Carrots with Tequila

I don't drink much tequila but I keep it on hand because it is an excellent cooking liquid. It imparts this sweet, herbal flavor that goes so well with many ingredients, here carrots. It's also the cooking liquid in my recent mahi-mahi roasted with tomatoes. You could use wine but for Mexican cuisine, tequila just seems right. Unlike wine, it contains enough alcohol to flame. If you aren't comfortable doing this (it is quite dramatic), it's not absolutely necessary. The alcohol will evaporate, though not all of it cooks off, even if you flame it.

Some important safety tips if you want to try your hand at flaming:

• Never pour the liquor from the bottle into the pan. If the bottle slips out of your hand, you are going to have serious trouble on your hands. Measure what you need into a measuring cup and pour from there.
• Stand back as far as you can when you ignite the alcohol. The flames go pretty high and you don't want to be near them when that happens. And if you have anything flammable hanging over your stove, remove it before flaming.
• It's safest to remove the pan from the heat, and use a long match to light the alcohol. If you have a gas stove, you can add the alcohol, then carefully tip the edge of the pan towards the flame to light the alcohol. It should ignite quickly.
• You should always have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen in case of an emergency.

Carrots with Tequila

(serves 4)

1 pound carrots
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
salt and black pepper
¼ cup tequila

Cut the carrots into ¼" coins. Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet with a cover. Add the carrots and toss to coat in butter. Cover the pan and cook until just tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir once during cooking. If the carrots start to brown, turn down the heat. Add the dill, salt, and pepper. Mix seasonings in and increase the heat to high. Add the tequila and set tequila on fire. Shake pan until the flames die out, then serve.

If you don't want to set your carrots afire, only cook carrots for 10-15 minutes until still crunchy, and keep the pan heat around medium when you add the tequila. Cook the carrots in the tequila for 5 minutes to cook off some of the alcohol and finish cooking the carrots.

Mahi-mahi roasted with Tomatoes

Mexico is a country of rich coastal fisheries. There is a long Pacific coastline, the Bay of California, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Therefore, it is no surprise that there is a lot of great fish cooking going on there. Fish is probably not what most people think about first for Mexican food. Yes, fish tacos have a gained a foothold in the US but these represent Ensenada, a single Pacific city's contribution to seafood cookery (and even that has been refracted through the lens of California cooking in the US). No denying the deliciousness of Baja fish tacos but there is much more swimming in from Mexico, a country with a rich and varied cuisine.

This is a simple yet impressive dish that uses the flavors of Mexico to great advantage. Though the recipe says mahi-mahi (called dorado in Spanish speaking countries), you could use fillets of rockfish, snapper, or corvina. Mahi-mahi is a delicious meaty fish. It's very common worldwide, so it is considered sustainable.

Mahi-Mahi Roasted with Tomatoes and Cilantro
(serves 4, costs $16 when mahi-mahi is $8/lb)

4 fillets of mahi-mahi, 5-6 oz. each, skin removed
salt and black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup minced cilantro (or use parsley if you don't like cilantro)
4 large plum tomatoes, diced (or use 3 cups drained diced canned tomatoes)
¼ cup tequila mixed with ¼ cup water

Preheat oven to 450°F. Season mahi-mahi on both side with salt and pepper. Use 1 teaspoon of olive oil to grease a 9"x9" baking dish. Mix together the scallions, garlic, most of the cilantro (reserve about ¼ cup for garnish), tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Place ½ of the tomato mixture in the baking dish and lay the fish on top. Top with the remaining tomatoes. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and pour the tequila-water mixture around the fish. Bake for 20 minutes. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the fish fillets; mahi-mahi is usually 1" thick. The fish is done when it's no longer translucent and flakes easily with a fork. Garnish with cilantro and serve. Good with rice with spaghetti or roasted potatoes.

