June 24th--Enchiladas Verdes

Dave: We are breaking our run of "let's only make recipes that we have the ingredients for because we don't want to go shopping" in a big way today.

Lauren: Yep - pretty much everything for this meal we bought today. In fact, our ideas for this one kind of snowballed:

"Let's make enchiladas!" (Okay, fairly easy)

"Ooh! With verde sauce!" (Still not that much more work - some chopping, but not much more)

"And tortillas! From scratch!" (Likelihood of swearing at cookware this evening - imminent)

Still, not a lot of things to keep track of in each part of the meal, so it feels more low maintenance.

Dave: Update! I can not make the tortillas work. They are either falling apart on the counter or too thick. I think I am going to try lightly pressing them by hand and using the grill press to get them the rest of the way. I will let you know how it turns out.

Ok, so mixed results on that front. The tortilla has the perfect texture, but I have lost some structural integrity. I'm going to try putting a dough ball on and just placing the grill press for the first few seconds and then slowly applying pressure to it.

All right, so I still have some structural issues and they aren't as effortlessly perfect as my friend Hana's mom's tortillas (big ups to Janie!). But they are still leaps and bounds better than the tortillas you get at the supermarket.

Lauren: This also happens to be night that the Magic Bullet Blending System kicked the bucket, so in the middle of our dinner preparations, we had to run out to Target for a new blender/food processor so that we could finish the salsa verde.

Dave: We had scouted out a very simple food processor that would replace the Magic Bullet at a reasonable price, but when we got to the kitchen gadget section I was struck by a particular show piece...

THE NINJA

Lauren: It blends! It food-processes! It destroys your enemies with its dual blade action!

Dave: And with a pitcher of Margarita concentrate in the fridge, it seemed like a blender that plays up its ability to manage frozen drinks would be a good option.

The Ninja did make short work of processing the verde sauce, and it made some mighty smooth home Margaritas. All in all, I wouldn't use these tortillas for burritos or sandwich wraps, but they are just great for enchiladas and I bet they would make good flautas and tostadas. The verde sauce was delicious and it might become our standard chip dip this summer.

Lauren: This was meal well earned, for sure.

Corn tortillas:

1 3/4 cups masa harina (we found it pretty easily at Jewel)

1 1/8 cups water

(I love this guy - he's so happy about being made into tortillas!)

In a large bowl mix the masa and water together by hand. Dust hands with more masa (mas masa...hee hee) and form into five evenly-sized balls. Put the first ball onto a greased griddle and press lightly with griddle press (or use a tortilla press if you are lucky enough to have one) in an asterisk pattern. When the tortilla is flattened, put it on a baking sheet in a warm oven. Repeat with remaining balls of dough.

Filling:

1 package Chick'n Style Smart Strips

1 sweet onion

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tsp chili powder

1 Tsp cumin

2 Tbsp Louisiana Hot Sauce

8 oz. shredded cheese (we used Jewel's "Mexican Style Four Cheese Blend," but if you can get your hands on queso, chihuahua, or asadero and shred it yourself, that would probably be even better)

Chop the onions and chick'n strips and fry in oil. Add chili powder and cumin; simmer and add Louisiana Hot Sauce and cover the pan. Cook until the onion is tender and saturated with spices. Hold onto the cheese for a little later down the page.

Salsa Verde:

8-10 tomatillos

1-2 jalapeno peppers

1 large avocado

Seasoning (we used cumin, hot chili powder, fresh oregano, and salt and pepper to taste)

Husk, rinse and dice tomatillos. Seed and dice the jalapenos (I left in the ribs for a little extra spice). Put the tomatillos and jalapenos in the food processor and blend until liquid. Transfer to saucepan; add salt and spices to mixture. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Peel avocado and cut into chunks, then place in food processor with sauce and blend until smooth.

Putting it all together:

Preheat oven to 350F. In a casserole dish, put down a layer of verde sauce. Place a tortilla in the sauce, place filling in tortilla, then roll up. Once desired number of enchiladas are in the dish, sprinkle a layer of cheese. Place another layer of sauce over the cheese, then put casserole in oven until cheese is melted.

As a bonus, our margarita recipe!

1 1/2 cup tequila

1/2 cup Grand Marnier (we used Cointreau)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 can (12 fl. oz.) frozen limeaid concentrate

1/3 bottle of beer

Combine ingredients. Chill until ready to serve. 1/2 of this mixture makes one pitcher of frozen margaritas when blended with a blender full of ice.

June 15th--Red Wine Shrimp and Cointreau Cupcakes

Dave: Lauren thinks this post should be subtitled "Boozy Tuesday" and I can't say that I blame her. We have two dishes with boozy components. For our main course, we have red wine shrimp on polenta. This is a modification of the City Grocery Shrimp N' Grits recipe (not that the City Grocery recipe needed to be modified as it is quite tasty.)

Right now I have the shrimp marinating in the fridge, and I'm enjoying a glass of the wine we're using for the recipe. We're using Chariot '08 which is bottled by Jim Neal Wines ($4.99, Trader Joe's). It's a California table wine with a nice fruity body with back notes of pepper.



