in.  In the 9-10 minutes it takes to cook you can make the sauce.

Cut the bacon crosswise into pieces 1/2 wide (mine are more like an inch).  Put them in a skillet and cook for about 2 minutes until the fat begins to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, until the edges of the bacon just begin to get crisp.  Do not overcook.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into the bow you will serve the pasta in, and beat them with a fork.  Add some shakes or grindings of pepper.

If you used whole garlic, remove it from the pan.  If it looks like too much fat, discard some, but you're going to toss the bacon with most of its fat into the pasta.  (I drain about 3/4 of the fat off).

When it is cooked, drain the pasta and immediately throw it into the beaten eggs.  Mix it thoroughly.  The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs and turn them into a sauce.  Add the bacon with its fat, toss again, add the cheese, and serve!

According to Ruth Reichl, "Contrary to the recipe used so often in restaurants, real carbonara contains no cream.  The real thing also uses guanciale, cured pork jowl, but to be honest, I like bacon better."