Gratin Aux Fruits De Mer Et Rutabagas

This was an invention, based partly on Julia's recipe from Mastering the Art and based partly on a Rutabaga Gratin recipe we found elsewhere on the internet.

Julia's recipe sounds odd to the modern American ear because she basically mixes canned salmon with bechamel and bakes it. I guess you'd have to have been there.

As Julia describes it, a gratin is more or less a quiche without the crust, but none of her gratin recipes call for egg, so I suspect that this is more her way of thinking about it than an actual rule. Typically, a gratin is a layered dish of bechamel, filling, and cheese, which is then baked. OKAY FINE SO IT'S A CASSEROLE. WHAT. WE'RE FROM THE MIDWEST.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs of rutabagas, peeled and sliced thin (we used a mandolin attachment to our Cuisinart)
• .25 lbs frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess moisture
• 8oz salmon (we used fresh, with directions to follow, but smoked would be better!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• other vegetables you want to add, chopped - we added the chopped stalks of puntarella we obtained - the leaves of a variety of chicory - which added a subtle bitter flavor that worked well here.
• ~1c whole milk
• 3tbsp butter
• 3tbsp flour
• 1.5c gruyere cheese or similar
• thyme, oregano, other herbs you want, salt to taste

To start out with, the fish. If you're using fresh, place the fish in an oven-safe container of some sort that can be covered - we used a stainless steel pan that has a (partly) oven safe lid, but you can use foil if you don't have this. Sprinkle thyme, oregano, pepper, and any other herbs you want on the fish and pat down to make an herb crust. Place in a 250 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until it's cooked through enough that you can flake the salmon into pieces.

When that's ready, preheat the oven to 350.

Make the bechamel by cooking the onions (and other vegetables, if using) in butter. Add any herbs you want. When they're softened, add flour and stir to cook for a minute. Then add the milk and bring to a boil. It should thicken considerably. You want a "medium consistency" so you may have to thin the bechamel at this point.

At the same time as you're doing that, set some water to boil. When it boils, add the rutabagas and let boil for 4ish minutes (3-5, depending on how thinly you sliced them). Drain.

In a 9x9 baking dish, add some of the bechamel/vegetable mixture and spread over the bottom. Add a layer of half the rutabagas, then a layer of half the salmon, more bechamel, half the cheese, ALL the spinach, the other half of the rutabagas, the other half of the salmon, the remainder of the sauce, and the remainder of the cheese (in that order, bottom to top). Pack down lightly as you go to make sure everything is settled.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-40 minutes, until bubbling on the sides and golden brown on top. We went 40 minutes then broiled the sucker to get browning, but it worked. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before you try to eat it.

Thoughts: This turned out well, particularly considering it was at least partly invented by us. I would say that a bit more salt would have been nice - the rutabagas really absorbed the salt we added. Also, smoked salmon would have worked slightly better, although this was good. This was sort of an unusual dish for us. I will say that it was better the second day, when everything had a bit more time to adequately congeal. Also, this allowed us to use a ton of the items from our farm share, so that's always a plus.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Quiche

Well that was easy. Note - makes TWO quiches. So. Think about that.

Ingredients

• Custard
• 2 pie shells
• 5 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 2/3c skim milk
• 1/3c butter (about 5tbsp), melted
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4tsp black pepper
• 1/4tsp nutmeg
• 1/2tsp rosemary
• about 1c summer sausage (or ham), cubed
• Other fillings
• 1/2 a red onion, chopped
• 1/2 a red bell pepper, chopped
• 4-8oz mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• about 1 bag of fresh spinach
• about 1c shredded dill havarti
• olive oil, as necessary

It looks complicated but it's not. Take the pie shells out of the freezer and set aside to thaw. Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all the custard ingredients together. Now, saute the vegetables, then wilt the spinach in some olive oil. Place all that in the bottom of the pie tins. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the tins, then pour the custard over everything. Place in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the egg is set. Remove and let cool for 15 minutes or so. Also great re-warmed the next day!

Thoughts: This was awesome. We might adjust the veg ratios in the future, but it wouldn't be necessary. One possibility would be to see if cutting out the butter would still work. I think typically you're actually supposed to use 2%, whole, or half-and-half, but we didn't have that so we made do with butter and milk. I'm not sure how much the butter added, though - a lot of it kind of melted and then floated to the top of the quiches when they cooked. Even so, it's so good that maybe we don't want to mess with it. I don't know.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Shirred Eggs

Easy and delicious.

