enchiladas especiales tacuba style

On Friday night I went to the Windy City Soul Club's dance party. It was lots and lots of fun, but also really tiring (when did I get old?). My productive Saturday was pretty shot, leaving me eating poached eggs on the couch and watching a marathon of Rick Bayless' show Mexico- One Plate At A Time on public television.

In my weakened state Rick convinced me I had  to make these enchiladas that night. My brain was pretty mushy, so I agreed without question. I should have known he wouldn't steer me wrong. You see, he and I have a special relationship- I once grabbed his leg at a Time Out Chicago restaurant awards ceremony while he was going up to accept his trophy and my chair was in his path. That was the day I learned celebrity sightings and open bars are a bad combination for me.

His enchiladas had chicken in them, so I made a mix of black beans and chopped mushrooms. Next time I will add onion and some jalapeno to the filling and pulse it all in the food processor first. And I will definitely be making these again. Possibly some time this week.


enchiladas especiales tacuba style
Serves 4 to 6
 This recipe is from Season 7 Mexico - One Plate at a Time

Ingredients

2 fresh poblano chiles
1 cup (lightly packed) roughly chopped spinach leaves
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter—or you can use vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup flour
Salt
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups (about) chopped mushrooms
12 corn tortillas
A little vegetable oil for brushing or spraying
About 1 cup Mexican melting cheese (Chihuahua, quesadilla, asadero or the like) or Monterey Jack, brick or mild cheddar
A little chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions

 In large skillet, saute the mushroom pieces with a little olive oil until cooked. Mix in medium bowl with the rinsed black beans and set aside.

Make the sauce- Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly, until the skins have blistered and blackened on all side, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes under the broiler. Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and, when handleable, rub off the blackened skin, tear open and pull out the seed pod and stem. Quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds or bits of skin. Roughly chop and put in a blender jar.  Add the spinach.

In a medium (3-quart) saucepan, combine the milk and broth, set over medium-low heat to warm.

In a large (4-quart) saucepan, melt the butter (or heat the oil) over medium.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute to release its aroma, then add the flour and stir the mixture for a minute.  Raise the heat to medium-high.  Pour in the warm broth mixture and whisk constantly until the sauce boils.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Pour half the hot sauce into the blender with the chiles and spinach.  Cover loosely (I remove the center part of the lid, secure the lid, then drape a cloth over the whole thing) and blend until smooth.  Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining sauce.  Taste and season with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons. 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Smear about 1/4 cup of the sauce over the bottom of each of four to six 9-inch individual ovenproof baking/serving dishes or smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish.  Stir 1 cup of the sauce into the mushroom/black bean mix
.
Lay half of the tortillas out on a baking sheet and lightly brush or spray both sides of the tortillas with oil; top each tortilla with another one and brush or spray those with oil.  Bake just to warm through and soften, about 3 minutes.  Stack the tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm.  

Working quickly so that the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the filling up in each tortilla, then line them all up in the baking dish(es).  Douse evenly with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the cheese.  Bake until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 20 minutes.  Garnish with the cilantro and serve without hesitation.

barley casserole

My sisters and I have a daydream about one day opening up a bakery/diner in Des Moines. We'd serve muffins and delicious breads in the morning and for lunch we would have a Casserole of the Day. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be capitalized or not, but in my head it is because it's just that great of an idea.

Since both Sarah and Kathleen have the delicious treats down on lock, I figure I should try to make my name in the savory department. That's really where I do most of my shopping anyway. So sometimes I like to pretend I'm testing out recipes and that I need to make casseroles, you know, because I'm a team player. This is how I came upon the Barley Casserole recipe. It floated onto my monitor while searching Epicurious for how to use up some mushrooms without having to go to the grocery store. It had me at casserole.

At the bakery I am going to suggest we serve it with a dallop of thyme sour cream. No charge. Because that's just the sweet kind of place we pretend run.

Barley Casserole  

adapted from House & Garden | January 1965

by James A. Beard

serves 6 as a side dish, fed me twice as a main course. don't judge me.

Ingredients

1/2 pound mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped very fine

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup pearl barley
Salt, pepper
Cayenne pepper
2-3 cups chicken broth

Slice the mushroom caps and chop the stems. Heat the butter in a skillet and add the chopped onion. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes and add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook another 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, heat the broth to boiling. Add the barley to the skillet and brown it lightly, mixing it well with the onions and mushrooms. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into a buttered 8x8 casserole. Add enough boiling broth to cover the mixture and come 1/2" above it. Cover the casserole tightly and bake in a 350°F. oven for 35 minutes. Taste the barley for doneness. Add more broth, if necessary, and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed and the barley tender.

I have been grating a layer of Parmesan cheese on top of the casserole when I take it out of the oven so it has a gooey top layer. Next time I think I'm going to try incorporating asparagus spears as well.

no meal slaw

Right ok. Here is a post about what I've been eating. I have been insanely busy, have had no time to cook, and therefore have nothing to post lately.  I sound angry right now, but I'm not. Promise.

Here's the deal. I work a full-time job as a designer at a dying wedding studio. Then on nights and weekends I work with my business partner Heather on the baby Cakewalk Studio. Oh, the circle of life.  So basically I sit at a desk all day, then meet with H. to freak out and brainstorm about how to, oh I don't know, turn our little career hopes and dreams into something that may hopefully someday (fingers crossed, please God soon!) turn a profit. That mixed with shooting Small Chicago and trying to see friends leaves a girl on the run quite a bit.

And so I've been eating a lot of this kind of stuff. You start to feel really frazzled and weak, realize you haven't eaten a meal yet that day, then poke your head in the fridge and see what you got. Mix it all up and hope it doesn't taste like a butt. Today it was this slaw, and it actually was pretty enjoyable to eat. Which leads me to....

Slaw From Stuff in The Fridge

via Desperation + Poverty

 

package of chopped cabbage & carrots

dollop of mayo

squirt of sriracha 

splash of soy sauce

some apple cider vinegar

a few sesame seeds

old flames, new twists

They say you never forget your first love. I think I agree. Long before I ever knew about avocados I loooooved cucumbers. They were my absolute favorite.  Picking a warm, small cucumber from my parents' garden, taking it in to the kitchen and having my mom peel and cut it up for me... just thinking about it makes my heart swell. So perfect.

Back then I liked them plain or in fire and ice, but lately I've found a new way to enjoy them. It stemmed from my recent obsession with Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes. I'd been making it about once a week, and finally realized the thing I loved about it was the cucumer raita. Yogurt, cucumbers, scallions and salt are such a delicious combination.

So here you go. What avocados and cherry tomatoes were to 2009, cucumber, yogurt and scallions are to 2010. Get with the times.

other people's food

What is it about food made by other people that makes it taste so tasty?

I went home for Easter this past weekend and raked it in. A freezer full of delicious homemade bread, bagels, and buns from my sister Sarah; multiple jars of soup from my mom; a Le Creuset (!!!) dutch oven and small frying pan that had been a wedding gift to my parents; a gorgeous quilt made of old suit fabric; old, hand tatted pillowcases made by long-ago relatives. Seriously. Is it fall? Because I did some heavy RAKING!

So yeah, here is a picture of me eating some Mom curried pumpkin soup, heated up in my new dutch oven (just because I wanted to use it), and served with some Sarah bread for dipping.