Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘enchilada sauce’

Polenta Casserole

Posted by terrepruitt on April 7, 2021

We had purchased polenta, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it.  I like to make Polenta Fries, but didn’t want to do that so I was trying to think of what to do with it. We also had a little left over taco sauce and enchilada sauce so I thought, “What the heck.”

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Polenta Casserole

1 tube of polenta
olive oil
coconut oil
1/2 onion
1 lb ground beef
taco seasoning
1/2 cup taco sauce
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
4.5 cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Slice the polenta. (I was able to get about 20 rounds from the tube.) Place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush a little olive oil on each slice. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. (They will be in the oven a total of 25 to 30 minutes).

Heat some oil in a pan. Chop the onion, then cook it in the oil. Add the beef to the cooked onion. Season with taco seasoning.

After 15 minutes take the polenta slices out of the oven and flip each one. Then put them back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Make sure not to overcook the beef because it will be in the oven for 15 minutes.

Mix the taco sauce and enchilada sauce together. Then mix it with the meat.

Once the polenta is cooked (I like it crispy and browned on the edges . . . of course, you will adjust to your tastes.) take it out of the oven and put 11 slices in the bottom of a greased (I used coconut oil) 8X8 baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese over the slices. Then put the meat on the slices spreading it out so it covers all the slices. Then sprinkle 3 1/2 cups cheese on the meat. Put the remaining slices of polenta on top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450° F.

Serve hot.

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I might consider using MORE polenta and less cheese. I’d like more complete layers of polenta. I also would like to add olives or bell peppers. For those of you that like chilies I think that would be a great thing to add.

I am never concerned with “plating” the food all pretty, I just want to eat . . . so, this does not look appetizing at all.  But it was good!  So we may be having this again. 🙂

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Enchilada Chicken

Posted by terrepruitt on August 12, 2019

If you have read my blog or seen any of my tweets within the last month or so you know that I made Taco Pie again. Oh my I love it, and this last time with the flour tortillas, I really loved it. When I make it I cannot find the size of enchilada sauce I need so I end up with a lot of leftover sauce. The time before last, the unused sauce sat in my refrigerator until it went bad because I didn’t know what to do with it. This time I was determined to use it and thought I could use it with chicken like I do with other sauces.

This is just chicken baked in the left over enchilada sauce. It was very good. I can see this dish following Taco Pie every time now.  I will be using up that extra enchilada sauce. YUM.

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Enchilada Chicken

~Four boneless skinless chicken breast
~Taco Seasoning (click for homemade recipe)
~20 ounces (or so) of Enchilada sauce
~about 2-3 cups shredded cheese (I used the 4 Cheese Mexican mix)
~Cilantro

~Rice (optional)

Place the chicken in a baking dish. Sprinkle half of the Taco Seasoning over the chicken. Let it set for an hour or two (in the refrigerator). Then flip over each piece and sprinkle the rest of seasoning over the chicken. Let it set for an hour or two (in the refrigerator).

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Pour the enchilada sauce over the chicken, sprinkle in some chopped cilantro, then top it with the shredded cheese. Bake. I baked this about 50 minutes . . . depending on the size of the chicken breasts . . . bake the chicken until thoroughly cooked.

Then serve over rice . . . or in tortillas, or on its own . . . topping it with chopped cilantro.

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Easy. Yummy. A great way for me to use the left over enchilada sauce.  I know this is just a different take on both Italian Chicken and Chicken Salsa.  Pouring sauces over chicken and baking, it is so easy and so many different types of sauces gives us such a variety of flavors!

What do you think? Don’t you love easy recipes?

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THIS Taco Pie Recipe

Posted by terrepruitt on July 3, 2019

Since having received the Taco Pie recipe from one of my yoga students a little over a year and a half ago, I think I have made it at least four times.  My husband and I have loved it every time.  But, honestly the last time was not my favorite.  I was really tasting the meat and I don’t like the TASTE of meat.  The meat didn’t have enough flavor AND I over cooked it.  Since the assembled “pie” is in the oven for 30 minutes the meat does not (SHOULD not) be thoroughly cooked prior to putting it in the oven.  Overcooked beef is bad, but overcooked turkey, is worse.

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I planned on making taco pie so I made out a grocery list, which I have to do, of course, because I don’t stock enchilada sauce or taco sauce.  I was so looking forward to it.  I was on the phone when I started cooking it so I did it a little differently, when I got off the phone I read the part I did incorrectly and shrugged – too late now.  So I added the sauces, then read the rest of the recipe.  “D’OH!”. I forgot the corn tortillas!!!!!  How did I think I was going to make taco pie?????  Grrrrr!  Clearly I did not read the recipe when making my list.  How did I forget corn tortillas?

Well, good thing I had just bought two packs of flour tortillas!  Flour tortillas it is!  BEST MISTAKE EVER!!!

