Crockpot Enchiladas

The other day, as you may recall, I made "enchiladas."  Notice the quotations because they weren't real enchiladas.  I just used stuff that I had on hand and threw it together in the enchilada style.  Tonight I made real enchiladas.  The recipe I used calls for ground beef, onion, pepper, black beans, kidney beans, green chilies, and then spices.  I didn't really feel like cutting up an veg, and I wanted to use up some stuff we had sitting in the fridge.  So I browned two pounds of beef

and added black beans, navy beans, a bit of corn, some salsa mixed with tomato sauce, water, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Then I assembled it in the crockpot in layers.  A bit of sauce, a layer of flour tortillas, and then a mixture of Monterrey Jack and Cheddar cheese.

After 5 hours or so it was done.  Smelled so good.

I was going to just dig into it to dish it out.  Tryphena said no.  When Mom would make this she would roll them individually.  I foresaw me making a big mess, so Mom rolled them up.  It turned out quite well.  Ate them with some shredded lettuce and sour cream.  Would have been even better if we had salsa to eat it with, but I had used the last of the salsa for in it.  Bummer.  Oh, well.  It was still much good.

Kind of like a Chipotle burrito.  Massive.  I think this was two tortillas rolled up into one.

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Japanese Chicken w/ Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Kale

I have a recipe in my collection called Japanese Chicken.  I think I got it from my mom, who got it from her sister.  It is quite good.  Only thing, it is kinda messy to make.  But the end result is so good.

First I made the sauce.

 Then I floured the chicken

and seared it.

It was so hot inside I didn't want to use the oven, because it would have made it even hotter.  So I cooked the chicken outside on our gas grill.  Plus, searing the chicken always makes a mess.  This way the mess was outside.

Then I put the chicken in a pot, poured the sauce over it, and let it cook.

I usually use chicken breasts to make this.  We only had chicken thighs thawed, so that is what I used.  It worked I guess.  Only thing is, the breasts would have seared better than the thighs.

While the chicken was cooking I made mash.  We didn't have any white potatoes so I used a massive sweet potato.

I only used about half of it.

When the potatoes were soft I put them through a ricer to mash them and get rid of that stringy stuff.  Mixed a little butter, salt, and pepper into it.

I also cooked up some kale from the garden.

Braised them I guess you would say with some chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

It was good.  The sweet potatoes were smooth and yummy because they went through the ricer.  The kale was actually pretty good.  The chicken was much yummy with that sauce.

Hmm, I think we should make this Japanese Chicken at the Bistro one weekend.  Good idea, self.

Japanese Chicken Sauce
--- 1 cup brown sugar
--- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
--- 1/2 tsp salt
--- 1/2 cup white vinegar
--- 1/2 cup water
Combine all ingredients and cook until thickened
Serve over chicken and mashed potatoes.

Now if you are making this at home you can  just mix up the sauce, pour it over the seared chicken, and put it in the oven for about an hour.

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"Enchiladas"

I worked today until 4:00 so I didn't really have time to make anything fancy or whatever for dinner tonight.  I looked in the fridge and freezer to see what we had that I could whip up real fast.  A bit of left over roast beef, corn, rice, pizza sauce, meatballs, cheddar cheese, and tortillas.  Ahaa!  Enchiladas!  I chopped up the roast beef and meatballs, heated it in a pot with the corn, rice, pizza sauce, and some salt and pepper.  Then in a baking dish I layered the tortillas, hot mixture stuff, and cheddar.  Heated that in the oven for a while while making a salad for a quick veggie thing.  Just used fresh lettuce from the garden, green onion, and shredded carrots.  The "enchiladas" were quite good.  I served salsa and sour cream on the side.  Not authentic enchiladas by any means, but good nonetheless

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BBQ Meatballs and Oven Fries

I have been wanting to use up the last of my BBQ sauce that I have left, because  I am going to change the recipe.  So I decided to make BBQ meatballs last night.  Meatballs that you buy in the store are okay.  I eat them. They are good.  Nothing compares to homemade meatballs however.  I used a recipe that Mom usually uses and it always turns out great.  Used 2 pound of ground beef and 1 pound of ground turkey.  Mixed it together with crushed up oatmeal and some spices.  Then I portioned them out, poured the BBQ sauce over them, and baked it for about an hour.  I was thinking about making mashed potatoes to go with it, but we just had that the other night with the pot roast.  So I made oven fries instead.  Cut some potatoes in strips and mixed them with oil, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, seasoned salt, and thyme.  Baked them for about 20 minutes then painstakingly flipped every one of them over and baked them for another 10 minutes/  My hard work paid off and they turned out great.  Crispy on both sides.  The meatballs were fabulous if I can say so myself.  I also made a spinach and strawberry salad with a sesame seed vinaigrette.  It was okay.  I'm not really a fan of vinaigrettes though.

