I heart cooking clubs- Farewell Food

The group I heart cooking clubs focuses on one chef for a period of 6 months and then moves on to a new chef. It is really such a great way to get to know new chefs and to push yourself to try new things. I will be honest, before joining the group, I really had no idea who Mark Bittman was. Now his recipes have become a staple in my home and even when I don't follow a recipe exactly, I will still grab my big, red How to Cook Everything book to see what the best way is to slice some fruit or how to prepare some other fill-in-the-blank. So for me this isn't really goodbye because Mr. Bittman is here to stay! Which is really what this group is about. I have found a new favorite that I don't think I would have found otherwise.
However in keeping with the farewell theme, I decided to say farewell to summer as well as Mark Bittman. I found a tasty and simple recipe that has become another meatless favorite!

Pasta with Corn, Zucchini, and Tomatoes

Ingredients

• Salt
  
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup corn kernels (from 2 or 3 ears)
• 1 cup diced zucchini or summer squash (from 2 or 3 small vegetables)
• 1 medium onion or 3 or 4 shallots, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic, optional
• 1 sprigs tarragon
• 4 plum or 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 pound cut pasta, like penne, rigatoni, or fusilli

Method

• 1. Set a large pot of water to boil and salt it. Put 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add corn. Cook, stirring occasionally, until corn begins to brown. Add zucchini and some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini begins to brown.
• 2. Add onion or shallots and garlic if you are using it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add tarragon and cook for 30 seconds, then tomatoes. Put pasta in boiling water and cook until tender but not mushy, 10 to 15 minutes.
• 3. While pasta cooks continue to cook sauce, reducing heat when tomatoes begin to break down. If sauce dries out (with plum tomatoes, this is likely), add some pasta cooking water, about 1/2 cup at a time. When pasta is done, drain it, toss with sauce and remaining oil or butter, and serve immediately.

Daring Cooks: Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.
Okay, so I am posting this a couple days late but I have a pretty good excuse. My little sister got married on Friday and it ended up being a (good) crazy day! Anyway, all of a sudden, today I remembered that I still haven't posted this. Oops!

My family and I really enjoyed this recipe. In fact looking at the pictures makes me really wish I had some leftovers sitting around somewhere! I am so glad I made these because we have a new family favorite. I have never made enchiladas before, stacked or otherwise, so it was exciting to try something completely new. Also I am really intimidated by chili peppers. Just some weird quirk of mine, I get nervous messing with foods that you should wear gloves to cut into. But I overcame my fear, and I found the chilies really non-intimidating once I started cooking. I originally planned to make my own corn tortillas, but alas that will have to be a project for a future date. These had a lot of steps to follow but each of the steps was dead easy. I did make a different filling than the chicken filling. As I have mentioned on here before, the hubby is not a big meat eater, so I threw together a very simple, non-meat filling.
The recipe for my easy filling is-

1 can of black beans
1 can of sweet corn
1/2 a red onion, diced
1 cup queso fresco, crumbled
cilantro to taste

Mix them all together and add them to the enchiladas.
Here is the link to the rest of the recipe on the Daring Kitchen or they can also be found on finecooking.com here. Special thanks to our hosts, Barbara and Bunee! These were great!

I heart cooking clubs- Pantry raid

I just joined the "I heart cooking clubs" group. Originally I planned to wait until next weeks theme to get started but I really like the Pantry raid theme, and decided I would use it for tonight's dinner. I found a recipe by Mark Bittman (who is the chef/cook the group is focusing on for 6 months) that uses dried pinto beans. I happen to have a bag of dried pinto beans that has been in my pantry for probably as long as we have lived in our house (5 years). I made Chili non carne and used the tomato variation. The recipe was basic and hearty. It is a perfect fall meal so I will be using it again for sure. We added a little hot sauce and extra seasoning because it was a tiny bit bland (although that was probably my fault because I made 1.5 times the beans the recipe calls for and forgot to add extra seasoning). I read his instructions wrong and didn't let them cook as long as they were supposed to before adding the tomatoes, so I ended up pouring everything into the electric pressure cooker and dinner was saved! Nobody likes crunchy, not cooked enough, beans.

Chili non Carne

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Time: About 2 hours, largely unattended

Chili means different things to different people; I think of it as slow-cooked red beans seasoned with cumin and chiles, though some insist that chili should be made with meat and few or even no beans. To me, at that point you've entered the realm of cassoulet, though the second variation includes meat. Other beans you can use: red or pink beans are traditional, but you can also use cannellini or other white beans alone or in combination.

1 pound dried pinto beans, washed, picked over, and soaked if you like

1 whole onion, unpeeled, plus 1 small onion, minced Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup bean-cooking liquid, vegetable stock, or water 1 fresh or dried hot chile, seeded and minced, or to taste (optional)

1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste (optional)

1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Put the beans in a large pot with water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat, skimming the foam if necessary. Add the whole onion. Adjust the heat so the beans bubble steadily but not violently and cover loosely.

2. When the beans begin to soften (30 minutes to an hour, depending on the type of bean and whether or not you soaked the beans), season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, until the beans are quite tender but still intact (about as long as it took them to begin to soften).

3. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid if you choose to use it. Discard the onion and add all the remaining ingredients except the cilantro. Turn the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low.

4. Cook, stirring occasionally and adding more liquid if necessary, until the beans are very tender and the flavors have mellowed, about 15 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and garnish with cilantro. Serve with rice, crackers, or tortilla chips and bottled hot sauce.

Chili with Tomatoes.

This simple addition makes a big difference; you might also add 1/4 teaspoon or so of ground cinnamon: Substitute 2 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato (canned is fine; don't bother to drain) for the bean or other liquid. Cook carefully, adding a little more liquid if needed. Top with freshly grated cheddar or other semihard cheese if you like.

Chili con Carne.

Try this with the preceding variation: While the beans are cooking, put 1 tablespoon neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 pound hand-chopped or ground beef, pork, turkey, or chicken and cook, stirring, until the meat has lost its color, about 10 minutes. Season the meat with salt, pepper, and about 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste. Stir it into the beans along with the other ingredients.

White Chili.

Substitute any kind of white beans for the pinto beans. In Step 3, when you discard the onion, stir in 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (grilled is terrific).

Chili Rellenos Casserole

I hate wasting food. It happens all the time that I buy produce and don't use it all before it goes bad. The other night I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner when I noticed I had some leftover evaporated milk in the fridge, so I decided to find a recipe that would use it up. I made some slight changes to a recipe that I found on allrecipes for Chili Rellenos Casserole. I thought it was pretty good, my husband said he was pleasantly surprised, but the two older boys were not big fans. Ah well you can't win 'em all.

Ingredients

• 2 (7 ounce) cans whole green chile peppers, drained
• 16 ounces Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese blend, shredded
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 can evaporated milk
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Lay half of the chilies evenly in bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, and cover with remaining chilies. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, and flour, and pour over the top of the chilies.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, pour enchilada sauce evenly over the top, and continue baking another 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and place under the broiler for 5 minutes. Serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.