Chicken Enchiladas

I scoured the internet to find a recipe for enchiladas that was really workable here, and I adapted this one from Southern Living.  Admittedly, it is not the cheapest meal if you use the shortcuts that I employ, but it does take it back to the realm of weeknight dinners if you do use those. I cook some chicken ahead of time so that step is eliminated, and I buy locally made tortillas. This is a very American take on enchiladas so look elsewhere if you're aiming for truly authentic.

3 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken (or other meat already cooked)
1 Tbs chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
1-2 batches enchilada sauce
2 cups cheese
8 large flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 230 C. Stir together the first four ingredients, 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, and 1 cup cheese. For extra flavor, add in some browned onions and garlic. Into each tortilla, spoon up to 1/2 cup chicken mixture in the center. Roll and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Pour any remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.

Basic Enchilada Sauce

This recipe goes with the Chicken Enchilada post. Since we can't easily find canned enchilada sauce here, this is a quick shortcut recipe. I found this recipe here at Dinner Then Dessert. It gets the job done and is flexible as far as how spicy your family likes their food.

Basic Enchilada Sauce
1/4 cup oil
2 Tbs flour
3 Tbs American style chili powder (recipe here)
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup water
1/2 chicken cube
2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbs garlic, minced
1/2 tsp onion powder (or finely minced onion)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the flour and chili powder. Cook until the color begins to brown slightly while you keep stirring. Add all the other ingredients to the saucepan and stir until they are fully combined. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the sauce is thickened and has lost its "raw" tomato color.

Breakfast So Easy a 5-Year-Old Can Do It!

The title of this post is not an exaggeration, and this recipe has become one of my 5-year-old's weeknight chores a couple days a week. He loves that he can contribute a meal all by himself.

Both of my kids love oatmeal, but this time of year it just feels wrong to eat hot cereal for breakfast. Enter this easy, cold oatmeal breakfast that you can make in under 5 minutes. I have been using the Finish rolled oats that are being packaged locally, and they work great for this recipe. The quantity here is enough to feed my two kids breakfast for two mornings.

Overnight Oatmeal
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt (sweetened variety)
2 mashed bananas
Other flavorings to taste: 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp cinnamon, or 1-2 Tbs chocolate milk powder

Pour all the ingredients into a plastic tub and mix together. Add optional flavorings according to what you like. Refrigerate overnight and serve cold in the morning.

Now enjoy a little less stress in your morning!

I'm Back with Boiled Eggs!

Well....it's been a while (insert sheepish grin here). Life happens, doesn't it? Like a whole year of life! It's time for me to get back on the horse and begin sharing recipes that work well or adapt well for the kitchen here. I'll set the bar low with a couple recipes a month, and if I do more, then bravo!

Let's start with something so simple that I have found to be a game changer--boiled eggs! I like boiled eggs. I find them to be an easy breakfast if I've precooked some and stashed them in the fridge. One of my children also likes them, but those darn yolks can be so dry that you feel like you're choking them down. We've discovered that boiling them just under hard boiled (no jiggly stuff for me!) is the perfect happy medium. Now, I'm going to throw you a curve ball. Enter the pressure cooker. Perfectly boiled eggs that are easy to peel no matter how fresh the egg. What more could you want? Did I mention that perfectly cooked boiled eggs don't have that sulfury smell either? Yeah...that's a bonus.

Pressure Cooker Boiled Eggs

You'll need:
Eggs
1 cup water
Pressure Cooker
Steamer basket, rack, or folded tea towel
Timer

First, you'll need to put your steamer basket, rack, or folded tea towel into the bottom of your pressure cooker. This is to keep the eggs off the direct heat. I'm not sure what would happen if you didn't, but I saw this somewhere so I use one of those collapsible steamer baskets. Place your eggs on top of the rack. Avoid any eggs with fine cracks as pressure cooking tends to break those open. Pour 1 cup water into the bottom of the cooker. If you're using a tea towel, add enough so that you've got at least 1-2 inches of water standing once the towel absorbs some. Lock down the cooker lid.

Turn on the heat to high. Once you reach full pressure (indicated by the big whistle here), switch the heat to low and set your timer as follows:

3 minutes - soft boiled
5 minutes - medium boiled (ideal, in my opinion)
6 minutes - hard boiled

When the timer rings, for soft or medium boiled you want to do the quick release method by running the pressure cooker under cold water and getting the eggs out immediately. For hard boiled, remove the cooker from the heat and allow the pressure to release naturally over 5 minutes then open. Rinse eggs under cold water or place in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Enjoy your perfectly cooked eggs! I like to mark mine with an X when I put them in the fridge so there's no mixing them up with raw eggs.

