Archives for Recipes category

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa Recipe

Posted on Mar 15, 2012 under Archives, Recipes | No Comment
Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas

This week I am writing an article on Baja Fresh for my column on AOL.  I started to wonder why I never cook Mexican food at home and decided to try out this yummy enchilada recipe with roasted tomatillo chile salsa.  I had a bunch of extra roasted chicken on hand and this was a perfect way to use it up.  The recipe came out great, here it is:

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa

1 pound tomatillos, husked

1 white onion peeled, sliced and quartered

2 jalapenos

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 lime juiced

ingredients for salsa

ingredients for salsa

Preheat onion to 400 degrees.  For the salsa, place tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.

Roast the veggies for the salsa

Roast the veggies for the salsa

Roasted veggies

Roasted veggies

Transfer the roasted vegetables and juices to a food processor.   Add cumin, salt, cilantro and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.

salsa

salsa

Enchiladas

Olive Oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken stock

chicken, about 3 chicken breasts shredded

5 flour tortillas

1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

ingrediants for enchiladas

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

chopped onion and chicken

chopped onion and chicken

Add onions and cook until soft and caramelized, about 7 minutes.

caramelize onions and garlic

caramelize onions and garlic

Add garlic and cumin and cook another 2 minutes.  Sprinkle flour and stir and gradually add chicken stock to make a veloute.  Continue stirring until liquid thickens.

Veloute

Veloute

Turn off the heat and add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa. Fold in the shredded chicken.

salsa with chicken

salsa with chicken

Change oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Take a large baking dish and place a little of the salsa on the bottom.   Put a scoop of the shredded chicken salsa mix on top of the tortilla and top it with cheese.

Fill tortillas

Fill tortillas

Fold the tortilla and roll like a cigar. After all the tortillas are filled in the dish, pour the remaining salsa over them and top with cheese.

enchiladas in dish1

Ready for the oven

Ready for the oven

Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top.

Finished enchiladas

Finished enchiladas

I added sour cream and avocados to my finished enchiladas and made a pot of rice seasoned with tumeric.

Dinner

Dinner

My Favorite Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Posted on Nov 19, 2011 under Archives, Recipes | No Comment
cranberry sauce

cranberry sauce

It’s that time of year again.  My favorite cooking time during the holiday season is just before Thanksgiving when I make my famous cranberry sauce.  I never understood why people buy the stuff in a can when in takes only 15 minutes to make fresh cranberry sauce.  Once I give a neighbor, co-worker, or friend my cranberry sauce they immediately either annually request that I make them a jar or that I provide my recipe.  So, to save diners everywhere from the dreaded wobbly horrible canned sauce, I am posting the recipe up on the divine dish blog.

ingredients

ingredients

This recipe usually makes three small jars of cranberry sauce (if you plan to give them as gifts).  If you are keeping it for your Thanksgiving Day meal it will easily be enough for at least 10 people and you will have some leftover to use as a condiment to spread on muffins or toast or use as a side with chicken or pork.  I usually make this at least four days before Thanksgiving and leave it in the fridge until turkey day.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

3 cloves

2   3-inch cinnamon sticks

grated zest of one large orange

1  12 ounce bag fresh cranberries

sugar, water, cloves and cinnamon

sugar, water, cloves and cinnamon

Bring the first four ingredients, water, sugar, cloves and cinnamon, to a boil in a large pot.  Cook, stirring until the ingredients turn into a clear syrup.  This should take about 5 minutes.

ready to add cranberries

ready to add cranberries

Add in the cranberries.

cranberries go into pot

cranberries go into pot

While the cranberries are cooking, zest one large orange.

zest an orange

zest an orange

The cranberries should begin to pop and foam producing a bright pink color.

pink boiling cranberries

pink boiling cranberries

The cranberries will then become thicker and darker.

almost ready

almost ready

Add the orange zest and stir so it is mixed throughout the sauce.

Add in the orange zest

Add in the orange zest

The sauce is done when it is dark red and a thick consistency.  I usually spoon it into small jars for gifts or fill a plastic storage container and keep it until turkey day.

