Jalapeno Poppers

The pepper plants this season are going crazy.  After roasting a boat load of Anaheim peppers this afternoon, I had some hot coals left on the weber grill, so I picked jalapeno peppers and, well, the rest is here....

There are a b-jillion recipes out there for poppers, but this is the one we like and it's super simple!  Not to mention yummy!

Take the jalapeno peppers, slice them in half, scrape out all the veins and seeds.

Next smear in some cream cheese -- I used the lower fat Neufchatel -- but really???

Now add a small cube of your favorite cheddar, or what ever hard cheese you like.

This little bundle is wrapped in a thin slice of bacon -- the thinner the better, so it cooks crispy.

I used a foil lined baking pan.

Onto the grill it goes!

The hot coals along with the aluminum foil liner will bake the poppers and the bacon will be crispy!

My bacon kinda slid off the gooey cheese, but what the heck?  Yummy yummy!

These were gone in no time!  Just a quick snack for the afternoon.

Enjoy Friends!

Chili Relleno Casserole

I was looking for some inspiration for breakfast this morning.  Since we have lots of Anaheim chilies in the freezer, I wanted to use some of those.  This recipe was listed on cooks.com.  Wow!  Excellent!

This recipe calls for canned chilies, but by all means use home grown if you have 'em.

2 (4 oz.) cans whole green chilies, cut in half and seeds removed
1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 Cups milk
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (optional)
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs beaten

Place half the chilies in a 10 x 6 baking dish; sprinkle with cheese.  Arrange remaining chilies over the cheese.  Mix the milk, flour, salt, and eggs -- beating until smooth.  Add the optional hot sauce.  Pour mixture over the chili cheese layers.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 45 - 50 minutes or until a knife inserted just off center comes out clean.  Let cool and set for 5 to 10 minutes.  Serves 6.

This is seriously good stuff.  

You could serve this with some sausage links and fruit for a complete breakfast.

Torta Tex-Icana

We like, like, like Tex-Mex food! So for brunch today, I made this layered casserole.  

The recipe comes from one of my very favorite cookbooks,

"The Border Cookbook, Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico."

Get all of the ingredients ready.  Roasted green chiles, sweet red peppers, zucchini, onion, green onion, garlic, cheddar cheese, eggs, milk, and whole wheat tortillas.

Here's the exact recipe and a photo of all the ingredients prepped.  

By prepping everything in advance, the torta comes together in a snap.

3/4 C chopped roasted green chile.  (We grow, roast, and freeze our own Anaheim peppers.)
2 or 3 small sweet red bell peppers
1 C grated zucchini (No need to peel it.)
1/4 C chopped onion
3 or 4 green onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 eggs beaten with 1/4 C milk
1 to 2 tsp. ground cumin
3 to 4 Tbl grated cheddar cheese
sea salt and ground pepper
whole wheat tortilla

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Warm a tablespoon of light olive oil in a saute' pan.  

Add the onion, garlic, and red bell peppers.  Saute for about 5 minutes.

Next add the grated zucchini.

Add the peeled, seeded, and chopped green chiles.  

You could substitute canned chopped green chiles.

Mix it all up and saute' for another 5 minutes until veggies are soft and the liquid has been absorbed.  

Line a casserole dish with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray, 

place a whole wheat tortilla in the bottom of the dish.

Top the tortilla with the vegetable mixture, and spread it around evenly.

Beat together the eggs, milk, cumin, salt, and pepper and pour over the veg mixture.

Bake the casserole at 350 F. for 20-30 minutes until puffed, golden brown, and lightly set in the center.  Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.  

Eat it hot or warm.  Serve with salsa and guacamole.

Here's the cookbook I mentioned earlier.

Enjoy friends!  This is yum, Yum, YUM.

With only one whole wheat tortilla in the entire dish,

this is quite a low-carb treat.

Potatoes au Gratin

Meatloaf...humm side dish of potatoes?  I thought of mashed, but we like gravy with mashed potatoes, can't make gravy from meatloaf!.  A lightbulb came on and Potatoes au Gratin came to mind.  Gather up the ingredients and let's get cooking!

• Two russet potatoes
• 1 Tbl. flour
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C whole milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt & pepper
• Grated sharp cheddar cheese

Peel the potatoes and slice thinly using a mandolin--if you don't have one, just slice them thinly with a knife.

Flour,salt, pepper, and minced garlic go into a bowl.  Then pour in the milk and cream and whisk it all up!

In a foil lined baking dish, start layering 1/3 of the potato slices.  I like to line with foil because cleaning up a baking dish after baking these potatoes is too much work.  Pour 1/3 of the flour/milk mixture over this layer.

Continue layering like this until all of the potatoes are used up, and the last of the flour/milk mixture is poured over the top.  BTW, those aren't flour lumps, it's the minced garlic.  Cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take the potatoes out of the oven.  I decided not to use the grated cheddar, instead, I topped the potatoes with homemade bread crumbs.  (Go ahead and use the grated cheddar if you like cheezy potatoes)  Back into the oven they go uncovered for another 20 - 30 minutes.  Watch closely, if the bread crumbs start to brown too much, cover with foil.

When the potatoes are tender and the sauce is all bubbly, they are done!  Along the way, if the potatoes and sauce start to look too dry, just pour in a little more milk.  I ended up adding another 1/2 Cup of milk.

Dinner is ready.  The meatloaf baked along with the potatoes, we also had steamed green beans.

yum, Yum, and YUM!  Dinner friends!

Here's an easy meatloaf recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/3 cup ketchup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. 
3. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.