Ingredients

• Eggs
• Cheese of some kind (we used Chevre)
• Salt and Pepper
• Milk
• Bacon or other meat product, optional
• Ramekins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Put some PAM in a ramekin.  Cook bacon (if you're using it) until it's crispy, then chop it up.  Put some in the ramekin.  Crack one egg into the ramekin.  Put in more bacon.  Put in another egg and any more bacon.  Then add some salt and pepper and put in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, until the edges are looking cooked but the top isn't done.  If you're only making one egg, this takes 5-8 minutes.

Take the egg out and add the cheese.  The original recipe added about a tablespoon of milk to the top, but we didn't have great luck with this.  Put the eggs back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes for two eggs or another 5-8 for one egg, until they're cooked but the yolk is still runny.

Serve with toast.

Thoughts: The original recipe has you add milk in the middle.  This worked the first time, but the second time it just left us with watery eggs.  It was also tricky getting the timing right so the yolks were still runny, but by the third time we made it we were getting it right.  This was pretty great.  I will make this regularly.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Palak Paneer II

After last time you'd think we'd have given up.


Ingredients

• 14oz block of paneer
  
• 2 10oz packages chopped frozen spinach
  
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 lobe ginger, minced
  
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
  
• 2tsp garam masala
  
• 1.5tsp cumin
  
• 2tsp coriander (we didn't actually have this)
  
• some water (maybe next time use chicken stock)
  
• yogurt to taste
  
• 3tbsp butter
  
• about 1/2oz goat cheese? Though some recipes use sour cream or just cream. Something thick and dairy, though.
  

Reheat spinach in a microwave, then put in a blender and chop to desired consistency. Set aside.

To a saute pan, add the onion with the garlic and ginger and the butter. Cook until onions are translucent and soft. Then add the tomatoes and cook over low heat until the tomatoes are pretty completely disintegrated. Then add the spinach and the spices / salt to taste. Add water (about 1/2c?) and cook for a while - until the spinach is heated through and cooked pretty well. Add milk, yogurt, sour cream, cream, buttermilk, and/or goat cheese. We had all of these on hand, but we wound up trying milk, yogurt, buttermilk, and goat cheese before we were satisfied. I think next time just a lot of yogurt? Anyway, take it off the heat and correct seasoning to taste.

In the mean time, fry the paneer on a frying pan. It's really pretty easy - just use a non-stick griddle or griddle pan. We didn't even use oil. Aim to brown it on all sides. We turned the individual bits with chop sticks. Pretty cool. Last time it just melted. But maybe that's because the oil wasn't hot enough or something. This time, no oil = better? Anyway, add the paneer to the palak (spinach). Serve (over rice?).

Thoughts:This was actually pretty great. I was surprised. The palak took a LOT of correction to get the seasoning right, though. But it was good. I think next time I'd use more yogurt (or perhaps just heavy cream) and a little more tomato. Also, chicken stock instead of water. I've seen recipes using some tomato paste? Also, we didn't have coriander. Could have been a nice flavor. But overall, I was pleased with this. It's definitely the first time we got the general idea right. We're getting closer.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Pasta al Cavolfiore

This is a favorite from Claire's childhood. She felt that this was almost as good as what her father makes. This was our take on someone else's take of a Moosewood Cookbook recipe. Anyway.

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
  
• olive oil
  
• 1tsp dry basil
  
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed (we got chopped from a jar)
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• red pepper flakes
  
• optional ~3 hot italian sausages
  
• 1c cheddar plus 1c parmesan cheese
  
• 1 28oz can tomato sauce/puree
  
• vermouth or dry cooking wine
  
• 1lb pasta (we used rotini)
  

If you're using them, chop the sausage and cook in a pan over medium heat until caramelized and cooked through, then set aside. In the same pot, add the cauliflower, olive oil, basil, garlic, bay leaf (or leaves), and red pepper flakes. Add some dry cooking wine and a little water and cover to cook until tender. When it's tender, add the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes (while you cook the pasta). After about 10 minutes, re-add the sausages. When it's done, drain the pasta. When the sauce is finished, take it off the heat and stir in the cheese and the pasta.

