Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

Enchiladas are a Mexican staple and are found everywhere Mexican or Tex-Mex foods are found.  We have all seen and enjoyed them, but most of us don’t know the history of the enchilada.  Enchiladas originated in what was known as the Valley of Mexico in Mayan times, and is now known as the Yucatan region of Mexico.  They were a staple of the Mayans.  The poorer people ate corn tortillas or flattened bread, wrapped around small fish.  But the enchiladas, or papadzules as the Mayans called them, were originally served to the nobles on special occasions.  They were corn tortillas, known as tlaxcalli to the Mayans, and were dipped in pumpkin seed and rolled around boiled eggs, smothered in tomato sauce.  When the Spanish conquistadors came to Mexico, they transformed the enchiladas more to how we know them today.  The word “enchilada” came from the Spanish word “enchilar”, meaning to add pepper to or to season or decorate with chile.  The recipe for enchiladas was written in the first Mexican cookbook, El Cocinar Mexicano, published in 1831.  Today, enchiladas are found everywhere, with many different versions and styles.  You can roll them, as they were done traditionally, or you can layer them.  They can be served with many different sauces and fillings.  They are mostly a savory dish, however, you can make sweet enchiladas as well, using bananas or other fruits or other sweet concoctions that can also be used as fillings.

I make enchiladas both ways, but I tend to layer them more often than rolling them.  I think the main reason I tend to layer them is because I like “lots of stuff in my stuff” as my husband would say, and I am able to get more filling in by layering them rather than by rolling them.  You can also use the traditional corn tortillas, or flour tortillas.  I prefer flour tortillas because I like the taste better.  But there is no right or wrong way to make enchiladas.  Use your imagination and be creative.

Today, I made chicken enchiladas with spinach, mushrooms, and roasted peppers.

Sauteing the spinach, mushrooms, garlic, onions and roasted hatch peppers.

After spraying your baking dish with cooking spray, add a little sauce to the bottom of the pan before adding your tortillas.   I used two kinds of cheese.  Today, I used shredded cheddar and shredded mozzarella.  Sometimes I use jalapeno jack.  It depends on what I have on hand at the time.  You can use whatever type(s) of cheese you like.

Layering my enchiladas.  1) Sauce on the bottom of the pan; 2) tortillas; 3) cheese; 4) chicken; 5) spinach and mushroom filling; 6) repeat until pan is filled then top with cheese, cover with aluminum foil and bake.

The end result, topped with sour cream, avocados and salsa, served with arroz verde and a cool, refreshing margarita especial, dining al fresco.

Chicken Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms

cooked chicken, shredded

tortillas, either corn or flour

tomatilla sauce or salsa verde

3 cups fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped

5-6 medium mushrooms, sliced

1/3 medium onion, chopped fine

1-2 TBSP garlic

4-6 roasted hatch chilies, or to taste, chopped fine

1-2 tsp oregano

1-2 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil for cooking

cheese

options for topping – tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, olives

Preheat oven to 350*F

Spray your baking pan with cooking spray

Saute all the vegetables together then set aside.   Add a little sauce to you baking dish.  If layering, start with your tortillas, then cheese, chicken, vegetables, and repeat until the pan is full, finishing with cheese on top.  If you are rolling the tortillas, warm your tortillas in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds, then add your filling and tightly roll, placing the rolled tortillas side by side until the pan is filled and top with sauce and cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30-40 minutes, covered.  Remove the foil and top with your toppings and continue to bake uncovered until all the cheese is melted and the toppings are set, about 5-10 minutes.  Defruitas con una margarita (o dos) frio y fresco.

Sometimes, we all need a break from the routine and a break from the kitchen.  Sometimes, it’s fun to see what’s going on in other people’s kitchens, even if those kitchens are in a restaurant.  And sometimes it’s fun just to go out and be with other people who are having a good time too.  I went out with my friends Janet and Bob the other night, and we did just that.  Things got really chaotic and hectic at the house, and I ran out of time to cook.  Bob had been helping us with some home projects, so as a way of saying “thank you” I told them I would treat them for dinner, and the restaurant was their choice.  We went to Lucky Pie, which is a cool, trendy restaurant in Downtown Lousiville, CO, about 15 or so minutes from out house.

Lucky Pie is a family owned and operated restaurant, famous for it’s original pizzas.  It has it’s own garden where they grow most of their own produce, a fun patio with picnic benches where everyone eats family style, and a bar that offers 21 different cold brews on tap, most of which are local beers.  Bob was very excited about that part.    We ordered a couple of unique pizzas, and enjoyed them with our cold, delicious libations and good conversations.  We ordered two different kinds of pizzas.  One was a BLTP or a bacon, lettuce, tomato pizza, that used a bold and spicy bacon on top.  The other pizza was a spicy salami pizza with mozzarella.  Both pizzas were very tasty, and truly unique.  It was a fun, impromptu night out with good friends.  Life is pretty darn good!

