Chicken Fajita Rice Bake

 

 Every so often, I'll go back into my archives and I'll find a recipe that I made a while ago, but never got around to sharing. Dontcha just hate when time gets away from you like that?? Anyway, I made this dish, literally years ago, and it packs so much flavor, it's definitely worth a revisit. 

 It's all of your favorite chicken fajita flavors in the form of a casserole, easy to prep, easy to assemble, feeds a crowd. Sounds like a no-brainer to me! How can this be wrong?

 The recipe is from Delish, (you know those quick cooking videos that are bouncing around the interwebs?), so you know it's a keeper. 

 Most times I say that casseroles are great on cooler nights, but I think this one is a little bit lighter than your usual "January-freezing outside-stick to your ribs" comfort food. It's perfect for the  "end of summer, it's gonna be Fall soon" type of cooler weather. Know what I mean? 

If you like a chicken fajita, I know you'll love this one! Enjoy!

For the spice mix:

1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt 

1 tsp black pepper

For the casserole

1 cup long grain white rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 onion, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders, cut into chunks, if desired

1 tbs olive oil

Heat oven to 375ºF.

In a mixing bowl stir together all spice mix ingredients. Set aside.

Place the rice and chicken broth in a 9x13 casserole dish. 

Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl, and toss everything until evenly coated with the spice mix. Arrange chicken and veggies evenly over the rice. Cover with foil.

Bake for about 35-45 minutes. 

To serve, top with a a little salsa, shredded cheese, some cilantro or parsley, and a little squeeze of lime. 

Tips:

Everyone's oven is different, so the rule of thumb is: Watch the casserole, not the clock. About 30 minutes in, give it a quick check. You'll know it's done when the chicken is cooked through, the veggies are tender, and the broth is absorbed.

Feel free to top this with any other fajita toppings. My favorites are a few slices of jalapeno, some home made guacamole and a big dollop of sour cream. If you want more heat, add some crushed red pepper flakes or your favorite hot sauce or taco sauce. You do you!

Creamy Caramel Flan

 This is one of those dishes that I made literally YEARS ago, but then never got around to posting. In fact, it was so long ago, I couldn't even remember which recipe I used. Luckily, my sister Cathy remembered getting the recipe from her friend, Marcy. It's actually quite popular because I've seen it on several websites. Clearly this one is a winner! 
 The custard is silky smooth, the caramel hits all the right sweet and bitter notes that you want and expect from a home made caramel, and the whole thing just SCREAMS special occasion! It's really not difficult to make, so go ahead and try it! I promise you'll impress everyone!




3/4 cup sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
5 large eggs
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


 Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden.  Pour into a 10" round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides.  Set aside. Put a kettle of water on to boil so it is ready when you need it for the hot water bath. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.  Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth.  Pour into caramel coated pan.  Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel.  Place baking dish on towel inside roasting pan and place roasting pan on oven rack.  Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake in preheated oven 50-60 minutes, until center is just set.  Cool one hour on wire rack then chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.  To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a serving platter. 




Tips:
First and foremost, be VERY careful when melting sugar. It is LAVA HOT, so make sure the little ones are occupied and entertained elsewhere in the house whenever you make caramel.
Instead of just throwing the sugar into a dry pan (which can sometimes burn too quickly), try adding a few tablespoons of water to the sugar. It gives you a little insurance, because the water will take some time to evaporate, and then you can control how dark you want your caramel to be. Instead of stirring the sugar, (which can cause it to crystallize), just swirl the pan around in a circular motion until it turns a lovely dark golden color. Once it starts to darken in color, it goes pretty quickly, so keep a constant eye on it, and immediately remove it from the heat when you reach the perfect caramel color!
 

Joey's Chicken Enchiladas

 About a million years ago, I was having a Mexican themed dinner for my gang of friends. As I always like to do, I made a bunch of different things with the intention of taking photos and sharing the recipes with everyone. I even came up with my own enchilada sauce for the occasion! Well, somehow or other, the dinner happened, but the photos didn't, and ever since then I've been looking for the right time to make these fabulous enchiladas again so I could take a photo and share the recipe with you. 
 Well, that time has FINALLY arrived! Don't they look yummy?
Now, usually, when I come up with a new recipe, it takes me a few tries for it to land exactly where I want it, but with this recipe, I think I landed it on the very first go. They're cheesy and gooey and saucy and savory and as spicy as you want to make them! You can even save time by assembling them ahead of time. I'd say they were definitely worth the wait.
Hope you like 'em!