In jars for gifts

In jars for gifts

finished jar

finished jar

Recipe for Steak with Spice Rub

Posted on Oct 04, 2010 under Recipes | No Comment
steak with spices salad

steak salad

I was home from a series of press trips and food festivals and in the mood to cook.  After visiting the Silver Lake Cheese Shop and my local Whole Foods, I made a nice ribeye with spice rub salad and an heirloom tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.  Here is the recipe:

Spices for rub

Spices for rub

I use this rub mix every time I make a steak.  It’s the perfect blend to enhance a nice juicy ribeye and easy to make.  Just mix 1 teaspoon each of ground mustard, powdered garlic, and kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Here is how it looked on the plate.

spices on plate

spices on plate

I bought a nice ribeye from wholefoods.  Take whichever cut of meat you choose and rub the spice mix all over the steak.  Leave it for about an hour to absorb into the steak before moving it to the stove.

ribeye

ribeye

spiced steak

spiced steak

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Coat the bottom of a nonstick ovenproof skillet with enough olive oil to prevent the steak from sticking.  Place over high heat and carefully put the steak in the hot pan to sear.  Once a crust forms, turn the steak over to sear the other side.  This usually takes 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second.

cooking steak

cooking steak

Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking, I usually leave it in about 12 minutes for medium rare.

cooked steak

cooked steak

Let the steak rest for at least 15 minutes.

cut steak

cut steak

I chopped up the steak and made a mixed salad with what I had on hand, some fresh lettuce, avocados, peppers, olives, cucumber and feta cheese.

finished salad

finished salad

I also made a nice heirloom tomato salad with some fresh mozzarella and basil.

heirloom tomatoes

heirloom tomatoes

I used  pineapple stripped and  green sweet heirloom tomatoes for the salad.

mozzarella

mozzarella

I added mozzarella and basil and topped it with a little olive oil.

tomato mozzarella salad

tomato mozzarella salad

Triple Chocolate Brownie recipe

Posted on Feb 17, 2010 under Archives, Recipes | No Comment
Triple chocolate brownies

Triple chocolate brownies

I needed a great dessert to finish off my Valentine’s Day dinner and what better ingredient than chocolate?  Also, my neighbor Todd kept asking me to make my triple chocolate brownies so I made a few extra for him.  This is a great dessert for any dinner and if you like your brownies more cake-like than goey, this is the recipe to follow.  Here it is, with pics.

ingredients

ingredients

Here is the list of ingredients:

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate broken into 10 pieces

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup sour cream

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped

Note:  I use the big bittersweet bar from Trader Joe’s.  It’s much cheaper than buying all those Lindt bars and tastes just as good.

heart cutters

heart cutters

You also need some heart cookie cutters, my collection is above.

dry ingredients

dry ingredients

Heat oven to 325.  Lightly butter and flour (or use Pam spray) a 9 x 9 x 2 inch square cake pan.  Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper.  Combine the chocolate and butter and put into a microsafe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until both melt together.  Be careful not to burn the chocolate/butter mixture.

melted chocolate

melted chocolate

Chop the remaining 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate.

chop the chocolate

chop the chocolate

chopped chocolate

chopped chocolate

In an electric mixer or KitchenAid, mix eggs, sugar and vanilla until thickened and add melted chocolate mixture.

Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla

Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla

add in melted chocolate and butter

add in melted chocolate and butter

Add the flour mixture of dry ingredients and add sour cream.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to combine thoroughly.   Use the spatula to fold in the chopped chocolate.

pour in dry ingredients

pour in dry ingredients

Stir in chopped chocolate

Stir in chopped chocolate

Pour the batter into the cake pan and spread evenly.   Bake until inserted toothpick comes out clean about 40 to 50 minutes.  Cool for at least 15 minutes.

Pour batter in pan

Pour batter in pan

Out from the oven

Out from the oven

Choose a heart cutter to cut out brownies.

cutting out heart brownies

cutting out heart brownies

Hearts on a plate

Hearts on a plate

I gave a few to my neighbor and the rest were devoured after the warm butternut squash salad and chicken piccata.

-->