Mexican Cream of Corn Soup

Winter is not over. Anyone living on the east coast knows this all too well. The weather is so awful that lots of folks have been stuck inside for days. With a well-stocked pantry, you can make this soup. It's quick, done in under an hour. It's easy, mostly about opening cans. It's rich, but not really. The creamed corn thickens the soup, fooling you into thinking this is richer than it really is. It's a comforting bowl of creamy chunky tomato soup.

You can use regular canned tomatoes or Mexican tomatoes. Mexican tomatoes have roasted green chiles added, which I love. If you don't like spicy, they even make a mild version that gives you the flavor of green chile without the heat.

Mexican Cream of Corn Soup
(serves 6)

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ cup diced red pepper (frozen or fresh)
2 Tablespoons dried minced onions (see Note)
1 14-15 oz. can diced Mexican tomatoes (mild or medium)
1 14-16 oz. can cream-style corn
2 cups vegetable broth + ½ cup water
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup minced cilantro or parsley + more for garnish
5 oz. can evaporated whole milk
5 oz. skim milk (use evaporated milk can to measure)

Heat oil in a small soup pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes until red pepper softens. Add dried onions, tomatoes, cream-style corn, broth, water, oregano, black pepper, salt, and ¼ cup herbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add evaporated and skim milk. Heat to serving temperature but do not boil because the milk will separate (it's still edible if this happens but the soup won't be smooth). Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with more minced herbs, if desired.

Note: This is a pantry recipe so we use dried minced onion. But, if you have a bit of fresh onion, mince it and toss it in with the peppers and garlic at the start and omit the ½ cup of water.

Adapted from Mexicali Corn Soup in The Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy International Recipes by Bobbie Hinman, Surrey Books, 2001.

Lime Rice and Salsa Beans

One more recipe from my last class. This is is really simple. You can serve it as a hearty side dish or as a meal in itself. We used the Salsa Fresca we had made during class, but you can use any salsa you have.

Lime Rice & Salsa Beans
(serves 8 as a side or 3-4 as an entree, costs $1.75)

Baked Lime Rice
1 cup rice
1 ½ cups water
juice of ½ a lime (or more if you like tart flavors)
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)

Salsa Beans
1 15 oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup salsa
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In an ovenproof medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Cover and bake for 17 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. While the rice is resting, heat the beans in a small saucepan until hot. Add salsa, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. To serve, stir lime juice (and cilantro if using) into rice, and pour beans on top.

Guacamole!

Though not traditional, guacamole tastes pretty good with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds

Once you have salsa, you need to move on to guacamole. Another recipe from my last class. Guacamole is a great dip with chips, or as a topping for the chicken-potato enchiladas we also prepared in the class.

Avocados are sold ripe and underripe. They always ripen off the tree, so you can buy them underripe. You can buy a lot of them and stick them in the refrigerator. They will happily sit there for weeks. I've heard, though I haven't tried this, that they freeze just as well if you want to keep them even longer. From the fridge, they will take about 3 days to ripen. Once they do get ripe, they will keep in the refrigerator for another week as long as you don't cut them. Once cut, they will darken quickly so plan to eat it within a day.

Here's a tip on avocados: they go on sale in early February for the Super Bowl parties (much guacamole is eaten that Sunday). Plan to make a big batch and share it with your friends.

Guacamole
(4 servings, costs $1.25 - $2, depending on the price of avocados)

1 medium avocado
2 Tablespoons small dice red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon or more minced jalapeño or serrano chile
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika or mild pure chile powder
juice of ½ a lime
1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Cut the avocado in half by running your knife down from the top to the bottom and back up to the top. Twist the halves in opposite directions. Pull out the pit. Scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mash to the desired consistency. Some like their guacamole chunky, some like it smooth. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, chile for more heat, and lime for more zip.

Salsa!

This week's class featured easy Mexican so we made some fresh salsa. Salsa is very popular. Salsa in the jar surpassed ketchup sales back 20 years (but by poundage, ketchup still wins, hands down). Salsa in a jar is tasty, and convenient, so I'm not knocking it. Fresh salsa is even tastier. It's a great way to turn so-so tomatoes into something delicious. This time of year, tomatoes need all the help they can get. Plum tomatoes are on sale 88¢ per pound in my local market, which makes homemade salsa fresca a darn good buy.

