Smoked Turkey Enchiladas

Every year I tell my self "get a smaller bird" and with out fail I never do. So there is plenty leftover, For sandwiches, pot pie, soup, and the king of turkey leftovers Turkey Enchiladas. This years bird I cooked on the smoker with a little pecan wood, dry brined with lemon and Mexican oregano. So using some of this super tasty meat in these enchiladas was incredible.
Mostly I use corn tortillas for my enchiladas but these are so much better with flour tortillas, Maybe it is me but I truly love a turkey sandwich on white bread and these keep with that theme. I pick up the flavors of fall in the sauce with cinnamon and clove and the filling with some Butternut Squash. I warn you these are truly amazing, mildly spicy and bursting with flavor You may decide to have turkey more than once a year. Enjoy!

Perp time: 30 min                                        Cooking time: 30 min

Tools: 13 x 9" casserole dish

Ingredients:

8 Flour Tortillas
1 1/2 cups grated Monterrey Jack

Filling:
2 cups turkey meat (diced under 1/2")
1/2 cup butternut squash (roasted and diced under 1/2 ")
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/3 cup diced onion
1 Jalapeno de seeded and diced (2 if you like it spicy like I do)
1 tsp comino seed
2 tbl chopped cilantro
2 tbl veg oil (or rendered turkey fat)
1/2 cup chicken stock

Enchilada sauce:
1/4 cup veg oil
1/4 cup flour
2 tbl ground chili powder (ancho & passilla)
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups chicken stock


Directions:

Prepare the enchilada sauce by starting in a heavy bottom skillet over med heat. Mix the spices and the flour together in a small bowl and warm the chicken stock in a small pan. dump the spices into the warm skillet and toast the spices stirring constantly until they become fragrant and add the veg oil and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Slowly whisk in the warm chicken stock and bring to the boil reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes remove from the heat.

To prepare the filing warm a heavy bottom skillet over med heat and add the oil and comino seed allow to toast in the warm oil for a minute and add the vegetables stirring frequently until the onions become translucent.
Add the turkey to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken stock and cover the skillet loosely reduce heat and simmer until the stock has reduced to almost nothing leaving a moist filling 5-7 minutes add the cilantro.

Assembling the Enchiladas:
Spoon some of the Enchilada sauce into the bottom of the casserole to lightly coat the bottom.
Using a pair of tongs dredge a tortilla into the sauce and place into the casserole and fill with 3 tbl of the turkey filling. Place this off center and closer to you. grasp the edge closest to you fold it over the filling and tuck the edge under the filling and roll up the tortilla placing the seam on the bottom of the casserole dish. Slide it to the opposite end and repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Cover the top with abou1/2 cup of the sauce and finish with the grated Monterrey Jack. Cover the Casserole dish with  aluminum foil and bake in a 375º F for 20 minutes uncover and bake for 5 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  Side toppings Crema, Pico de Giao, sour cream, pickled radishes.

Canberry Sauce>Turkeys other best friend

When I think of  the Thanksgiving Feast there are all those delicious traditional dishes that can be found on most all holiday tables. Then there is the RED gelatinous cylindrical blob on a plate usually dressed up with a leaf of lettuce for a bed, it is the dreaded Cranberry sauce. I grew up thinking that is what cranberry sauce was supposed to be and gave my mom praise for carving those decorative  rings around its exterior, once a year she would develop Ninja Knife skills to impress the crowd. Sound familiar?

My first experience with whole berry cranberry sauce came in my early 20's. I was stationed in San Diego unable to get leave to be home (Some body has to mind the store) I ate my Thanksgiving meal in the Officers Club. Part of the condiments on the table where a whole berry cranberry sauce. Mom got a phone call not long after that and we had a good laugh about her Ninja skills and how I must seek out therapy because I was deprived as a child.

Thanksgiving is such a great time with amazing food and I hate the thought of only having this incredible dinning experience only once a year so I celebrate it twice the traditional and again in July. Although the menu is built around the summer turkey is the protein of choice. Have you ever tried to find cranberries in July in Texas? So I needed to find a solution. Little did I know this would become THEE cranberry sauce for all my turkey dinners. So easy and very good it, it is one of those recipes that give maximum bang for the buck with ingredients that can be picked up in any grocery store any time of the year. Enjoy!

Perp time: 10 min                                cooking time: 30 min                   yield: 2 1/2cups


Ingresdients:

1 med granny smith apple
2 cups cranberry juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1 6oz pkg dried cranberries
Juice of 1/2 a lime: about 1 1/2 tbl spoons
1 tsp corn starch and 1 tsp cranberry juice, mixed
pinch of salt

Directions:

Core peal and  finely dice 1/2 of the apple.
Put a high sided skillet over med heat pour in the cranberry juice, lime juice, apple and the spices. Bring to a simmer and add the berries and sugar.

 Simmer 20 min until the berries plump up and the sauce thickens

.
Stir in the corn starch and cranberry slurry simmer for 3 min remove from heat and transfer to a bowl and refrigerate uncovered till cool.

Chocolate Eclair Desert> Skinny Food; really!

I found this recipe on a cooking site some time ago I cut and pasted it into a word document and saved it. So if you are the original poster Thank you !
As I have stated before I am a self diagnosed Doughnut Junkie. You wave a Chocolate Eclair in front of me and I guarantee I will be "your new best friend". After all I ask you what is better than fried sweet dough filled with vanilla pastry cream and covered in chocolate icing.May be two, one for each hand! 
 With the holidays fast approaching it seems as everybody gets stressed with more on the ToDo list then there are hours in the day. Coupled with the trend toward heavy comfort food in the cooler weather and shorter days.  You can get to feeling a little guilty when it is time for desert and so many sweet treats tempting you. So the thought of a rich Chocolate Eclair while tempting may make the little person with the Halo that whispers in your ear say "No don't eat that!" But what if you could with no guilt? Interested??
Enter the Chocolate Eclair desert, Now this is not the original recipe That I have living in my hard drive recipe file. I Lightened it up but you would never no it.
Easy and  to prepare with off the shelf items that you could probably find in a convenience store. It is so good that folks will think you spent hours preparing it, while you smile keeping the little secret that it is a low calorie/fat desert. They will never now. Enjoy!

Perp time: 10 min                           Refrigerator time: 2 hrs min

Tools: 13x 9 " pan


Ingredients:

1 box Graham crackers
2 boxes sugarfree French vanilla pudding
2 cups Shim milk                                       
1 tub sugar free Chocolate fudge frosting


Directuons:

Mix the two boxes of pudding with the two cups of Skim Milk ( I know the box says 2 cups per box) We are making pastry cream not pudding.

Open the grahams and lay a layer on the bottom of the  of the *pan

 Spread 1/2 of the pudding/pastry cream over the grahams then follow with another layer of grahams. Change
the direction of the layer. It makes for neater slices.

Cover this layer with the other 1/2 of the pastry cream and top with another layer of grahams


Remove the plastic lid from the Frosting and the safety seal. Microwave 30 sec on high give it a srir and heat 20 sec more.

Pour the Frosting from the tub over the top layer of grahams evenly smooth it out with the back of a spoon.  Cover the pan plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours minimum over night is better.

* the pan in the picture is 8X8 I made a half batch.