Enchilada Casserole with Goat Cheese and Mushrooms

We had some leftover turkey, and our son/farm hand suggested enchiladas. I had a recipe that I used when he was growing up, which was really just turkey and sauteed onions with corn tortillas and sauce, and that was all I was going to do. But he pitched in, and they turned out amazing. Now we make it this way all the time.  

Enchilada Casserole with Goat Cheese and Mushrooms 

Filling:
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, minced (optional)
8 ounces mushrooms (shitake, baby bellas, whatever looks delicious), chopped
1 Tbs. olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese (or feta or queso fresco)
2 cups leftover diced turkey, browned ground beef, or vegetarian protein source of your choosing ( I used homemade refried beans the other night, and it was delicious)

1 package corn tortillas

Sauce:
1/4 C olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. flour
3 Tbs. chili powder
1/2 # tomatoes (2 small/medium or 1 medium/large)
2 C water
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried oregano

Start the sauce in a pot with a diameter larger than the tortillas.  Trust me, it will make your life easier later on. Heat the olive oil, then stir in the garlic, flour, and chili powder. Stir this for a few minutes. In the meantime, put the tomatoes through the blender. Add the blended tomatoes, water, cumin, and oregano to the chili powder mixture.  Stir over heat until slightly thickened. Then turn the heat down and let it rest while you prepare the filling.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil, then add the onions. Saute for a few minutes until they start to turn translucent. Add the bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and mushrooms, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are done. Stir in the turkey, beans, or beef and let that heat for a few minutes. Take the turkey mixture off the stove and add the goat cheese.  Stir until it is melted in.

Now it's time to put it all together.


Put a little sauce on the bottom of an oblong casserole dish.  Dip the tortillas into the sauce (this is where you are glad that the pot is large enough to dip them in quickly and pull them out). Arrange tortillas on the bottom of the dish, to cover.  You may have to be a little creative about breaking up the tortillas to cover the corners or the gaps around the edges. The number of tortillas you use depends on the size of your dish.

Then add the filling.

Cover the filling with more tortillas (that have also been dipped in sauce). Pour more sauce over the top, making sure not to leave any tortilla sauceless. (You may have extra sauce, depending on the size of the dish and the number of tortillas.)

If you would like, you can cover the top with Mexican or cheddar cheese.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

If you would prefer to fill the tortillas individually, you can put the filling down the center of each tortilla (that has been dipped in sauce), then roll it up and place it into the casserole dish (which has a little sauce in it). Once you have aligned the enchiladas beautifully in the casserole dish, pour more sauce over the top, and sprinkle with cheese, if you like.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping - Pie that counts as a vegetable.

When I asked my son whether he wanted roasted sweet potatoes or sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving, he said he preferred casserole.  When I asked why, he said, "Because it's pie that counts as a vegetable." Okay, so it's very sweet and creamy like pumpkin pie, with a crunch topping that's nearly identical to the crumb crust I put on pie.  All that is lacking is the bottom crust.

So here's my version of Pie that Counts as a Vegetable, or otherwise known as:

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping

3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (somewhere between 3 smallish sweets or 1 very large one)
2 eggs
2 Tbs melted coconut oil (or butter)
3 Tbs honey (or maple syrup)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all this together, and put into a shallow casserole dish.

Topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup quick oats or rolled oats
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cut in the butter with brown sugar, cinnamon, and oats. Stir in the pecans.

Sprinkle topping evenly over the sweet potato mixture.

Bake 30 minutes at 350.

In case you wonder what happens if you use purple sweet potatoes....

Traditional Caprese Salad

So I found this recipe on Serious Eats.  I am not going to put in a pointer to it because the label has an f-bomb, and this is a classy establishment. I've given you enough hints so you can find the original recipe if you want to. Anyway, I am going to paraphrase.

Traditional Caprese Salad

2 # of a variety of  excellent homegrown tomatoes
12 oz. fresh mozzarella (if you can make it yourself with milk from the local creamery, all the better)
fresh basil
really good olive oil
fresh ground salt and pepper.

Slice or chunk the tomatoes and lay them decoratively on your serving dish. Grind salt directly on to those tomatoes. Tear (yes tear) the mozzarella, and tuck it artfully around the tomatoes. Tear the basil, and add those glorious bits of green to the colorful tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle with lots of olive oil. Grind pepper and salt on top.

So simple.  So good.

Real Tomato Soup

Many of us have warm feelings about canned tomato soup. It's a comfort food that many of us grew up with.  But what's in a can of soup? High fructose corn syrup! As the second ingredient! Yuck. I'd like something with fresh tomatoes, that tastes like real food.

I've been experimenting with recipes that capture the warm Sunday lunches of my youth. This is my favorite.

Real Tomato Soup

1 stick butter (or vegan alternative)
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 lbs tomatoes, cored and chopped
4 cups homemade stock, chicken or vegetable
1/4 C flour
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a 2 qt saucepan.  Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 2 - 3 minutes until they start to soften.  Add the flour, and stir until smooth and bubbly. Pour the stock in slowly, stirring constantly over medium high heat until the mixture is thickened - about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Blend.

You can add a cup of cream at this point, but I like to add a dollop of Greek yogurt
and sprinkle with chiffonade basil.