Thoughts: This is almost absurdly good. The sausage was a good addition, but unnecessary, but no, good... The cauliflower was perfectly tender. Red pepper flakes are good in just about anything, so it worked well here.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Palak Paneer

Don't try this at home.

• 2 10 oz package of chopped frozen spinach or 4 cups of fresh finely chopped spinach
  
• Farmer’s cheese
  
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
  
• 2 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania)
  
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
  
• 2-4 chili peppers, minced
  
• 1 tablespoon oil
  
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  
• 4 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
  
• 1.5 cup milk
  

Blend spinach until creamy but not pasty. Mix the whole wheat flour with the milk and set aside. Cube the farmer’s cheese and fry on medium high heat. Remove and set aside. Then add the onion, pepper, chili, cumin, ginger, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Cook until it’s pretty soft, and then add the spinach. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, covered. Add the milk mixture and let it cook until the consistency is right. Then take off the heat and fold in the cheese.

Thoughts: OK, so deep frying the cheese did NOT work at all. That was just the first disaster. So I threw SOME of the cheese into the oil and it promptly melted. Maybe you can't use farmer's cheese as a replacement for paneer (as one web site suggested). Next, I was looking at 3 recipes... 2 used tomatoes, 1 used red bell pepper. But I only had bell pepper, so I went for it. I think tomatoes would have been much better. From there, it worked out OK. We wound up adding a ton more seasonings because you couldn't really taste anything. I added a little bit of lemon juice, too, and I think that helped. We served it over rice. There's agreement that we can tell it's supposed to be Indian in origin, and the flavor isn't BAD, but it's not... great, either. And it's way far from the mark in terms of Palak Paneer. Well, I mean, why call it DCCDI if there aren't some D's.

Disaster Index: 5/10

Vegetarian Enchiladas

We've already done this once, but the recipe has changed so much since the first time we made it that it merits posting it again.

Ingredients

• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  
• 2 zucchini/yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
  
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  
• 1 jalapeno pepper, skin charred and removed, seeds removed, chopped (see note)
  
• 1tbsp garlic
  
• neutral oil
  
• 1/2tsp cumin
  
• 2tbsp flour
  
• 1c chicken stock (or veg)
  
• 6oz pepper jack cheese, chopped or grated.
  
• tortillas
  
• 1 can enchilada sauce
  
• cilantro
  

Start by sauteing the onion in a little neutral oil over medium heat. Once it's getting toward translucent, add the zucchini, bell pepper, garlic, cumin, cilantro, and jalapeno. Cover for about 5 minutes, then remove lid and cook for another 5 minutes or so. When the zucchini are just tender (but still have a little tooth to them), take everything out and put it in a separate bowl. To the pot, add the flour and stir around. Add the chicken stock and turn the heat back on to medium-high, stirring to break up any huge lumps. Small lumps are okay. When the mixture is just starting to thicken, set to low heat and add 2-3oz of the cheese, stirring constantly. When all of the cheese is melted, re-add the vegetables and stir to coat.

Preheat oven to 350. In a baking dish, spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce. Then place tortillas in the dish, filling with the vegetables. This recipe makes two enormous burrito-sized servings or many more small servings, which would probably be more appropriate. Once all the filling is divvied up, fold the tortillas closed as best you can and pour enchilada sauce over everything, brushing even with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and fresh cilantro. Bake for 30 minutes or until you can't take it any more.

Thoughts: Our recent addition of the jalapeno was a huge success. This is giving Casa De Lara a run for their money.

Disaster Index: 1/10

*note: to char the skin of a jalapeno pepper, just turn on a burner and hold the jalapeno over the burner with tongs until the skin is burnt on all sides. It takes a while. By burnt, I mean completely blackened. If you don't have a gas burner, put the jalapeno on a baking dish and put it in the oven with the broiler on. When one side is amply burnt, turn it over and do the other side. Run the jalapeno under cold water after burning the skin, then just rub with the edge of a knife. The skin will just flake/slide right off.

