Habanero Salsa

In Mexico, I acquired a mocajete to make homemade salsa and it's amazing!

Ingredients:
2 Habanero Peppers
1 Clove Garlic (do not peel)
1 Ring of Onions (not separated, keep whole and connected)
Salt to Taste
1/2 lime
Dash of Cumin Seed, or ground if you don't have seeds
4 Jitomates

Instructions:
Roast the peppers over an open flame until blackened all around (handle gently, they're fragile)
Peel the skin off and keep the seeds
Mash in mocajete combined with salt, lime, and cumin seeds

At the same time the peppers are roasting, place whole clove of garlic without taking the skin off (helps to keep it from burning) in a saute pan with the onion.
Cook until the garlic is soft
Remove skin of garlic, chop the onion and mash them up with the already mashed peppers.

Roast Jitomates until black all around. These are fragile once they get soft, so try not to rotate them too much or the skin will fall off.
Once they're ready, (about 10 minutes or so depending on the size), peel the skin off, put in the mocajete and mash them up. I like to cut them a bit so it's not too chunky.

Add cilantro if you'd like, and serve with chips!

Other variations of peppers are:
2 large jalapeno
2 chile arbol

or

1 large jalapeno
1 cerrano chile

You can also chop everything and serve fresh as pico de gallo

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Bad for the Waistline, Good for the Soul. And if I were to die tomorrow, this would be my last meal request. -From Becca

Mom's Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Ingredients:

• Medium - Large Tortillas (we use flour, but I'm sure corn would be just as good)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 can diced green chiles
• Shredded Chicken - Already cooked (3 breasts, or if you're in a hurry, a pre-cooked whole chicken)
• 2 cups freshly shredded monterey jack cheese
• 2 cups freshly shredded pepper jack cheese
• Large casserole dish, or a couple small ones
• Foil to cover dish

Optional - black olives

Prep: 

• Preheat oven to 325
• In mixing bowl, whisk cream of mushroom, cream of celery, cream of chicken, and can of diced green chiles. 
• In separate bowl have cheeses mixed or separate, doesn't matter
• In separate bowl, have shredded chicken
• Cut tortillas in quarters (should look triangular-ish) 
• Start layering - Bottom Layer should be sauce to keep from sticking
• Tortillas
• Sauce
• chicken
• cheese, 
• Repeat (I usually get 2 layers)
• The last layer should be cheese
• Bake with foil on top for 45-50 minutes at 325
• Remove foil for the last 10 minutes for a golden brown finish 
• Serve with a side salad or refried beans, and if you're fatty's like us, a side of more tortillas to scoop it all up with! 

**You can also try this in the crock pot. Layer it like you would in a baking pan and cook on low for 3 hours, taking the lid off for the last 30 minutes. It isn't as gooey as the casserole, but delicious. 

"Hey Sis! I have a good idea..."

"...let's start a family cook book instead of just sending each other pictures on our phone..."

 Our family loves food. We love food in large amounts and we also love to share our creations with each other via photos. Today, we've decided to start documenting all the recipes we've come across throughout the years whether from grandparents, parents, or just random concoctions we have come up with in our own kitchens. Let this be the first of many posts to follow as our Smith family kitchens connect to share our favorite recipes!

  
Trader Joe's Margarita Pizza (makes for 8 slices)
Ingredients: (All from Trader Joe's)

• 1 bag  Garlic Herb Pizza Dough
• 1 block of Marinated Mozzarella in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 homegrown tomato
• 4 large leaves of basil 
• 1-2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Prep:

• Pre-set oven to 450 degrees
• Let pizza dough rest on a flat surface for 20 minutes (room temperature)
• Kneed to desired dimension with finger tips
• Drizzle Olive Oil and spread evenly over dough
• Spread cheese evenly over surface (save 1/4 of it for the salad)
• Top with sliced tomato and basil (we found it best to cut tomatoes into slivers)
• Bake for 8-10 minutes

Trader Joe's Works Salad  (feeds 4, but 3 if you eat like a Smith kid)
Ingredients: (all from Trader Joe's)

• 1 bag spring mix 
• 1 large granny smith apple
• 1 large yellow nectarine
• 1 Persian cucumber 
• 1/4 cup slivered raw almonds 
• 1/4 of the marinated mozzarella cheese left over from the pizza
•  1 balsamic rosemary marinated chicken breast (purple label in the refrigerated section)
• Champagne Pear Vinaigrette (or balsamic)  
• We decided avocado would have been a good addition but we didn't have one

Prep:

• Chop all ingredients in bite size pieces
• Mix together
• Have fun!!!