I was in a quandary yesterday. Typically when that happens I do something really stupid and this was no exception. In the spirit of mixing up the menu I felt it was time to do some Mexican food. All the pizza threads though kinda made me want a pizza but I'd just done one a few days ago. The cogs started turning....uh oh!! Came up with an idea (brain fart??) so went to check on my Prepared Pantry mixes for a pizza dough. All I had were loaded with Italian herbs. That wasn't gonna work so found a recipe on the 'Net that was just a basic dough. Printed it and set about making the dough. There are a lot of steps to this so to detail everything takes a lot of pictures.
The dough all made and into a bowl to proof
3 1/2 hours later it had about tripled in size
Time to get the enchilada sauce going. All the dry spices lightly browned with some EVOO till fragrant. This is a recipe I put together a few years ago and it is real deal legit.
Add the wet ingredients
Simmer gently till thickened and the flavors develop. This stuff smells amazing.
Defrost a pound of CPB tenderloin tips
Cut into small pieces and into a skillet. Brown them, soak up the liquid with a paper towel, and add some of my fajita seasoning, which I also came up with a couple years ago
While the beef is browning I cut up some jalapenos and onions
Stretch the dough into the CI pizza pan and add the meat
Drizzle with a good bunch of the enchilada sauce
Drain a can of Ro Tel tomatoes with green chilies and add those
The onions and jalapenos. Now it's starting to look like something really interesting
Load it up with Monterrey Jack cheese
Onto the grill, bottom rack, grill temp about 400
After about 20 minutes the cheese is starting to melt and the crust is firming up. Time to move it to the top rack. I'm thinking this is looking pretty good right about now
Done and into the house to slice. Got the cheese nicely browned and the crust is perfect; crunchy on the bottom but light and fluffy in the middle. Not too thick, and not too thin.
Ahhh...finally it's time to eat
Lotsa goodies in here
Go ahead...take me out and shoot me for this. I don't care, I'll die a happy man
It may have been insane but it was also insanely good. Authentic Mexican flavors with tons of depth and complexity. Nice mixture of veggies and all the flavors came together to create one of the tastiest Mexican themed meals we've ever eaten, regardless of how unconventional it may have been. Tracy gave me one of those sideways looks when she walked in and asked what I was making but she about fell out of her chair when she took the first bite. This thing packed a ton of flavor which we both loved. One small piece left which will go in her lunch tomorrow. WOW!!
I have posted the recipes for the enchilada sauce and the fajita seasoning before. If anybody would like them and missed them in previous posts, please just say so and I'll post them again. I can only guess there are a couple folks who will be wanting to do some variation of this, one of whom lives just outside of our nation's capital in the city where I was born. If I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes this within a week and posts it As for the dough recipe, I will not post that. The finished product was really good but getting to that point was a nightmare. That stuff was like trying to roll out a car tire. It simply would not go where it was supposed to go and stay there. I spent an hour just trying to get it worked into the pan. I was to the point that if I hadn't had so much time invested and been so deep into the project, I would have trashed it all together.
Well this one is a wrap. Gotta go get breakfast started for my dearly beloved....and her dog Y'all take care and have a great Sunday.
Robert
The dough all made and into a bowl to proof
3 1/2 hours later it had about tripled in size
Time to get the enchilada sauce going. All the dry spices lightly browned with some EVOO till fragrant. This is a recipe I put together a few years ago and it is real deal legit.
Add the wet ingredients
Simmer gently till thickened and the flavors develop. This stuff smells amazing.
Defrost a pound of CPB tenderloin tips
Cut into small pieces and into a skillet. Brown them, soak up the liquid with a paper towel, and add some of my fajita seasoning, which I also came up with a couple years ago
While the beef is browning I cut up some jalapenos and onions
Stretch the dough into the CI pizza pan and add the meat
Drizzle with a good bunch of the enchilada sauce
Drain a can of Ro Tel tomatoes with green chilies and add those
The onions and jalapenos. Now it's starting to look like something really interesting
Load it up with Monterrey Jack cheese
Onto the grill, bottom rack, grill temp about 400
After about 20 minutes the cheese is starting to melt and the crust is firming up. Time to move it to the top rack. I'm thinking this is looking pretty good right about now
Done and into the house to slice. Got the cheese nicely browned and the crust is perfect; crunchy on the bottom but light and fluffy in the middle. Not too thick, and not too thin.
Ahhh...finally it's time to eat
Lotsa goodies in here
Go ahead...take me out and shoot me for this. I don't care, I'll die a happy man
It may have been insane but it was also insanely good. Authentic Mexican flavors with tons of depth and complexity. Nice mixture of veggies and all the flavors came together to create one of the tastiest Mexican themed meals we've ever eaten, regardless of how unconventional it may have been. Tracy gave me one of those sideways looks when she walked in and asked what I was making but she about fell out of her chair when she took the first bite. This thing packed a ton of flavor which we both loved. One small piece left which will go in her lunch tomorrow. WOW!!I have posted the recipes for the enchilada sauce and the fajita seasoning before. If anybody would like them and missed them in previous posts, please just say so and I'll post them again. I can only guess there are a couple folks who will be wanting to do some variation of this, one of whom lives just outside of our nation's capital in the city where I was born. If I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes this within a week and posts it
As for the dough recipe, I will not post that. The finished product was really good but getting to that point was a nightmare. That stuff was like trying to roll out a car tire. It simply would not go where it was supposed to go and stay there. I spent an hour just trying to get it worked into the pan. I was to the point that if I hadn't had so much time invested and been so deep into the project, I would have trashed it all together.Well this one is a wrap. Gotta go get breakfast started for my dearly beloved....and her dog
Y'all take care and have a great Sunday.Robert
