The Whole Enchilada

The Whole Shauna Chicken Enchilada...Red or Green

Well, Happy Cinco de Mayo! Really, just an excuse to make some delicious Mexican inspired food and have a Fiesta! Having learned from a dear friend many years ago, (Thank you, Gabriella) how to make Enchiladas the traditional way helped me transform the Enchilada into a simplified version. Now as a busy working mom I can whip together these cultural delights. For this recipe, I use a rotisserie chicken which saves time and still yields flavorful meat.

Chicken Enchiladas with Red or Green Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Rotisserie Chicken
3/4- 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (OR if you really want to knock it out of the park, sour cream)
1- 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 1/2 cups Mexican blend cheese
1 tsp (1-2 cloves) fresh garlic, finely chopped or minced
1/4 fresh chopped cilantro, chopped
3/4 tsp El Monte Sazonador para Pollo (If you do not have this add: 1 tsp salt, pinch of chili powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder)

12-14 corn tortillas (you can use flour tortillas if you prefer)
Canola or corn oil for seasoning the tortillas.

Sauce:
Red sauce recipe (see below) or canned Red Sauce
Green Salsa (Salsa Verde, I like Trader Joes) or canned Verde Sauce

Filling Directions:

1. Remove skin from chicken. Pull off meat and set into a large mixing bowl. You will get about 6 cups of chicken.

2. Add 1 cup Mexican cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for top) and remaining ingredients mix; thoroughly. Check for flavor and adjust as necessary.

3. Set aside.

Tortilla directions: (not necessary for flour tortillas)

This process seasons the tortillas so they do not break when you roll them with the filling.

1. Heat a small skillet on low- medium low, with about a tsp of oil.
2. Place in tortilla and heat for about 20 seconds. Flip and repeat.
3. Place on plate with paper towel.
4. Continue until all tortillas are done.

Red Enchilada Sauce

I got this recipe from All Recipes. It's a winner!

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder (I reduce this significantly for a mild sauce.)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the onion, oregano, chili powder, basil, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa and tomato sauce.
2. Mix together and then stir in the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Enchilada Assembly:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray pan with Non-stick cooking spray.
3. Ladle about 1/2 cup of sauce of choice in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
4. Place a couple of spoonfuls of filling in center of tortilla, roll, and place in dish seam side down.
5. Be careful to not over stuff!
6. Continue until pan is full.
7. Ladle rest of sauce over enchiladas.
8. Sprinkle remainder cheese on top. (Depending on my mood, I sometimes skip this and just do sauce.)
9. Bake 20-25 minutes uncovered or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are hot all the way through.


Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from New York Times, July 9, 2008

These cookies will knock your tastebuds off! Chewy, tender, decadent, and delicious...the trick is in the flour (bread flour and cake flour) and letting the batter rest for a minimum of 24 hours prior to baking. An article from the NY Times, Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret (2008) explains:

He’s [Jacques Torres] allowing the dough and other ingredients to fully soak up the liquid — in this case, the eggs — in order to get a drier and firmer dough, which bakes to a better consistency. A long hydration time is important because eggs, unlike, say, water, are gelatinous and slow-moving, she said. Making matters worse, the butter coats the flour, acting, she said, “like border patrol guards,” preventing the liquid from getting through to the dry ingredients. The extra time in the fridge dispatches that problem. Like the Warm Rule, hydration — from overnight, in Mr. Poussot’s case, to up to a few days for Mr. Torres — was a tactic shared by nearly every baker interviewed.

One thing to note is not to worry if you do not have cake flour. You can make your own with All-purpose flour and Cornstarch.

1 cup cake flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 TBSP + 2 TBSP Cornstarch

Simply place two tablespoons of cornstarch in a one-cup measure. Fill the rest of the cup with all-purpose flour.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

Total Prep and Baking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 24 hours to chill the dough (I chilled mine 48 hrs)
Yield: 18-20 large cookies (I used a medium scoop, which looked about 2 TBSP and I got about 50 cookies)

Ingredients:

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (I used 2 -10 oz bags of Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips)
*optional: I added 1 cup chopped pecans
sea salt or fleur de sel, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together your butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla and mix. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, until just moistened. Fold in your chocolate until evenly added throughout the dough. Press plastic wrap against the dough, making sure it is completely covered, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or as long as 72 hours (I left mine for 48 hours).

