Green Chile Enchiladas

Green Chile Enchiladas
Originally found at Simply Recipes

Green Chile Sauce*
1 can diced green chiles
6 corn tortillas
Canola or grapeseed oil
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Set a tortilla in the pan. Allow to bubble up slightly, then turn and repeat. Take out the tortillas and dry on paper towels.

Mix together the cheese and chiles, and place a small amount in a tortilla. Roll up and place in a baking dish. Repeat until all tortillas are used. Pour green chile sauce over the enchiladas and top with extra cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

My Notes:
*The link above has a recipe for green chile sauce with tomatillos and jalepenos, and I made it, but it didn't smell quite right to me (it's currently sitting in my fridge as I try to figure out what to do with it). So I used my typical Verde enchilada sauce.

They weren't bad, but they weren't spectacular either. I think I can probably jazz them up with some effort, but I'll have to work on it a little more. I really want to try them with some Hatch whole green chiles, but sadly, they don't sell them here where I live (at least, not at the grocery store I frequent). Maybe I can steal some away next time I make my way out west. Still, they're a decent replacement for my mom's chicken enchiladas.

Easy Mac and Cheese

Easy Mac and Cheese
Original Recipe (more or less)

1/2 lb elbow macaroni
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup half and half (or milk)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Boil macaroni according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water (to prevent noodles from sticking together). In a saucepan, heat butter until melted. Add flour and whisk constantly until golden brown. Slowly add half and half, stirring constantly to incorporate. Add cayenne pepper (optional). Heat over medium-high heat until thick. Remove from heat and add cheese, stirring until completely melted. Slowly stir in noodles. Serve.

My Notes:
I've made a Mac and Cheese recipe before. It was more traditional, where you add the breadcrumbs on top and cook it in the oven after doing everything on the stove. It also took forever.

This recipe used the same basic components for the cheese sauce, but I simplified it. Also, the only thing I actually measured out was the half-and-half (because I didn't want to add too much liquid). And it turned out pretty good. Really thick, cheesy (which is my complaint about most homemade mac and cheese recipes (I was raised on the intense flavor of Velveeta).

At any rate, this whole recipe only takes about 30 minutes to make, so it's quick and easy. If you do it like I did, you can also make it by dirtying only a single pot and a strainer. Plus utensils and whatever you eat it on. Much better than 2 pots and a casserole dish.

Next time, I think I'll experiment with some different cheeses. Just to mix it up a bit.

Creamy Garlic Pasta

Creamy Garlic Pasta
Originally found at The Cheese Pusher

2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable stock
½ lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta
¾ cup half and half
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesean cheese

In a pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add stock and raise the heat, bringing the liquid to a boil. Add pasta, stirring frequently until tender. Add half and half and stir to combine. Cook for a few minutes to thicken, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Top with parmesean cheese. Serve immediately.

My Notes:
I actually edited the original recipe more than I thought I was going to. The original recipe called for chicken stock, which of course was a no-no, but that was easily fixed. Then I cut the fat by using half and half. I don't add additional salt to my recipes in general, so I left the salt out. I also used fettuccine, because that's what I had on hand over angel hair. I don't recommend that, because it's much harder to keep the noodles from clumping. Stick to angel hair (or spaghetti, if you must).

The original recipe also asked that you add the cheese before the half and half, stirring until it melted completely. Not sure what sort of cheese she was using when she did the recipe, but I ended up with big globs of melted cheese in my noodles. So, I recommend you top the pasta with the cheese at the end. Most alfredo sauces are made with a roux before you add the pasta, which makes it much easier to get the cheese melted and incorporated into the sauce. Adding it to a thickened liquid with the noodles doesn't work quite as well.

So yeah, it turned out pretty yummy. I think next time, I'll cut down on the stock a little bit (maybe 2 1/2 cups), just so that it doesn't take quite as long to cook the liquid off, and maybe toss in some broccoli for color. And maybe add more garlic. I don't think I had the full 4 cloves asked for in the recipe.

Mexican Quinoa Salad

Image Pending

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Adapted From Cooking Quinoa

3 cups cooked quinoa*
1 can corn, rinsed
1 1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil

In a large bowl combine quinoa, corn, black beans, tomatoes and cilantro. In a small bowl combine cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, and lemon juice. Whisk until well combined. Toss quinoa salad with 3/4 of dressing (to taste) and serve warm or cold. Drizzle additional dressing on top as desired.

*When making quinoa, rinse the grain thoroughly, then combine with water in a 1:1.75 ratio (so for every cup of quinoa, you'd use 1 3/4 cups water). Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 or so minutes, until the water is absorbed. I used the standard 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water, and it came out mushy and I have to boil some of the water off, so using slightly less will work wonders, I think. Note that 1 cup of dried quinoa will approximately yield 3 cups cooked quinoa.

My Notes:
A couple weeks ago, one of my friends brought dinner for all of us studying in the library, and made a quinoa salad. I fell in love with the stuff and vowed to make something of my own. So, I scoured the internet as I usually do and came across the recipe above. I bought all the ingredients for it... and then went on vacation (I couldn't find the quinoa until the night before I left). When I came back, my lime had rotted, and all I had was a lemon, so I used that instead. It turned out a little bland, so I used some old taco sauce to spice it up a little, and then eventually threw the leftovers in a soup. I'll keep working on it.

Bulgogi

Bulgogi: Essentially, Korean BBQ. There's the traditional way, which takes like 3 days. And then there's the easy way, which takes a couple hours.

Bulgogi
Originally found in Cambridge Lutheran Cookbook

1 lb lean beef (steak quality, not roast quality)
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp neutral oil (like vegetable or sesame)
1 tsp sesame seeds
4 Tbsp chopped green onion
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp black pepper

Cut the beef into thin, cross-grain slices. Place in a bowl, and sprinkle 1 Tbsp sugar over, tossing gently. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Add to beef mixture and toss to coat. Place in refrigerator and allow to sit for at least an hour, overnight if possible.

Cook on a grill, broil, or pan fry, discarding excess marinade. Serve over rice.

My Notes:

I first had bulgogi when I was in Colorado. My mom had a friend who was Korean, and made it for some work function they had. I fell in love with the stuff. So when I was flipping through the cookbook my grandma sent me (hence the reason I have a Lutheran cookbook), I found an easy recipe for it. This one is slightly modified based on other web recipes I found.

It's OMG good. Nice and tender and sweet, but also savory. My taste buds are doing a little dance as I consume it. My leftovers probably won't make it past tomorrow. But at least I'm cooking with some meat other than chicken!

And I'm trying to get a picture, promise. I've made it twice and keep forgetting to snag my camera before I chow down.