Turkey Enchiladas with Chipotle Cranberry sauce

After a family party Saturday, we had a lot of leftover turkey.  We also had some spare cranberries from a failed experiment earlier this week.  I decided to make some turkey enchiladas with chipotle cranberry sauce. The picture above is of two enchiladas (one with red sauce, one with green sauce) on a bed of lime-cilantro rice, topped with sour cream and carrot habanero puree.

For the cranberry chipotle sauce:
Combine 6 oz (half of a bag) of cranberries, two chipotle peppers (I used canned chipotles in adobo with the seeds removed), 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp cumin.  Cook in a saucepan until the cranberries pop and begin to break down, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Cool the sauce before putting it into the enchiladas.  If there is extra sauce, it will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

For the habanero carrot puree:
Boil two large carrots with two habanero peppers (again seeded) for 10 minutes, until carrots are soft.  After the carrots and habaneros are soft, place them in a blender with 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tsp lemon juice.

Assembling the enchiladas:
Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Flash fry each side of each tortilla (1-2 seconds on each side) and remove from the pan, allowing the excess oil to drip off.  Place 1-2 TBSP chopped turkey and a small spoonful of the chipotle cranberry sauce in the tortilla.  Cover the turkey and sauce with cheese and roll the tortilla.  Place the enchiladas in a pan and cover with enchilada sauce and cheese.  If the turkey was cold when the enchilada was assembled, cover the pan with foil and cook at 350 for 10 minutes before removing foil and cooking for another 10 minutes.  If the turkey was warm when the enchilada was assembled, cook at 350 for 10 minutes.

Top the enchiladas with sour cream and/or the carrot habanero puree.

Cilantro lime rice will be included in another post.  We couldn't stop eating the enchiladas with that sauce in them.  The smokey, tangy, sweet flavor that it added was just what the enchiladas needed.

Turkey Sliders

Ground turkey was on sale this week, soo....  Turkey sliders.  The slider show on the left at the front is a steakhouse slider with fried onion straws,  Muenster cheese, and Ring of Fire steak sauce.  The front left slider is a bacon barbecue slider, with JR's Original Barbecue sauce (http://www.jrsbarbq.com/), tomato, and crispy bacon.  The slider in the back is a California jack slider, with Avocado relish (avocado, tomato, garlic, and onion), and pepper jack cheese.  The slider preparation is mostly the same for each of these sliders.

Slider meat:
Using a slider press, make patties from about 1.5 oz of ground turkey.  Salt and pepper both sides.  Grill the patties (best over fire, but a Foreman Grill will work just the same).  Using a thermometer, ensure that the turkey is at an internal temperature of 165 degrees (unless you want to die).

Avocado relish:
Dice 1 small onion, 2 or 3 Roma tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 avocado.  Combine the diced vegetables with 1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Finally, mix in the juice of one lime.

Everything else was either store-bought or easy enough to make that I will not detail it here (i.e. onion straws).    We enjoyed them immensely, and we hope you will too!

Inspiration sometimes comes in a small package

Desert News--Utah baby gets a new lease on life with liver transplant
Harmonee Lynn--My fight against Biliary Atresia

I just wanted to post this link about a very amazing young mom! Farrah you are an amazing example of strength and hope. I hope that every mom can find inspiration in their story. I have also added a blog link up there to read more about their fight and success against this disease.

Can I have some fries with that shake?

Okay so since a few of you wanted to know what California Burgers and Toasted Marshmallow Milkshakes are, here are the recipes.

The book we pulled these from is Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes. Here's a good place that you can buy the book: Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes at Amazon.com

California Burgers 

Makes 4 burgers

Avocado Relish
2 Ripe Hass Avocados halved, pitted, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 a small onion finely diced
1 jalapeño chile, finely diced
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Burgers
1 1/2 lbs ground chuck (80 percent lean) or ground turkey (90 percent lean)
Salt and Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
4 slices Monterey Jack cheese
4 Hamburger buns; split and toasted if desired
1 small bunch watercress
4 slices beefsteak tomato

1. To make the avocado relish, combine the avocados, onion, jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. The relish can be made up to 1 hour in advance and kept at room temperature.

2. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions ( about 6 oz each). Form each portion loosely into a 3/4 inch thick burger and make a deep depression in the center. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

3. Cook the burgers using the oil and topping each one with a slice of cheese and a basting cover during the last minute of cooking.  (basting cover is a small metal bowl used at many restaurants to melt the cheese on a burger. You can use aluminum foil tents or I just put mine in the oven under the broiler while I toasted the buns.)

4. Place the burgers on the bun bottoms and top each one with a few sprigs of watercress, a slice of tomato, and a dollop of the avocado relish. Cover with the bun tops and serve immediately.

Toasted Marshmallow Shakes
makes one 16 oz shake or two 8 oz shakes

Nonstick cooking spray
9 large marshmallows
1/4 cup whole milk
11 ounces vanilla ice cream (about 1 3/4 cup packed)
Toasted marshmallows, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat broiler. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used foil) and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Arrange the marshmallows flat on the baking sheet and place under the broiler until the tops are a deep golden brown color, about 40 seconds. Remove from the oven, carefully turn the marshmallows over, and broil until they are deep golden brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

3. Combine the marshmallows and milk in a blender and blend for 5 seconds. Add the ice cream and blend until smooth, about 10 seconds. Serve Immediately.