GreenSunflower Cooks

Pork and Sausage Chipotle Chili

Pork and Sausage Chili
Originally uploaded by greensunflower.

Babe hates regular chili, no matter what you do to it.  So I made this.  It is almost too much like a stew to call chili, but I do.

GreenSunflower's Chipotle Chili with Pork and Sausage 

• 2 small or 1 large pork tenderloin, cubed
• 1 lb chipotle chicken sausage, sliced on a bias (angle)
• 2 small can salsa verde
• 1 jalapeno in adobo, chopped
• 2 tsp adobo sauce
• 1tb cumin
• 1 tb chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 large can chopped tomatoes with juice
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

In 5 quart saucepan/soup pot, on medium heat, saute onions and celery in about 2 tb olive oil.  Salt and pepper onion and celery. Stir and saute until onions are translucent and soften.  Add garlic and saute for 1-2 mins.  Add meats, tomatoes and juice, salsa verde, jalapeno, and adobo sauce, salt and pepper. Stir.  Add spices and stir.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer for 2 hours.  Top with sour cream and sharp cheddar cheese.

Superbowl Party: 7 Layer Dip and Menu

In normal crazy American fashion, Babe and I have acquired both a 46in LCD TV and a 900 watt surround sound system, just in time for the Superbowl.  But we cannot forget the food, because a good TV without good food... well sucks.

Here is my menu for the party.

• 7 Layer Dip and Tortilla Chips
• BBQ'ed (cause it's California) Baby Back Ribs with Baby Ray's spicy BBQ sauce
• Classic Baby Red Potato Salad
• Gluten Free Baked Beans (recipe to be found)
• Pina Coladas
• Coconut Chocolate Chip Cake
• Requisite Hard and not-so-Hard Alcohol

7 layer mexican dip
Originally uploaded by greensunflower.

I make a mean 7 layer dip.  I don't have a pic because I haven't made it since I started this blog, so I will post the recipe now and the pic later.  The secret is in the taco seasoning.

GreenSunflower's 7 layer dip

• 1 can refried beans
• 2 avocados
• 1 lime
• salt
• 1 16oz container sour cream
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (you can use Jack but chedda looks betta)
• 2 small tomatoes chopped
• 3 green onions chopped
• 1/2 can chopped black olives

On large plate (approx. equal to 12-14 inch diameter) spread beans.  Mash avocados with lime and a little bit of salt.  Spread avocado mixture over beans.  Mix taco seasoning and sour cream, spread over avocado mixture.  Sprinkle grated cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and olives over sour cream mixture.  Dig In!

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turkey Enchiladas In Cilantro Sour Cream Sauce

Turkey Enchiladas
Originally uploaded by greensunflower.

I would love to sit around and make turkey sandwiches to my hearts content and gobble them down (pun intended), but alas, I hate gluten free bread and it just isn't the same with the dense logs o' bread, as it is with a nice piece of wonder bread, which is the perfect bread for turkey sandwiches.

So I resort to the wheat free'ers friend, Mexican.  These enchiladas are so good and the filling, according to Babe can be used as a Turkey salad sandwich filling.  I don't know exactly how that would work, but if you figure it out let me know.

GreenSunflower's Turkey Enchiladas with Cilantro Sour Cream Sauce

• 2.5 cups cooked turkey meat
• 10 corn tortillas
• 1 smallish onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 bunch cilantro, leaves only
• 16oz sour cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 8oz can salsa verde
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• canola oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In blender mix onion, cilantro (reserving a little for garnish), sour cream, salsa verde, and salt.  Blend until smooth and blended throughly.  Add 1/3 of mix to turkey meat and mix.  Add 1 handful of cheese to Turkey mixture and mix.  Heat medium sized skillet over medium high heat  with 1 tb canola oil.  Add corn tortillas one at a time, turning once to cook both sides.  Place on paper towels.  Repeat with all tortillas adding oil as necessary.  Take tortillas and fill each one with equal amount of turkey mixture, roll and place in 8x8 pan until full.  Top pan with the rest of the sauce.  Shake the pan side to side to get sauce down between enchiladas. Top with the rest of the pepper jack.  Bake for 40 min.  At the end turn on broiler and broil until cheese is of desired brownness (optional).  Top with a dollop of sour cream and some cilantro leaves. 

Gobble Gobble

Fire Fries

Fire Fries
Originally uploaded by greensunflower.

Fries by themselves are okay, but really they need to be spiced up.  I loved seasoned fries when I ate wheat, but I believe after seeing them and experiencing some unpleasant side effects, that they have wheat.  I made these up and really they are so much better than seasoned fries.  Next time I think I will top them with cheese sauce.

GreenSunflower's Fire Fries

• 1 bag frozen fries (I buy mine from my friend Joe)
• 1 tb chili powder
• 1 tb cumin
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• olive oil

Heat broiler.  Spread out fries on pan. Sprinkle/drizzle olive oil on them. Add the spices, sprinkling all over fries.  Toss fries with your best tool (clean hands) until fulling coated with spices.  Put under broiler for 8 min.  Pull out toss fries again. Put in broiler for 5 min.  Take out and eat with whatever you eat your fries with.  We did ketchup.

Study Snack

Study Snack
Originally uploaded by greensunflower.

Every Friday, my study group and I get together.  I always try to have some great food for us to eat, because without glucose to the brain, nothing will be retained.  Here is how to put together some great nachos. This is really simple and I dont have a ton of measurments for it, but sometimes just knowing what goes in something is the hard part.

• Taco Meat
• Old School style tortilla chips
• 1/2 pound pepper jack cheese
• Pico de gallo
• sour cream
• guacamole
• salsa on the side

Assemble taco meat, tortilla chips, and cheese.  Broil until melted.  Pull out of oven and top with Pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole.  Eat

Hot Sauce- Fall Style

Hot Sauce
Originally uploaded by greensunflower.

Over at FamilyFood, CityMama made some homemade hot sauce. I was inspired.  Here is my recipe. I put cranberries in it, to make it more seasonal.  It has an odd color but it tastes good.  Babe eats it on bread with butter. But then he is crazy about hot things. 

GreenSunflower's Hot Sauce

• 5 Manzano Peppers (at Mexican markets)
• 6-8 Jalapeno Peppers
• 10 Serrano peppers
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1tb chopped garlic
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
• 1tb sugar

Seed and chop all the peppers (wear gloves). Add 2 tb olive oil to a pan on medium heat.  Add onions, peppers, and carrots.  Saute until everything is really soft.  While sauteing, heat vinegar, sugar, and water is a sauce pan.  Cook until cranberries pop and soften.  Add cranberry mixture to pepper mixture.  Simmer for 5-7 min until the liquid really adopts the color and taste of the peppers (it will be a strange mixture of red and green). Take off heat and cool.  Blend mix in blender and drain through a wire sieve (this is necessary due to cranberries).  Place in an empty vinegar jar as CityMama suggests.  I was thinking about canning it and giving it to heat lovers at Christmas.