So it seems I'm off the Donna Hay kick for the moment and am trying all sorts of recipes from blogs I stumble across through foodgawker. Nothing wrong with that I think, I'm all for experimentation. Tonight's recipe was one that I was drawn to, but more intrigued than really amped about. See I'm really not sure how I feel about dishes being turned into other dishes, and enchiladas as a pie was something I was definitely more curious about than anything, but I figured the husband would like it so gave it a try. About half way into the ingredients list you'll find 'baking mix'. I had no idea what this was and wondered if it might be some secret blend, kind of like Chinese 5 Spice. Turns out it is a packet of basic items all premixed so you don't have to. The idea is that you'll never be caught short in the kitchen again (unless you run out of mix of course). The downside is that there's a whole bunch of horrible chemicals involved to increase shelf life and I don't like the sound of that. Mostly I saw it in the supermarket and was immediately repulsed - it was a giant box of who knows what. Right then and there I vowed to find an alternative. Luckily through some scouring of the internet I found myself an approximation (and some comments about how awesome America was for inventing this holy product, ahem, cough) which I have included below. Thank god for similar minded people out there!
Overall this was pretty easy to make, and after reading the comments over on Jules Food* I decided to increase the spices, by adding some cayenne, some cumin, a pinch of cinnamon and a whole bunch more chili. I also chose the hottest taco sauce I could find (which was not hot, and I must say I wasn't too impressed at myself for using a bottled sauce so I will have to endeavour to create my own someday) and although it was tasty it did need something more. I also mixed in some Monterrey Jack with the cheddar to give it a little something extra and that certainly helped, but it didn't stop Wil pouring on the sriracha afterwards.
If I were to make this again I would make it the way I would make the meat portion of my nachos: a whole schwack more garlic, some sliced jalapenos, some coriander powder, some chipotles in adobo and some mushrooms and possibly even capsicum to really give the heart of a dish some depth. Then I would really look into the taco sauce and create my own that was big on flavour. I also don't know about this whole baking mix kind of idea, even if I did make my own, I think I would do a little more research about pies and see if I couldn't make a roux with a little butter, flour and maybe some beef stock that would do the trick. I did like the corn chip base though, that was kinda neat.
2 cups (1 lb.) cooked, drained ground beef (or meat of choice)
1 cup chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 oz. taco sauce
2/3 cup finely crushed tortilla chips
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz.)
1 1/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
3/4 cup baking mix*
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease pie plate 10 x 1 1/2 inch. Cook and stir ground beef, onion and garlic until brown, drain. Stir in chili powder, oregano, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup taco sauce. Sprinkle tortilla chips evenly in plate. Top with 1 1/2 cups cheese, spread with beef mixture. Beat milk, large eggs and baking mix until smooth, 15 seconds in blender on high or 1 minute with hand beater. Pour into plate. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Spread remaining taco sauce over top, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Serve with chopped tomato, radish, coriander leaves, shredded lettuce and sour cream if desired.
* 3/4 cup flour, 1 12 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp butter
* I found this on Jules Food, who in turn found it on Ellen's Kitchen. Try it and keep the post going!
No comments:
Post a Comment