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Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb and Greek Tacos | Make Ahead Monday

January 28, 2013 by 14 Comments

Slow-Cooker Garlic Lamb and Greek Tacos from Foodie with Family

In preparation for the Super Bowl next Sunday, I’m running a three-day Taco series. They’re easy, they’re delicious, they’re customizable, they’re crowd-pleasing. In short, they’re the perfect game food. Tomorrow, I’ll be serving up a vegetarian taco and Wednesday will be the taco no one saw coming. Mwahahahaha!

I’ve been on a taco kick lately. Okay, truthfully? I’ve been on a taco kick my entire life. I guess it’s just been more pronounced lately. But honest-to-goodness people, what isn’t to love about tacos? It’s good stuff wrapped in good stuff topped with good stuff then eaten with your hands. Win, win, win, WIN!

Tacos aren’t ALL I’ve been obsessed with lately; I just can’t get enough lamb. Mmmmm… tender, succulent, meaty lamb. It’s hard to go wrong there, too. It really was just a matter of time before I made a Greek taco, and it all started with a gorgeous leg of lamb that I dropped into my slow-cooker with garlic, lemon and oregano and braised ’til it fell apart.

You with me?

The pan drippings I reduced and poured over the fally-aparty lamb. The juicy, garlicky lamb got dropped onto baby spinach lined charred flour tortillas and topped with feta cheese…

Slow-Cooker Garlic Lamb in Greek Tacos from Foodie with Family

Next up was a cucumber dill yogurt sauce, diced bell peppers, garlic stuffed kalamata olives and a healthy dose of my drool.

I’m sorry. That kind of ruined it, didn’t it?

The point is this… The lamb was the easiest part of the dish. I move that we all eat more lamb. (This is selfish, really, because I just want it to be as readily available as beef and chicken in grocery stores what with living in the middle of nowhere and everything. I think my Amish neighbors are tired of me stopping by with a cooler, plaintive expression and “Hey! You’re not butchering lamb today, are ya?” questions…)

If you haven’t had lamb before, this is a great recipe to try. It is garlicky, lemony and herbed to a high state of fabulousness. There’s no tricky preparation, no worry about hitting the perfect temperature and no carving.  Since the recipe makes a large amount, it is also a great candidate for Make Ahead Monday. Freeze any leftover lamb with the reduced pan juices in meal-sized portions in freezer bags or freezer safe containers. Then, whenever you need a stiff dose of Greek food, you’re only a defrost away from today’s Greek tacos or braised lamb on polenta or braised lamb on lemon dill rice… You get the picture. It’s good stuff to have on hand!

Speaking of getting the picture… Take a closer look at my taco holder.

Slow-Cooker Garlic Lamb on Greek Tacos from Foodie with Family

I have a confession. It wasn’t sold as a taco holder. It was sold -by my favourite pottery shop- as a business card holder. However, being the girl I am, the instant I saw it, I squealed TACO HOLDER! One of the owners of the shop is a friend of mine and a fellow food fan and she said, “Hey! That’s not a bad idea!” So here’s the deal. As far as I know, they’re the only pottery shop who makes these. And word to the wise? They do custom orders. They do not have a website, but they do have this sign on their door, so I’ll share:

Pottery Shop

All their pottery is dishwasher, oven, and microwave safe. If that doesn’t make it the perfect taco-ware, I just don’t know what does. Staci is the taco/business card holder maker (and maker of this cake plate), for the record. And also for the record? This is NOT a sponsored post, I just think the whole word needs to know about this place.

Now. Onto that lamb and those tacos and some drooling. Really, I am sorry. I should stop.

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Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb and Greek Tacos | Make Ahead Monday

Rating: 51

Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb and Greek Tacos | Make Ahead Monday

Don't be intimidated by lamb. This simple, garlicky, lemony, herbed, succulent lamb braises up beautifully in the slow-cooker. Served over polenta, lemon rice or on these fast, fresh, delicious Greek Tacos, you'll be so glad you made enough for more than one meal!

Freezer Friendly for Make Ahead Monday.

Ingredients

    For the Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb:
  • 1 (4-6 pound) boneless leg of lamb (*See Notes regarding using bone-in lamb roasts.)
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 8 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons dry oregano
  • generous amounts of freshly ground black pepper and salt
    • For the Greek Tacos:
  • 2 cups Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 of a diced English (seedless) cucumber
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 of a sweet onion, peeled and diced
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill weed
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
  • baby spinach
  • chopped kalamata or garlic stuffed kalamata olives
  • finely diced multi-colored bell peppers
  • crumbled feta cheese
  • charred or heated flour tortillas

Instructions

To Make the Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb:

Place the lamb roast in a slow-cooker and rub it with the black pepper and salt. Add the extra virgin olive oil, on top of the roast and use your hands to rub it around to evenly distribute the oregano and oil. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and scatter the garlic cloves over and around the lamb roast. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until it falls apart easily when two forks are inserted into the center of the roast and pulled in opposite directions. Carefully transfer the roast to a cutting board, pour the pan juices through a strainer over a saucepan, and press the contents of the pan to get as much juice (and roasted garlic) into the saucepan as possible. Over a medium high flame, reduce the pan juices by half. While those reduce, use your hands or two forks to pull the lamb into bite-sized pieces. Pile the lamb into a serving bowl and pour the reduced pan juices over before serving.

Portion leftover lamb into meal-sized servings (along with pan juices) and freeze in freezer bags or freezer safe containers for up to 6 months.

To Make Greek Tacos:

Stir together the Greek yogurt, cucumber, zest and juice of the lemon, diced onion, minced fresh dill weed, and minced garlic. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pile each tortilla with about 5 or 6 baby spinach leaves, a layer of lamb, feta cheese, yogurt sauce, olives and diced peppers. Serve immediately!

