Enchiladas Verde

These chicken enchiladas with green chiles are the richest, most sinful, delicious concoction ever.  Great to serve to family or at a buffet.  A friend gave me the recipe and they were a favorite.

Enchiladas Verde

Ingredients:

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 15 ounce can of Italian plum tomatoes, chopped with their juices

2 cups cooked shredded chicken (Rotisserie works great)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cans diced green chiles

1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese

12-15 corn tortillas

2 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons powdered chicken bouillon

oil for frying tortillas

Directions:

Saute the onion and garlic in 2 T of oil.  Add the tomatoes with their liquid, carrots, green chiles, and carrots.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Add chicken, salt and pepper.  Simmer another 10 minutes.  Fry softly the tortillas, drain them on paper towels.  Put some filling in the softened tortillas and roll up.  Add the chicken bouillon to the heavy cream and dissolve it over medium heat.  Place the rolled tortillas in a casserole and cover with the heated cream mixture.  Cover with grated cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  The cream will reduce combined with cheese.  Serve with red or green salsa.  Serves 6-8

Mink Chicken

This is a very easy  chicken dish and we always served it with rice and green vegetable.  Philadelphia Brand has introduced a product Philly Cooking Creme and the one with Italian herbs is really good in this recipe.

Mink Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

1/4 cup chicken broth or water

1 (3 ounce) cream cheese or Philly Cooking Creme

1 T horseradish (or more to taste)

Salt and pepper

Generously salt and pepper chicken pieces. Heat oil and butter until it begins to foam.  Saute breast pieces until done, 3-4 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Deglaze pan drippings with chicken broth (you may need more depending on the amount of drippings).  Add the cream cheese and horseradish, mashing to blend.  You may add more liquid or cream cheese depending on thickness. This should be creamy, the consistency of gravy.  Add chicken back to pan with any reserved juices.  Serve with rice.

Morning Glory Muffins

  I will admit that our most popular muffin was a Cranberry Walnut and I can't share that recipe.  Only Pillsbury knows that one, as they came frozen in a tube and we would scoop them into muffin tins and bake. But this recipe is delicious and very healthy.

Morning Glory Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

1 T cinnamon

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 cups grated carrots

1 apple-cored, peeled and diced

1 cup raisins (we left these out)

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

2 egg whites

1/2 cup apple sauce or apple butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 T vanilla extract

Topping

2 T chopped walnuts

2 T toasted wheat germ (I don't recall ever toasting this)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly oil muffin tins or use cupcake liners. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, egg whites, apple sauce or apple butter, oil and vanilla.

In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir in carrots, apples and raisins.  Stir in apple sauce mixture until just moistened.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.  In a small bowl, combine walnuts and wheat germ; sprinkle over muffin tops.

Bake 375 15-20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly pressed.

Bacon and Green Chili Quiche

Another quiche favorite.

Bacon and Green Chili Quiche



1/2 box refrigerated fold out pie crust

8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 green onions, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup half and half
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400.  Bake piecrust for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven.
Sprinkle bacon, green chiles, and green onions over crust.  Combine cheeses and sprinkle in crust.  Beat half and half, eggs, egg yolks, salt and pepper.  Pour egg cream mixture over crust.  Bake about 45 minutes till knife comes out clean.  Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Basic Quiche

After posting my first quiche recipe, I decided that some peoples taste may not be like mine; therefore I will give a basci quiche recipe and you can add whatever your taste desires.

Basic Quiche

Prebaked 9" pie shell (prebake 8 minutes at 400)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup half and half
Salt and Pepper
1-1/2 cups cheese, swiss, mozarella, parmesan, cheddar, or your choice
Sprinkle cheese and whatever other ingredients in prebaked pie shell.  Whisk eggs, yolks, half and half, salt and pepper. Pour over cheese and bake at 400 until middle is set.  Cool 10 minutes.
Variations:
Spinach and Bacon
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out
6 slices fried, crumbled bacon
Broccoli and Ham
I prefer fresh broccoli, using about 2 cups florets, lightly sauted.
1 cup diced ham



Brownie Cupcakes

If you like brownies, you will love brownie cupcakes.  And please, don't just use a box brownie mix and put into cupcake papers.  These are easy and soooo good.

Brownie Cupcakes

Melt: 2 sticks butter

         4 squares (4oz) semisweet chocolate

Add: 1 cup flour

         1 3/4 cups sugar

         1 t. vanilla

         sprinkle of salt

Stir until blended.

