Chicken Tortilla Soup

This was another soup favorite, but occasionally I would get heavy handed on the cayene.  So be careful, because sometimes the Rotel is hotter than you think.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 T oil                          

8 corn tortillas             

6 cloves garlic minced

1 medium onion chopped

½ bunch or more of chopped cilantro

1 28 oz can Rotel (I chop it in the food processor)

2 T cumin

1 T chili powder

¼ t. cayenne pepper

1 t. salt

4 cups cooked chopped chicken

8 cups Chicken Broth (I use Knorr’s Tomato Chicken Bouillion)

Heat oil in large pot. Cut tortillas into strips and fry in oil.  Add onion, garlic, cilantro and spices. Then add broth. Add chicken last.

Top with sour cream and extra fried tortilla strips.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Cajun Chicken Pasta

6 ounces linguine                      2 boneless chicken breast(cut into bite size pieces)

1 T Cajun seasoning                 3 T. butter

½ green pepper chopped          ½ red or yellow pepper chopped

4 mushrooms, sliced                1 green onion, sliced

1 ½ cups heavy cream or less   ½ t. basil

½ t. lemon pepper                     ¼ t. salt

¼ t. garlic powder                     ¼ t. black pepper

2 T parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt.  Put in linguine pasta and cook 8-10 minutes until al dente; drain but do not rinse.

Mix chicken and Cajun seasoning together. (I get heavy handed on Tony Chachere's)

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and sauté chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear, about 5-7 minutes.  Add green peppers, mushrooms, onions;  cook 2-3 minutes.  Reduce heat and stir in heavy cream.  Season with spices and heat through.  Add pasta and let warm.  Sometimes, I get too much cream and just let it cook out or add more cream if necessary. You may need to adjust seasonings, but be careful of the salt.

Chicken Turnovers with Mushroom Gravy

If any of you from Camden, remember a little lady by the name of Dochia Jackson, this is her infamous recipe.  During my six years at the Invisible Chef, I would love to know how many of these we (myself, Debra Tolin, and Jonathan) made to sell.  We would wrap them individually and package them in 1 dozen to box and keep them in the freezer.  They are very good to keep on hand in the freezer. Take out frozen, bake, add a salad and green bean bundles. You have a nice dinner ready in 30 minutes. 

 Chicken Turnovers with Mushroom Gravy

2 cups cooked and finely chopped chicken  

2 tbsp. Butter

2 tbsp. Flour      

2 egg yolks

½ cup broth and ½ cup cream hot                            

2 tbsp. Minced parsley

1 tbsp. Grated onion  

½ tsp. Lemon juice

salt and pepper

Heat butter, add flour and brown.  Add milk/broth mixture and cook until thick.  Blend in beaten egg yolks, and remaining ingredients.  Cook over hot water for 10 minutes.

Dochia gave me her pie crust recipe, but over the years I started using the Pillsbury roll out refrigerated dough.

1 Box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust

1 egg

1 T milk

Roll pie crust out on floured surface to make a larger circle.  Using a 5” saucer or cookie cutter as a guide, make 8-10 circles. Fill each circle with ¼ cup of filling.  Fold over and crimp edges with a fork.  Make a wash with the egg and milk and brush over pies.  Bake 425 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Serve with mushroom gravy.

These may be individually wrapped and frozen.  Bake from frozen state.

Mushroom Gravy

2 large cans of mushrooms (I use fresh 8oz. Sliced and sauted)

4 T Butter

4 T Flour                      

1/4 cup half and half

1 ½ cup chicken broth

½ tsp. Lemon juice

Melt butter and add flour; brown lightly.  Add the cream and broth and stir till thickened.  Add lemon juice and serve over turnovers.



Basil Chicken and Pasta

This recipe was originated by my first after school employee, Jonathan Wright. Whenever I was going to be gone, Jonathan always prepared this dish, along with our "house salad and garlic bread".  It later became a favorite of Jordan Jones, who came to work as an after school employee, after Jonathan moved away to college. 

Basil Chicken and Pasta

1 (12 0z) Angel Hair Pasta

2 T butter

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ t ground black pepper

2 t. dried basil

1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

In a large pot with boiling salted water, cook Angel Hair pasta until al dente. Drain

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter.  Add the chicken and garlic; sauté until lightly
browned and juices run clear. Remove breast and stir in black pepper, dried basil,
heavy cream and grated Parmesean cheese.  Bring to a boil and simmer 3-4 minutes.


 Place chicken over pasta and cover with sauce.

Loca Luna's Roasted Red Pepper Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. My brother-in-law shared it with me when I had my resturant The Invisible Chef. The original recipe instructed you to roast the red peppers, but Jeff told me a secret about buying already roasted peppers.  Top the soup with the "Cilantro Lime Sour Cream".