1 rotisserie chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes, (don't drain)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or more to taste)
Taco size flour or corn tortillas
sliced scallions
Easy Enchilada Sauce



Pull the chicken off the bones and use a fork to shred. Set aside.
In a sauce pan, saute onions, peppers, until they begin to soften. Add spices and continue to saute for a few more minutes. Add diced tomatoes and shredded chicken. Stir to combine. Remove from heat. Add about half of the shredded cheese. Stir to combine. Set aside.
Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with enchilada sauce.
To assemble enchiladas:
Dip tortillas in enchilada sauce so that it is coated on both sides. Lay it flat on a plate. Fill with a big heap of the chicken filling, then roll into a log. Place each tortilla roll into the baking pan. Top with more enchilada sauce and the rest of the cheese. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350ºF or until melted and bubbly. Top with sliced scallions. I like to serve it with a bit of sour cream on top and a little fresh salsa!

Tips:
I purposely didn't add any heat because I'd rather leave that up to you. What kind of heat do you like? You can add jalapenos or your favorite chilis to the chicken mixture with the other peppers. You can add crushed red pepper flakes or Tabasco sauce to the sauce. For a little smokey flavor, you can add chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to the filling. You can add Sriracha to everything! Choose your heat, choose the amount, or just leave it out!
If you have burrito size tortillas instead of taco size, just cut them in half and proceed as directed. 

Joey's Easy Enchilada Sauce

 This sauce only takes a few minutes to throw together and it's absolutely the perfect thing for your next Mexican themed dinner. What kind of enchiladas do you like? Chicken? Beef? It goes with everything! It's my own recipe and I hope you like it! Oh, and if you wanna add some heat, go for it!

3 tbs oil
3 tbs flour
2 tbs chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups chicken stock
1 6oz can tomato paste


Add oil and flour to a sauce pan. Over medium heat, whisk together to make a paste. Add the spices and whisk to combine. Add the chicken broth and tomato paste. Whisk again until smooth. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. It should be a little on the thin side, not quite as thick as ketchup. If it becomes too thick, just add a little more broth. Adjust salt if needed. That's all there is to it!

Tips:
I like to measure all of the spices into a small bowl and then add them all at once. This way you're not burning the first spice by the time you finish measuring and adding the last one.
If you don't have chicken broth, you can use powdered or cubed bouillon. Just omit the added salt. Or you can just use plain water.
If you'd like some heat, add as much crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper as you like!!

No-Bake Avocado and Lime Cheesecake

  Do you love avocados as much as I do? I love love LOVE them. It's absolutely not uncommon for me to just cut up a couple avocados into a bowl, sprinkle with some kosher salt, and there's lunch. But I must admit, as intriguing as it has always been, I've never used avocados in a dessert.
Well, that is until now!
 I recently had a few friends over for a Mexican themed dinner, and I wanted to incorporate avocados somewhere in the menu. The usual thought would have been to make guacamole, but then I thought, hmm.. let's try something different!
 As usual, I did some googling, looking for ideas. I found several recipes for cheesecake and quickly noticed that they all seemed to be no-bake cheesecakes. Maybe the avocados don't do well with the baking? Who knows? But I went with it. It was as easy as throwing everything into a food processor and blitzing it until smooth and creamy! And OMG it's SO delicious! You can really taste the buttery avocado, and the tartness from the lime cuts through everything to make a very LIGHT and refreshing dessert. Who knew????
 So, the next time you're looking for a "slightly outside the box" kind of a dessert, give this one a try. (it's from Kraft!) And it's a total time saver because you do it ahead and let it chill until you're ready. I bet your family and friends are gonna love it!



