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Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole

Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole

1 T olive oil
1 butternut squash (1½ lb.), halved and seeded
1 medium sweet onion, diced (1 cup)
1 4.5 ounce can diced green chiles
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp. )
3 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
Enchilada sauce (homemade or canned)
8-12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place squash cut-side down on baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes, or until soft. Allow to cool, scoop into a bowl and mash.

2. Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté until soft. Add chiles and garlic. Cook 1 minute.

3. Stir in mashed squash, cream cheese, cumin, and nutmeg. Turn the heat off and mix well.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread 1 cup enchilada sauce over bottom of 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Layer tortillas followed by the squash mixture, then cheddar cheese. Repeat, ending with cheddar cheese as your final layer on top. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the sides start bubbling and the cheese is melted and gooey.

5. Serve with your usual Tex-Mex sides and condiments. Extra cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado, green onions, jalepeno peppers, salsa, chips, beans, rice. Or a side salad works too but not as satisfying.

I sometimes forget this blog is about recipes.  I get off on a tangent like mislabeled seafood or nasty who knows what’s in them chicken nuggets from China.  FOCUS!  It’s about the food, the recipes, and the memories.  A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I used to make a squash enchilada  casserole when fall rolled around and the hard squashes started appearing in the market.  I was always amazed at how tasty this dish was without any meat in it.  Like all great family recipes this one exhibits the following classic characteristics.

The kids didn’t like it when they were little and I never wrote the recipe down.  I’m sure if I wanted to waste an hour or two I could find the original recipe yellowed and faded, taped to a 3 x 5 card somewhere.  I also know that when I find the original recipe it won’t be how I make it now.  Why bother looking? I do recall the original recipe called for some cooked potato added to the squash mixture.  I also recall the original did not have green chilies in it.  So here you go. This recipe is from memory.  I hope it tastes good.

I can’t believe this is my 100th post.

TIPS

 If you like (or need) an extra kick, sub a heartier pepper for the green chilies.  Need protein?  Add a can of black beans, rinsed and drained, to the middle layer of the casserole.  Monterrey Jack would be a nice sub for the cheddar.  Or Smokey Chipotle Cheddar might work too.  (I have a chunk of this in the fridge and it’s looking for a recipe).  But most of all, have some fun with this recipe.

Update 11.17.14

I know, two days after posting and I’m making changes already.  Step 4 –  for the middle layers, tortillas, squash mixture, cheddar cheese, repeat.  No enchilada sauce.  The red sauce goes only on the bottom of the pan and on the top layer of tortillas.  The final layer is tortillas, enchilada sauce, and shredded Monterrey jack cheese.  Yellow corn tortillas are fine but I used white corn tortillas.  I only needed ten tortillas.  You’ll get eight generous servings from this casserole.  I made some quick enchilada sauce with a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes and some chicken stock.  You can leave out the chicken stock if you’re a picky vegetarian.  You can leave the cheese off too but I won’t take any responsibility for how your casserole turns out.

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Oceana Study Reveals Misrepresentation of America’s Favorite Seafood

 

Yikes!

Oceana Study Reveals Misrepresentation of America’s Favorite Seafood.

“I’ve seen cute little cleaner shrimp in aquariums and while scuba diving, but never expected to find one on a grocery shelf,’” said Dr. Kimberly Warner, report author and senior scientist at Oceana. “We really know very little about the shrimp we eat, and the information we do get may not be trustworthy. Consumers have a right to know more about the shrimp they purchase in order to make more responsible choices.”

Among the report’s other key findings include:

  • The most common species substitution was farmed whiteleg shrimp sold as “wild” shrimp and “Gulf” shrimp.

  • Forty percent of the 20 shrimp species or categories collected and identified were not previously known to be sold in the U.S.

  • No samples labeled as “farmed” were mislabeled, while over half of the samples labeled simply “shrimp” were actually a wild-caught species.

  • A banded coral “shrimp,” which is an aquarium pet not intended to be consumed as food, was found commingled with another unidentified shrimp in a bag of frozen salad-sized shrimp purchased in the Gulf.

