I am so excited. Tonight I am trying my first homemade flautas. Watching the today show the other morning, a lady was on there showing the difference between yellow, white and blue corn tortillas and I learned that the yellow corn held up much better than the white corn for frying nanchoes, taco’s and flautas. So tonight we are having flautas. Because I had some roasted chicken left over from another meal, I am shredding that and placing a tablespoon in the middle of a “Yellow” corm tortilla, then spooning a tablespoon of cheddar cheese over the chicken. Will then roll up the tortilla, put a toothpick in it and drop in in oil to fry until crisp. Then spoon some hot sauce over the flautas, place some shredded lettuce over that, some chopped tomatoes and we-la, you have homemade flautas. What an easy and quick supper this will be. I know it will be so much better than the frozen ones they sell at Costco….will report tomorrow on how Randy likes them. Happy Fall Ya’ll!
Category: Chicken
Chicken and Broccoli Cobbler (or Zucchini if you don’t like broccoli)
This cobbler takes 15 min to prepare and is such a comfort food. I am not a huge fan of broccoli unless I eat it raw. But I substituted mushrooms and zuccchini makes this now a favorite of mine.
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups cubed sourdough bread (6 1/2 oz)
1/2 cup preshredded parmesan cheese
3 cups small broccoli florets (or equal amounts of zucchni and mushrooms to equal 3 cups total)
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup drained chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 (10 oz) container refrigerated alfredo sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tables dry sherry (or you can use chicken broth or cream)
Preheat oven to 400. Drizzle butter over bread cubes in a large bowl; sprinkle with cheese and toss well.
Combine broccoli (or other veggies) and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon filling into a lightly greased 2 qt. rectangular or oval baking dish or individual baking dishes; top with bread cubes.
Bake uncovered at 400 for 30 min (20-25 min for individual cobblers) or until bubbly and top is toasted.
Chicken-Chile Cobbler With Smoked Sausage and Black-Eyed Peas
I can already see your face when you read the title. You are thinking that this will be to much trouble and “ooh, it has black eyed peas in it.” You have got to trust me on this one. This is so good and really easy and makes a great dish for company. It comes from an old Southern Living Magazine and it is tried and true.
1 (16 oz) packge frozen black eyed peas
2 tables butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 large poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup flour
1 (1.25 oz) envelope white chicken chili seasoning mix
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (to make this simple, use a bought roasted chicken)
Wild Rice Crust Batter *Recipe follows these directions
Cook peas according to package directions; drain.
Preheat oven to 425. Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium high heat; add sausage, and saute 3 min or until iightly browned. Add onions and poblano pepper, and saute 3 mins. Add flour and seasoning mix; cook, stirring constantly for 1 min.
Gradually add chicken broth, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of dutch oven.Cook, stirring constantly, 3 min or until broth begins to thicken. Stir in black eyed peas and chicken, and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, prepare wild rice crust batter as directed. Spoon hot chicken mixture into a lightly greased 13×9 baking dish. Spoon Wild Rice Crust batter immediately over hot chicken mixture. Bake at 425 for 35 to 40 min or until crust is golden brown and cooked through.
Wild Rice Crust Batter
1 (8 oz) pouch ready to serve long grain and wild rice mix (we used Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Ready Rice)
1 cup all purpose baking mix (such as Bisquick)
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Stir together rice and baking mix in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture and stir in milk and egg, just uintil moistened. Use immediately.
Stuffed Chicken
Ever since the Dr told both Randy and I to loose weight and get our cholestrol down, we have been searching out new ways to cook foods we love without the butter and cream cheese. I haven’t done very well, but we have made a few changes. Last night I thawed out 2 chicken breasts and pondered what to do with them besides just bake them. So……I pulled out the bag of fresh spinach and cooked half of the spinach. Drained it very well and mixed it with parmesan cheese, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, dill and sliced the breast in two. Stuffed the spinach into the center of the chicken and then sprinkled a little oilive oil, seasoned salt, garlic and pepper over the chicken. Covered it and baked it for 30 min. It was really good. Served it with fresh mozzarella and cut up fresh tomatoes and a side of pasta with had a little pesto sauce over it. It was such a fast and easy dinner with almost no fat. Just a little olive oil and we actually loved it.
That got us so excited about eatting healthy that we decided to go out and celebrate, so we went to get a dish of frozen yogurt which I had a brownie cut up in mine with toffee chips.
You really didn’t expect me to change my entire style of eatting all in one night, did you?
Sunday Potluck Chicken Enchiladas
As you can tell, I spend a little of each day going back through old recipe magazines and new ones, as they come in the mail. This recipe is from a Paula Deen magazine, 2007 and it is so good, I am thinking of opening up my own Mexican food restaurant here in California, since they DON”T KNOW HOW GOOD TEX MEX IS AND I CAN’T FIND IT HERE…ANYWHERE!!!!
Sorry, I lost it there for a minute. It is a great dish to take to potlucks or serve to company, just have the others bring a salad, chips and homemade salsa and you have a great Mexican dinner. Of course, you will want to top off the night by baking a praline cheesecake for dessert, which you can find on the ole blog……Your guests and family will think you are the “next TV cooking star”!
2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken (yes you can use a store bought chicken, I won’t tell)
1 (10 oz) can mild enchilada sauce (I used the mild green chile sauce since I like it better with chicken)
1 (8 oz) package softened cream cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
1 (16 oz) pacakge 10-inch flour tortillas
1 (10.75 oz) can Southwest-style pepperJack soup
1 (8 oz) jar picante sauce
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13×9 baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, enchilada sauce, cream cheese and onion; stirring to combine. Add 1 cup cheddar and 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese. Spoon mixture evely down center one-third of each tortilla; roll up tortillas and place seam side down in prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine remaining cheese, soup and picante sauce. Spoon mixture evenly over tortillas. Bake 30 to 36 min or until hot and bubbly.
