Enchiladas enchilaaaaadaaaaaaaaas

I got this recipe from a true and reliable source – my friend’s mom. mmmmm yummy.

I like my enchiladas with lots of extra stuff, but extra stuff = time consuming, however extra stuff also = yum so it’s up to you. i know i definitely have my lazy lazy days.

Enchiladas:

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts: shredded

Corn tortillas, about 10, should serve about 4

1/2 white onion, diced

5 cups of grated monterey jack cheese (i’m not good with measurements, i sort of make it up so i think 5 cups but just make sure you have enough cheese for the enchiladas (cheesy enchiladas yummm) and enough cheese to sprinkle on top)

Enchilada sauce (if you want to be fancy, you can make it from scratch, i did not)

1) Season, cook and shred the chicken.  I just boil mine with lots of salt because it’s easiest that way but you can cook it however you want with whatever marinade, seasoning.

2) Set up an assembly line from stove to counter with: pan with oil, bowl with enchilada sauce and plate to pile the tortillas

3) In a small pan, heat oil and quickly deep fry both sides of tortilla.  Maybe like 20 seconds on each side.  Then coat both sides with the enchilada sauce and then pile on a plate. Repeat for every tortilla.

4) Layer raw onions, chicken,  and a good amount of cheese in the middle of each tortilla and wrap and place in a baking pan.

5) Ladle over more sauce over all the enchiladas and sprinkle with lots of cheese.

6) Pop in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is all melted.

Extra Stuff:

Guacamole – make this yourself, store bought guac is no bueno.

Rice – make this yourself, super easy. Saute some diced garlic and onion for about 1 minute, season with salt,then add 2 cups of rice and let it brown a little, then add 2 cups of water and more salt, then reduce to simmer and don’t open the lid!  Should take about 20 minutes.

Refried beans – this would take forever to make yourself so just buy some in a can and reheat in a pan.

Salsa – make this yourself.  It’ll taste fresh and you can adjust the spice factor.

sour cream – buy it.

Cold Kimchee Noodles (perfect for summer)

This is a great dish during hot summers that’s super easy and super fast. It’s got a great balance of sweet and savory with some spice.

Ingredients:

Somen noodles (2 bundles – serves 2-3)

2 cups of sliced kimchee

1 cup of cucumber, julienned

1 tbsp of roasted sesame seeds

1 hard boiled egg

3 tbsbs of Korean red pepper paste

1 tbsb of sesame seed oil

1 – 1 1/2 tbsbs of sugar

In a bowl, mix the red pepper paste, sugar, sesame seed oil, and kimchee.

In boiling water, cook the somen noodles.  This literally takes less than 5 minutes so keep your eye on it and taste to see if it’s done.

Key: Rinse the noodles in cold, cold water. You can even add ice to a bowl of water to quickly cool it down. Really drain out all the water well and then add the noodles in the kimchee mixture.  Mix all together and taste.  Adjust with more sesame seed oil or sugar if necessary.

Transfer to a bowl and top with sesame seeds, cucumber, and half of a hard boiled egg.  The egg helps offset the spiciness factor.

Turkish Delight

Merhaba from Istanbul! The cooking and the blogging are taking a mini hiatus as I’m here in Constantinople Istanbul for work and later for some vacay with T.S. Korch.

Weesa: This is for you…

Kunefe: is an amazing amazing amazing dessert that I had the other day. Wow, it’s fried and crispy, with warm melted cheese in the middle and it’s swimming in a warm melted mixture of sugar, water, rose water topped with crumbled pistachios……..mmmm delicious!