Notes

You can definitely make this with bone-in lamb roasts. It will probably take a bit longer (by an hour or two or even more!), but will be even more flavourful. Use whichever you can find most easily and whichever fits your budget best.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/28/slow-cooker-garlicky-lamb-and-greek-tacos-make-ahead-monday/

Filed Under: Lamb, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Slow-Cooker Asian Beef | Make Ahead Mondays

November 19, 2012 by 15 Comments

Let me tell you about my friend, Robyn. She’s gorgeous, brilliant, talented, kind, warm-hearted, and has a seriously adorable family. Robyn is good people, people. All that’s impressive enough, right? Well, the woman can cook, too. She posted the most incredible looking Balsamic Roast Beef recipe a few of weeks ago and I about fell out of my chair it sounded so good.

In fact, her recipe is on that short list of ones that have sounded so darned good that I had to make it the minute I read it. Literally. As in, I stood up, unplugged my laptop and moved to the kitchen to begin making it AS I was reading it. I made that roast twice in one week.

…Then the third time I started making it (Yes, three time in two weeks. What?!? Me? Obsess much?) I realized I was out of a couple of ingredients. I preserved Robyn‘s method and played around with the stuff I always have handy. In this house, that usually means going Asian directions with recipes. The result was fah-hah-haaabulous.

It was so delicious I stood there pulling piece after piece off of the fall-apart tender beef dunking it into the pan juices and slurping it up. I dare not admit how much of it I consumed. I’ll just say that my husband came in the room to find out from whence the delectable aroma was coming and said, “Oh, I guess it was a small-ish roast?”

It was four pounds.

Ahem.

Yeah, so. The point is that it’s not just good, it’s great. If you have more willpower than I do, or start with a larger roast than I did, leftovers store and freeze, and reheat beautifully.

 

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Slow-Cooker Asian Beef | Make Ahead Mondays

Slow-Cooker Asian Beef | Make Ahead Mondays

This succulent, spicy and just-a-little-sweet Asian beef is almost sinfully easy to prepare in the slow-cooker -no pre-browning, extensive preparation or complicated sauces- yet somehow yields incredibly deep flavours. It's good enough to serve to company.

Adapted gently from and with many thanks to the lovely Robyn Stone of Addapinch.com

Ingredients

  • 1 3-4 pound boneless top round or bottom round beef roast
  • 1 cup beef or chicken broth
  • ½ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup honey plus 2 tablespoons, divided
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1-2 tablespoons Asian Chili-Garlic Sauce, depending on heat preference.
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed with the side of a knife, depending on how garlicky you like things.
  • 1 (2-inch) piece of ginger, lightly smashed with the side of a knife or a mallet

Instructions

Place the beef roast in the crock of a slow-cooker. Scatter the ginger and garlic cloves over and around the beef. Stir together the broth, balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup of the honey, the soy and fish sauces, and the chili garlic sauce and pour over the beef roast. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours, or LOW for 6-8 hours or until the beef is fork tender.

Carefully transfer the beef to a casserole dish or a large bowl. Pour the juices from the slow cooker into a small saucepan with the remaining 2 tablespoons of honey and bring to a boil over high heat. You can reduce by as much as 3/4, just keep in mind the flavours will intensify the more you reduce it. While that is boiling, use two forks to shred the beef as finely as you wish.

You may pour the reduced pan juices directly over the beef or serve as a sauce to be used at the table. We like to pour it directly over the beef, toss it, and serve over Spicy Asian Broccoli and hot rice.

To Freeze and Reheat Leftovers:

Put leftover meat and pan juices in a freezer-safe bag. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing and freeze flat. To reheat, empty the contents of a bag into a microwave or oven safe dish. Heat covered (by plastic in the microwave or foil in the oven) at a moderate temperature (75% in the microwave or 350°F in the oven) just until heated through.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/11/19/slow-cooker-asian-beef-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Bacon Cheeseburger Mini-Meatloaves and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes | {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

November 15, 2012 by 115 Comments

 

Update: The Pick a Giveaway Winner plug-in chose MaryG as the winner. MaryG, congratulations! Please email me with your information so the book can be sent right away.

I love cookbooks. I have a lot of cookbooks. As in AH- LAWT of cookbooks. Shelves and shelves and boxes and boxes of cookbooks are mine. Some of them I like more than others, obviously; some of them speak to me.

Not literally, mind you, that’d be crazy.

What I mean is some of them NAIL my way of eating. The Meatloaf Bakery Cookbook: Comfort Food with a Twist by Cynthia Kallile is one of those. I have to admit, the cookbook surprised me a little… I honestly didn’t expect to be blown away by -of all things- a meatloaf cookbook. From the moment I pulled the book from the envelope, though, I was hooked. Hardcore.

The cover has tiny little cupcake meatloaves with beautifully piped mashed potatoes and a dusting of paprika, a meatloaf pot pie, ADORABLE little meatloaf appetizers with stars of mashed potatoes, a meatloaf in pastry and something that I couldn’t identify but still wanted to eat. Desperately. (I later found out it was a baked mac-and-cheese with crispy bits.)

The first test of any cookbook, though, is how hungry it makes you when you eat it. Usually, I find that when I flip through a cookbook, I find a handful of recipes appealing with one or two must-makes in the mix. Not this time. This time, I wanted to make every. single. recipe. from the Chili Chili Bang Bang (a chili flavoured meatloaf with beans ground into it baked with cornbread on top) to the Omega-3 Meatloaf (a fresh salmon meatloaf topped with *GASP* wasabi mashed potatoes.) I mean, really… There was an Herby Turkey Meatloaf that momentarily made me rethink my Thanksgiving plans.

Photo Courtesy of The Meatloaf Bakery Cookbook by Cynthia Kallile

Let me tell you, it was HARD to narrow down what the first recipe I’d try would be.

