Arroz a la Cubana

Why did I waste another two hours of my life? Do you know this feeling? Maybe you started watching a movie and thought you had to finish it only to recognise that it really wasn't worth it. In fact the movie was really stupid and not that entertaining as you hoped at the outset. It could be that it started out good, but then it has an absolutely unexpected useless end and you feel empty taking nothing away from this experience. I'm sure you know this feeling. Have you watched any really disappointing movies lately?

The feeling can even get worse when you apply it to watching series. You devote time to watch a few episodes or even an entire season. Maybe you even enjoy watching it only to be faced with the fact that they are going to cancel the series after the first season. Now you are never going to find out if they really will catch John or if they are going to safe the world or whatever ...

For that part, sadly, I have some experiences. Do you, too?

On the other hand, with watching food shows you are not so much in danger. They make you hungry, give you some inspiration and maybe even make you a bit adventurous. As to that, one of my favourite series is the show 'Somebody feed Phil' on Netflix. Do you have any favourite shows that involve food?

Besides that, I always love a good food and cooking movie. Thinking about it right now, I would say that my favourite one, right now, is 'Kiss the Cook', although ... thinking too much of it, right now, I want a cubano with this crispy bread, the meat filling, the cheese melting in your mouth and ... sadly that's not going to happen. 

That leaves me with my memories of our last trip to the US where we had some cubanos. Strangely I'm just finding out that I didn't take any photos of them, although we had some even at the day of the cubano in New York. Sometimes, this world is really strange.

That could easily lead us to whip up a cubano and write about it right here and right now, but that is not going to happen either. It's not that I didn't try it before or that I will not try it again. However, that would be another story.

Today's story is more simple, although it still has Cuba in it: Arroz a la cubana, something like rice Cuban style. 

Well, you don't really have to call it like that. You could just call it rice with fried eggs, just that simple. But what's the fun in that. You could make a beef stew and call it beef stew, but it just sounds better if you call it bœuf bourguignon. Another example, you could whip up a salad and call it mixed salad or ... for the fun of it ... call it anti-rabbit salad with honey mustard dressing.

I guess you get the idea. That being said, let's get cooking.

Ingredients

Cooked rice

Fried eggs

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 medium red onions, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

4 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

Olive oil

Coriander or parsley (optional)

Method

As the list of ingredients suggests we are not going hardcore here. Just cook the rice at your gusto and fry the eggs like you fancy them.

Then we just concentrate on the tomato sauce. Get some olive oil going in your pan. Toss in the onions and the garlic and let them catch some colour. Can you smell it? Do you love the smell of garlic being slowly fried in the pan? I do.

Then add the bell pepper and the tomatoes and let it all come together. The tomatoes should have enough liquid for the sauce. In case not, just add a tiny bit of water. 

If you want or have or like, you can add some chopped up coriander or parsley. Around here coriander is not always easy to get your hands on, sadly. But if I have it I would always add it.

Once all is finished you can plate up, although this is a bit of useless thing to say, more or less. Why would you plate up, if you haven't finished?!

Again, if you want or have or like, you can place some avocado on the side or some cooked or fried plantains. Just as you fancy.

In fact, this dish is something you can plate up anytime as an emergency. Here you have a lot of things you usually have in stock at home ... well I do. You could also use tinned tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. 

Here we have come to the end of this post and I hope you don't have to say at the end of reading this post: Why did I waste this time? Well, at least it didn't take you two hours reading it.

On the other hand, if you think, oh what a shame it's already over again. Just stay a little bit longer. Leave a comment. Tell us what your favourite food movie or series is. Do you have an emergency meal? Maybe you have some more examples of dishes getting fancy names or ... as you want.

Thank you for being here and spending some time visiting this humble blog!

See you when I see you!