The amount of heat is up to you. Jalapeños are not that hot, but if you don't like your food spicy, start with a little bit, like a teaspoon. If you do like spicy, use a hotter serrano chile, rather than a jalapeño.

Salsa Fresca
(makes 6 servings, costs under $1)

4 plum tomatoes, diced
1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (4 to 8 sprigs)
2 Tablespoons small-diced onion
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (more or less to taste)
juice of ½ a lime
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Combine everything in a medium bowl and toss to combine. Let sit 15 minutes. Taste and add more chile, lime, and salt if desired.

Will keep about 2 days in the refrigerator but definitely best fresh. If you have extra, stay tuned for a lime rice & beans recipe that gets its kick from salsa.

Chicken Potato Enchiladas

Another class tonight at CU. We're cooking easy Mexican. The menu is Guacamole, Salsa Fresca, Chicken-Potato Enchildadas, and Rice with Beans & Salsa. We made Cheesy Chicken Enchildadas during our first year of classes back in 2011. Since I am incapable of making the same recipe twice (just kidding, though it's very rare), I had to mix it up. This recipe has less cheese, potatoes, and the sauce is chunkier. I tested this recipe with frozen green chiles. In many places, there are no frozen green chiles, but here in Colorado we have a choice and I would pick frozen every time. Use what you can find and use the heat level that you prefer. I have found that the canned mild chiles are milder than the mild frozen. If you don't like spicy, stick to mild canned chiles.

Chicken-Potato Enchiladas

(serves 4)

Green Chile Sauce

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons flour or masa harina (see Note)

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup thawed frozen green chiles or 8 oz. canned diced chiles

1 Tablespoons dried minced onion

1 cup water or chicken stock

¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour or masa and stir. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add cumin, onion, and chiles, stir, and cook for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir. Bring to a boil, reduce to heat to low, and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Enchiladas

2 cups frozen O'Brien potatoes (cubed potatoes with onions and peppers)

½ teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

8 corn tortillas

rest of a 13 oz. container of frozen green chiles or 4 oz. canned diced chiles

1 ½ cup cooked chicken

1 cup shredded jack cheese (about 4 oz.)

Warm up tortillas so you can roll them: Heat oven to 250°F. Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil. Heat for 20 minutes. Keep wrapped until ready to roll enchiladas.

Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Place potatoes in a microwaveable bowl, cover, and cook on HIGH for 1 ½ minutes. Stir in oil and cumin. Cook for another minute. Transfer to a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, green chiles, cooked chicken, and ½ cup cheese. Mix to combine.

Spread ½ cup sauce in the bottom of a rectangular (8"x10" or 9"x11") baking dish. Lay a tortilla flat on a cutting board. Place about ½ cup of the filling on tortilla along the diameter. Roll up and place in baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the rest of tortillas. Pour the rest of the sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle on remaining cheese. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes. If you want the cheese to brown, increase temperature to 400°F at the end and bake until cheese has browned, another 5 minutes. You can also put it under the broiler for a minute or two to brown if you have used a baking dish that can go under the broiler.

Note: Masa harina is the corn flour used to make corn tortillas and tamales. If you are avoiding gluten, it makes a great thickener here. It also adds a special flavor because masa has a distinctive taste that is singularly Mexican.

Kimchee Quesadilla

My other blog, World on a Platter, has a pretty simple recipe up today: Kimchee Quesadilla. The toughest part of the recipe is finding the kimchee, which isn't so hard these days. Head over there and check it out.

Kimchee Quesadilla - an easy, multicultural recipe if you like spicy food.

Rice with Spaghetti

One more Cinco de Mayo recipe - rice cooked with fried spaghetti. Angel hair pasta, vermicelli, or fideos (coils of very thin pasta for soup) work best but regular spaghetti is fine too. It's a great way to use up a little bit of spaghetti. The nuttiness of the fried pasta is delicious with the rice, and it gives it a nice texture. This is wonderful under our Cinco de Mayo Chicken.

