OMGSNAXFEST:
ENCHILADAS, SIMPLE SALSA, PERFECT GUACAMOLE, EL AZTECO CHEESE DIP, AWESOME BROWNIES
10 september 2006

i didn't start out planning to make four new recipes (plus an old favorite); i thought i'd just do enchiladas & use a jarred salsa, but then i read the fresh salsa recipe & figured i could throw it together. i also happened to have a couple avocados about to go bad, & i'd been intrigued by the cheese dip since i first saw the recipe. the brownies were a totally last-minute addition, as i realized that brian potts would eat all our newly-purchased ice cream if i didn't come up with an alternate dessert item. he has the tendency to descend upon a refrigerator like a swarm of locusts, leaving nothing behind but a lid spinning idly in his wake.

yes, sundays have apparently become family dinner plus cartoons at daniel's house, & i don't object to that (although a little dish-washing help would be greatly appreciated, wieners!).

INGREDIENTS: ENCHILADAS
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or another high smoke-point oil such as peanut or canola oil)
12 corn tortillas
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup salsa (see below)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup water
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted)
olive oil
1 pound mild cheddar or longhorn or any mild yellow cheese, grated
a handful of cilantro
1 cup sour cream
half a head iceberg lettuce

METHOD
preheat oven to 350 F.

in a large fry pan at high heat add grapeseed oil. add a tortilla to the pan. cook for 2-3 seconds, lift up the tortilla with a spatula, add another tortilla underneath. cook for 2-3 seconds, lift again, both tortillas, & add another tortilla underneath. repeat the process with all the tortillas, adding a little more oil if needed. this way you can brown & soften the tortillas without using a lot of fat. you do this process to develop the flavor of the tortillas. as the tortillas brown a little, remove from the pan one by one to rest on a paper towel, which absorbs any excess fat.

sauté up the onion & garlic, then turn off the heat. add 1 cup of salsa. dissolve tomato paste into water, add to pan. add crushed tomatoes. if the sauce tastes too vinegary, add a teaspoon of sugar.

put some olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole pan. take a tortilla, cover 2/3 of it lightly with the shredded cheese, then roll up the tortilla & place it in the casserole pan. continue until all tortillas are filled & rolled. add sauce to the top of the tortillas in the the casserole pan. make sure all are covered with the sauce. if not, add a little water. cover the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese. put the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

garnish with cilantro & sour cream. serve with sliced iceberg lettuce that has been dressed only with vinegar & salt.

INGREDIENTS: SIMPLE SALSA
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted (reserve juice)
1 7-oz can green chiles, chopped (or 1 large anaheim chile, roasted, peeled, stemmed, & seeded)
1 clove garlic, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/4 dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
salt & pepper

METHOD
remove just the tomatoes from the can of whole tomatoes, place in a medium sized non-reactive mixing bowl. using your fingers, or a fork & a sharp small knife, shred or break up the tomatoes.

INGREDIENTS: PERFECT GUACAMOLE
2 ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, minced
1-2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, & minced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
a dash of freshly grated black pepper
1/2 ripe tomato, seeds & pulp removed, chopped

METHOD
cut avocados in half. remove seed. ccoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.

using a fork, mash the avocado. add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt, & pepper, & mash some more. chile peppers vary individually in their hotness. so, start with a half of one chile pepper & add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling & do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.

cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. refrigerate until ready.

just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole & mix.

INGREDIENTS: EL AZTECO CHEESE DIP
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 ounces monterey jack cheese, grated
2 ounces muenster cheese, grated
fresh garlic, crushed
2 jalapeno peppers, minced (or to taste)
2 tablespoons minced green onion

METHOD
combine cottage cheese, sour cream, & cheeses. add garlic, peppers, & green onion; mix well. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

INGREDIENTS: AWESOME BROWNIES
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

METHOD
preheat oven to 350F.

combine dry ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. in a medium saucepan, heat butter, water, & sugar over medium/medium-high heat till small bubbles form. remove from heat, add 1 cup of chocolate chips, stirring till smooth. add eggs & vanilla. add dry ingredients. add remaining cup of chocolate chips. pour into a well-greased 9x9" baking pan & bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
started off with the salsa. easy enough. even dealing with hot peppers barely intimidates me anymore (although, after the pimiento pepper incident of mind-boggling nose-related pain, i'm still VERY careful about what i do with my hands) (& for the record, i learned on the food network that water promotes the spread of the oils in hot peppers while dairy products help neutralize them, so putting a wet washcloth on my nose after i rubbed it with pepper fingers was probably the WORST thing to do -- should've just smeared on a little ice cream!).

moved on to the el az cheese dip, which i ganked from my friend leanna, who says, "they tried so hard to guard the recipe from piracy, but when you hire a bunch of stoners to cook your food, word is going to leak. this is seriously the best chip dip ever." i hit a snag with the muenster cheese, which the woman at the deli counter sliced before i had a chance to ask her to give me a block of it, so i just cut it into thin strips on the cutting board & hoped for the best.

the guacamole was next. i make guac all the time, but what that usually entails is mashed avocado, a couple tablespoons of salsa (to taste), a little chopped garlic, & a splash of whatever citrus juice i have (in order of preference: lime, lemon, orange). the avocados i already had were a little overripe, but the ones at the store were hard as rocks, so i used what i had. & by the way, the key to picking out a good avocado is one that's got a little give to it, but not TOO much. (i learned this from a girl in the produce department at wild oats the first time i made guacamole from scratch with caroline, back when we used to do weekly family dinners with phil & laurel.) i used a jalapeno instead of a serrano chile as i was afraid no one would enjoy it if it was too spicy.

next up: brownies. i've made this recipe so many times that i could probably do it in my sleep. my mom used to make these when i was in middle school, & my friends janice & jennifer gave them the appelation "awesome brownies" -- it's just a standard tollhouse recipe, i think. the one innovation my mom came up with was the best way to get the brownies out of the pan. she actually greases the pan, then puts down a layer of waxed paper, then greases the waxed paper -- otherwise, the brownies are pretty hard to get out. (i used parchment paper, which was a snap.)

while the brownies were in the oven & the various chip dips were in the fridge, i got started on the enchiladas. valerie & sarah grated the cheese while i made the enchilada sauce & fried up the tortillas.

before reading the recipe, i thought this might be kind of a challenging dish -- & i bet cooking with meat adds an element of difficulty -- but really? SO EASY. i didn't bother with the garnish or the iceberg lettuce, but i'm sure that'd be fairly easy to throw together.

eating at OMGSNAXFEST '06: daniel, brian potts, val, bart, sarah, & me. dave joined us for brownies.

the enchiladas wouldn't have fed all six of us had the chips & dips not been available, but with all that, it was just right. the boys polished off the el az cheese dip (i think cottage cheese & sour cream are gross, but brian & daniel both said it was really good); val & i ate most of the guacamole, which would've been better with a little less onion (this particular red onion was very strong); there's a fair amount of salsa left, but everything else was just toast.

A++ would make again!

"Enchiladas," "Simple Salsa," & "Perfect Guacamole" from Simply Recipes; "El Azteco Cheese Dip" from leanna via livejournal's vegrecipes community; "Awesome Brownies" from my mama!