Walter, our server and bartender, showing off some of the tap beer selection.

My friends Janet and Bob gave me some more cherries from their tree, and I had to find some delicious cherry recipes that would do them justice.  These cherries are a bit more tart than I would normally use, but have no fear, I still made them very tasty.  They gave me a lot of cherries, so I will be coming up with some more cherry recipes in the near future.  Maybe I need to make something savory next time.   Hmmmmmm.  We’ll just have to wait and see, and I will just have to keep you all guessing a little longer.  🙂

For those of you who know me, or are beginning to learn about me through my posts, you should know by now that when I am cooking, I have a difficult time following a recipe exactly how it is written, except for baking.   And I made cookies, which is baking, therefore, I followed this particular cookie recipe exactly.  The irony in this, however, is that had I continued to follow this recipe exactly how it was written, I would have ended up with a big, ooey, gooey mess and not delicious cookies.   It was only by tweaking the recipe that I was actually able to save it and did not have to throw everything into the trash.   Yes, believe it or not, even Jeanne, from “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” has those days too.  Fortunately, I can almost always save things before they get to the point of no return though, as I did with these cookies.  They are soft cookies, and are a combination of both cookies and brownies.  Once again, I started off with a recipe I was following, yet creatively made it my own, although this time it was more out of necessity than by choice.  These delicious cookies have the delectable and desirable qualities of both brownies and cookies.   It’s hard to stop at just one …. or two, or three.

Jeanne’s Chocolate Cherry Brownie Cookies

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2/3 cup cherries, pitted and chopped

4 TBSP chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*F

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.  Mix the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the egg and mix well.  Add the vanilla and about 1/2 the flour mixture.  Mix well, then repeat until all the flour is mixed well into the egg, butter and sugar mixture.  Then fold in the cherries and the chocolate chips.  Once everything is well incorporated, drop about 1 TBSP of dough onto the parchment paper for each cookie.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until they are firm.  Cool the cookies completely then dust with powdered sugar for decoration, if using.

I actually used two types of cherries.  I used the tart cherries from my friends’ tree as well as some leftover bing cherries I had bought earlier.

Before putting the cookies in the oven.

Please feel free to tweak them however they need it, and please let me know how they turned out.

As I have said many times, I love all kinds of food, but I have to admit, if I had to choose a favorite type of food, I would have to say it is most probably Southwestern.  I love the bold spices and heartiness of the foods from the Southwest.  We had some friends visiting from Arizona, and I made a Southwestern lunch to make them feel a bit more at home.  Although it was another scorcher, we sat out on our deck, a little more in the shade than we usually do, and it was very pleasant.  The cool margaritas we had with lunch also seemed to help lower the temperature a bit, or at least they made it so we weren’t as bothered by the heat as we might have been otherwise.

We had Southwestern grilled chicken burgers complete with roasted peppers, Monterrey Jack cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onions and bacon, and a spicy salsa-mayonnaise on the bun.  I served it with a Southwestern potato salad and some leftover barley-spinach salad.  It was a simple meal, but it had just the right amount of kick to it to leave everyone feeling very happy and satisfied.

Southwestern Potato Salad

cooked red potatoes, cubed

1 can black beans, drained

1 quarter red onion, diced fine

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/3 cup green onion, chopped fine

2 jalapenos, diced fine

cilantro, chopped fine

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/2 cup salsa

2 tsp cumin

1-2 tsp ground ajo chili (from Savory Spice)

red pepper flakes to taste

Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil.  Once the water boils, let it continue to boil for about 12 minutes or until the potatoes slide off a fork or knife with ease.  Then drain and let cool.  Mix all the vegetables together and set aside.  Mix the mayonnaise, salsa, cumin, red pepper flakes and ground ajo chili together and set aside.  Add the vegetables to the potatoes and mix well, then add as much of the mayonnaise-salsa mixture as needed and incorporate well.   Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Once you are ready to eat, sit back with a cold, refreshing margarita and enjoy.

