Rajas con crema

On top of Lookout Mountain, GA is an award winning restaurant called Canyon Grill.  It is a bit of a drive to get there, but totally worth it. It's been a really long time since I have been, but I always remember their appetizer dish called "Rajas." From what I read online, most Rajas dishes I found were labeled as "Rajas con crema" (strips with cream) or "Rajas Poblanos" (Poblano strips). Their dish basically consisted of Poblano peppers and soft cheeses served with tortillas and fire roasted salsa.  Soooo good! We had some Poblano peppers in the fridge so I decided to try and make my own version.  Most recipes I found said to use chicken bouillon and I didn't have any so I researched a substitute.  Turns out curry is a good sub, so that's what I used.

Ingredients
2-3 poblano peppers
1/2 small onion, sliced
2 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 block of cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat kind)
1/3 cup of sour cream (can use light if desired)
3/4 tsp of curry powder
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of salt
1 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
Fire roasted salsa (we actually just used regular salsa)
Flour or corn tortillas

Directions
1. Grill or broil the Poblano peppers until they are nice and charred. Place into an ice bath or a plasic bag for a few minutes and then peel off the skin. If you can't get every last piece of skin off that's ok. I usually have a few spots that give me trouble.  Cooking them over a flame is probably best, but I just used our indoor grill we got for Christmas :) Once skin is removed, cut in half, remove the seeds and cut into strips.

2. Cook the onions and garlic in the vegetable or olive oil until onions become soft.
3. Add in the cream cheese, sour cream, and spices and mix until well blended and cream cheese has melted.
4. Add in the Poblano strips

5. Serve with flour or corn tortillas, salsa and rice (or your desired side dish)

Recipe source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Stuffed Bell Peppers

There are so many different ways you can make stuffed peppers. In my previous pepper post, we used Poblanos and stuffed them with rice and chicken. This time I used Bell Peppers and stuffed them with quinoa and black beans. I also used some of the hot sauce we had left from our wedding. We had a Mexican Buffet and gave our guests bottle of hot sauce we had personalized to say "Harper's Hotsauce." 

This is a really good vegetarian recipe and since lents start next week and we are giving up meat again, we will probably keep this on our list of things to make.

Ingredients
4 medium to large bell peppers (any color)
1 cup uncooked quinoa
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained
1 can of diced green chilies
1 cup of shredded cheese (such as cheddar or monterey jack or mexican style)
1 ½ tbsp of lime juice
¾ tsp of cumin
½ tsp of chili powder
½ tsp of kosher salt
¼ tsp of pepper
3 tsp of hot sauce

Directions
Cut tops off of bell peppers and scoop out insides. Place in a microwavable and oven safe dish deep enough to fit peppers. Fill dish with about a cup or so of water depending on dish size (there should be about an inch of water).

Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes or until peppers are softened.  Remove peppers from dish, discard water, and place peppers back in.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.Cook onions and garlic in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes. Mix onions, garlic, and rest of the ingredients into the cooked quinoa. Stuff each pepper with a couple spoonfuls of the mixture and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream, jalapeno slices, and extra hot sauce if desired.

(These are the hot sauces we gave out at our wedding!)

Recipe source: Harper's Original

Flour Tortillas

If you read my "Salsa Creamcheese Rollups" post you know that most storebought tortillas have nothing but preservatives and artifical junk that is hard to even pronounce.  I normally buy mine at Earthfare since they at least don't use hydrogenated oils in them. It's easy just to pick some up for whatever you are making with them so I never really thought of making my own.  But then I ran across a post about homemade flour tortillas on a blog that I follow (annies-eats) and saw that it didn't really seem too complicated and I already had all the ingredients on hand. I gave it a shot and I'm so glad I did!  These turned out so good. They did take longer to make than I thought, but I just need to get quicker at rolling them out.  There are really only a few ingredients, all with names you can pronounce. I think we are going to use these to make some Bobby Flay "Spice Rubbed Chicken Breast Tacos" which are amazing. Can't wait!

Ingredients:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 heaping tsp. salt
5 Tbsp of unsalted butter at room temperature (you can also use shortening, but I'm definitely not a fan of that stuff. And I've also heard traditional ones are made with lard)
1 cup water

Directions
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Then, cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly (The recipe I used, had a food processor with a dough blade for this but said you could also use a pastry cutter which I did have so I just used that).

I improvised on the next step and added the mixture to my bread machine. If you have a food processor just use that.  With the mixture in the bread machine (or food processor) add in the water in a slow drizzle and mix until the dough forms a ball.  I'm guessing you might also be able to do this by hand, but it might take longer.

