One of my children's favourite meals when they were growing up was enchiladas. It was not something we had very often, but a rare Tex Mex treat.
I always made Turkey ones after Thanksgiving and Christmas and occasionally I would make these delicious beef ones. They loved them both.
I have seen a lot of recipes through the years for beef enchiladas which use ground beef, but this tasty recipe uses cubed stewing beef, which makes it that little bit different.
The beef is browned on top of the stove and mixed with a variety of spices, onions, garlic and tomato passatta (tomato sauce) and then roasted in a slow oven until the beef is meltingly tender . . .
So tender you can tear it apart with a couple of forks.
You then remove all of the cooked beef from the sauce and shred it. Mix it with a few spoonfuls of the sauce and some cheddar cheese, and you have your delicious enchilada filling.
Very easy and very tasty. The remainder of the sauce can then be strained if you wish a smoother sauce. I don't bother to do this as I don't mind the bits.
Sometimes if it is too thick I think it a bit with some boiling water. You want the sauce to be thick, but also pourable.
I always use soft corn tortillas because I like them, but you can use the regular corn tortillas if you like, but you will have to soften them before they can be easily rolled.
Just use the directions on the packet. Filled and topped with the sauce and then baked, these are like a tex mex version of Italian Cannelloni.
I think it's so fascinating that most cultures have their own form of rolled and stuffed things . . . and they are all tasty.
The Italians have their Cannelloni, the Chinese have their duck pancakes, Europeans have stuffed cabbage and strudels . . . and then there are these lovely Tex Mex Enchiladas.
As a North American/Brit . . . I embrace them all quite happily.
I think our cuisine here in the UK is becoming a happy fusion of the traditional and the not so traditional.
It matters not what you bring to the table as long as it looks and tastes good . . . and these certainly fit the bill on all counts.
*Granny's Beef Enchiladas*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
I'm not sure whose Granny this recipe belongs to but they are delicious. I've been making these for years. They are a bit time intensive, but worth every minute. Do plan ahead as you will need to start the beef filling about 3 hours or so before you need it.
3 pounds well trimmed stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and black pepper
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 medium brown onions, peeled and minced
3 TBS mild Chili Powder (I think the chili powder over here in the UK is ultra strong, so I only use about half that amount or even less when
I am reduced to using it. Normally I bring North American Chili powder back with me when I return from visiting there, and that is what I use.)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
900ml of tomato passata (30-ounces tomato sauce)
60ml of dry red wine (1/4 cup)
1 TBS brown sugar
250g of medium cheddar cheese, grated (2 cups)
12 (6-inch soft corn tortillas)
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
I'm not sure whose Granny this recipe belongs to but they are delicious. I've been making these for years. They are a bit time intensive, but worth every minute. Do plan ahead as you will need to start the beef filling about 3 hours or so before you need it.
3 pounds well trimmed stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and black pepper
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 medium brown onions, peeled and minced
3 TBS mild Chili Powder (I think the chili powder over here in the UK is ultra strong, so I only use about half that amount or even less when
I am reduced to using it. Normally I bring North American Chili powder back with me when I return from visiting there, and that is what I use.)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
900ml of tomato passata (30-ounces tomato sauce)
60ml of dry red wine (1/4 cup)
1 TBS brown sugar
250g of medium cheddar cheese, grated (2 cups)
12 (6-inch soft corn tortillas)
Preheat the oven to 160*C/300*F/ gas mark 3. Pat the beef dry with paper kitchen toweling. Season well with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add half of the beef and brown it well on all sides. Scoop out and set aside. Add the remaining oil and beef, and repeat. Add the onions to the pot along with 1/2 tsp salt.
Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add half of the beef and brown it well on all sides. Scoop out and set aside. Add the remaining oil and beef, and repeat. Add the onions to the pot along with 1/2 tsp salt.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until
they have softened. Return the beef to the dutch oven, along with any
juices which may have gathered. Add the spices along with 1/4 tsp of
black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the mixture becomes very fragrant
and the spices darken slightly.
Stir in the garlic and cook for about a
minute. Add the tomato sauce and the wine and bring to the boil,
scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly
and roast in the heated oven until the meat is very tender, 2 to 2 1/2
hours in cooking time.
When the meat is very tender, remove the casserole from the oven. Scoop the meat out of the sauce to a large bowl and shred it with two forks.
When the meat is very tender, remove the casserole from the oven. Scoop the meat out of the sauce to a large bowl and shred it with two forks.