Barley is one of those coveted cooking gems that not a lot of people are familiar with or know much about, although it is one of the most widely consumed grains today, only most people don’t realize this.  Barley is used a lot in beer, and we all know how much people love their beer.  It is a whole grain and can be found either hulled or pearled, which are the two most widely used processes for preparing barley for consumption.  Barley was one of the first ever cultivated grains.  It has a nutty flavor and a chewy pasta-like consistency.   It is a whole grain that is filled with fiber, vitamins and minerals that all have numerous health benefits.  Eating a diet rich in whole grains helps prevent the risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, as well as a host of other health problems.  Diets rich in fiber are widely recognized as important for weight loss and weight control because fiber acts as a “bulking agent” in the digestive system which helps increase the satiety level; meaning you feel fuller for longer and therefore eat less.  Although when increasing your fiber intake, make sure to also increase your fluid intake as well, to help prevent digestive problems.  Barely contains gluten, so if you are gluten intolerant, this may not be the choice for you, but there are plenty of other whole grains available that do not contain gluten.

Still trying to beat the heat and be creative at the same time, I came across a delicious sounding recipe, but me being me, I tweaked it and then I tweaked it some more until I made it my own recipe.  I served my salad with warmed pita bread and hummus and a cool, crisp chardonnay.

Pickling my shallots in red wine vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt.  After the shallots have soaked in the mixture for at least 30 minutes, drain them and discard the liquid.  This makes the shallots really flavorful and adds some zip and zest to the salad.

My salad components.  I have everything in a bowl ready to toss, the dressing, chicken to put on top, shaved Parmagiano cheese and chopped pistachios to top it off.

I had some left over chicken that I was going to use, however, I had a sneaky chicken thief who decided to help himself to the chicken while I was temporarily distracted, so I had to go out and buy a roasted chicken.  My chicken thief Vinnie is laying down, looking very guilty and completely satisfied with himself for his coup.  His sister Lucie tried to get in on the theft as well, but I got to the chicken before she could help herself to what Vinnie had left behind, which was not much at all.

Barley Spinach Salad

2 cups cooked barley

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 TBSP sugar

pinch of salt

2 shallots, sliced very thin

3/4 cup mustard vinaigrette (if you do not have a mustard vinaigrette, add 3 TBSP lemon juice, 3 TBSP olive oil, 1 TBSP Dijon mustard, 1 TBSP honey, and black pepper to taste)

1 tsp red pepper flakes

4 cups fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped

2 tsp fresh mint, chopped

2 tsp lemon verbena, chopped (optional)

1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted

3 oz shaved Parmagiano cheese

1/2 cup olives, cut in half

1/2 cup pistachios, chopped

cooked chicken

To cook the barley, use 3 cups of water to 1 cup of barley, and cook like coking rice, only let it simmer for about 45 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed into the barley.

Bring the vinegar, sugar and salt to a boil, then remove from the heat and add the shallots.  Just let the shallots seep in the liquid for at least 30 minutes.  Discard the liquid when done.

Toss the barley, spinach, some of the pistachios, pickled shallots and peas together.  Then add your mustard vinaigrette, red pepper flakes and herbs and toss together with the barley, spinach mixture.  Plate this up and add your chicken or protein of choice (if using).  Top with the shaved Parmigiano cheese and the rest of the chopped pistachios.  You can prepared this ahead of time, and chill in the refrigerator before serving too.  You can also serve the salad as a side dish, without the chicken.  The mint and the lemon verbena make this salad really come to life.

This current heat wave we are experiencing has completely zapped my creative energies.  I want to cook and be creative, but it is so hot that it is almost impossible to be in the kitchen for very long.  So, we have been cooking up a lot of simple, easy-peasy meals that don’t require much time in the kitchen, and very little effort.  This Italian sausage sub, served with a cool pasta primavera seemed like the perfect solution for this super hot day.  We grilled some spicy Italian sausage and the bun, heated up some marinara sauce and topped it with mozzarella cheese.    I also made a pasta primavera, that I  served as a cold pasta salad along side the sub.  We dined on our cool and refreshing deck after the sun went down, while enjoying a cold glass of viognier.  This was a very good, tasty way to help us beat the heat.  I know this is not a fancy meal, but sometimes, simple is best.

All I need to make pasta primavera.  I love vegetables, and cook with them a lot.  When I make vegetable medleys, I tend to put in a wide variety of vegetables; usually it is a little bit of this and a little bit of that and before I know it, I have made a ton.  There is no right or wrong way to make this dish.  Use whatever vegetables you like.  I love lots of color and textures, so I use everything, plus there are hardly any vegetables I do not like.  There is no real recipe to this one.  This is up to you, your imagination, and your likes and dislikes.

No matter what vegetables you decide to use, cook your heartier veggies first.  Here, I am sauteing zucchini, red onions, asparagus, mushrooms and peas in olive oil.  Cook them for about 3-5 minutes, or until they are cooked, yet still have a bit of a crunch to them.  Then add your softer vegetables.