This cookbook actually inspired me to drive to the store to get meat so I could make something from it. “Big deal!”, you say? Oh, it IS a big deal. For me, an impulse trip to the store means a half an hour drive in either direction.

I settled on the recipe called “No Buns About It Burger Loaf”. It was, in essence, a bacon cheeseburger meatloaf (with chopped pickle in it!!!!) topped with creamy, cheesy mashed potatoes. Like a dingbat, I forgot to write down the ingredients I needed before I drove to the store, so I did the best I could from memory. I ended up with the crucial stuff (a big old chuck steak to stick through my meat grinder) but blanked on some of the supporting players. I had many fabulous stand-ins at home (for instance, white cheddar vs. the specified yellow cheddar, yogurt vs. the sour cream, and Romano vs. the asked-for asiago/parmesan combo.) so I went ahead anyway.

I didn’t mess around, people. I was confident enough in the recipe after reading it to jump in with both feet and start off with a double  batch. Half of the batch I cooked as directed in greased large muffin tins, the other half I baked in a loaf pan.

The smell of these cooking was enough to drive me to distraction. They smelled like bacon cheeseburgers. I piped mashed potatoes on the little muffin ones when they were done and served them at the dinner table and awaited the reaction.

Hooooooooooooboy.

Locusts have nothing on my family. Those meatloaves disappeared at light speed. That evening was youth group night for my eldest son, so after clearing the dishes and before driving my boy, I wrapped the leftover loaf version of what we had eaten and said, “Honey, don’t eat this. Okay? Please? Eat anything else in the fridge that you’d like, but please leave this. I want to make meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow.” He responded, “No problem!”

Two hours later, I arrived home to find an empty platter with a wadded up piece of plastic wrap and a penitent husband who greeted me at the door with an earnest, “I couldn’t help it! It was so good!”

I will be cooking my way through this cookbook. I honestly didn’t know I was such a nut over meatloaf until I read it. The two of my friends who have thumbed through the book at my house looked at me and asked boldly, “Will you be doing a giveaway of this or should I just buy it now?”

I’ll tell you this, too… At least one of those friends decided she couldn’t wait to see if she would win and went out immediately to buy her own copy.

The good news is I DO have a copy to give away. The good folks at Cynthia Kallile’s publisher have offered me a copy of this fantastic cookbook to give away to one of you. Details on the giveaway are below the recipe.

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Bacon Cheeseburger Mini-Meatloaves and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes | {GIVEAWAY]

Bacon Cheeseburger Mini-Meatloaves and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes | {GIVEAWAY]

These mini-meatloaves taste just like a good old-fashioned bacon cheeseburger straight down to the finely diced dill pickle in them! Top them with creamy, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, a little extra dill pickle and a sprinkling of sesame seeds (instead of a sesame seed bun) and you'll be in seventh meatloaf heaven!

Gently adapted from and with thanks to "The Meatloaf Bakery Cookbook" by Cynthia Kallile.

Ingredients

    For the Bacon Cheeseburger Mini-Meatloaves:
  • 1/2 pound (8 ounces) bacon, cut crosswise into small slices
  • 3/4 cup finely diced cooking onions
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
  • 1 cup panko or plain white bread crumbs
  • 1 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar plus extra for garnish
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1/4 cup well-drained finely diced dill pickles plus extra for garnish
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup milk, beaten
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 black pepper
  • nonstick cooking spray
    • For the Cheesy Mashed Potatoes:
  • 8 Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 1/4 cup whole milk, warmed in the microwave
  • 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons plain yogurt or sour cream
  • 1 1/3 cups shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded romano cheese
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cook the bacon in a frying pan until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Pour off all but about 1 teaspoon of the bacon grease. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until softened. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Combine the remaining meatloaf ingredients well with your hands in a mixing bowl. Grease 6 large or 12 standard sized non-stick muffin pan. Use your hands to mound the tops of the meatloaves so they're domed.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes (for the standard sized mini-loaves) to 40 minutes (for the large loaves) or until the middle of the interior of the loaves measures 160°F on an instant read or meat thermometer and the meatloaf tops are browned.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool a couple of minutes before trying to remove the loaves.

When you can handle the pan, unmold the meatloaf cupcakes and set on a cutting board or flat pan to prepare for "frosting" with the mashed potatoes.

To Make the Cheesy Mashed Potatoes:

Cover the peeled and chunked potatoes with cold water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the potatoes until they are fork tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and return them to the hot pan. Add the milk, butter, and yogurt to the potatoes and mash until very smooth. Add the shredded cheeses to the hot potatoes and mash that into the potatoes until melted into the potatoes. Taste the potatoes and adjust with salt and pepper. If you're going to pipe the potatoes onto the mini-meatloaves, you want to be sure you don't have chunks as those could block the pastry tip. If you're going to dollop or spread it on top, you don't need to be quite as thorough in eliminating lumps of potato.

To Serve:

Dollop or spread mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf cupcakes ~OR~ insert any large tip into a 12-inch to 14-inch pastry bag. Fill with the hot Cheesy Mashed Potatoes. Be careful as the bag will be hot to the touch! Pipe the potatoes onto the tops of the meatloaf cupcakes. Serve immediately, topped with extra pickles, shredded cheese and a sprinkling of sesame seeds, if desired.

Leftovers, if you have them, can be stored tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheated in either the microwave or a moderate oven (350°F.)

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/11/15/bacon-cheeseburger-mini-meatloaves-and-cheesy-mashed-potatoes-giveaway/

Let’s get to some giveaway details, shall we? There are a couple of ways to enter.

Mandatory Entry:

What’s the best meatloaf you’ve ever had? Was it studded with loads of vegetables? Did it use dried onion soup mix? Was it topped with gravy or ketchup? Talk details in a comment below!

