TOP CHEF Round 3

BamaGoose's Pinto and Cornbread Mexican fiesta

I love to fix this on a cool day in the fall. Its just a basic straight forward recipe for a country boy like me.



Spicy Pinto Beans

1 pound dry pinto beans
1/2 pound bacon
3 cans of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles

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DIRECTIONS
Place the beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by 3 to 4 inches, and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat, and let sit 1 hour.
Drain water. Pour in enough fresh water to cover beans by 3 to 4 inches, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1 hour.
Place bacon in a skillet, and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.
Crumble bacon, and transfer, along with grease, to the pot with the beans. Continue to cook beans on low heat for 30 minutes.
Open 3 cans of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles and pour in beans for last 30 minutes of cook time or until beans are tender.


Mexican Cornbread Recipe

3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cup flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup cream style corn
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
1-3 jalapeno peppers,depending on your desire for heat, finely chopped
1 - 4 oz. can of green chiles , minced and drained
1 1/4 cups grated, monterey jack
3/4 cup of skim milk

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DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sea salt, and sugar and mix well.

Saute the onion in the olive oil for 25 - 30 minutes, starting out on medium high heat and then lowering to low after the onion starts cooking. Stir frequently. At the end of 30 minutes the onion should have cooked down to about 1/2 of what you started with and be a golden brown.
Add the minced garlic and saute an additional 5 minutes being careful not to burn the garlic. Stir constantly.
Remove the onion/garlic mixture to a small bowl.
Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the jalapeno for 8 - 10 minutes on medium high heat.
Add the jalapeno and green chiles to the onion/garlic mixture.
Now add the cream style corn, butter, milk, and egg to the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Do not over mix.
Stir in the onion, garlic, jalapeno, green chile mixture, and cheese till just mixed in.
Pour the cornbread mixture into a greased 9 inch square glass oven-proof dish.
Bake at *375 for 25 -30 minutes.

The EXTRA time is allowing me to get this in!!!!

My wife loves Manicotti and Mexican food and I decided to KICK UP (to steal Emerill's line) an Italian dish by turning it Mexican. Believe it or not it really, really works! I hope you enjoy it!

SOUTH OF THE BOARDER MANICOTTI

1 Large Onion, Minced
1/2 Cup Butter
4 Cups Milk
Salt to taste
1lb + 1/2 Cup Mixed Mexican Cheese Blend1 (easy to buy at any grocery store
1/4 Cup Cilantro
1lb button muchrooms sliced
1/2 Cup Flour
1 1/2 Cups Pepper Jack Cheese, Grated
12 Manicotti Shells
4oz Asadero Cheese
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
3 Eggs
1 Minced Garlic Clove
1 tsp cumin
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 Jalepeno Minced (Seed left in adds heat, it's up to you)

Saute onion and mushrooms in butter 5 minutes: stir in flour and spices (not pepper). Gradually stir in milk; stir over low heat until sauce bubbles and thickens. Stir in 1 cup Mexican cheese blend add salt IF NEEDED and set aside.

Cook Manicotti shells according to package directions. Drain and cover with cold water.

Mix together remaining cheese blend, pepper jack and Asedero cheeses, add Pine Nuts, Cilantro and eggs.

Drain Manicotti Shells and stuff with Mixture of cheese blend, pepper jack, Asedero cheeses, Pine Nuts, Cilantro and eggs.

Place stuffed shells side by side in a greased shallow baking pan; spoon sauce (the set aside sauce) over all. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden.


BUTT KICKEN' ENCHILADAS

1 Whole Chicken (3lbs or so)
2 Cans Chicken Broth
2 Onions (1 chopped, 1 whole)
3 tbsp cumin
6 limes
2 can Herdez green sauce
3 cups sour cream
2 cups jalepeno (mixed or sliced, it's up to you)
1 lb Pepper Jack cheese shredded
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Pepper
1 package LARGE tortillas

Simmer chicken with onions, salt and chicken broth until the chicken is done. It's done when the chicken falls off the bone.
Let Chicken cool and then shred meat papa style. I like to use some fo the chicken skin and onions too.
Place chicken in bowl and add cumin and lime juice from 4 limes. Let sit and marinate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better). You should taste this occasionally and if you feel the need, add salt and pepper to taste.
Mix 1 cup of sour cream and 1 cup cheese together.

Roll all of the above in flour tortillas and place in greased baking dish.

In another bowl mix Herdez green sauce, remaining sour cream, 1 cup cheese and juice of remaining two limes. Add cumin to make sauce. Pour over Enchiladas and top with remaining 1 cup Jack cheese.

Cook in preheated 325 degree oven until nice and bubbly.

I'm going to be a few minutes tardy . I'll have it up after we finish an early dinner . Should be up no later than 6pm Sorry .

