Jenn’s Cook Book

An adaptation from my Mexican Potatoes, this recipe combines the tastes of chili, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic and cayenne pepper with onion and potato.  

6 large potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 olive or vegetable oil
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 425F

Wash and scrub potatoes. Use a knife to remove any bad spots and cut into wedges. Place all ingredients in a large, heavy-duty zip locked bag. Turn or shake bag until potato wedges and chopped onion are well coated in seasoning.

Grease a 13×9 inch baking pan. Spread potato mixture into an even layer. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are tender (depending on the size of the wedges), stirring every 15 minutes or so.

To serve: top with sour cream, green onions, cheese, salsa, tomatoes, peppers, and/or bacon bits.

Here is an update on an old recipe, made a little healthier with some slight adjustments. The adjustments did not effect the overall taste of the dish, but definitely reduced the fat and sodium content.

1 lb 94% fat free ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 (15 oz) can low-sodium whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
taco shells or flour tortillas, warmed
toppings, such as lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa, sour cream
hot cooked spanish rice, such as Vigo’s Saffron Yellow Rice (made with “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light” instead of regular butter)

Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well. Remove beef, wipe skillet with a paper towel.

Saute onion in hot oil in the same skillet. Add beef, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally and coating beef with spice mixture. Stir in corn, tomato sauce, water, and salsa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 8 to 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced.

Top evenly with cheese and cilantro. Cover, turn off heat, and let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Build tacos by layering meat mixture, desired toppings, and rice.

From AOL Food, here is a great recipe for tacos without using prepackaged taco mix. This is similar to the filling in Mexican Lasagna (posted August 2nd, 2006).

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
taco shells or flour tortillas, warmed
toppings, such as lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa, sour cream
hot cooked spanish rice, such as Vigo’s Saffron Yellow Rice

Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well. Remove beef, wipe skillet with a paper towel.

Saute onion in hot oil in the same skillet. Add beef, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally and coating beef with spice mixture. Stir in corn, tomato sauce, water, and salsa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 8 to 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced.

Top evenly with cheese and cilantro. Cover, turn off heat, and let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Build tacos by layering meat mixture, desired toppings, and rice.

This weekend, my mom and I made this tasty dish from my Campbells 1-2-3 cookbook. The original recipe was fairly simple, so we punched it up a bit. When deciding between mild, medium or hot salsa/picante sauce, keep in mind the preferences of everyone. It’s easy to make a dish spicier with hot sauce but almost impossible to make a dish milder.

1 pound ground beef
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix* OR 1 package taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup (low sodium/healthy request okay)
1 cup Pace Thick & Chunky Salsa OR Picante Sauce
1/2 cup milk
6 flour tortillas (8 inch) OR 8 corn tortillas (6 inch), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
chopped onions, peppers and/or tomatoes, as desired

Preheat oven to 400F

Brown beef over medium-high heat, stirring to separate meat. Pour off fat and add Homemade Taco Mix and water. Simmer over medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

In a 2 quart shallow baking dish, mix soup, salsa, milk, tortillas and half the cheese. Add meat and vegetables (if using) and stir well.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Serve with sour cream, hot sauce, mexican rice, tortilla chips and/or veggies as desired (chopped veggies can be baked in or served on the side). Goes well with lemonade or another citrus drink.

*Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsps paprika
1 1/2 tsps cumin
1 tsp garlic powder (or garlic salt)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar
dash cayenne (for the braver taste buds only)

After buying a rather large bag of potatoes, I’ve found myself with more spuds then I know what to do with, so I’ve started experimenting with tater recipes. Here’s the first one I did, starting with a recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix:

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsps paprika
1 1/2 tsps cumin
1 tsp garlic powder (or garlic salt)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar
dash cayenne (for the braver taste buds only)

Mix all the ingredients well in a small bowl and use instead of 1 package of taco seasoning mix. When adding to meat, simmer with a 3/4 cup of water.

Mexican Potatoes

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 to 6 large to medium potatoes

Preheat over to 425F.

Wash potatoes well in lukewarm water. Use a knife to remove any bad spots and peel only if desired (I prefer mine with the skins on). Cut potatoes into chunks and place in a large, heavy-duty ziplock bag. Add oil and taco mix and seal bag. Shake until potatoes are evenly coated.

Grease a 13×9 inch baking pan. Arrange potatoes in an even layer. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring every 8-10 minutes.

Serve plain as a side dish or top like a baked potato with sour cream, cheddar cheese, onions, tomatoes, peppers, or salsa.

This is a quick and easy dinner similar to “hamburger helper” but with a more homemade/home-style feel.

1 (8 oz) package elbow macaroni (or other shaped pasta)
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Toppings, such as: sour cream, tortilla chips, tomatoes, peppers, onions

Prepare macaroni according to package directions, drain and keep warm.

Brown ground beef in skillet or frying pan until no longer pink and drain. Add taco seasoning and water. Stir over medium-low heat until thoroughly mixed and sauce begins to reduce. Set aside and keep warm.

Melt butter in a large pan over medium, gradually adding flour and whisking constantly to form a sauce. Gradually add milk, while whisking, and simmer for 5-7 minutes until mixture thickens. Decrease heat and stir in 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese, stir until cheese is completely melted.

Add macaroni and beef to pan, stirring over low heat. Let cook until mixture begins to simmer and thicken. Remove from heat and top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Serve on large plates with toppings on the side. This dish went well with a side of mexican rice and tortilla chips, along with the usual taco toppings. It also made for great left overs!

The sauce in this recipe was hard to thicken, I added an additional tablespoon of flour to thicken it up, but I think less milk could be used (maybe just 1 or 1 1/2 cups instead of 2).

from Southern Living magazine:

1 lb ground beef
1 (16 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup picante sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 (24 oz) container low-fat small-curd cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic salt
12 (5 inch) corn tortillas
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Stir in corn, tomato sauce, picante sauce, chili powder and cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 5 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside.

Stir together cottage cheese, eggs, oregano and garlic salt.

Arrange tortillas on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking dish. Spoon half of meat mixture over tortillas; top with cottage cheese mixture. Arrange remaining tortillas over cheese mixture; top with remaining meat mixture.

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestions: serve with a side of mexican rice and toppings such as sour cream, onions, peppers and blue corn tortilla chips.