1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
2 fully ripe avocados
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp zest and 2 tbs juice from 2 limes
2 cups thawed Cool Whip whipped topping

Combine graham crackers and butter. Press into bottom of a 9" spring form pan.
Process all remaining ingredients except Cool Whip in a food processor until smooth. Spoon into a mixing bowl. Fold in Cool Whip. Pour over crust. Smooth the top. Refrigerate four hours or until firm. Run a knife around the rim of the pan to loosen cheesecake just before serving. Remove rim.



Tips:
OK, I did a few things slightly differently. Instead of using graham crackers, I used vanilla wafers. Why? Because I like 'em! Also, I baked my crust for about 10 minutes at 350º because I wanted it to have more of a toasted flavor, then quickly chilled it in the freezer before filling it with the cheese mixture.
And since I didn't want to ruin the nice smooth side edge of the cheesecake, I decided to spray the inside of the springform pan ring with cooking spray. No need to run the knife around!
To decorate, I just piped some more Cool Whip on top, and then added some more fresh lime zest just before serving. 
Btw, one other thing.. this cheesecake softens to a very soft mousse when it is left out and comes to room temperature. Be sure to keep it chilled at all times!

Joey's Mexicorn Dip

 Here's a quick and easy party dip that you can throw together in a snap. I made it for my brother-in-law, Gregg's, retirement party and it was a huge hit! It was a Taco Tuesday theme, so I figured an easy corn dip would fit the bill. Everyone loved it!
 This is actually not my own recipe but rather my tweaked version of a recipe I found on a blog called Onegoodthingbyjillee.com. If you know me, you know I can't leave well enough alone, and I usually wind up switching things up a bit, especially when it comes to dip recipes. Since there's no baking science involved, it's easy to just add or subtract things to your own liking. And this one is so simple, you just dump everything into a big bowl and stir. That's all there is to it! Also it's great to do ahead because it's best when you let it chill in the fridge for a while (or even better overnight) before you serve it.
 So, thank you, Jillee, for inspiring this one good thing! And congratulations, Gregg, on your retirement!


2 cans whole corn, drained
2 cans (4oz) chopped green chiles
1 whole red bell pepper, chopped
5 whole scallions, chopped
2 whole jalapenos, finely chopped 
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbs cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients. Chill before serving with Fritos!



Tips:
-Be sure to chop the peppers and scallions extremely finely. Everything should be as small or smaller than a single kernel of corn.
-On Jillee's blog, she mentioned that her dipper of choice would be the SCOOPS kind "for maximum dip retrieval" LOL and I absolutely couldn't agree more! But if Fritos are your thing, go for it! Or else do what I did... serve it with both!
-If you'd like to add a little more heat, don't scrape out the insides and seeds of the jalapenos. Leave some or all of it in. That's where the heat is!
-If you're not a fan of cilantro, just use chopped fresh parsley instead!
-Oh, and one other thing....  You don't need to purchase the brand name Mexicorn. You can just buy regular cans of whole corn. I mean, you can if you want, but it's not necessary. Mexicorn is just corn and diced bell peppers, which are already included in the recipe!

Coconut Flan

 Here's a perfect dessert for Cinco de Mayo. When I saw Marcela Valladolid making it on her show, Mexican Made Easy, I knew I wanted to try it.  I know, I know. I say that all the time. But it's true! And isn't that the point? You see something delicious on TV (or on a cooking blog!) and you think "I WANT THAT!" Am I right?? And seriously, you really do want this one! It's sweet and creamy and SO easy to make. Make it way in advance so you can give it plenty of time to chill before taking it out of the pan, and then you'll hear all the OOOOs and AAHHs as you serve it to your friends and family. I made it for my family and it was a big hit!
 Tbh, when I decided to make it, I wasn't sure how it would go. As far as custards go, I don't like it when they're too eggy or too jello-y, know what I mean? I want something that is velvety smooth and creamy, and that's exactly what this is. So I was VERY pleased with how this turned out. I think you'll be pleased too! So even if it's not for a holiday, you should definitely give this recipe a try. It's special enough for any holiday and easy enough for a simple Sunday supper.
You're friends and family will thank you!! Promise!!

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup cajeta* or caramel sauce, at room temperature
3 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted
*can be found in Hispanic grocery stores

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. 

Spray a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Drizzle the cajeta into the prepared pan, turning to coat the bottom and sides. Set aside. 

