I have but two meals for this week’s Tasty Tuesday. One is just a different spin on my Caribbean-inspired fish:
Crushed pineapple and diced onion & bell pepper, just because I had them on hand left over from other meals.
And then I have a Mexican-style “all most-in-one” dish. I serve it over rice, which I could put in the skillet with the rest. I don’t because this is my biggest skillet and it’s too full to stir comfortably if the rice is in there, too. It’s so convenient, though, because I can just throw it together out of whatever I have. Sometimes, like this meal, it’s beef. I have made it with chicken, chorizo, and pork. Plus, I’m for anything that cuts down on dishes.
Note the lovely baked tortilla strips. I took the last of these out of the oven, transferred them to a plate, and set the hot pan on the stovetop. For some reason (maybe because there was nothing on it?), when I turned to move this 450 degree pan 30 seconds later, my mind did not register that I would need a potholder. Luckily, I picked it up with my left hand, only with three fingers, and had an aloe plant within reach. I’ve discovered that if I can get aloe on my burns ASAP, they usually don’t blister. In fact, though it hurt like the devil, I would be embarrassed to post a picture of my fingers because it didn’t look nearly as bad as it felt. Then you guys would be all, “What a wuss!” 😉 I burn my hands all the time, but rarely do I try to handle fresh-from-the-oven pans with my bare hands.
But, now! As a special treat, a special treat! Disclaimer, though – I did not make these awesome-yet-so-simple cookies. Eldest did, and all by herself.
This peanut butter cookie recipe has been in my mom’s family for as long as anybody can remember. One cup peanut butter, one cup sugar, one egg. Mix thoroughly, drop on ungreased cookie sheet by the tablespoon (I use a melon baller when I make them, Eldest just uses her mixing spoon), do the fork-press, bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. The tops will look a little underdone, a bit doughy even. They harden as they cool, so I cool them completely on the pan. They lift off the pan more easily and with less crumbles that way, but as you can see if you look closely, she was in a hurry to reuse the pan. She doubled the recipe and added a half-cup of chocolate chips. YUM. It made plenty for the whole lot of us, plus a plateful of leftovers. Which didn’t last a full 24 hours.
Eat anything interesting this week?
Fend for Yourself 
Please share how to make the tortilla strips. They look so good. And, since I’m trying to cut back on the sugar, my mouth is watering looking at Eldest’s cookies. Tasty Tuesdays make me hungry!
First, you’ll need either non-stick spray or some oil and a brush. I spray the bottom of one tortilla, then the top, and the top counts for the next one’s bottom side, too. (Hope that makes sense.) Keep spraying/brushing and stacking until you have as many as you want. Cut up tortillas however you like (sometimes I do strips, sometimes triangles) and spread over baking sheet. Don’t overlap. It’s a pain and I always have to do multiple panfuls, but they just won’t bake evenly if they overlap. Sprinkle with salt and put in 450 degree oven. This is the tricky part – you just have to keep checking them. They go from being not *quite* done enough to black in a matter of seconds, it seems. The bottom sides will be a little browner, so I take them out when the edges are golden and the tops just starting to brown. Look at the picture again and you’ll be able to tell which sides were against the pan and which were top sides. I used to try putting the oven on broil “just for a few seconds” to brown the tops, but I’d forget about them in the dinner rush and burn ’em every time. 🙂
Those tortilla strips so look good! And so do the cookies. I bought three times more apples than I actually needed for pre school snack this week so I made “I don’t have time for a recipe” apple crisp tonight. It’s out of this world sweet but so good and, would you believe, nobody wants to eat it? Who cares?! More for me!
I think the “thrown together” desserts are often my favorites, and I *love* me some apple crisp. I caught pears on sale a couple weeks ago and used them in my tried-n-true apple crisp recipe, and OMG!! I’m so glad I thought to try it. It was so good I wish nobody had wanted to eat it! Now that apples are about to be so plentiful, I’m seriously considering an apple upside down cake…