 Our trip to Mexico last month reminded me just how much I enjoy Mexican food. Or since we were in Mexico - I guess I can just call it "food."😅🇲🇽 Anyhoo... we took a cooking class, we went on a food tour and basically ate our way through the whole Oaxaca region and I don't regret a single delicious bite. These are some pictures from our cooking class.
These pictures are from our walking food tour.
 I make my own versions of our favorite Mexican meals at home even though I know that they will never taste quite the same as the dishes that I tasted in Mexico. I will say though, these White Chicken Enchiladas were VERY good - I mean, for a non-hispanic, half Italian girl who lives in the South.😆 The sauce is creamy and flavorful but the yogurt and chicken broth keeps it light too. I think you're going to like these enchiladas - they're the next best thing to eating them in Mexico!🇲🇽  White Chicken Enchiladas 3 Tablespoons butter 1 small onion, sliced 1 clove garlic, minced 3 Tablespoons flour 2 cups chicken broth 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 1 4-ounce can mild diced green chilies 1 Tablespoon lime juice 1/2 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 3 cups cooked shredded chicken 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese, divided 8 to 10 flour tortillas, 8-inch size
 Cover dish with foil. Bake 25 minutes at 350. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes longer.  Top with chopped fresh cilantro and diced avocado.
Ciao!
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Even if you're not interested in Snoops recipes - the colorful commentary is this book is worth the read. Seriously - it's hilarious.🤪 The book is super entertaining, but I'll admit that I had questions: Will Snoop Dogg recipes be any good? And is there a recipe for "special" brownies?😂 Turns out, the cookbook actually had so many delicious sounding recipes that it was hard to choose which one to make first. After some debate, I decided to put Snoops Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to the test. Spoiler alert: They did not dissapoint.  Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, room temperature 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups chocolate chips
 Scoop batter onto silpat lined baking sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes at 375.  My husband actually declared that these were his new favorite cookies. So there you have it - Snoop's cookbook is both a hilarious read and (so far) a decent source of recipes.
Ciao!  Banana pudding is a classic dessert and if I'm being honest, I've never understood why it's made with vanilla pudding instead of banana pudding.🍌 Why not use banana pudding and layer that with more freshly sliced bananas to really double down on the banana flavor? That just seems like common sense to me but there's got to be a reason that people have been making banana pudding this way for years and years. Can anyone share some insight?  Cook's Illustrated is my go-to resource for recipes. I feel like the CI team thoroughly researches and scrutinizes every recipe that they publish. If you've ever picked up a copy of the culinary magazine - you know exactly what I mean. They must have read my mind because they recently published a recipe for banana pudding that uses a combination of homemade banana pudding and sliced bananas in their delicious homemade banana pudding recipe.😋 I will say that unless your a Southern Nana with a homemade banana puddin recipe passed down from generation to generation, I think this updated recipe is the way to go.  Banana Pudding 2.0 7 Bananas (3 underripe, 4 overripe) 1 1/2 cups sugar 8 egg yolks 6 Tablespoons cornstarch 6 cups half and half 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 Tablespoons butter 1 Tablespoon vanilla 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 80 vanilla wafers Whipped Topping 1 cup heavy cream 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
 Top banana pudding with whipped cream. Coarsely crumble 10 vanilla wafers and sprinkle over the top.
Ciao!
 I'm here as an advocate for all the ugly on the outside foods. I feel like there is a certain percentage of food that gets a bad wrap based solely on their appearance. Take mussels and clams, for example. I'm a huge fan of the briny flavor but they're definitely not going to win any prices for their beige, brain-like, slimy appearance.😅 On the other side of the coin are the foods that look super enticing and fun on the outside but the flavors fall short. I might take some heat for this, but for me, dragon fruit falls into this category. It's so interesting and enticing to look at that I can't walk past one in the grocery store without picking it up and feeling the scaly pink skin. But when I slice it open and taste it, I'm always disappointed in the watery taste that lacks fruity flavor.😏  This S'mores Pie falls into the second category for me - food that looks super delicious and amazing but once you cut into it - it falls short of expectations. It wasn't the flavor that was a disappointment in this case though - just the appearance. And yes, that is the reason that there are no pictures of the inside of this pie on this post.😂 It just did not set up firmly and I don't know exactly what happened but I take full responsibility for this. Maybe I didn't cook the pudding long enough or give it enough time in the refrigerator to set.🤷🏻♀️ For whatever the reason, despite this pies beautiful outward appearance, it was a hot mess on the inside.😂 I'm not saying that we didn't eat it - it was actually quite tasty. It was more like a graham cracker/chocolate pudding/ meringue "cobbler." I'm no quitter so I'll be making this recipe again and if we have to eat it in bowls again - it will still be worth it.🤣🥣  S'mores Pie Crust 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 3 Tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 Tablespoons butter Chocolate Filling 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup cocoa 1/4 cup cornstarch 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups milk 1 1/4 cups cream 1 egg 1 Tablespoon vanilla Marshmallow topping 3 egg whites 1 1/4 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon vanilla
 Transfer meringue to piping bag and pipe onto pie. Use a torch to toast marshmallow topping.  Ciao!
 I feel like every January, I start out with the best of intentions to menu plan for two weeks at a time in an effort to limit my supermarket trips to once a week.🛒 I don't think that's an unreasonable goal but every year my plans seem to get derailed before the end of the first month.🙃 It's not for lack of planning. The biggest reason that my menu plan goes awry is that the grocery store doesn't have the things on my list. I've had this recipe for turkey thighs in my blog cue for almost a year and every time I've tried to make it, I wan't able to find turkey thighs at the store. A few weeks ago, I was determined to make these and I searched 3 different grocery stores for the elusive turkey thighs but apparently the turkeys in Georgia, are walking around thigh-less. I found turkey legs, turkey breasts and even turkey necks but turkey thighs were no where in sight. 🤷🏻♀️ Now I cant get the visual of thigh-less turkeys out of my mind. 🦃😅  I was so committed to making this that I made a game time decision and swapped chicken thighs for the turkey thighs. Radical, I know. No one can accuse me of not being flexible.🤣 3 1/2 hours is the amount of time that it takes for these chicken (or turkey) thighs to bake and I had it scheduled for a day that I was going to be home and able to monitoring the cooking process all afternoon. I decided to leave the recipe as it was originally written in Cook's Illustrated (for turkey) instead of changing it to my chicken version. I did make my adjustments in the ingredient list so what you have is a modified braised turkey/chicken thigh recipe with Amy's special changes.😅. Hope you enjoy.  Cider Braised Turkey 8 pounds bone in turkey thighs 1 1/2 Tablespoons salt 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 3" piece ginger, sliced into 1/4" rounds 3 cups apple cider 5 ounces shitake mushrooms 1 teaspoon dried sage 2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
 Nestle turkey into pan. Return to 400 oven and bake 20-25 minutes. (I didn't have to bake my chicken thighs any longer because the meat was already falling off the bone. I ended up heating the sauce on the stove with the chicken thighs nestled inside to keep them warm. It took about 10 minutes to warm everything.).  Transfer turkey to platter. Season sauce with salt and extra vinegar and serve alongside turkey.
Ciao! |
