Sun Country Gems Recipes

Susan's Pork Enchiladas

Fry up 3/4 - 1 pound or so of ground pork. Add 1/2 chopped red bell pepper and 1 chopped jalapeno pepper, 1 chopped onion, 1-3 minced garlic cloves, plus some salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt.) Saute for a while (until the onions turn translucent) then add 1/2 small (15 oz.) can of green chile sauce or green enchilada sauce. Cook until the sauce has almost evaporated. Turn off the heat and cool a bit. Add 1 cup or so of chopped fresh cilantro. Stir it up and let cool more.

Fry up on each side VERY briefly (just until soft) 12-16 corn tortillas in hot oil (pretty much any oil that will handle high heat will do.) Pile them up on a layer of paper towels at least 2 layers deep.

Put the other half of the can of green chile/enchilada sauce in the bottom of a long rectangular glass baking dish (or similar pan.) Grate 1 1/2 - 2 cups fontina or Montery Jack cheese. Put the tortillas in the pan one at a time placing a bit of the pork mixture and white cheese in the middle of each tortilla, then rolling it up around the filling. Line up the rolled tortillas side by side in the pan with the seam side down so they stay rolled up. It's OK that the sauce does not cover the bottom of the pan evenly and gets on the rolled tortillas instead. Top the rolls with another 15 oz. can of green chile sauce or green enchilada sauce. Then top all with 1-2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min. until bubbly. Put a dollup of sour cream on top of each serving. Yum!

Bare Cupboard Casserole

This casserole was created when the cupboard was getting pretty bare, but it tastes great and is very easy to make as well.

Brown 1 pound ground beef. Add to the beef 1 very large onion or 2 medium onions chopped. Fry until the onion is translucent. Add 1 package Lawry's taco seasoning, 1 1/2 cup water, 3 chopped romano tomatoes, and cooked macaroni (measured 2 cups before cooking.) Simmer about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes start to fall apart. Add 1 1/2 cup grated Monterey jack cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Serve with a little more grated cheese that has not been melted on top of each dish.

A Variation on Chile Cheese Fries

A dish commonly found on menus in New Mexico is "chile cheese fries." It normally is french fries topped with chile sauce and melted cheese. VERY fattening. This variation is less fatty, easier to do at home, and can be a main dish. Quantities are very flexible with this recipe.

Peel and cut lengthwise into eighths 2 extra large (or 4 medium) russet potatoes. Put them in a buttered glass baking dish. Dot them with 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425F until they start to brown. Turn them over and bake until nicely browned and a little crispy on the ends.

Meanwhile, brown 1/2 to 1 pound ground beef in a skillet. Toward the end of the process, add 1 small chopped onion and cook with the ground beef until the onions are translucent.

Sprinkle the potatoes with the ground beef mixture. Pour over all a small can (14 oz.) red chile or enchilada sauce (preferrabley pre-heated a bit.) Top with 1/2 pound grated cheddar cheese. Broil or microwave until the cheese melts. Enjoy.

Ham, Green Chile, and Cheese Burritos

These burritos are great for breakfast. This recipe is for 6 big burritos.

Preheat 3 tablespoons oil in a skillet. Fill it with frozen hash browns (or grated fresh potatoes that have soaked in cold water 1 hour) so the bottom of the pan is fully covered. Fry, don't stir, until they are brown on the bottom. Turn them over. Fry some more. Add 1 small chopped onion toward the end of when they are browning on the second side.

Preheat oven to 350F while the hash browns are cooking.

Fill 6 burrito size flour tortillas with the hash browns, 3/4 cup of chopped cooked ham (lunch meat works fine), 1/2 pound grated cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, 1 small can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles, evenly divided between the tortillas. You can also add scrambled eggs if you like, but they are not necessary for these to be great breakfast burritos. Pour a little green chile enchilada sauce over the filling (about 1/4-1/3 cup divided among the 6 burritos.)

Roll up the tortillas without tucking the ends in. They will be very full with the filling, so tucking would be difficult anyway. Place them on a tin foil covered baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam or lightly greased. Bake until the ends are lightly browned on the edges and the cheese starts to melt out of the burritos.

Serve topped with taco sauce or salsa. You can also top with sour cream and/or warm enchilada sauce (either red or green.)

Paul's Super Easy Green Chile Chicken Soup/Stew
(for those days when you have a cold)

Here's the basic recipe: Heat 1 can of cream of chicken soup with can's recommended water, 1 small can of green chile, and you're done. While that's a fine soup, my version is just an embellishment of that idea and a double quantity suitable for a light dinner.

Here it is:

Cook 2 cups chicken in 1-2 Tbsp. butter, or use 2 cups left over chicken (or canned chicken) and omit the butter if you didn't cook the chicken. Relax, it doesn't have to be an exact 2 cups - just use what you've got. (If you like butter, then add it with the boiling liquid later.) Set aside the chicken you cooked.