If desired strain the sauce,
discarding any solids. I don't mind the bits myself. You should have
about 500ml (2 cups). Add a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce to the beef. If you think the sauce is too thick you may thin it a bit with some boiling water.
Increase the oven temperature to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Spoon a large dessertspoonful of the sauce into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish. Spread it out to cover.
Stir half of the grated cheese into the shredded beef. Spread the tortillas out on the counter. Spoon 1/12 of the beef filling down the centre of each tortilla. Roll them up tightly and place them seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
Increase the oven temperature to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Spoon a large dessertspoonful of the sauce into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish. Spread it out to cover.
Stir half of the grated cheese into the shredded beef. Spread the tortillas out on the counter. Spoon 1/12 of the beef filling down the centre of each tortilla. Roll them up tightly and place them seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
Once all of the filled
tortillas have been put into the dish, spoon the remaining sauce over
top to cover. sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Cover tightly with
foil. Bake for 20 minutes, uncover and bake for 5 to 10 minutes
longer, until the cheese is melted and they are well heated through.
Serve hot, with or without sour cream for topping.
I like to serve this with a mixed salad.
Bon Appetit!
I like to serve this with a mixed salad.
Bon Appetit!
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I think one of our favourite types of fish to eat is Cod. It's got a really mild flavour and almost a sweet flesh. Sustainability is important though, when it comes to choosing fish nowadays, and the cod fisheries have just about fished themselves out by overfishing, which is really sad . . .
Brussels Sprouts are not something I ever remember eating when I was growing up. They just were not a vegetable that was readily available back then I guess. We basically only had peas and carrots and green beans and sometimes corn. I can remember discovering sprouts as an adult and falling completely and totally in love with them, and with cauliflower and broccoli too. I am a real brassica lover!
I had some lovely old fashioned bone in chops I wanted to use the other day and so I decided to cook a real treat up for my husband. He really does love eating a good pork chop.
I just spent most of the day trying to do a video that I could post on line of this lovely breakfast cake. All the steps along the way, etc. It took me hours and hours, but I can't get it to load up and I am exhausted from trying. I don't know how these youngsters do it, I really don't! Never mind we can at least enjoy the fruits of my labours in this delicious breakfast cake. Apple Pie Coffee Cake!
Its Bon Fire Night here in the UK. The night when all over the country people light bonfires and shoot off fireworks to commemorate Guy Fawkes failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in the year 1605. You can read more about that here. Its also a night when people like to enjoy bonfire types of foods, like sausages (bangers), hot soups, and hearty cakes like parkin and gingerbread.
There is a definitive nip in the air these days. We are getting to the end of autumn days now and its time to break out the throws and light the fires.
These kinds of days call for comforting sustaining dishes like this delicious chicken stew, Chicken with Leeks & Butternut Squash. It's British Leek season now as well, so there really is no better time to cook this simple supper!
This is such a simple dish . . . with plenty of leeks and butternut squash. I have used chicken thighs which are perfect for oven braising.
There is also stock, herbs and barley. This is a really beautiful combination to be sure.
You just bang it all into a casserole and then let the oven do the work. I love meals like this.
Meals that you can just throw together and then cook in a casserole, or slow cooker, etc.
The chicken gets all tender and succulent. You can cut it with a fork.
It is juicy and so flavourful after having braised in the oven, soaking up all of those lucious flavours.
All you need on the side is a nice pot of buttery mashed potatoes and a nice pile of lightly herbed green beans.
I love these kinds of suppers, don't you? This is the colour and flavour of Autumn, right here. Soak it up.
*Chicken and Leeks with Butternut Squash*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
Chicken and autumn vegetables simmered together in one deliciously hearty pot!
1 TBS olive oil
plain flour, salt and pepper
1 kg of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each one cut into four chunks
1 pound of butternut squash (Peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks)
4 leeks, washed trimmed and thickly sliced
hot chicken stock
two small handfuls of pearl barley
2 small bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp savoury crumbled
Heat the olive oil in a large stove top/oven proof casserole dish over medium heat. Toss the chicken bits with the flour and seasoning to taste. Brown them all over in the hot oil. Add the butternut squash and leeks. Cook and stir until the leeks begin to soften. Add hot chicken stock to barely cover and the pearl barley. Add the seasonings. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook for several hours in a moderate oven, (180*C/350*F/ gas mark4) until the chicken, vegetables and barley are tender and the liquid has deliciously thickened. (About an hour and a half.) Remove the bayleaves and serve hot spooned out onto heated plates along with some buttery mashed potatoes and a green vegetable on the side.
