Our Fiesta

Tonight's dinner took a lot longer to prepare then I thought it would but was well worth the work. All of these recipes are from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah recipes for hungry banditos. We were all super impressed with how every thing turned out.

I made enchiladas following the directions of the book but also using Hot Damn's recipes for the fillings. The first picture of refried beans are not even beans from a can. The recipe called for no oil and the only seasoning was some salt and dried minced
onion. I ended up adding a few tablespoons of canola oil because I thought it might make the flavor more rich. I didn't really taste test before making that decision so I really have no idea if it made a difference. The beans were good in any case.

The next picture is of the Spanish rice. Again it was very good. It was slightly to spicy, in my opinion, to be eaten by its self but
excellent as a filling. If I were making it as a side dish I would
leave out the cayenne pepper.

I was a little bit leery of the cheese sauce when I was making it. I really thought that it had a ketchup-y smell and taste. Once it was used with the filling and poured on top I changed my tune. I don't believe that I would like it on top of nachos or anything of that sort but it was great on top of the enchiladas.

I included a picture of an enchilada before I rolled it up so
everyone could see all of the lovely fillings together. It's kind of
hard to see once it's rolled up all tight. I made some guacamole as a side and the kids just had some cut up avocado. We also had salsa and orange honey dew melon. I didn't even know it came orange. It was very sweet and juicy.

This was an excellent meal and I will make it again when I know that I have the time. I think that I would like some type of "sour
cream" next time to add a tangy, creamy, coolness. I'm also
interested in trying out the recipe for the Mexican Chili Gravy
listed in Hot Damn. We might try that instead of the cheese sauce next time. It sounds more tomato-y and I do love that tang.

This would be a great meal to serve to guests. I thought it was very impressive. There was also no soy if that is a concern to anyone.