Beans Rancheros

What do I like to do with eggs? Top them on everything! I realized that when Caroline over at Serious Eats posed the question for this week's Weekend Cook and Tell: Egg-ventures.

Previously, I have topped them on asparagus (Roasted Asparagus and Eggs), baked feta (Poached Eggs with Baked Feta and Olives) and even pepper stew (Tomato-Pepper Stew with Poached Eggs and Harissa). So when I saw Mark Bittman's Beans Rancheros in his new book The Food Matters Cookbook, I knew I'd have to make it.

The presentation of this dish is really great! I love the way the cooked eggs are sitting on top of the beans. I found it relatively easy to divide into four and lift each section out onto a plate by itself (or tupperware for lunch leftovers). I was careful and none of the yolks broke (even when heating up the leftovers). But what is neat is that you just mush the egg up a bit and mix it around on the plate and then you can use it as a filling for tacos. I heated up some corn tortillas and put some of the beans rancheros in there and then topped with a bit of diced onion, shredded cheddar and salsa. Yum! And healthy too.

See other fun things to do with eggs as the Serious Eats Weekend Cook and Tell Roundup: Egg-ventures.

Beans Rancheros Makes 4 servings 1 tablespoon olive oil 3 cups cooked or canned pinto or black beans, drained 1 or 2 canned chipotle chiles, minced, with some of the adobo sauce 1 teaspoon cumin Salt and black pepper 2 or 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped 4 eggs 1/4 cup chopped scallions, for garnish Lime wedges, for serving

Heat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch square baking dish or oven proof skillet with oil. Add the beans, chipotles and adobo, cumin, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and roughly mash the mixture with a potato masher or fork. Stir in the tomatoes and transfer the pan to the oven.

Bake until he mixture is hot, bubbly, and some of the liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. (The dish can be prepared ahead to this point and refrigerated for up to a day; bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

Make 4 indentations in the beans with the back of a spoon. Crack 1 egg into each hole, sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper, and return the pan to the oven. Bake until the yolks are still jiggly and the whites have turned opaque (or longer if you want the eggs cooked firm), 10 to 20 minutes. Garnish with the scallions and serve with lime wedges.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

With the cool weather settling in on Chicago, I decided it was a perfect time to make a casserole. I love to put everything together and then bake it up in the oven - making the house smell so great. I found this recipe for a Chicken Tamale Casserole in an email I received from Cooking Light highlighting casseroles.

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed in this recipe - not the taste, but the ingredients. I'm not a big fan of using processed products. This recipe calls for a lot of pre-packaged items (corn bread mix, creamed corn, canned chilies, etc.) and I used a rotisserie chicken which I purchased at the grocery store. Of course that made it very easy to prepare, but I felt a bit unhealthy while I was making it. And coming from Cooking Light I guess I expected a bit healthier of a recipe.

I thought the leftovers of this was tastier than when it was fresh out of the oven. The bottom of the casserole tasted a bit sweet at first so I think it tasted alot better after the flavors melded. I'd let it sit about a half an hour if you can.

To make this casserole taste a bit more homemade and also to make it more of a meal than just putting a piece of casserole on an empty plate, I placed it on to of some red leaf lettuce and then I topped it with a bit of chopped onion, sliced black olives and diced avocado. Those extra flavors made a big difference. We served this with Tortilla and Butternut Squash Soup and it was a very filling meal.

Chicken Tamale Casserole Serves 8 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided 1/3 cup fat-free milk 1/4 cup egg substitute 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White) 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained Cooking spray 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso) 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Shrimp Veracruzana

Shrimp Veracruz is a standard at most Mexican restaurants. Of course there are so many other cheesy options, I rarely order it. I do like it though because it is light yet flavorful. I made this big batch and we just ate it with our forks, but it also is great to wrap up in tortillas if you have any on hand.

Shrimp Verzcruzana Serves 4, about 1 cup each 2 tsp. canola oil 1 bay leaf 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and very thinly sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 pound peeled and deveined raw shrimp (16-20 per pound) 3 medium tomatoes, diced ¼ cup thinly sliced pitted green olived 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bay leaf and cook for 1 minute. Add onion, jalapenos and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in shrimp, cover and cook until pink and just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and olives. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-ow, replace cover and cook until the tomatoes are almost broken down, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the bay leaf. Serve with lime wedges.

Beef Stew Zuazua-Style

I have been ordering beef dishes with a gravy on them the last few times I have eaten at a Mexican restaurant. They are served with tortillas on the side so it is almost like fajitas where you make your own. So when I read the recipe for Los Barrios Beef Stew Zuazua-Style, I knew I wanted to try and recreate that "beef with gravy" dish myself.

A mistake I made was not realizing how expensive beef tenderloin is BEFORE heading to the store. Even though I cut this recipe in half while making it myself, I still spend $40 just on the meat! I do not know enough about meats to suggest that you substitute the beef tenderloin for another meat, but I can tell you that you do end up cooking the meat for quite some time so it will not end up being rare no matter what you do. The end result was really good and I'm not sure it would taste as flavorful with a different cut, but if you know about it then go ahead and substitute as you see fit.

That being said, I really liked the results because of the wonderful rich flavors. I am not a huge fan or oregano and this recipe calls for A LOT so you might want to adjust the amounts accordingly. But this is easy to throw together and is a nice change from regular tacos or fajitas.

