Stacked Esquiteiladas
I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of time or energy to cook this week, so I wanted to make something that would stay sturdy in the fridge even after three or four days. August is corn season, and I’m thankful to be able buy the real stuff at the farmer's market this time of year rather than having to suffer through the candy-sweet mutant garbage they sling at Bezosville. I get bored of any dinner after eating it several days in a row, but stacked enchiladas might be the exception to the rule. I was inspired by this recipe on some godforsaken Pinterest dupe called “Punchfork”, but I went off on a beautiful esquites / Butler’s Soy Curl / Midwestern casserole tangent that improves upon the original. You should only use half the amount of cheese I did, so do as I say not as I do.
Ingredients:
1 package Butler’s Soy Curls
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons chile powder or smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons avocado oil
3 cobs of corn, shucked and stripped
1 white onion, chopped
3 jalapenos (2 chopped, 1 sliced)
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp Tajin or more to taste
1 jar (15-16oz) green Enchilada sauce — I used Siete
12 corn tortillas
8-16 oz grated white cheese (I used a mixture of pepper jack, Oaxaca, and cotija)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Make the Butler’s Soy Curl Chikn*
Rehydrate curls in 3 cups of hot water and nutritional yeast. Let soak for 15 minutes.
Drain in a colander and press with a spatula to get the curls as dry as possible.
Season with garlic powder, onion powder, chile powder or smoked paprika, and salt.
Heat a big pan on medium-high. Add the avocado oil and wait until it just starts to smoke.
Add the curls and don’t move them for 5 minutes or so, until they begin to brown. Stir and let them brown on the other side.
Add almost the entire jar of enchilada sauce (leave a little sauce in the jar) until just heated through. Remove from heat and set aside.
*Of course I cannot in good conscious condone the consumption of animal flesh, but it might be possible to simply cook and shred a few chicken breasts or thighs if you don’t want to go the soy curl route.
Make the esquites
Mix the corn, onion, chopped jalapenos, lime juice and sour cream into a medium bowl.
Assemble and cook the enchiladas
Preheat oven to 350
Spoon that little enchilada sauce you left in the jar into a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Microwave the tortillas for a minute or so to get them pliable, then add six to the casserole dish.
Top with prepared soy curls, then with the esquites.
Layer on the other six tortillas on top and top with the grated cheese and final, sliced jalapeno.
Cook for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is totally melted. Finish in the broiler for 3-4 minutes until the casserole is crunchy and brown in spots.
The Future Was Color — Patrick Nathan
After I finished The Future Was Color I read a bunch of Goodreads reviews, and somebody mentioned they loved the experience of reading this 200 page book and didn’t know why it took them a month to get through it. I had the same experience, and the reason (other than I started strolling Twitter every day again like an addict) is that it’s really depressing.
It’s about a closeted Hungarian-Jewish screenwriter in 1950s Hollywood. He starts sleeping with a young movie theater ticket taker and develops feelings for a handsome fellow writer who gives him extremely mixed signals. The three of them move into an unbelievable Malibu beach house with a charismatic older actress and her gay, ex-matinee idol husband. It’s all very idyllic until it’s not. The book is a little Sunset Boulevard, a lot The Day of the Locust. We travel to New York, Las Vegas and Paris. We go back and forward in time exploring the Hungarian revolution, the abstract expressionists, the red scare, nuclear tests, LSD and dexedrine, the Holocaust and… wait for it… AIDS. I’m making this very good novel sound like We Didn’t Start The Fire but it’s maybe even better than Billy Joel’s greatest accomplishment. You should read it. But it’s very sad, so don’t feel bad if it takes you a month to finish.
Strange Darling — dir. JT Mollner
I’m always dubious going into an extremely hyped indie horror movie. This one has a few gimmicky pretentions — non-linear storytelling, chapter title cards, insufferable indie folk music cues — but I was sold by the end. It’s an extremely stressful watch, and that’s exactly what I want. Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner are both great. Read nothing before going in. You might have a mini panic attack, but it will be a happy mini panic attack.