Travelling and Cooking: Salad with Green Plantain

We have been travelling a bit, flying over the Atlantic ocean from Madrid, Spain to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. There was a lot of running involved at the airport. At one point there was an employee of the airport shouting all the time at passengers that people with a European passport go to one line and other to another. I wonder for how long she made it. Anyway, it was a wonderful vacation with sun, sea, beach and food.
One day La Romana, Dominican Republic, we went to the mall and there was a cooking show going on with Gabriella Reginato. Well, I have never heard of her before, but hey ... it was about food and we still had a bit of time. The first dish she showed was Sangria without alcohol. There was some rosemary involved in this and it tasted good.
Next up was a salad with green plantain. That was very delicious and we thought we have to try it at home, just to have some other fine dish with plantains. 
Therefore I had to adjust the recipe of Gabriella a bit to fit the ingredients we have available here and to have it written in English.

Ingredients:
1 green plantain, cut into small cubes
1/2 red bell pepper cut into small pieces
1/2 yellow bell pepper cut into small pieces
1 green pepper, cut into small pieces
Some leaves of coriander
2 spring onions, cut into small rings
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 lemon
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Method:
To start with, we are going for the cooking of the plantains. Put them in salted water with the juice of half of the lemon. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Then let them cool down a bit.

The rest is super easy, for as you have done all the chopping already. Well, don't call me lazy when it comes to writing up things. It's just the way it is. No, not the lazy part, but putting the dish together.
Put the plantains, peppers, spring onions, garlic, coriander in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then add the remaining juice of the other half of the lemon. Finally add the olive oil and then you are ready to it, if ... you like it at room temperature. Otherwise you can put the salad into the fridge to let it cool down further.
Anyway, this amount of salad would serve for two people, but of course it is only a side dish.

I hope you try it out. Have a look also at the original version, when we tried it the first time in the Dominican Republic in the mall.

Again, another post comes to an end. It went quickly, just as the vacations. It seems that those always end to fast. Have a luvly time!

Hasta luego!

Rodrigo's Paella

Summer and sun? – Check!

Lot’s of food? – Check!

Some drinks? – Check!

Crazy? – Check!

So far it has been a lovely summer with a fair share of sun, lot’s of food and some drinks. You can call me crazy for various known and unknown reasons. I leave that up to you, but for today, you can call me Rodrigo.

So, make sure to keep that in mind. I settled with a friend on that and he tries to call me Rodrigo. Since we have established that, we can go on with some food.

However, before we get to that, we need something else.

Spanish music? – Check!

These days with all those music streaming services and Internet radios, it’s not that complicated.

Now playing: Amistades Peligrosas – Me Quedaré Solo

Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m not sure whether I like that message. Anyway, that isn’t the subject of this post nor of this blog. I don’t want to get that personal here.

Calling back to mind what we want here now: Food.

Therefore I bring you now Rodrigo’s Paella …

You still remember, who Rodrigo is, don’t you? No Dices Más. Well, that is fitting now and the song that is playing right now: Moenia – No Dices Más.

Right, you don’t have to say anything as we start finally

Ingredients:
Olive oil
2 small chorizos
350 g chicken breast
100 g duck breast (optional, it was a leftover)
100 g shrimps
100 g mussels (ready to eat)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
150 g cherry tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
Salt
Pepper
Paprika powder (mild)
3 cups of rice
2 bay leaves
700 ml chicken stock
Pinch of saffron

Method:
Put a large pan on heat and add some olive oil.

Get a sharp knife to do all the cutting. Make sure it’s really sharp, so you get a clear cut in case you should cut yourself … oops … I didn’t mean it. I am sure, you can get through the recipe without cutting yourself. Anyway, I heard you cut yourself more often, when the knife is too dull. So it’s better to use a sharp knife, that does its job properly.

Now we go on with doing our job properly.

Cut the chorizo into small pieces and add it to the pan. Cut the chicken breast (and duck breast) into small chunks and brown them together in the pan with the chorizo. When it all has gained some good colour remove all the meat from the pan and set aside.

Finely chop up the onions and fry them in the pan until translucent. Chop up the garlic and add it, too.

Then quarter the tomatoes and put into the pan.

Cut the bell peppers into mouth-manageable size and add them to the pan as well.

Season everything with salt, pepper and the paprika powder.

Afterwards add the rice and the chicken stock. Add the meat back again as well. Add also 2 bay leaves and the pinch of saffron.

