Homemade Nacho Cheese

My kids have been loving nachos lately… I've made this nacho cheese several times and feel better about them eating this rather than the processed cheese kind.. The original recipe included cayenne pepper, but I leave that out.  Also, I've gotten to where I don't really measure, I just throw everything in & it turns out well.  I've also used medium cheddar instead of sharp & as long as its good quality cheese(like tillamook), it should turn out.  I have reheated leftovers in the microwave & Neil told me he likes it even better reheated.  You may have to add a little milk when reheating it if its too thick.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup whole milk (I use 1%)
1/4 tsp salt
8oz block sharp cheddar cheese, grated (the original recipe warned against using pre- grated cheese, as it has some additives and won't be as creamy)

Directions:

Melt the butter in a medium size skillet over medium flame. Once the butter is melted add the flour. Whisk until it combines into a smooth blond paste and starts to bubble around the edges.

Add the milk to the skillet and continue whisking. Once the milk is incorporated, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once the milk has reached a boil, quickly lower the heat and reduce to a simmer. Allow the sauce to thicken slightly.

Add the salt and whisk to combine.

Add the cheese and gently stir, allowing the cheese to melt. When the cheese is completely melted and the mixture smooth in consistency, the nacho cheese sauce is ready to serve. Enjoy immediately, as the sauce will get firm as it sits.

Chicken, Avocado, and Mango Salsa Quesadillas

This recipe comes from a cookbook called Panini Express that I checked out from the library. The original recipe actually called for shrimp, but we don't typically have any on hand, so I just used grilled chicken instead. However, that didn't stop these quesadillas from being what I would describe as a "flavor explosion."

• 1 grilled chicken breast, sliced
• 1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1/2 small ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 scallions (white and light green parts), finely chopped
• 1-1/2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 8-inch tortillas (this may vary on the amount of filling used per tortilla)
• Monterey jack cheese, grated

Place the avocado slices in a small bowl and sprinkle with juice from half of the lime. Set aside.

Place mango, scallions, cilantro, pepper flakes, and juice from the remaining half lime in a medium bowl and toss to combine.

Arrange the avocado on one half of each tortilla. Arrange the chicken on top of the avocado. Spoon the mango salsa on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Fold the tortillas over.

Put the quesadillas on a hot griddle, and cook until they are browned and crisp. Cut into triangles and serve immediately.

Pupusas

Someone I know was asking about good Mexican restaurants around town. One person mentioned a couple pupuserias, even though they're from El Salvador, not Mexico. I'd heard of them, so thought I should give them a try.

I found various recipes, most pretty similar. The one I followed the closest was this one for pupusas de queso, although I filled them with other stuff, too.

The dough is pretty much just the same as for corn tortillas:

2 C corn flour (masa de harina or maseca)
1 C water

Just mix that up, adding more water as needed, until it has the consistency of play-dough and so when you squish a chunk of it flat, the edges don't crack. Separate into 8 balls, shape into little cups, fill with refried beans, chicken, cheese, etc. I made half with refried beans and half with chicken with taco seasoning. I added some cotija and monterrey jack cheese to each. I recommend giving cotija cheese a try if you haven't.

Seal up the little cups, so you end up with a ball with the filling inside, and then smoosh it so it's the size of a pancake, keeping the filling inside and the masa outside as much as you can.

Pan fry them a couple minutes on each side. I sprinkled a little salt on top of them to add a touch of flavor. I made them pretty mild so the kids would like them, but you could stuff them with jalapenos or other spicy stuff. It would be good with salsa, sour cream, cilantro, or anything else you might eat with tortillas. They eat pupusas in El Salvador with a pickled cabbage; since I didn't have time for the pickling process, I just pan fried some cabbage with Mexican gray squash and served with cilantro lime rice.

You could probably fill them with some dessert fillings and come out with a pretty good treat. Or you could just spread nutella on your chicken and cheese pupusa.

Chicken Enchilada Mummies

Photo is from the Betty Crocker website.

I have been wanting a really good enchilada recipe. In Oct of 2007 I found a little Halloween cookbook at the check out stand. There was a recipe for enchilada mummies in there, the enchiladas looked so good so I came home and looked all over the internet trying to find the recipe with no luck, so I forked up the 4 bucks and bought the little cookbook. I made the enchiladas and they were so good. It is now my go to enchilada recipe. This week Christie and I both couldn't find the recipe and were dying, we can't lose this recipe. Then we found them and said we need to get this on the blog. So again I googled the recipe and this time I found it, oh well.

