Squash Enchiladas - Potluck specialty

I know - i know, i've been terrible. To be honest i've been eating terrible things and am rarely home during meal times. I am going to try and cook more for myself, because i have honestly been terrible. Luckily i had a few meals over the holiday that i can throw in - but i promise i'll do a little better. On an interesting note- this is one year for me! (kinda cool)

So i had my company's United Way potluck, and even though i am at school most of the time, i had no classes so i thought i would go. I didn't really have a plan until the day before when i decided to make squash enchiladas - i had never made them the day before and i was a little worried how to heat them (we have no oven) and how well the corn tortilla would stand up. But i did it anyway.

So here is my recipe for butternut squash enchiladas:

Ingredients

First i peel and cut into similar size cubes the squash. I also roughly chop a sweet onion. I tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and some cumin. I always line my pans with parchment paper - it keeps all the juices in, and is super easy to clean up. Into the oven at 450.

Here they are out of the oven. A little brown and easy to pierce with a fork. I also did a head of garlic separately in a ramekin.

For the filling, just squash is kinda repetitive, so i mix mine with cream cheese (light),chipotle sauce, the garlic, salsa, and just because i had a can, and they keep falling out of the cupboards and nearly knocking me out - tomatillos.

One hint, make sure you hold back some of the squash, so you can make it thicker if you've put too much liquid like i did with the tomatillos.


Once the squash filling was finished, i then did the rest of the ingredients for the tortillas. Green onions, lettuce tomatoes, jalapenos and extra old white cheddar.

Here are all the ingredients ready for the assembly. Making this dish is kinda repetitive, so for efficiency its best to have everything ready before you start to put the dish together.

In a dry non-stick hot pan i heated up the tortillas, turning often.

Here is my assembly line

Tortillas

Squash Filling

Other Fillings

Enchilada Pan

I coated the bottom of the enchilada pan with some of the filling, some salsa and a few green onions and tomatoes. I then began to make each tortilla role by adding all of the ingredients assembled.

Role it tightly and lay in the pan seam down. Repeat until the pan is full, then coat with remainder of squash (you might have a little extra) veggies and cheese. Bake covered until bubbling, then remove foil and allow to brown a little.


I ended up cooking them half way - then the day of doing them again. They were okay - i know they can be a lot better - so perhaps not a night before things. Also i though i was gentle with the spicing, but a few people thought it had a lot of kick. Something to remember when cooking for pot lucks - not everyone likes it hot.

Haddock Enchiladas

I like fish, and i like mexican food, so at any opportunity i have i will combine them into a little something tasty - usually when i'm cooking for eric. I had been at the Orangeville famer's market the week before, and had purchased a few things along with purple tomatillos. I had never seen them, and to be honest i find it very hard to find tomatillos at any time let alone funky purple ones.

Unfortunately something is really weird about the pictures in this entry and i couldn't fix them, so i apologize how this doesn't flow - but the meal itself was really good and i think its worth trying... (if you can figure it out)

Above: Enchiladas ready for the oven

Four types of sauce for the enchiladas: guacamole, roasted tomatillo sauce, salsa and lime sour cream

Digging in!



The tomatillos - aren't they cute!


I mixed them with tomatoes, onions, garlic and jalapenos, tossing them with olive oil and cumin before roasting them on parchment paper. (easier clean up).

Once they came out they were nice an juicy, i just added them to the blender and pureed till mainly smooth

I had roasted the haddock in the oven, and made sure to undercook it as it woul finish in while the dish was heating and the cheese was melting. I warmed the torillas in my bamboo steamer because i like the texture. I cut up some tomatoes, grated some cheese and had a few jalapenos ready to assemble the dish.

Sauce, cheese veggies and a couple of springs of arugula I then added the fish. I rolled up about 6 and added them to the baking pan until it was full. I then added more of the tomatillo sauce and grated cheese. I covered it with aluminum foil, then heated it through, about 10 minutes, removing the foil and setting it to broil for the last two.

Once it was finished i topped it with some lightly dressed arugula and we were off!

Cinco de Mayo Enchiladas

To celebrate Cinqo de Mayo i decided to make a bastardized mexican enchilada dish. I didn't have any recipe to go with this but since i've made similar ones i figured i could just wing it.



None of the ingredients were anything too special. I wanted to make the Tomatillo salsa/enchilada sauce again - so i roasted some peppers, garlic and onions to add to the canned Tomatillos.




Once they were roasted i added them and the tomatillos to the food processor to make the sauce.


I was also going to make some dips, so since the packages of tortillas are so big i thought i would bake some chips which would be a lot healthier. I lightly brushed them with some olive oil spiced with red peppers.


I then laid them out on a baking sheet - paying attention to them in the oven. I also made a dip of feta, tomato, onions and jalapenos for dips and guac. (not pictured)


For enchilada toppings i had cabbage, onions and jalapenos.


Previously, working with corn tortillas i've either fried them or baked them, but i had read about steaming them in a bamboo steamer so i did that. They were good, but i think if you're in the mood for something a little more decadent fry them. I appreciate the crispness, and i think they create a little more texture for the dish.


Making the enchiladas i put enough of the sauce to coat the bottom of the baking dish and set aside. To assemble them i simply put some of the tomatillo sauce down, then black beans (rinsed) and some goat cheese and cabbage. I rolled them up and added them to the waiting dish


Once i had filled the dish with rolled tortillas i topped the dish with the rest of the sauce then added the goat cheese, a mexican cheese blend and sprinkled with black beans. I covered it in foil, baking for about 10 minutes at 425, then removing the foil and allowing the top to brown and crisp up.

So authentic! (not)

Riding Girls Pot Luck - Shrimp Enchiladas

So my sister was organizing a pot luck for the riding girls and spouses. We had no real theme or plan - everyone wanted to bring desert (thanks joanna for that pecan chocolate pie - i have been thinking about it for days). So i decided to bring Shrimp Enchiladas. It was one of those all day cooking recipes which i actually really enjoy. I couldn't get real tomatillos, but found some canned San Marcos ones. Last time i used the Herandez ones - if you have a choice pick those.

The first time i made this recipe i purchased persimmons instead of tomatillos and roasted them with the other veggies. (i know i should have used google images) Anyway i liked the effect so i added them again. They were tasty if a little dry. I topped them with shredded bib lettuce (i had some left over and wasn't going to let more cabbage rot in the fridge) avocado, red onions and a mixture of lime and sour cream.