Caramelized Onion and Poblano Enchiladas

I was in a sharing mood today, so I thought I'd drop by and offer up another recipe. I just typed this one up for a friend, and thought it warranted a posting. This recipe isn't anything new from our repertoire. But it is a recipe that we come back to, time and time again. Everyone who samples these enchiladas loves them. And they appeal as well to the carnivorous crowd as they do to veggie lovers.

Caramelized Onion and Poblano Enchiladas
Inspired by a recipe by Jack Bishop
Serving Size: 4 as a main course

FILLING AND TORTILLAS:
1 tablespoon canola or corn oil
1 pound onions (about 3 medium) -- halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese –- shredded (about 2 cups)
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese)
3 poblano peppers
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves -- chopped
10 6-inch corn tortillas
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 can/jar of your favorite enchilada/red sauce

Preheat the broiler. Place poblano peppers on a cookie sheet and place about 4 inches beneath the broiler. Allow all sides of the poblano skins to blister and blacken, turning about every 7 minutes or so. When poblanos are well spotted, put them in a brown lunch bag and allow them to sit for about 10 minutes. When poblanos have cooled slightly, peel the skin from each, running under water as necessary to remove blackened bits. Slice open and remove stem and seeds. Slice into thin ribbons.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions, sugar and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown slightly, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring often, until the onions are browned deeply and very soft, about 15 minutes. Scrape the onions into a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, mix thoroughly, and allow to cool. When mixture is close to room temperature, add the sliced poblanos, about half of the cheese and the cilantro to the bowl with the onions and toss to combine.

Move the oven racks to the lower-middle and the upper-middle positions and heat the oven to 300°F. Divide the tortillas among 2 large rimmed baking sheets and generously spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray. Bake the tortillas for 3 minutes, or until pliable to roll easily. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400°F.

Spread half of the chile sauce evenly across the bottom of a 13" x 9" glass or ceramic baking dish. Arrange the heated tortillas on a work surface. Working with one tortilla at a time, spoon about ¼ cup of the onion filling across the center of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla very tightly (the ends will be open) and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.

Spoon the remaining sauce over the filled tortillas, making sure the sauce coats each tortilla from end to end. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup (2 ounces) of cheese over the filled tortillas. Cover the baking dish with foil and place it on the upper-middle rack of the oven. Bake until the enchiladas are hot, about 20 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and uncover the pan. Serve.

We love this served with some freshly made guacamole and sour cream.



©BURP! Where Food Happens

Lamb burgers with succulent fresh figs

So, we've been busy here in the kitchen of BURP!

It all started with a trip to the grocery store on Monday, when we spied the first fresh mission figs of the season. The deep purple beauties were absolutely perfect -- ripe and succulent, with little sign of bruising. This is a relative rarity here in Wisconsin -- which is far from the growing regions of the fabulous fig. So, we were enthralled, and decided that we HAD to buy them. Lo remembered something about a lamb recipe she'd run across that used fresh figs, so we picked up a pound of ground lamb as well -- figuring we'd put our heads together and think of something for dinner that evening.

After much discussion, Peef and Lo decided to make lamb burgers. What to do with the figs? Well, why not chop them finely and add them to the patties? Despite any of the trepidation we first felt about the fruit/meat combo, it turned out that this was a brilliant plan.

These babies are our favorite lamb burgers so far! They are juicy and flavorful. And the figs, paired with a bit of bleu cheese, provide a great sweet-salty contrast that takes them over the top. YUM.

Lamb burgers with fresh figs
1 lb ground lamb
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt black pepper - to taste
splash of balsamic vinegar
4-5 fresh figs, chopped

crusty rolls
bleu cheese (we used buttermilk bleu)

Combine all but figs in a medium bowl and work lamb with your hands to combine. Add the figs and mix gently until well incorporated. Form ground lamb into four patties, and allow to sit at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes.

Heat grill pan or charcoal grill to medium-high. Grill burgers for 4-5 minutes/side (medium to medium rare) -- or until cooked to your liking.

Serve burgers on a nice, crusty roll topped with crumbled bleu cheese.



©BURP! Where Food Happens