It makes 1 9x13 pan and a 8x8. The original recipe has roasted red peppers in it which I have never added and last night when I made them I forgot the green chilis.

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 1/2 lb), cut into 1-inch pieces(I like my chicken shredded so I either cook it in the oven or poach it and then shred it.

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup chopped roasted red bell peppers (from a jar)(I have never put these in)
1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
3 cups finely shredded Mexican cheese blend (12 oz)
2 cans (10 oz each) Old El Paso® enchilada sauce
12 Old El Paso® flour tortillas (8 inch)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) and 8x8-inch (2-quart) baking dishes with cooking spray.
2. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and onion; cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Stir in cumin, garlic salt and oregano. Cook 1 minute longer; drain if necessary. Pour chicken mixture into large bowl.
3. Reserve 2 tablespoons sour cream in small bowl; refrigerate. Into bowl of chicken mixture, stir remaining sour cream, roasted peppers, chiles and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese blend.
4. Spread heaping 3/4 cup chicken mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas; arrange 8 seam-side down in 13x9-inch baking dish and 4 seam-side down in 8x8-inch baking dish.
5. Top each baking dish evenly with enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Spray 2 sheets of foil with cooking spray; cover each baking dish with foil, sprayed side down.
6. Bake about 50 minutes or until enchiladas are hot. Place reserved 2 tablespoons sour cream in Ziploc® Brand snack bag. Seal bag; cut off 1 corner of bag. Squeeze bag to pipe eyes and mouth on each mummy. ( I did make them mummies once)

They are really good served with fresh tomatoes, guacamole or sour cream, and cilantro on top.

Taco Seasoning

I ran out of my big taco seasoning from Costco and wanted to make tacos so I searched online and found this recipe which I really like. It gives me some satisfaction to make my own seasoning as opposed to using pre-made stuff. I also have a homemade marinade for fajitas that is really good too. So in honor of Cinco de Mayo coming up, here you go.

Taco Seasoning
I don't remember where I found this, maybe All Recipes.

• 1 T chili powder
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t onion powder
• 1/4 t oregano
• 1/2 t paprika
• 1 1/2 t cumin
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper

Mix in a small bowl. Store what you don't use. It doesn't make a ton, but more than I use for one batch of tacos. It is good if you add it to shredded chicken and a little bit of water.

Fajita Marinade
This Week for Dinner

• 1/4 C lime juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2-3 garlic cloves pressed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• ground pepper
• 1/4 C light olive oil

Enough marinade for 2 pounds of chicken breasts. Marinate chicken for several hours. Grill then serve with tortillas, grilled onions and green peppers.

Tomatillo Salsa

We got a Mexican Food Pack along with the standard Bountiful Baskets delivery this week. It came with tomatillos, cilantro, serrano peppers, onions, avocado, limes, and a ton of tortillas.

I found this Tomatillo Salsa recipe which matched up pretty closely with the ingredients we had received, so that's what ended up on the menu last night.

I marinated some chicken for a few minutes in a little bit of milk, vinegar, chili powder, garlic, cumin, and probably a few other random spices from the cupboard and sauteed it with onion and bell pepper.

For the rice, I was going to post the recipe I used, but it was very similar to the Lime Rice Pilaf just barely posted here, so no need to duplicate. I pretty much just throw some bouillon cubes, cilantro, and lime juice into the rice cooker along with the rice and water.

So we served up the rice, chicken, and tortillas along with guacamole, sour cream, and some fruit salad for a pretty good Mexican dinner.

On to the Tomatillo Salsa:

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste

Method

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.

2 Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.

3 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a blender and pulse until all ingredients are chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.

Makes 3 cups.

I broiled the peppers, tomatillos, and onions. I also threw in a couple green onions. I used two serrano peppers, and it was very mild. I was expecting it to be hotter and would have put in more peppers now if I knew how mild it was going to be. Supposedly with both jalapenos and serranos, sometimes they're really mild and other times really hot, so maybe we just got a mild batch of serranos.