Grinding Pork, Making Breakfast Sausage

Well....

Ground Pork

I'm experimenting again.

I haven't used my meat grinder in quite some time

but a great deal on some "pork roast" 

 made me pull it out again.

This meat was labeled  "for Carnitas", (a Mexican dish).

Heavily marbled, it seemed the right type of meat for breakfast sausage.

I ground it up, sort of,

the fat keep clogging the grinder,

added herbs and seasonings, then fried it.

It was ok, not great, dry tasting,

I guess I need to experiment some more.

Round Two!

I decided to grind some more to use as taco meat.

I trimmed away some of the fat this time and that helped getting it through the grinder.

I sautéed  the meat with some onion,

garlic and jalapeno peppers,

then added chili powder, cumin, diced

 tomatoes and tomato sauce.

I cooked until the liquid had reduced a bit,

then served in taco shells with grated cheese on top.

That turned out really good.

So the first batch, with the fat, turned out dry,

and the second batch with the reduced fat turned out great.

Maybe I cooked the first batch too long?

Maybe the acidity of the tomatoes in the second batch helped to tenderize it?

 Anyone have any opinions/suggestions?

Till next time,

Bonjour

TEX MEX FARE

Cool Times.....

The hot weather has finally abated here in Texas, that means, I can finally, turn my oven on.

Yippee!!

Tex Mex is one of the staples here so, I thought I would share my recipe for,

SOUR CREAM CHICKEN ENCHILADAS.

This dish is served in every Tex Mex restaurant around the state only,

MINE ARE BETTER!

As Justin Wilson would say, I guarantee!!

So, with no further ado, here goes.

Ingredients:

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped onion (any color)

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (any color) when I don't have bell peppers I use celery or squash or poblanos... whatever!!!

couple of deseeded chopped jalapeno peppers (depending how hot you want it)

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons flour

8 ounces sour cream

2 cups cooked diced chicken or turkey (any cut, whatever I have on hand)

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup shredded jack cheese or colby/jack

about 10 corn tortillas (I've tried flour, NOT GOOD)

oil, about 3 turns of the pan, (I use EVOO)


Garnish:

Diced tomatoes, olives, green onion (optional) I use diced jalapenos, I do like it hot!!!

Instructions:

Mix the flour with the sour cream in a bowl and set aside

Dice the chicken, put in a bowl and set aside

Sauce:

In a medium  to large skillet, sauté first 4 ingredients in the olive oil till almost tender

add the next 3 ingredients and sauté a little more till you smell the aroma of the spices.

This is when you add the flour/sour cream mixture.

Give it a few turns with the wisk then add your chicken broth.

Wisk to incorporate and cook till thickened. (about 5 minutes or so)

Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of the cheese, mix well.

Add about 1/2 cup of the sauce to the bowl of chicken, mix well.

Fan your tortillas out on a microwave safe plate and top with another plate. Microwave on high about 2 minutes (till they are pliable, I add a few sprinkles of water)

Pour some of the sauce in a large, rectangle baking dish

Put a spoon or two of the chicken mixture atop each tortilla, then roll up like a cigar.

Arrange rolls, seam side down in the baking dish.

Top with remaining sauce and  cheese.

Bake about 35 minutes @ 350 degrees ( till bubbly)

Take out of the oven, garnish as desired, wait 10 minutes

THEN....

Serve with tortilla chips, a little guac and some refried beans,

BON!!!

(Don't worry if your tortillas split or crack, they will be covered with the sauce and no one will ever know!)

My husband's boss likes this dish, so I shall be making him a pan for his B-Day!

I will cut the jalapenos into rounds, then use them to spell out,

 HAPPY B-DAY!!!

What do you think?

Hope this was coherent enough!!!

Till next time....

Bonjour, and happy eating.