Cheese grits

Courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk (you may need more)
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated/shredded

Place the milk, water, and salt in a large pot over medium/high heat and bring to a boil. Stir often, so that the milk does not burn. You don't want that.
Once the milk mixture comes to a boil, gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking. Be careful with this step, because this is when clumps are most likely to form. It might be helpful to use two people for this one, so that one person can whisk violently while the other person delicately sifts the cornmeal into the milk. Whatever.
Once all the cornmeal has been incorporated, decrease the heat to low and cover.
Remove lid and whisk frequently (every 3-4 minutes) to prevent grits from sticking and clumping. You may find that you need to add more liquid. We couldn't bring ourselves to add more whole milk, so we added skim (about 1/2 cup total), and that worked fine.
Cook for 20-25 minutes, until mixture is creamy.
Remove from heat, add the pepper and butter, and whisk to combine. Once the butter is melted, gradually whisk in the cheese a little at a time. Serve immediately.

VARIATION: Add some steamed corn into the grits. It is delicious. I highly recommend it.

Thoughts: Fantastic. The grits sort of have a subtle flavor, but it is a delicious flavor. I can't really imagine them without cheese, but we'll try some variations later, I imagine. Again, we have some pretty major clumps in ours because we didn't add the cornmeal slowly enough, but with some frantic whisking, we managed to make them unnoticeable. Just be careful on this one. Don't eat too much of this in one sitting, or you'll become a fatty. To be completely honest, it pairs nicely with Sauvignon Blanc. How dare you doubt me? Try it.

Disaster index: 1/10

Chicken and Tomatillo Chimichangas

Ingredients

• 8 small skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• scant 2 cups drained canned tomatillos (12 oz can works fine)
• 14 oz cooked pinto beans (also from can is fine)
• several large tortillas
• several ounces of grated pepper jack cheese
  
• oil, for frying
• salt and pepper

Thaw chicken. Put in a large pan, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. You can go ahead and skim the schmaltz off the top if you want.
Remove the chicken, transfer to a plate, let cool, then shred. We usually use two large forks for this business.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry onions until translucent, then add the garlic and spices and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the tomatillos and beans. Cook over moderate heat for another 5 minutes. Make sure to be stirring constantly throughout this whole process. It gets pretty sticky.
Add the chicken and the seasoning (salt and pepper, in this case).
Heat the tortillas in a microwave until they're very pliable. This is important. They cannot be chilly or room temperature. They must be either warm or hot.
Spoon a smallish amount of the filling into the center of the tortilla and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. It should take up about 1/4-1/5 of the tortilla.
Fold in the sides, followed by the top and the bottom. Secure with a cocktail stick or a skewer or something. This is actually sort of tricky. Just improvise.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chimichangas in batches until they're crisp. They should get a nice golden color. If the cooked part is pretty dark and the rest of the tortilla is still white, the heat is too high. Turn it down.
Remove them from oil, drain on paper towel, and eat.

Thoughts: Absolutely delicious. I think they could have used a little more salt (possibly in the form of chicken stock). They were pretty easy to make though. I think we should have gotten bigger tortillas. We got small ones, but like, fajita or burrito-sized tortillas would have been better. It was pretty difficult to get them to fold up completely, and even more difficult securing them with a skewer or cocktail stick. Just be prepared for this. They are delicious for breakfast also. Also, we had WAY more filling than we knew what to do with. We only had enough tortillas for half the filling. I would go ahead and use fewer chicken thighs. You could probably go ahead and cut that number in half and you would be fine. Also Dan thought it could probably use some more cheese. He also thinks a mole sauce would work well with it. We actually have some mole sauce in the back of our fridge, but at this point, I wouldn't go near it. Cilantro would also be a good addition. Dan also says maybe we could put zucchini in it, but I'm not convinced.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pizza Popovers

I can't think of a better name for this.
Ingredients

• 1 recipe pizza dough
  
• 1 recipe pizza sauce
  
  
  
  • 14oz tomatoes, canned
    
  • 1/3c basil, chopped
    
  • 3 cloves garlic
    
  • 1 onion, chopped
    
  • 1/2lb ground beef
    
  • olive oil, marsala, salt, pepper, beef bouillon
    
  
  
• cheese (mozzarella, chevre, or smoked gouda?)
  
