TEXAS COOKING ONLINE * MAY, 2003 NEWSLETTER *

Mother's Day Flowers & Gifts 157 Free Gifts - From Select Brands Impress with a beautiful chocolate gift from ZChocolate Send a wine and gift basket, or a basket of fresh fruit and wine today from AllWineBaskets The month of May is chock full of events from beginning to end, starting with Cinco de Mayo, often a whole weekend of celebration, then Mother's Day on Sunday, May 11th, and winding up with Memorial Day on Monday, May 26. These warm-weather events offer plenty of opportunity for outdoor activities like picnics, cookouts, camping and hiking. Texas Cooking archives are full of information about successful cookouts for your family or a large group of friends. Our classic article this month is Memorial Day Cookout, so don't miss it. For Mother's Day or any other day help support Texas Cooking by clicking through our sponsors' links and banners in our newsletter and on our website. We enjoy making this site one of the nicest and most useful cooking websites on the Internet. Cinco De Mayo, The Fifth of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated throughout the Mexican state of Puebla, but is also celebrated in Texas and other U.S. cities with a significant Hispanic population. Cinco de Mayo is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16. In honor of the holiday, we have posted in this month's newsletter our recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, which we think will become one of your favorites.

Visit our Weber store for a chance to win a grand prize package for a chance to win a new Summit grill. May special - Save $100 on a future Amazon purchase when you spend $500 or more on Weber products. Visit the Weber Store - Grills, Barbecue Tools, Chimney Starters Last chance: Close-out sale on professional Calphalon cookware. Great deals on stainless cookware and nonstick anodized cookware. Get this chef-quality products for your own kitchen while supplies last. New Articles For May Homemade Yeast Rolls & Breads by Sidney Carlisle Few things are as enticing as the smell of yeast bread baking. The aroma is not only inviting, but easily managed, no matter whether you are an experienced hands-on baker, a bread machine fan or a novice. Sidney Carlisle shares her considerable bread-baking expertise, as well as a family recipe for high-rising yeast rolls and Perfect Pizza Dough. Okra is Okay by John Raven, Ph.B. Warm weather brings fresh okra for making great soups and gumbos, not to mention Classic Fried Okra and Pickled Okra. John Raven discusses the do's and don'ts of picking okra, whether you're picking it out of the garden or from the supermarket produce section. Be sure to read the monthly advice column, Ask Dr. John. If you don't know beans about beans, this is a good month to read Ask Dr. John, as he fields lots of bean questions from our readers. Texas Baklava by Dorothy Sibole The basic recipe for baklava has been around for centuries -- layers of crisp buttery phyllo dough and honey-sweetened nuts. Dessert chef Dorothy Sibole presents her Texas version of this classic sweet. Texas Baklava satisfies the yen for sweet, it has a bit of crunch, and a spicy kick. A Cowboy in the Kitchen by Grady Spears Gourmet Texas cooking is laid-out here plainly with fantastic recipes and beautiful photographs. Chef Grady Spears gives us his all with this outstanding cookbook that will make its mark in any kitchen. Read Our Book Review Texas Cooking Message Boards Texas Cooking has launched its new reader message area. Have any cooking questions? Wish to swap recipes? It's fun, and free. Check it out today. Feel free to post your favorite recipe as well. Read more great cookbook reviews in the Lone Star Bookstore, May Special: Ice Cream makers and Ice Cream machines on sale! Beat the heat with savings of up to 40% on these products designed to cool off the hottest summer days. Ice Cream Appliance Sale Classic Article: Memorial Day Cookout by Eleanor Bradshaw Kick off summer with a cook-out. The weather is nice, and everyone is focused on summer fun and summer food. We provide a complete menu, which works as close by as your patio or transports to a favorite park or picnic spot, and includes barbecued chicken, several side dishes, homemade ice cream and sugar cookies. May Special: Ice Cream makers and Ice Cream machines on sale! Beat the heat with savings of up to 40% on these products designed to cool off the hottest summer days. Ice Cream Appliance Sale Recipe: Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas This dish is a good way to introduce a novice to Tex-Mex food, and so delicious that Tex-Mex veterans number it among their favorites. There's more flavor than heat, and the velvety texture of the sour cream sauce is completely seductive. 