Sunny's Kitchen (17 page)

1
Prepare the baking dish.
Use the butter to coat the bottom and sides of a lasagna-deep 13 × 9-inch baking dish. Set aside.

2
Make the sauce.
In a medium pot over medium heat, combine the oil, onion, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Cook until the onion is tender and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the tomato paste, stir with a wooden spoon, and cook until it deepens in color, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and thyme. Cook, stirring, until combined and fragrant, about 5 minutes, then add the crushed tomatoes and beef broth. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce to a simmer, simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Keep warm over low heat.

3
Cook the beef.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large straight-sided pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to swirl, add the onion and the green and red bell peppers. Sprinkle with a nice pinch of salt and cook until the onion and peppers are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 4 minutes more. In this order add the beef, onion powder, cumin, thyme, Sazon, tomatoes, and broth, allowing time between each addition to blend. Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, stirring to break down the beef into bits. When the beef is cooked through, taste and season with a pinch of salt and a grind or two of pepper. Sazon adds salt, so be careful not to overseason. Set aside.

4
Prepare the chicken layer.
In a large bowl, toss together the shredded chicken, ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, and the Cheddar and pepper Jack cheeses. Set aside.

5
Assemble and bake the casserole.
In a small bowl toss the shredded cheeses together. Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce into the prepared dish. One piece at a time, dunk the tortilla slices in the still-warm enchilada sauce in the pot and layer them on the bottom using the straight edges to line the sides, overlapping where needed and covering the entire bottom of the dish. Next, add ½ cup of the shredded cheese blend, all of the beef, another ½ cup of the shredded cheese blend, a new layer of tortillas dunked in the enchilada sauce, all of the chicken and a final layer of tortillas dunked in the enchilada sauce. Pour the rest of the sauce over all and top with the remaining shredded cheese blend. Bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce bubbles, 35 to 40 minutes. Let it rest a bit before you slice it, just like lasagna. It’s nice to look at the layers.

i
say pretty much everything I do is easy because it is, but easy just isn’t the right word for this recipe. This is truly the simplest way to get short ribs on the table. This BBQ classic doesn’t disappoint, and for easy cleanup, you can make the rub for the beef ribs in the same dish used to slow-roast them. All you need is a fresh loaf of white bread for a quick sandwich or a pile of white rice to top with chunks of beef and a ladle of beef jus.
SERVES 4 TO 6

1
Rub the ribs.
In a small bowl, combine the paprika, onion powder, salt, oregano, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and a few grinds of black pepper. Rub the mixture all over the beef and let rest at room temperature for an hour or so—2 hours at the most. As the meat finishes resting, preheat the oven to 275°F.

2
Cook the ribs.
Place the ribs snugly in an 8 × 8-inch baking dish with the fat side of each rib facing up. Cover with aluminum foil very tightly; don’t be afraid to top the dish with a baking sheet to ensure the seal! Slow-roast until the meat is falling off the bones, 2½ to 3 hours.

3
Glaze the ribs.
Remove the ribs from the oven and, using tongs, flip to coat in the juices and move them around a bit. Drizzle honey evenly over each rib. Place back in the oven, this time venting one corner by peeling back a bit of the foil. Cook for 30 minutes more and serve with bread.

r
ib roast is the king of roasts. It’s marbled with rivers of white fat, meaning it swims in flavor when it cooks and the fat melts, making it tasty and juicy “as all get out,” as my family would say. I’ve made this recipe with a T-bone or single rib-eye steak just for myself, but love the wow factor of a rib roast for guests. The sugar and coffee together in the rub build a balance of sweet and bitter in a caramelized crust that’s perfect for beef. I gave this recipe to a friend and for the next few months she sent pictures or a text every time she made it. I finally had to break her pattern and send her another beef recipe to try. This is addictive.
SERVES 8

1
Brine the roast.
In a large bowl, combine 4 cups warm water, the salt, and coffee. Stir to dissolve the salt, then add the rib roast. If the liquid does not cover all of the meat, consider transferring everything to a large turkey brining bag, then sealing tightly so the roast is completely surrounded by the brine. If using a large bowl, flip the roast halfway through the brining time. Refrigerate for 8 hours.

2
Make the rub.
In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, sage, paprika, parsley, garlic powder, white pepper, bread crumbs, coffee, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.

3
Rub and rest the roast.
Remove the roast from the refrigerator and discard the brining liquid. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Using your hands, coat the roast on all sides with the rub, gently massaging it into the flesh. Let rest at room temperature, rib side down, for 2 hours. As the meat finishes resting, preheat the oven to 325°F.

4
Cook the roast.
Place the beef in a roasting pan outfitted with a rack, rib side down. Cook until medium rare, about 1 hour and 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature is about 120°F. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with aluminum foil while the meat rests, 15 minutes. Slice between the ribs and serve warm.

t
ex-Mex cooking is one of my favorite types of comfort food, with the chimichanga being one of the great creations of the blended cultures. Basically, it’s a burrito on steroids, can I say that? The chimichanga is a beefed-up, pumped-up version of a burrito. It was 1989 in San Antonio, Texas, when I had my first burrito deep-fried and topped with a salad of sorts. The burrito gets more texture from the golden-fried flour tortilla wrap and even more from the crisp iceberg lettuce mounded on top. I covet the crunch in the layers of tucks and folds at each end, sometimes cutting them off and saving them both for last as I plow through the meaty center.
SERVES 4

1
Make the cilantro-avocado cream sauce.
In a blender, combine the cilantro, avocado, sour cream, lime juice, and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

2
Make the beef filling.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it begins to swirl, add the onions, salt, a few grinds of pepper, the cumin, and thyme. Cook, stirring, until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and break up with a spoon or spatula as it browns. When the meat is cooked through, taste and, if needed, season with a pinch of salt.

3
Fill the chimichangas.
Warm the tortillas in a microwave for just a few seconds or in a 100°F. oven for a few minutes. Divide the refried beans into 4 equal portions. Using a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the beans in the center of each tortilla, making a rectangle with the rough dimensions of 6 × 3 inches. Using this as a guide add the beef directly over the beans. On a 10-inch tortilla, this leaves 2 inches of tortilla on the rectangle’s short side of the filling, and 3½ inches of tortilla on the long sides.