las enchiladas

as promised, the traditional christmas enchiladas...
yum!
basically, grate up a giant pile of cheddar and jack cheese, add some sliced black olives, sliced jalapenos, and a diced onion. now, get some corn tortillas and some enchilada sauce (my mother's "special recipe"= sauce from a can. we've never made homemade sauce). dip each tortilla in some sauce, then cook in a frying pan for about 2 minutes on each side, until it's still soft, but just starting to get crispy. place in a baking pan and fill with a scoop of the cheese mixture. roll up, and place in pan seam side down. continue until you have as many enchiladas as you want, or have used all the cheese mixture. top with more sauce and olives. bake about 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
lola

ensalada de nochebuena (christmas eve salad)

isn't that a pretty salad?
i love holiday traditions, and my family's christmas eve enchilada dinner is one of my favorites (yes, rita and i were/are those lucky kids whose family did both christmas and hanukkah). every year, i've helped my mom make giant masses of cheesy enchiladas. sometimes, she suggests a change, but i am firm on my devotion to the enchilada recipe. the accompanying salad, however, varies from year to year. this christmas, we found a real winner, from an article in the san francisco chronicle (about another family's traditional christmas enchiladas, so we knew it was meant for us).

ensalada de nochebuena (christmas eve salad)
Serves 8-10

"This fruit salad has traveled with me from Queretaro, Mexico, to California, with additions from friends in the Southwest. It is the perfect counterpoint to spicy food. The latest addition is the Pomegranate Pink Dressing inspired by Fonda San Miguel in Austin.

• The dressing
• 1 cup sour cream
• -- Seeds from 1 large pomegranate (reserve 1/2 cup for garnish)
• 4 tablespoons agave syrup or honey
• -- Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• The salad
• 4 navel oranges, peel and pith sliced off and discarded
• 1/2 pound jicama, peeled, cut into tiny batons
• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple (about 2 slices)
• 3 Gala apples with peel, cored, diced
• -- Juice from 1 Meyer lemon, or more orange juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• -- Pinch of kosher salt
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 2 to 4 tablespoons minced cilantro
• -- Heaping 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts
• 3 small orange beets, roasted and peeled (see Note)

For the dressing: Combine the sour cream, pomegranate seeds, agave syrup, salt and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the salad: Dice oranges and combine with jicama batons, diced pineapple, and diced apples. Squeeze lemon juice over the fruit, to help prevent browning. Sprinkle with sugar and pinch of salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, add the bananas, cilantro, peanuts and beets, and sprinkle with the reserved pomegranate seeds.

Serve fruit salad in small bowls, dolloped with the dressing.

Note: To roast the beets, scrub well and cut in half. Place on a large square of foil. Drizzle with several teaspoons of agave syrup, a little olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Wrap up tightly and bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a small knife. Cool and dice.

Per serving: 192 calories, 4 g protein, 34 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat (2 g saturated), 5 mg cholesterol, 53 mg sodium, 6 g fiber." -sfgate.com

-Lola

(enchilada recipe to come soon)

giveaway time!

and another giveaway

sa bhaile!

i think that means "homeward!" although i briefly started speaking italian in my irish oral exam, so who knows, really. anyway, sorry we've been slightly absent lately. finals and everything. but after monday, we'll be done, then heading home where we'll have a real kitchen and can bring you fabulous and impressive recipes. see you soon! and merry christmas to all who celebrate it!
-Lola

more artistic endeavors

we're in the midst of finals week, plus I've come down with a cold, so the food hasn't been terribly interesting here at chez twin in the past couple days. We haven't got any food to blog, so in the meantime, please enjoy my final project for drawing class:











-Rita

latkes!

Our winter break starts very late this year, and while we were sad to miss Hanukkah at home, we had a great time celebrating with our friend I. and eating a dinner that consisted only of laktes and gelt, which are really the only foods you need on Hanukkah (well, that and jelly donuts)

it was our first time making latkes and it was very successful. We used our grandparents' recipe and we served them with applesauce.

Bubbe and Zayde's Potato Latkes (thanks to our Bubbe and Zayde, who sent not only their recipe, but also a grater. they are fantastic!)
Makes many, many latkes (or enough for dinner and a small amount of leftovers for 3 girls who really love latkes)
-6 medium potatoes, peeled
-2 large eggs, lightly beaten
-1 tsp salt
-1 medium onion
-3 tbsp matzo meal
-1/4 tsp pepper
grate the potatoes coarsely (according to our grandma, this must be done with a grater, NOT with a food processor) into a bowl of lightly salted water. Drain and press out the moisture.
Grate the onion coarsely. Stir the onion, eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper and potatoes together.
Heat about 1/4 inch oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into the oil and flatten with back of spoon. Fry until golden brown on both sides, 3-5 min per side. Drain on paper towels and serve with applesauce, sour cream, or ketchup

and the most important part...
GELT!!! (chocolate coins...I get very excited about chocolate things)
Happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate it! and happy holidays to all!
-Rita
giveaway time!

couscous and roasted squash

I'm not going to write much about this because finals are coming up and the studying is eating my brain. Proof: I had a half hour conversation with Rita last night that ended with "and then all of the nannies and all of the babies and all of the surrogate mothers will rip their masks off and they will all be Rain in disguise". don't ask.
Also, I've decided to switch my major from psych to cat petting and hot chocolate drinking, with a double minor in listening to Ricky Martin and watching Grey's Anatomy.
Anyway, here is a quick, easy recipe you can make even if your brain has been eaten:
Couscous with tomato sauce and roasted squash
serves 2
-2/3 cup dry couscous
-2/3 cup water
-1 14 oz can diced tomatoes in their liquid
-1 yellow squash, diced
-1 zucchini ,diced
-1/2 can (7 oz) chickpeas
- curry powder and cumin to taste
-olive oil for roasting
toss the squash and zucchini with some olive oil and cumin. Put it in a baking dish and roast in the oven at 300 degrees for about 40 min/ until browned. When it has about 10 minutes to go, cook the couscous, adding some cumin and curry powder to the water beforehand. Combine all the ingredients together in a big pot, then cook at a low temperature until everything is heated up.
-Lola
p.s. roasted zucchini and yellow squash are also good added to mac and cheese.
and a giveaway!

baked pasta with gouda

just look at that big chunk of melty cheese:badly lit, yes, but cheesy nonetheless. i promise it really looks more appetizing than that. winter in new york=no natural lighting after 4 pm.

baked pasta with gouda serves 2-3
*2 cups penne pasta
*about 1/3 cups gouda cheese, chopped into small cubes if you live in new york, go here. its amazing.
*a good sized plop of tomato sauce (1/2 cup? basically however much you need to cover your pasta)
*2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
*1 onion
*about 1 tablespoon olive oil
1. cook pasta in boiling water. meanwhile, slice onion and cook in olive oil, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10-15 minutes.
2. when pasta is done, drain and return to pot. mix in onion slices and sauce.
3. preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. put pasta mixture in a glass baking dish. top with breadcrumbs and cheese. bake for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
-Lola
giveaway links!
the twelve posts of christmas
kay's naturals, from averie
lara bars, from iowa girl
lots of good stuff from pure2raw