Optional Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry to be sure it’s counted!):

A winner will be chosen using the “Pick a Winner” plugin here on Foodie With Family. I will announce our lucky winner on Monday morning. Good luck, folks, this is a serious keeper of a cookbook!!!

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the cookbook for review and a copy is being provided by Adams Media for the purposes of the giveaway, but all opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways!, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese | Bonus 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack

November 2, 2012 by 18 Comments

Friends: I’m participating in the 30 Days of Gratitude on the Foodie With Family facebook page. Won’t you join me when you can and share a little or a big something you’re grateful for every day? And if every day is too much in your life right now, how about just whenever you can? Click here to be part of a thankfulness movement!

 

I’m going to start this post with a confession and spend the rest of it haranguing you into making this my way. Sounds fun, right? Let’s get started.

My confession: I don’t like baked macaroni and cheese. Right now there are two groups of people reading this. Group A is gasping and fanning themselves and ready to storm me and revoke my foodie card. Group B is saying, “Big whoop.” It’s okay. I understand. I often feel like I SHOULD like it since it’s a little of a lot of things I love in one package. I just don’t. It’s a texture thing.

I DO, however, ADORE creamy mac and cheese and I’m OVER-THE-MOON in love with shells and cheese. There’s just something so awfully cute about shells and I love the way they trap all the good saucy stuff. What I didn’t love about that, though, was how ever-loving messy the process was with the bechamel in one pan and the noodles in another and the blah blah blah. Then a few years ago, I read my beloved White on Rice couple’s creamy stove top mac and cheese recipe and the clouds- they parted. They cooked the pasta IN the milk. Well, duh. Why didn’t anyone ever think of that before?

Over the past couple of years, I’ve tinkered with the recipe to reflect my family’s preferences. While there are many versions of stove-top creamy mac and cheese out there, this one is our favourite (and if you pile my Taco Mac Hack on top, it’s garner-cheers-at-the-table good.)

I’ve made countless versions of this one-pot mac. I know what DOES work and what DOESN’T. I am giving you my version today: the one that never fails us. But here’s where the haranguing comes into play. This recipe is easy IF YOU DO IT EXACTLY AS I SAY. If you’ve been around here for long, you know I don’t say that often. When I say it, I mean it. Of course, there are still a couple of items up for negotiation (like what milk you use and whether you pursue the taco mac angle or go au naturel. The noodles not the nudie, if you follow my meaning…)

Here are the rules:

  1. Choose your milk: You can absolutely choose to use skim, one-percent, two-percent or whole milk here. That is not going to effect the end texture as much as how decadent the final product is. That’s a choice.
  2. Use small shells: not medium shells, not elbow macaroni, not ditalini, not spaghetti, not linguine… You get the picture. This recipe was refined using small shells. And yes, it really DOES make a difference here. I tried doing this using equal weights of other types of pasta. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. It worked EVERY time with the shells.
  3. Use half Monterey Jack cheese and half extra sharp Cheddar. The reasons are multiple. Monterey Jack is a smoother melting cheese than Cheddar and it’s milder. Combining the two in equal parts gives you the tang of Cheddar and the smooth gooey loveliness of Monterey Jack. Win/win… And while we’re on the subject of cheese.
  4. Grate your own cheese. No, I know. The bags of pre-grated stuff are super convenient. I use them from time to time, too. The thing is, the little shreds of cheese in those bags are coated with powder that keeps them from sticking together. Handy for pre-grated cheese, but not so wonderful when you’re melting it and WANT it to come together. Just hike those socks up and grate the cheese. It’s a one-pot meal, you’re still a head of the game even after you mess up the cheese grater. And speaking of cheese, make sure you have it grated before you start cooking. Why? Because you…
  5. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THE POT. Heck, you probably shouldn’t even stop stirring. You’re using the starch coating the pasta as  thickening power in the sauce. As the pasta cooks, that starch goes into the milk (as the milk is being absorbed by the pasta) to make it thick and creamy. Thick and creamy likes to stick to pans. Things that like to stick to pans like to scorch. Scorched creamy shells and cheese is a sad, sad thing. Just keep stirring. It’s a small price to pay for fabulous creamy mac made in just one pot. You’ll be so glad you did.

Alright, that’s it for my brow-beating. Is anyone still with me? If so, let me tell you about my Taco Mac Hack. It’s so simple it hardly counts as a recipe, so it’s a freebie here. Top your One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese with leftover taco meat or browned Mexican-style chorizo and a couple candied jalapeños on top. Ta da! You’ve hacked your mac into Taco Mac. If you’re the ketchup on your mac and cheese type, add a dollop of salsa!

 

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One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese | Bonus 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack

One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese | Bonus 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack

One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese takes creamy mac and cheese to new heights of decadence and ease while only dirtying one pan. For creamy mac lovers and last minute mac and cheese cravings.

Bonus: 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack included in the recipe!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound small shells pasta (Do NOT use medium shells.)
  • 4 cups milk (plus extra, in case!)
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 cup grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • Optional for Taco Mac:
  • Fully cooked taco meat or browned chorizo
  • Candied Jalapenos

Instructions

Add the small shells, milk, butter, mustard, salt, garlic and onion powder to a large saucepan over medium heat. Stirring nearly constantly and taking care to scrape the spoon across the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking and scorching, slowly bring the mixture to a simmer then drop the heat to LOW. Don't forget this or you'll be sorry!

Continue stirring and simmering the pasta for about 15 minutes, or until the milk is almost completely absorbed. Test a piece of pasta (carefully, though, because this stuff is MOLTEN at this point.) If the pasta isn't fully cooked and the milk is almost gone, add more milk in -1/4 cup at a time- until the pasta is fully cooked. This will add a small amount of cooking time (3-5 minutes) to the overall cooking time.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the grated cheese.

