Sunday, August 7, 2011

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

Let me start off by saying that I love buffalo wing sauce!  Just like the woman says on the Frank's Hot Sauce commercial, "I put that **** on everything"...and I do.  I have even dipped a bagel into it before just so I could have a reason to be eating buffalo wing sauce.  So, if you enjoy it as much as me...you will enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients
1 can of cream of chicken soup (I prefer to use the reduced fat/sodium ones)
1 cup of prepared ranch dip
2/3 cup of chopped green onions
3 cups of cooked and shredded chicken
3/4 cup of buffalo wing sauce (I prefer Frank's)
10 flour tortilla shells (6inch)
3 cups of shredded monterey jack cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13x9 cooking dish with cooking spray.  In one bowl, mix together the soup, ranch dip and half of the chopped green onions.  In another bowl, mix together the chicken and the buffalo wing sauce.  To assemble each enchilada you will first spread about 2 tbs of the soup mixture down the center of the tortilla.  Then, you will add some of the buffalo chicken down the center of the tortilla along with some of the shredded cheese, making sure not to add too much so you will still be able to roll it up without the inside mixture oozing out.  Place the tortilla fold side down and repeat this process with all 10 tortillas.  After you have assembled all of the enchiladas, pour the remaining soup mixture down the top of the enchiladas making sure to spread it evenly.  Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and green onions and bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.  Let dish cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Crab Cakes with Chipotle Mayonnaise

Now, I am not a seasoned crab cake eater but these are by far the tastiest crab cakes I have had while being land locked.  Jake made these for me when we first started dating to try to impress me with his cooking skills...and it worked!  I was impressed to say the least with how good they tasted, and I have come to find out they are quite easy to make as well.

Ingredients
2 cans of lump crab meat
1 TB of fresh parsley chopped
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup of green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp of salt
dash of pepper
Chipotle Mayonnaise (recipe below)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and shape into 4 crab cakes.  Place in the refrigerator for an hour to firm.  You will cook the crab cakes in a pan with 3 tbs of oil.  Once pan has become hot, place the crab cakes into the hot pan and cook 4-5 minutes per side on medium to high heat or until the outer edges of the crab cake have turned a light brown.  Garnish with Chipotle Mayonnaise and enjoy!

Chipotle Mayonnaise
2 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 plum tomato seeded and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lime

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan and heat on low for about 10 minutes to allow ingredients to marry. You will want to serve the chipotle mayonnaise warm over the crab cakes.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Pork Chimichangas - an easy meal that tastes delicious

We discovered this one when we had left over pulled pork from a summer barbecue.  We wanted to use the pork but had enough sandwiches to last a lifetime and wanted to change things up.  We decided to go south of the border on this one and knocked it out of the park.  This is an easy dish to prepare and most likely you will have all the ingredients in your house already, except of course the pork, in which case chicken works just fine.  (editor's note: this goes quite well with a margarita or a cold cerveza)  Here is how I do it....

Servings: 2

Ingredients
2 Burrito size tortilla shells
1 large onion, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
1 lg clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 cups shredded pork (or cooked chicken/beef)
salt to taste
1 TB of cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic
shredded monterey jack cheese
queso sauce (recipe follows)
pico de gallo (recipe follows)

In a large skillet, saute the onions, peppers and garlic in 2 TB of vegetable oil until the veggies are tender (about 5 minutes at medium heat).  Next you will want to add the pulled pork and chicken broth.  Continue to stir until all of the ingredients are incorporated.  Next you will want to add the spices.  If you would like your chimi with a little heat, feel free to add some diced jalapeno or crushed red pepper.  Allow the pork mixture to cook at low heat for about 10-15 minutes to allow all those good flavors to get to know one another!

Next, brush both sides of the tortilla shells with vegetable oil...those sides are going to be the outside of your chimis.  Flip the tortilla over and place the pork mixture in the center of the tortilla (don't just plop it in the middle in a big ball...you will want to spread it evenly through the middle but not getting it close to the ends that you fold, to allow easy folding of the tortilla).  Once the pork is on the tortilla, place a handful of shredded monterey jack on top of the pork.  To fold the tortilla you will want to take the side closest to you and bring it over the pork and tuck it tightly under the pork before folding in the sides.  You will then slowly roll the tortilla away from you to make a nice tight chimi!
Place both pork chimis in a baking dish and bake (that's right, these are baked...not fried) at 450 for 10-15 minutes or until the tortilla is a very light golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Queso Sauce
2 TB flour
2 TB melted butter
1 cup of milk
1/2 lb of white american cheese
3 TB of jalapeno pickled juice

Melt the butter in a saute pan and add flour to make a roux.  Once the roux has become a very light tan color, slowly whisk in the milk.  Once the milk has begun to thicken you can start to add the cheese a little bit at a time stirring constantly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Once all the cheese has been added, you can add the jalapeno juice and take off the heat.


Pico De Gallo
1/4 cup diced onion
3 diced roma tomato
1 minced garlic
1 TB chopped cilantro (or parsley if you aren't a cilantro fan)
2 TB of lime juice

To essemble:  Cooked pork chimi's, queso sauce and pico.

Beef Soto

This is a great date night meal, or any special meal for that matter.  Now, most people would think that doing anything other than just grilling a filet is a crime but I challenge them to tell me this isn't delicious.  This will literally melt in your mouth if done correctly.  Here is how I do it...