A Note to Clarify

In response to some of my previous posts, a friend messaged me something regarding "gluten free" posts that I should probably clarify. On many of the posts that contain oats, there is the label gluten-free. Regular oats are not gluten-free. However, in many developed countries, you can buy oats/porridge labeled "gluten free" off the shelf. If you live in my part of the world, you may not find such things. So, when I label these things "gluten free," I work under the assumption that if you are gluten-free, you will know which ones to buy and whether you can find them where you are. I have known people with gluten intolerance who seemed to be fine with the local oats and others who could not use them so be careful if you're trying to prepare something "gluten free" for a guest visiting you. Also, some other recipes with the label "gluten free" are labeled as such because they can be easily adapted by making sure you use gluten-free stock cubes (no MSG) or homemade stock or opting for a different variety of vinegar.

Just wanted to make sure that was clear and thankful to the person who brought it up!

One Pot Farmer's Market Pasta

I stumbled across this recipe recently while looking through a list of "one pot meals." I am often skeptical of one pot dishes. Usually one pot spaghetti dishes leave me feeling like something was not quite right, but this one does not disappoint. I pared it down considerably from the original from The View From Great Island just because I did not have access to all the vegetables, but this was incredibly easy and pretty delicious! And truly a one pot meal on top of it all--very "set it and forget it" as those infomercials would say. It is definitely worth giving a try with whatever vegetables are available in your neighborhood. Have a look at the original if you want to add some more veggies, too, but they do suggest you do not leave out the tomatoes or the cheese as they form the bulk of the “sauce” part. Another dinner—20 minutes or less—that is totally possible here. 

One Pot Farmer’s Market Pasta
12 oz spaghetti, broken in half
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 cups small local tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 handfuls leafy greens, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 ½ cups water (or vegetable/chicken stock)
1 stock cube (omit if using stock as liquid)
1 Tablespoon vinegar (white/red wine, cider)
1 cup hard salty cheese, grated (parmesan, aged local variety)

Put all the ingredients except the cheese into the pot. Stir just to combine everything. Cover and bring the pot up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, uncover and stir again. Allow the pot to boil uncovered for 7-9 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Stir the pasta occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the pasta is al dente, remove the pasta from heat. There should still be a little liquid in the bottom of the pan. If there is too much, let it boil off for another minute or so. Add the cheese and stir until it melts. Serve with some fresh tomatoes or herbs sprinkled on top. 

Note: The vinegar in this recipe may dull the color of certain leafy greens. If that bothers you, try omitting the vinegar until the very end of cooking. 

Egg Roll In a Bowl

This one I have come to love since discovering it a few months ago. It has joined our regular rotation, and because of my thrifty use of pork in the recipe, I can have ½ pound of minced pork sausage ready for another meal. Mostly Homemade Mom comes through again on this one with a few minor adaptations for living here. We like to eat ours with rice rather than just as is. I can confidently say that if you cook your rice in a pressure cooker just as you start the cooking for the egg roll part, you can have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes start to finish. Those are seriously hard to come by when you live in the developing world!

Egg Roll in a Bowl

500g pork mince, turned into sausage (omit herbs)

½ large head or 1 small head cabbage, sliced into ribbons

2 cups carrots, julienned

5 cloves garlic, minced

¼ - 1/3 cup good quality soy sauce (more if lower quality)

1 teaspoon dried ginger

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Green onions, tops only, sliced

Mix the dried ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Heat a wok over high heat. Fry half the sausage mixture with a small splash of soy sauce until browned. Save the rest of the sausage in the fridge for breakfast or another meal. Remove the browned sausage from the pan. If the pan is still shiny from the fat in the sausage, just toss the garlic directly in. Otherwise, add a little oil. Stir continuously just until the garlic begins to look golden. Quickly toss in the remaining vegetables and the soy sauce mixture. Fry, stirring continuously, until the vegetables begin to wilt. Return the sausage to the pan and cook until vegetables are tender but still have a bite. Sprinkle over the green onions and add soy sauce as needed for seasoning. Remove from heat and serve over rice or as is.