Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Bearcat Enchiladas

We went to Northwest Missouri State University's garden to pick free herbs and veggies again. Everything is planted by agriculture students and community members are welcomed to take free produce. My daughter and I both enjoy looking at the zinnias whenever we go.

I love seeing the variety of peppers that the students have planted and am amazed that they grow so well in our climate. In Mexico, I grew up eating "chiles rellenos", made using ancho peppers. They're a mild pepper.

My husband and I got our undergraduate degrees at K-State and every time I see these peppers they remind me of our alma mater. I don't know if they plant these on the K-State campus but they should put them as an ornamental plant. These are hot, but not as bad as other small peppers.

These are the six different types of peppers I picked. Top left to right: ancho, tomatillos and the purple peppers. I'm not positive about the names of the ones on the bottom row. I expected the bottom left one to be mild, like a bell pepper but it was not! I took a big bite out of it right there in the garden and at first it tasted like a bell pepper, but a second or two later I felt a familiar buzz that lasted several minutes.
These are the peppers I washed to make a green salsa for tonight's enchiladas. I added a few more anchos after I took this photos to make enough salsa. To make the salsa, I removed the stems off the peppers, peeled the tomatillos and boiled them in a sauce pan. Then I tossed them in the blender along with some fresh onion and one organic garlic clove that I picked up at the farmer's market. After blending them I added salt and pepper. When I make a red salsa I strain it but this time I chose to leave it like this since I had removed the pepper's inside membranes, that are responsible for most of the heat (and stomach problems!).
This is the yummy, finished product! It can be used just as is on eggs, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, well you get the picture. But I used it as enchilada sauce. I had some Monterrey Jack cheese in the freezer that we bought at the K-State dairy store the last time we were in Manhattan, Kansas. The cheese is made from milk from the K-State dairy farms, then prepared on campus by students.
I didn't have corn tortillas so I used four. The enchiladas are stuffed with seasoned shredded chicken, sour cream, the K-State cheese and the Bearcat salsa. I topped the enchiladas with salsa and cheese and baked them in the oven. So yummy!

2 comments:

Anna Clark said...

YUM!

caligirl said...

Que ricas se ven... hasta da hambre nadamas de verlas.