Mexican Lasagna

Even though I have a number of different cooking websites that I refer to on occasion, I would have to say that my all time favorite is probably For The Love Of Cooking. When I am not sure what to make for dinner, that is usually the first place I go for ideas. While I sometimes make variations of her recipes, or simply use recipes as an inspiration for something that I want to make, I also follow some recipes exactly, like I did with this one. I loved this meal. It took me about 25 minutes to prepare and then another 30 to bake, but it was very easy and tasted great. Here is a link to the original recipe.

Ground Beef, prepared as taco meat
Onions, chopped
Salsa
4 flour tortillas
Refried beans, Mexican style
Cheddar cheese, grated
Black beans
Frozen whole kernal corn, thawed
Tomatoes, diced
Black olives, sliced
Green onions, sliced
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Dice and prepare all vegetables for the lasagna. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and break up until it is in small pieces. Add onions and seasoning (although I used the combination of spices on the original recipe, I think regular taco seasoning would be just as good - maybe even better). Cook until the meat is done and the onion is tender, about 6-7 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Add salsa to the bottom of the baking dish and coat evenly. Next add a flour tortilla (trim the sides, if necessary, in order to fit into the dish). Layer all other ingredients, spreading salsa over the top. Then, add another flour tortilla and repeat layering process 2-3 times.

On top of the final tortilla, spread a layer of salsa, cheddar cheese, and black olives. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted and begins to turn golden brown.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about my family Halloween traditions. One of my favorite parts of Halloween was decorating sugar cookies. My mom usually made a whole batch of cookies shaped like pumpkins. With orange icing, chocolate chips and candy corn, we all decorated jack-o-lantern cookies to our hearts content. I think I have probably only made sugar cookies one other time in my whole life, so I found a recipe in a cookbook that was compiled by ladies from my church about 10 years ago. I really like to use that one when I want to try a new recipe because I always figure that people wouldn't have shared a recipe unless they thought it was really good. I cut this recipe in half. It is also important to note that I made the dough and then left it in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap, until the next day when it was time to make the cookies. It worked just fine. These cookies turned out light and fluffy (for lack of a more descriptive phrase), kind of like those ones that they sell in the grocery store that are so popular. They were unique because of their almond flavor. Everyone said they really liked them.

2 cups sugar
2 cups margarine
6 eggs
4 tsp vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
7 cups flour
6 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each, and then add the remaining ingredients. When mixed, roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Beef with Broccoli

Over the past few months I have been totally swamped with work. As a freelance writer and translator, sometimes things are busy and sometimes they are slow, but when they are busy I have to take advantage of the opportunity to earn a little bit of extra money. So, even though I have been cooking and photographing some delicious meals, I haven't spent very much time posting them on the blog. Fortunately (or unfortunately - depending on your point of view), things have slowed down a little bit lately so I have time to share a few more recipes. This is a beef with broccoli that I made sometime last month. It was just another step in my plan to become an expert chinese food chef, which hasn't really worked out very well for me so far. But I still really liked the meal and, interestingly, I felt like the leftovers were even better than the original dinner. I have the source recipe that I used, which I think might have come from about.com (sorry - it has been so long I just don't remember).

1 lb thin flank steaks, cut into strips

Marinade:

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Sauce:

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

2 Tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp water

Other:

1 cup peanut oil

1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp water

Combine the beef and marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag. Make sure that the beef is thoroughly coated and marinate for at least 30 minutes. If you marinate it for any longer than that, put it in the refrigerator. Prepare the sauce in a separate bowl and set aside. Steam the broccoli. Preheat the oil in a wok or large skillet on medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes, or until the beef is almost entirely cooked. Remove the beef from the wok and drain on paper towels. Pour excess oil out of the wok. If necessary, add 1-2 Tbsp more oil. Add broccoli and beef to the wok. Stir in sauce and the cornstarch mixture and continue stirring until it has thickened. Serve over rice.

Shredded Beef Flautas

Over the past few months, I have expanded my repertoire of Mexican cuisine considerably. Actually it all started when I ordered the "Mexican pack" from Bountiful Baskets at the end of August. It was really fun to make interesting foods that I hadn't ever tried before. Also, I have been surprised at how easy it is to make things like taquitos and chimichangas from scratch - for some reason it never occurred to me that I could make them at home rather than buying them in the freezer section at the grocery store - and I have to say that I highly recommend it. These flautas are very similar to taquitos. The main difference is that taquitos are wrapped in a corn tortilla and flautas are wrapped in a flour tortilla.