This is entirely a pantry recipe - it has dried minced onions and garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and onions. If you want to use fresh, add 1 minced clove of garlic and ¼ cup minced onion when you add the rice.

If you prefer, you can use vegetable broth to make this a vegetarian rice.

Rice with Spaghetti
(serves 6, costs $2.25)

1 cup long-grain rice
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup spaghetti pieces
2 ¼ cups chicken stock or vegetable broth, hot
1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt (optional)

Place the rice in a bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for 5 minutes, pour into a strainer and set aside to drain.

Mix the stock with the onion, garlic powder, and black pepper. If stock is unsalted, add salt.

Heat up a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil. The oil should be nearly smoking and shimmer before you add in the pasta. Add the pasta and stir constantly for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes until the pasta is a rich brown. Do not burn - when the pasta is brown, add the rice to slow down the browning. Reduce the heat to medium, add the rice, and stir for about 1 minute. Add the stock (make sure to scrape out the flavorings that may have collected at the bottom), and stir to mix. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let rice sit, covered, for 5 minutes before serving.

Simple Cinco de Mayo Chicken

This is a delicious and unbelievably simple way to cook chicken. The recipe is inspired by one from Rick Bayless. He uses a tomatillo sauce but it works just as well with a spicy tomato-green chile sauce. Serve this over rice or pasta to soak up the sauce. There is a lot of sauce, but that is not a problem. It is delicious and rich. You can use the leftover sauce in something else, like our chilaquiles, or mix in some cooked beans and serve over pasta to stretch in into a whole other meal.

Roasted Chicken in Spicy Chicken Sauce
(serves 6, costs $11)

1 recipe of Spicy Tomato Sauce - the Mexican version, heated
3 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken parts, whatever kind you like
salt and pepper
½ cup heavy cream
8 - 10 sprigs cilantro, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Pour the hot tomato sauce in a baking dish or large skillet. Lay the chicken pieces in the sauce, skin side up. You don't want to submerge the chicken because you want it to roast, not braise. Season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Place in the hot oven, uncovered and roast for 25-35 minutes, until cooked through. Make a cut into the thickest part of a piece of chicken to make sure it's done all the way through - the juices should run clear and there should be no pink.

When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pan to a clean plate. Stir in the heavy cream. Taste for salt; add more if the sauce needs more. Return the chicken to the pan, sprinkle with cilantro, if desired, and serve.

Spicy Tomato Sauce - the Mexican version

Cinco de Mayo is coming up on Sunday. Time to break out the margaritas! I'll be posting a chicken recipe before then that uses this tomato sauce. This sauce is similar to Indian version - amazingly similar, in fact! The difference is this sauce includes roasted New Mexican green chiles as well as a hot green chile but no ginger. You can use mild or medium green chiles, or a mix. Medium green chiles have a pretty good kick; if you don't want your sauce too spicy, use a 4 oz. can of each kind.

Like the Indian version, it's adaptable to many recipes: use on enchiladas (see our recipe for chicken enchiladas and sub this sauce for the green chile sauce), sub it for the tomato sauce and Mexican tomatoes in our chilaquiles, or pour over grilled fish or shrimp.

Spicy Tomato Sauce - Mexican version
(makes about 4 cups, costs $5)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
7 - 8 ounces diced green chiles (mild or medium or a mix)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 - 2 Tablespoon minced seeded jalapeño chile
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
26 - 28 ounces tomato puree or chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium. Add garlic, green chiles, ground cumin, and jalapeño chile. Saute for a few minutes, stirring. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes.

Refried Beans

In the second SNAP challenge post, we showed how simple and cheap making up a pot of beans can be. Here, we continue on the simple and cheap food by showing how easy it is to cook up refried beans. Though many recipes for refried beans call for a lot of oil for the frying of the beans, that's not really necessary. The starch in the beans gives the mashed beans a rich texture. We add just a bit of fat to help carry the flavors.