Allow the dough ball to knead for a few seconds and then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 12 equal pieces (a kitchen scale really helps with this!). Mine were about 2 1/4 ounces each.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for about 10 minutes. Then, working with one piece at a time, roll into an 8 inch circle. You can get a measuring mat at a craft or cake decorating store for pretty cheap. It makes it so much easier to measure. I used a pizza cutter to make them all even circles.

Once ready, carefully transfer to a skillet heated over medium low heat and cook on each side for 10-20 seconds. This is also where I had trouble. My first tortilla got all of out shape and then I overcooked it.  I got a little better as I went. They didn't all turn out in exact circles, but I think that makes them look unique.
 


Recipe source: Adapted from Annies-eats

Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas

I love black beans. We eat a lot of beans, but I probably use black beans the most. You can make so many things with them. Soup, dip, salsa, burgers, and of course enchiladas just to name a few.  I've made some different versions of enchiladas but this time decided to use black beans and chicken.  I also used corn tortillas which to me have a really good flavor. Sometimes you just gotta change it up and use something besides the regular flour ones.  Fish tacos on corn tortillas are really good too!  And anytime I get to use avacado is a plus. I absolutely love them. I guess I just love food in general if you can't tell! For this dish, I really just threw a bunch of stuff together and luckily it turned out.

Ingredients

Corn tortillas (I used 10 total-made a big pan and little one)  

Cooked and shredded chicken ( I think I used about 3/4 lb)

1/2 cup of chunky salsa

1 can of reduced sodium black beans, drained

1/2 cup of sour cream, plus more for topping

1 cup of shredded Mexican style cheese, divided

1 tsp of lime juice

1 tsp of cumin

1/4 tsp of garlic powder

1/4 tsp of black pepper

1 Tbsp of chopped, fresh cilantro

2 cans of red enchilada sauce

Green onions, avacado slices, and hot sauce (Tapatio) for topping

Directions

Pre-heat overn to 350. Mix chicken, salsa, beans, sour cream, 1/2 cup of cheese and rest of ingredients in a large bowl. 

 Heat up corn tortillas by cooking for a few seconds on each side in a skillet with a little olive oil. Or take about 3-4 at a time and wrap them in a damp papertowel and microwave for about 30 seconds. Heating them helps prevent them from tearing too easily. While tortillas are heating up, cover the bottom of pan with some enchilada sauce. When tortillas are done, fill each one with a few spoonfuls of mixture and place seam side down into pan with enchilada sauce.

Top enchiladas with more enchilada sauce and 1/2 cup of cheese.  Bake for about 20 mins or until cheese is melted and sauce starts to bubble. Top with green onions, avacado, sour cream and hot sauce if desired.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I can't think of much else to describe these except cheesy spicy goodness. Nathan and I both LOVE Mexican food (we had a Mexican buffet at our wedding) and I love the fact that he made these stuffed peppers for me!  They were so good. We have some kind of Mexican food at least 2 or 3 times a week and even do Taco Friday when we can. Although I do love going out and eating some good Authentic Mexican, making it at home can be just as good. Plus you don't have to spend a ton on watered down margaritas-you can just make your own! The recipe below is for 2, but you can easily adjust and make for more.

2 medium to large poblanos
1 lb of  thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts
White or brown rice
1/2 small onion-diced
1-2 jalpenos or 3-4 serrano peppers (depending on how spicy you want it)-diced
Couple tablespoons of chopped green onions
Mexican spices
Shredded Mexican blend cheese
Couple tablespoons of fresh Cilantro
Sliced Avacado
Sourcream

Prepare a large bowl of ice water (big enough to put peppers in). Cook rice according to package directions, but add in any mexican seasonings you may have on hand (cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, etc. We usually make our own blend). While rice is cooking, broil the peppers in the oven until brown, turning every so often until the skins start to bubble and darken. Make sure to keep the oven door cracked or you'll have your smoke alarms going off. (It's actually best to do this on the grill or over an open flame, but it was cold and dark when he did these so the oven works just fine). Once skins are ready, immediately drop the peppers into the ice bath. Turn off broiler and pre-heat oven to 350.  If the rice is done, mix in some green onions. While the peppers are in the water, cook the chicken breasts, onions, and jalapenos or serranos in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Cut into slices or shred if desired. When you are done with the chicken, take the peppers out of the water and peel the skins off. Cut a slit in one side of the peppers and open up to scrape out the seeds. Stuff with the rice, chicken, onions, and peppers. Top with the Mexican cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.  Top with fresh cilantro, sour cream, green onions, and avacados.



Recipe source: Harper's original (my hubby!)