Recipe Snapshots: Breakfast Enchiladas and Hot Tomato Grits

I did not make these Breakfast Enchiladas.  Just want to be upfront about that.  My mom made them the morning after Christmas.  This was the second time we'd had these, and it was so yummy.  Many breakfast casseroles are too heavy...but this one, while being filling and hearty, just doesn't feel like a lead brick.  And when you serve it with Hot Tomato Grits on the side?  Perfection!

Recipes below the cut!


Breakfast Enchiladas, from Southern Living magazine, December 2004.
Serves: 6-8.  Time: 1 hour (30 minutes of baking).

Ingredients

Cheese Sauce

• 1/3  cup  butter
• 1/3  cup  flour
• 3  cups  milk
• 2  cups  (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1  (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt

Enchiladas

• 1  (1-pound) package hot ground pork sausage (could substitute turkey sausage)
• 2  tablespoons butter or margarine
• 4  green onions, thinly sliced
• 2  tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 14  large eggs, beaten
• 3/4  teaspoon salt
• 1/2  teaspoon pepper
• Cheese Sauce (see above)
• 8  (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeños
• Toppings: halved grape tomatoes, sliced green onions, chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Tip: Make the cheese sauce before scrambling the eggs; it should take about 8 minutes. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and whisk in remaining ingredients.

1. Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink. Remove from pan; drain well, pressing between paper towels.
2. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and cilantro, and sauté 1 minute. 
3. Add eggs, salt, and pepper, and cook, without stirring, until eggs begin to set on bottom. Draw a spatula across bottom of pan to form large curds. Continue to cook until eggs are thickened but still moist; do not stir constantly. 
4. Remove from heat, and gently fold in 1 1/2 cups Cheese Sauce and sausage.
5. Spoon about 1/3 cup egg mixture down the center of each flour tortilla; roll up. Place, seam side down, in a lightly greased 13- x- 9-inch baking dish.  (Note: I think my mom only used 6 or 7 tortillas, and baked them in a smaller dish, since there were just 4 of us.)
6. Pour remaining Cheese Sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle evenly with Monterey Jack cheese.
7. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. Serve with desired toppings.

Hot Tomato Grits, from Southern Living magazine, December 2008
Serves: 6.  Time: 40 minutes.


Ingredients

• 2  bacon slices, chopped
• 2  (14 1/2-oz.) cans chicken broth
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1  cup  uncooked quick-cooking grits
• 2  large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2  tablespoons canned chopped green chiles
• 1  cup  (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• Garnishes: chopped fresh parsley, shredded Cheddar cheese

 Directions

1. Cook bacon in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon, reserving drippings in pan. Drain bacon on paper towels.
2. Gradually add chicken broth and salt to hot drippings in pan; bring to a boil. 
3. Stir in grits, tomatoes, and green chiles; return to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Stir in Cheddar cheese until melted. Top with chopped bacon. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.

Step-by-Step Recipe: Cinnamon Apple Crepes

I woke up Saturday morning with the urge to make crepes for breakfast.  This has never happened before, as I usually have the urge to let my husband make me an English muffin and some coffee.  But I went with it.  I had seen a recipe for pumpkin spice crepes a while back, and decided those could be easily adapted.  (I might try the pumpkin version later, though.)

Believe it or not, I've never really made crepes before, despite my francophilia.  These took a little getting used to, but after a couple disasters, I got the hang of it!

Recipe Snapshots: Apples (Part II)

Over the long weekend (it was Columbus Day yesterday, which is a federal holiday, in case it wasn't a long weekend for you!), I used up a few more of our apples.  I still haven't made that apple pie I've been planning, but maybe next weekend?  The apples are looking good and fresh, which I guess makes sense because the ones you typically buy at the store were probably picked weeks before they find they way to the produce section.

One of my challenges with the apples was finding savory recipes to use them in.  Delicious as it was, that apple cake didn't exactly stretch the imagination much!  But then low and behold, a friend told about this recipe: Creamy Chicken-Apple Chili.  I know, it sounds weird.  But the reviews on the recipe were good, and the friend who told me about the recipe enjoyed it.  So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

It was pretty great.  It needs a little cilantro for garnish, and the apple flavor could actually use a boost, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

Also over the weekend, I tried to make Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes.  A couple of things: there are no actual apples in this recipe.  But it does call for applesauce, which I could have made with my apples.  I just don't plan to do this, since I don't really care for applesauce all that much.

According to my husband, these were fantastic.  I thought they were just pretty good. The ingredient list is really long, and I'm not sure how much a lot of those items really added.  And they sure didn't taste very apple-y.  But anything fluffy and baked and coated in buttery cinnamon-sugar?  How bad could it be?  (Note: my "donut holes" look more like muffins because I don't have a mini-muffin pan and had to use a regular one.)

Recipes below the cut.