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken
For those busy days when you are going to be gone all day, or just don’t want to wait until 4 to figure out what you are going to have, this is a simple and great dinner idea.
1/4 cup butter
1 (.7 oz) package Italian salad dressing mix
2 (10.75 oz) cans golden mushroom soup
1 (8 oz) container cream cheese with chives and onion
1 cup chicken broth
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Hot cooked angel hair pasta
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add dressing mix, stirring to combione. Stir in soup, cream cheese and broth; cook stirring constantly until cream cheese is melted.
Place chicken in bottom of a 6 qt electric slow cooker. Pour butter mixture over chicken. Cook on Low, 4-6 hours. Serve over pasta.
King (well this week, due to the royal wedding lets call it Queen Ranch Casserole
2 to 2 1/2 lb chicken
4 tables butter
4 table flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teas salt
1/2 teas garlic powder
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1/2 cup canned diced green chiles
1 onion, chopped
12 corn tortillas
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Cover chickens with water and cook for about 45-60 min ur until done. Allow to cool and then debone chicken. Reserve stock.
In a saucepan, over low heat, melt butter, add flour and blend until smooth. Combine 1 cup of the reserved stock with milk and gradually add to flour mixture, stirring constantly until thickened to make a cream sauce. Remove from heat and season with the salt and garlic. Stir in Rotel, chiles, onion and set aside.
Bring remaining chicken stock to a boil. Dip each tortilla in stock to soften. Cut tortillas into 2 inch strips.
To assemble casserole, cover the bottom and sides of a 9×13 with Pam. Place about 1/3 cup of the tomato sauce over the bottom, placing about 1/3 of the tortilla strips over the sauce and bottom. Layer half of the boned chicken over tortillas and top with half of the creamed tomato mixture. Sprinkle 1 cup grated cheese over sauce. Add another layer of tortillas, top with remaining chicken, spoon over reamining tomato sauce and top with remaining tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 min or until sauce is bubbly and cheese has melted.
Yields 8 servings
Lexington Style Grilled Chicken
2 cups cider vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tables dried crushed red pepper
4 teas salt
2 teas pepper
2 (2 1/2 -3 lbs) cut up whole chicken
Stir together first 6 ingredients until blended.
Place half each of venegar mixture and chicken in a large zip-loc plastic freezer bag; seal. Repeat procedure with remaining vinegar mixture and chicken, placing in a separate zip-top bag. Chill chicken at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning occasionally.
Remove chicken from marinade discarding marinade.
Grill chicken covered with grill lid, over medium high heat for 35 yo 40 min or until done, turning occasionally.
Serve on platter with asparagus laying around the chicken in the middle.
Oven-Roasted Asparagus
3 pounds fresh asparagus
2 tables olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teas salt
1/2 teas ground black pepper
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted.
Snap off and discard tough ends of asparagus; place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Drizzle evenly witholive oil; sprinkle evenly with garlic, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 10 min or to desired degree of tenderness. Transfer to the serving platter around grilled chicken.
Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce
1/2 lb of sliced beef tenderloin or round steak, cubed *See below
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 tables flour
2 tables olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 teas garlic powder or 2 cloves of fresh garlic
1 large can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8oz) sour cream
1 (8oz) package mushrooms, cleaned and rinsed
1 package of noodles (12 oz) cooked
*If you are not a beef eater, you can substitute chicken for the beef.
After cubing meat, dredge in flour. Heat oil in skillet and add chopped onions, stirring until clean and brown. Add meat and brown all pieces. (about 5 min). Add the mushrooms, the soup and the seasoning. Cook over medium heat for about 1 hour, or bake in oven for one hour at 350. Take off heat or out of oven and add sour cream. Stir and just heat for about 2 min over top of stove. Cook noodles according to directions on package. Drain and place 2 cups of noodles on each plate. Spoon meat/mushroom mixture over noodles. Serve with slice sweet potatoes and green beans and hot rolls. Makes a very pretty place. This is an easy recipe to fix quickly when you walk in the door at 5:30, being able to eat by 7:00 (includes bake or cook time)
Chicken & Artichoke Ole
I admit it, I am addicted to Mexican food. Since moving out to California, I am on a mission to find Mexican food that resembles Tex-Mex the most, so far, we haven’t found one that just makes me sit back and say, “ah….this is it, greasy spicy enchiladas, just like at home”. But….I’m not giving up. We have found two places that have actually great chips and hot sauce, but the faitias are just stir fried with onions and green peppers, not thrown over an open fire and grilled to perfection, like we have in Texas. We have been cooking here at the house more Mexican food than ever before. When I came across this in Southern Living, it sounded like a great new kind of different Mexican dish. Tried it and it is great. Combines two of my favs, enchilada flavor (without the cheese or fattening tortillas) and artichokes.
4 skinned and boned chicken breasts
1/2 teas each salt and pepper
1 tables veggie oil
1 (14 oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
1 (10 1/2 oz) can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup Salsa
1 teas ground cumin
1/2 teas ground chipolte pepper seasoning
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 (2 1/4 oz) can sliced ripe black olives drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Brown chicken in hot oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Remove from skillet and place chicken in a 11 x 7 in baking dih. Top with artichoke hearts.
Stir together soup, salsa, cumin, chipotle seasoning and bell pepper. Pour sauce over chicken; sprinkle with sliced olives.
Bake at 350 for 30 min. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro.
Chocolate Castles 