Well, we're all cooking at home and it's all about what we have on hand...
A couple days ago, I talked to my neighbor from our driveway as she was sitting in her car. "This stay at home stuff is really cramping my style. I'm used to running to the store everyday to pick up what I want to make for dinner!"
A bit later, Jenn called up for the recipe for the enchiladas that I made her the last time she was home. Then, I had used chicken, but the meat she had on hand was ground beef. No problem! I just told her to brown and drain it and go on with the recipe. I mentioned my earlier conversation with the thought that during this time, the thing to do is "shop" in your own refrigerator and pantry.
So, in this recipe, go ahead and use any meat or cheese that you have. No tomato sauce? Dilute a can of tomato paste with two cups of water or puree a can of diced tomatoes. No can of diced tomatoes? Chop up fresh ones. It's the spices that make this dish yummy and hopefully, they are in your home store! If you have a question about substitutions, please email me at yatesyummies@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!
Ingredients for 6 to 8 Red Sauce Enchiladas:
2 cups any kind of meat (shrimp, cooked chicken, browned ground beef, pulled pork)
6 to 8 tortillas (any size, flour or corn)
1 (15 oz,) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
3 cups shredded cheese (Colby jack, cheddar, Monterey Jack)
1/2 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons canned diced green chilies (or sub 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes)
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
Add 2 teaspoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the tomato sauce.
Stir it really well to combine the spices into the tomato sauce. Set aside.
In a bowl mix the meat, tomatoes, onions, green chilies, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 pepper.
Coat the bottom of a casserole baking dish with some of the tomato sauce mixture.
Brush or spread the inside of each tortilla with a bit of the sauce.
Place about 2/3 cup of the chicken mixture and 1/4 cup shredded cheese in each tortilla.
Roll each tortilla and place seam side down in baking dish. If you end up making more than six enchiladas, they could be crammed in lengthwise, below the rolled up tortillas.
Spoon the rest of the tomato sauce mixture over the enchiladas. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes.
Serve with garnishes, sour cream or a side salad. Dig in!
When we went down to Florida this winter, we had about 18 little one-pound packages of ground beef in our motor home freezer. We had split a cow with Roy’s brother and our home freezer was full of it. Having all that meat was perfect for making lots of burgers (and even for smoking meatloaf!), but after a while I needed a cure for hamburger boredom. Our next door site neighbor, Dave, is a genus when it comes to BBQ. He told me about a Fatty. It is supposed to be stuffed with what ever you fancy, wrapped in bacon and cooked in a smoker I decided to cheat by ditching the bacon and doing it on the grill- but it could easily be baked in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. Anyway, I had fun! The first time I did it, it looked perfect- but I didn’t take photos! The second time was a disaster and the third, mostly seen here, was average looking. I hope you have as much fun as I did with it. Let me know at yatesyummies.gmail.com.
What you need:
A ziplock plastic bag
A pair of scissors
At least a pound of ground beef
Lemon pepper
Garlic salt
Things to add such as spinach leaves, hard boiled eggs, olives - anything goes...
Directions:
Put the hamburger in a plastic bag.
Roll it from side to side, but not too thin- it's better not to roll it all the way up to the zip top.
Use a pair of scissors to cut the bag open, but leave the rolled out meat on the bag. Sprinkle the meat with the seasonings.
Let the plastic bag sort of aid you, as you start with one side and roll it up. Above is what happened when I rolled the meat out too thin.
This one worked out a little bit better! Sprinkle more seasoning on top before cooking.
Either bake the rolled up meat at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25-30 minutes, or transfer to a quarter sheet pan and place on a medium heat grill. After about 10 minutes, carefully roll over the "fatty" and let it cook on the other side. If you have a meat thermometer, it is done at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. If you aren't sure, cut into it and if it looks raw, put it back in the oven or on the grill.
Slice it and serve it up. It doesn't look pretty, but its pretty yummy!