3. When you are ready to bake, bring the dough to room temperature so that you can scoop it out, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line and/or grease your baking sheets. Scoop your dough out onto the sheets. Do not press the dough down – let it stay the way it is. Sprinkle the cookies lightly with a bit of fleur de sel or sea salt. Bake 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies (mine took about 13 minutes), or 18-20 minutes for larger cookies.

4. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on your baking sheet, then move them to another surface to cool completely. You can enjoy these warm, room temperature, or cold. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Lox (Smoked Salmon)

Succulent, mouth watering, homemade, easy lox.  Growing up, I remember around the Jewish holidays an entire shelf being taken up in the refrigerator by a slab of salmon. My mother would fuss with tweezing and removing the bones of the beautiful fish to prepare for it curing. Nowadays, it is easy to purchase a beautiful boneless skinless fillet of salmon to make for an impressive and delicious dish. Lox is commonly used on bagels, matzah, other breads, and now even sushi. This simple lox recipe is adapted from the original printed in the San Diego Union paper, March 5, 1981. You will need five (5) days to cure the lox, so plan accordingly.

Lox (Smoked Salmon)


Ingredients:
2 Tbsp sugar
8 tsp (2 Tbsp, 2 tsp) kosher salt
1 tsp hickory or smoked salt
Salmon fillet

Directions:
Place salmon in a large glass casserole dish or foil and parchment lined jelly roll pan, so that the salmon lays flat. In a bowl, mix the salts and sugar. Coat the salmon with the salt sugar mixture.

Left to right: Smoked sea salt, Kosher Salt, Sugar

Cover with foil and refrigerate. Baste with liquid occasionally over the first 2 days. Leave in another 3 days. After a total of 5 days, wash thoroughly and air dry one hour. Slice and serve with your favorite breads, crackers, cream cheese, red onion, sliced tomato, and capers...

Matzah with cream cheese, tomato, red onion, lox, and capers.

Matzo Brickle

It's that time of year where we are digging through our recipes and gearing up for 8 days of no leavening. Yes, you guessed it...Passover. Growing up with the traditional Orange Sponge cake (which is delicious) for dessert and the brownies from the box, was always a taste bud dud for me. Some years ago, my friend Nancy gave me a platter of cookies and other delicacies for the winter holidays. In it was this delicious dessert. So, I asked her what it was, and to my surprise she said "Shauna, it's Matzo Brickle." She gave me the recipe and over the years have made it with some of my own amendments. Every time I bring it to a Seder or serve it at my own, it is devoured. Better yet, it is easy to make! Enjoy this bud tingling crowd pleaser!

 

Shauna’s Matzo Brickle

Indredients:

4 – 6 sheets of matzo

2 cups unsalted butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans (or almonds)

Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450-degrees.
2. Line a 10 x 15” jellyroll sheet or cookies sheet with heavy-duty foil.
3. Lay out matzo sheets as close together as possible into a single layer breaking sheets to fit. 

 

4. In a saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar stirring frequently until it bubbles.
    5. Pour melted butter and brown sugars over the matzo and spread evenly.

6. Place in pre-heated 450-degree oven one to two minutes. 

7. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over everything.  

8. Return to oven for one minute until chips are soft.

9. Remove from oven and with spatula spread chocolate over matzo.

10. Shake or lightly sprinkle sea salt on top of spread chocolate.

11. Top with nuts. 
12. Let it sit until it cools. 
13. Place in freezer for 20 minutes or until hard. 
14. Break into pieces and to store, put in Tupperware container in layers with wax paper in between. Also, I like to keep it refrigerated.

