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.
Blonde Brownies (Or Blonde Girl Scouts, ha)
I have been somewhat homesick for Texas the last week or so, and in so doing, got out my “Cooking Texas Style” cookbook. This recipe I started using in the 1970’s and it is like a giant chocolate chip cookie if you add chocolate chips. If not, it is such a gooey, rich dessert that you can serve it with Butter Pecan ice cream or Caramel ice cream and it makes a wonderful summer dessert for family or guests.
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
3/4 teas baking powder
1 teas vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
*Optional 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Cream softened butter, add sugar and eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and vanilla and mix well. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips, if using.
Spread the batter evenly in a greased and floured 9×13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min. *A few times, I have broken up Hershey’s bars (6 of them) over the top as soon as I pull them out of the oven, let sit a couple of min and then spread over entire surface. Store in fridge if you do this, but cut them after it sets and hardens a little before placing them in fridge. That way, the chocolate topping won’t crack when you are trying to cut them into bars while the chocolate is hardened from the fridge.*
Spring Veggie Pasta Salad
Micah, you should be proud of me, I am posting a pretty healthy salad here instead of chocolate desserts. Hope you like this. It is really so good and can be served with garlic bread and sliced avacados. Instant lunch!
1 bunch asparagus, about 3 cups diced
1 Tables olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced or 2 Table jarred garlic
12 oz orzo pasta, cooked to al dente and cooled
15 oz can artichoke hearts
1 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, julienned or chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 teas kosher salt
1/2 teas fresh ground black pepper
1/3 c olive oil
Bring a medium saucepan full of water to a boil. Turn off the burner, add in asparagus pieces and blanch for 2-3 min. While the asparagus is in the water, heat one tablespoon olive oil in a small saute pan. Add in onions and garlic and saute for 1-2 min, just until tender. Drain the asparagus and rinse in cool water.
In a large bowl, add cooked orzo pasta, asparagus pieces and sauteed onions and garlic. Drain artichoke hearts and quarter them. Add them to the bowl. Add in sun-dried tomatoes with oil and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, white wine vinegar; salt and pepper. Add olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified. Stir the dressing into the salad. Move to the frig for at least 5 hours for flavors to combine. Serve cold.
Avocado Dressing
This summer when you are wanting to have a salad, but don’t want the traditional lettuce salad, or you are wanting something to “spiffy” up the look of the dinner you are serving, let me encourage you to try this. It tastes so fresh and looks beautiful on freshly sliced tomatoes.
2 ripe avocados
3 tables lemon juice
1 tables grated onion
1/2 teas salt
1/2 teas garlic powder or 1 clove minced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
dash of Tabasco sauce
Peel and seed avocados. Place in a blender with the lemon juice and puree. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. If dressing is still a little thick, thin with milk to desired consistency. Yields 1 1/2 cups
An Old Favorite
A friend just wrote and ask me where on the blog was the recipe for King Ranch Casserole. I discovered that it was not on there, so I just posted it. You will notice that it is a little different from the one that came out years ago in the Southern Living Magazines, but this one doens’t have the cream of mushroom soup and I tend to like it a little better. Just has a little more “cream flavor” other than mushroom…See what you think. Thanks Gwen for asking for it, I make it so often, I could not believe that I had never posted it. Hope Don likes this version.
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
Coconut Chocolate Pie
Oh boy, this had my name written all over it. I was looking through an old Taste of Home Magazine from 2006, found this recipe and it is now one of my favs…use a bought chocolate crumb crust and it could not be simpler to make, but hard not to eat the whole pie at one sitting.
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teas salt
1 1/2 cups milk
16 miniature Almond Joy candy bars, chopped
1 teas vanilla
1 chocolate crumb pastry shell
Whipping cream
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt. Stir in milk until smooth and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened (mixture will thicken quickly). Remove from the heat. Add chopped candy bars and vanilla, stir until chocolate is melted. Pour into pastry shell. Press plastic wrap onto filing and refrigerate about 4 hrs. Remove plastic wrap. Slice and serve with whipping cream. *If you don’t like coconut, try using the minature Reeses Peanut Butter cups (I believe these bars come in packages of 8 ea. and are a $1.00 at wallmart for the package).
Baked Oatmeal (you have to read this before turning up your nose)
These are awesome. It is like having a giant oatmeal cookie that is good for you. Better still, you an make these, freeze them and pull them out for a quick breakfast before heading out the door. I went to a meeting yesterday where a lady was giving cooking demos and handing out recipes of things she had made and that her family loved and this was one of their favorites. So here it is.
4 cups quick oats
1 cup sugar
3 teas baking powder
1 teas salt
2/3 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup milk
Combine oats, sugar, baking powder and salt in a Ziploc bag. Mix oil, eggs and milk in small bowl. preheat oven to 350. Spray a 8×8 pyrex pan with Pam. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients together. Pour into baking pan and bake 30 min until light brown edges appear. Cut into squares and wrap them individually. Serve with fresh fruit.
Pantry Puzzle
When you have food in your pantry that you just don’t know what in the world you want to make with what you have on hand and nothing sounds good, go to http://www.recipe matcher.com and put in what you have on hand and this site will give you recipes to make that you have with the food already in your house.