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil 1 cup finely chopped onion 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese 12 corn tortillas ½ cup shortening, oil or lard (optional) ¼ cup butter ¼ cup all-purpose flour 2 cups chicken broth ½ teaspoon salt ¼ white pepper 2 cups sour cream ½ cup (1 4-ounce can) chopped green chiles 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. The Filling: Sauté the onion in the oil just until softened. Add the shredded chicken, sprinkle with the salt, and toss to combine. Set aside and allow to cool. Add the shredded Monterey Jack Cheese and mix thoroughly. The Tortillas: Soften the corn tortillas by Wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and microwaving for 40 seconds, Wrapping tightly in aluminum foil and heating in the oven for 5 minutes, or Heating the shortening, oil or lard in a skillet and, using tongs, dipping each tortilla for 15 seconds in the hot oil, letting the excess drip back into the skillet. Drain the softened tortillas on paper sacks as they are cooked. Place an equal amount of the chicken mixture on each of the 12 tortillas, roll them up and place them, seam side down, in the baking dish. The Sauce: Over medium heat in a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for a minute or so. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, and cook until mixture thickens and bubbles. Reduce the heat, or remove from the burner, and stir in the sour cream and green chiles. Do not allow sauce to boil, but gently heat through. Pour the sauce evenly over the tortillas in the dish, and bake for 30 minutes at 375°F. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, and serve hot. Makes four servings of three enchiladas each. Of the three methods given for softening the tortillas, the heated oil method is by far the most satisfactory, from the standpoint of both taste and texture. Predictably, it is also more trouble (and more fattening) than the other two options, but you should be aware of the best way to prepare this dish. See our article on How to make corn tortillas. Choose from a HUGE selection of FREE GIFTS - Mother's Day Special Stop Spyware! Kazaa, Gator and other similar programs have been sneeking their way onto people's computers wreaking havoc to their systems. This malicious set of programs are difficult to remove. They flood the screen with their own pop-up ads, and they open the computer up to a host of viruses. If you have programs like Kazaa, TopText, Gator, WhenU and others on your system, take a moment to learn about the problems these programs cause. We have written a useful and quick tutorial that informs you about them, and how to uninstall them from your computer. T-Shirt Contest The Rules: Since we began our T-Shirt giveaway five years ago, our contest rules remained unchanged. Readers have been able to enter as many times as they like, and their entries were retained in our database. As you can imagine, our contest database has become very large (which is good), BUT much of it consists of old email addresses that are no longer valid. Therefore, we are making the following change in our contest rules: Readers can still enter as often as they like; however, each contest entry will expire three months following the date it was entered and will disappear from the database. This will greatly reduce the number of "names in the hat" and improve the odds of winning. We think this change will result in an even better contest. AllWineBaskets wine and fruit gift baskets make great Mother's Day gifts! May's Winners Are: Curtis B. of Lubbock, Texas Kathy C. of Kingwood, Texas Jolene H. of Indianapolis, Indiana Amy J. of Overland Park, Kansas Sean K. of Alexandria, Virginia Molly M. of Oakland, California Hal P. of Springfield, Missouri Dave S. of Honolulu, Hawaii V. V. of Arlington, Texas Peter W. of Maroochydore, Queensland, AUSTRALIA Congratulations winners! We are frequently asked if we award T-Shirts to non-US residents, and the answer is Yes. We have had quite a few Canadian winners, and have also sent T-Shirts to winners in England, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. Subscription / Unsubscribe Help This newsletter is sent to you because you, or someone on your behalf, indicated you would like to receive it when you signed our Guest Book or entered our T-Shirt Contest. If you wish to stop receiving the Newsletter, click here or point your browser to http://www.texascooking.com/unsub1.ihtml If you would like to change your email address, please send an email to txmailbox@texascooking.com. ©2003 Texas Cooking Online. All rights reserved.