Before cooking my heartier vegetables, I marinated grape tomatoes with garlic, about 3 TBSP of  lemon juice,  about 1/2 cup olive oil, fresh basil, lemon verbena, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.  Once my other vegetables had cooked, I added this to my sauteed veggies and cooked it all down for about 2-3 more minutes.  Adjust the seasoning to how you like them if needed.

After all my vegetables were cooked, I added cooked pasta and tossed everything together.  You can serve this dish cold, hot or at room temperature, depending on your mood and what your are serving it with.  I used spaghetti here, but you can use any kind of larger pasta you want.  I think next time, to keep it even lighter, I will use angel hair pasta instead of spaghetti.

Stay cool and manga!

Even though it has been super hot lately, I still love to bake.  If I get up early enough and turn the oven on before it becomes scorchingly hot, then it’s not so bad in the kitchen, but if I bake too late in the day, when the temperature is soaring, it becomes unbearable.  So, I got up early and baked a chocolate raspberry cake.  The combination of chocolate and raspberries is one of my favorites, and I had a whole bunch of fresh raspberries from my bushes that needed to be used.  It was either use them all at once or let the birds get to them, and of course, I would rather eat them.  There are still plenty on the bushes that the birds can have.  I’ll share those with them.

I have raspberry bushes in both my backyard and in my side yard.  There are still quite a few berries left on the bushes.  Sometimes I get a ton of berries and other times, there are only a few.  This year is kind of an in between year.

This was my current yield, all of which went inside the cake.

The berries from my bushes are very small compared to the ones I bought, however they are super sweet and full of flavor.  Either way, I just love raspberries.  Golden raspberries are delicious too.

I put half the batter in my bundt pan (you can use any size baking dish you like.  Cake pans or a 9×13 baking dish are both just fine too.  Change things up a bit, and add some variety.)  then I added a layer of raspberries and topped with the remaining batter.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

1 tsp cinnamon

3 3/4 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

16 ounces of either sour cream or yogurt (I used yogurt this time)

2 tsp vanilla

1- 1 1/2 cups raspberries

chocolate ganache (optional)

powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350*F.

Prepare your cake pan with cooking spray.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.  Mix the butter and sugar together until it is all well incorporated.  Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between.  Add the vanilla, and mix again.  Alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream, mixing until just mixed after each addition.  Repeat until all the flour and sour cream are mixed into the batter.    Add half the batter into your baking pan, making sure it is evenly spread out.  Add the berries, again, making sure they are evenly spread over the batter, then top with the remaining batter.  Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick that is inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely  before removing from the pan and decorating.  I had some leftover chocolate ganache that I drizzled over the cake.  I added some more raspberries for decoration and color then I dusted the cake with powdered sugar.  I used the smaller raspberries from my garden to put inside the cake, and the larger, prettier ones from the store on top of the cake as decoration.

Our temperatures have been in the high 90’s these past couple of weeks, and it does not look like it will be getting much cooler in the days to come.  When it gets this hot, I make simple meals of salads, using a lot of fruits and vegetables.  Also, when it is this hot I try to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible and I want to make meals that are quick and simple.  Today, the high was 98* F.  That is pretty darn hot, so  I made a spinach, strawberry and chicken salad with a cilantro lime vinaigrette to help cool us off and beat the heat.    This salad is about as cool as it gets.  It was full of color and textures, not to mention packed with flavors that were just bursting off the plate.  We had some left over smoked chicken and strawberries that needed to be used, so I decided to make this beautiful and colorful salad.  You can easily substitute shrimp for the chicken or tofu if you would prefer to make it vegetarian.  Either way, it is still a culinary piece of art meant to be enjoyed to the fullest.  I served it with toasted chibatta bread and a fruity chardonnay with hints of pineapple, green apple and vanilla, that paired perfectly with the salad.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

baby spinach leaves, with the stems removed

red onion, sliced very thin

cooked chicken breast, sliced

sliced strawberries, with stems removed

green onions, sliced thin

‘toasted almonds

avocado slices

I served it with a cilantro-lime dressing, but you can use whatever dressing you like.  I can easily make make this dressing, but this one I have to say, was store bought.  It was still very tasty and went very well with the salad.

I would be a lot thinner and probably a bit healthier if the weather was this hot all the time because I would be eating a lot more salads, fruits and vegetables. Although truth be told, we do eat a lot of vegetables all throughout the year as it is.  We are also very healthy over all.  Besides, I like a good mix, both in the weather and with the foods I like to cook and eat.    Variety after all, is the spice of life, and I love variety; and spices too, now that I think about it.  Hope you enjoy the salad and stay cool in these dog days of summer.

