January 3, 2011

Today was (sort of) back to normal, and we began with the normal breakfast routine. Cereal for the kids, toast for mom, and eggs for Steve. Yes, he gets eggs and toast most every morning. Never let him tell you he's neglected. Then I took the kids sledding again. Partly because we forgot Storm's leash when we left in a hurry yesterday, and partly because I felt bad about the day being cut short. Sledding was enjoyed by all, even Lucas who went down the (biggish) hill all by himself. Storm tried to herd the sleds, hysterical. Also enjoyed was the hot chocolate we had when we got home. To make mix 2 Tbs cocoa and 1 Tbs sugar in a mug, heat 1 c per serving milk in a measuring cup in the microwave and pour 1 c into each mug and stir. I top it with homemade whipped cream, which the boys assure me is better than marshmallows. Can't beat that.
Dinner was cheese enchiladas. Enchiladas verde to be precise. This is my quick, easy, midweek enchilada recipe. You will need 1 lg jar salsa verde, 12 small corn tortillas, 1 lb shredded cheese (monterey jack), vegetable oil, sour cream, cilantro, and 4 anaheim (or similar) chilis. First, roast the chiles. Here in the southwest you can buy excellent local fresh roasted chiles in the fall and I usually buy a ton and freeze them, but if I don't have any on hand this is how I do it. You could substitute canned ones, but it wouldn't be nearly as good. Buy large, mild, chiles and roast them it's super easy. You can probably order roasted, frozen hatch chiles online, or call me in September. Anyway, put the chiles under the broiler and turn every couple minutes until blackened. Put them into a ziplock bag and seal it. Let them sit for 5 or 10 minutes. Take them out, peel the skin off, cut the top off and remove the seeds. Cut each chile into 3 strips. Then put a little bit of oil in a skillet and heat it over med-high, put enough salsa into the bottom of a casserole dish to coat the bottom (too much is better than too little). Set yourself up an assembly line and fry each tortilla in the oil, both sides, to soften it. The tortilla should have little air bubbles after a minute or so in the pan, remove to a paper towel lined plate. Lay a strip of chile on the tortilla and top with a little, or a lot, of melted cheese, roll it up and put it into the pan. Repeat until all the enchiladas have been rolled. Top with more salsa, don't make them swim in it, just enough to decently coat the enchiladas, and a little more cheese (I use about a pound in all, you could get by with about half that). Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted, 20-30 minutes. Top with sour cream and a little chopped cilantro. Don't squeeze the rolled enchiladas together too tight or they'll be hard to serve, also do not substitute flour tortillas for the corn, they turn to mush and the corn have a flavor that really works here.
I served them with a favorite dish of ours, black bean salad. I improvised this from one my dad makes. In a bowl combine 1 lb thawed, frozen, corn kernels, 2 cans drained and rinsed black beans, 1 large diced red onion and about a bunch of chopped cilantro (I buy a big bunch then hold some for the enchiladas). Mix. In a measuring cup combine 1/3 c vegetable oil, 2 Tbs rice wine vinegar, many (or a few) dashes hot sauce, and the juice of ½ a lemon. Stir and drizzle over salad, toss. Yum, keeps for days in the fridge. Occasionally in the summer I do this with beans cooked from dried and roasted corn, which is amazing, we eat it by the bowlful. It is also an excellent potluck dish.
Reactions were good. Despite a big lunch and afternoon snacks both boys ate a bunch. Tortillas and cheese are a winning combination. The black bean salad is always a hit. Evert ate two helping of salad and two enchiladas. Lucas ate about half his black beans and half his enchilada. The local chiles tend to have some heat to them, and both kids thought dinner was just spicy enough. Steve and I went back for seconds. There are just a couple leftover, and they're really good leftover, I should have thought to double the recipe.