Put a lid on the pan and let it rest, undisturbed for 3-5 minutes. Give it one more stir and taste. Add the black pepper to taste and serve hot.

Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly lidded container and heated up with a splash of milk in the microwave or in a saucepan.

To Make Taco Mac:

Sprinkle re-heated taco meat or crispy brown chorizo over bowls of hot Creamy Shells and Cheese and top with candied jalapenos if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/11/02/one-pot-creamy-shells-and-cheese-bonus-2-ingredient-taco-mac-hack/

Filed Under: Comfort Food, kid food, Main Dish, Pasta, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cuban Sandwiches | Pressed Toasted Sandwiches

October 27, 2012 by 11 Comments

Check below the post for an update on the Harry & David giveaway.

I had the chance to tour the college town where my baby sister, Airlia, has been for the last two years with my mom and another of my sisters last weekend. We went up one side of Ithaca and down the other in sensible shoes (thank HEAVENS for sensible shoes when walking through a town that is essentially planted on the side of a cliff.) One thing Airlia really wanted us to see was the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. The market was beautiful. It was full of vendors selling seemingly everything; vegetables, meats, potted plants, pottery, jewelry, clothing and ready to eat food. Oh, that ready to eat food…

It was ethnic food heaven.

My mom and sisters parked themselves in front of a Japanese food vendor to get tofu pockets stuffed with sushi. I glanced around… I really, REALLY wanted to go to the Cambodian food vendor, but the line was snaked around the corner and the market was going to close in less than half an hour. I doubted I’d get to the front of the line and my stomach was doing the talking. After mom, Jess and Air got their tofu pockets, we started strolling toward the end of the market we hadn’t explored yet and then the heavens illuminated and angelic voices sang in a glorious choir while pointing at the place I was destined to eat my lunch: the Cuban sandwiches vendor.

“OH CUBANS! THEY HAVE CUBANS. I LOVE CUBANS!!!!!” I hollered as I ran toward the table. I saw my mom and sisters looking around in the background, trying to figure out what I was talking about. “She loves Cubans? What is she talking about? Where are the Cubans?”

Oh, Cuban sandwiches, how I do love thee. It’s a meat lover’s sandwich. This is why my mom and sisters didn’t understand my reaction- they’re all vegetarians. Not only is it for meat eaters, but it is unapologetically so; it’s crammed full of ham, shredded pork, salami (in Miami, but not in Cuba), pickles, cheese and yellow mustard, then slathered with butter and pressed between two hot pans or on a spiffy non-ridged panini kind of thingy. (That is the technical term for the apparatus.)

The bread gets squished around all those magical porky fillings and pickles and mustard and becomes DEAD crisp and buttery on the outside. Oh my gosh, people. A sandwich just doesn’t get any better than this.

Sandwich PSA: Now I want to address something super important about sandwiches. Do not just lay that meat flat on the bread, for the love of all that is good, don’t flop the meat on the bread and call it a day. Please. I beg you. Take some time with the placement of meat on a sandwich. It’s the difference between a SANDWICH and meat on bread. Yes, I realize that I sound crazy and picky right now, but give this a try the next time you make a sandwich. Hold the meat by one end so that it hangs down. Place the bottom edge of the deli meat against the edge of the bread and then let the meat fold -almost accordion like- as it falls onto the bread. I’m telling you, it’s fah-hah-habulous and makes all the difference in the world. Trust me. I worked in a deli in high school.

Let’s have a little chat about how we achieve ultimate Cuban Sandwich-ness, because it doesn’t require all kinds of fancy equipment, but it DOES require a little advance planning and faithful use of oven mitts. Here’s what ya do. You line a nice baking sheet with heavy-duty foil and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Butter your future Cuban sandwiches top and bottom (as in on the very top of the top half of the roll and the very bottom of the bottom half of the roll. Lay them out with a couple of inches between each sandwich.

Spray another piece of heavy duty foil and lay it spray-side down on the sandwiches. Lay another baking sheet on top of the foil. Be sure the pan you have chosen for the top will not rest on the rim of the bottom pan. For instance, use a flat pan on the bottom with a rimmed one on the top (rim facing upward) or use two pans that can nest inside each other for storage. This will allow maximum squish-age on the sandwiches. You can definitely double decker the pans if you’re feeding a regiment like I am. You WILL have to rotate the pans, bottom to top or vice versa midway through cooking.

When that goes into the hot oven, lay seriously heavy pots or landscaping bricks that preheated with the oven on top of the top pan.  This is the only tricky bit… the goal is to evenly weigh the top pan down so you get even squashing of the sandwiches…

Then, when all is said and done you get these.

Oh man. Oh goodness. Oh heavens to Betsy. How badly do you want to eat these? As badly as I do? I’ll fight ya for ‘em.

 

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Cuban Sandwiches | Pressed Toasted Sandwiches

Cuban Sandwiches | Pressed Toasted Sandwiches

This Cuban (and Miami) classic sandwich pairs sweet, baked and shredded pork with garlicky dill pickles, tangy yellow mustard, spicy salami and gooey melted Swiss cheese. The sandwich is pressed as it is toasted making it super crispy on the outside. Sandwiches just don't get better than this.

Ingredients

  • Per Sandwich:
  • 1 Portuguese roll or ciabatta roll
  • 2 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 2-4 slices baked ham or ham off of the bone
  • 2 slices salami
  • 1/2-3/4 cup of shredded, fully cooked pork. I prefer homemade Cuban Pork , of course
  • 1 slice Swiss cheese
  • 2-4 thin slices garlic or kosher dill pickles
  • 1 tablespoon softened butter
  • non-stick cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500°F with a heavy cast iron skillet or landscaping bricks in it.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Halve the roll and lay it cut sides up on a cutting board. Spread the mustard evenly over the insides of the roll. On one side, pile the ham then the pickles then the cheese then the salami. On the other half, spread the shredded pork and lightly press it into the bun. Turn it over onto the other half of the roll. Spread half of the butter on the top of the top roll and half of the butter on the bottom of the bottom roll. Position it on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with as many sandwiches as you're making, being sure to leave enough room between the sandwiches for them to spread as they're squashed.