This would make a great one pot meal for Bon Fire Night! Bon Appetit!
I don't know about you, but for me, the stuffing is the best part of any holiday dinner. I could eat a whole plate of stuffing and nothing else. If there is no stuffing . . . it's not a celebration in my books.
Oh, and by the way, Stuffing is dressing, stuffed into the bird, and Dressing is stuffing baked outside of the bird. I make no distinction. I adore them equally, and to me they are both one and the same.
So what is it that makes this version the "Best?" It's moist and yet at the same time it has all these crunchy little bits all around the outer edges . . . I love crunchy bits.
What is your favourite part about stuffing/dressing? To be honest, I could eat just this and nothing else.
You can make it totally ahead of time, except for the baking bit. Just mix everything together and cover it and put in the refrigerator.
You will need to bring to room temperature prior to baking . . . half an hour on the countertop will do it.
It has the perfect balance of herbs. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Just like the song.
There is also plenty of aromatics like celery and onion as well. I always like to include some of the celery leaves.
It is easy to throw together and the most important quality of all . . . its totally delicious! In my opinion, this is the best stuffing/dressing ever.
Oh, and it is totally adaptable. If you like you can add fried mushrooms, or chopped giblets, crumbled cooked sausage, etc. This dressing is a delicious canvas you can build upon.
This is simple to make and always turns out fabulous. Perfect for the holidays!
180g butter, plus more to butter the baking dish (3/4 cup)
Bring on the holidays. I can't wait! There is so much deliciousness to look forward to! Bon Appetit!
I had some leftover poached turkey and some ham which needed using the other day and so I decided to make a Ham and Turkey Pie. I thought that it would be fabulous and I was right! You could also use chicken, but with the holidays coming up I thought it would be nice to show you it with turkey.
This is so simple to make and so delicious!
I dug this recipe out of an old Nigel Slater book the other day. The book was called Real Food. They aren't so much recipes as they are delicious suggestions about what to do with things you find in your larder, fridge, garden, etc.
That is the way I always cook, and those are the sorts of dishes I love to cook the most. They are so open to interpretation and you can so easily make them your own.
And this one is such a simple dish. It's basically just layered raw potato, fried onions and chicken stock. You don't even need to peel the potatoes.
And you can adapt it up or down to serve as many or as few people as you like.
You just layer it all up in a baking dish and pop it into the oven. Well, you do fry the onions in some butter first.
I let them get just a bit golden, because I love those scrumptious golden bits, don't you?
The potatoes get all soft and soak up the chicken stock and the onions almost turn buttery . . . . in short, fabulous. This dish is utterly fabulous.
And if the potato is your favorite vegetable like it is mine, then you will be in nothing short of heavenly bliss.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE NIGEL'S POTATOES
HOW TO MAKE NIGEL'S POTATOES
This really is a very simple recipe to execute. I love recipes like this one. Yes, I can be rather lazy from time to time.
If the potato is your favorite vegetable as it is mine you may also enjoy the following potato recipes:
CHEESE AND BROCCOLI STUFFED JACKET POTATOES - Really really tasty stuffed twice baked potatoes, containing crispy tender bits of broccoli and a tasty strong cheddar. These are a fabulous way of getting in some of your five a day and really tasty way to get your broccoli haters to eat broccoli!
POTATOES O'BRIEN - This is a pretty basic version of fried potatoes, using only salt and pepper as seasoning. You could also add garlic powder and or paprika. I added some paprika. I like the color it adds to potatoes when you are frying them. Basically it is like a potato hash, except it doesn't use already cooked potatoes. You peel and dice raw potatoes and add them to some hot fat, along with chopped onion and the seasoning. It's delicious!
Yield: Servings vary
Nigel's Potatoes
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 H & 5 M
I adapted this from a recipe I found in an old Nigel Slater cookery book called Real Food. I have adapted it to feed as many and as few as you require.
Ingredients
For each serving you will need:
- 1 medium potato
- 1 small onion
- 60ml hot chicken stock (1/4 cup)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- a pinch of sugar
- a small knob of butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F gas mark 5. Butter a baking dish large enough to hold your ingredients.
- Peel your onions and thinly slice. Melt the knob of butter in a skillet. Add the onions. Sprinkle with some salt and black pepper and a pinch of sugar. Cook, stirring frequently until just softened. It is okay if they start to caramelize a bit. Those are the tasty bits.
