Mexican Pizza for Justin Verlander's Birthday

Anyone who knows me knows that I love baseball.  So I'm very excited that the Detroit Tigers' pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training in Lakeland, Florida yesterday!

Of course, among that group was Justin Verlander, who's celebrating his 29th birthday today.  I can't imagine what he'll wish for when he blows out the candles on his cake, since this past year brought him both the American League Cy Young Award (winning it by a unanimous vote, too) as well as the American League's Most Valuable Player Award that hadn't been won by a starting pitcher for more than 20 years.  Good luck trying to top those presents!

In Justin's honor, since we're all so enormously proud of him here in Michigan, I'm offering a Mexican Pizza.

When interviewed by Conan O'Brien in January, the amazingly talented pitcher stated that "his night-before-the-game ritual consists of 'three Crunchy Taco Supremes, no tomato; a Cheesy Gordita Crunch; and a Mexican Pizza, no tomato.'"  Justin Verlander is a fan of Taco Bell.  This meal has served him well, apparently ... who am I to argue with success?


I, however, am not a fan of fast food.  So while my Mexican Pizza is a quick and easy dinner, I didn't go slumming at a drive-thru to get it.  I fried my own tortillas, shredded my own cheese, chopped my own vegetables, and enjoyed a flavorful, crispy, rich dinner.  And I made sure to honor Justin's prohibition against tomatoes, too!


May 2012 be good to Justin and to the Tigers.  Just 45 more days 'til Opening Day!

Mexican Pizza

1/4 cup frying oil
4 6" corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup refried beans
1/4 cup hot salsa
1/2 cup finely chopped peppers
4 scallions, finely chopped
avocado and sour cream for serving, optional

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  One at a time, fry the tortillas in the oil for 1 minute total (flip halfway through cooking) until golden; pat dry with paper towels, and place tortillas onto the prepared baking sheet.

Combine the cheeses.  Sprinkle one-quarter of the mixture over one tortilla, then top with another tortilla and press lightly.  Sprinkle one-quarter of the mixture over another tortilla, then top with the last tortilla and press lightly.

Spread half of the refried beans over one of the tortilla stacks, and repeat with the remaining beans and the other tortilla stack.

Spread the salsa over each of the tortilla stacks.

Combine the peppers and scallions; divide them among the tortilla stacks.

Divide the rest of the cheese mixture among the tortilla stacks.  Bake the pizzas for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey.

Serve with avocado and sour cream, if desired.

Serves 2-4.

Yam 'n' Cheese Sandwich

Nope -- that's not a typo. I didn't mean to say "ham 'n' cheese". I'm currently staying at the vegetarian and kosher home of a friend, after all; ham is completely and utterly verboten!!!

So one night recently, I made myself a Yam 'n' Cheese Sandwich ... well, really a quesadilla, but that's a sandwich, right? Two pieces of bread with stuff in the middle. And the stuff was leftover yams transformed into a meal with the addition of some onions and some cheese.

Jeremy relies upon sandwich meat for a quick food fix, since he can simply reach into the refrigerator and start eating 6 seconds later; and sometimes I wonder whether Tom doesn't love hot dogs more than he does me, as he'll put them into virtually anything!

But my "go to" meal seems to be quesadillas -- they couldn't be easier, and I always have tortillas around for wrap sandwiches or burritos/enchiladas or some such thing. Fry 'em up, eat within 5 minutes!

Thus, when I found myself with leftover roasted yams, some whole wheat tortillas, some Muenster cheese slices, a scrap of onion to use up, and about a tablespoon of taco seasoning floating around, I threw it all together into something a tad more glamourous -- and infinitely more nutritious -- than any of the individual parts.

I know it sounds a kinda weird, but I've eaten roasted squash enchiladas at vegetarian restaurants; the sweetness of the vegetables goes quite well with the creaminess of the cheese and the toasted tortillas. And really, the mashed yams are virtually the same consistency as the refried beans traditionally used in these types of dishes.

