Chorizo…

…is one of our favorite meats to cook with.  However, we don’t use it too terribly often because of the fat content!  When we do decide to splurge and eat this delicious sausage, it is always enjoyable.  Lately, we’ve been attempting to develop our own recipes, and last night we made the much-anticipated creation that we now like to call “chorizoloaf.”

For Mexican meatloaf  you need:

• 1 lb. ground elk/beef
• 4 links Mexican-style chorizo
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo
• 1/2 tbsp. adobo sauce
• dash of cinnamon
• 3/4 cup crumbled queso fresco
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the meats, eggs, almost all of the onions, breadcrumbs, milk, and cilantro.  Mix it together using your hands and mound it into a loaf.

Next, combine the tomatoes, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, cinnamon, and the rest of the onion in the food processor.  Pulse the sauce until it is thick and mostly smooth.

Spread the sauce on top of the loaf and bake it for about an hour.  In the last 10-15 minutes of cooking, top the loaf with the queso fresco crumbles.  When the cheese is melted and slightly browned, it’s time to eat!

We served a slice of chorizoloaf with an ear of corn on the cob topped with herb butter.

This version of meatloaf is delicious, if I do say so myself!  Experimenting in the kitchen is always a lot of fun, and (as I’ve said before) you really can’t go wrong when chorizo is involved…

*sc

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Spanish cuisine…

…is absolutely one of our favorite food “genres.”  With the commonly used flavors of cilantro, cumin, paprika, and chili powder, how can we not love it??  A few weeks ago, I found this recipe in one of my mom’s Taste of Home magazines.  With merely a  quick glance at a few of the ingredients, I knew we would be making (and most likely loving) this chicken chili lasagna in the very near future.  Well, I was right.  We made this dish Sunday and it could not taste better.  Fantástico!!

you need:

• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 medium onion
• 5 green onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 8 oz Mexican cheese
• 3/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cilantro
• 3 cups cooked chicken
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup monterey jack
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 oz. green chilies
• 1/8 tsp. thyme
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 12 tortillas, halved

Start by mixing the cream cheese, all the onions, 1 1/2 cups of Mexican cheese, the garlic, 1/4 tsp. cumin, and the cilantro.  Stir in the chicken. Honestly, i eyeballed all the spices. This isn’t a cake, so it isn’t exact science!

Next, make the cheese sauce.  BEST part.  Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Then, whisk in the flour until smooth.  Next, gradually add your broth and bring the sauce to a boil.  Cook and stir it for about 2 minutes, or until it is thickened.  I think the key part is adding the broth in slowlyyyyy.  Take it off the heat and stir in your Monterey Jack, sour cream, chilies, thyme, salt, pepper, and some more cumin.  DELICIOUS.  You will want to swim in it.

Spread about 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce in a greased 9×13.  Top that with 6 tortilla halves, 1/3 of the chicken mixture, and about a fourth of the luscious cheese sauce.  Repeat this two more times.  Then, just top it with the remaining tortilla halves, the rest of the sauce, and the Mexican cheese.  Cover it and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncover it and bake for about 10 minutes more.  Finish up by letting it stand for 5 minutes before you slice it.

It may not be a beautiful plate, but with some corn and a margarita, this is one fantastic dinner.

*sc

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