Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

I found this recipe on Melanie's blog, My Kitchen Cafe. Melanie just happens to be my cooking blog inspiration, so you should just mosey on over and see if anything catches your eye. If I had a picture of her I would post it right here and tell you how she and Abram were friends in college and how I've been slowly stealing her away through our common obsession with food. But I don't, so I won't. Here's the good stuff:

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
from Brittany at The Sisters' Cafe

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 small chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all day). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Pollo Pulquero

By Heather Bassett

1 medium white onion, cut into 14 inch thick rounds

4 medium (about 1 pound) red-skin potatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick

8 skinless chicken thighs (bone in or out, 1 ½ to 2 pounds)

1 cup (loosely packed) cilantro leaves

1 ¼ pounds tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and sliced ¼ inch thick

¼ cup sliced canned pickled jalapenos (you can seed and slice while pickled jalapenos or buy “nacho slices”)

2 T. jalapeno pickling juice

Salt

 

Spread the onion over the bottom of a slow-cooker.  Sprinkle with salt.  Continue with layers of the potato sliced, chicken thighs, cilantro and then tomatillos, sprinkling salt evenly over each layer before moving on to the next.  (This is the only salt in the dish, so make sure to add enough.)  Scatter the jalapeño slices over everything, then drizzle on the pickling juice.  Cover and slow-cook on high for 6 hours (the dish can hold on the slow-cooker’s “keep warm” function for 4 more hours or so). 

Carefully transfer a portion of your pollo pulquero onto each dinner plate (or serving dish).  If there is a large amount of juice in the cooker, tip or ladle it into a saucepan, set it over high heat and boil quickly to reduce to a rich consistency.  Taste and season with more salt if it needs it, then drizzle over each serving.  Serve with freshly chopped cilantro over each portion if desired.  Optional: squeeze fresh lime juice over.  

*Note* Heather recommended lining the crock pot with banana leaves.  

Super Bowl Chili

From Nook and Pantry

Super Bowl Chili
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Serves 8 - 10

2 lbs ground beef, preferably 85% lean
2 medium onions, diced fine
1 large red bell pepper, 1/2 inch cube dice
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 C chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (or roughly 1 3/4 tsp whole cumin toasted and ground)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste: I didn't use red pepper flakes so I used a teaspoon of cayenne)
3 chipotle peppers packed in adobo, chopped
2 Tbsp adobo sauce
1 28 oz diced tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen fire roasted
1 28 oz tomato puree or tomato sauce
2 15 oz cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil

Serve with:
Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
Sour Cream
Avocado cubes
Chopped fresh tomato
Chopped green onion
Diced red onion
Cilantro leaves
Lime wedges

Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil and brown half of the ground beef. Once the first batch of beef is browned, remove the meat keeping the fat in the pan and add the second half and brown the beef. Once all of the beef is browned, drain and reserve. Drain the rendered fat from the Dutch oven reserving two tablespoons of fat in the Dutch oven.

In the Dutch oven over medium heat, add the onions, red peppers, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, cayenne, chipotle peppers and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the beef, tomatoes, tomato puree, beans, adobo sauce, and bring it up to a simmer. Simmer with the lid ajar for an hour and a half. Remove the lid and simmer another 30 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the chili is dark and thick. If it starts to stick on the bottom stir in a little bit of water.

Ideally serve the next day with your choice of condiments.

Diane's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Marianne's Mama's Cookies.  Best I've ever had.  

http://virayfamily.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-mamas-cookies.html

Gingerbread

Heather Bassett gave me the recipe.  It makes the best gingerbread cookies I have ever had.

1 c. butter, softened

1 ½ c. sugar

1 egg

2 TB. corn syrup

3 c. flour

2 ts. baking soda

2 ts. cinnamon

1 ts. ginger

½ ts. ground cloves

½ ts. salt

 

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg; beat until light and fluffy.  Add corn syrup; mix well.  Sift together all dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture.  Chill dough.  Roll dough on to large cookie sheet until ¼ inch thick.  Bake in preheated oven (375 degrees) for 8-12 minutes or until rich brown.  Immediately cut into desired shapes.  Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

Gary's Mac 'n Cheese

This recipe actually comes from Martha Stewart Everyday Living, but Gary is the genius that introduced me to it.  So that is how it will be known to me forever more.  Gary's Mac 'n Cheese.

And just so you know, those little bits of bread on top?  And that little bit of cayenne pepper in the recipe?  They will rock your mac 'n cheese world. 

Ingredients

6 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn or cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyere or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces)
grated pecorino Romano (I usually use pecorino romano)
1 pound elbow macaroni

Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread pieces in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour.  Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

2. Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and  becomes thick.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup pecorino Romano. Set cheese sauce aside.

4. Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer's directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well.  Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup pecorino Romano; scatter breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.

Hash Brown Quiche

From Paula Dean

3 c, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained

4 T butter, melted

3 large eggs, beaten

1 c half and half

3/4 cup diced cooked ham

1/2 c diced green onions

1 c shredded Cheddar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Gently press the drained hash browns between paper towels to dry them as bes as possible.  In a 9-inch pie plate, toss the hash browns with the melted butter into the plate.  Press them into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until glolden brown and starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.  When the hash brown crust is ready pour the egg mixture over it and return to the oven.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed.