Beef Quesadilla with Tomato Salsa

I sort of cobbled this one together from the Turkey Quesadilla in the new Holiday Favourites. Seriously yummy.

Start with one batch of the new Nacho Dip:

3 Tbsp Nacho Dip Mix
1/2 c light cream cheese
1/2 c light sour cream (I used light mayo)
1/2 c shredded cheddar
Put it in the dip baker (or casserole dish) and bake at 350 till bubbly. In the meantime:

Taco Meat
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup water
3 Tbsp VE Taco Seasoning
Browned the meat and then add the water and seasoning. Once the dip comes out of the oven, spread the dip across a soft tortilla until it's a thin layer. Spread a couple of spoons of the meat across the dip. Sprinkle some of the VE Red Bell Pepper over the meat then sprinkle a little more shredded cheddar on top of that. Top it with another tortilla shell and put it in a 350 oven on a baking sheet for 8 minutes. At the 8 minute mark, flip it over (you have to use a dinner plate for this maneuver as I learned on the first one when I attempted to just use a big spatula) and put it back in for another 8 minutes.

Cut it into 6 pieces and serve with the usual taco things like salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

Again, seriously yummy. A dinner guest (Will) was heard to say "I guess I DO like Mexican food."

K,J

Beefy French Onion Soup

Just to remind everyone that we're still here, I guess.

In the new year, we're switching to a new blogging application so you'll each be invited to the new one with new login info, but in the meantime... we're still here.

7 small onions, cut in 1/2" slices
1 Tbsp butter, melted (I used way more)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 dried bay leaves
1 1/2 lb beef stew meat
31 1/2 oz condensed beef consommé (otherwise known as 3 cans)
1/4 c dry sherry or apple juice (I used juice)
1 c apple juice
1/4 tsp dried thyme
8 slices 1/2" thick bread (I toasted)
2 c shredded Swiss (mozzarella ws in crock pot. Top with bay leaf and beef (you don't have to brown it and it's better if you don't) and cook on low for 9-10 hours.

Stir in consommé, juice and thyme and cook on high for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and ladle into oven proof bowls, top with toast and cheese. Broil at 6" for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly brown (or you can take a blow torch to it like I did).

I know that it's not traditional to put the beef into this dish and the apple juice seemed really questionable but this soup is good enough to have made it into my recipe box on an index card (and you should see how dirty it is *wink, wink*).

K,J