Let it all simmer until the rice is cooked. If you feel, the paella gets too dry, add a tiny bit of water.

Almost there! At the end add the shrimps and the mussels and heat them up. That shouldn’t take too long.

Now you are ready to plate up and enjoy Rodrigo’s Paella.

Well, I am not 100% sure whether that is a typical paella for I have never eaten paella in Spain – or at least I don’t remember. I have to put it on my list I want to do. Argh, that list is too long anyway. I also have a kind of list or better say a pile of papers of recipes I still could post. There are 11 papers and I don’t know how to manage. Anyway, you might see some of those things on this blog one day, so make sure to come back.

First, though, have some more paella and, if you like a bottle of beer with it. For sure there are more days coming to enjoy and … if I am able to put my eyes on a computer screen again – besides work – I will write you something more.

Well then, see you, when I see you. Next time I may be Chris again and not Rodrigo anymore. We will see ... 

Sale el Sol Tortillas del Trigo

Hoy tenemos algo completamente diferente. Ya ves. Vamos a tratar de cocinar algo Español en español. Empezamos de inmediato …

Ingredientes:
Un poco de ensalada verde
Seis tomates pequeños
Un pimiento rojo
Un pieza de la carne sazonada/marinada – 100-200 Gramos (de vaca, pollo o cordero)
100 g chorizo
Una cebolla pequeña (las rojas son mejor)
Un poco de queso
Tortillas del trigo
Sel, pimienta
Un poco de zumo de limon

Elaboración:
Cortar la ensalada verde, los tomates y el pimiento rojo en trozos pequeños. Sazone con sal y pimienta. Mezclar con el zumo de limón.

Cortar la cebolla en aros.

Freír la carne y el chorizo. Después cortar en trozos pequeños.

Ahora, empezamos con el tortilla del trigo. Calentar la tortilla. Después ponga la ensalada en la tortilla.

Después los trozas del chorizo y un poco de queso.

Después la carne y los aros de cebolla.

Eso es todo. Ahora envolverlo y comérselo. Disfrute de su comida!

Un poco de papel de aluminio podría ayudarle.

Are you still with me? How good was your Spanish to understand the recipe or did you need no knowledge of Spanish at all, because the photos were telling everything?

Just to make sure, let us go through it again …

Sunrise wheat tortillas

Maybe there is a reason for the name of the dish, but at least the sun is really out these days. I could have called it summer tortillas, but … I didn’t. My call!

But now, without any further ado …

Ingredients:
A little bit lettuce
Six small tomatoes
One red bell pepper
A piece of seasoned/marinated meat – 100-200 g (beef, chicken or lamb)
100 g chorizo
One small onion (the red ones are better)
Some cheese
Wheat tortillas
Sal, pepper
A splash of lemon juice

Method:
Cut the lettuce, tomatoes and red bell pepper into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Mix with the lemon juice.

Cut the onion into rings.

Fry the meat and the chorizo. Then cut it into small pieces.

Now, we can start with the wheat tortilla. Warm up the tortilla. Then put the salad on the tortilla.

Then the chorizo and cheese.

Then the meat and the onion rings.

That’s all. Now wrap it up and eat it. Enjoy your meal!

A little bit of aluminium foil could help you.

Und weil das ganze jetzt so schön war hier nochmal für alle die, die weder viel mit Spanisch noch mit Englisch am Hut haben …

Wir wollen da, wie schon zuvor, nicht lange rum fackeln und einfach loslegen …

Sonnenaufgangstortillas

Gut, euch kann ich’s ja sagen, wenn ihr wollt könnt ihr es auch zum Frühstück essen oder auch zum Mittag oder zum Abendessen oder nachts oder zwischendurch oder wenn ihr Hunger habt. Was auch immer, die Sonne ist draußen, also hier mein Beitrag …

Zutaten:
Etwas grüner Salat
Sechs kleine Tomaten
Eine rote Paprika
Ein Stück gewürztes/mariniertes Fleisch – 100-200 g (Rind, Hähnchen oder Lamm)
100 g Chorizo
Eine kleine Zwiebel (die roten sind besser)
Etwas Käse
Weizentortillas
Salz, Pfeffer
Ein wenig Zitronensaft

Zubereitung:
Den Salat, Tomaten und rote Paprika in kleine Stücke schneiden. Kit Salz und Pfeffer würzen. Mit dem Zitronensaft mischen.