As I often say on my blog, I use it as my recipe book – although as I re-wrote this recipe I see that I had NOT been using my post of the recipe, I had been using the original print out, and so I thought this new version had a few more differences than the first post, but it is not as many as I thought.  But still, I am re-posting the taco pie recipe with my current changes so I can just reference this one and not even have to go to the other one.  You, Dear Reader, can use whichever one you prefer.

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Taco Pie

1 Tablespoon or coconut oil
1/2 of an onion
(just under) 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 1/2 – 2 Tablespoons cumin
12 ounces enchilada sauce
1 bottle taco sauce
20 ounces cream of mushroom soup (2 boxes)
6 to 8 (soft taco size) flour tortillas
4 cups grated Mexican Cheese
1 can sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Chop the onion.  Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the onion to the pan. Cook until it starts to caramelize. Add the meat (crumbling it as you cook it or crumble it into the pan). Sprinkle the meat with garlic salt and cumin as you cook it. You add as much flavor as you want, I learned I want to cover the meat with the cumin (might end up being more than 1 1/2 – 2 Tblsp). DO NOT COOK MEAT ALL THE WAY! (note to self) Cook the meat until it is about half done, maybe a tad more.  Turn off the heat.

Add the enchilada sauce, the taco sauces, and the cream of mushroom soup. Stir until it is all mixed together with the meat.

In a 9X13 baking dish you are going to do layers. First layer is 1/3 of the sauce, the next layer is 3 – 4 tortillas to cover the sauce (I don’t let a lot of tortilla overlap), then sprinkle a light layer of cheese, then 1/3 of the sauce, then 3 – 4 tortillas, then a sprinkle of cheese. Then use the rest of the sauce to cover the tortillas, then cover it with the cheese.  Sprinkle on some sliced olives.  Save some to add for serving.

Bake for 45 minutes. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving. Top with the sliced olives.

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An Easy Yummy Recipe: Taco Pie

Posted by terrepruitt on February 21, 2018

One of my yoga students gave me a recipe. The title sounded good and as I started reading the ingredients I was thinking it sounded good until I got to the cream of mushroom soup. It just sounded really odd to me to add cream of mushroom soup with the other ingredients. I told her that, but she assured me that it was really good. She said that the dish is a hit whenever she takes it somewhere. She said everyone likes it when she makes it. So, I trusted her. And decided to try it.  I am always looking for new recipes to try that are easy. This one looked really easy. It doesn’t have that many ingredients and it had the potential to turn into a staple. So I tried her recipe to Taco Pie.

Since I so often use my blog as my recipe book I am documenting this recipe with some of the changes I made and how I will make it in the future. I will explain below the changes I have (or will make) and why below the recipe.

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Taco Pie

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 of an onion
1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
salt
garlic powder
cumin
12 ounces enchilada sauce
1 bottle taco sauce
20 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 dozen corn tortillas
2 to 4 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mexican Cheese)
1 can sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Chop the onion, then add the onion to the pan. Cook until translucent. Add the meat (crumbling it as you cook it or crumble it into the pan). Salt the meat as you cook it. Sprinkle the meat with garlic powder and some cumin. Not a lot (that is why I didn’t even put a measurement), you are just adding a tad bit of flavoring to help layer the flavors, but you still want the sauce mixture to be the star. Cook the meat until it is about half done.

Add the enchilada sauce, the taco sauces, and the cream of mushroom soup. Stir until it is all mixed together with the meat. Bring to a boil. Then let simmer over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the sauce flavor the meat.

In a 9X13 baking dish you are going to do layers. First layer is 1/3 of the sauce, then a layer of sprinkled of cheese, the next layer is 6 tortillas to cover the sauce. Then 1/3 of the sauce, a layer of sprinkled of cheese, then six tortillas. Then use the rest of the sauce to cover the tortillas, then cover it with the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with the sliced olives. (If you want the olives cooked then put them on top of the “pie” before baking.)

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I have written before about how I don’t really care for the taste of plain meat. Plain meat to me, is just really not appetizing. So, when I made this recipe I cooked the turkey with chopped onions, as I stated in the recipe. It still was not enough for me. I like layered (or what I call layered) flavors. And to me, the plain meat just tasted plain. It stood out from the sauce. I like everything to meld together. So, the next time I make this I am going to add the spices as I have stated in the recipe.

The original recipe called for two cans of cream of mushroom soup, I used two boxes. That is a difference of four ounces. I did reduce the amount of enchilada sauce by two ounces, but it was still very soupy. All of the meat and sauce leaked out from between the layers and I was just left with stacked tortillas and the sauce on the side. So, next time I am going to reduce the liquids as stated here in the recipe. Not that much, but perhaps with the increased cooking time on the stove top this will help reduce the amount of liquid.

This was really good. As I type it up I am wanting to make it again. Thanks, Judy for this recipe!  And as with any recipe it is fun to add and subtract and make it your own. I thought of adding mushrooms – because I love mushrooms – and/or chilies, but I really love the simplicity of this recipe so I doubt I will be adding much to complicate it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to fancy it up.

How does this sound to you? What will you add to it to make it your own?

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