Enchilada Casserole - Enchilada Cazuela

My Enchilada Casserole came on the heels of a binge of enchilada making. I made multiple batches of cheese enchiladas, chicken enchiladas, shredded beef enchiladas.

 
Then after a break from all that, I found myself craving enchiladas again, but not craving that much work. I mean, it's easy enough to roll a dozen enchiladas, but it can get a bit tedious.

I have a natural inclination to make things that take a lot of time, but I have other things I want to do with my limited time and energy right now, so I sat myself down and gave myself a good talking-to ...

... about streamlining, simplifying, coming up with ways to get the flavors I'm craving with less time and effort. The result, this Enchilada Casserole. Made with ground beef. Carne molida. One step.

And I decided to use a couple of other busy-day timesavers, frozen chopped onions and canned diced green chiles. Of course, you're welcome to chop your own onion and chiles, but remember, I was streamlining! 

I couldn't compromise on the sauce though, and homemade is really not that much trouble. It's a pretty basic and simple sauce that packs a lot of flavor. And you can adjust it however you like. If a canned sauce has too much of something for your taste, you can't do anything about it.

Do you love casseroles?

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Enchilada Casserole

(Makes 4 to 6 servings)

The Beef

1 pound (16 ounces/454 grams) ground beef (I use organic grassfed 85% lean)

1/2 cup frozen chopped onions

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 4-ounce (113 grams) can diced mild green chiles

The Sauce

3 tablespoons (1.5 ounces/43 grams) unsalted butter 

3 tablespoons (27grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon oregano

3 tablespoons (2 ounces/57 grams) tomato paste 

2 1/2 cups (20 fluid ounces/591 ml) lower sodium beef or chicken broth

The Enchiladas

10 ounces (283 grams) cheese, shredded (I use half jack and half medium cheddar)

9 6-inch white corn tortillas

4 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 In large skillet, cook the ground beef, breaking it up and browning it well. Remove the fat from the pan by your favorite means: covering pan with lid and draining it off, tilting the pan and spooning it out with a large metal spoon, or using a turkey baster. Then add the onions and salt, and cook for a few minutes. Then stir in the diced chiles. Remove from the heat.

2 In another skillet or wide saucepan, melt the butter and blend in the flour, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, and oregano. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the tomato paste until smooth and fragrant. Whisk in the broth. Bring the sauce to a simmer. When it begins to bubble, continue cooking and whisking for about 10 minutes, until sauce is thickening. Remove from the heat. 

3 Spread 1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces/59 ml) of the sauce in a lightly greased 11x7x1.5-inch baking dish.

4 Heat a griddle (my square griddle can cook 2 tortillas at a time), put 2 little 1/2 teaspoon puddles of oil (about the size of a quarter) on the hot griddle. When oil is hot, lay down the 2 tortillas and cook for about a minute, turning them several times. Repeat to lightly cook all 9 tortillas. Stack them neatly and cut in half. 

5 Dip each tortilla half in the sauce as you assemble the casserole. Place 4 halves with cut edges against the long sides of the baking dish and then 2 halves down the middle. Top the first layer of tortillas with 1/3 of the meat mixture (about 1 cup), then 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Make second layer of tortillas, meat, and cheese. For the third layer, tortillas and meat, then pour over the remaining sauce, and top with cheese. Cover and refrigerate until an hour before baking time.

6 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. Bake for about 45* minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with sour cream, a squeeze of lime, chopped cilantro, or sliced green onions. Serve with Mexican Rice, Pinto Beans or Refried Beans, and Broccoli Salad.

* If you're baking the enchiladas right after assembling them, just bake them for about 25 minutes, or until bubbly.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean

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Ham and Mushroom Quiche - Foolproof All-Butter Pastry Tutorial

Pie crust is my "thing," and I make it by all sorts of methods, depending on my mood: food processor, stand mixer, by hand in a bowl, by hand on the worktop, with a pastry blender, with a bench scraper, with my fingers, you name it. Sometimes with water, sometimes milk or soured milk or buttermilk, sometimes egg, sometimes baking powder, vinegar or lemon juice. But always with unsalted butter. I love an all-butter pie crust. 

At one time or another I've made pie crust with shortening, part shortening and part butter, lard, part lard and part butter, even oil. But nothing is better than butter. I've been on a pie kick lately and decided my fingers needed a break, so I'd use the food processor. But I was itching to try something different, and I remembered that I'd heard years ago of a different food processor method but never got around to trying it. So, I adapted my usual (well, most usual) two-crust recipe to that method. And ...

