Consolidated "Potluck" thread
 

OK.. the Cinco De Mayo office Potluck is tomorrow.

I'm thinking either:

A) Taco Salad

B) Some sort of mexican casserole (like layered enchiladas)

C) Make a mexican chocolate sauce (chocolate, cream, cinnamon, ancho chile powder) and then stop at Costco for a bunch of churros to cut into sections.

You have 1 hour to make your preferences known :)

What, a 12 pack of Pacifico won't suffice? What kind of party is this?

B.

sadly, no boozing during office hours.

Of those choices, I'd choose "B"

"A" has a crunch factor (chips, tostada shells, etc) that are going to get soggy when sitting, unless you have the salad and crunch item separated. If you do that, A is a reasonable choice.

"C" involves what will be cold churros at some point, which are not good for anyone.

"B" holds up when sitting around (and likely reheats well).

i wasn't actually expecting the churros to last long enough to get cold... but point taken :)

I assume that an office potluck involves people eating in shifts, during breaks, etc. But maybe I assume incorrectly.

Have you ever made creamy ranch jalapeno dip? It is to die for... let me know if you want the receipe, probably too late but omg you would be a hit at the Fiesta!!

We have one of those this weekend, making a mexican lasagna.

Not sure they would ever eat it in mexico, but but it's pretty tasty.

no shift eating... the potluck lunch is from 12-1

please don't mark the dish w/ H1N1 tag, whatever you decide to take to the potluck. Our potluck never took a flight this year :(

Are pork enchiladas out then?

I decided to make a vegetarian layered enchilada.



Strawberries are on sale up here right now, so I have a feeling we'll end up with a bunch of them at lunch tomorrow... so I'm making the mexican chocolate sauce for dipping. (Who knows, I may be able to convince someone else to run to costco for churros :)

Swine.

Oh, have that someone grab me a churro too please. ^

I suppose it's far too late to suggest whipping up a nice batch of tamales.

If you haven't already decided, you still have time to melt Velveeta Mexican Mild (or Velveeta Pepper Jack) in the crock pot and buy a bag of tortilla cheeps. ;)

This post is absolutely useless without a recipe. ;)

Somehow I don't think she has 7 tias and an abuelita to spend all night in the kitchen making them without any advance notice.

no ,but she could make tamale pie! you know the seasoned ground beef casserole w/ conrbread on top.

what is this word recipe? ;)

I was making it up as I went along.. borrowing from a few different recipes that I'd read and working with what I had in the house.

Churros:

Go to Costco. Buy churros. Cut into smaller pieces :)

The chocolate sauce "recipe":

1 bag chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs sugar

Melt all ingredients together in a double boiler.

What I really did:

I only had a cup of cream, so I used milk for the other 1/2 cup
I couldnt find pure ancho powder, only the whole pods. So I cut one up and let it sit in the cream for about an hour.

Then I heated just the cream and chile pod in the double boiler to extract a little more flavor, before straining it.

Then I combined the strained cream with the chocolate chips, cinnamon, and sugar in the double boiler. I had chipotle chile powder in the house so I threw in a 1/2 tsp of that too.

For the layered enchiladas:

about a dozen corn tortillas sliced into 4 strips each
about 3 cups of enchilada sauce (i made my own using 2 cups veggie broth, a can of tomato sauce, and most of a pkg of powdered enchilada seasoning from the hispanic aisle)
large can of refried beans
a little oil
about 6 cups small-diced raw veggies (i used onion, red pepper, poblano
pepper, carrot, zucchini, mushroom, broccoli, kale, and corn)
powdered enchilada seasoning
about 4 cups of cheese (I mixed pepperjack and cheddar cuz it was in the house)

saute the veggies in a little oil... sprinkle some powdered enchilada seasoning over them.

put a 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan
add half the tortilla strips..spread evenly across the bottom of the pan
add half the beans
half the veggies
half the sauce
half the cheese

lather, rinse, repeat.

throw it in the oven at 350(F) for about an hour.

this post is absolutely useless without photos of the taco

And? (Someone better post how it was, and what others brought, too.)

Until this line, I was applauding. :D

Is that the layer where the bacon should be? :D

Well, she did say it was vegetarian. It could have been a layer of tofu . . .

Thanks for the recipes missydarlin! The chocolate sauce is especially wicked sounding, which is a good thing :)

TrojanHorse: Take a cold shower! ;)

Eastbay1K, because you asked so nicely . . .

http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/

Enjoy! ;)

The Pot Luck thread
 

Holidays bring Pot Luck lunches and dinners. Post some of your ideas for easy to fix, easy to serve (think about how you are going to keep it warm or cool while waiting for lunch at work) pot luck dishes.

I jump at the chance to bring dip. Get one of those round rye boules, slice off the top and scoop out the insides. Fill with your choice of dip (I usually end up with Knorr Spring Vegetable with half sour cream and half mayonnaise) and put it in. It does better for sitting an hour or so, but you can always keep the dip and a bowl and put it in when you get to the party. Instead of chips I usually get a bag or two of pre-cut celery and carrot sticks. Note that I am usually doing this the morning of the party because I forgot to make something the night before!

i'm making chile verde for the office holiday potluck next week.

Meatballs are always super easy... in gravy or bbq sauce

pulled pork

homemade mac and cheese

My brother always brings a hot crab and artichoke dip

I love my crockpot.

KFC bucket meal and Domino's/Pizza Hut.

Never fails. ;)

I guess partly because I've never worked in an indoor office type of job, I've always equated potlucks with summertime outdoor bbq type of affairs rather than the holiday season. And I love em.

I agree with Missy on the homemade mac and cheese (I've got a recipe for 5 Cheese Mac that's delish...).

I went to a potluck tonight and brought a Triple Mint Chocolate Cream Pie that was amazing and went over well. And the pie is amazingly simple to make.

Tortiila de patatas (or rather tortillas, one is never enough)

Ensaladilla rusa and breadsticks

to disappoint? :D

I'm going to a potluck tonight and bringing bread pudding with whiskey caramel sauce. It's easy to make and great served warm or cold.

After volunteering pumpkin bread, I have been assigned a green vegetable. These folk take those basic food groups to heart.

Pumpkin is a vegetable, no? Just use a green one. Or throw some pistachios in it.

If it weren't for the fact that we cant bring anything alcoholic (it's a school) I would so want that Bread pudding with whiskey carmel sauce.

I think I'm going with green beans with shallots and diced tomato. Or, travel related, haricot vert (available at Costco!)

I also think we need that bread pudding recipe, wanderingviolet. Well, at least the sauce recipe.

The bread pudding was a hit as usual :). I mistyped earlier, the sauce is actually a spiced caramel rum sauce but you could use whiskey or a variety of other spirits. The alcohol is really just for flavor, you can easily omit it for a non alcoholic version.

Bread pudding

8 large eggs
5 cups milk
1 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1-pound loaf cinnamon challah or cinnamon-swirl bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup golden raisins ( i use dried cranberries because that's what I have on hand)


Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Add milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla; whisk to blend well. Stir in bread and raisins. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake pudding uncovered until puffed and golden, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool slightly (pudding will fall). Serve warm with Caramel Rum Sauce.

Caramel sauce
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons spiced rum or dark rum
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add cream, rum, and cinnamon and bring to simmer. Simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.