Messy, messy. Maybe I should have chilled the meat, but I didn't have enough time.

Ready for BBQ sauce then the oven.

Fries

Meatballs after coming out of the oven.

Spinach and strawberry salad

Yum yum!

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Pot Roast w/ Mash and Caesar Salad

Mom had a roast thawing in the fridge the past couple days.  I worked this morning so the deal was if Mom got the roast going in the crock pot I would make the rest of the meal.  What goes with pot roast better than mashed potatoes?  Nothing really.  So I whipped up a batch.  I was feeling dangerous and used both white potatoes and sweet potatoes for a blended mash.  I didn't feel like cooking any vegetables, so I made Caesar salad for our greens.  I made the dressing from scratch and used fresh lettuce from the garden that Mom picked.  Also made croutons for the salad, because croutons go with Caesar of course.  Oh, and I made gravy from the very rich broth from the crock pot.  Thinned it out with water so it wasn't so rich, then thickened it and added some spices.  Garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and basil I think it what I used.  It was good.  Everything was yummy!

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Restaurant Review - Okra's Louisiana Bistro. Manassas, VA

I have been wanting to eat at Okra's for a long time.  Just never got around to it.  Janina's boyfriend is down for the weekend, so Friday evening after I got off from work we went to Okra's.  Got there around 7:15pm or so.  It seemed to be pretty busy.  The bar dining area was almost full of people.  Didn't get a chance to look at the other dining area, but I assume it was pretty full too.  People kept coming in and were being seated back there.  Anyway, so I was thinking, surely this must be a good place...people are packing it.  I got an appetizer of Alligator Bites.  Yes, alligator.  The menu says it is "Cajun spiced alligator sirloin, lightly breaded, fried, and served with Okra's remoulade."  It was amazing!  The breading was much good, and their remoulade sauce was the best that I have ever tasted.  For an entree I was debating between the tradition New Orleans' dish Shrimp and Grits or the Voodoo Chicken, which sounded amazing.  They were serving two specials that night, a NY Strip Steak, and some sort of chicken with shrimp.  I forget what it was called, but it sounded divine.  John was going to get the Voodoo Chicken, but at the last minute decided to go with the Chicken BLT sandwich.  Janina got the Cajun Burger.  Since nobody was ordering a special, I had to do it.  Got the NY Strip special.  It was grilled and served in a pond of some sort of beurre blanc sauce I think it was.  I forget what out waitress called the sauce, but it was much delicious.  It came with mashed potatoes and veggies.  Now I'm not really a steak guy.  Can't tell you the last time I had a steak.  This NY Strip was amazing.  I don't know what seasoning or basting sauce whatever they put on it, but it was yummers.  Then for dessert they showed us the dessert platter.  Side note, I like when restaurants do that.  So I got the Butterfingers Cheesecake.  It was good.  Could have maybe tasted a bit more like Butterfingers and it would have been better, but it was good nonetheless.

All in all, great place.  I will go back.  The service was good right up until the end.  I'm kind of quick to let that go though because I work in a restaurant and I know how it can go.  A lot of people were coming as we were finishing up, and the very chatty couple beside us were engaging out waitress in a very lengthy discussion about who knows what.  Anyway, that did not distract me from the amazing food that I had just eaten.  It was a Friday evening after all, and they were busy.  Our waitress apologized for the wait, and all was good.

I went in sort of thinking I wasn't going to spend a lot of money.  Then I told myself, "Self, you don't go out to each much.  You must make this a good occasion."  So I did.  With ordering an app, entree, and dessert, my bill was just under $30.  Not too bad I guess.

Check out their website and become very good friends with this excellent restaurant.
www.okras.com

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