Entomadas (Enchiladas with fresh tomato sauce)

 

About 20 years ago, there was a Hole-in-the-wall Mom & Pop Mexican restaurant that had the best Mexican food, on the Monterey Peninsula. I'm not kidding. Locals would patiently wait for one of the few booths, or to sit at the counter to order really authentic Mexican food. This is the restaurant where I discovered Entomatadas. 

I'm surprised at how many people I know, who are Mexican, who say they've never heard of these! I'm so glad that I discovered this dish, because I love cheese enchiladas.  I loved these so much, that I craved them on a regular basis.  It got to the point where I'd walk into this little restaurant, and the mother or daughter would look at me and say "Entomatadas, rice and beans, right?"

Right! Please and thank you.  Then, a sad thing happened.  The restaurant closed. Empty. Shuttered and gone. I was heartbroken, and lamented that I'd never have these again. I'd think of those entomatadas,  whenever I had a craving for Mexican food, and I'd miss my beloved Mexican restaurant all over again.

It was time for me to see if I could clone that recipe.  First, let me introduce you to what an Entomatada is. It means "covered it tomato".  In a way, this is an enchilada. The difference is that the sauce isn't loaded with a lot of chili powder or chili peppers.  The sauce should have the brightness and taste of fresh tomato, with a mild amount of seasoning.  Traditionally, Entomatadas are stuffed with cheese (and sometimes onion).  Can you add chicken or beef? Of course you can.  But I wanted to make my version of Entomatadas as close as the one's from my beloved restaurant.

For Cinco de Mayo, I found that Roma tomatoes and Jalapenos were plentiful and on sale. I bought Medium Cheddar Cheese and Monterey Jack.  I did a little internet surfing and found a sparse selection of Entomatada recipes. I didn't like many of them, because I didn't want to add Chicken Bouillon or chicken stock.  I didn't want to add all kinds of chili, or I'd be right back to a more traditional enchilada sauce.  I wanted to be a tomato purist, and I didn't want too many spices to mute the star of the show.  

Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate-Orange Marble Cake

 

My friends, at Tate's Bake Shop sent me a copy of their newest Cookbook "Baking For Friends" .  That means I can add this cookbook to their "Tate's Bakeshop Cookbook", where I posted my version of their Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Yay!


In 2011, I was fortunate to receive a sampling of their cookies, granola and Sour Cream Coffee Cake and I can honestly say that their baked goods are quality and delicious.  Tate's Bake Shop is located in the Hamptons, and is owned by Kathleen King. I've seen her featured on Ina Garten's show "The Barefoot Contessa". 

I enjoyed flipping through the recipes, and I bookmarked a few. The one recipe that really stood out to me was the Chocolate-Blood Orange Cake.  The photograph was so pretty, and this marbled cake reminded me of my own mom's version.  One of the signature cakes that my mother often baked was a Marbled Kugel Kuchen, that had a yellow batter with chocolate.  I never did get that recipe from her, so I thought I'd try this version


Blood oranges aren't in season, so I used Navel Oranges for this recipe. The recipe lists 2 ounces, each, of bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate.  The batter ingredients includes two sticks of butter, and one cup of sour cream.  I love adding sour cream to cakes because I can pretty much be guaranteed that the cake will be moist.

Half the batter has orange zest added to it.  My own little addition was to add a little bit of Pure Orange oil and a little bit of Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor.  These are baking ingredients that I use all the time, and I think they add some extra flavor to my baked goods.

The other half of the cake batter has the melted (and cooled) chocolate whipped into it. (I omitted using mini chocolate chips.) The batter is spooned in, alternately.

The recipe suggests to bake for 50 minutes, but when I inserted a long skewer, the cake was done at 40 minutes.

I love this Heritage Bundt Pan, because it makes a really pretty cake. I find that, if sprayed properly with a non-stick baking/flour spray, that cakes pop right out.  The cake is cooled, in the pan, for about 10 minutes.

