Chicken Enchiladas - (Enchiladas de Pollo)

While on my Mexican food theme, I had very large flour tortillas, that my daughter had brought home, and was a bit unsure what to do with them. Then the other day I was watching the Mexican episode of Food Safari and came up with the idea for these enchiladas.

It is very simple recipe that can be adapted to suit your tastes.

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken filling - 1-2 cm cubed chicken breast - I used 2 large breasts, 1 cup tomato passata, 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander, 1/2 - 1 cup chicken stock

Place all ingredients in a frypan with a lid cook for 5-10 minutes or until chicken cooked and sauce thickened, you may need to remove lid to let the sauce thicken.

Salsa - Finely diced tomato, onion & capsicum, coriander leaves to taste, squeeze lemon or lime juice, 2-3 tsps olive oil. If you would like it hot add either dry or fresh chilli

Mix together.

(I used 4 small tomatoes, 1/4 red onion, 1/4 red capsicum)

Other Fillings - grated cheese, finely sliced onion

To serve: sour cream or greek yoghurt

Heat a griddle pan or frypan heat/grill tortillas until warm with slight griddle marks. Beware that you need to be able to fold them so make sure that they aren't crisp.

Construction while everything is hot. Lay your tortilla on a flat surface place some cheese across the bottom third in a line, but leaving 5cm to the edge.Then sliced onion. Then place some of the chicken mix on top. Fold over the bottom third, away from yourself. Then fold the edges over towards the middle, then roll it up. Place on a heated frypan or griddle plate fold side down. Leave until browned, but not burnt, turn over and toast the other side. It should take only a couple of minutes per side if your pans are hot. Serve with the salsa and sour cream or greek yoghurt.

Chicken Mole - (Pollo con mole)

Firstly I have to apologise for the photo. I dished up tea and started eating straight away, as I was very hungry. When I was just about finished, I realised that I hadn't taken a photo, hence the picture of my husband's lunch.

This is chicken in mole sauce, we saw this on Austar while watching World Kitchen with chef Nicki Wickes. We all were very hungry after watching her cook it, so I found the recipe and decided to cook at the first chance I had.

So last night after food shopping, I rushed home and made it. YUM !!!

Now I didn't have the time or inclination to be cooking the garlic cloves whole, as I had grown garlic myself, they are small and tender. So after a good whack with the pestle I peeled them and pounded them in the mortar, I also added about 2 tsps of oil and mixed it together. Also at the end I stirred in some fresh coriander leaves. I used chicken breasts, which when cooked I removed then sliced into bite size pieces and stirred back into the sauce while I was adding the chocolate.

Mexican Chicken Mole Stew

4 dried chilli, 5 garlic cloves, 2-3cm stick cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon each of dried basil, oregano, cumin seeds (or 1 tablespoon fresh of each), 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander – leaf and stalk, 3 tablespoons oil (olive or other cooking oil) 1 large onion, chopped, 1 can chopped tomatoes (approx 400g), 1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock , 8 chicken pieces, 40g bittersweet, dark chocolate, 1/4 tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper Cooked rice

Heat 1 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic cloves, skin and all. Toast these for 10 minutes until the skins begin to blacken in places and the garlic has begun to soften. Remove from the heat. Blend in a mortar and pestle, or food processor, the garlic, chilli, basil, oregano, cumin seeds and coriander and finally add the oil and toasted garlic from the saucepan. Blend together and if there are any large garlic skins that are easy to pick out then do so, otherwise ignore them.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the saucepan and cook the onions on a gentle heat until they are softened. Increase the heat to medium, add the blended spices and cook for 3-5 minutes until the onions begin to brown and the spices give up their aromas. Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes and chicken stock. Cook the sauce on a vigorous simmer for 10 minutes until it thickens. Add chicken pieces, salt and pepper, cover and bring to a simmer and cook for a further 30-40mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Add more stock (or water) if the sauce thickens too much. Add the chocolate and stir through. Before serving check seasoning and add additional salt, pepper or chilli as desired. Serve with rice and soft tortilla garnished with fresh coriander.

http://niciwickes.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=20942

So try it the recipe is actually quite easy, and once it is all together it just cooks itself.

The Best Pizzas in Geelong

Sorry about the lack of photos, but when you are travelling on motorcycles space is limited.

I found tps pizzas with attitude by luck. It was in the same street as our motel so we didn't have to travel far. They have great deals we got 2 large pizzas and 2 cans of ice cold Pepsi for $21 ! (We were very hungry)

They have chairs and tables out the front. Both times we sat there and out our pizzas, even though on the second visit it started to drizzle, so we shifted our chairs and table under the eaves of the shop.

But beware if you go after about 6.00 pm it can get very busy, I mean a constant stream of people picking up their orders.

The address is 2 Walls St Geelong, here is a link to a map which will actually make it easier to find.

http://www.aubiz.org/details/tps-pizza-with-attitude

So if you are in Geelong and want a cheap and filling pizza, try tps pizzas with attitude.

What to do with four lamb leg steaks

Well I found myself with a problem what can I cook with 4 lamb leg steaks. After a search through a couple of cook books I got an idea to make a Lancashire Hot Pot. I didn't use a specific recipe, but I went with what I thought would work. It is very simple, not many ingredients required, the hardest part was peeling the potatoes.

Lancashire Hot Pot

4 lamb steaks, enough potatoes sliced 1cm thick to cover base and top of of dish, 2 cups chicken stock, 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves broken in half, salt and pepper, 6 juniper berries flattened

Layer the base with with potatoes sprinkle with salt and pepper, place on 2 bay leaf halves. Place steaks in a single layer, sprinkle with juniper berries, salt , pepper and bay leaves. Cover with potato slices. Carefully pour over stock sprinkle some salt and pepper ontop.

Cover with double layer of tinfoil then place on lid if using one. Bake 180.c 1 - 1 1/2 hours. You can remove lid once potatoes are cooked and let them crisp in the oven.

Enjoy !