The Divine Dish

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa Recipe

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

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

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

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.

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

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

My Favorite Cranberry Sauce Recipe

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

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.

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

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.

Add in the cranberries.

While the cranberries are cooking, zest one large orange.

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

The cranberries will then become thicker and darker.

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

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.

Recipe for Steak with Spice Rub

Posted on Oct 04, 2010 under Recipes | No Comment

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

Let the steak rest for at least 15 minutes.

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.

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

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

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

Triple Chocolate Brownie recipe

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Chop the remaining 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate.

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

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 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.

Choose a heart cutter to cut out brownies.

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