Add 4 eggs 1 at a time and stir as little as possible to combine.

Add 1 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Pour into regular size muffin tins lined with cupcake liners.  Bake 325 for 30 minutes.



French Silk Pie

Although, I must credit the Pioneer Woman for acknowledging Pi Day, Hannah being the math member of my family, texted me this morning about it. This is a day set aside by founder Larry Shaw to commemorate ...Pi .  The approximate numeric representation of Pi is 3.14, March 14. Pioneer Woman's recipe today is Key Lime Pie.  Be sure to check her out. She mentioned in her blog that her other favorite is French Silk.  I've not seen her recipe for French Silk, but this one is very easy and quick and DELICIOUS.  If you are hestitant about using uncooked eggs, you can use Egg Beaters.

French Silk Pie

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

6 T cocoa

2 eggs

2 cups Cool Whip

9" pie shell baked

Cool Whip for Garnish

Cream butter and sugar.  Add cocoa and stir well or slow on electric mixer.  Add eggs beating for 10 minutes on high, scraping after 5 minutes.   Fold in Cool Whip and pour into baked pie shell and chill.  Dollop with Cool Whip

Spinach Dip (Like Trio's)

This is a great dip and very simple to prepare. You can also add 1 can water packed artichoke hearts (chopped) to this for a different twist.

 Spinach Dip (Like Trio's)

1 10 oz. Package chopped frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

2 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese

1 8 oz. Cream cheese, softened

1 small purple onion, chopped

2 T chopped pickled jalapeno pepper or to taste

1/3 cup half and half

2 cups canned, seeded, and diced tomatoes,well drained(I use a can of Rotel)

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Thoroughly blend together all ingredients except tomatoes.  Use slow speed on mixer.  Add tomatoes and stir well.  Put mixture in ovenproof casserole and bake for 20 minutes or till hot.

Serve with pita chips.



Asparagus and Ham Crepes

This makes a wonderful brunch dish, served with fruit or green salad and muffin.  It can be made ahead of time and baked just before serving.

Asparagus and Ham Crepes

24 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed

8 thin slices of deli ham

8 slices Swiss cheese

Mushroom Cheese Sauce:

3 T butter

3 T flour

1 t. chicken bouillon

1 cup water

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup half and half

1 (4oz) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained (I prefer to saute fresh mushrooms)

1 T minced chives

8 pre-made crepes

In a large skillet, bring 1/2 inch water to a boil.  Add asparagus, cover and cook for 3 minutes.  Drain and immediately place in ice water.  Drain and pat dry.

On each crepe layer a slice of ham, Swiss cheese and 3 asparagus spears.  Roll up and place in a prepared baking dish.

In a saucepan melt butter.  Stir in flour and bouillon.  Gradually, stir in water.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Reduce heat, stir in cheese until melted.  Stir in half and half, mushrooms and chives.  Pour over crepes.  Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-25 minutes until heated.

Chicken and Mushroom Crepes

Whenever crepes were on the menu we could count on having a good day.  All of the "little ladies" would come for lunch.  I believe you can purchase crepes at the grocery,but I will include the recipe in this post. Use the same crepe recipe for any recipe calling for pre made crepes.

Chicken Mushroom Crepes

Crepe Batter:

1 cup sifted flour

3 eggs

4 T butter, melted and cooled

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 cups milk



Chicken Filling:

1/4 cup butter

3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

2 1/2 cup chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

1/2 cup sherry

Dash salt and pepper

Sauce:

1/4 cup flour

2/3 cup sherry

10 1/2 ounces chicken broth

2 cups half and half

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

Topping

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

Prepare crepes by blending flour and eggs, then add melted butter, salt and milk.  Whisk and pour about 1/8 cup into crepe pan.  Cook about 30 -40 seconds,  then flip and cook until lightly browned.

Prepare filling: Heat butter in a large skillet.  Add mushroms and onions and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Add chicken, sherry, salt and pepper.  Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until little or no liquid remains in skillet.  Remove from heat and add 1/2 sauce.

Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, blend flour and sherry with a wire whisk.  Stir in chicken broth, cream, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with whisk.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring for 2 minutes.  Add half of sauce to chicken filling.  Stir until well blended.  Set filling and remaining sauce aside.

Assemble:  Place about 1/2 cup filling on each crepe, then roll up.  Arranbge seam side down in a single layer in a buttered shallow baking dish.  Bake 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Pour sauce over crepes and sprinkle with cheese and paprika.  Yield 12-14 crepes