Category — Mexican Food

And now to relax . . . ahhhh.  Since my project is done I’ve decided to take a few days off from the kitchen and recipe research.  Frankly, my main hobby is cooking, but everyone needs a break sometimes.  Especially when you’re hobby is part of what you do for work.  I informed my hubby that I was not going to work on any cookbook related tasks until Tuesday.  I also will not be trying out any new recipes, reading any recipes, or making any food that takes more than a microwave to prepare.  That’s right; nothing on Saturday, nothing on Sunday, and nothing on Monday.  Cool!

So, what to do?  I started out this cold, snowy morning by waking up and deciding to bunker down under my big, fluffy down comforter for a while longer.  I laid there and got cozy and squeezed my eyes shut waiting for the sleep to come back to me.  Hmm.  O.k., I must not have been tired any longer, but the bed was really, really comfortable.  Aha!  I know, I’ll lay here and read.  I don’t get much reading time, so that sounded great.  So, I jumped up and grabbed my newest book (the one I got for Christmas); I’m Just Here For the Food, by Alton Brown, 2.0.  I spent the next hour engrossed in the Bill Nye of the culinary world, savoring his advice on ”How to Read a Recipe” and learning that he and I share a love of good knives.  I thoroughly enjoyed that time, snuggled in bed, not thinking about kitchen related cooking stuff.

Time for some coffee.  I moseyed into the kitchen and started looking over the coffee bean selection.  Hey!  That reminds me, I wanted to check out that online store that sells spices and herbs, and specialty foods.  I wondered if they have coffee beans?  So, I spent another good chunk of time just pointing and clicking away in front of the laptop, looking over vanilla beans, and peppers, and coffee beans (Yup!  They got ‘em).  Gosh, this is great!   I love this taking time off from the kitchen thing.  But, I was starting to maybe jones a bit for some culinary time.

After that, I have to admit, I cheated a bit.  It wasn’t really working, per se, but I did spend a couple of hours researching the menu for my next eBook.  I suppose that’s o.k., I mean, it’s not like I’m not going to take the rest of the time off, right?

As a matter of fact, I already know that tonight I will continue my relaxation.  We’ve decided to have some friends over for cards and games.  My hubby is a big gaming guy, so a lot of our friends are into playing games.  I’m thinking that I’ll serve that taco dip that everyone likes to refer to as “crack” (yes, it is that addictive).   But, then I got to thinking, maybe I should switch it up a little . . . use my homemade refried black beans instead of the canned regular variety of refried beans?  I’ve got a big ol’ bag of beans in the cabinet, all I needed to do was start soaking them.  Hubby was grumbling about having to warm up Speghettios for lunch.  Hey, I don’t want to hear it!  I’m off duty here, remember?!? 

After I started the beans soaking, I spent some time helping my kiddos bundle up to go out and play in all the snow.  If you’ve ever helped a child transform into a living snowman, you know that it’s a pretty involved procedure.  Honestly, I sometimes think my girls go through 20 minutes of bundling up just so that they can turn around and come back in 5 minutes later for hot chocolate.  Typically, I set to warming up the milk as soon as they walk out the door.  Well, after I sent them out the door, I remembered that I’d been waiting for the perfect opportunity to try out a new hot chocolate that Orangette posted on her blog a few weeks ago.  So, I scooted the beans over on the stove and went right to warming up the milk.

I really recommend that everyone take some time off from their hobbies from time to time!  It’s been tons of fun finding other things to do, and I’m already starting to feel rejuvenated.  By the time Tuesday rolls around, I’m sure I’ll look forward to getting back to my position of chief cook and bottle washer.

Refried Black Beans

1 tsp vegetable or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 oz. (1/8th of a cup) of chopped green chilies (canned or fresh)
3-4 cups of black beans, or 2 cans of black beans (partially drained)
1 tsp. of cumin
1/4 to 1/2 tsp kosher salt (to taste)

Saute onion, garlic, and chilies until onion is translucent.

Add beans, and some of the cooking liquid.  Use a fork or a potato masher to squish some of the beans, leave some beans whole.

Heat beans through and add cumin and salt, mixing well.  Do not allow beans to dry out.  Add water, beer, or additional bean liquid to maintain a creamy consistency.  Serve with cheese and red sauce, if desired.

Yesterday is somewhat of a blur.  The day went something like this.

Shop for two hours, looking for special gems like plum juice and a round 10″ cooling rack to nestle in my wok.  This may not sound too challenging, but remember - I live in rural Mid-Michigan.  Yeah.  No Asian market.  No real kitchen store.  Well, not much of anything really, other than your typical, run-of the mill supermarket.

Come home, unload stuff, trash the kitchen.  Clean up the kitchen and put on my apron.

 Cut veggies, mix stuff.  “Honey!  Can you take a picture of this?”  Clean up the kitchen.

Cut veggies, cut meat, mix stuff.  “Honey!  Would you take a picture of this?”  Kitchen’s trashed, again. 

Ack!  Look at the time!  “Honey, will you help me with this?”

Cut veggies, fold dumplings, cook some stuff.  “Honey!  I need more pictures!!”

Hurry.  Forgot the rice.  People show up.  Dishes EVERYWHERE!

Seriously, yesterday was the first time I remember being totally challenged in the kitchen in a LONG time.  I worked from sun-up to well past sun-down.  I was exhausted, smelling of peanut oil, and happy.  Yes, very, very happy.

I got some excellent feedback on the food from our dinner guests.  The cookbook is really . . .  well, cooking right along. 

You’ll have to wait a little while longer for the Chinese recipes, but I do have a Mexican dish I want to share with you that we had for dinner a couple of nights ago.  It’s a casserole and easy as can be to put together.  Maybe you can make one and put it on your table tonight.

Saucy Burrito Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 flour tortillas
1 small can corn, drained (I really like the white/yellow mixed corn for this)
1 (10 oz.) can of red sauce (enchilada sauce)
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh chopped, seeded tomatoes)
1 can (4oz) green chilies, drained
2 cups of shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
Hot sauce, if desired
Sour cream, if desired
Green onions, chopped - for garnish
1 small tomato, chopped and seeded - for garnish

In a saute pan, brown the ground beef with the onion.  Add the garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Drain the grease.
In a medium bowl, mix the red sauce, tomatoes and chilies.  You may wish to only use part of the can of chilies, especially if you’re feeding children or the spicy impaired.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place two tortillas in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Tear the tortillas into make them fit and cover the bottom of the dish.
Place half of the meat mixture over the tortillas.  Sprinkle half the corn over the meat.  Sprinkle half the cheese over the corn.
Repeat the layers, ending with a layer of cheese on the top.  If you would like, you can sprinkle some hot sauce on top.  It looks pretty, and it will jazz up the heat a notch.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until hot all the way through and the cheese is melted on top.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle green onions and chopped tomato over the top for garnish.  Serve with sour cream, if desired.