I liked it! So, we've been eating lots of pies around here. Then I decided it had been far too long since I'd made a quiche and, working with what I had on hand, came up with my favorite quiche yet! Ham, onion, red bell pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, cheddar cheese. You can make substitutions, as long as you keep the total add-ins to not more than 2 cups of cooked items. Otherwise, you won't be able to use all the custard filling, no matter how high you fluted your pie shell; and you know how much I hate food waste!

Rather than tell you here what is so different about this flour-butter paste method, I'll invite you to read the directions for it below. And let me know what you think. Have you tried this method? If not, do! And make the quiche while you're at it. Don't know why, but springtime always seems like the right time for quiche!

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Ham and Mushroom Quiche & Foolproof All-Butter Pastry

The Pastry

(for two pie shells or one double-crust pie)

2 1/2 dip-and-sweep cups (12.5 ounces/354 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces/227 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices

5 tablespoons (2.5 fluid ounces/74 ml) ice water plus 1 tablespoon (0.5 fluid ounces/15 ml) apple cider vinegar

The Quiche

(makes one 9-inch quiche)

1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

8-ounce package (227 grams) mushrooms, chopped 

3/4 cup (4 ounces/113 grams) julienned ham

1/4 cup (1.25 ounces/38 grams) chopped onion

1/4 cup (1.25 ounces/38 grams) chopped red bell pepper

1/2 medium zucchini (3 ounces/85 grams) sliced

3 large eggs

1/2 + 1/8 cup (5 fluid ounces/148 ml) heavy cream

1/2 + 1/8 cup (5 fluid ounces/148 ml) milk

1/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper, divided

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 packed cup (4 ounces/113 grams) cheddar (or ...) cheese, shredded

1 Weigh (my kitchen scale) and measure flour, sugar, and salt in 2- to 2.5-quart mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously for about 30 seconds to "sift." With food processor's metal blade in place, scoop out half (1 1/4 cups) the flour mixture into the work bowl of the food processor (another 11-cup food processor). Spread the butter slices evenly over the fairly even flour mixture. Pulse until no dry flour remains and mixture is starting to form clumps of dough, about 25 to 30 one-second pulses. Don't get hung up on counting the number of pulses, just watch for the clumping to begin. With a silicone spatula, spread dough evenly around the work bowl. Sprinkle with the remaining flour and pulse until the dough is just barely broken up, about 5 1-second pulses.

 

2 Transfer the dough back to the 2- to 2.5-quart mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes or so before proceeding. Sprinkle the dough with the water-vinegar mixture and use the spatula to fold and press the dough until it comes together into a ball.

3 Turn the dough out, dividing onto two pieces of plastic wrap and flatten each slightly into a 4- to 5-inch round disk. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. You can even freeze the dough, wrapped well, for up to a month. To defrost the dough, move it from freezer to refrigerator for one day before using it. Let thoroughly chilled dough stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes for easier rolling.

Note: If you're making two pie shells, make the disks the same size. If you're making a double-crust pie, make one disk a little larger for the bottom crust. For a 9-inch double-crust pie (I always use the classic 9-inch Pyrex pie plate), I roll the bottom crust into a 13-inch circle and the top crust into an 11-inch circle. 

4 For single-crust pie: On lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 13 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch or so thick. Transfer the dough to the pie plate, pressing the dough (but not stretching it) to fit the pie plate, getting down into the corners, with a half- to one-inch overhang (trim with knife or scissors, and save in case you need to patch a little hole after the blind baking). Cover with the reserved piece of plastic wrap and chill for 10 minutes before fluting the edge. Cover and return to refrigerator while the oven heats up. Preheat oven to 375F/190C/Gas5. Line chilled pie shell with a square of foil and fill with pie weights (baking beans, in UK). I use two boxes of ceramic pie weights that store neatly in a 200-gram Twinings tea tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove pie weights. Prick the pastry bottom all over with a fork. Bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown. 

For double-crust pie: On lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the bottom crust dough to 13 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch or so thick. Transfer the dough to the pie plate, pressing the dough (but not stretching it) to fit the pie plate with a half- to one-inch overhang (trim with knife or scissors). Cover with the reserved piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate. Roll out top crust dough to 11 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch or so thick and place it on a rimless baking sheet; cover with reserved plastic wrap and refrigerate. Make pie filling. Then assemble pie and bake as directed. 

And now, to the quiche!

5 In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the mushrooms, ham, onion, and bell pepper, adding more olive oil as needed. Use 1/8 teaspoon of the salt, 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper, and all the marjoram. Be sure all the liquid has evaporated. Cook the zucchini slices separately. Let cool a bit.