So, give these quesadillas a try -- trust me! I wouldn't steer you wrong, I promise ... :)

Yam 'n' Cheese Quesadillas

1/2 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
2 large whole wheat tortillas
3 slices Muenster cheese
1/3 cup mashed pre-cooked yams

Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium heat; add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the taco seasoning and cook for 1 more minute.

Place 1 tortilla into a large skillet. Tear the cheese into 2-3" pieces, and place half the cheese onto the tortilla.


Spread the yams over the cheese, and top with the onion.


Place the rest of the cheese over everything, then top with the second tortilla.


Cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes per side, until toasted and golden. Let rest for 1 minute before cutting into 4 pieces.

Serves 2.




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Cheesy Red 'n' Black Bean Enchiladas

Technically, these are not actually "enchiladas" although they bear a resemblance to the traditional dish. According to Wikipedia: "The Real Academia Española defines the word enchilada, as used in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, as a rolled maize tortilla stuffed with meat and covered with a tomato and chile sauce."

Well, let's see -- how many ways did I violate this definition???

- Whole wheat tortillas instead of corn
- two kinds of beans, but no meat
- no tomatoes in the sauce, only cheese

But there are chiles in the sauce, so I'm going to call these enchiladas anyway, based upon the following statement: "Enchilada is the past participle of Spanish enchilar, 'to add chile pepper to,' literally to 'season (or decorate) with chile."

I feel better now! Enchiladas these will be!!!

I had left a package of tortillas in the freezer at Tom's house, and they had no kosher certification so I couldn't take them back to the apartment I'm staying at. Tom had some leftover Cuban beans from Trader Joe's (black beans in a seasoned sauce), and there was also a can of red kidney beans in his pantry, each seeking a purpose in life.

On top of that, Wholly Guacamole had written to me recently asking me to look over a new website they'd launched, and even offering to send me samples of their products to try ... clearly, the presumption was that I would share all of this with my faithful followers and rave about it with an abundance of praise.

Well, I don't do product reviews because I don't want there to be any hint that I might offer a favorable opinion based upon having received a gift. So I told them this while thanking them for the offer, and they told me they'd still like me to try the items ... wow, that was unexpected!

So, I received a large box that had been very generously filled with guacamole and salsa, which are kosher, and two containers of queso sauce, which is not. I brought the queso to Tom's, and then we tried to figure out what to do with it.

Et, voilà -- an epiphany!

(Wait a second -- how do you say that in Spanish, which I've never studied ... okay, Y aquí -- an epiphany! God I love Yahoo's Babel Fish translation site! It lets me translate or -- more importantly -- confirm that I'm not misspeaking and embarrassing myself with my severely limited Italian and unbelievably rusty French!)

So I combined the beans, tossed in some of the salsa, rolled the mixture up into tortillas, placed the filled tortillas into a casserole dish, and poured some of the queso sauce over everything. Oh, man, did the house smell good as this baked!

Tom dipped into them and stated very simply and succinctly: "Very tasty, my dear." It was a perfect transformation of leftovers into an entirely different meal, and one that was sublime.

So, to provide a bit of a groan but also -- I hope! -- a smile: What's black and white and red all over? These Red 'n' Black Bean Enchiladas with a white queso sauce ... :)

(Okay, so that was bad! You know you still love me anyway, and you'll be back tomorrow to see what my latest kitchen adventure will be. And, of course, I'll welcome you as always, looking forward to seeing you again!)

Cheesy Red 'n' Black Bean Enchiladas

1 cup Trader Joe's Cuban beans
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh salsa
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
6 8" whole wheat tortillas
8 ounces queso sauce
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Prehat oven to 350F. Grease a casserole dish.

Combine the Cuban beans, kidney beans, salsa, salt and chili garlic sauce in a medium bowl; using a potato masher, mash the mixture a bit to break up some of the beans.

Lay the tortillas out on the counter, and divide the bean mixture among them by placing the beans in the middle of each tortilla.


Spread the beans out into a line not quite reaching the edge of the tortilla, then roll each one up and place it into the prepared casserole dish.


Pour the queso sauce over the tortillas, then sprinkle the cheese over that.


Bake for 30 minutes until the enchiladas are golden and the sauce is bubbling.

Makes 6 enchiladas.