Cheese & Onion Enchiladas with Beef Chili Sauce

(4-5 servings)

My cheese and onion enchiladas aren't photogenic after I remove them from the oven, but they are tasty and I always look forward to eating them. I have no idea what restaurants do to make theirs look attractive.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1 tbsp coconut oil or a high heat oil
1 lb lean ground sirloin
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups beef broth
2 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
2-3 tbsp chili powder, to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
3 tbsp masa harina or corn flour
salt, if needed

hot water
8-9 corn tortillas
the reserved and cooled sauteed onions
1/2 lb Queso Oaxaca or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/4 lb cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
1/2-1 jalapeno pepper, washed and thinly sliced

Heat the olive oil in a large non stick skillet over a medium flame and add the onions. Saute them, stirring from time to time until they are a nice golden hue; about 20 minutes.

Place the onions into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool.

Wipe out the skillet, set over a high flame and add the coconut oil.

When the oil is hot add the ground sirloin and fry, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it has browned nicely.

Lower the heat and stir in the garlic. Cook for about a minute, then pour in the beef broth. Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, coriander and oregano. Simmer the sauce for about 12-15 minutes, giving it a good stir once or twice.

Sprinkle the masa harina over the sauce and stir until everything is evenly combined. Simmer for another minute or two until the sauce has thickened. Check and see if it needs salt. Remove from heat.

Spoon a little more than half of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Fill a bowl or pan large enough to hold the tortillas with hot water; from the tap is fine.

Place two tortillas into the water at a time and leave for about a minute until they have softened.

While the first two tortillas are soaking in the water combine the two cheeses. Set aside about 1/4 cup of cheese and add the rest to the cooled onions. Toss to combine.

Fill each tortilla with about 1/8 of  the onion and cheese mixture. This will be a generous amount of filling. Place a few slices of jalapeno pepper over each one and roll up.

Place each enchilada into the casserole dish with the seam side facing down. Keep adding another tortilla to the water after you finish rolling one up, until they are all done. When all of them are in the casserole, spoon the remaining sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle the reserved cheese over that.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling hot.

Remove from oven and serve.

Pico de Gallo

(about 2 cups)

Whenever I go out for Mexican food, pico de gallo will appear in some form on the table. Sometimes it's tossed over a salad, a filling for a taco, or garnish on a plate. It always contains three ingredients; tomatoes, onion and green chili pepper. It might also contain green onion, cilantro or cucumber. Sometimes it's simply diced and on it's own, other times it might be seasoned with salt and pepper and a splash or two of fresh lime juice or vinegar. Essentially it's salsa, although what's considered salsa here (in Dallas) is usually a thin pureed sauce accompanied by tortilla chips. I love having pico de gallo with corn chips.

3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 an English cucumber, diced
1 small sweet onion, diced
1/2 - 2 jalapeno or serrano chili peppers (to taste), seeded and diced
small handful cilantro, chopped
juice from 1 small lime
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine everything in a bowl and toss. Check and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Serve within an hour or two of combining (it will still be quite good later than that, but it will gather more liquid as time goes on).

Southwestern Shrimp Cocktail

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(2-3 servings)

This cocktail can be found at various restaurants here in Dallas. One of the more popular versions comes from "Big Shucks", and this recipe is fairly close to that. This fresh and delicious cocktail is very easy to prepare.

1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
up to 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice, to taste
1 tsp horseradish
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce, to taste
1 small avocado, diced
1 small plum tomato, diced
1 tbsp red onion, finely diced
1 tbsp jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 cups salad shrimp, cooked

lime wedges for garnishing


Combine everything except the shrimp in a bowl.

Add the shrimp when you are ready to serve them and toss to combine well.

Serve immediately. Garnish with lime wedges.

Chile con Queso with Meat

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(about 3 1/2 cups)

I was asked to make this dip for a bar-be-que I was invited to. The hostess was quite specific; it was to be made with Velveeta cheese (/shudder, I'm highly suspicious of any "dairy" product that can sit on a shelf for years on end), Ro*Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies, and Jimmy Dean Sausage  (I used hormone free turkey sausage instead, hehe). I ended up doubling the recipe because all I could find was a 2 lb brick of Velveeta at the grocery store. This actually worked out well - all of it got eaten.

This stuff  does taste quite good (it's salty and wonderful with cold beer, to wash it down) and is very popular in Texas. A California native recently mentioned to me they don't use Velveeta there when they make it. At some point I will try to duplicate this dip using "real" cheese.

1 -2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 lb Jimmy Dean sausage meat, (I used turkey sausage)
1 10 oz can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
hot sauce, to taste
small handful of cilantro, chopped

corn chips

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the garlic. Fry for 1 minute, then add the onion and jalapeno pepper. Lower the heat a bit and saute until the onion softens and turns a light golden brown; about 10-15 minutes. Add the sausage meat and cook, breaking the meat up, until it's cooked through; about 10 minutes.

Stir in the entire can of Ro*Tel (liquid and all), then add the Velveeta. Cook, stirring for another 5 minutes or so until the cheese has melted and the dip is hot. Add the hot sauce to taste and stir in the cilantro. I added no salt to this as it was pretty salty already.

Serve immediately with corn chips. If you double the recipe and make a huge amount as I did, you might consider transferring the queso to a slow cooker or fondue pot to keep it warm - otherwise this stuff congeals rather quickly, lol. Even when kept warm, you have to stir it from time to time, otherwise it will form a skin.