Apparently, my blog is working.  People are reading it, enjoying it, and are wanting to learn more about cooking and being in the kitchen.  WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!  My friend Elizabeth has been following me and saw my recipe for the Curried Panang-style shrimp (on a previous post) and wanted to learn how to make it.  We finally hooked up yesterday, and I taught her how to make it.   She was my first “student” who wanted to learn how to make something specific after seeing it on my blog.  She was an excellent student and a very quick study.  I think she is a natural in the kitchen.   Besides making the shrimp curry, I also taught her how to make a light, relatively healthy fruit dessert, also with an Asian flair.  We made banana-kiwi spring rolls.  It was yet another fun day in the kitchen.

These banana-kiwi spring rolls are very easy to make and don’t heat up the kitchen, which is exactly what we want when the mercury is on the rise.

My student and Sous Chef for the Day, Elizabeth.  Our banana-kiwi spring rolls only have a few simple ingredients – bananas, kiwi, toasted coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and wonton wrappers, with a little bit of egg white to “glue” them together.  Then add some hot oil, and you are all set.

Once the bananas are cut in half, peel them and then cut them in half again vertically.  Add some of the toasted coconut mixture, then add the sliced kiwi.  Put your banana lid on top, then wrap the stuffed banana in a wonton wrapper.  Wrap them tight, making sure to fold in the corners, then seal with a little egg wash around the edges.

Once the spring rolls are all rolled up, place them in a pan with HOT oil and let them brown on all sides.  They do not take very long to brown up.  I used a combination of canola oil and coconut oil.  If you place the spring rolls in before the oil is hot enough, they will absorb the oil and become greasy and soggy.  You want them to be light and crispy.  They are best when they are eaten immediately, while they are still hot.  I served them with a rum-cinnamon whipped cream and topped them with more of the toasted coconut mixture and more of the kiwi slices.

Banana-Kiwi Spring Rolls

4 bananas

3-4 kiwis

1/2 cup coconut, toasted

3 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

8 wonton wrappers

1 egg white

oil for cooking

whipped cream, optional

Toast your coconut in a hot skillet on the stove, just until it is a light golden brown.  Once it has cooled a bit, add it together with the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and toss it well.  Slice and peel your kiwi into thin slices, then half each slice again.  Cut the bananas in half horizontally, then peel them and cut them in half vertically.   On one half of each banana slice, top with the coconut and sugar mixture, then add the kiwi and place the other half of the banana slice on top.  Repeat until done.  Before placing  the stuffed bananas on top of a wonton wrapper add a little of the coconut mixture then roll it tightly.  Take your finger and just go around the edges of the wonton wrapper and seal.  Carefully place the spring rolls into the hot oil and let brown, about 1-2 minutes per side, or until the whole roll is a light golden brown.  I used a combination of both canola oil and coconut oil.  Once the spring rolls are done, and have cooled slightly, add your whipped cream and top with more of the toasted coconut mixture and kiwi.  Serve immediately.  They were a big hit.  They are easy and delicious.  We actually decided to eat our dessert first, then had our curried shrimp after.  Life is short.  Sometimes you just have to eat dessert first.

Whipped Cream with Rum and Cinnamon

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2-3 TBSP powdered sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 TBSP rum – I used a guava rum, but any kind of rum is fine, and you don’t have to use it all if you do not wish to.

Whip it all together in a mixer until it forms stiff peaks.   Chill any remaining whipped cream for a later use.

What do you make for dinner when it is scorching hot; you have been busy all day with not much time to cook; and you have leftovers that need to be used?   Well, there are really a lot of things that you can make, but I chose to make fish tacos this time.   They were super easy, hardly took any time to prepare, and I got to use up my leftovers as well.  Plus they were really delicious.   Served with a tasty margarita especial, they made a perfect summer meal to enjoy out on our deck.

I fried some catfish in the deep fryer, and as that was cooking I heated up some small-medium tortillas and melted some cheese onto them.  I like flour, but corn tortillas work just fine too.  We had some leftover beans and a corn-tomato salad (both of these recipes can be found on earlier posts of mine) that we added to the tortillas, then added the fish that I cut into strips.  We topped the tacos with salsa, sour cream and avocado slices.  I also made some garlic French fries that we served along with the tacos, and enjoyed our quick, simple meal with a nice cool, refreshing margarita especial.

Jeanne’s Margarita Especial

tequila

sweet and sour mix

grand marnier

a splash of lime juice

a splash of sprite or sparkling water

I prefer my margaritas on the rocks with no salt, but of course if you prefer them blended and served in a salted glass, that’s fine too.  Enjoy them however you like.