Chile Relleno Casserole

So being from Texas, I love some good Mexican food, or Tex-Mex. LOVE IT. Well, the part of Georgia that I live in doesn't exactly have any amazing Mexican food to offer. It makes me so sad. Great for the diet, but not so great when you're craving something authentic. Well, I learned a trick or two and I can produce some pretty authentic tasting yummies.

With that being said, I have had a hankering something fierce for a good chile relleno. Well, when I was in the grocery store the other day, I decided to remedy this. Now, while I will usually go all out with my authentic dishes, I didn't so much feel like it this week. There's a lot going on, and I wanted flavor AND convenience. So my solution was a casserole. Of course it was... I'm surprised I didn't try to come up with something crock pot related (stay tuned, and I just might).

The result?

Oh my goodness. Oh. My. Goodness. OHMYGOODNESS. I felt like I was eating a chile relleno. The real thing. Straight from Texas and all. Now, this may be that I have been out of state for so long, but this may be my best casserole recipe yet.... even better than my Fiesta Casserole. Oh yes. Is it possible to have a mouthgasm? I think it happened.

So here's how to create this amazingness...

Ingredients:

1tsp chipotle chile powder
1tsp cumin
6 eggs
1/4 cup masa flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk

4 poblano peppers, roasted and seeded
8oz canned diced green chiles (2, 4oz cans)
1 yellow onion, chopped
16oz queso fresco (fresh mozzarella) sliced into 1/2 inch, or so, pieces... or shredded mozzarella
16oz CHORIZO (all caps, muy importante! I used Ole brand, see pic)

 Instructions:

Set oven to Broil, High. Roast poblano peppers on a piece of foil, about 3-4 minutes on each side until blistered. Turn broil off & set oven to 350 degrees.

Set aside.

Cut end off of chorizo casing and squeeze into medium sized skillet, repeat. Cook on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes, mashing with fork to mix together until fat is cooked to a liquid. Take off heat and set aside.

Going back to your poblanos, take thumbs and rub off "blistered" pepper skin. Discard. cut the top off of each pepper and remove stem/seeds. slice each pepper into 4 pieces.

Grease 8x11" pyrex dish (or pam), and place in oven for a few minute while completing the net step:

In a medium sized bowl, add flour and masa flour (Maseca), chile pepper, and cumin. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Mix in eggs. Take pyrex out of oven and pour in half of egg mixture. Layer poblano peppers, half of cheese, half of onion, and 4oz canned diced green chiles.

Layer in sausage using a large "colander spoon" to drain the fat, sprinkle over other half of onion, 4oz canned green chiles, and remaining cheese, layered somewhat evenly. Evenly pour in the remaining egg mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Enjoy... immensely.

It's ok to drool a little :)

Shepherd's Pie

I'm sure everyone has a recipe for Shepherd's Pie... who doesn't love comfort food?! Easy comfort food is even better :)

Ingredients:

16oz lean ground beef
small can of corn
can of sweet peas
1tbsp minced garlic
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 package sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz cheese
2 packages Idahoan mashed potatoes (prepared according to bag)
pinch of sage
2tbsp Worcestershire
1tbsp butter

Instructions:


Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, combine peas, corn, soup, cheese, and worcestershire. In a large skillet, saute onions, mushrooms, and garlic until onions are clear. Add to bowl. In the same skillet, brown ground beef with pinch of sage. Drain and add to bowl, mix thoroughly & pour into casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes.

Bake for 25 minutes, then switch to broil (high) for 10 minutes to brown mashed potatoes.

I must say that the most priceless thing happened while making this. Josh saw the size of the dish it was going in, and he says: "will it all fit?" Of course honey, it will all fit, to which he replies: "that's it?" with the saddest (but super adorable) puppy face ever! Awww. Okay, I know it is  a very sad day in our house when we don't have a massive amount of leftovers, but I'm on a diet and so it's not like I can eat anything I cook, so I figured it would be good & he would have something to take to work...nope. Didn't make it through the day. It's that good apparently.

What's even worse, I had made coconut fudge earlier in the morning & tinted it green for St. Patty's... leprechan treats and all... so that he could take it to work and share. SO I used the wrong type of butter & it didn't set right... oops. Baking fail number... who knows, I lost count. BUT I will remake it sometime this week. Sorry babe, no fudge or shepherd's pie leftovers :(

Broccoli Casserole

This is just the epitome if Southern comfort food. Cheese + French fried onions = yum!

Ingredients:
1.5lbs chicken breasts
16oz shredded cheese (I love Kraft with Philadelphia cream cheese)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cheese soup
1 small onion (finely chopped)
12oz broccoli (chopped, fresh or frozen)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
French fried onions
Rice
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:
Boil chicken for 15 minutes, shred. Preheat oven to 350. In a casserole dish, combine chicken, cheese, soups, onion, broccoli and garlic powder, mix. Top with French fried onions & bake for 25 minutes. Serve over rice with salt and pepper to taste.

Fiesta Cornbread & Chicken Casserole

This casserole was an inspired dish from a chicken tamale casserole. To me, you just can't substitute the wonderful flavor of a tamale; so I decided to make it into something different all together & I am SO glad because it became something that Josh requested to be added to the list of "regular" meals. That list is growing longer, but when he went back for seconds... then thirds, I knew we had a keeper!

Fiesta Cornbread & Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
1.5lbs of chicken breast
1/2 pkg taco seasoning
tsp cumin
1 can mexi-corn
1 can cream corn
1 7.5oz box Martha White corn muffin mix
1/4 cup bisquick (or larger box corn muffin mix)
1 bag mexi-cheese
1 can green chiles
1 10oz can enchilada sauce
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/3 cup egg substitute
sour cream (optional)



Instructions:
Boil chicken for about 15 minutes. I seasoned my water with paprika, chili powder, cumin, & oregano. While chicken is cooling, mix mexi-corn, cream corn, corn muffin mix, bisquick, 1/4 of mexi-cheese, cumin, egg & milk in a large bowl. Pour in a 9x13" casserole dish/pyrex & bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, shred chicken. I use two forks to pull it apart, but use whichever shredding method works for you, repeat with each breast. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken and toss to make sure it's all coated. Combine chicken with onions and green chiles & spread on top of cooked cornbread. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over chicken then top with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, until cheese is golden brown. Top with sour cream when served (optional).

The yum factor here is outrageous! It got the "This s#!+ right here is gooder n f***" approval & he said he was sad when it was gone, lol... oh cooking just brings such joy!! :)