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1tbsp water
  

Prepare a recipe of pizza dough (2.5c flour, 2.25tsp yeast, 2tsp salt, 2tsp sugar, ~2/3c water) and set it to rise. In the mean time, prepare a recipe of pizza sauce. I pretty much cooked the onion along with the ground beef. The ground beef was more or less frozen when I started, so I had to periodically remove the thawed parts from a huge chunk of ground beef. Probably it would be better to thaw the meat completely next time. Anyway, when it was more or less cooked, I added all the other ingredients and set it to simmer for a while, covered. After a little while, I added some beef bouillon to improve the flavor, and some marsala.

Once the pizza dough is ready, remove 2" balls of dough and roll them into wide discs, one at a time. Depress the disc into a muffin tin. Put some sauce in the cup, and then add a large amount of cheese. Pinch the dough shut at the top. Repeat until the dough is used up. Brush with the egg wash. Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Thoughts: These are delicious. The original recipe, which we did not follow at all, called for canned and premade everything, but I think that I liked this version. The pizza dough also contained about 2tbsp of rosemary, which I think really improved the flavor. We agree that this was delicious.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Potato Cheese Chili Soup

A Moosewood classic

Ingredients

• 4 medium russet potatoes
  
• 3c water
  
• 1tbsp butter
  
• 1tbsp olive oil
  
• 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
  
• 1.75tsp salt
  
• 1tsp cumin
  
• 1tsp basil
  
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• lots of fresh black pepper
  
• 1 green bell pepper, diced.
  
• 1c diced green chilies (2 small cans of it is 9oz - close enough)
  
• 3/4c nonfat yogurt
  
• 1c milk
  
• 3/4c jack cheese, grated (or cut up smallish so they'll melt - it's not really important that you GRATE it. I didn't.)
  
• 2 scallions, chopped
  

Scrub the potatoes and cut into small chunks (unpeeled). Cook them in the 3c of water until tender (about 20 minutes). Meanwhile, sautee the onions in butter in olive oil. After a few minutes, add salt, cumin, basil, garlic, and black pepper and sautee until onions are soft. Add bell pepper and cook a few minutes longer.
Puree the potatoes in their cooking water and return to the stove. Add the sauteed vegetables along with the diced chilies, yogurt, and milk. Stir until well blended over medium-low heat. When it's hot & well combined, stir in cheese and scallions. Serve.

Thoughts: I followed the directions fairly strictly in making this (which is kind of new for me) but it turned out really well. My personal feeling is that the potatoes got a LITTLE gluey when I pureed them as I did. Next time, I'd cook them for a little longer in the liquid and then mash them manually (so as not to get them TOO well worked). The flavor was terrific, though. I'd eat this again.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Croque Madame

I'm not quite sure how a croque madame is different from a croque monsieur, except that the monsieur has tomato. Is that the only difference? And croque madame has an egg on top?

Ingredients

• 2.5 tbsp butter
• 1.5 tbsp flour
• 1 cup whole milk (or as much as you can. We ran out and had to use 3/4 cup whole and 1/4 cup skim, which turned out just fine)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup grated monterey jack cheese
• 4 slices white bread (we used sweet Hawaiian bread, which was awesome)
• however much mustard you want to put on your sandwich
• 2 large slices of prosciutto (1 slice/person)
  
• 2 large eggs

To make the sauce:

Melt butter in a saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and 1/6 cup of the cheese. Cook until the cheese melts. Remove heat and cover with a sheet of wax paper (so a skin doesn't form on the roux)

To make the sandwiches:

While the roux is cooking, spread mustard on 2 of the slices of bread, and put the prosciutto on top.
When the roux is done, spread some of it over the other 2 slices of bread, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Put the pieces of bread together so that they form a sandwich. Durrrr.
Heat a skillet or griddle and spray with nonstick cooking spray or olive oil. Once it's hot, place the sandwiches on it. Cook them for 3-4 minutes total, turning them once halfway. They should get nice and brown. Remove from heat.
If you'd like, you can cook the eggs at the same time. Our griddle is big enough to cook like, 10,000 things simultaneously, so we just did it at the same time as we did the sandwiches. Cook the eggs over easy such that the whites are set and the yolks are runny. You know how this works.
Prepare the broiler.
Top each grilled sandwich with the remaining sauce, spreading evenly. Cook under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, until the topping is bubbling. You might want to check periodically to make sure you aren't burning the sandwiches. There is nothing worse than a burnt croque madame, let me tell you.
Take the sandwiches out and top each one with a fried egg. Eat.