EDIT
I'll finish after the Biscuits game tonight ......

Sorry for dragging up the rear .....


ENCHILADA BAR

STUFF
2.25 to 2.5 lbs ground chuck
1 regular can of diced tomatoes & jalapenos (do not use Rotel because ..... it tastes just like Rotel)
1 tiny can (3-4oz) of black olives - sliced rings (for 2 purposes)

1 small onion
1 large red onion (for 2 purposes)
8 roma tomatoes (for 2 purposes)
8 larger jalapenos (for 2 purposes)

1 tblspn roasted garlic
1 tblspn of ground Cumin
1 tspn powdered cayenne
1 tspn chili powder
1 tspn of salt
pepper to taste

1 bag shredded mozzarella
1 bag of colby jack

1 pack of brown gravy mix
1 can of enchilada sauce (which we will throw the majority of away)

Fresh Cilantro to be finely chopped
1 head of lettuce to shred
1 bell pepper of any color is optional - You'll find yellow would be the most obvious choice to make .
Green Onion
Sour Cream

1 24 count pack of corn tortillas
EVOO


DO THIS
Brown meat .
At the half , add salt & pepper , cumin , chili powder , powdered cayenne , diced regular onion , roasted garlic and about half the can of black olives diced up . When all is near done , drain the can of diced tomatoes & jalapenos and add it . Allow everything to cook down until it's obviously ready . You may find it good to go as is but test taste it as you might choose to add more heat , cumin or S&P - especially since I do not measure anything - ever . Turn it off and remove it from the stove to start cooling .

Off to the side in a sauce pan mix up your brown gravy . When done , add only the amount of enchilada sauce from the can until it suits your taste . You need very little because if you just poured it all in , it would suck tremendously .

Mix 1/3 bag of your mozzarella with 2/3's bag of Colby Jack in a bowl .

Pre-heat oven at 325 .

In a 3rd sauce pan , a wide one , heat up an inch of EVOO . Take the temperature up to about 6.5 .

1- Flash fry the tortillas one by one for 6-8 seconds per . If the tortillas absorb the grease , you're too low . If they harden = too hot .
2 - Use tongs to dip the cooked tortilla into the gravy mixture .
3 - Remove it and place in a large casserole baking dish .
4 - Fill the tortilla with 2+ tblspns of meat along with the amount of cheese you desire .
5 - Roll it up like ... never mind :wink: Just roll it up and repeat until you fill your dish with 2 rows of 12 .
6 - If you run out of meat before reaching 24 , make a couple out of just cheese . If you have extra meat , hello nachos .
7 - Drizzle about 6-8 tblspns of gravy across each row . Just enough so that a little of it runs to the middle .
8 - Mix remainder of cheese and cover each side (the portion of mozzarella will eat up the grease. It's still there but , you won't see it)
9 - Take 6-8 outer rings of red onion and space them out on each side .
10 - Place a slice of Roma tomato inside of each ring .
11 - Place a slice of jalapeno pepper on top of each slice of Roma .
12 - Place a black olive ring inside of each jalapeno ring .
13 - Put in oven for 25-30 minutes .

14 - Dice your remaining jalapenos , tomatoes and red onion . Place each in their own little bowl . Same for the yellow bell pepper if you chose to go with one . You might need a 2nd can of olives too - sliced or diced .
15 - Chop the cilantro and green onions . Give each a bowl .
16 - Shred the lettuce and bowl it up as well .
17 - Dump the sour cream into another bowl .
18 - Bowl up your remaining gravy .

19 - Remove from oven .
20 - Top with some of your cilanto and allow it to cool for 15 minutes .
21 - Plate up and top to your liking . 2 makes a serving but I always go with 4 .
22 - Eat it

BTW - If you do happen to have any of the meat mixture left you can spoon out the cheese and sauce from in between the two rows that collected while baking . Mix the cheese sauce and meat with some of the onions , tomatoes & jalapenos for a quick dip to munch on while the enchiladas are cooling off .

When do we get the results/ this week's challenge? I hate Mondays...need to think of something positive.

We are still making our minds up. It's going to be a hard one this week.

bayoutider said:

I think I will move the due date to Wednesday 10 PM so everyone will have the weekend to work some on their recipes.

Still discussing a winner, we do have a unanimous loser though.

Click to expand...

Hope it has nothing to do with grasshoppers...I was only tying to "think Mexican", and they really are a crunchy, & delicious low fat high protein treat!!!

I forgot to offer up a beverage to pair with the enchiladas ....

1 large cooler filled with a case of Dos Equis & covered with a bag of ice :redface:

WAW4Tide said:

When do we get the results/ this week's challenge? I hate Mondays...need to think of something positive.

Click to expand...

You guys got extra time... I need a little extra too.