Bring 2 cans plus 1/2 cup of water or chicken broth or a mix of both to a boil. (Relax; it doesn't have to be an exact amount.) Add 3 cups pasta (I like wide egg noodles) or 2 cups chopped peeled potatoes, (you can add both pasta and potatoes if you are not watching your carbs, just add a bit more water to handle both) and 1/2 cup grated carrots (1 small carrot.) Cook until the carrot is tender.

Then add the previously cooked chicken plus 2 cans cream of chicken soup (it's OK to add the soup with the broth, but it will tend to stick to the pan bottom more, so stir more often), 1-3 small cans green chile or 1-3 small frozen packages of green chile. (The amount of green chile depends on your tongue heat tolerance. You can totally skip the chile and still have a nice soup.)

Add 1/2-1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (1/3 that amount dried.) The cilantro is optional, but if you skip the chile, be sure to include the cilantro for that great Southwestern flavor.

Simmer on low heat a while (OK, as long as it takes to drink 1 margarita) then serve with some taco chips, saltines or other crispy bread. To make it more elegant, put a dollop of sour cream on top of the soup just before serving.

Susan's Casserole Version of Paul's Super Easy Green Chile Chicken Soup/Stew
(for those days when you want something a bit more substantial than soup)

Saute 4 cubed boneless skinless chicken breast halves in 1 Tbsp. butter until the outside turns white. Remove from the pan.

Add 1 Tbsp. butter to pan, then saute until slightly softened: 1 chopped leek, 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, 1 cup chopped cauliflower (optional), 1 stalk chopped celery, 1 chopped carrot.

Mix all ingredients in large casserole with 1 small can chopped green chiles, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of celery soup, 1 1/2 soup cans water, 1/2-1 cup chopped cilantro, pepper to taste, 1/2 small package (2 cups dry) cooked pasta (I used rotini) and top with crushed corn tortilla chips (plain, not the spicy kind like Doritos).

Bake at 350 F 30-45 minutes or until bubbly.

Susan's Breakfast Burrito

Fry 6 sliced or cubed russet potatoes until soft and slightly browned (you can substitute frozen hash browns, they're quicker.) At the end of cooking the potatoes add 1/2 chopped onion, 6 sliced mushrooms, 1 chopped or sliced jalapeno pepper, 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, salt and pepper. Heat a dry skillet and warm the flour tortillas on it one at a time. Put some shredded asadero or jack cheese on the hot flour tortilla, add 1 scrambled egg and fill the tortilla with the potato mixture.

Serve with pinto or black beans and a small amount of salsa fresca (that's homemade, fresh tomato salsa) and sour cream.

Christy's Favorite Chili Relleno Casserole

Quarter and remove seeds from 2 anaheim or poblano chile peppers. Remove their skin by broiling them until blackened, then insert into a zip lock bag to cool. The skins will come off easily then. Put the skinned pepper quarters in a 2-quart square baking dish and top with 1 cup Monterey Pepper Jack cheese.

Mix 3 beaten eggs, 1/4 cup milk and add 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper, and a dash of salt. Mix until smooth and pour over the peppers and cheese. Bake uncovered at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Sprinkle with a little grated cheddar cheese and wait for it to melt.

Serve with warm green chile sauce, and/or picante sauce, and/or sour cream.

Chicken Paul Liked

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can Campbell's' Golden Mushroom soup
dash garlic powder
big chunk of fontina cheese (about 1/2-3/4 pound)
crumbled crispy bacon

Put the chicken in a 9x13 (or so) glass lightly greased dish. Mix the soup with 1/2 can water and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder. Top with thinly sliced or grated fontina cheese and crumbled bacon.

Bake at 350-375 F for about 30 min.

Serve with stir-fried sliced zucchini, sliced red bell pepper, minced garlic, sliced onions, and sliced jalapeno peppers - or chop and put the jalapeno on top of the chicken for some extra color and zip.

Juan's Sausage Skillet

Brown 1 lb. (hot) bulk sausage

Add:
2-4 Tbsp. chopped onion
2-4 Tbsp. chopped green pepper
4-6 cups quartered (or coarsely chopped) pre-cooked red potatoes

Sauté until potatoes start to brown.

Top with:
4 scrambled eggs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Bill's BBQ Ribs

Put pork ribs on 2 layers of tin foil and coat with bottled BBQ sauce. (You can add 1/4 cup of honey to the BBQ sauce if you like.) Wrap the foil around the ribs and seal well so no drippings can escape. It's recommended that the seal be on the top of the ribs. Bake at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours (or more) until the meat easily separates from the bone with a fork. Grill on the BBQ, basting with more BBQ sauce, until well browned.

Serve with napkins - lots and lots of napkins.

(c) Copyright 2003 Sun Country Gems
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