Spray another piece of heavy-duty foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray and lay it -sprayed side down- on the sandwiches. Put another pan on top, put into the oven and weigh it down with as much oven-safe heavy stuff as you can muster. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, the bread is toasted and golden brown and the whole sandwich is hot through and through.

Serve immediately.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/27/cuban-sandwiches-pressed-toasted-sandwiches/

In news unrelated to sandwiches, I’ve picked a winner for the Harry & David Bear Creek Gift Basket. Scoot right over here and see if you were the winner!!

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Comfort Food, Main Dish, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Kielbasa, Apple and Onion Stir-fry with Mini Puff Pancakes

October 5, 2012 by 11 Comments

This is a good time of year to be an apple lover in Western New York. While it wasn’t the best year ever for apples due to a late frost and weird weather, apples are still just about everywhere and I call that a very good thing. Roadside stands, farmers’ markets, and even grocery stores are carrying apples that are just about as good as if they were just pulled from the trees. Apples in October are second to none.

Everyone knows how good an apple tastes fresh or dunked into caramel dip, but so many people are missing out on one of my favourite food combinations; fried apples and onions with kielbasa. I was first introduced to fried apples and onions as a kid when I read ‘Farmer Boy’ by Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of Almanzo Wilder’s mom’s specialties was apples and onions fried in bacon grease. It was, in fact, Almonzo’s favourite dish. I didn’t get past that page in the book before I begged my mom to whip up a pan full for us.

It was every bit as good as it sounded on paper. From that day on, it’s been one of my favourite dishes, too… best served when apples are still explodingly crisp and fresh and hold up well to a little time in a hot pan. In my own home, I started frying cubed, garlicky kielbasa in the pan before adding the apples and onions and found that it turned a well-loved side dish into a better-loved main dish. This is one of those dishes that smells so good while it cooks that people congregate in the kitchen peeking at the contents of the pan, trying to sneak bits of sausage from the top of the pan and drooling like Pavlov’s dogs.

There’s something so special about crisp-about-the-edges kielbasa with tender, sweet apples and meltingly tender onions. I lack the vocabulary to explain just how perfect the dish actually is. It’s salty, sweet, garlicky… it’s wonderful.

You have options on how you want to serve it, provided you can keep folks’ forks out of the bowl long enough to get it to the table. Our preferred method is to whip up a batch of mini puff pancakes… (the basic Pannukakku recipe here, but poured into generously greased muffin tins instead of a big pan.)

The soft, custardy puff pancakes sink a little in the center when fresh from the oven, making them the perfect vehicle to hold all those little deep-brown bits of sausage and tender apples and onions.

They soak up all the good sausage grease that might otherwise make an escape.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you, though, that the stir-fry is equally delicious piled on top of hot egg noodles or fresh, hot rice. Any way you serve it, you’ll feel warm all over. Happy autumn!

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Kielbasa, Apple and Onion Stir-fry with Mini Puff Pancakes

Kielbasa, Apple and Onion Stir-fry with Mini Puff Pancakes

Highly seasoned, garlicky, classic kielbasa pairs perfectly with crisp tender tart apples and sweet onions in this fall stir-fry. Serve over hot egg noodles, cooked rice or as we did on mini puff-pancakes.

Ingredients

    For the Mini Puff Pancakes:
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • a pinch each of salt and sugar
  • non-stick cooking spray
    • For the Kielbasa, Apple and Onion Stir-Fry:
  • 14 to 16 ounces of Kielbasa or beef smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 4 large tart, firm apples (Use a variety good for cooking, such as Cortland, Spy, Gala, or Granny Smith.)
  • 2 large cooking onions, ends trimmed and peeled
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Pinch of salt
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Optional: 1 tablespoon Maple Syrup

Instructions

To Make the Mini Puff Pancakes:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Add the eggs, flour, milk, and pinches of salt and sugar to the carafe of your blender*. Blend on high for about 30 seconds, stopping once to scrape down the sides.

*If you do not have a blender, whisk all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until completely smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until they are very puffy, golden brown on top and set to the touch. Place the pan on a cooling rack and let cool for 3 minutes before removing the puff pancakes. If any are stuck, gently run a butterknife around the edge to help loosen them.

To Make the Kielbasa, Apple and Onion Stir-Fry:

Place a skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add the cubes of kielbasa to the pan. Slide the pan back and forth a few times to distribute the sausage cubes. Let the pan rest on the heat without stirring for about 1 minute to help develop a little colour on the sausage cubes. Toss or stir the sausage until some fat has rendered and the sausage has browned evenly, about 3-5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a plate. Drain off all but about 1 tablespoon of the sausage fat.

Cut the onions in half, end-to-end. Cut each half in quarters and then each quarter in half again. Set aside.

Peel, core and halve the apples. Cut each half in quarters and then each quarter in half again.

Return the pan to the burner and lower the heat to medium-high. Add the butter to the pan drippings to melt. When they have melted, add the onions and toss gently to coat. Let them cook alone for about 3 minutes. Add the apples to the pan and toss to coat. Fry the apples and onions, tossing or stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender but still hold together, about 3-5 minutes. Season with black pepper to taste. If desired, drizzle the tablespoon of maple syrup over the mixture and toss to coat.

