Image Source: Merlina McGovern
Dinner time for our small family of three is pretty much fend-for-yourself time. This isn’t a habit I learned from my own family. My mother always cooked dinner for our family every night when we were growing up. My father was actually a cook in the military, so he certainly had the chops to cook for us, but usually did so only for barbeques and breakfasts. I’m actually drooling right now thinking of the massive breakfasts with eggs, fried potatoes, fluffy biscuits, and bacon he would regularly make for us.
Both my parents worked full-time jobs and still managed to cook for us regularly, so I really should have no excuses.
Still, with our busy work and social lives, we aren’t often all together at dinner time, so we mostly get takeout or make do with single-serving meals that we scrounge together from what we have in our pantry and fridge. For me, this usually means a quick stir-fry with rice, chicken, and vegetables. I am extremely habitual when it comes to the ingredients I use, so I will go months having dishes that have some variation including spinach, bell peppers, and tomatoes, perfect ingredients for stir fries, quick pasta dishes, and salads.
As I’ve gone on a journey to become healthier, I’ve made a goal to try to cook a family meal at least once a week. While I do have some go-tos that I can make without having to use a recipe (like my mother’s easy enchiladas, see recipe below), I will often have to find a recipe from online or from cookbooks.
I have found that the New York Times cooking app has a lot of great recipes, and I love how the comments feature allows you to see the hundreds of people that have essentially tested the recipe and have given modifications and substitutions.
Sometimes, though, I want something specific, like noodles. And the Milk Street Noodles cookbook by Christopher Kimball is fantastic.
So far, I have made the Pasta with Lemon and Parmesan (light and zingy), Vietnamese Rice Noodle Bowls with Broiled Marinated Pork (perfect instructions for getting that caramelized savory broiled pork), and the Pasta with Spicy Tomato and Pancetta Sauce (easy and delicious). Each one has been a hit. I’ll be creating the Miso Ramen dish tonight.
The instructions are thorough, and for the recipes that I’ve tried so far, the ingredients have been straightforward and easy to find. I especially like the ingredient notes they include that will help you to find the more challenging ones (for example, for a rice noodle dish, to help you distinguish between an overwhelming aisle of options often with labels not in English, the description notes: “Look for rice vermicelli that are round, not flat, and slender like thin spaghetti but not filament-thin”—super helpful).
I had always enjoyed Christopher Kimball’s scientific approach to cooking when he was the editor for America’s Test Kitchen, and I feel like he has brought that same thoroughness to this cookbook, while keeping an eye on flavor and ease.
The recipes span countries, from the obvious Italian to Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and even Hungarian.
I love all things noodles, and there are so many savory, saucy, soupy, and hearty recipes to fulfil all of my noodle cravings. There are challenging recipes and easy and comforting recipes. The wide variety makes me so happy (unlike a recent cookbook I ordered based off of a TikTok recommendation. That cookbook had so many recipes with celery and anchovies, two ingredients that I despise. Now it sits unopened, gathering dust on my cookbook shelf.)
So, if you’re in a cooking rut, I highly, highly recommend Kimball’s Milk Street Noodles cookbook.
Looking for an easy weekend meal? Check out:
Mom’s Easy Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
1 pack of 12 corn tortillas
3 10-oz cans of red enchilada sauce
1.5-2 lbs. of boneless/skinless chicken thighs
1 32-oz box of chicken broth
1 4-oz can of diced green chilis
1 package of shredded Mexican cheese
Neutral oil for pan frying
Instructions
I set up a tortilla dipping and rolling station by having a shallow pan filled with enchilada sauce next to my bowl of shredded chicken and the baking pan I will use for the rolled enchiladas.
Boil the chicken thighs in the chicken broth until cooked through. Let the chicken cool enough that you can shred it into small pieces. I find it easiest to use my hands to shred the meat.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix the shredded chicken with a can of enchilada sauce, the full can of diced green chilis, and as much shredded cheese as you like. Stir and set aside.
Set aside a shallow dish filled with a can of enchilada sauce for dipping.
Fill a baking pan with half a can of enchilada sauce.
Heat a flat sauté pan with a shallow amount of neutral oil over medium heat.
When the oil is hot, I dip a corn tortilla, using tongs, to quickly fry until pliable (not crispy at all) a few seconds on each side.
After frying the tortilla, I add the tortilla to the shallow plate filled with enchilada sauce and coat the tortilla on both sides. I will set up an assembly line where I will fry a few tortillas and then dip them in the enchilada sauce in preparation for rolling.
Take a dipped tortilla and fill it with a couple tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll the enchilada and add your roll to the baking pan filled with enchilada sauce.
Repeat until all 12 tortillas are filled.
Top the rolled enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and then sprinkle with a generous amount of shredded cheese.
Add your enchiladas to the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Once done, remove and let set for about five minutes before serving.
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