 

Liebster Award

What a nice surprise I received on Wednesday, March 14 when my dear friend Missy of creativemissy.com, talented artist, chef, and incredible baker, awarded me with the Liebster Blog Award. I have always looked to Missy for inspiration in the arts from quilting, graphic design, photography, to baking. Check out her site as she is truly talented. Anyhow, The Liebster award is a way to recognize up-and-coming deserving bloggers with less than 200 followers. You pay it forward by awarding 5 more bloggers with the award. Here are the rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award.
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with fewer than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.

Honestly I am new to the blog community. So, I really appreciate the award. I only have one blog to award, but will continue update this post as I add:

1. The Seaside Baker- Amazing baked goods far and wide, and other good eats. Jackie is an ambitious baker, mom, wife, and student. She was actually the one who inspired and encouraged me to do a blog! She has great recipes, beautiful photographs, and tips.

Stay tuned as I add to my list of Blogs. Until then, thank you again Missy for the award, inspiration, and kind words.

Shauna

Sumptuous Chocolate "Coffee" Cake

Even I cannot resist the temptation to take my finger, dredge it through the frosting, and with anticipation and a salivating mouth bring it to my lips! This delectable moist cake was inspired by a recipe from Ina Garten's cookbook Barefoot Contessa at Home, p. 165, called Beatty's Chocolate Cake. Enjoy this chocolate, coffee infused cake!

Sumptuous Chocolate "Coffee" Cake

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups  cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt (I use Greek, Fage)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
• Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Lining your cake pans could not be easier:

1. Tear off piece of parchment paper that just covers your pan.

2. Fold in half.

3. Fold again, so now in quarters.

4. Find the center of the pan and place folded corner down.

5. Crease paper along inner bottom of the pan.

6. Cut along creased line.

7. Unfold.

8. All done!

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:

• 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut) * Do not use Choc. Chips.
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

Great Nana Hattie Small's Mundel Bread

Hattie's Mundel Bread photographed with her china tea cup and saucer, and glass platter.

Mundel Bread
Some call it Mundel Bread, others Mandel Bread, and even others Mandlebrot. Nonetheless, it all translates to the same thing, Almond bread. This bread is similar to the Italian biscotti in shape and twice baked procedure. However, Mundel bread is a tad bit softer than the traditional biscotti. The Mundel bread is home to particularly to Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish families. Although, traditionally made with almonds, many like to substitute chocolate chips or other types of dried fruits and nuts. I used almonds and dried cranberries in mine.

Hattie Small (right) with my mother.

Hattie Small

The recipe I am sharing with you is dear to my family's heart as it comes from my great grandmother Hattie Small. Aside from making a living as a talented seamstress and co-owner (with my Great grandfather Harry) of the restaurant The Aladdin in downtown Boston, Hattie was an amazing cook and baker. Interestingly enough, she was for her time very much into holistic health and medicine. Although her baking is traditional, Hattie enjoyed herbal teas, and from what I understand Jack Lulanne. Hattie cooked and baked like many seasoned cooks and bakers...a little of this, a handful of that, and only a pinch of those. My mother learned her recipes by watching and baking with her as a young girl. The recipes we have from her often began as a list of ingredients and minimal instruction. We have over time actually added the measurements and fine tuned the recipes to modern day instructions and procedures.

We hope you enjoy Hattie's Mundel Bread.

Great Nana Hattie Small's Mundel Bread
Makes appx. 18

Ingredients

3 eggs, plus one more beaten set aside to coat top before baking
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2  tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup almonds, chopped or sliced (I used 1/2 cup chopped almonds, 1/2 cup dried cranberries)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer fitted with flat mixing paddle, mix together 3 eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil until well blended. In a separate bowl combine and whisk flour and baking powder. In thirds, add flour mixture to wet ingredients until combined. Add nuts/fruit/chocolate chips. Dough will be wet and sticky.

Split dough in half and form into two log shapes; place on greased cookie sheet. Once you place them down they will spread out. Brush tops with beaten egg.

Bake 15- 20 minutes until light crust has formed over loaves. Slice the loaves and then bake another 15 minutes.

Remove, separate the slices and cool completely. Enjoy with tea or coffee.