1 - 1 1/2 lb. chuck roast
1 cup beef broth
cumin
oregano
coriander
salt and pepper
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
flour tortillas
cheddar cheese

You can bake this meat in the oven or in a slow cooker. If you do it in the oven, set the oven at about 325° and let it cook for 3-4 hours, checking occasionally. If the amount of liquid is low, add more broth. In a slow cooker, it should be cooked on high for at least 3-4 hours or on low for at least 6-8 hours. Once the meat is thoroughly cooked, use two forks to shred it. Add additional seasoning if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 375° and begin preparing the flautas. Place a small amount of cheese in the center of the tortilla. Top with shredded beef and roll the tortilla. Place each flauta seam-side down on a well-greased cookie sheet. Before baking them, brush oil over the top of each flauta (you can also use cooking spray). Bake for 8-10 minutes and then turn them over and bake for 5-6 more minutes or until golden brown. Serve with guacamole, sour cream, and salsa.

Strawberry Jello Cake

A few weeks ago, our church had a Jello festival. There was a Jello contest that I thought about entering, so I looked online for good recipes. I found this one on what I think was the official Jello recipe website. Unfortunately, by the time I selected this recipe, there wasn't enough time to go buy the ingredients and make it before the competition began. So I saved the recipe for later. I ended up making it for a Sunday dinner with my brother and sister-in-law and it was a huge hit! Although I adapted it somewhat, it is pretty much the same.

Crust:

2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

10 Tbsp melted butter

6 tbsp granulated sugar

White layer:

12-16 strawberries, quartered

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 cup whipped cream

1 cup powdered sugar

Red layer:

8 oz pkg strawberry Jello (prepared according to Jello jiggler directions)

Combine crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Chill 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring water for Jello to a boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, stir in Jello powder until it is completely dissolved, then remove from heat. Leave the Jello in the pan while you are making and chilling the white layer. This will allow the Jello to cool somewhat and begin to thicken slightly. 

Proceed with the white layer by whipping the cream cheese with a hand mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Beat in the powdered sugar, then the whipped cream. Remove crust from refrigerator and spread strawberries over the entire crust. Top with the white layer. Chill for another 15 minutes.

Pour Jello over the white layer and return to the refrigerator. Allow it to set for approximately 3 hours before serving.

Freezer Fresh Green Beans

This past Saturday we also bought fresh green beans at the Farmer's Market. They gave us TONS of them and, after they sat in the refrigerator for a few days, I realized that we wouldn't be able to eat all of them before they started to get old and wrinkly. So before that happened I read up on how to preserve fresh green beans in the freezer. It is actually very easy. 

Green beans

boiling water

Ziploc bag

Rinse green beans and remove stems with scissors; cut to desired length. Heat water in a saucepan (or larger if you prefer) until it comes to a rolling boil. Blanche green beans for 2-3 minutes, then run them under cold water. Dry before placing in plastic bag or freezer container. Leave in freezer until you are ready to eat them.Vegetables can be stored at 0° for approximately 5-7 months.

Supposedly, blanching helps to retain the green color and fresh flavor. That is why it is important before you freeze most vegetables.

Coconut Chip Cookies

I was trying to come up with a new type of cookies to make for a church activity I had signed up to help with and I came up with the great idea to add coconut to my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was very excited about the new recipe I had "invented" when I realized that my friend, Rachel, had made chocolate chip coconut cookies for the activity too! How did she steal that idea right out of my brain? So apparently I wasn't the first person ever to come up with the recipe, but maybe I was the first to add peanut butter chips to it.... Probably not - with so many aspiring chefs out there, it is hard to create a recipe that is truly unique. Nevertheless, these cookies turned out AMAZING. I was actually kind of shocked that they turned out so well.

1 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp hot water
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup sweetened coconut
2 cups flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Cream shortening and sugars together. Dissolve baking soda in water and stir into the creamed mixture. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each. Stir in all other ingredients. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes at 375°