Chicken Enchiladas/Three Amigos Night

Dusty Bottoms:
Do you have anything here besides Mexican food?

My mom recently purchased Three Amigos on Blu-Ray, so we decided to watch that with a Mexican food themed dinner. Served? Chicken enchiladas (loose recipe below) with rice and refried beans, corn, and chips and salsa. The enchilada recipe was one I saw forever ago in a magazine. I remember changing some of the ingredients, then the next thing I knew I had forgotten the amounts. Now, my family just makes them to taste. After each ingredient listed below I typed in parenthesis about how much we used.

Chicken Enchiladas (Loose Recipe)
This amount made five enchiladas, baked in a 9x9 dish.

Cooked chicken breasts, chopped (we used 3 boneless)
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 6 ounces)
Yellow onion (1 small)
Sour cream (about 6 ounces)
Cilantro, fresh (little less than a 1/3 cup, finely chopped)
Whole wheat tortillas (five)
Cooking Spray
Sour cream, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, or whatever else you would prefer for toppings.

Coat cooking dish with spray. Combine first five ingredients thoroughly. Spoon mixture into tortillas. Spray with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

The original recipe makes 8 enchiladas:
3 cups cooked chicken breast, pulled
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Mr. Flugelman: Do you know what "nada" means?
Dusty Bottoms: Isn't that a light chicken gravy?

Lucky Day: Dusty, how do you like your bat?
Dusty Bottoms: Medium rare.

Bartender: We don't have beer. Just tequila.
Ned Nederlander: What's tequila?
Bartender: Uh, it's like beer.

New Orleans with the Fam

Celebration in the Oaks

Celebration in the Oaks: Geaux Saints!

Celebration in the Oaks

Sailing on Lake Pontchartrain

Taking a break to enjoy the sunset

J, manly

Bliss.

Jeremy's Omelets Redux

Ingredients for one omelet:
Four egg white and one egg yolk
Diced vegetables: red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, tomato, garlic, chives
Cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese
Jalapenos (optional)
Salt and pepper
Strawberries and chives for garnish



Directions: Whisk eggs with salt and pepper. Pour into greased skillet (make sure to use a smaller skillet). Add the diced vegetables and optionally, jalapenos. As the egg begins to cook more thoroughly add cheese on top.
Fold set egg over. Let cheese melt and egg finish cooking. Plate with strawberries and chopped chives for garnish.




-TJ & JJ

J working his magic.

Garnish.

The process.

Yumminess.

Voila!

Christmas Cheer

J and I are on the road December 9th - December 26th. We spent our last evening in the western suburbs of Chicago in downtown St. Charles. I also bought a new camera so...here are a few pictures. :)

Lu.

Going out!

St

Gingerpeople :)

White Bean Chicken Chili

Made this tonight and it felt so good to be cooking again! It was served with french bread and spring greens with pear-champagne-gorgonzola dressing (thanks Trader Joe's!) Blackberry cobbler was for dessert.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

Canola oil (enough to lightly coat bottom of chili pot)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, shopped
2 4-ounce cans of green chili peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin, ground
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground
1 carton (32 ounces) low-sodium chicken brot
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
3 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
Salt to taste
Shredded pepper jack cheese, to taste/garnish

Directions:

Add oil to the chili pot to coat the bottom. Turn heat to medium-low. Add onion and cook until it begins to turn translucent. Mix in the garlic, green chilis, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Let heat for a moment.
Add the chicken broth, cannellini beans, and chicken. Simmer on medium-low 20 minutes, and stir it occasionally.
Salt to taste. J helped me with that as I have no concept of taste at the moment (boo, sinuses!)

Serve piping hot off the stove with some pepper jack cheese on top. Mmmm...

-TJ

New York, New York!

This past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday J and I traveled to explore his old stomping grounds in NYC. Here's a photo blog of our favorite spots...

J is a huge Seinfeld fan and so..what better to do than eat at Tom's Restaurant!

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Cyclist in Central Park (J and I walked the whole thing back and forth and up and down).

Autumn colors in Central Park.

Bethesda Fountain, Central Park.

J and I on the Literary Walk, Central Park.

Brooklyn Bridge at sunset. Manhattan side.

Sunset in New York from the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park (a branch of the Met).

View of Tryon Park from the Cloister.

J in Tryon Park.

Enjoying the crunchy leaves!

Loving the green leaves!

At Gray's Papaya, a hot dog joint with fun fruit drinks (I had the coconut "champagne").

American Museum of Natural History.

Triceratops.

Hubble's heartbeat installation in laser on the Hayden Planetarium Sphere.

Grilled portobellos salad, giardiniera spaghetti, and two sangrias, please! At Carmine's...and then trivia at Abbey Pub! 

Cross Street Market/Federal Hill

Today J and I set out to explore another Baltimore neighborhood: Federal Hill...home of the Cross Street Market. At the market one can find fresh produce, seafood, flowers, and other market-type items, as well as a few eateries (specifically one named Nick's). Lucky for J, the special at Nick's was a pound of steamed shrimp. :) For me they had crabcakes! 

After dinner J and I walked over to the hill for which the neighborhood is named. From the top of Federal Hill there is a perfect view of the city and an access to walk all the way back around the Inner Harbor.

 

Steamed crabs for sale at the Cross Street Market.

J and his shrimp.

Best shrimp ever.

I <3 crab cakes.

Statue of Samuel Smith on top of Federal Hill. J and I learned about him at Fort McHenry...he was the one who commanded the defense of Baltimore against the British in the War of 1812.

Baltimore from the south side of the Inner Harbor.

:)

Panorama of downtown Baltimore from the top of Federal Hill. Click to enlarge.