6 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. Into the fully baked pie shell, put a third of the cheese, half of the ham and vegetables (except the sliced zucchini), a third of the cheese, other half of the ham and vegetables. Pour in the filling. Top with the remaining cheese and the zucchini slices. Set on a parchment-lined 15x10x1-inch baking sheet. Bake for about 50 to 70 minutes, or until it tests done. A slight wobble in the center is fine, but it should not be wet. The reason there's quite a time range given is because of the variables: your oven, how well cooked (moisture removed) the vegetables were, and so on. 

Note: It's always good to keep an aluminum pie crust shield handy in case your edges are overbrowning.

7 Let quiche stand for 20 to 25 minutes before slicing and serving.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees at no cost to you by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean

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Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is one of those classic dishes that seems to go in and out of fashion. It is said to have been invented in 1891 by French chef Charles Briere while in the employ of a Russian household. 

The first recipe for Beef Stroganoff in an English language cookbook was in 1932. It became very popular in the US after World War II, then again in the 1960s and at other points over the years. And it appears to be having a moment now, at least at my house. 

Various cuts of beef can be used for the dish to suit different budgets and schedules—meaning the less expensive cuts require longer cooking. I didn't have time for extended cooking to tenderize a cheaper cut, and since I was only making it for two, I used a boneless beef ribeye steak. If you really want to push the boat out, tenderloin or filet mignon is a good choice.

I decided years ago to cook the steak whole and then slice it—rather than the usual slice-and-then-cook method—for two reasons: 1. It's too easy to overcook those slices, and 2. searing the whole steak develops better browning for great fond and flavor without the risk of overcooking and toughening that expensive beef. If you're using a tougher cut that requires long cooking, slice the steak before browning. 

When was the last time you made Beef Stroganoff? As with other dishes I love, I tend to forget about it for a while and then make it frequently for a time, then it seems to "fall out of rotation" until it occurs to me again. I'm making it again this week!

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 Beef Stroganoff

(Serves 2 or 3)

1 12- to 16-ounce (340 to 454 grams) boneless beef ribeye steak, trimmed of excess fat

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided (including noodle cooking water)

3/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided

1/4 cup diced or sliced yellow onion

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 of 12-ounce package (4 ounces/113 grams) wide egg noodles

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces/59 ml) brandy

1 cup (8 fluid ounces/237 ml) lower sodium beef broth

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 Add 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil to thoroughly preheated skillet, continue heating until oil shimmers, and cook the patted dry, salted (1/8 teaspoon) and peppered (1/4 teaspoon) steak to medium rare; it will cook further after being sliced and added to the sauce. Remove to cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. 

2 In 2- to 3-quart saucepan, start boiling 1 quart of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

3 Drain off most of the fat from pan, and add onion, cooking for about 5 minutes. Add butter, mushrooms, 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and the Worcestershire sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, slice the rested steak about 1/8 inch thick across the grain; set aside. And stir the noodles into the rapidly boiling salted water; cook for length of time specified on the package.

4 Sprinkle the flour over the onion and mushrooms and cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Stir in the brandy and beef broth and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until thickening. Stir in the tomato paste and mustard.

5 Just before serving, stir in the sour cream, then the sliced steak. Cook over low heat just long enough to get heated through and steak to be to your preferred doneness; do not overcook and toughen the meat. Taste and adjust seasoning.

6 You can either add the cooked and drained noodles to the stroganoff or add the teaspoon of butter to the drained noodles and serve the stroganoff over a bed of buttered noodles. Garnish with minced fresh flat-leaf parsley.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean

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Cheese Enchiladas with Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce

Cheese enchiladas—one of my favorite comfort food meals—is the perfect thing to have on the occasion of my 13th blogiversary! Can't believe I haven't posted this before. 

And I can't believe I didn't take a pic of the enchiladas after they were baked! Sorry. They were so pretty!

I like to use a combination of Monterey Jack and medium cheddar cheeses, freshly grated. And, for me, homemade sauce is a must. If you've always used canned sauce, you'll be surprised at how quick, easy, and better homemade sauce is.

The enchiladas can be made ahead and refrigerated until an hour before serving time or baked right after assembling. You'll find baking times for both in step 6. 

After 10 years of posting weekly, I switched to posting every other week, which worked well for 2 1/2 years. Then I went to every three weeks, but I'm finding life so full that those three weeks fly by in a blur. Now at the 13-year mark, I've decided to post monthly, on the second Thursday of every month. 

If you join my Followers (in the sidebar, just above the Follow Me on Twitter button), you'll receive updates of this blog's posts in your Reading List on Blogger .com. Or you can just mark it on your calendar. 

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And, again, sorry I didn't take a picture of the 

baked enchiladas for you. But if you could have 

smelled them, you'd see why I wanted to 

dive right in without the usual blog photo shoot! 

