Delaware

Normally this blog is for food I make but I decided to share what others made for us while we were on vacation. The sandwiches are reviewed on the Syracuse Sandwich blog. So here are some pictures of the food we enjoyed in Delaware:

Grilled Ham Cheese and Tomato at Robin Hood's

Seafood Scampi at Irish Eyes

Shepherd's Pie at Irish Eyes

Doughnuts at The Fractured Prune

Onion Rings at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Asparagus Peppers and Chicken Pizza at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Vegetable Omelet at Sunrise Restaurant

Eastern Omelet at Sunrise Restaurant

Pretzel Sticks at The Greene Turtle

Chick N Ranch at The Greene Turtle

The Chesapeake Chicken at The Greene Turtle

Taco Salad at Dos Locos

Spicy Pork Burrito at Dos Locos

French Toast at The Penguin Diner

Breakfast Burrito at The Penguin Diner

Taco Soup

     I love, love, love, making soup or anything for that matter in my crock pot. There isn’t much more satisfying than coming home to a home cooked meal that is hot and ready to eat after a long day. Soup is a great meal to make because you can throw virtually anything in the pot and it will come out well. I had a recipe for taco soup that Christine got from a customer of hers. There were no directions on the paper, just ingredients, so I decided dumping them all in the crock would work. ANYONE, can make this soup because it is primarily canned vegetables and requires little prep work. Here is the recipe for those of you who want an easy soup to make:

1½ cups water

1 pound lean ground beef

1 large onion - chopped

1 12oz can crushed tomatoes

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 4.5oz green chilies

1 14oz can whole kernel corn

1 packet ranch dressing

1 packet taco seasoning

     I didn’t have lean ground beef because I primarily buy 80/20, so I browned the beef in a pan until most of the fat had cooked out. But didn’t cook the beef completely through, because it would continue to cook while in the crock pot. Once the fat was drained I added the beef, water, and onion into the crock pot. There isn’t much water in the recipe because there will be a lot more coming from all of the cans. Next, I poured in the contents of both of the cans of tomatoes and the green chilies. I drained most of the water out of the canned corn because there is a lot in there and I didn’t want the soup to be too watery. Finally, I poured both of the packets’ contents on top of everything and mixed until combined. Large crock pots tend to cook hot so I set mine on low even though I would be home after a few hours since I did all of this on my lunch.

     When I got home the kitchen smelled wonderful with a spicy-tomato aroma in the air. All the vegetables had broken down and had become soft. The beef, while normally tough if cooked too long, was very moist. I topped each bowl with some cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Instead of crackers, I served tortilla chips on the side which provided a salty crunch to the meal. Christine and I both mixed the cheese and sour cream around in the soup which thickened it up a little bit but not too much. It is hard to describe the taste other than liquid taco filling but that is how it tasted. It didn’t turn out spicy like I had expected with the taco seasoning and chilies mixed in. That wasn’t a bad thing because it made the soup very light tasting despite its thickness. I will definitely be making this easy soup again, especially during the cold winter nights.

Rating: Delectable - One of the best soups I've made thus far. 

Chicken Enchiladas

Click Here For The Recipe

     On the weekend I like to make dishes that require a lot of time for preperation. I don't want to come home during the week after working all day and spend 30 minutes to an hour cutting vegetables or making three different sauces and then wait another 30 minutes to an hour until it's done cooking. 

     This recipe for enchiladas calls for cooked chicken but the time it takes to cook the chicken isn't included in the overall time. You could use a precooked chicken whether it be canned or a store bought rotisserie chicken. I decided to cut up a few chicken breast and season them with taco seasoning. I sauteed the chicken in some olive oil until cooked through and turned off the heat. While making the sauce I omitted the green chiles for the sake of our stomachs. We like our food spicy but our stomachs don't unfortunately. When it came time to add the cheese I decided to use mexican cheese blend instead of the cheddar called for in the recipe. Since I had the chicken in a pan already, I just poured 1/4 of the sauce into the pan with the chicken in it and mixed that together. Before putting the chicken and sauce mixture on the tortillas I decided to spread some refried bean on the torilla to make them hold together easier. I found this will be a step I will continue to use from now on, both because of the taste and the helpfulness. I spooned in the chicken mixture and rolled them up. I was generous with the amount of chicken I used in each enchilada so we ended up with five full ones instead of six. Christine poured the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and topped it with mexican cheese. As one last step I had bought some enchilada sauce so I poured about a half a can over the layer of cheese and sprinkled some cheese on top of the sauce before putting it in the oven.

     As you can see from the picture, they certainly looked great. But how did they taste? In one word: great. With some chopped tomato and a dollop of sour cream these were very tasty. We appreciated that they weren't spicy and they filled us up. I even had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Rating: Yummy - These are a nice change from having tacos.