recipes – Page 25 – The Kitchen Illiterate

Classic Chicken Enchiladas

Update: I re-made Chicken Enchiladas last week (October 2008) and with the aid of my new camera ended up with MUCH better pictures. So I decided to swap them out. Enchiladas are still hard to photograph, but if you’re looking at this post for the first time, I promise you these pictures are much more appealing than those that originally appeared.

Monday night I made perhaps the best enchiladas I’ve ever made. I have to credit Dmitri for this. Every time I’ve made enchiladas before, I couldn’t figure out how to roll them without breaking the tortillas, so I went for a layered, lasagna style of enchiladas. Tasty, certainly, but I was never completely taken in and filled with the love that I suspected enchiladas were supposed to instill in one’s soul. Until now.

Dmitri’s trick involves dipping each tortilla, briefly, into hot oil. Just the slightest oily kiss renders frigid corn tortillas pliable and loving. Er. Sorry for the dip into sordid prose, but it was kind of a revelation for me. I had my suspicions when I saw him doing it, and even when I started working the process myself. But these really were the best enchiladas I’ve ever made.

Of course, it could also have to do with the fact that I finally figured out how to spice my shredded chicken properly. And that I put a nice sized bit of lard in my beans, and really let them cook, slowly, over low heat, until they were really thick and creamy. And that I didn’t overdo it with the cheese, but instead allowed everything to come together in some kind of happy enchilada harmony. Whatever it was, it made me so happy, I could easily have eaten the whole pan myself. Which would have been a very, very bad idea.
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Unexpected deliciousness, in casserole form

Yellow Cauliflower

Last week felt like the beginning of casserole season in Boston: Cool, crisp days, leaves falling from trees, and sweaters unearthed from boxes in the back of the closet. My favorite time of year. And what happens? Suddenly, the temperatures shoot back up into the 80s, and turning the oven on starts to sound like less of a good idea. What is up, Boston? Why do you toy with my emotions? Why do you confuse my wardrobe, not to mention by immune system?

No matter. Last week I got in not just one but TWO casseroles, in that brief and glorious 50 degree period. The sad thing I’ve realized about casseroles is that they really don’t photograph well, as evidenced above. That odd monochromatic agglomeration of vegetables belies how absolutely and unexpectedly wonderful it was. I think I can honestly say that was one of the weirdest casseroles I’ve ever made. In fact, I had little faith, as I was tossing the cauliflower and beef together in cheese sauce, that it was even going to be edible. But lo, when I pulled it out of the oven it was a vision of cheesy, crusty, crunchy vegetable goodness. I was shocked. Happily and gluttonously shocked. I’m going to have to be very careful about these kinds of casseroles unless I can figure out how to work gym-going back into my schedule.

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Chicken in Creamy Chive Sauce and Some More Pork

Creamy Chive Chicken

Oy. Once again, time has gotten away from me and I find myself sharing something I cooked a week and a half ago. It was so delicious, though, that I can’t just relegate it to the files of the never posted. And look, Ma, a balanced dinner! I made this for Mr. X and was all worried that it wasn’t going to be that good: I got the recipe from Eating Well, and have found it to be a little hit or miss (my Mediterranean Pasta Bake was kind of bland, even after I added seasoning to the original recipe). This recipe, for Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive Sauce, was a winner.

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Stuffed Squash is Stuffed Goodness

Stuffed Squash

The day after I made this, I brought leftovers to work for lunch. One of my co-workers took one look at it and said “Eating Well magazine?” She had, apparently, made the same thing earlier in the week. But of course, how could anyone not be tempted by acorn squash stuffed with beans and sausage? I am certainly glad I was tempted because this was amazing. It was one of those great dinners, too, that looks incredibly impressive but doesn’t really take much effort.

I’m sorry Miss Crystal wasn’t here to enjoy this. I thought of her and her risotto-stuffed pumpkin the whole time I was eating it. As she would say, stuffed squash is a quintessentially Laura kind of dinner. And yeah, anything with beans and sausage is a pretty Laura kind of dinner, too.

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Study Break Coffee-Break Muffins

Crumbs

The other night, after I finished writing up my portion of a group paper (who the heck invented the group paper, anyway? Can I torture him?), I decided it was time to get out the mixing bowls, turn on the oven, and cook something from my brand new cookbook: Baking: From My Home to Yours. Yes, I finally got my little hands on Dorie Greenspan’s beautiful book, the book Brilynn over at Jumbo Empanadas has been talking up forever. And I am so glad I did. This enormous tome is full of delicious looking things, but the first thing that caught my eye were these Coffee-Break Muffins.

