Busy Week

Favorite 4th of July Picture
We went to Round Top to see the 4th of July Parade and the Winedale kiddos. This was my favorite float in the parade. I might be a redneck and not even know it, because I swear we did tacky things like that when I was a kid. We used to swim in those plastic trash cans that kegs float in, filled up the back of my dad's truck with plastic lining and swam in that, and well after a good rain, gutter water made quite a pool. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

BABY
Awww, isn't he soo cute, looking at the book on his tummy while Daddy reads to him. Getting better at lifting that big ol' head And look at this guy try to sit up in his swing. I think he's pretty eager to get to walking. Oh dear god, we haven't child proofed the house yet!

HAIRCUT
I decided impulsively to cut all my hair of on Weds. I was tired of it falling out, which happens after being pregnant. My motto is that it will grow back eventually, so what the hell!!! Just call me Senora Helmut Head. Hey, Kyle had a mullet when he was in junior high, oh he'll deny it, but it doesn't get much worse than that.

FOOD
I made enchiladas suiza this week. Pretty darn good, a little too spicy, but not to hard to make and hit the Mexican food spot. We also added as much darn cheese as we wanted. This was a recipe taken from Self.Enchiladas Suiza

1 1/2 lb bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed
2 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic
5 peppercorns
1 lb tomatillos (about 8), husked
2 serrano chiles
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
8 corn tortillas (6" each)
1 1/2 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Place chicken in a large saucepan. Add 6 cups water, 1 tsp salt, 2 garlic cloves and peppercorns. Boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Remove chicken. Pull meat from bones; shred; set aside. Place tomatillos and chiles in a saucepan; cover with water; boil over medium-high heat 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup liquid. Transfer to a blender; add remaining 2 cloves garlic and cilantro; blend until smooth, adding liquid if necessary. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add tomatillo-chile puree; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring constantly, 10 minutes or until sauce reduces to about 1 cup. Reduce heat, add remaining 1 tsp salt and sour cream. Stir about 1 minute. Set aside. Heat oven to 350°. Heat a skillet over medium heat; warm tortillas 10 seconds per side. Divide shredded chicken evenly among tortillas; roll up. Spread 1/3 sauce in a 9" baking dish. Arrange enchiladas in 1 layer, seam side down. Cover with rest of sauce; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until cheese starts to brown. Serve immediately.

Roberto Santibañez, culinary director at Rosa Mexicano in Atlanta

The skinny 406 calories per 2 enchiladas, 11.8 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 5.7 g fiber, 34 g carbs, 40 g protein

Source: Self Magazine
Opinion: Pretty darn good with lots more cheese than the recipe called for. And I'd like to try to stuff the actual enchiladas with cheese and chicken. Also, if you ain't to keen on spicy food, go with one serrano instead of 2.


I received my new Fonda San Miguel cookbook this week. (Yes, Dyan it does have that lovely cajeta crepe recipe, I'll try to get a photocopy to you). Fonda San Miguel is a wonderful resturant that serves interior Mexican food. It is sooo yummmmmmmmyyyy!!!! We went there for our negative 1 year anniversary for brunch.


Arroz Blanco
Basic White Rice

2 tablespoons safflower oil
2 cups long-grain white rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Heat oil in a heavy, 3 quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add rice. Stirring often with a wooden spoon, cook 8-10 minutes, or until the rice is golden. Add chicken broth, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook an additional 20 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed. Fluff the rice and add salt, if necessary. Sprinkle with green peas and server hot. Serves 8

Source: Fonda San Miguel cookbook
Opinion: Fantabulous! We didn't use the green peas, but that didn't matter. Very tasty rice and it went well with the enchiladas.

On a seperate occasion, after a big lunch, we decided to have a light dinner of zucchini. Zucchini With Garlic and Lemon

Bread Crumbs Topping (optional)
2 slices white sandwich bread, torn into quarters
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Zucchini
5 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each), ends trimmed
Table salt
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving, if desired
1-2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
Ground black pepper

1. For the Bread crumbs (optional): Pulse the bread in food processor until coarsely ground. Heat butter in a 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently with heat proof rubber spatula, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

2. For the Zucchinis: Cut each zucchini crosswise into several pieces, each 2 to 3 inches long. Shred each piece on large holes of box grater, rotating as needed to avoid shredding seeds and core (which should be discarded); you should have about 10 cups shredded zucchini. Toss zucchini with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and place in colander set in medium bowl; let drain 5 to 10 minutes. Wrap zucchini in kitchen towel, in batches if necessary, and wring out excess moisture.
3.Place zucchini in medium bowl and break up any large clumps. Combine garlic with 2 teaspoons oil in small bowl; add mixture to zucchini and toss to combine throughly.
4. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over high heat until faint smoke appears. Add zucchini and spread evenly in pan with tongs; cook without stirring until bottom layer browns, about 2 minutes; stir well, breaking up any clumps with tongs, then cook until "new" bottom layer browns, about 2 minutes more. Off heat, stir in lemon juice and sald and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, drizzling with additional olive oil, if desired, and sprinkling with bread crumbs, if using.

Serves 4
Source: Cook's Illustrated/August 2006
Opinion: OMG this zucchini is now my favorite way to eat zucchini. I did not know zucchini could taste this good. Typing up the directions, the recipe sound difficult. Kyle actually made this one, and as a watcher it didn't seem to take him that long. I love lemon, and this recipe has lots of good lemon. This one's a keeper that we'll have to rotate through the recipes. We didn't do the bread topping. And we buy garlic alread minced up. I like to take short cuts when I can.