at last

It's Friday!

I don't have much to say after a very exhausting five days, but I wanted to mention how tasty my enchiladas were on Tuesday. I shared them with an office buddy for Valentine's Day. I also shared a few of the chocolate truffles I made. I now know how to roll funny-looking little ganache morsels and dip and twist them to create fantastically delicious yet not-stunning truffle bites.

Now back to these enchiladas. I believe I may have mentioned before how at one point some years ago I realized that rolling enchiladas (although creative and pretty-looking) was basically a wild waste of time. Thus began my Enchilada Casserole years. Delicious, not as time consuming, and did I mention delicious?

You may be surprised that I am willing to share my recipe, but I'm pretty sure they're important enough to share. Also, I've never been one to think mine better than the original chef's so I feel that makes intellectual property pretty special and utterly sharable.

Layer upon layer, until you come out just right:

Corn tortillas

A round casserole dish that the tortillas almost fill

Rosarita vegetarian refried beans (you can add your own non-canned meat at will)

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (add to beans, stir until hot)

1/4 teaspoon chile powder (add to beans and cumin)

A sprinkling of garlic powder if needed (I don't use it anymore)

Sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Monterey jack cheese, grated (if desired/optional)

Mild diced green chiles (one small 3oz can)

Mild/medium/hot green OR red enchilada sauce (your choice of brand, but I like Hatch)

The following are optional additions:

Black olives, chopped

Cilantro, washed and chopped

Chicken breast chopped small, sauteed in tamari, ginger powder, garlic powder, thyme

Corn (add ancho chile powder for some added flavor)

Rice (add sauteed onions, pepper, chile powder, garlic powder for flavor)

Pre-heat the oven to 350F (expect 45 minutes to bake)

Add a thin layer of sauce to bottom of casserole dish

Add one tortilla

Add 1/4" layer of beans

Add sprinkling of cheese (not much needed)

Add chicken/olives/cilantro

Top with a few spoonfuls of sauce (not enough to be really wet)

Repeat until pan is nearing full.*

Top layer: cheese, sauce, olives (pretty) finish with more sauce

*Make eating your enchilada casserole more interesting by varying the amount in between each layer. I've noticed adding chicken to one but beans to another keeps the texture interesting.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350F. Your enchilada casserole is finished when the cheese is bubbly on top and sauce is bubbling.

Let sit for five minutes (if you can) and add small scoop of sour cream or plain yogurt.

This photo is from Monday night. I accidentally used Hot sauce, which made it more interesting but not in a super good way.

brain eat brain

I read an article about how our brain cells start eating themselves when they're undernourished and overworked. They also start eating themselves when they're over-nourished and underworked, or rather over fed. For instance when a person has Type 2 diabetes.

Seems like finding the middle ground is more important than we thought: be healthy, eat and play. Or your brain will eat itself.

It's a curious thing this cannibalistic behavior. Every once in a while a story comes out about some guy who wanted to eat a person, and found another guy who wanted to be eaten. Then there are the wild tribes of yore (long ago and far away) who ate outsiders and other enemy tribes. I'm sure it tastes like chicken, but my thinking on the matter is, "ew."

Why? We humans are pretty much known for eating all manner of creature, big, small, bug, and cricket (crunchy, slimy, salted and grilled). Apparently the appetite for human flesh (typing those words actually made my skin crawl a little bit) really is taboo. So much so that it pretty much never happens. Ever.

Which I'm pretty happy about.

PS 'Mountain of the Cannibal Gods' was the least disturbing image that came up when I googled "Cannibal." I don't recommend it (the web search, I haven't actually seen the movie). And I'm a little afraid of the consequences if the authorities should ever decide to check my search history: lady bugs, glitter, fairies, design, fashion, and cannibal. It won't look good.