Canned refried beans aren't bad and they are pretty cheap too. But these are really easy to make, and freeze great (you can double the recipe so you have a stash in the freezer). We think the homemade ones have a better texture and flavor.


As with the pot of beans, you have lots of opportunity to improvise here. If you cooked your beans plainly, you can add a sprinkling of chili powder, a dash of hot sauce, garlic powder, some chopped jalapenos. Saute these in the oil before adding the mashed beans if you don't want crunchy pepper bits in your beans. You can use vegetable oil, olive oil, or bacon fat. Olive oil and bacon fat each impart their own flavor to the beans, whereas vegetable oil is neutral in flavor. As garnish, you can add a light sprinkling of grated or crumbled cheese, or a bit of cooked sausage crumbles. You can toss in a handful of chopped parsley or cilantro. Or some diced raw tomatoes. They add nice flavors without a lot of cost. The beans are the main event here.

Refried beans with a sprinkling of hot New Mexico red chile powder for a bit of zip

Refried Beans
(serves 3-4, costs 65¢)

2 cups of cooked beans, plus some of the liquid
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
⅛ - ¼ teaspoon salt
seasonings of your choice

Mash up the beans with a fork, or puree in a food processor for a smoother consistency. If the beans seem dry, add a little bit of the cooking liquid. Mash up the onion and garlic too; they add great flavor.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet (see Note). Add mashed beans to skillet and cook until heated through. Serve in tacos, burritos, or a side dish or entree.

Note: You can skip the oil if you are cooking sausage or bacon to add to the beans. Cook it in the skillet first so that the fat renders out. Add more oil if needed to end up with about 1 Tablespoon.

If desired, saute a ¼ cup of chopped onions or a bit of green chiles in the oil before adding the beans. Or add them as a garnish after the beans are cooked. Very different texture if you don't cook them. See which way you like it better.

Cinco de Mayo Chicken Casserole

Here's a comforting casserole for a cold winter's night. We made this for our class on easy chicken dishes. Though the recipe calls for cheddar cheese, there are lots of cheeses that work here: monterey jack, colby, Mexican cheese blends, or some combination of those. Great way to clean out the bits of cheese in the fridge.

Cinco de Mayo Chicken Casserole
(serves 6-8, cost is $13.25)

1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 ounces green chile salsa
1 cup sour cream
⅓ cup milk
12 6" corn tortillas
¾ pound shredded cheddar cheese

Cook chicken (either by roasting or in microwave). Cut chicken into cubes. Preheat oven to 350°F Place half the chicken in an oiled 9x13 inch pan. Spoon about half the salsa over chicken. Place sour cream in a bowl and thin it with some milk. Spoon half the sour cream mixture over the salsa and chicken. Cut the tortillas into ¼ inch strips. Top the sour cream mixture with half the tortilla strips and half the Cheddar cheese. Repeat layers, using the remaining chicken, salsa, sour cream mixture, tortilla strips, and Cheddar cheese.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for about 5 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Chilaquiles for Cinco de Mayo

Saturday is Cinco de Mayo and I thought I would share one of my favorite Mexican dishes: chilaquiles. In Mexico, chilaquiles are a breakfast item designed to use up stale corn tortillas. When I vacationed in Mexico, I ate it every single day for breakfast. It's a delicious combination of corn tortillas, chiles, tomatoes, and cheese, though, the recipe is pretty adaptable to what you have on hand. This recipe could be a breakfast dish, but it's more like a Mexican lasagna, which makes it a hearty dinner dish. It is a great way to use up stale corn tortillas, or tortilla chips. If you don't have stale tortillas, it's easy to toughen up fresh ones by baking them at 350°F for 10 minutes. You want them dried out so they soak up the tomato sauce.

