quinn's place

with chocolate, if you please!

wowwweeeeeeeee i have been in the depths of winter hibernation and have forgotten how to exercise this creative outlet of mine. in the midst of general busyness/business/darkness/laziness, i haven't been in the recipe making zooone. well, at least not to the point of photographing them properly - because it's dark & gloomy as shit out!

also that thing called christmastime happened, peter & i went on a long trip to europe, and we both turned 30. evidently we spent the entire month of january recovering from all of that, lol. woopsie.

to lift myself outta my winter creative funk and get back into the habit of challenging myself to make random recipes and take real photos (in daylight), i threw something together with a few ingredients i happened to have on hand. frozen strawberries from last summer, a bar of dark chocolate, frozen phyllo pastry dough, brown sugar, & cream cheese.

and it worked! i quickly put something together, it tasted good, and i didn't completely forget how to use my camera. [lolz jk i've actually been using my camera a ton this winter, just not for a lot of food purposes - but it still it feels like working a different muscle when you switch from shooting portraits to landscapes to objects to food, etc etc.

while i do not think these little treats (or the photos) turned out to be the most beautiful thing in the world, it still legitimately feels like i came out of a hibernation and took my first few wobbly-bambi-leg steps back into just making stuff for the hell of it. and it feels durn good!

p.s. calling these things "pockets" is kinda grossing me out..... but at the same time i don't feel like using some crazy long-winded 'chocolate strawberry cheesecake phyllo dough crispy thingydoodah' title either. so - stick that in your back pocket. BYE!

Easy Strawberry Cheesecake Pockets

Makes 6 Triangles

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 roll phyllo pastry dough - actually only about 6 sheets (you can re-roll the sheets you don't use and freeze with the other roll that comes in the box of 2)
4-6 large strawberries, sliced
1/2 a chocolate bar of your choice (I used 1/2 of a Lindt 70% Cocoa Excellence Bar), chopped
4 oz. cream cheese (I used about 1/2 of a block of lite cream cheese for this)
1/3 cup brown sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray. Layer one sheet of phyllo dough at a time, giving a light spray (or brush on melted butter or coconut oil if you're an overachiever) of cooking spray on each layer. I used about 6 sheets in this recipe.

Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the large rectangle into 6 equal squares. Carefully place a dollop of cream cheese in a corner (but about 1/4 inch away from the outer edge) and sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar. Add some sliced strawberries and another sprinkle of brown sugar (you want the sweetness to be a bit layered and evenly dispersed). Add the chopped chocolate and more brown sugar if you desire.

Fold the empty corner of each square over the toppings to form a triangle and press down gently to flatten. Lightly spray (or brush with butter or oil) over the tops. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry dough has started to brown and crisp. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack, but serve them warm! They are okay to eat once cooled for 1 day. Warm & fresh is best!

Note: You can use white sugar or whatever sugar you prefer - I generally think granulated white sugar gives a "higher" sweetness whereas brown sugar or coconut sugar gives a "deeper" sweetness, if that makes any sense. granulated white is more of a "sickly sweet" (sometimes) versus "rich sweetness" of brown or coconut sugar, in my mind...

& happy february!

earth angel, earth angel.

these are some hearty & earthy enchilaaadaaaaas.

"earthy" in a good way.....

sometimes when people say something tastes "earthy" i feel like its a neutral way of saying it tastes like dirt.

no dirt tastin' here. just yummy butternut squash, roasted poblano pepper, black beans, onion, and cheeeeeeese. lots of flavor and fall feelz.

you can use the same method i used in assembling these green & red enchiladas (prob my fave enchiladas to make!).

and you can roast the squash & poblano a day in advance. the roasting factor is really what makes you feel like these take forever to make. but they're truly simple once you break all the steps down.

pepitas optional! but great for crunch factor and perdy color :)

also i found that when reheating these you should deeefinitely put em in a pan with a bit of olive oil and cover til the cheese melts again and the bottom is crispy. pete was not pleased with the results in his communal office microwave, lol. not the most romantic way to prepare leftovers. i ought to send him off with a personal under-desk toaster oven or something...

so these are yum, get to roastin'!

Roasted Butternut Squash & Poblano Enchiladas

Makes 10-12 Enchiladas

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1/2 of a butternut squash, roasted & cubed
1 poblano pepper - roasted, skin peeled, sliced
8 oz. monterey jack cheese
8 oz. pepperjack cheese
1/2 can black beans
2 red chiles or jalapeño (or both), seeded & sliced
1/2 a yellow onion, chopped
8 oz. red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup pepitas
10-12 medium flour tortillas
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
salt, pepper, & garlic powder

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Carefully cut the butternut squash and poblano pepper in half and remove the seeds. Place them on a baking sheet & rub with olive oil. Roast until the squash is tender and the skin of the poblano begins to blacken, about 15-20 minutes.

Use tongs to place the poblano pepper in a plastic freezer bag to cool & steam. Peel the skin off the squash, cut it into bite sized cubes and add to a large bowl. Remove the poblano from the ziplock bag and immediately peel off as much skin as possible. Slice the poblano and add to the bowl with the cubed squash.

You can roast the squash and poblano a day in advance to save time when putting together the enchiladas.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grate the cheeses and chop the onion.

Add the black beans and chopped onion to the bowl with the squash and poblano. Add a few good pinches of salt, pepper, and garlic powder to the mixture and stir.

Add a light drizzle of enchilada sauce to the bottom of the baking pan. In each tortilla, add a handful of the grated cheeses, a scoop of the squash & poblano mixture, and a light drizzle of enchilada sauce. Roll it up and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until the dish is packed with enchiladas.

Drizzle remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas, a sprinkle of the red chiles or jalapeños, and the remaining cheeses. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

Top with extra red chiles or jalapeño slices, pepitas and cilantro. Serve with plain green yogurt or sour cream.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop with a touch of olive oil for best results.