New Mexico-Style Pot Roast + Night #2 Enchiladas

New recipe night last night.  This one came out of Cookie magazine - October 2009.

The kids were not on board with this one, but The Dad and I thought it was deeeelicious.

Here's the recipe with my notes:

New Mexico-Style Pot Roast

1 3-pound beef chuck roast
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 15-oz jar red enchilada sauce (I used about half of a big can)
1 12-oz can light beer or lager
1 1/2 C low-sodium beef broth
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 small chayote squash, cut into large chunks
1 15-oz can hominy, drained (I used a big can)

Preheat oven to 450.  

Rub the meat with the oil, salt, and pepper.  

Place it in a baking pan and roast for 30 minutes, turning it once halfway through. 

(I used a small roasting pan.)

Reduce heat to 350.

Add the enchilada sauce, beer, and broth.

Cover with foil and cook for 2 1/2 hours.

Add potatoes, squash, and hominy.

Cook for 30 minutes more, stirring to get the top veggies down into the sauce.

Uncover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the juices are slightly thickened, 15 to 30 minutes more, stirring again if needed.

Carve the meat across the grain; serve it all drizzled with the sauce.

This wasn't the prettiest meal to photograph, but man oh man was it good.

Here's dinner on my plate:

Okay, now for the best part.  Leftovers.  Enchilada Pie.  I did the same thing I did here, so if you need a photo step-by-step, or just a more traditional version, check out that post.

This was SO good!!!  And NO WORK.  I literally took the leftovers out of the fridge along with some corn tortillas and started layering.  I smushed the sweet potatoes a bit as I added them, so they were more like refried beans.  I also cut the squash into smaller pieces.  I added just a little bit of jack cheese and some of what was leftover from opening a big can of the enchilada sauce yesterday to coat the bottom of the pie dish - there was enough sauce left over in the roasting pan to coat the layers.  Other than that, it was pretty much dump and bake.  And it was AMAZINGLY good.  Again, not exactly visually appealing, but I wasn't servin' the pope.

Oh yeah, I probably should have used a bigger baking dish, but once you've started, there's kinda no going back.  So I put the pie plate on a cookie sheet before putting it into the oven.  I really wasn't in the mood to clean up a boil over.

Here's a couple pics of night #2 coming together:

I covered and baked it like this for about an hour.

Then I took the foil off, added a bit more cheese and baked for another 15 minutes or so.

Here's tonight's dinner on my plate:

So good.

Pecan-Crusted Sliders

This is another recipe that's been in rotation at our house for several years.  I feel like I've been going non-stop, and putting together a dinner at the end of the day has sounded like cruel and unusual punishment.  This is one that comes together super quick - especially on nights when the last thing you want to do is cook.

Here's the recipe with my notes:

Pecan-Crusted Sliders 

12 oz pork tenderloin, sliced crosswise into 8 pieces
1 egg
2 Tbsp honey, divided
1 C finely chopped pecans
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 small green apple (I used a Granny Smith)
1 1/2 C shredded broccoli (I used a bag of broccoli slaw)
1/4 C mayo
8 small buns or dinner rolls, split (I used some oblong rolls I had in the freezer)
Dijon-style mustard, optional (I used a sweet-hot mustard on mine)

With palm of hand, flatten pork slices to 1/4 inch thickness.  

In shallow dish, whisk together egg and 1 Tbsp of the honey.

In another shallow bowl combine chopped nuts, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

 I don't know about you, but finely chopping a cup of nuts isn't high on my fun list. 

Unless I want big pieces for a salad or something, this is how I do it.

Dip pork in egg mixture then nut mixture, pressing to coat.

In 12-inch skillet heat oil over medium-high heat.  

Cook pork in hot oil 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until golden and slightly pink in centers.

Meanwhile for slaw, quarter apple, remove core and seeds; thinly slice. 

In bowl combine apple, shredded broccoli, mayo, and 1 Tbsp of honey.

Season with salt and pepper.

For sliders, place pork on buns or rolls; top with slaw.

Pass mustard.

The plan was to make oven fries, but I decided a bag of chips sounded like waaay less work.

Here's dinner on my plate:

Swagger Wagon

It's official.  I drive a minivan.

Carmel at Our Fifth House emailed me this video this summer.  I had commented on one of her posts where she referred to her minivan as a Swagger Wagon.  I mentioned we'd be needing a bigger car once baby #3 is here and that I'd totally be stealing that name.  Obviously, having my car totaled sped the process up a bit. 

And now the day is here. 

I'm a minivan mom.

Enjoy.