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Chicken Enchiladas in Red Sauce

3 each ancho dried chiles
6 each New Mexico dried red chiles, dried
3 each green chiles, ancho
2 each jalapeno
2 pounds tomato
8 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper, TT
3 pounds chicken breast halves
2 pounds monterey jack cheese, Shredded
2 large onion, chopped
4 pounds tortilla
oil for frying tortillas
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 pint Chicken stock or broth
2 bay leaves
8 ounces cheese, cotija

1. Place chicken breasts in stock pot, and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Skim, and reduce to a low simmer.  Add 1/2 onion, peppercorns, 1/2 the garlic, 1 bay leaves.  Simmer until the chicken is tender.  (The broth can be strained and used to soften chilies or use for other uses.)  Remove chicken and let cool.  Shred chicken with fingers, or forks.

2. roast chilies an tomatos on the stove until their skin starts to toast nicely.  Remove the chilies and soak in hot water (or broth) to soften.

3. Blend the tomatos & chiles with liquid, garlic, cumin, oregano and 1/4 onion.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Adjust seasonings as needed.  (You may want to strain  for a smoother sauce)

4. Heat oil in frying pan and fry tortillas until soft (about 5 seconds or so) and set aside.

5. Heat salsa in frying pan over low flame.

6. Pass the tortillas through the sauce, top with chicken and shredded jack cheese.  Roll and place into baking dish.  Top with sauce, and warm in oven until cheese melts.

7. Sprinkle with cotija cheese and serve.

Easy Stir Fry

A stir fry is just another name for sauteed meats and/or vegetables. The stir fry I made was very simple, it didn’t even use soy sauce.

6 to 8 ounces of beef small cubes
1 tbs olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
3 stalks of celery sliced on bias
1 squash cubed (zucchini or yellow squash will work)
Salt and Pepper

Heat up half the oil in a non-stick frying pan at a high heat.  The oil should be shimmering, almost to the point of smoking.
Then toss the cubed beef into the pan.  Sear the meat, being careful not to put too much into the pan at one time.  If you need to, cook it in a couple of batches.  Once the first side is seared nicely, then stir it so that you can sear the other sides of the cubes, but don’t over cook, take it off the heat and put in a bowl or plate to the side.  Heat up the rest of the oil, and add the garlic and onion.  Saute for about a minute, and add in the celery.  After one more minute, add squash and saute until vegies are crisp/tender, or to your preference add beef back in and heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste and you have a simple but healthy stir fry.

If you want to step it up a bit, replace the salt with a little bit of soy sauce or sesame oil but don’t over do it.  If you want to have a thicker sauce for your stir fry, add 1 tsp corn starch to 1/3 to 1/2 cup of stock or low sodium broth, and add to stir fry when the vegetables are almost ready and keep stirring while it thickens.           

Pasta with fresh tomato sauce, green beans and Cauliflower.

Here is my pasta with fresh made sauce and vegetables.

If you cook the tomatoes to long they gets mushy and it doesn’t look real prety, but it tastes very good.
1 lb dried pasta
1.5 lbs tomatoes concassé (peeled and diced)
1 large onion diced
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 carrot small dice
3/4 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 lb green beans cleaned trimmed, and cut in 2 to 3 inch pieces
½ head of cauliflower cut in bite sized pieces
1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Fresh basil chopped (10 to 12 leaves or to taste).
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cut up all of the vegetables. Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to boil. Add salt if desired. Cook green beans until crisp but tender. Remove beans and set aside. Add cauliflower to the water and cook till just starting to get tender, remove, and set aside with green beans. Use green bean/cauliflower water to cook pasta. Saute onion carrot, and garlic until tender in a bit of olive oil. Add thyme and bay leaves and Tomatoes. Cook about 4 to 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soft. When pasta is ready, drain and set aside, save ½ cup of pasta water. Add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, cook for another 2 minutes and add basil. Add green beans, pasta and cauliflower and mix well. Adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Use good Parmesan cheese not the stuff in a can. Yes it may cost just a bit more, but you are worth it 

  
This is great with lots of fresh vegetables and just a touch of fat. Diced celery also goes nicely with this sauce. Experiment, try using cherry tomatoes, or add a bit of fresh oregano or rosemary (don’t put too much rosemary as it can be overwhelming). Perhaps a nice spicy Italian (turkey if you want to keep it healthier) sausage. Shrimp sauteed in garlic makes a great addition as well. This makes a lot of pasta and is easily enough for 8 people. It goes great with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber and a simple vinaigrette.
 

Welcome to PersonalChefJoe.com Blog!

This is my first entry to this new blog.  My name is Joe Holloway and I provide personal chef services in San Diego Ca. USA.  Please check out my main website http://personalchefjoe.com to learn more about my servics.   I started this blog so that I can share some of my knowledge with others and hopefully to bring up some interesting discussions about cooking.  In the future I plan to include some recipies, pictures, and perhaps even some video clips of some of my favorite dishes.