Cheese Enchiladas

(Makes 12)

The Sauce

3 tablespoons (1.5 ounces/43 grams) unsalted butter 

3 tablespoons (27 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

2 1/2 cups (20 fluid ounces/591 ml) lower sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)

The Enchiladas

8 ounces (227 grams) medium or mild cheddar cheese, shredded

8 ounces (227 grams) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 

12 6-inch white corn tortillas

About 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 In skillet, melt the butter and blend in the flour, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, and oregano. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the tomato paste until smooth and fragrant. Whisk in the broth. Bring the sauce to a simmer. When it begins to bubble, continue cooking and whisking for about 10 minutes, until sauce is thickening. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from the heat.

2 Combine the two cheeses and set aside 4 ounces/113 grams (1 packed cup) of the cheese mixture to top the filled and sauced enchiladas.

3 Spread 1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces/118 ml) of the sauce in a lightly greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish.

4 Heat a griddle (my square griddle can cook 2 tortillas at a time), put 2 little 1/2 teaspoon puddles of oil (about the size of a quarter) on the hot griddle. When oil is hot, lay down the 2 tortillas and cook for about a minute, turning them several times. Repeat to lightly cook all 12 tortillas. 

5 Spread a tablespoon of sauce on a dinner plate, lay the cooked tortilla on the plate, spread on a tablespoon of sauce, spread a line of shredded cheese mixture, about 3 tablespoons, a heaping packed 1/8 cup (1 ounce/28 grams) across the tortilla, roll tightly, and place seam side down in baking dish, making two rows of six in the dish. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Cover and refrigerate until an hour before baking time.

6 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. Bake for about 45* minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream and a squeeze of lime; garnish with cilantro or sliced green onions.

* If you're baking the enchiladas right after assembling them, just bake them for about 25 minutes.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean

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Lemon Cakes with Raspberry Sauce

Lemon Cakes—or Lemon Cupcakes, if you don't have the cannelés pan—look a little "dressy" without having to go to the mess and bother of making icing and getting out the piping bag and all that. Making a little batch of raspberry sauce is a doddle.

I was in the mood for Lemon Drizzle Cake, but I wanted to experiment with other uses for my new cannelés pan that has barely had time to cool off in the month I've had it. It has turned out batch after batch of perfect Cannelés. 

Anticipating my 13th blogiversary next month here at Delightful Repast, I was in the mood for something a little special, a little festive. Lemon Cakes with Raspberry Sauce and Whipped Cream filled the bill nicely. I hope you'll make them soon.

For the first ten years of Delightful Repast, I posted every Thursday. Then I went to every other Thursday, then every third Thursday. Well, I'm going to reward myself for keeping this lark going for 13 years by going to monthly posting, the second Thursday of every month. 

I hope you'll carry on with me monthly, marking it on your calendar or however you remind yourself of things. Or just come back every week and read one of more than 600 posts. Wishing you a delightful 2023!

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Lemon Cakes

(Makes 12)

1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg white, room temperature
1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces/118 ml) milk, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dip-and-sweep cup (5 ounces/142 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces/149 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces/71 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. Prepare* the cannelés pan. Or put 2½-inch paper bake cups in a standard muffin tin. In small bowl, lightly combine the egg and yolk, a quarter of the milk, and the vanilla extract.

* You can use a baking spray—not a cooking spray—that contains flour or do what I do: grease (with Crisco shortening) and flour each of the 12 molds. Cooking sprays cause a gummy film to eventually build up on nonstick pans and ruins them. 

2 In medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for a minute to "sift." Add the softened butter and remaining milk. Mix on low speed until combined. With mixer on medium-high speed, beat for a minute and a half. Scrape the bowl.

3 Beat in the egg mixture in three batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape the bowl and, with spatula, stir in lemon juice and zest (I do it by hand because zest tends to get tangled up in the beaters).

4 Using a 1/4-cup measure as a scoop, divide the batter evenly among the 12 molds. Fill each with a scant (or level) 1/4 cup of batter, then scrape the bowl and spoon it in. Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes or until they are golden and one in the center tests done with a toothpick.

5 Cool in the cannelés pan for 5 minutes before turning them out to cool completely on a wire rack for an hour.

Raspberry Sauce

(Makes about 3/4 cup)

1 10-ounce package frozen whole raspberries unsweetened

1/4 cup (1.75 ounces/50 grams) sugar

1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces/59 ml) water

1 tablespoon (0.5 fluid ounce/15 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring all the ingredients to a boil for 2 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, all the while stirring frequently.

2 With a silicone spatula, press the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Cover and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least an hour.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support.

Jean

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