Mexican Feast

Last night I cooked Mexican food for our neighbors. I couldn't believe how well it turned out, considering I can't find cheddar cheese here. Back home, I wouldn't even attempt Mexican food without it. But, I had a major craving for Mexican and our neighbor had asked me what to do with the tortillas he had seen at the market.

This was the menu:
Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce
Refried Beans
Mexican Rice

Every bit of it was homemade...nothing from a can. Wow. And it was fun. Cooking in our tiny kitchen was a bit of a challenge, though. I had 3 of 4 burners going at one time.

It was interesting the substitutions I made. (I had brought a large container of chili powder with me when I came here...don't really know why, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.) The tortillas were flour, I prefer corn, but they only had the flour kind. Couldn't find Monterrey Jack, so I used a little "Pizza Sir"...mozzarella cheese...it's fairly bland and melted beautifully. I just wanted a little cheese to hold the chicken and other stuff together in the enchilada and a little to put on top. I used the beans they have here and refried them with a little oil and onion and garlic and chili powder. I don't know exactly what kind of bean they are. Pretty much like pinto beans. I can't find green bell pepper here to put in the enchiladas and rice, so I used some mild paprikas instead since green bell peppers are mild...worked out fine.

I made a homemade salsa from tomatoes, onions, garlic, hot paprika (peppers), a little oregano, crushed coriander, salt, pepper and a little oil. I made it the day before and it was great as a garnish on the enchiladas with the sour cream on top. If I could have found some tortilla chips, I would have made more for a dip. The fresh tomatoes and other vegetables here are unbelievably delicious!

The funniest part of all was when I finished everything, I thought "uh oh, it doesn't look right, I don't think it will be good." But, I was committed, we had nothing else prepared and our neighbors were at the door.

It turned out well. They LOVED it. You can tell someone here likes it when they really eat. The wife had 2 helpings and her husband had 3! My love had 2 helpings also, although he is so sweet that he will eat anything I cook.

I made chicken and sausage jambalaya when I first came here for some friends and take my word for it...they DIDN'T like it. They ate only one tiny helping to be polite. We had to eat that stuff for days because you just don't throw food away here. And that's ok.

Now my love has two dishes he loves and wants me to cook for everyone...my "American" pizza with mushrooms and sausage and now my Mexican feast. We went for a drink with other friends afterwards (these late nights are killing me) and he was telling them about it and inviting them over for dinner soon to try it!