Heritage Cooking -- Nana's Enchilada Casserole and Cowboy Caviar

I am so excited that Cinco De Mayo and my kids' spring break coincided. We cooked our Mexican meal a day early because we will have to settle for fast food tacos on the real Cinco De Mayo, due to the fact that we are going to planted at the baseball field for two hours during chow time.

I have been eagerly awaiting my kids next break so I could teach them this easy family favorite made by their Nana. I amped up the recipe by adding the fried eggs, or I should say my husband fried up the eggs. We have been missing an enchilada montada from a now closed down Mexican restaurant. The owner moved on to greener money pastures. I decided that a fried egg with a soft liquid center would be perfect on top of his Mom's enchilada casserole. The "Cowboy Caviar" which is by no means an exclusive family secret is still a family favorite made often by my sister-in-laws. Like the casserole, it also uses a lot of pantry staples. This meal resulted in happy people and an especially happy husband. My kids enjoyed shredding the store bought roasted chicken and layering the casserole. Of course, you can always use canned chicken. It just won't be as tasty. I love when family dinner is the highlight of the day.

Here is a link to the Cowboy Caviar recipe. Cowboy Caviar.

Enchilada Casserole (serves 12)
1 roasted chicken (shredded)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 TB dried onions or 1 onion finely chopped
1 Cup salsa
1 1/2 Cups milk
2 Cups shredded cheese (A sharper cheddar or a monterey jack makes for a tangier casserole.)
12 corn tortillas

Spray with nonstick cooking spray, a large casserole dish.
Combine liquid ingredients and stir until well combined.
Spread 1/4 Cup sauce onto bottom of casserole. Cover with 1/3 of corn tortillas.
Evenly layer 1/2 chicken, 1/3 cheese, 1/3 sauce mixture.
Repeat layers starting with tortillas.
Add third layer of tortillas, remaining sauce and cheese.
Spray a piece of tinfoil to cover casserole.
Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours.

Top with a fried egg if you feel so inclined.

Heritage Cooking -- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My sweet Mother and Father and little me.

I told my children they would not leave my home without knowing how to make two things: Scrambled eggs from my husband's side of the family and spaghetti sauce from scratch, just like my Mom used to make. In an effort to fill the some of the days of my kids' school breaks I decided to start having a heritage cooking class. My mother made a killer spaghetti sauce. So, I decided to give my son a course in one of my favorites. I could live on spaghetti and actually have at times in my life. I come from a long line of cooks, although it took me a long time to realize I enjoyed cooking also. I love it now and I believe that the cooks in our past had a lot to teach us. They really knew how to stretch a budget and cook from the pantry. So, occasionally I will share a few of our heritage pantry eats.


A quick note about spaghetti sauce. I am a big believer in stocking premade sauce. Hunts sauce is a staple in my pantry. I can easily go through 10 cans a month. However, it is a good idea to play around with making your own sauce using all those canned tomatoes in your storage. Spaghetti sauce is easy but it takes a little finesse, patience and experimentation. I am going to give you my basic recipe but keep in mind that you will need to taste test multiple times and adjust your recipe if you really want to cook up a little Italian love.

The Basics:
1 1/2 quarts of canned tomatoes or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
1/2 onion chopped fine
1/2 green pepper or 1/2 cup shredded carrots or zuchinni.
2 garlic cloves minced
1 to 2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 to 2 tsp basil
2-3 tsp oregano
1/2 to 3/4 can of tomato paste
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar (optional) I use this to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. My home canned tomatoes are really acidic and the sugar balances out the acidity.
1 Tb parmesan cheese
1 lb hamburger mix (recipe below)
1 Tb oil
5 or 6 spoons for taste testing.

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute onion for a couple minutes or until tender. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Don't burn the garlic. Starting with the smaller measurements of each ingredient, add remaining ingredients except for paremsan cheese and hamburger mix. You can add more of the herbs and tomato paste as needed while the sauce cooks. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until desired consistency. Stir and taste occasionally. I like my sauce a little thicker and so I add more tomato paste and tomato sauce. Remember that tomato paste is sweet and the more you add the more you will need to adjust the seasonings. Add the hamburger and cheese during the last 10 minutes of simmering.

Hamburger recipe:
This is my signature ground hamburger recipe and I use it for everything. It makes spaghetti into a wonderful meat sauce. I buy hamburger in bulk and precook batches of taco meat and this savory mix to freeze in convenient freezer quart bags.

1 lb ground beef
1 TB dried minced onions
1 TB montreal steak seasoning
1 TB A1 steak sauce.

Cook ground meat and onions until almost brown. Add seasoning and steak sauce and finish cooking.

Cook up your favorite noodles and enjoy. Adjust to your taste and come up with your own heritage recipe so your kids will call it "Mom's spaghetti sauce."