Serve hot over Mini Puff Pancakes, cooked egg noodles or rice.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/05/kielbasa-apple-and-onion-stir-fry-with-mini-puff-pancakes/

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Main Dish, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Thai Red Curry Shrimp with Coconut Rice (How to Freeze Rice) | Make Ahead Mondays

October 1, 2012 by 4 Comments

 

 

My husband doesn’t like curry. …Or at least he SAYS he doesn’t  like curry. He claims it makes him belchy. (Since when did that deter him, I ask…) This is one of my eternal frustrations because I do like it. A lot. It goes both ways.  My husband adores angel hair pasta cooked past al dente served with piles and piles of meat sauce. I say this is sloppy joes on pretend pasta. Ah, love; it’s not all wine and roses. Sometimes it’s burps and mushy noodles. The important thing is that we both recognize that we don’t have to have the last word.

I question how much my husband actually dislikes curry, though, because over the years I have featured at least four recipes in our regular rotation that lean heavily on curry whether in powder or paste form. One of them is one of the most popular posts ever here on Foodie With Family. Another is one of our family favourites and a prize winner. I think it’s more accurate to say that he’s picky about curry. I don’t blame him. In my opinion, the balance of curry is easy to mess up. It can go from complex and tantalizing to muddy and overwhelming if too heavy a hand is used.

I have realized after years of experimentation, that the one kind of curry my husband will invariably love is a Thai curry, specifically a red curry. Red curry is a blend of lemongrass, garlic, Thai ginger and red chiles (among other things). How could you possibly go wrong with that?  When RiceSelect sent me a jar of their Texmati light brown rice*, I knew right away what I was going to do with it. It was getting a red curry topping.

*What I love about this rice is that it cooks quickly like white rice and tastes a great deal like it, but gives you much of the nutritional content of brown rice. As a mom of many, I call that a win.

Because the curry we were making was a Thai curry, we decided to turn our dinner into a party to explore Thai culture along with our meal. In Thailand it’s considered unlucky to eat alone*, so we loaded our table up with friends and family. This is an easy task given that our family makes seven per meal all by itself. Since our dinner party was on Sunday, we all wore red; the traditional colour assigned to Sunday in Thai culture.

*Well, gee. I must be the luckiest woman alive, then. I almost never eat alone. (Unless you count me hiding in the bathroom to inhale a chocolate bar.)

In keeping with the Thai theme, we used bamboo mats on red place mats to decorate the table. My son Ty declared it to be his day. Thai. Ty. Oh my. This same child also selected a knots and rope-work class based on the fact that he should be great at it since his name is Ty. Ty. Tie. Help.

Back to the good stuff…

The curry we had was a Thai Red Curry Shrimp: a dish that appears far too simple to have the complex and comforting flavour that it delivers. Coconut milk and red curry paste simmer with onions, peas and shrimp and are ladled over fragrant coconut rice. A simple scattering of chopped fresh cilantro and basil over the top of the dish seems insignificant until you taste it. The fresh herbs, sweet shrimp, and umami laden curry coconut sauce with vegetables all come together in a symphony of flavour, including all four of the main seasonings of Thai cuisine: salty, sour, bitter, and sweet.

Because the curry itself comes together in very little time, the recipe I’m including here calls for making a larger amount of rice than you’ll need for the meal. Coconut rice freezes and reheats beautifully, so the recipe includes instructions for freezing the extra rice for last minute cravings and nights when you’re on the run. Do take advantage of this!

Coconut rice is a beautiful base for stir-fries, sweet and sour meatballs, hamballs. Coconut rice also adds a little unexpected flair to fried rice; simply use your hands to break up the frozen rice directly into the hot pan.

Give this super-fast, exotic, satisfying meal a whirl some evening. You’ll be so glad you did. It’s way better than mushy angel hair with sloppy joe topping.

Oh shoot. Did I just get the last word?

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Thai Red Curry Shrimp with Coconut Rice (How to Freeze Rice) | Make Ahead Mondays

Thai Red Curry Shrimp with Coconut Rice (How to Freeze Rice) | Make Ahead Mondays

Thai Red Curry Shrimp: a dish that appears far too simple to have the complex and comforting flavour that it delivers. Coconut milk and red curry paste simmer with onions, peas and shrimp and are ladled over fragrant coconut rice. A simple scattering of chopped fresh cilantro and basil over the top of the dish seems insignificant until you taste it. The fresh herbs, sweet shrimp, and umami laden curry coconut sauce with vegetables all come together in a symphony of flavour. Instructions on how to freeze extra rice for future meals are included in the recipe.

Ingredients

    For the Coconut Rice:
  • 5 cups Texmati Light Brown Rice
  • 3 cans full-fat Coconut Milk
  • additional water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    • For the Thai Red Curry Shrimp:
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 medium cooking onion
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk (13-14 ounces)
  • 1 tablespoon Red Curry Paste
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon raw sugar or light brown sugar
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 pound raw, shelled, cleaned shrimp
  • Chopped fresh basil and cilantro for garnish
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste (available in the produce section at grocery stores.)

Instructions

To Make Coconut Rice:

Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a rice cooker, select regular rice cycle (no need to cook on the brown rice cycle) and begin the cycle. When finished, fluff with a fork and serve.

(If you do not have a rice cooker, combine all ingredients in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, stirring once, then cover with a tight fitting lid or foil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, undisturbed, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

To Freeze Extra Coconut Rice:

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or rinse the pan with water and shake off excess. This will keep the rice from sticking. Spread the rice out on the pan and let stand until it is no longer steaming hot. Rinse a measuring cup with water and shake out the excess. Measure meal-sized portions into re-sealable zipper top bags. Use your hands to gently flatten the rice and distribute it evenly in the bag. Seal the bags, label and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.

To Reheat Rice:

Transfer the frozen rice to a microwave safe container and microwave on high in 1 minute bursts, until the rice is hot all the way through. Fluff with a fork before serving.

To Make the Thai Red Curry Shrimp:

Heat the coconut oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan. Add the onions to the pan and saute, stirring or tossing occasionally, until the onions have a touch of brown to them.

