Oct 23 2010

Jessica Alba’s Chicken Enchiladas

Not only is Jessica Alba hot, she also makes a mean enchilada – or her chef does.  Her recipe was featured in SELF magazine back in July of 2005. Did I save her recipe from way back then? No – I used the epicurious app on the iPad and searched Chicken Enchiladas and it popped up.

Dan wanted red sauce, corn tortillas and chicken or ground beef enchiladas. Not a problem… Jessica Alba to the rescue.

The Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock  – I used the entire carton, a little more than 4 cups.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each), cut into strips – I shredded mine
1 jalapeño pepper
1 clove garlic  – I used two cloves
1 jar (12 oz) salsa  – I used a mixture of fresh from the deli and a smoked jar salsa
1 cup shredded lowfat cheddar  – I used full fat medium Tillamook cheddar
1/2 cup shredded lowfat Monterey Jack  – I used full fat Tillamook Monterey Jack – 3/4 small brick
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro – 3/4 small brick
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives, drained  – I used two cans of chopped
1 can (16 oz) traditional enchilada sauce  – had to get the bigger cans, had a lot left over
1 can (16 oz) green chile enchilada sauce
Mexican hot sauce  – I used Cholula
Cayenne pepper
Vegetable-oil cooking spray – I used olive oil spray
8 corn tortillas (6 inches across) – I used the entire package and made two trays

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a medium pot, boil stock, chicken (I cut the breasts in half), jalapeño and garlic 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Strain chicken, run cold water over it and shred into a bowl. I used two forks because I was in a crunch and couldn’t wait for them to cool down all the way.

Mix in your salsa…

and set aside…

In a separate bowl, combine cheddar, Monterey Jack, cilantro and olives; set aside.

In a pot over medium heat, combine enchilada sauces and add Mexican hot sauce and cayenne to taste. Stir until simmering. Set aside.

It was at this point that guests started showing up and I totally forget that I was documenting this process for the blog.

I coated two glass baking  pans with nonstick olive oil spray. One was a 9×11 and one was 11×13. I warmed the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds. I spooned a huge mound of cheese mixture and chicken into the center of each tortilla, rolled them up and then placed  them into the pan, seam side down. I topped with the remaining cheese mixture. I then poured the sauce over the top and and topped again with more cheese. The larger dish was full and the second dish only had 4 enchiladas in it. They both baked in the oven for about 30 minutes until the cheese was bubbling and the edges of the tortillas were browned.

I wish I had a photo of them sitting in their glass pans like little soldiers lined up…because that is when they looked pretty. The tortillas were so soft that they almost baked together lasagna style. I kept apologizing over and over to my guests for the way they looked – but nobody seemed to care. They tasted screamin’ good!

I served 1 enchilada per person and it was plenty. I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day – so I photographed that for you to see.

1/2 of my monster Alba enchilada 😉 – the recipe actually says to use a small amount of filling, no way… where’s the fun in that? There is also no way 1/4 cup of low fat cheese would cut it. I’m glad I substituted on both accounts.

The dinner was a huge success. The enchiladas had the perfect amount of heat to them and I will definitely be making them – “Foodiddy style” again.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=2021

Oct 22 2010

Pepper Pumpkins

It’s becoming clear that with the time change approaching, I will need to set up some sort of photo studio in my guest bedroom. I am racing home from work and throwing bowls on the counter and pots and pans on the stove in an effort to speed cook  – just so I have natural light for my photos.

We have been a little “meat” heavy the past few weeks. Dan has been sick and hasn’t had much of an appetite this week and I’ve been craving veggies and lighter dinners. Last night was the perfect night to break out my beloved veggie slicer.

I am a sucker for picking up holiday themed magazines at the grocery store. I thumbed through a Halloween one and saw cute “Spaghetti Jack O’Lanterns”. The photo showed a plate of carved bell peppers spewing spaghetti. Awesome! Sounded appetizing to me, hah!

I already had bell peppers, zucchini and yellow squash in my cart, so I thought I’d have some “kid-style” Halloween fun last night.

The Ingredients:
1 Zucchini
1 Yellow Squash
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
3-4 Sun Dried Tomatoes
A handful of oil cured olives – seeded, regular black olives would work fine
Salt and Pepper to taste

I heated up the olive oil and garlic in a sauté pan. I then added my zucchini/yellow squash noodles, sun dried tomatoes and olives. I let them cook a bit while I cut, cleaned, and carved my bell pepper pumpkin.

I spooned the squash pasta mixture into the pepper and then pulled some of the zucchini and squash strings through the mouth opening. I then strategically placed olives in the eye cut outs to make them darker.

My creation made me wish I had kids or lived closer to my niece. She is a huge pasta fan, so I would have used regular spaghetti or vermicelli noodles for her pepper pumpkin.

Halloween is my favorite time of year. I have 3 Halloween cookbooks and can’t wait to make some of the fun/spooky creations.

Rain is slated for the weekend, so I plan on spending lots of time in the kitchen.

P.S. – My afternoon snack is sliced up bell pepper and dill dip. Poor Mr. Jack O’Lantern…

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=2008

Oct 20 2010

Parmesan Butternut Squash Gratin

I picked up a copy of Betty Crocker’s Best Ever Thanksgiving magazine last month and it’s full of recipes that I’ve been wanting to test/try before the Thanksgiving holiday.  I marked 5  recipes and then took the magazine to the grocery store – where I shopped from the ingredients lists – yes, I was that lazy… couldn’t even make a separate shopping list. It’s been a long week and it’s only Wednesday.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Butternut Squash – the recipe called for 2.5 lbs – I was the only one eating, so I stuck to a 1 lb pre-cut bag
1/4 Cup Butter or Margarine – I used butter
2 Large Cloves of Garlic – I cheated and ended up using frozen, but the bulb looks pretty in the photo 😉
1/4 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1/3 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Teaspoon Salt – I didn’t measure
1/8 Teaspoon Pepper – I didn’t measure
1/4 Cup Chopped Parsley – I used a lot less

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray glass baking dish with cooking spray. Add butternut squash.

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and add garlic; cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently until butter is infused with garlic flavor. Do not let the butter brown.

In small bowl, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon of the butter-garlic mixture.

Brush squash slices with remaining butter-garlic mixture.

Give them a good coating and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add the bread crumb/cheese mixture to the top.

Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender when pierced with a fork. Mine took the full 40 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F; bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Mine needed the full 10 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle fresh parsley over the top.

I loved the texture…

the taste…

and the new black and white bowl I picked up at HomeGoods for $1.99. New dishes and placemats make me happy.

I will definitely be making this through the fall and winter months. Two thumbs up, it makes the rotation. Next time I might try it as the recipe suggested – cutting my own butternut squash. Peel, halve lengthwise and seed squash; cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. Arrange with slices overlapping slightly in bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish. Who am I kidding? Mid-week – it’s all about convenience and the pre-packaged cubes.

Butternut Squash – Is it a vegetable or a fruit? Ding…ding…it’s a fruit.

If you are selecting your own butternut squash – you want to look for those that have hard, tough rinds and ones that are heavy for their size. I got my pre-packaged butternut squash at Trader Joe’s – but my regular grocery store has it too. It’s just more expensive.

Happy Squashing,

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=1968