Loca Luna’s Roasted Red Pepper Soup

8 large red bell peppers (2 16 oz. jars Merzetta roasted red peppers
2 T butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic chopped

¼ cup tomato paste

6 cups chicken stock

2 cups heavy cream

1 t. black pepper

2 t. salt

4 T chopped cilantro

2 T cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

1 cup sweet corn kernels for garnish

Cilantro Lime Sour Cream (see below)

Dice onions and garlic. Coarsely chop peppers.

In a heavy bottom soup pot over medium low heat, add butter and sauté onion and garlic until soft.  Add chopped red peppers, tomato paste and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Add heavy cream, pepper, and salt, cilantro.

Mix cornstarch with water and add to soup to thicken.  Simmer 5 minutes then blend with electric whisk.
Makes 3 qts.


                                                       Cilantro Lime Sour Cream

1 cup sour cream

Juice from ½ lime

1 t. fresh cilantro

Kentucky Derby Pie

This is one of the easiest pies you can possibly make and you usually keep most of the ingredients on hand. At the shop, our customers always ask that it be warmed and topped with ice cream or whip cream. Delicious!!!

Kentucky Derby Pie

1 unbaked pie shell       

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1 cup sugar

½ cup flour

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 T Bourbon

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Combine eggs, sugar, flour and melted butter.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serves8.  Good served warm with ice cream or whipped cream.



Chicken Salad

This was the signature chicken salad from The Invisible Chef. It was the first salad we served when we opened in October 2000.

The Invisible Chef Chicken Salad

4 cups cooked diced chicken 

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup sliced white grapes or red

½ cup chopped green olives

½ cup toasted almonds sliced

2 T parsley

1 t. Salt (we used Cavenders Greek Seasoning)

1 cup mayonnaise

2 t. dill weed

3 green onions chopped

Mix and refrigerate. 


Serves4-6

The Story.

My earliest memories are of sitting in the kitchen with my mom.  If I close my eyes, I see my mother, with flour on her hands, rolling out dough on the bakers table that sat in the middle of the room.  She's wearing an apron.  Measuring sugar, baking soda, spices, all out in the palm of her hand.  Because that's what she was most comfortable doing.  Because she could "eye" those things. 

To this day, my husband thinks that when I ask him if I can make something for him and his friends, that it's a burden for me.  He could not be more wrong.  There is nothing I love more than cooking.  Measuring things in my hand.  Getting all my bowls dirty.  Getting flour on my concrete kitchen floor. 

I've given it lots of thought, and I think I love it so because it reminds me of my mother.  And of my first home.  She's only 2 hours away from me now, but I feel her presence so much more when I'm cooking.

Rachel Ray always calls herself a "cook", not a "chef".  This is much like my mother.  She's never had any formal training.  Well, she took a cooking class in Italy.

I say this to say that I believe there is an art to cooking.  And it's not something you can necessarily learn in the classroom.  Much like any other talent, it's something you are born with.  At least, I believe that.  I wasn't born with it.  My mother was.  She can look at a recipe and make changes to it.  Make it better, or tweak it.  She can walk into a pantry, pull out several items.  Open the refrigerator, pull out several more items.  And give her 30 minutes, and you've got a meal.  A four star meal.  That's way more than following a recipe you found in southern living this month.

Now, about the name, The Invisible Chef.  Mom taught school for 14 years.  In October of 2001, she decided that life was just too short, and she opened the doors to a small catering business.  The name was important.  Mom and dad talked about several ideas, but nothing really stuck.  Until one day, they were eating dinner at a place in El Dorado.  There was a painting (which became the restaurant's logo), and under it was written, "The chef's invisible til the foods not good."  The artist was Dean Lynn from Texarkana.  They bought the paining, hung it in the deli and called the place, "The Invisible Chef". 

The Invisible chef was sort of a "gourmet food to go".  She did catering on the side.  It quickly became a sit down deli, with a crowd of regulars that came by daily to enjoy some of her most popular foods.  Such as: chicken salad, tomato basil soup, the Invisible Chef house salad, bread pudding, and Kentucky Derby pie.  Oh, and the Toasted Coconut Pie.

After 6 years of waking multipe times in the middle of night to scrible down some recipe or something she had forgotten to do, oh...and multiple back surgeries, (think standing from 6:30 am to 8 pm at night, yes!) she closed the doors.  Initially, there was talk about selling the business to someone.  But more and more, she decided that she would never really feel comfortable handing over everything to someone else.  And honestly, it's hard to leave your name on something when you are no longer there. 

So that brings us to today.  Spencer and I constantly call and ask her tips.  And ask for her to clarify recipes.  She is full of cooking knowledge.  And I think it's only fair to share that with everyone.  Via the blogworld.  So here we go....

Enjoy.  And feel free to leave us a comment or ask a question!  Or if there is something you're looking for, let us know that too!

Bon Appétit,
the Chef and Hannah.