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Only the blog has been neglected, my stomach remains satisfied

Bean and Corn Soup

Oh the neglect. I must apologize to whatever readers remain. The past few weeks have been stressful, exciting, busy, exhausting, fantastic, and terrifying. This being a student again thing is turning out to be more intense than I expected. My previous educational experiences stand out in my mind as a series of thrilling days full of joyful learning. I didn’t remember the hard work parts. I’m remembering them now. Don’t misunderstand. It’s freakin’ great, but I am tired.

I finally got a chance to talk to the Lady Crystal today (oh thank god, I needed that) and her plaintive sighs about missing my cooking and my blog are what brought me to the ‘puter tonight. It’s about time, and I swear, I will do my best to not let so much time elapse in the future. Especially because I really have been cooking things. I’m not subsisting on take out and frozen pizza, I swear!

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Tofu, Noodles, and Peanut Sauce

So, this whole schooling thing is proving way more time consuming than I expected. Updating twice a week? Ok, not so far. It’s actually not that the school work is time consuming. It’s that it is so draining the last thing I want to do when I come home is sit down and write about what I just barely managed to dredge up the energy to cook. Because I have been cooking, and some good stuff, too. Like the above: Tofu, udon noodles, fresh vegetables, and peanut sauce, one of my favorite things in the world.

I may have mentioned before that I have a bit of a thing for peanut butter. Like, I eat it almost everyday. This addiction extends to peanuts, peanut sauce, peanut butter cookies, pretty much anything involving the delicious flavor of that lovely legume, Arachis hypogaea. I’ve experimented with a few different peanut sauce recipes and so far the best I’ve found is from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. It’s pretty thick, and very strongly peanut-y, but with a nice kick to it. I usually pair it with red peppers and udon noodles, and I find it’s just as delicious cold as it is hot. This sauce has definitely become a kitchen staple.

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The Atlantic, Some Lobsters, and Beer in a Can

The beach at Chatham

I finally visited the Cape for the first time, after over four years of living in Massachusetts. I grew up on the Pacific and always considered myself an ocean lover, a beach goer, someone who had to live near large bodies of salt water. And yes, Boston is technically near a large body of salt water, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. I so rarely see the Atlantic, and when I do it’s usually in some half-assed way: I’m looking at a bay or harbor or some crap. This weekend was the first time I found myself looking at the unhampered, unimpeded Atlantic Ocean. And I got to tell ya something: It was a little disappointing.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed my weekend in Chatham. It was glorious to spend an entire day at the beach, to experience truly perfect summer weather (no humidity!), to actually get a suntan and wear a bathing suit. And best of all: I had my first real lobster experience. Lobster ravioli from Trader Joe’s just doesn’t count. No, this weekend we bought live lobsters and threw them into a vat of boiling water and then pulled their innards out of their shells to devour. Yes, yes we did. And I loved it.

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Zucchini, Pepperoni, and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Crust Close-up

As Mr. X said, zucchini and pepperoni, together at least. Alright, he was being sarcastic, but he didn’t taste this pizza, either, and I’m repeating his commentary with no trace of sarcasm at all. This one was a winner. The sweetness of the onions balanced the spiciness of the pepperoni, and the zucchini was the unique, unexpected, summery tasting thing that tied it all together.

Not to mention the crust–I think I’ve finally found the recipe that’s going to stick. So much so that it’s going into the collection of basic, foundational recipes, the things I come back to over and over. This crust is chewy and crispy, and holds up like a champ to the crazy things I like to top it with. Yes, kids, we have a winner.

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Pepper-crusted Lamb Chops with a Red Wine Sauce

Lamby Lamb

It is a sad state of affairs to discover a new love only to realize, in the same moment, that you will more often than not suffer deprivation, that this new object of your affection is just too far outside the grasp of your wallet to be enjoyed on more than a very occasional basis. Such was my lamb chop experience the other night.

It’s not that I’d never had lamb chops before. In fact, I tend to order them whenever I see them on a menu. I’ve always been attracted to their diminutive appearance on the plate, like little meat lollipops. But to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’ve ever had lamb chops as good as those I made for myself the other night. I don’t like to pat my own back, but damn Gina. How is it that in most restaurants they tend to be a little dried out, a little under seasoned, a little not nearly as good as those you see in that picture above? I really don’t know. Of course, now that I have experienced how tender and amazing and delicious lamb chops can truly be, I have also experienced paying more for them than I thought I’d ever spend on a piece of meat at the supermarket. And I know that these will be an indulgence I seldom get to enjoy.

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