Beef Stew Zuazua-Style Cortadillo Zuazua Serves 6 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil 3 lbs. beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes Pinch of garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste 3 tomatoes, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 1 cup water 2 Tbsp. dried oregano

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large deep skillet or a Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the beef with the garlic powder and salt and pepper. Add to the pan, in batches, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Drain the juices into a small bowl and set aside. Return all the meat to the pan.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, then add the tomatoes and onion and cook about 8 minutes. Return the reserved juices to the pan, add the water and oregano, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes longer.

Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Watermelon Flavored Water

I am fascinated by flavored waters. Typically, I use lemons to flavor water. On occasion I use limes or oranges. I have even been know to use cucumbers (inspired by my favorite spas). But I never thought about flavoring water in a way other than by throwing slices of fruit in there. This method has you pureeing watermelon and adding to the water. It seems like the same process for lemonade, but by using watermelon the result is more refreshing (and unique).

Refreshing Watermelon Delight Refresco de Sandia (Makes 1 gallon) 2 pounds watermelon 3 1/2 quarts water 2 cups sugar Remove the seeds from the watermelon, slice the flesh from the rind, and cut it into chunks. Transfer to a blender, in batches if necessary, and blend for a few seconds; there should still be some small chunks of watermelon. Combine the water and sugar in a large pitches, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the watermelon puree, blending thoroughly. Refrigerate until chilled before serving. Variation: You can substitute cantaloupe for the watermelon.

The pitcher that I planned to use could not hold a gallon of liquid. I ended up modifying the recipe by using 10 cups of water, 1 pound of watermelon pulp, and 1/3 cup sugar/splenda.

Southwestern Tofu Scramble

I dare you! That's right, I dare you to make something with tofu as the main ingredient. I decided to try this recipe for Southwesten Tofu Scramble which I found in the April, 2008 issue of Eating Well Magazine because it the picture in the magazine looked very appetizing and it was a reminder to me that I would like to incorporate more tofu in my diet as a healthier way of eating. I first "got into" tofu while I was trying to lose some weight over 10-years ago. I started making some recipes that called for tofu just to try it out and I kept being surprised with the tasty results. That happened again with this recipe! My expectations weren't that high - I was just hoping for some flavor.

While I made this for dinner, I also had it for breakfast this morning. It was perfect for either. For dinner I meant to wrap it up in corn tortillas and make tacos with it, but my tortillas we old and inedible. I really loved the freshness and crispiness of the veggies in this dish. I think the use of corn and zucchini is really important to the overall texture. And while the recipe calls for "prepared" salsa, I purchased the "homemade" kind like pico de gallo in the produce section. I also think the clean texture of the tomatoes in that contributed to the overall taste.

I hope y'all give this one a try and go ahead and add something healthy to your weekly menu!

Southwestern Tofu Scramble 3 tsp. canola oil, divided 1 14-ounce package firm, water-packed tofu, rinsed and crumbled 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder 1 tsp. ground cumin 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 1 small zucchini, diced 3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed 4 scallions, sliced 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese 1/2 cup prepared salsa 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat 1 1/2 tsp. oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu, chili powder, cumin and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the tofu begins to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Add zucchini, corn, scallions and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are just tender, about 3 minutes. Return the tofu to the pan and cook, stirring, until heated through about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese until just melted.

Top each serving with 2 tablespoons salsa and 1 tablespoon cilantro.

Potato, Greens and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

While I was flipping through my stack of foodie magazines I came across this recipe for Potato, Greens and Goat Cheese Quesadillas in the March, 2008 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. I was looking for something simple and tasty and what is a more perfect fit for that than quesadillas?

This recipe claims to take 35 minutes to prepare but I'm sure I spent more than an hour on it. I might be a bit rusty as I have been out of the kitchen for a bit, but preparing the potatoes and shredding the cheese seemed to take a half hour all in itself.

These quesadillas came out good but hot. They definitely have an interesting taste combination - the mustard greens and jalapeno cheese are spicy and the potatoes and goat cheese are to cool things down. I think I made a mistake though because I used some habanero cheese from Costco and it really flared up the taste of the mustard greens making it all pretty hot. I have never had mustard greens before and they remind me of horseradish! I ended up with alot more of the potato mixture and greens than I could fill the quesadillas with. I think I could have made 8 instead of 4 with this recipe. But it was a nice snack and definitely interesting. I may make them again for a dinner party, but this time I will use jalapeno cheese as suggested!

Tres Leches: Three Milk Cake

My mother discovered Tres Leches Cake at a restaurant in Park Ridge, IL called Piano Piano. They did not custom make it, they bought it from a bakery. My aunt later tracked down the bakery and bought the cake for a party. The bakery told her it was very easy to make so she went online and found a recipe that starts with a box mix. What is better than that.

Tres Leches Cake is made with three different types of milk: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream. There are poured over the cake after it is completely cooked. This adds a unique moisture to the cake. Surprisingly, the cake lasts for several days - if you can hold off from eating it all!


Tres Leches: Three Milk Cake

1 yellow cake mix (with pudding) baked as directed in 13 by 9-inch pan

For topping mixture:
1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup rum (or to taste)

To finish:
Whipped cream, to cover cake
5 ounces sweetened coconut

Poke holes in the cake with a fork all over. Pour topping mixture over cake. Let mixture absorb completely in refrigerator.

Cover with whipped cream or cool whip and sprinkle sweetened coconut over top of cake.

OPTIONAL: Add macadamia nuts, cherries and/or pineapple.