  • Overall, 30% of over 400 shrimp products surveyed in grocery stores lacked information on country-of-origin, 29% lacked farmed/wild information and one in five did not provide either.

  • The majority of the 600 restaurant menus surveyed did not provide the diner with any information on the type of shrimp, whether it was farmed/wild or its origin.

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China Completes Paperwork for Poultry Export to U.S. | Food Poisoning Bulletin

And yet another reason to never eat another chicken nugget unless you know where that nugget comes from.  Yikes!

via China Completes Paperwork for Poultry Export to U.S. | Food Poisoning Bulletin.

The food safety scandals in China have ranged from companies adding melamine to milk to increase its nitrogen content and hide dilution, which sickened 300,000 babies; to plastic added to bubble tea; to pork blood pudding made with formaldehyde and industrial salt. And jerky pet treats imported from China into the U.S. have been linked to thousands of sickened and killed pets.

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose white flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup low fat milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flours, rolled oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center. In a small mixing bowl combine egg, milk, pumpkin, spice mix and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture all at once. Stir batter just till blended.
For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto a lightly greased preheated griddle or heavy skillet. Cook several pancakes at a time over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or till the tops are evenly bubbled and the edges are dry, then turn and cook until golden brown on the second side. Repeat with remaining batter.

An unused cup of canned pumpkin stored neatly in a tiny plastic container  sat at eye level in the fridge for nearly a week.  This was really starting to bother me.  I really didn’t want to throw away perfectly good pumpkin.  Worse, I hoped the squash wouldn’t spoil before I figured out what to do with it.  Muffins?  Bread?  I just couldn’t make up my mind.  Eventually I settled upon pancakes.  Those with a keen eye will notice that this recipe is pretty much my standard pancake recipe with pumpkin in it.

Memo to Family:

This is a new recipe.  So don’t try to remember when I first made everyone orange colored pancakes.

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Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Tart with Pecan Crumble – Chew Nibble NoshChew Nibble Nosh

via Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Tart with Pecan Crumble – Chew Nibble NoshChew Nibble Nosh.

“How come when everyone gets together I have to make dessert?”

“Because you make good desserts.”

“I don’t want to make the same thing. Find a recipe that has pumpkin in it but is lighter than pumpkin pie.”

“OK.”

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you cook.  A quick internet search usually produces a number of recipes worth trying.  Reader comments of course can be priceless.  I picked this recipe because I thought to myself, how bad can pumpkin, cream cheese, vanilla pudding, pecans, caramel, vanilla wafers and fresh whipped cream be?

 

 

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Poached Chicken

  • 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
  • 1 medium carrot, French cut style
  • 1 medium rib celery, French cut style
  • 1/4 large onion, thickly sliced
  • 1 T dried parsley
  • 2 T dried thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

  1. Place chicken in a pot just large enough to hold chicken breast halves and add enough water to barely cover.

  2. Add carrot, celery, onion, lemon, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, white pepper, and salt.

  3. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.   When the liquid is almost to a boil, reduce heat to low.  Cover and continue to simmer for around 20 minutes.  If the breasts are large, simmer an extra five minutes.

  4. After 20-25 minutes, turn off the heat.  Leave the cover on the pot and allow the chicken to cool in the broth for around 15-20 minutes.

  5. You’re done.  Remove the breasts from the broth.  Debone, skin, and slice.

I thought it would be fun to document my thought process when deciding upon what to make for a meal.  We were completely out of milk so I had to go to the store.  Note the date of this post.  We are less than a week away from November and the temperature was damn near 90 degrees.  It might have even topped 90.  Despite having reservations for brunch, we had to wait for our table today.

“Would you like a table outside?”

 

“Thank you but Hell No.”

I digress.  So I’m at the store and I pass by the bagged salad section.  Remember, it’s nearly November.  Stacked up and looking fresh were a bunch of salad kits seductively named Endless Summer.  I kid you not. 

Chicken breasts bone-in were on sale for $1.99 a pound.  Dinner. Done.

I guess the title of this recipe really should be Bagged Salad with Chicken.

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White Chicken Chili

“I’m not dressed.  Could you water the front patio plants?”