Using an electric mixer, beat the milks, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Pour the mixture into the pan. Place the pan inside a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough water to come halfway up the sides. Cover the Bundt pan with foil. 

Bake until the center jiggles slightly when pan is moved, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate, covered, for 3 hours or overnight. 

Turn the flan out onto a platter. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve.

Tips:
To make the toasted coconut, place your shredded coconut in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring it constantly until it just begins to brown. You don't want to walk away from it because it can burn rather quickly! You can also do it in the oven, but I find it to be quicker and easier in a dry pan.

Instead of using the cajeta or store bought caramel sauce, I just made Home Made Caramel Sauce. It's SO much better than purchased caramel sauce, and it was for a special occasion, so I went with it!

If you don't have a roasting pan, just use a large casserole dish such as a 9x13 baking pan. Worked for me!

Coconut Rice with Black Beans

 Here's a quick dish that is as hearty to eat as it is easy to make. Yes, I know rice can be a little boring sometimes, but stay with me! You're gonna love this one! It's amazing how adding a few simple ingredients can turn plain white rice into a fan favorite!!
 I made this for one of my themed dinners (this was for Mexican night, of course) and it was a big hit! But why wait until Mexican night? Go ahead and serve it as a delicious side dish anytime! It goes great with chicken, beef, or pork, and the beans make it so hearty that it can stand alone as a meatless main dish. Serve it with a nice salad and you're good to go! Enjoy!


2 tbs oil (or butter)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup uncooked rice (I like Jasmine rice)
1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or water)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained


 Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, and cook until it has softened and turned translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until coated with the oil. Pour in the coconut milk and stock; season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 18 minutes. Stir in the black beans, and cook a few minutes until hot. 

Tips:
The first time I made this, I was surprised at how buttery it turned out, rather than coconutty. I really wanted it to have a more pronounced coconut flavor. So, I tried using all coconut milk instead of doing half coconut milk and half chicken stock. I was figuring more coconut milk equals more coconut flavor, right? Well, yes, but it turned out to be FAR too oily. Ah well, live and learn. So, even if you don't use stock, you still need to cut the coconut milk with something, even if it's just plain water. I suppose if you'd like it to be more coconutty, you could add a few drops of coconut extract.

Tres Leches Cake

  Are you familiar with a Tres Leches cake? Tres Leches (which means three milks) is basically a sponge cake that is soaked with a sweet milk mixture containing 3 kinds of milk: Evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. (mmm, I swear I could put that milk sauce on anything!) I first learned of this recipe a few years ago and kind of forgot about it. Then my sister in law, Karen, made it for a family event, (and everyone loved it), and I knew I needed to hop to it. Cut to a Mexican themed dinner night at my place a few weeks later and I had the perfect excuse to make it. (Not that I ever need an excuse to bake a cake!)
 Well, everyone loved it at my Mexican dinner night, and I also brought some to Chris and Claire. Big hits all around! I said to Chris "So, I'm guessing I should make this again soon?" He quickly gave me a look that said "Uh, ya THINK????" LOL yes, Chris, I will make it again soon. Promise!
 It's really simple to make and uses basic ingredients that you might already have on hand. Oh, and you make it in advance, so it's a time saver too!
Hope you'll give it a try!


Cake:
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
6 large eggs, separated
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Milk Sauce:
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream

Whipped Cream Topping
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Cinnamon


 Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon shortening. Add 1 tablespoon flour to the greased pan and shake it around to coat entire pan with flour. Shake out excess flour. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low and gradually add sugar with mixer running, beating until stiff peaks form.
Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each egg is added.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add flour mixture to batter in stages, alternating with whole milk, beginning and ending with flour. (Do this quickly so that batter does not lose its volume.) Pour batter into prepared pan and place in oven.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Remove cake from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
In a blender, combine milk sauce ingredients and blend on high for 45 seconds.
Use a toothpick or skewer to poke holes in cake, and slowly pour milk mixture over warm cake. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
When ready to serve, beat whipped cream topping ingredients except cinnamon with a mixer until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream over chilled cake. Dust with cinnamon. Served chilled.