Die Zwiebel in Ringe scheiden.

Das Fleisch und die Chorizo anbraten. Dann in kleine Stücke scheiden.

Jetzt können wir mit der Weizentortilla anfangen. Die Tortilla aufwärmen. Dann den Salat auf die Tortilla geben.

Dann die Chorizo und Käse.

Dann das Fleisch und die Zwiebelringe.

Das ist alles. Nun zusammenfalten und essen. Guten Appetit!

Ein wenig Albfolie könnte helfen.

So, nun habt ihr wohl genug, oder soll ich das ganze jetzt nochmal in irgend einem Dialekt abspulen. Aber ich denke bei ‘datt’, ‘watt’, ‘ett’ und irgendwelchen Spezialausdrücken flippt die Autokorrektur – oder doch eher ich – völlig aus und es wird kein glückliches Ende nehmen.

Das würde niemand wollen.

No one would want that.

Nadie querría eso.

Kimse isterim.

Personne ne voudrait que.

कोई भी उस चाहेगा।

誰もそれを望んないだろう。

I think, this is a very good point to stop this post. I hope you enjoyed it. Hey, after all, this still is … Cooking Around the World!

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Paprika Beer and Beef Goulash

What are we doing today?

The same we do every day – we take over the world!!!

Really? Would it be worth it? Nah, it's better to be satisfied with what you have. It's more worth ging for something else ...

For today, I have selected this …

That would be some kind of beef goulash with paprika and beer or … hm … eh … well, let’s call it Paprika Beer and Beef Goulash.

Let’s do it then, if I still get it right …

Ingredients:
A knob of butter
500 g beef, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut
1 red chilli, chopped
300 ml lager
500 ml beef stock
Salt, pepper, smoked pepper

Method:
So, what are we going to do first? I suppose it goes somewhat like this …

Melt the butter in a large pan at medium heat. Then seal of the beef in the pan. Once you have done that, briefly remove the beef from the pan. I’ll tell you, when it goes back.

Then chuck in the onion and let them go until translucent. Toss in the garlic, the bell pepper and the chilli.

What’s next? Yes … eh … hm, why not add the beef back to the pan and season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.

Now we are almost there … well, it will need some time, but there are not many steps left. Therefore pour in the beer and the beef stock. Bring to the boil and let simmer for … until the beef is tender.

Yes, go for it. Right, it will still take a while, but, no worries.

Meanwhile you could think about what you want to have together with it. Maybe some lovely bread and an even lovelier salad. It’s just a suggestion.

Whatever the case … I think … I enjoyed it.

What else am I going to do with this post?

I have no idea ... although there would be tons of options, which on the other hand make thinks complicated again, but I think I could have something to eat. That always makes sense, doesn't it?

Paprika-, Bier- und Rindergulasch

Zutaten
In kleines Stück Butter
500 g Rindfleisch, gewürfelt
1 große Zwiebel, gehackt
3 Knoblauchzehen, gehackt
1 rote Paprikaschote, klein geschnitten
1 rote Chilli, gehackt
300 ml Bier
500 ml Rinderbrühe
Salz, Pfeffer und geräucherter Paprika

Zubereitung
So, was machen wir als erstes? Gut, ich denke, es läuft folgendermaßen …

Die Butter bei mittlerer Hitze in einer großen Pfanne zerlassen. Dann die Rindfleischstücke rein und von allen Seiten anbraten. Wenn das erledigt ist, das Fleisch kurz aus der Pfanne entfernen. Ich sag dann bescheid, wenn es wieder rein kann.

Nun die Zwiebel reinwerfen und sie glasig dünsten. Den Knoblauch, die geschnittene Paprika und die Chilli dazugeben.

Wie geht’s weiter? Ja … äh … nun, warum nicht das Fleisch zurück in die Pfanne geben und das ganze mit Salz, Pfeffer und Paprika würzen.