A simple syrup of orange juice and sugar is very slowly poured over the cake, so that it soaked completely in-- and then is allowed to cool completely.

Easy Buttermilk Fried Chicken

 

In my last post, I shared how I, successfully,  replicated Bacon & Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits with a Maple-Chipotle Butter. This time, I'm going to share how I made my first crispy Southern Fried Chicken, that I served with the biscuits. 

It might surprise many of you that I've never made Southern-Style Fried Chicken.  Truthfully, I don't make a lot of fried foods. When I was about nine years old, the first dinner my mother taught me to cook was fried chicken.  She taught me how to season the chicken with salt & pepper, sprinkle some flour and cook the chicken in some oil. Easy Peasy.  I don't think I've made that dish since elementary school, which goes to show that it didn't leave any kind of nostalgic childhood memory for me.

The same restaurant that inspired me to make their signature biscuits, serves a Fried Chicken dinner, every Sunday.  From what I've read, reservations sell out fast--at the cost of $36.00 per person.  After reading reviews, most people said it was the best fried chicken "ever".  Ever is a word I take very lightly.   Compared to...?

Anyway, when I calculated what our dinner tab would be, after adding a salad, side dishes (not included), and beverages/cocktails, I figured the tab would be about $100.00 for the two of us. For fried chicken?! Ouch.

My husband smacked his lips, at the mention of Fried Chicken.    Before I knew it, I blurted out "I can make it for you"!  His smile made me realize that I had just challenged myself to something new to me.

For inspiration, I checked out Cook's Illustrated and immediately settled on their "Easier Fried Chicken" recipe. For starters, their recipes uses 1-3/4 cups vegetable oil, as opposed to five cups of oil. This is a good thing, as I don't often deep fry things in oil.   I also liked the idea of brining the chicken in salted buttermilk. (The buttermilk helps to tenderize the outside layer of chicken, and the salt ensures juicy chicken.) Win!  It goes without saying that I spend a few extra bucks to buy free-range hormone-free chicken that hasn't been brined in who-knows-what. 

The buttermilk brine is seasoned with garlic powder, hot sauce, paprika, cayenne and pepper. I did this early in the morning, but can also be done overnight.

Bacon & Cheddar Biscuits with Maple Chipotle Butter

 

About every other month, my husband and I make a point of dining at a more expensive "upscale" restaurant that is new to us. I usual check reviews on both Yelp and Trip Advisor to get a feel for what people rave about.  I made reservations and we got dressed up for Date Night on the town.
 

The restaurant's signature Bacon and Cheddar Biscuits with Maple Chipotle Butter received a lot of rave reviews. So we split an order at the price of  $6.00 for two biscuits.  Biscuits don't typically rock my world, but I have to say-- these biscuits were served piping hot, and they were tender.  The Maple Chipotle butter was the crowning glory. Wow! I thought to myself, "I really want to see if I can replicate these, at home."

I think that I've had a lackluster love for biscuits, because I was raised with canned biscuits.  Bleccch. The only other  biscuit recipe I've made, from scratch,  are Cathead Biscuits, which have become one of my most popular blog recipes. My men love them, and I think they're okay.  I got to thinking that I might adapt that recipe. Then again, I thought, I'd see what kind of recipes my trusty King Arthur Flour website would have for biscuits.  I have a bag of their new unbleached self-rising flour (and I love it) and there it was-- Easy Self-Rising Biscuits.  I was ready for the challenge!

 

First, I wanted to replicate the butter. Pure Maple Syrup is a staple at home. Yes, I do keep Chipotle Chili Powder on hand. It was 1-2-3 easy to do. One stick of butter, softened. I settled on 4 Tablespoons of maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon of Chipotle Chili Powder.

I rolled half of the butter in plastic wrap and into a log, and stuck it in the freezer for another use. The other half was kept soft for the biscuits.

I keep strips of bacon in the freezer, so I can easily cut it into lardon (strips).  I used about 6 strips of bacon, cooked till almost crispy and then drained on a paper towel.