“Yes dear.”

It was rather cool outside this morning.  Fall is definitely in the air and the morning chill made me think of chili.  Since I had just finished breakfast, chili was not an option this morning.  We were leaving on a short road trip in about an hour.  No time to make chili.

I decided to add another chili recipe to the blog!  For years I’ve made a white chili culled from two different recipes.  One recipe definitely came from the NY Times while the source of the second is unknown.  One recipe called for tomatoes; the other recipe didn’t.  So in my grand tradition of never following recipes exactly I have had to pull out two separate recipes to make this chili.  Fading memories instruct me on what to put in and what to leave out.  Fearing the worst, I figured I better write this down before I forget.

Tips:

This chili tastes better without tomatoes but if you like tomatoes in your chili, add a can of diced tomatoes.  It won’t be white anymore.  It will be pink.  Pink chili???

I prefer boneless thighs to boneless breasts but either works well.  If you’re using fresh cilantro, add it as a condiment at serving time.

This chili, like most chili dishes, tastes better the second day.

This chili also tastes better when you drink a good craft beer while cooking it.

I’m serious.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 to 1.5 lbs boneless chicken cubed
  • 1/4 C seasoned flour (salt pepper)
  • 3 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large Sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
  • 1 green pepper, diced (optional)
  • 1 C chicken broth
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (optional)
  • 1 Tsp dried cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • red pepper flakes, dash
  • Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce, to taste (optional)
  • 1 16 oz can organic white kidney or Great Northern beans, drained
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Combine flour and salt, and pepper in a gallon size plastic baggie.  Add the chicken, close the bag, and shake well until all of the chicken pieces are well coated with the flour mixture.
  2. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large stock pot over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides.  Lower the heat to medium high to avoid burning the chicken.  You will get pieces of flour and chicken stuck on the bottom of the pan.  This is OK.  Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
  3. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add 1 T olive oil, onion, garlic green pepper, cilantro, cumin, and oregano.  Saute 5 minutes.
  4. Add chicken broth and scrape the brown pieces from the bottom of the pot.
  5. Add chicken, green chilies and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.  If the mixture starts to get too thick, thin out with more chicken stock.
  6. Five minutes prior to serving, add the beans.  Simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until the beans are warmed through.
  7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  8. Serve with your favorite hot sauce, peppers, grated cheese, etc.
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Craft Beer and Health

via Craft Beer and Your Health.

Before I continue I admit I’m thinking about beer and it’s only 10:00 am.  But for years I’ve used my Saturday mornings to catch up on medical and health news.  Last night The Boss went to The Mall after work so dinner got pushed back.  By the time The Boss got home it was like “why cook?” so we went out to an Italian place for a quick meal.  I managed to eat an entire half tray sized piece of lasagna and I started thinking this can’t be good.

I woke up Saturday morning and expected the worst when I approached the bathroom scale.  Friday I was 190.  This morning I was…190!  There was no damage from the half tray of lasagna.

Must be the craft beer.

So with that thought in mind I wondered if craft beer (in absolute moderation of course) could possibly be healthy.  Click through on the link (yeah, I know the research is self-serving) but I found the article enlightening and there are plenty of legit reference links.

Tonight our tiny town in Oklahoma is having its very first foodie/craft beer/food truck/pop up store/live music street festival.  Roughtail brewery Roughtail Brewing Company | Home. will be serving two of their near beers (3.2 ABV).

I am excited.

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The Tomato Plant – 2014 Final Update

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The final tomato.  As you can see, the plant has stopped budding, all flowers have fallen off, and there has been no new growth for some time.

2014 Summary – 6 total fruit, 3 edible.

(unless this little fella ripens…)

The two pots of basil also did not do well.  Some folks have no difficulties growing basil  I seem to have the opposite effect on herbs.  The purple basil died during a short heat spell.  The other sweet basil plant (you can see the tip of the plant in the SW corner of the picture) is anemic.

Reminds me of the summer I tried to grow cilantro.  It’s easier for me to pay fifty cents at the store when I want fresh cilantro.

Memo to Self – scratch “farmer” of list of possible second act careers.

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