Jett sind wir schon fast fertig … nun, es wird zwar noch eine Weile dauern, aber es sind nicht mehr viele Arbeitsschritte übrig. Daher nun das Bier und die Rinderbrühe angießen, alles zum Kochen bringen und köcheln lassen … bis das Rindfleisch schön zart ist.

Dann irgendwann ist es Zeit zum Essen und man könnte es so servieren, wie auf den Bildern oben gezeigt … oder man hat noch eine andere tolle Idee.

Mahlzeit!

Pan Roasted Vegetables with Chicken

For sure you know this. You have a whole day free from work, no appointments, no nothing. One hour goes, then the next and then the next and before you know it the day is gone.
Right, maybe you don’t know this, because you always have a busy schedule and have to do a lot of things, going here and there and being everywhere and doing things for everyone or just excessively for your boss or the opposite entertainment.
Either way, it might be the case you wasted some of your time. Sometimes it has to do with priorities and sometimes with motivating oneself.
Whatever the case, thing like this happen from time to time and usually we are not worried that much about it, even if you have wasted a whole day doing nothing. Maybe you have at least relaxed from the hardships of life.
Call me guilty! For that I am!
BUT … and that is a big BUT (yes, you noticed the upper case letters, fine), I don’t want to be guilty of wasting food.
Once again I have averted the throwing away of food, this time by cooking this …

Let me call this …

Pan Roasted Vegetables with Chicken

As I got two quarters of pumpkins, obviously, I had to use them up. So, watch the line-up of saved food items and watch the show …

Ingredients:
A splash of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 potatoes, finely chopped
1/8 part of a Hakkori F1 pumpkin (or similar, maybe 400 g), chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 hand full of cherry tomatoes, halved
Some leftover chicken meat, cut into large cubes
Leaves from one sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
A large splash of white wine
Salt and pepper

Method:
When I think about the ingredients list, I just gave you, it is almost clear what to do. You could just add the ingredients in order of appearance to the pan and … but, we can do it differently …
Lightly heat up the olive oil and add the onions and garlic and cook until translucent.
I decided to put in the other vegetables according to the time they need for cooking or the way I wanted to have them in the end. So you could use the order set out in the list, but if you have a different pumpkin you might want to add it a bit later. Anyway, I do it the cook as you chop way. So, no worries, no hectic, in a relaxed way, chop the ingredients and add to the pan. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper.
When the vegetables are to your liking, add the rosemary and the leftover chicken (if you want or have chicken) as the chicken is already cooked (leftover, right?) and you just have to heat up the chicken.
Finally pour in the white wine and reduce it a bit.
Time for eating. Somehow, I also had a bit of the goat’s cheese dip, which I mentioned in my previous post, so I served it together with it.

I enjoyed it very much, the dip really did an excellent job with it. Again, some food items saved, mostly it was the piece of pumpkin, the carrot, the chicken and the dip.

Gebratenes Gemüse mit Hähnchen

Ja, das hört sich jetzt ja nicht unbedingt so aufregend an, aber wir sollten uns die Sache erst einmal näher anschauen. Das besondere hier ist schon mal, dass hier wieder Kürbis vorkommt. Gut, ich hätte das ganze ja auch Gebratenes Gemüse mit Kürbis und Hähnchen nennen können.

Doch nun zu den Einzelheiten …

Zutaten:Ein Spritzer Olivenöl
1 Zwiebel, feingehackt (nicht weinen)
2 Knoblauchzehen, feingehackt
1 Möhre, kleingeschnitten
2 Kartoffeln, kleingeschnitten
1/8 Hakkori F1 Kürbis (oder was anderes, vielleicht 400 g), kleingeschnitten
1 grüne Paprika, kleingeschnitten
2 Hände voll Kirschtomaten, halbiert
Etwas fertig gekochtes Hähnchenfleisch (gutes vom Vortag)
Blätter von einem Zweig Rosmarin, feingehackt
Einen großen Spritzer Weißwein
Salz und Pfeffer

Zubereitung:

Das Olivenöl auf kleiner Hitze erhitzen und die Zwiebeln und den Knoblauch andünsten.
Dann hab ich so gedacht, das restliche Gemüse entsprechend der Kochzeit zum erreichen der gewünschten Konsistenz nachwerfen. Meine gewünschte Reihenfolge geht aus der Zutatenliste hervor. Einfach genug Zeit lassen beim Kleinschneiden und immer, wenn was fertig ist in die Pfanne geben. Mit Salz und Pfeffer abschmecken.
Wenn das Gemüse gemäß den Wünschen weich genug gekocht ist, kann der Rosmarin und das Hähnchenfleisch mit in die Pfanne, um das Fleisch zu erwärmen.
Mit dem Weißwein das ganze dann noch abrunden und ihn ganz minimal einkochen.
So … Zeit zum Essen. Ich hart noch was von dem Ziegenfrischkäsedip vom letzten Beitrag übrig. Der passte super dazu. Na denn, lasst es euch schmecken …

Summer Salad with Strawberries

So, here we are. Where? I don't know. Here it is supposed to be summer. The biggest event on this blog is gone now for some days and I have to get other things moving again. Back to normal? If ever I was normal ...
Well, there are still a few things I did before that are still on my list to blog away. Today we are going to have a salad for a change. I hope it's fresh and colourful enough so you like it. I was satisfied with it.
We have a mixed salad with strawberries. I went picking them from the strawberry field nearby and originally I wanted to go back for more, but now all the time I have a few spare minutes to do so, it's raining. Tough!

Ingredients:
Iceberg lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Walnuts
Red bell pepper
Strawberries
Parmesan
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper

Method:
Mix 1 part vinegar, 3 parts olive oil, salt and pepper to make a simple salad dressing.
Then cut all the vegetables, fruits and nuts into small pieces. Carefully mix it all together and serve with the dressing and some shavings of parmesan.

Well, that wasn't really much, but what else can I say about it ... hm ... tastes lovely. OK, you could still add a bit of parsley on top, if you happen to have any.

Just make it simple: Ratatouille

After my meat laden last post, I decided it would be nice to go just vegetables for this one. Fine, for the ongoing reason of the Bloggers Around the World World Cup challenge, I also wanted to have something French for today. Now we just make it simple and have a typical French vegetable stew, which we know as Ratatouille. I tried this recipe from The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo. I only made minimal adjustments according to what I could do with. Really, the only problem with that book is, the index isn't working properly.

What we need:

Olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, finely mashed

Some thyme (and time as well, of course)

1 aubergine, finely sliced

1 courgette, finely sliced

1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper, cut in stripes

6 tomatoes, quartered

A bit of sugar

Salt

Just do it:

First we start in a pan and heat up a splash of olive oil. Then we add the onion, garlic and thyme and let it go until the onion is translucent. After that comes the aubergine and we cook it soft in a few minutes.

Now we concentrate on the oven, which we like to heat up to 180 °C. We have a baking try ready. In there we toss the courgette, peppers, tomatoes and the content of the pan.

Off it all goes to the oven ... but wait, don't forget to cover the tray with aluminium foil.

Hm ... eh ... about one hour should be enough for the vegetables in the oven. Then remove it, sprinkle a bit sugar on it, add salt to taste, mix it through and transfer it back to the oven in the top section for about 4 minutes.

You can now go and eat it just like this, maybe with a bit of extra olive oil on top, maybe with some lovely bread or maybe you eat it cold the next day ... maybe if you have leftovers.

Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it. I'm going to enjoy the res of my day whether it rains or not, whether the sun will shine for me or not. I'll just do it.

Burn, Burn, Burn ... Chilli Sauce, Beef Enchiladas, Chilli con Carne and ... Burn

Knock, knock, knock! Anybody home?

Silence!

I doubt it very much that anyone is home. In fact, I can't possibly be home ... at least I don't feel like it.

Pondering! Pondering! Pondering ... Error!!!

Yep, that doesn't get us anywhere. Am I crazy? I'd say, we had that subject already. So?
Fine, as things seem right now, I'm not getting anywhere soon myself, am rather tied down.
Anything we can do about it? I think I've got an idea, I am going to let things burn, burn, burn ... burn ...