Chilaquiles
(serves 4, total cost is $5.35)

1 ½ Tablespoons oil
½ medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 10 to 16 oz. can Mexican tomatoes (tomatoes with green chiles, such as Ro-tel brand)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
6 stale tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces
½ cup sour cream (lite or regular)
4 oz. colby or jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent and golden. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add pinto beans, Mexican tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove from heat.

Grease a 8x8x2 inch baking dish with a little bit of oil. Spread ½ of the tortilla pieces in the bottom of the dish. Spread with ½ the tomato-bean sauce. Put on ½ the sour cream in 4 blobs and spread over tomato sauce. Sprinkle on ½ the cheese. Repeat the layers. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until hot, bubbly, and starting to brown. Serve.

Avocados or guacamole are a delicious garnish for this dish.

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Warm gooey cheesy enchiladas - what a great dish for a chilly fall day. Here's a basic chicken enchiladas recipe that is very easy and very tasty.

We've included a recipe for green chile sauce and, of course, we recommend you make your own, seeing as we are all about cooking from scratch. It's not difficult and takes about 15 minutes. Keep some in the freezer. It's also good on scrambled eggs, chicken, a burger. It lacks a lot of unnecessary processed "extras" that are added to canned green chile sauce. And, really, it tastes a whole lot better.

















Green Chile Sauce (makes about 2 cups)

2 tbl Vegetable Oil, or butter
2 tbl Flour
8 ounces Chopped Green Chiles, use hot or mild or a mix of both based on your heat tolerance
1⁄4 cup Chopped Onion
1 3⁄4 cups Water
1⁄2 tsp Salt
1⁄4 tsp Ground Cumin
1⁄4 tsp Dried Oregano
1⁄4 tsp Garlic Powder
1⁄4 tsp Black Pepper

Heat oil over medium heat. Add flour and stir to combine. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Note: you can use fresh roasted and peeled chiles, frozen and thawed chiles, or canned chiles. The flavor is best with fresh or frozen but canned chiles are acceptable and readily available.

Chicken Enchiladas
(serves 4; total cost is $6.00)

1 recipe Green Chile Sauce, heated
8 Corn Tortillas
1⁄2 tbl Vegetable Oil
4 ounces Chopped Green Chiles
1 small Onion, diced
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1⁄2 tsp Salt
1⁄4 tsp Black Pepper
1 1⁄2 cups Shredded Cooked Chicken, about 8 oz before cooking
6 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (about 1 1⁄2 cups)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Wrap the stack of tortillas in foil and place in the oven.

Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and green chile. Saute for 5 minutes, until onions are soft.

Dump onions in a bowl. Add chicken, cumin, salt and pepper, and 1⁄2 the cheese. Take the tortillas out of the oven and turn the oven up to 400 degrees.

Put about 1 cup of enchilada sauce in a 9x9" baking dish and spread in bottom of dish.

Remove a tortilla from the foil. It should be soft enough to roll up. Place it on flat surface and place 1⁄8 of the chicken mixture across the center. Roll the tortilla up and place in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas. They will all fit if you squeeze them together.

Spread the rest of green chile sauce on top of enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

Beef and Bean Burrito Filling

This is an all-purpose inexpensive filling/dip/topping. It's quick and easy too.

Beef and Bean Filling/Dip
(makes 6-8 servings)

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped OR 1 4 oz can chopped green chiles
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 16 oz can refried beans with green chiles
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or use Monterey jack or Colby cheese)

In a large skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat until beef is starting to brown. Add onion and green pepper and cook another few minutes until onions soften.

Stir in chili powder, salt, black pepper, tomato sauce, and refried beans. Mix well and heat through. Remove from the heat and mix in cheese.

Some suggestions for this filling:

Fill a tortilla - add some shredded lettuce, salsa, and more cheese and guacamole.

Top a baked potato and add a little more cheese and sour cream.

Make nachos by topping tortilla chips along with additional cheese, sliced jalapenos, chopped tomatoes.

Hollow out a Kaiser roll and fill. Top with additional cheese.