Tips:
I didn't grease and flour the pan. I just used a baking spray that has flour in it. SO much easier!
When it's time to pour the milk mixture over the cake, you're gonna think "there's no way in hell all this milk sauce is gonna go into this cake." but trust me! It will! Just pour slowly and let it sink in.
The cinnamon it one of my favorite things about this cake. It gives you the same sort of vibe you get from rice pudding, sweet cream and cinnamon. SO good! You can serve it just as is, or with any kind of ripe fresh fruit, such as pineapple or strawberries. You could also serve it with banana slices and a sprinkle of toasted coconut. LOVE that.

Kris' Amazing Mexican Shredded Beef

Ok, first, let me just start off by saying I have no idea who Kris is. I was looking for a recipe for Mexican Shredded Beef, and I happened upon this one on a site called Allrecipes.com. It was pretty close to what I had in mind, so I decided to go with it.
 Beef, onions, spices, easy to throw together, cooks in a crock pot. Done. Oh, and it smells SO good while it's cooking all day. I ran some errands while it was cooking, and when I came home.. OMG the whole apartment smelled amazing! It's flavorful, versatile, and goes with about a million different Mexican dishes. Use it as a filling for burritos, tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, serve with eggs, or nachos, and on and on and on. It's the perfect component for any Mexican menu!
 So, thank you, Kris, wherever you are. I'll be making this again and again!



1 (4 pound) beef bottom round roast or other lean roast

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 large onion, diced

1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chilies

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 (7 ounce) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, or to taste

1 cube beef bouillon

 

 

 Trim the roast of any excess fat, and cut into four pieces. Rub with black pepper, and place into a slow cooker. Add the onions, green chiles, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle peppers, and beef bouillon. Pour in enough water to cover 1/3 of the roast.

 Cover, and cook on High until the meat begins to fall apart, about 8 hours. Add water if needed to keep the roast from drying out.

 Turn the slow cooker to Low, and remove meat to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Shred the meat into bite-sized pieces using two forks. Return the meat to the slow cooker; cook about 20 minutes to reheat before serving.

 

 

Tips:

The best bit of advice I can give is to cook everything to your own personal taste. There are a lot of big bold flavors going on here, specifically the chipotle peppers and the cayenne pepper. If you like the heat, go for it. Add everything just as listed. For me, I like just barely a little poke of heat. I added only half the can of chipotle peppers, and it was still too spicy for me. You know how spicy you like things to be, so just go with it. If you're not sure how spicy you'd like it, I would err on the side of mild. You can always add more spice if it's not enough.

 

Mexican Vinaigrette

 I recently made a Chicken Tortilla Lasagna for my friend Michele. Now, if I were serving a regular Italian lasagna, I would also serve a nice crisp tossed salad. So I decided to do a Mexican inspired salad to go with my Mexican inspired lasagna. I basically started out with a regular honey mustard vinaigrette, and then added some Mexican flavors to it. It turned out great! Very quick, very simple, very fresh. It was also very light and it didn't overpower any of the salad veggies. It was so good, we both had a second helping of salad before going for the lasagna! Try it!

2 tbs apple cider vinegar
3 tbs honey
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbs mustard
salt and pepper to taste
a few shakes crushed red pepper
1 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Whisk together all ingredients except the oil until well blended. SLOWLY drizzle the oil into the mixture while whisking constantly. Serve immediately or store in the fridge.

Tip:
If you're not a fan of cilantro, just use chopped fresh parsley instead.
I chose romaine lettuce and a bunch of fresh veggies, such as sliced red and orange bell peppers, sliced zucchini, vine ripened tomatoes, and sliced scallions. I also topped the salad with some diced avocado and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese. Love!

