Taco Stuffed Shells

Taco Stuffed Shells
From My Friend Laura's Grandma

For the first time since starting the blog back in August, I've been at a bit of a loss for recipes.  There's a million reasons - December is hectic, we recently acquired an adorable but time consuming new family member (Ralph, our new puppy - be on the lookout for pics), and I haven't spent much time in front of a computer, which is when I do most of my recipe stalking (most people Facebook stalk, I recipe stalk...ok I do both).  But probably the number one reason is that John has been traveling a lot for work, and at the end of the day cooking for one isn't as fun.  Once upon a time it was my main form of cooking, but over the past three years I've gotten used to cooking with two, for two.  It's still doing dishes with one - our marriage isn't that perfect.

Luckily, I have friends ready to step in!  I mentioned my blogging woes at a party over the weekend and my fabulous friend Laura jumped in with not only a fantastic recipe, but an offer to come over and make/eat it with me!  Pretty sweet deal, especially since this is the perfect weekday recipe.  It's super easy and the only ingredient I didn't have laying around was ground beef and the pasta shells.  I *almost* felt bad John missed this one...then I remember that our puppy has to go out every 6 hours and travelling for work = 8 hours of CONTINUOUS sleep...


Ingredients

• 12 jumbo pasta shells
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheese (we used a mix of chihuahua and cheddar, but pretty much anything would work)
• 3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips
• sour cream, to serve, optional
• green onions, to serve, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and toss with butter.  Set aside.
3. In a medium skillet cook beef over medium high, until browned.  Break up with a spoon while cooking.
4. Drain fat.
5. Add 1/4 cup water, taco seasoning, and cream cheese.  Stir to combine and melt cream cheese.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. 
7. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.  Spread a few tablespoons of the salsa across the bottom of the dish.
8. Divide beef mixture across the 12 shells and place in the baking dish. 
9. Top with remaining salsa, cover, and bake 30 minutes.
10. Remove cover, top shells with cheese and tortilla chips, and return to oven for 15 minutes, uncovered.
11. Serve topped with sour cream and green onions.

Serves 4.

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Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Probably one of the biggest things John and I have going for us as a couple is a mutual non-pickiness when it comes to food.  I mean, we both prefer good food, but as ingredients go, we're not opposed to much.  We use this to our advantage regularly in our quest to sample as much good food as possible.  For example, we almost always split food at restaurants, allowing us each to eat two entrees.  This strategy makes me happy ALMOST all the time.  Brunch at Feast, a restaurant we've been frequenting for years, is the exception.

Feast has, hands down, the best chilaquiles I have ever had.  We've tried them at countless other venues and nothing compares.  The only problem is that we can't find a single other half decent item on the brunch menu.  As a result, the same scene plays itself out time and time again.  We sit down, order chilaquiles and XYZ mediocre second dish, relax until the food comes, and then engage in an all out battle for more face time with the chilaquiles, alternating choking down the crappier dish and scarfing the as much chiliaquiles as possible before the other person demands a switch-back.  In theory we could just get two orders of chilaquiles, but it just feels too defeatist.

In an attempt to reduce our trips to Feast, and thus our morning stress, we've resorted to making our own version of chilaquiles at home.  While it's certainly no Feast, the version is pretty delicious and definitely satisfies our craving...at least for a little while!


Ingredients

• 4 oz Mexican chorizo (the tube of raw, crumbly stuff)
• ¼ of a white onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 2 dried chilis
• 1 cup of your favorite jarred salsa (something saucy like most jarred varieties, a pico de gallo won’t really work here)
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream
• ¼ tsp salt
• 30 Tostitos rounds tortilla chips (I guess they don't HAVE to be Tostitos, but I find that they perform best when baked)
• ¼ of a white onion, sliced
• ½ cup shredded chihuahua cheese, or a Mexican shredded cheese blend
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 green onion, sliced, for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chorizo in a cold skillet and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until cooked and fat is released.
3. Remove chorizo and drain over paper towels.  Leave drippings in pan.
4. Add onion, garlic, and whole dried chilis to drippings and turn heat up to medium-high.  Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. Add salsa, cream and salt to pan.  Turn heat down to low and simmer 10 minutes.
6. Remove both chilis and set aside.  Taste the sauce and decide if you want it hotter.  Chop up the reserved chilis and add back in the amount needed to reach desired level of heat.  We added one back in and tossed the other.
7. Spread 15 tortilla chips across the bottom of an ungreased baking dish.  Sprinkle the chips with ½ of the onion slices, ½ of the cooked chorizo, ½ of the sauce, and ½ of the cheese.
8. Add another layer of 15 tortilla chips, the remaining onion slices, chorizo, sauce and cheese.
9. Bake for 25 minutes.
10. When the chiliquilas are almost done baking heat butter in a small skillet over low heat.
11. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then pour them into the skillet.
12. Cook over low heat, stirring gently but constantly for about 5 minutes, until eggs are soft scrambled.
13. Remove chiliquilas from oven and top with eggs and green onions.

Serves 2-3.

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Chorizo Bean Dip

 

Chorizo Bean Dip
From Cooking Light 

 

We've got one last surprise entry from the book club extravaganza.  I call it a surprise because it was too busy getting its groove on in the oven to make the teaser picture I posted last week.  On top of that, the book club version was made following the Cooking Light recipe verbatim.  It was devoured at book club and we thought about posting it as is, but we had a hunch we could make it even better.

 

So we scrambled to find a reason to test out the improved recipe before I moved on from my series of book club posts.  Just as we were about to resign ourselves to a bean dip dinner for two on Friday night, opportunity came a knockin' in the form of a Bears game cook out.  The main change was swapping out Spanish chorizo for the raw, crumbled Mexican variety.  It makes for a much smoother texture and adds smokey chrorizo flavor to every bite.  Enjoy!

 

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz Mexican chorizo (it comes raw in a tube and you can squeeze it out and cook it kind of like ground beef)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Serrano peppers, or any fun hot pepper you want to try out, chopped (we removed about half the seeds, this depends on your chili and your preference for heat)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 3/4 cup Mexican cheese blend (we used reduced fat)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add chorizo crumbles, breaking up with a wooden spoon.  Saute for about 5-7 minutes or until cooked, stiring occasionally.  Remove chorizo from pan, set aside.
3. Using the same pan over medium-high heat, add onion and jalapeno to chorizo drippings.  Saute 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add salt, cumin, red pepper and garlic.  Saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.
5. Stir in broth and beans and bring to a boil.  Cook 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
6. Mash beans using a potato masher.  Stir in reserved chorizo.
7. Spread bean mixture in an 8x8 baking dish, coated with cooking spray.  Top beans with tomatoes and cheese.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melty and starting to brown.

Serves 6 (1/2 cup servings).

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