Add the coconut milk and red curry paste to the pan and bring to a boil, whisking to combine the red curry paste into the coconut milk. Lower the heat and let it simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Add the fish sauce, sugar and water and return it to a boil. Again, lower the heat and let it simmer for 8 minutes. Add the optional lemongrass paste (if using) and whisk it in carefully.

Add the frozen peas and cook until the peas are hot all the way through, about 2 minutes. Bring the liquid back to a gentle simmer and add the cleaned, shelled shrimp. Cook just until the shrimp are curled and pink. This should take between 3 to 5 minutes.

To Serve the Coconut Rice and Thai Red Curry Shrimp:

Scoop a serving of coconut rice into each bowl and spoon the shrimp with the sauce and vegetables over the rice. Scatter some chopped cilantro and basil over the top and serve immediately.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/01/thai-red-curry-shrimp-with-coconut-rice-how-to-freeze-rice-make-ahead-mondays/


This post is brought to you by Rice Select. All opinions are, as always, mine alone.

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Comfort Food, Freezer Pleaser, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

September 11, 2012 by 11 Comments

 

I think it’s been so long since I’ve been sick that my body forgot how to go about being sick. It’s not a complaint mind you, just an observation. I spent a day with a weird headache and sore throat of the move-slowly-through-the-day variety, went to bed with an ibuprofen cocktail and woke up with a good old-fashioned cold.

And so I plopped myself on the chair with a cuppa tea, dictated school lessons from my chair and plotted all the comforting foods I was going to inhale that day because my nose wasn’t doing any inhaling and part of me had to keep the process going.

I prioritized; nothing too complicated for energy and dish purposes, no running to the store- had to make do because I was not going out looking like this (pointed at the hair scraped back and perched on the top of my head and the Rudolph nose.), had to be a crowd-pleaser, and had to have big flavour. You know, so I could actually TASTE whatever it was I made.

At the top of the list was a version of slow-cooker black bean enchiladas I tried from TheKitchn a while back. Simple, not fussy, comforting, big-on-taste, hearty, filling and inexpensive, these enchiladas deliver a lot for the small amount of work behind them. They were just what I needed and wanted.

I’ve made this same recipe both in the slow-cooker and the oven. You get a more ‘authentic’ enchilada texture from oven-baking them, but they’re ever so good in the slow-cooker. The tortillas soak up everything and get all salsa-fied and still get some crispy edges where they come in contact with the side of the slow-cooker. The instructions specify to cook the enchiladas in the slow-cooker for two to four hours, and I’ve settled on about three hours as my preferred time. Closer to two hours yields a firmer tortilla while cooking it closer to four hours creates a much softer tortilla… almost fall-apart soft. When I let mine go the full four hours, I ended up with a texture that was more like enchilada casserole. It was still delicious, it was just different.

Whichever way you prefer to go, you’ll get a serious dose of delicious comfort for your minimal efforts. The enchiladas dress up nicely, if -unlike me- you’re serving dinner in something other than yoga pants with tissues stuffed in the waistband. On the other hand, they sit beautifully in a bowl that you can cradle in your lap while sitting on the couch watching BBCAmerica broadcasts.

Because sometimes, really, it’s not so bad to slow down and indulge the sniffles. At least not when you have a plate full of these…

 

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Slow-Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Rating: 51

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Authentic? Maybe not, but these gooey, bursting-at-the-seams, simple to pull together, slow-cooker enchiladas are packed with delicious black beans, moist chicken, corn, and spices. Salsa delivers the saucy punch and loads of melted, oozy cheese makes it the perfect comforting dish for days when you're short on time.

Adapted gently and with thanks from TheKitchn

Ingredients

  • 1 cooking onion, diced small
  • 1 bell pepper (any color), diced small
  • 2 cups cooked black beans or 1 (16-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups frozen corn
  • 2 cups shredded fully cooked chicken. This chicken is perfect.
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or pressed (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder.)
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups shredded cheese. I prefer a combination of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Queso Blanco, but use what you prefer and have available.
  • 3 (16 ounce) jars of your favorite salsa
  • 24 (6"-8") corn tortillas
  • Optional:
  • sour cream
  • additional chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
  • avocado slices or cubes

Instructions

Mix together the onion, pepper, black beans, corn, chicken, cilantro (if using), garlic, spices, and 1 cup of the cheese in a mixing bowl. Pour one full jar of the salsa into the bottom of the slow-cooker and spread it evenly with a spatula.

Dampen a tea towel, wrap 12 of the tortillas in it and microwave for about 30 seconds, or until the tortillas are flexible and warm.

Working with one tortilla at a time, scoop about 1/3 cup onto the tortilla, roll it tightly and place it firmly against the edge of the slow-cooker, seam side down. Repeat this with another tortilla, nestling it against the enchilada that is already in the slow-cooker. Continue filling, rolling and nestling the enchiladas until the bottom of the slow-cooker is covered. Spread another jar of salsa over the enchiladas and top it with another cup of cheese.

Create a second layer of enchiladas with the remaining tortillas and filling. Pour half of the last jar of salsa evenly over the top. With the lid in place, cook on HIGH for 2-4 hours. 15 minutes before the enchiladas are done, sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese, letting it cook just until the cheese is melted.

Serve the hot enchiladas with chopped cilantro and the remaining salsa.

Store leftovers, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Note: These are equally good (and maybe even a touch better, texture-wise) when baked in a 400°F oven covered with foil for about 20 minutes. Simply hold off on the last bit of cheese until you remove the foil, return it to the oven and bake 'til the cheese is bubbly.
http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/11/slow-cooker-chicken-and-black-bean-enchiladas/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Chicken and other Poultry, Comfort Food, Main Dish, Recipes, slow-cooker Tagged With: , , , , ,
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