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| Recipe by Alisa Soderstrom |
Have you ever wanted a different kind of comfort food, but did not know what it was you wanted? Well, I've got a surprise for you. Once you taste these, you will think that you landed into your own private little taste of heaven.
I love playing around with different foods and seeing what the end results will be, and I think I found another winner this time around.
When I was growing up, my folks did not eat a lot of spicy, Mexican dishes, or any other kind of spicy food for that matter. I did, however, have a wonderful cook for a mother and a dad who knew just what little bit extra of something was needed for the ultimate taste finale. His brother, my uncle John, owned a fine little restaurant, The Friendly Cafe, with the greatest homemade foods served daily. Folks would come from miles around just to taste their awesome home cooked foods. Thanks to all the wonderful cooks in our family, this is how I learned to appreciate the wholesome goodness of food made from the heart. Just a little bit of love goes a long way if you put enough in the recipe you are preparing.
So, here is my little taste of comfort food with just the right amount of love added to make you feel satisfied.
Now I like preparing most of my pork and beef in a pressure cooker to get the most flavor from the herbs and spices which will be infused into the meat as it cooks. You will be totally amazed by the taste you get compared to boiling or baking your meats. If you are a little apprehensive about using a pressure cooker, prepare your meat in a slow cooker early in the day so that it will be done by the time you need it for the recipe.
The ingredients and utensils you will need for the seasoning and preparing the pork loin are:
A pressure cooker and a sieve for straining juices from meat
1 (3-4 lb.) pork loin roast
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, packed
1/2 c. fresh parsley, packed
10 sprigs of thyme
2 sweet onions, cut in half
1 packet of Lipton savory herb and garlic soup mix
1 Tbsp. coarse ground black pepper
8 c. of water
First of all, make sure you place your cooking rack in the bottom of the cooker that came with it. Next, add the water and Lipton soup mix to the pan and stir to mix. Then add your pork loin and the rest of your herbs and black pepper.
I love cooking with fresh herbs as you more taste from them than you would from the dried varieties.
Before locking on your lid, make sure you have the rubber seal in place. Then lock on your lid, and place the vent weight on top. Bring the water to a boil and stabilize your pressure at 17 pounds for 55 minutes.
When the 55 minutes is up, turn off your heat, and remove the vent weight from the lid. Never attempt to remove lid until the pressure regulator reads zero (0)!!!
After removing the lid, carefully remove meat from the kettle. Reserve your liquid as you will need it to make your sauce for the next step. Place on a platter and shred meat thoroughly and set aside.
Now for the next step: making your creamy enchilada sauce. I know there is a lot of work here, but the end result is worth it, I promise you.
For the sauce you will need:
The liquid from your meat after removing the onions and herbs through a strainer/sieve.
4 Tbsp. Butter/margarine
1/2 c. fresh minced onions
6-8 slices of jalapenos from a jar
1/4 c. cilantro
1/4 c. parsley
14/ c. sweet bell peppers, mixed colors
4 Tbsp. Flour
1/2 c. fat free half and half
4 c. shredded white cheddar jalapeno cheese
2 Tbsp. low fat sour cream
10 extra large burrito flour tortillas
Next you will want to grab a very large and deep sauté pan. Add your butter and melt over medium heat. Add your onions, peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, and parsley. Cook till onions are transparent and peppers are soft.
Add your 4 Tbsp. of flour at this time and stir to make your roux.
Stir evenly to make a roux, but do not cook to long as it will darken as it cooks. About 1 minute or two is all that is needed
Next you will add your strained, reserved liquid from the meat. Use a wire whisk to incorporate the liquid and roux till it thickens.
After you have a little thickening going, add your half and half cream and stir till thickened.
Now you will add half of your cheese (about 1 1/2 c.) depending on your preferences for taste and thickness. Stir till well incorporated. At this point, you will add about have this done, you are ready to add your sour cream.
Remove from heat, and spoon half of the sauce to a bowl. Add all of your shredded meat to the bowl and sauce and mix well.
We're getting close to the end here, I know, it's a lot of work. Once you do this a few times, you get through it pretty fast. So now, we get to use our flour tortillas. Put your meat on there, as much as you can get in, but leave a little space for wrapping. Now you are going to roll it up like you would a burrito. Hopefully the illustrations I have shown you will help you out here.
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| Place your enchiladas all nice and cozy in a baking pan with non-stick spray |
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| Add the rest of your roux over the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. |
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| Now you get to bake your creamy pork loin enchiladas!!! 400 degrees for 35 minutes, or until nice and bubbly with a few golden spots across the cheese.    |
