Mexican Fiesta Thursday

Add some pizazz to your evening meal with Mexican Lasagna and Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream Pie. 

Mexican Lasagna
Cook’s notes: The following recipe was prepared in a 9 x 11 baking dish and serves 6. Pair the main dish with cornbread and a fruit salad .
Ingredients:

• 1-lb. ground beef or Chorizo sausage
• ½-3/4 cup onions diced
• ½ green pepper diced
• ½ red pepper diced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• optional chiles
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• ¼ tsp. cumin
• 1-16 oz. jar of chunky salsa
• 1/3 can refried beans
• 8 oz. of enchilada sauce 
• ½ can of corn (11 oz.) drained and rinsed (could use Mexican style corn) 
• ½ can of black beans (15 oz.) or dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 3-4 cups (small package) of Mexican cheese (package found in dairy section) 
• 1 package of yellow corn tortillas (6 inch size) you will need 10 for a 9 inch baking dish 
• optional toppings: chopped tomatoes, lettuce, sliced black olives, guacamole

Directions:

• Brown ground beef or sausage with onions, red/green peppers and minced garlic. 
• Drain and add mixture back to fry pan.
• Add in spices, salsa, enchilada sauce, refried beans, corn, beans.
• Cook on low heat for 10 minutes uncovered.
• Grease 9 x 11 baking pan and place 4 tortillas in bottom of pan overlapping-to fill in spaces. Tear another tortilla into 4ths to fill in corners and sides. 
• Place half of the meat mixture on top of tortillas and ½ of the cheese.
• Repeat with another layer ending with cheeses, black olives can be added at this time.
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes-remove foil and cook 10 minutes longer
• Let set 15 minutes before cutting
• Serve on the side with chopped tomatoes/lettuce/sour cream/guacamole/salsa
  

Mexican Chocolate Ice-Cream Pie
Cook's notes: This pie is decadent but well worth the splurge for a festive occasion. It will last in your freezer for up to a month but its unlikely that will happen.
The recipe was adapted from Southern Living August 2012
I used Haagen-Dazs coffee and chocolate ice-cream (each container is 14 oz.)
Ingredients:

• 3-1/2 cups of finely ground graham crackers 
• 1 tsp. cinnamon 
• 5 TB. melted butter 
• 1/2 cup mini semi-chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup toasted coconut
• 1 pt. container coffee ice cream-softened 
• 1 pt. container chocolate ice cream-softened 
• 1 cup whipping cream 
• 3 TB. coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua) 

Directions:

• Preheat oven 350.
• Use a blender or food processor to finely grind the graham cracker into crumbs. Add in cinnamon and melted butter, mix well. 
• Reserve 1 cup crumbs and press 2-1/2 cups of crumb mixture into a pie pan.
• Bake 6-7 minutes, set aside to cool.
• Stir together reserved 1 cup graham crumbs, mini-chocolate chips, toasted coconut  and pecans. Set aside.
• Spread softened coffee ice-cream evenly over baked cooled crust. Sprinkle 1/2 cup crumb mixture (crumbs, chips, coconut, pecans) over the coffee ice cream layer. 
• Freeze until firm
• Repeat with next layer of softened chocolate ice cream and sprinkle with rest of graham cracker mixture (reserve 1 tsp.) and freeze until firm.
• Beat whipped cream, add in Kahlua and spread over the top of each pie serving or over top of entire pie. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. 
• Serve immediately. Leftover pie should be stored in freezer and covered with foil.
  

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