Lauren: I'm always good with a wine that lives at the corner of Tasty and Inexpensive, and Chariot more than fits the bill. It also imparts its friendly flavor to food nicely.

Since desserts are kind of a culinary blind spot for us (or at least, something for which we lack a stockpile of tried-and-true recipes), I decided to try my hand at dark chocolate cupcakes with Cointreau frosting. Originally, I was going to try to make fondant from scratch, but it seemed a little labor-intensive to simply jump into tonight.

Dave: Plus, we were having trouble finding a fondant recipe that didn't call for gelatin, which is kind of a "won't" for both of us (horse bone slime, anyone?). Anyway, it seems like Cointreau Buttercream Frosting is in the cards tonight...very exciting.

Lauren: Finally, I get to use that frosting set I picked up at Ikea! Also, things I learned today: buttercream frosting? Outside of a few additions, the name is also pretty much the recipe.

Dave: I'm really excited with how the shrimp came out. I increased the amount of citrus I usually put in the marinade to 1/2 part and used a little salt to help it find its way into the shrimp... all I can say is YUM! Also, I made a little lightly processed tomato chutney, and it is complementing the shrimp like it is its job (which it is).

On a whim, we bought some bell peppers at the Garden Fresh because they were an unprecedented 99 cents a pound. I decided to make a tri-color pepper salad to go with the the shrimp. I decided to go with chili powder instead of the traditional black pepper, and frankly, I don't think I'll ever go back. The chili powder made the bell peppers sweat perfectly, so I didn't need to add any extra liquid except for some white wine vinegar for taste.

Tomato Chutney Recipe:
Three Roma tomatoes
1 Tsp Hungarian hot paprika
1 Tsp balsamic vinaigrette
1/2 Tsp Himalayan pink salt, finely ground

Dice the tomatoes. I like to cut a "grid" into the tomatoes and then slice off the diced bits like so:




Put the tomato into a small saucepan and add all other ingredients.
Cook on low heat until the tomatoes have absorbed the vinegar.

Shrimp Recipe:
Polenta:
1 Tube polenta

Marinade:
1 Cup wine
1/2 Cup lemon juice
1 Tsp olive oil
1 Tsp kosher salt

Shrimp:
3/4 LB veined and peeled shrimp
1/2 Cup red wine

Procedure:
Marinate the shrimp one hour in the wine and lemon juice mixture.

Drain the shrimp. Put the shrimp in a high-walled frying pan and add 1/2 cup wine to cover the base of the pan. Sautee uncovered until the shrimp begin to curl and shrink. Cut the polenta into 1/2 inch sections and fry on a well-seasoned cast iron griddle.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place to polenta circles evenly over the surface of the baking sheet. Place a dollop of chutney on each ring and top it with a shrimp. Put the baking sheet under a broiler for 7 minutes.




Pepper Salad Recipe:
3 Bell Peppers (Green, Red, Yellow) Finely Diced
2 Tsps White Wine Vinegar
1 Tsp Chili Powder

Put the diced peppers in a bowl with a tight lid (in the absence of a lidded bowl, saran wrap can cover the bowl.) Add the vinegar and the chili powder to the peppers and shake well.

Cupcake Recipe:

(Modified from http://qafma.org/2009/08/23/chef-demo-recipe-lorna-yee/)

3 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate (at least 70% cacao), finely chopped or grated

1 cup strong, hot brewed coffee

2 large eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used safflower oil)

1 cup buttermilk (Don't feel like buying a whole thing of buttermilk just for cupcakes? Keep reading!)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour (No whole-wheat pastry flour this time - my baked goods always end up with a "healthy" taste when I try to substitute it)

1 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

DIY Buttermilk

With cow's milk or soy milk:

Add 1 tbsp lemon juice to 1 cup milk . Mix completely.

With rice milk:

A few more steps are involved in this method, but still doable. In a covered container, mix one cup rice milk, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch. Shake vigorously until corn starch is incorporated into the rice milk. Coat the base of a sauteeing pan with margarine (Earth Balance works best) and heat on medium until margarine bubbles. Add milk mixture and stir constantly with a deglazing whisk until mixture bubbles. Reduce heat immediately and move mixture to another container; place in refrigerator until cool.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, mix together the chocolate and hot coffee until the chocolate dissolves. Set aside until the coffee mixture cools.

In a separate large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the eggs for 4 to 5 minutes, until pale in color and almost doubled in volume. It should look something like this:

Turn the mixer speed down to medium and add the vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla, and beat until combined. Add the coffee and chocolate mixture, and again beat until combined.

Add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and mix just until the batter comes together and no white streaks of flour are visible. As with many baked goods, overmixing toughens the finished product.

Divide the batter into lined cupcake tins, filling them three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed, or if they pass the toothpick test. (Note: mini-cupcakes take half the baking time.)

The frosting I would do differently in the future; I was a little lazy and used the recipe on the back of the powdered milk bag:

1 cup powdered milk

1 stick (1/4 lb.) unsalted butter

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp Cointreau

Mix all ingredients except Cointreau together in a bowl with an electric mixer. Add Cointreau; mix until smooth. Optional: To give frosting more of an orange color to match the orange flavor, add one drop red and one drop yellow food coloring.

Finished Products: