Mole Pork Enchiladas

This has to be my fastest kitchen-to-blog post ever, in fact, I'm still eating as I type. Though, it might be one of my longest procrastinated recipes. I'm pretty sure I bought my primary ingredient about a year ago. Enter: Mexican Spicy Dark Chocolate. It's the perfect base for this savory sauce that has a little bit of sweetness and kick. 

Mole sauce is one of those things you either love or hate (or haven't tried yet). In my opinions, yum! I've made it once before but it's been far too long.

Mole sauce:

2-3 cloves garlic

1/2 medium onion

1-2 TBS olive oil

1 small (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes with liquid

1 small (8 oz) can of plain tomato sauce

1-2 cups chicken broth

2-3 oz dark chocolate (spicy mexican or regular)

1-2 tbs chili powder

1-2 tbs cumin

1/2 tbs cinnamon

1/4 tbs nutmeg

salt/pepper to taste

In a food processor (mainly because you'll have to use it again later) - chop garlic and onion. Saute in a "soup" pan with olive oil. Once the combo is lightly browned and fragrant add it back into the food processor. Add diced tomatoes with liquid, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Process until smooth and then add back to the soup pan. Add 1 cup of chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer at least 30 mins (the longer the better). If it reduces too much, add more chicken stock (I always eye ball this part). 

Mole Pork Enchiladas:

Once the mole sauce is done, the possibilities are endless. Tonight I used it to make mole pork enchiladas. Combine 2 cups shredded pork with 1/2 cup mole sauce.

Add to your favorite corn or flour taco, fajita or burrito wrap to desired fullness (about 1/2 cup for burrito sized enchiladas and roll into a bundle. 

Spray your pan with cooking spray, add 1/4 cup mole sauce to the bottom and then place your enchiladas seam side down in the dish. Top with another 1/2-3/4 cup mole sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 mins. Remove foil for the last 5 mins. Covering with a layer of your favorite cheese is optional though encouraged.

Tonight I topped my enchiladas with some mashed avocado and sour cream. In the oven, the sauce continued to cook, meld and reduce. It's so delicious with pork but would go great with any of your favorite enchilada fillings. I even enjoy it over eggs for brunch. Enjoy!

New Orleans inspiration - Pasta Rosa

Back in February I traveled to New Orleans for a few days before The Rock Boat set sail. It was such a blast and of course the food and drinks were amazing! I wrote myself a note of meals I had to recreate at home and this was my first attempt!

On our last night in NOLA we had dinner at Coop's Place.  I had already had my fill of shrimp poboys so I was looking to try something new. The "Pasta Rosa" caught my eye and it did not disappoint. It was the perfect blend of spice from the cayenne pepper, creaminess from the goat cheese as it melted, and crunch from the pine nuts. And sneaking in some vegetables never hurts when eating out all the time while on vacation.

Now... my attempt to recreate the dish was helped by the list of major ingredients on the menu. I'm not much of a follower of recipes so all measurements are approximate/eye balled and certain ingredients are to-taste (like the cayenne pepper, add a little at a time). This made 2-3 generous servings so you may need to adjust the amount of ingredients to suit your crowd. I also think this dish would be great with chicken or as a vegetarian dish. Maybe next time!

1/4-1/2 cup julienned sundried tomatoes
1-2 oz. pine nuts
penne pasta (4-6 oz dry = 2-3 cups cooked)
pancetta (I used 4-5 slices of center cut bacon)
2-3 TBS olive oil
6 - 9 oz baby spinach (1 small bag)
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
½ lb shrimp (about ¼ lb per person)
1/4 cup goat cheese
Salt, pepper, garlic power, chili powder, cayenne pepper (to taste - or whatever sounds good to you)

1. I bought dry sun dried tomatoes (not in oil) so I started by soaking them in water (enough to cover). I added a little bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder to the bowl just to spice 'em up. They soaked around 15-20 minutes while I was preparing other things. Save the water to add to the mix later.
2. Toast pine nuts in a small dry skillet for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned (keep an eye on them).
3. Bring water to a boil and cook penne (or pasta of your choice) per the directions.
4. Chop bacon (or pancetta) into small pieces and cook in a large pan until nearly crispy.
5. Add 1 TBS olive oil, minced garlic, drained sun dried tomatoes, and 2-3 TBS of the soaking liquid (reserve the liquid).  Sautee until tomatoes are softened adding more water as needed.
6. Add spinach to the pan and cook until wilted, stirring every 2-3 minutes.
7. Add shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes per side or until pink. (I pushed the spinach mixture to the side so that the shrimp had contact with the pan - you could also remove the spinach and return once the shrimp is cooked.)
8. Toss in cooked pasta and add another 1-2 TBS of olive oil, 1-2 TBS of the tomato soaking liquid or pasta water (you want enough moisture so that everything is coated).
9. Season with salt, pepper, chili powder, cayanne pepper to taste. Toss and mix well.
10. Serve and top with toasted pine nuts and goat cheese.
11. Enjoy!

My taste buds thought I did a pretty good job recreating this dish and it's definitely something I'll make again.

Veggie and Sausage Frittata

I hope I didn’t lure anyone here under false pretenses. “Diana’s Daily Dish” is seldom daily (and probably never will be) and has yet to feature a dish as in “a particular item of prepared food” or “a container for holding or serving food”. I meant dish in the “idle talk; gossip” sense of the word, though in searching for “official” definitions on the internet, it could also refer to “a good-looking person, especially an attractive woman”, hmm. So sorry if you were expecting posts about my daily pottery pieces or something like that but it's basically for my "idle talk" about life and "Diana’s Daily Dish" was alliterative and catchy, oh and my name is Diana, if you didn't catch that. I do love to cook so I’ll try to include some more cooking and recipe posts (hint hint, like this one).

Last week I started a pantry/freezer clean out and while I made some progress they are both still pretty full. In an effort to finish up a few more food items hogging space in the fridge and freezer and to make something for breakfast this week, this frittata recipe was born. Frittatas are super easy to make and are great for using up whatever you may have on hand. In the past, I’ve made these in cupcake pans for individual servings but I wasn't in the mood to scrub the baked on egg mixture out of 12 cupcake holes, something I’ve yet to avoid, so this was baked in small, shallow baking dish… and the frittata is thin enough I can throw it between some bread or a bagel to eat on the go. Feel free to substitute your favorite ingredients.

Warning: I'm one of those cooks that eyeballs everything, so amounts and time may vary! 

Ingredients:  

1 TBS olive oil

1/2 cup frozen chopped bell pepper (from my garden, defrosted)

2/3 cup frozen shredded potatoes (defrosted)

1 Italian chicken sausage, chopped

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach (defrosted and drained)

Cooking spray

4 eggs

1/4 cup skim milk

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, etc. (any of your favorite spices)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 ºF. Add olive oil to hot pan, add peppers, potatoes, sausage and onion. Stir and cook 5-7 minutes or until ingredients begin to brown. Add spinach and your favorite spices, stir to combine, remove from heat and let cool. In separate bowl, combine eggs and milk, whisk to combine. After vegetable/sausage mixture has cooled for a few minutes (basically you don't want to start cooking your eggs by adding them to super hot veggies), add to greased baking dish. Pour egg mixture over vegetables/sausage. You may need to stir it a bit to combine. Bake 20-30 minutes until eggs begin to brown in the center (will depend on the size/depth of your pan). Makes approximately 4 (generous) servings.

While I’m saving it for breakfast this week, I took a small bite and it was delicious. I plan on adding some cheese and maybe a bagel thin to make a breakfast sandwich very similar to the Dunkin’ Donuts turkey sausage/veggie flat bread.

Oh and here was my dinner I threw together as the egg dish was baking.

(It's kind of hard to take an appetizing picture of sausage)

Leftover frozen veggies in cheese sauce (I added black pepper and chili powder) and Italian chicken sausage on a slice of Sourdough Italian bread with Italian cheese blend and BBQ sauce (it worked, trust me).