Thoughts: OH MY GOD THESE WERE ABSOLUTELY TRANSCENDENT. SERIOUSLY. THIS IS THE BEST THING WE'VE MADE IN A WHILE. SWEET JESUS THIS WAS GOOD. THE ORIGINAL RECIPE CALLED FROM GRUYERE BUT I THINK USING PEPPER JACK WAS A GOOD IDEA. OMG. I CANNOT RAVE ABOUT THIS ENOUGH. CAN WE GIVE IT A NEGATIVE RATING? Dan suggests using a firmer bread next time (the kind we used was more spongy than most). I don't think we need a firmer bread. But you know. We can try it. We will definitely be experimenting with other fillings and cheeses and whatnot. There's a version that uses smoked salmon as well, but Dan doesn't seem excited about that. Hmph.

Disaster Index: -5/10

Chicken Enchiladas II

We used "enchilada sauce" as a huge shortcut, and it worked very well.

Ingredients

• 1 15oz can "enchilada sauce"
  
• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed
  
• 1/2c water
  
• 1tsp garlic powder
  
• 2tsp cumin
  
• 1/2c chopped cilantro
  
• ~2c shredded monterey jack cheese
  
• ~6 large (10"?) flour tortillas or ~12 6" ones.
  

Combine enchilada sauce, water, garlic, and cumin in a large pot. Bring to a boil, add chicken, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is just done through (and a thermometer should read ~160*, though we don't have one) - about 10-12 minutes. If the chicken started out frozen, you'll probably have to remove the chicken after about 8 minutes, cut it into smaller pieces, and then add it back in for another 8 to 10 minutes. When the chicken is done, turn off the heat and remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Set the oven to 400 degrees. Shred the slightly cooled chicken using two forks. In a bowl, mix shredded chicken with 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, 1c of cheese, and cilantro.

Stack all the tortillas on a plate and microwave them for about 40-60 seconds. Add about 1/3c (if you're using small tortillas) or 2/3c (if large) in a line down the middle of the tortilla. Roll tightly, and place seam-side down in a greased casserole pan. Repeat with all of the tortillas. Spray the tops of the tortillas with PAM. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce evenly over the top, and then top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I recommend using two spatulas to get them out of the pan.

Thoughts: I thought these were delicious, but Claire thought they needed a little more flavor. She prefers vegetables in her enchiladas. To that end, we sauteed some zucchini with some red and yellow onions. When they were done, we gave them the exact same treatment as the chicken (mix with cheese and cilantro, fill enchiladas, top with more sauce and cheese) and they turned out very well. Next time we will probably mix the vegetables in with the chicken. Also, we have some mole sauce, so next time we might make mole enchiladas, too, by pouring the mole over the top at the end rather than the enchilada sauce.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Spinach, Shrimp, Asparagus, and Bacon Quiche

Compiled from a recipe by "Carissa Seward" found on Food Network and "Donna's Shrimp, Bacon, and Asparagus Quiche" apparently from the "Channel 3000" web page.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
  
• 1.5c skim milk
  
• 1/2tsp dill weed
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 2-3 strips of turkey bacon
  
• 2c asparagus, chopped to 1.5-2" stalks
  
• 1.5c (precooked) shrimp, tailed
  
• 10oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out
  
• 4oz mozzarella
  
• 1 recipe quiche crust
  

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk the eggs and milk in a bowl with the dill and a pinch of salt and pepper. In a pan, crisp the bacon. Remove and crumble or chop. Add bacon to custard mixture and grate in 1/2 the cheese. In the vacant crust, distribute the asparagus, shrimp, and spinach. Pour custard mixture into crust and grate the remaining cheese over the top. Place in the oven until the cheese on top is browned and the custard is set. Took us about an hour. Let it sit 10 minutes before cutting.

Thoughts: Claire felt it needed more seasoning, and next time we should use non-skim dairy, like 2% or cream (like the original recipes called for). I suppose that I agree. I liked the flavor, though.

Disaster Index: 2-3/10 - good flavor, though the texture was SLIGHTLY off.