For this I am going to need some chillies. Right, that could be a problem again, because it is not so easy to get nice chillies around here in the shops and if you can't even dare to think about it. Now you start to see what's wrong here.
Anyway, at least I have some dried chillies and a few home-grown windowsill chillies.

Let's burn it then and have some ...

1st burning: Chilli sauce

Ingredients:
6 tomatoes (tinned tomatoes, if you like)
2 red fresh chillies
2 dried chillies
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
A splash of olive oil
500 ml chicken or beef stock
Salt
Vinegar
Sugar

Method:
Chop up the tomatoes, chillies, onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a pan and let the 'chopped ups' have a taste of it. When that flavour has reached your nose add the stock to the pan, bring it to the boil and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Finally adjust the seasoning with the salt, vinegar and sugar. If you don't like a coarse chilli sauce, arrange a meeting with the blender.
Here you go.

What now? Let it burn some more ...

2nd burning: Beef Enchiladas

Ingredients:
Chilli sauce
Wheat tortillas (make your own with 500 g wheat flour, 1 tsp. salt, 100 ml cream and a bit of water)
A splash of oil
500 g minced beef
1 onion, chopped up 
100 g sweetcorn
1 red bell pepper, chopped up
Grated cheese
Sour cream

Method:
So, what have you decided? Are you going to do your own wheat tortillas? Just mix the above mentioned ingredients (flour, salt, cream, water) in a bowl. Use just enough water that you get a nice, non-sticking dough. Portion it into 12-16 balls of dough, cover them and  let them rest for about 30 minutes. Then briefly bake them in a dry pan on both sides. We don't want the tortillas to be brown, but still soft and flexible.
In another pan you fry the beef, onions, sweet corn and bell pepper. Yes, exactly in that order ... eh ... that is, once the beef is browned add the other ingredients.
Let's assemble! Paint the tortillas on both sides with the chilli sauce. Place some of the filling on each tortilla, roll them up and place them tightly in an oven-proof dish. Get some more chilli sauce on top of those tortillas. We want to have it properly burning. Finally grate some cheese over it ... in fact, grate a lot of cheese over it and place it in the pre-heated oven to melt the cheese ... yes ... properly.
Serve the beef enchiladas with a good dollop of sour cream and if you have to with a salad on the side.

No, it isn't over yet ...

... a bit later, we let it burn yet once again ...

3rd burning: Chilli con Carne

Ingredients:
Chilli sauce
Beef enchilada filling
1 tin of kidney beans
Rice, tortillas or ... whatever you like

Method:
Ha ha ha ha ... oh ... sorry ... mix the chilli sauce with the beef enchilada filling and the kidney beans and heat it up to eating temperature and ... don't ask me, why I didn't have any beans in the enchilada filling in the first place.
Serve it with rice, tortillas or something completely different. Your call!

Is that all? I would say so, but there is still one thing left to do. There is no way around it, there is still the need to let it burn one more time ...

4th burning: Whatever you want to call it ... burning pancakes maybe

Ingredients:
Chilli con Carne
Pancakes (flour, milk, egg, salt)
1 egg, beaten up (go for it!)
Some grated parmesan
A lot of breadcrumbs
Oil for frying
Some mayonnaise
A splash of caramel sauce

Method:
Get your lovely pancakes. At least, I hope they are. Now place some of the chilli con carne on each pancake and ... eh ... fold them, roll them tightly together in a way that minimizes the chances that any of the filling drips out. I'd say, fold a bit in on two sides and then roll up tightly ... that is, if you get what I am trying to convey.
Anyway, on one plate you have the egg ready and on another one the breadcrumbs mixed with the Parmesan. Roll the pancakes in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Try to get as much of the breadcrumbs and Parmesan on it as possible.
Meanwhile your oil in your frying pan has turned ... eh ... burning hot, so that you can fry your pancakes.
Before you can make a mess by eating the finished product, we have to make a little dip for the pancakes. Swirl a bit of caramel sauce into your mayonnaise and ... there you go.

Stuffed!

Now I had quite some yummy food that made me feel like home for a while ...