- No need to peel your potatoes, but wash them really well and dry them. Cut them into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Start layering the potatoes in the buttered baking dish with the onions, lightly seasoning each layer of potatoes. I like to end with some onions just on top. Pour the stock over all. Cover tightly with foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the potatoes are just tender. I did four today and it took about 45 minutes. Uncover the last 10 minutes or so of cooking so that they get golden brown on top without drying out. Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Obviously the cook times will be less for fewer servings, but you can still expect that it will take at least 25 to 30 minutes.
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When my children were growing up it was terribly difficult to get them to eat anything at all for supper on Halloween. They were far too keen to get out and about Trick or Treating. As a mom, however, I really wanted them to eat something nutritious before they went out, or at least something that wasn't candy and so I used to try to tempt them with things that they really enjoyed, like pizza, tacos, or spaghetti, etc.
When I was a child one of the favourite things that my mother would make for us as a treat on cooler autumn and winter nights was her version of Cinnamon Rolls. Not the yeasty bready kind of cinnamon rolls, but the quick bread/biscuit/scone type of Cinnamon Rolls. Oh boy but they smelled so good when they were cooking, and they tasted even better. Heavenly Bliss.
I had some leftover chicken to use up the other day, so I must apologise in advance for showing you yet another chicken recipe. I am sure you will soon tire of me and all my chicken.
Its just so affordable and in all honesty we each more chicken in this house than anything else. It's adaptable and makes for a delicious variety of delicious dishes like this tasty casserole!
I found the original recipe on Pinterest, attributed to Delicious as it Looks, but there are about a bazillion of these recipes floating about.
I made a few adaptations and changes to suit our tastes and to make it a tiny bit less calorific and fatty.
I added some cubed sweet potato. We like sweet potatoes and they are quite good for you, being filled with beta carotine and anti oxidents.
I cut waaaaay down on the butter used. The original recipe called for about 3 times the amount I used, and in all truth, I think (after having made it) you could cut it out all together.
I don't see that it really adds much of anything other than fat.
I had some baked ham in the fridge and so I added some of that chopped instead of bacon or Canadian bacon. Again, lower in salt and fat. Also instead of cream I used low fat evaporated milk.
It worked very well. I added some hot pepper sauce for extra flavour and used a lower fat cheese which helped to keep the fat content down as well. I chose to use all of the spring onion, for flavour, instead of just the tops.
Altogether this was really, really delicious. I served green beans with it and it went down a real treat! It felt and tasted indulgent.
Next time I may add a few other vegetables as well and cut down on the potatoes. Scrummy yummy!
*Loaded Chicken and Potato Casserole*
Serves 2 - 3
A delicious potato casserole that I adapted from another site. I tried to cut down on the fat and make it a bit healthier.
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 heaping teaspoon sugar
3 heavy dashes ground black pepper
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/4 (60ml) cup heavy whipping cream (Or 1/4 cup (60ml) low fat evaporated milk)
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, poached and cut into cubes
2 TBS chopped baked ham or Canadian Bacon, or bacon bits
1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese (120g)
1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese (120g)
2 spring onions, sliced
Butter
a 9 inch square baking dish. Lightly spray with low fat cooking
spray. Place the cubed potatoes and sweet potatoes into the dish in an
even layer. Cover with plastic cling film. Microwave for about 3
minutes. Remove from the microwave. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/
gas mark 4. Sprinkle the chicken over top of the potatoes. Sprinkle
on the Canadian bacon/ham/bacon bits.
Sprinkle with the
spring onions and half of the cheese. Whisk together the salt, sugar,
black pepper, hot pepper sauce and cream/evaporated milk. Drizzle with
the cream mixture. Cover tightly with foil. Bake in the preheated
oven for 35 to 40 minutes and then uncover and sprinkle with the
remaining cheese. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the
potatoes are fork tender and the cheese is nicely melted. Serve hot.
I hope you will forgive me for showing you yet again another chicken casserole. If you are like me you probably don't think you can ever have too many chicken casserole recipes or tasty ways to use up leftovers! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I like to push the boundaries from time to time. I had some leftover cooked pumpkin and so I decided to do something savoury with it instead of something sweet. Lord knows I don't need any more sugar in my life! This savoury potato dish turned out really lovely.
This is a recipe I have had written down in my notebook for yonks and yonks. Its really delicious. Every so often I dust it off and we have it for a side dish with chicken or fish. Harvest Casserole. The original recipe calls for diced butternut squash, courgettes (zucchini) and swede (rutabaga). A tasty combination.
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