Vegetable Enchiladas

There are several components to this dish. We'll start with the enchiladas themselves.

Ingredients

• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock (or veg)
  
• many cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 small zucchinis, chopped
• small red onion, in rings/slices
  
• salt and pepper
• 6 flour tortillas (medium-large)
• 1/2 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
• salsa (storebought is fine, but if you want to go all out and make your own, go for it)
  

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Heat some olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and cook until caramelized. Add garlic and cumin and cook for another minute.
Add flour and mix very well. Make sure that all the pieces of flour are incorporated. Add the chicken stock right away so the flour doesn't burn. Mix well.
Turn heat down to a simmer and continue to cook the mixture until thickened.
Turn off the heat and set aside.
In another pan, cook the zucchini and onions with some olive oil. Cook until the onions are caramelized. Season with salt and pepper.
When they are done cooking, add them to the flour mixture. Stir well to combine.
Change oven temp to 350 F and begin assembling enchiladas.
Smear some salsa onto the bottom of a baking pan (enough to coat).
This is the easiest way to fill the enchiladas:
Place the 6 tortillas in the bottom of the pan and position them so that they look like hardshell tacos. Then just go down the line and place a bunch of the flour/vegetable mixture on the tortilla, followed by some shredded cheese (use all the flour veggie mixture but save about half of the cheese). Once the tortillas are full, fold them over as best as you can. I don't know how to describe this. Just do what you feel like doing.
Smear the top of the enchiladas with more salsa, then sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.
Bake for about 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.
Serve with refried beans, yellow rice (recipe follows), guacamole, and salsa. Or whatever.


Ingredients for Yellow Rice

• 2 cups long grain rice
• 4 cups water
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt

Put all the ingredients in a pot, stir, and bring to a boil over medium-high/high heat.
Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and let cook over low heat until rice has absorbed water.
Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and serve.

Thoughts: The enchiladas were pretty good. In our original foray, we made our own roasted tomatillo salsa, which was super acidic and totally not worth it. So we didn't even include that part in the recipe. Don't even bother. Just use store-bought salsa. Also, the original recipe (Tyler Florence's) called for a roasted deli-style chicken for the filling instead of just vegetables. We were going to use one but we forgot to go to the store and we were already half-way through the recipe SO we just said screw it. But we would definitely use chicken next time because it would make them so delicious. So yes.
As per the yellow rice, we would definitely use chicken stock instead of water because it would make the rice more savory. If you're a vegetarian (why??), you might try vegetable stock because it still might add some extra flavor. Also, Dan suggests that we add to the rice half a green bell pepper and then discard it when we serve the rice. Apparently it adds more flavor. So we'd do that too. Overall, very very delicious.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Winter Squash Dip

This is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe. Hers is probably better.

Ingredients

• 1 lb winter squash (we used 1/2 of a butternut), seeded and cut into 3-inch pieces
• 2 tbs chopped garlic
• 8 scallions, white and pale green parts only, sliced thinly
• 1 cup non-fat yogurt (though you could use full fat and you won't die or anything)
• 1/2 container low-fat cream cheese (see above)
• 1/2 cup grated Romano
  
• paprika
• olive oil (extra virgin)
• (brown sugar)
  

The original recipe calls for chipotle chiles, which would have been good, I think. But this still turned out pretty awesome.

Anyways, preheat the oven to 400. Put the squash pieces in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Also sprinkle with copious amounts of salt and pepper. Add the garlic. Toss. Spread on baking sheet. You can pam the baking sheet first, if you're worried about stickage.
Bake the squash until it is juicy and soft. This will be about 50 minutes. Take the squash out and let it cool.
In the meantime, cook the scallion pieces in olive oil until they're soft (4 minutes).
Once the squash has cooled to a temperature that will not burn your hands, scrape the flesh from the rind and put it in a food processor. Add scallions. Pulse until smooth.
Add yogurt, cream cheese, and Romano. Pulse until combined.
Taste. It may require brown sugar. Put some in (1/8 cup?)
Refrigerate for an hour. Eat it.

Thoughts: Again, this could have benefited from the Chipotles. Otherwise it was pretty good. I recommend eating it with crackers such as Wheat Thins or Kashi TLCs. It is also delicious with red peppers. And pretty good on sandwiches.

Disaster Index: 3-4/10