Summer makes cooking in the house hard - but dang it...I want enchiladas

[nadine_mn]

Currently I have a vat of pinto beans in the crock pot. Mmmm soon the house will smell like one of my family reunions (on the Mexican side, not the Scandinavian side...that usually smells like fish - lutefisk, smelt, etc).

I am debating making a huge pan of Mexican rice (I found a great recipe that you bake in the oven for an hour and makes a ton) and some enchilada sauce. But that involves turning on the oven and burners and even with air conditioning I get way too hot in my small kitchen.

But despite the heat, cheesy gooey saucy enchiladas, rice and beans sounds delicious even at 10 am. Maybe I will make the sauce and stuff tonight and put together enchiladas tomorrow. There are only 2 of us, so a lot will get frozen for future meals (bonus).

How about you guys - when it's hot, do you take a break from the kitchen or do you tough it out because you love (or need) to cook?

[Kali]

1. we do flat enchiladas by the plate in the microwave all the time

really easy and no stove/oven heat

green or red, and I confess to using canned sauce - just layer 3, 4, 5 corn tortillas with cheese, and sauce - add some left over cooked meat, onions, etc if you want but not necessary - and nuke for 2-3 minutes until all is hot and bubbly (warning it sometimes makes a mess in the micro but easy to wipe off) top with whatever salady (lettuce, radish, tomato, onion etc) things you like and add a spoon full of beans to one side.

don't even need the bother of oil-softening the tortillas, this works great.

[dem in texas]

13. Stack Enchiladas - Yum! Yum!

My favorite, I have baked them in the oven and also "nuked" em. I like then simple, just cheese and chopped onion sprinkled on corn tortillas with good red chili gravy. I had some Indian friends, who were vegetarian, over for dinner one evening. I made stack enchiladas, Mexican style rice and refried beans. I made a slaw with shredded cabbage and carrots and chopped oranges, dressed in a vinaigrette and topped with avocado slices. My friends loved the meal. Best of all, I got invited to eat at their house - homemade Indian food, so good!

[Galileo126]

2. I tough it out...

Sometimes I don't care how hot it is... I still want a bowl of soup. Clam chowder, beef stew, posole, whatever.

I like a good bowl of soup, regardless of season. Damn the thermometer!

[dem in texas]

14. Me too - I could live off soup.

I make soup all the time, I start out with the meat or beans in the crock pot and let cook slow all night. Next day, I put soup pot and add stock and what ever I else to the soup and let it simmer until done. I generally make 1/2 to 3/4 gallon of soup. We eat about a quart the day it is made. I put a quart in the fridge to have for a meal in a day or two and usually have enough for two or three more quarter that I freeze for future meals. Soup freezes really well. I just thawed the last of some homemade chicken noodle for lunch today.

My husband's favorite is split pea soup, I usually add ham or bacon. I make a killer vegetable beef soup too. Other family favorites are navy bean, Italian white bean and tomato, baked potato and corn chowder, chicken gumbo, red posole and of course being in Texas - chili. I recently whipped up a batch of homemade tomato soup, it was very tasty, I took some to a family meet-up and all there liked it. I am going to make it again soon.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. try these ...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/51156/spinach-enchiladas-verde/

[Phentex]

4. I break until desperate...

like the meatloaf last week.

We've had a lot of grilled food lately plus stuff I pick up from the deli. I could eat just a salad every night but my people want hardier stuff. Pasta is pretty fast as far as heating up the kitchen but I really don't even want to set foot in that room. I've been on strike for a while now.

[nadine_mn]

5. I hear ya - pizza has been a go-to for too many meals

usually my husband likes to grill, but the last 2 years, nothing.

It's not just the cooking heat, I am the dishwasher and that gets hot too. I really need to just suck it up and cook once a week and freeze stuff - better tasting than take out and cheaper too.

[Phentex]

6. Well I had big plans...

to either grill ahead, use the crock pot, blah blah blah...

but the heat zaps my energy and I just haven't been as organized as I'd like this summer. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

8. I've made meatloaf in the smoker

Smoked Meatloaf is a nice break from the usual.

Make your usual 'recipe', put it on the grill of a smoker, stick in a probe thermometer, set heat source for a temp of about 225 or so with your favorite wood, and let it go until your internal temp is 165, about 3-4 hours. If you want, put a piece of foil under it to make removal easier. For the last hour, brush on barbecue sauce. If you have enough room in the smoker and freezer, do two loaves and have meatloaf sandwiches in the future. There's usually enough room in the smoker to do more than just one loaf.

I almost think it could be done in a good-sized grill with indirect heat at a bit higher a temp. I might try it one of these weekends, just for fun. Although I do seem to remember Alton Brown making gyros on a BBQ rotisserie with the ceramic roasting element....

I've taken to putting slices of bread under the loaf to absorb the fat. A good use for those odd ends and leftover mismatched slices.

[justhanginon]

7. Summertime is a great time for stir frys. Wok cooking goes very fast and

with the availability of fresh veges there are a lot of good recipes out there. Even if adding meat the cooking time is minimal and under a range hood the heating factor is slight. I made Kung Pao chicken last night and the time in the wok was under ten minutes for example. For bread makers, pitas and other flatbreads made on a cast iron skillet are fine and there is no need to crank up the oven and have the preheating and the cool down periods..

[Sentath]

9. Slow Cooker on the back porch

and right beside it the bread machine.

Solar oven over on the gravel where it will get no shade.

[sir pball]

10. My kitchen's 103° right now.

Or so says the thermometer on the counter...the steak is in the circulator, nice and cool, but the stock reducing for the poivrade sauce and the fryer turned up for the onions are cranking out the heat. You bet I'd rather be in here than in the air-conditioned living room.

I've found myself missing this since I got promoted; at work I'm on the other side of the line now, under the a/c vent...it doesn't feel right for a kitchen.

[nadine_mn]

11. oh no way - lol

I hate sweating when I cook - gets in my eyes and I get cranky. But you sound happy and that is what matters - now come winter time...aaaahhhhhhh

[sir pball]

12. S'truth, aye.

I spent the time to bruinoise a cup of shallots, make poutine gravy, slice and bathe the onions, and get the poivrade base running. It's only 96 now, but I have a job ahead - slice and sautee mushrooms, make creamed spinach, fry the onions, finish the sauce and cook the steak!

Seriously though - a good kitchen is hot no matter the season.