Servings: 2
Ingredients
3 TB of butter plus 2TB later on
3 TB of flour
2 cups of chicken broth
1/4 cup of white wine
juice of 1 lemon
1 pint of fresh mushrooms, sliced and cooked
provel cheese (provelone if outside St. Louis)
bread crumbs
2 beef filets


To begin, season your filets with salt and pepper.  Place about 1 cup of bread crumbs in a shallow dish and lightly coat both filets with bread crumbs.  Set the filets aside until you are ready to cook them on the grill.
For the sauce, you will need to melt 3 TB of butter in a saute pan.  Once the butter has melted, add the flour...you are making a roux so keep stirring and cook long enough to allow the flour taste to cook out (about 2 minutes).  Grab a whisk and slowly add in the chicken broth.  You will want to continue to whisk until the roux has incorporated into the chicken broth.  Add the wine and the lemon juice and let it all come to a slow boil to allow the sauce to thicken a bit.  Once the sauce has thickened  you will want to taste it at this point and add salt and pepper to taste.  Add the mushrooms and keep the sauce on low just to stay warm while you grill the steaks.
You will want your grill at medium to high heat.  To ensure even cooking for your steaks, allow the steaks to come to room temperature before placing them on the grill.  For steaks that are 1 inch thick, allow them to cook 5-6 minutes per side for medium rare.  A good way to test the steaks are to push on them with your finger, the more firm it is...the more well done they are.  Remove steaks from grill and place them in an oven safe dish.  Pour the sauce equally over the steaks and then cover the tops of the steak with provel cheese.  Place them under the broiler until the cheese has melted and you can't wait any longer to sample it out!

Enjoy!

Picture Below

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Cheesy salsa chicken

So, it was a night alone while Jake was coming home late.  I didn't want to do too much and I wanted to work with what was in my refrigerator.  This is what I came up with and apparently it was a hit.  Here is what I came up with...

Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 TB salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mexican oregano
2 TB of vegetable oil
1 cup of your favorite chunky salsa
1 pkg softened cream cheese
3/4 cup shredded Monterey jack

Mix together all of the spices in a bowl and season both pieces of chicken with it, both sides.  Heat a large skillet with vegetable oil.  Place chicken breasts in skillet and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until lightly golden.  Place browned chicken breasts in a baking dish and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix together the salsa and softened cream cheese.  I have found using a hand mixer gets the lumps out of the cream cheese quicker.  Pour the cream cheese salsa mixture over the chicken and cover with foil.  Bake covered for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and continue to bake for 20 additional minutes.  At the end of baking, sprinkle the Monterey jack on each of the pieces of chicken and bake until the cheese has melted.  Once you remove the chicken from the oven, allow to stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving to allow the dish to cool.  Serve over your favorite rice.

(Picture on site)

Chicken and sausage pepper pasta

This is a newer recipe for me to try.  This is not what I usually would put on my blog so fast but it was loved by all so I thought, "what the heck."  This is how it goes...

Ingredients
2 TB margarine + 1 TB margarine to be used later
1 TB olive
3 Sweet Italian Sausage links (sliced 1 inch thick at a diagonal)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (Diced in cubes)
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 TB flour
1 small onion diced
3-4 Italian green frying peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley (reserve 2 TB for garnish)
2 pickled cherry peppers (jarred) chopped, plus 3 TB of liquid from the jar (based on personal preference you can get sweet or hot pickled cherry peppers)
1/2 lb. uncooked farfalle pasta (aka...bow tie)  Cook as directed, making sure to salt the water once boiling

Heat 2 TB of margarine and 1 TB of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook the sausage until both sides are golden, about 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, season your cubed chicken with salt and pepper and then toss the chicken into the 2 TB of flour.  Once the sausage has cooked for 2 minutes and it is golden, add the chicken.  You are only going to brown the chicken at this point so it will only take 3-4 minutes.

Next, add the onion, garlic, green frying peppers, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of fresh ground black pepper.  Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the wine and stir making sure to scrape the bottom of the skillet to get all of the browned bits at the bottom...this is the flavor!  Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and bring to a gentle simmer before covering, allowing it to cook for an additional 5 minutes to allow the sausage and chicken to cook through.

Remove the chicken, sausage, peppers and onions to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Stir in the parsley (remembering to reserve some for garnishing), cherry peppers and their liquid into the skillet along with 2 TB of  starch water from your pasta.  Bring to a boil and let it reduce slightly (about 3 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in 1 TB of margarine.  Add the chicken, sausage, peppers and onions back into the skillet to toss with sauce.

Place the chicken, sausage, peppers and onions mixture over the farfalle pasta and garnish with fresh parsley and grated Parmesan cheese!  Enjoy!

(Picture on site)

Hoosier Corn

First off, I didn't name this and it has nothing to do with Indiana.  I think it's a recipe that relates more to people who put mayonnaise on steak or something ridiculous like that.  I felt the same way the first time I heard this...but after I tried it, I will never look at corn the same way.  This is how it goes...

Ingredients
Fresh ears of corn
Margarine
Mustard
Parmesan cheese
Chili powder

After you have "shucked" your corn.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once you are at a rapid boil, salt your water and place your corn in the pot and let it boil for 8 minutes.  Remove the corn from the boiling water and let cool for about 5 minutes so that all of the rest of your ingredients don't run off your corn...who wants that!
Now stay with me, I know this sounds like a strange combo on corn on the cob, but boy does it taste good!
Lather your piece of corn first with margarine.  Next you will want to squirt some mustard (just plain old yellow mustard) over the corn and using a knife spread it over every inch of the corn.  Next, you will sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of the mustard...don't be shy...give it a good dusting.  The final topper to this corn, a light sprinkle of chili powder.  If nothing else, your curiosity has got you wanting to dive into this piece of corn! I hope all of you enjoy this as much as I do, I haven't eaten a plain old piece of corn of the cob since!

(Pictures on site)