Joey's Better Chicken Tortilla Lasagna

I was recently in a creative mood and was still feeling the Cinco De Mayo vibe, so I thought I'd come up with a new casserole. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get a recipe right, but I think this one was pretty amazing, right from the first go. Claire said it's her new favorite, and Chris had absolutely no problem taking half of the casserole home with him that night. They loved it! The beauty of it is that you can tweak it to make it as spicy or as mild as you like, and it'll always turn out. It's warm and comforting without being too heavy. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Update!
Ok, cut to 4 months after the original post when I decided to make it again for my friend Michele. As much as I loved it the first time, I decided to see if I could make it even better. I thought maybe I could pump up the flavor, maybe add a little more heat, just for a little slow burn. So I added a few spices, some chopped chillies, and some garlic and onions. All of these things made it more flavorful, but the biggest aha moment came when I added a cup of red wine. BOOM! That was the answer! It was ABSOLUTELY exactly what I was looking for. And the spices mellowed out so I finally got my slow burn instead of being smacked in the face. It was even better the next day. So here's the updated BETTER recipe.
Michele loved it, and I think you will too!

a few glugs oil
1 onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs taco seasoning
1 tbs sugar
 a few shakes crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 29 oz can tomato puree
2 cups salsa (I like Tostitos or Pace)
2 cans chopped green chilies
1 tbs chopped jalapenos
1 cup dry red wine
1 rotisserie chicken
4 large burrito size flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350F.
Add a few glugs of oil to a heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until they begin to soften. Add garlic and spices. Add the puree, salsa, chilies, jalapenos, and wine. Give it a good stir. Let it simmer for a while, even up to an hour or two.
Meanwhile, pull all the chicken off the bones, and shred it into small pieces, discarding any fat or skin. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
Cut 2 flour tortillas in half across the center point, making two semicircles. Place the semicircles in the pan so that the flat edges are against the side of the pan, and the rounded edges are in the center. Cut them to fit, if you need to. Now place half of the chicken in one even layer, then cover with half of the sauce and then half of the cheeses. Repeat each layer again.
Place it in the oven and bake it until the cheese is bubbly and everything is heated through, about 30 minutes. Let it sit for about 10 minutes after removing it from the oven. Cut into squares and serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or a drizzle of taco sauce.

Tips:
Make it as spicy as you like! Add more jalapenos, add Tabasco, add HOT salsa to the sauce. You can also add some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a smokier hit. You can even substitute browned ground beef instead of chicken, if you like. Boom.

Reen's M'eggs'ican Casserole

Usually, when I talk about my sister Maureen, I refer to her as the Queen of Substitutions. She'll take a recipe and change it to fit whatever ingredients she has in the house and it always turns out fabulous. Today, however, I'll talk about her ability to create amazing dishes with no recipe at all! She'll go to a produce market or grocery store, see what looks good, and create something fantabulous, even if she's using an ingredient that she's never tried before. Now THAT's talent!!!
 This recipe was one of those creations. She made it for our family's Easter brunch and it was a big hit! Of course, I quickly asked her to write down the recipe while it was still fresh in her mind! And here it is! If you're all about spicy Mexican food, this one has your name all over it. Well, even if spicy is NOT your thing, I think you should give this a try.  So yummy! (I had two pieces!)
Thanx Reen!!!


1 pkg Mexican chorizo sausage, uncooked
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb roasted poblano peppers
1 dozen eggs
half and half (or milk or cream)
10 corn tortillas
vegetable oil spray 
1 lb pepperjack cheese, grated
2 1/2 lbs potatoes, boiled and sliced
1 large jar chipotle salsa
chopped fresh cilantro and pickled jalapeno peppers (garnish)

Heat oven to 350F.
Remove casing from sausage. Crumble and cook in a large saute pan. Remove from pan. Set aside.
Add chopped onions and poblanos to the sausage drippings. Saute until soft.
In a separate bowl, scramble the eggs with a few glugs of half and half.
Now it's time to assemble everything!
Spray tortillas with vegetable oil spray. Heat in oven for about 3 minutes or until pliable. Shingle them across the bottom and up the sides of a 9x13 casserole dish, cutting them if you need to in order to make them fit. Layer the casserole in this order: Sausage, shredded cheese, potatoes, poblano/onion mixture. Pour scrambled eggs over everything. Top with the entire jar of salsa and more cheese. Place casserole in oven. Bake for one hour or until set in the center.  To serve, cut into squares. Top with cilantro, pickled jalapenos, and additional salsa, if desired.

Tip:
If you'd like to tone down the heat a little, just choose ingredients that are less spicy, such as a milder salsa, a sweet sausage, and regular Monterey Jack cheese.