More Enchilada Magic

You can really appreciate the generosity of digital camera technology in a situation like the one that produced the above photo. That's because it took me about a squillion attempts to get a meager few decent shots of wave action against the rocks the other day. I guaran-damn-tee ya, there wouldn't have been anywhere near that many attempts had I been restricted to conventional film!

That photo op came about on Wednesday. I was blessed with an unexpected visit from my brother for a few days and, on that particular day, we went down to the dock in Port Orford for a bit before meeting niece Wendi and having a fabulous pizza made by grandson Albert at the cafe where he works. While Merle was over on the east side of the dock taking pictures of some kind of rigging or other, I was on the west side taking pictures of rocks and surf and kelp and seagulls. This particular shot was the result of focusing in on one area of a channel between the jetty rocks and trying to capture the exact moment the incoming waves would demonstrate their most impressive explosions against immovable surfaces. Timing was everything. Split-second failures were plentiful. The nice thing about it is, with surf pictures, even the failures are fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note entirely, I just happen to have an alternate enchilada sauce recipe to share with you. It is, I think, just as good as the one I gave you in a previous post, which makes it impossible for me to choose a favorite. I think determining which one to make in the future will depend a lot on what ingredients I have on hand and maybe even how much I need. While the other recipe made about 4 cups of sauce, this one makes 2 -- although you could certainly double it if you needed to.

I found it at a wonderful food site produced by Rockin Robin. There is so much good information and so many good recipes, you'll just have to bookmark her. I'm sure you'll want to read her instructions for the Raving Enchilada Sauce because I sorta-kinda fiddled with it a bit. Turned it into a microwave recipe, is what I did. Five minutes. Here's how I did it:

MICROWAVE VERSION RAVING ENCHILADA SAUCE

In a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl, mix together:

4 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons allpurpose flour

Using a wire whisk, blend the dry ingredients evenly to prevent lumpy sauce. Gradually pour in 2 cups chicken broth, whisking all the while, until mixture is well blended. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Whisk vigorously, nuke 1 minute. Whisk again, nuke another minute. Whisk and nuke a final minute, 5 minutes in all. Give it a finishing whisk and it's ready to use.

Okay, the sauce is so easy and quick, it's almost magical. But maybe you're not in the mood to fill and roll all those enchiladas, eh? I certainly wasn't -- which is why I finally surrendered and fixed 'em layered style, like Mexican lasagna. Holy jalapeno, Batman! Not only does the enchilada stack taste exactly as wonderful as the rolled-up version, the only thing you lose is the muss and the fuss.

For my purposes, a medium-sized square casserole dish worked fine and the corn tortillas fit the space perfectly. Pour in a little sauce, flop a tortilla into it, then start laying on whatever you want for filling. Pre-cooked seasoned meats like chicken, pulled pork, hamburger -- whatever. I used bite-sized bits of chicken that I quickly fried with salt, pepper and a sprinkle of liquid smoke. You can sprinkle on chopped onion, sweet or hot peppers, chopped olives or anything else that strikes your fancy. Then a sprinkle of shredded cheese, a drizzle of sauce and another tortilla. Repeat layers until you're out of filling ingredients, top off with final tortilla and a generous drizzle of sauce and a decorative sprinkle of shredded cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

To serve, I just cut the stack into 4 wedges, pie-style. Additional glops of sour cream or guacamole or salsa are optional. Bliss is unavoidable.

Inventing Hogmanay Traditions

I've been reading up on Hogmanay. It's about time, given that I'm mainly Scottish and Hogmanay is a uniquely Scottish celebration. Hogmanay is, is fact, the Scots word designating the last day of the year and the celebration extends into Ne'erday, a contraction for New Year Day. In other words, the Scots have their own take on doing the turn of the year celebrations, involving fireworks and music and lots of adult beverages and food and merriment. There is "first-footing" and gift giving and swinging fire balls and all kinds of wonderful stuff. Makes dropping the ball in Times Square look kind of tame.

I won't be swinging any fire balls but I decided, in honor of the occasion, I would institute a new food tradition in my household. After careful thought and particular attention to the muted growling from my tummy, I decided the perfect Hogmany dish would be -- tah dah! -- chicken enchiladas!

Okay. Enchiladas are not ordinarily associated with things Scottish, I'll admit that. If I used some Scotch Bonnet chili peppers in them, I might be stretching the connection hard enough to fit. Or if I could find my tape of bagpipe music, I could play that while eating the enchiladas. It only takes a little imagination to Scotchify this south-of-the-border dish. Not too much imagination, though. I did have a brief vision of haggis-stuffed enchiladas but decided that was a bit too advanced for my brand new tradition.

Anyway, the recipe I want to share with you is not for the enchiladas, per se, but for the enchilada sauce. This is tweaked from a recipe I found at Recipezaar. If you go there and type 109685 in the Search box at the top of the page, you'll be taken to the original recipe, which we're told comes from a woman who was born and raised in Mexico City. I figure that gives it the chops for authenticity, don't you?

My version netted me around 5 cups of sauce, which was 2 cups more than I needed. Not a problem -- I just poured the remainder in a quart canning jar and popped it in the freezer for later use. And this am da way it goes ...

HOMEMADE GEN-YOU-WINE ENCHILADA SAUCE

In medium-sized sauce pan, combine:
3 tablespoons chili powder
3-4 tablespoons flour (I used 4)
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin

Measure out 3 cups water. Pour in enough to make a sloppy paste. Set pan on medium heat, slowly add the rest of the water, stirring constantly. Keep stirring until mixture thickens. ("Thicken" is a relative term. It would coat the spoon but wasn't as thick as, say, gravy.) Add 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, stir in and remove from heat. Cover with lid until ready to use.

A note about the tomato sauce ... I only had a 6 ounce can of tomato paste. What I did was, I scooped the paste into a 2-cup measuring cup, added 2 cans-worth of water and a half-teaspoon of sugar to cut the acid and stirred it well. That gave me almost 2 cups of sauce, twice as much as needed for the recipe. However, we're told measurements for this recipe can be very flexible so I just used the whole 2 cups. Worked just fine.

No matter how creative you get with this sauce, don't leave out the cocoa! That's the secret ingredient. Very important.

As for the enchiladas, you can pretty much stuff them with whatever you happen to fancy. I poached a chicken breast in chicken broth and then shredded it with a fork. It's amazing how far a single chicken breast will go when it's been soundly forked. Then I tossed the chicken with about half a finely minced sweet onion, a couple of tablespoons of finely minced canned jalapeno peppers and about a cup of cottage cheese. This made enough stuffing for 8 enchiladas, with enough left over for me to eat like a salad as a reward once I got the goodies in the oven.

Ladle some of your sauce in a baking dish, soften your corn tortillas, 2 at a time, for 30 seconds in the microwave. Drag each tortilla through the sauce and plop some stuffing in the middle. Roll it up and place it in the baking dish. (You can use a dinner plate for the stuffing and rolling but I find it easier to just work right in the baking dish. You'll build the last enchiladas right on top of the ones you've already placed.)

Once they're all tucked in, pour sauce all over everything, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top and put in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

I'll tell you what ... as far as brand new traditions go, I think this one is a keeper. And who knows? Maybe one of these fine Hogmanays, I'll be brave enough -- or senile enough -- to actually do the haggis-stuffed enchilada.

Oh! Dear Coffee Mates -- have a fantastic Hogmanay and an even better Ne'erday!