Culinary Confusion - A different kind of Chicken Enchilada

Hi Everyone!!!

Sometimes, I can't decide what culture I am going to cook from.  Sometimes it is on purpose, and sometimes, it is because of necessity.  I think by now, y'all know that my favorite foods are from the desert southwest and Mexico.  Don't get me wrong, I fully enjoy other flavors and cultural foods as well.  But there is something so comforting to me about the desert southwest.  The first time that I stepped off of a plane in Albuquerque in 1995, I was "home".  I can't fully describe the pull that this part of the country has for me.....but some day, I am going to live in New Mexico.  Jason and I adore Albuquerque and the surrounding area, Santa Fe and Taos.  Plus, it gets us that much closer to Sedona, which is only about 4 1/2 hours from Albuquerque.

Well, that was a little bit of a tangent, but we'll get back on track.  A few days ago, I promised Jason that I would make chicken enchiladas.  I had everything in the house, or so I thought.  I had a bunch of Hatch chiles in the freezer that had been roasted and peeled, so I defrosted them in a bowl and threw them and the liquor in the blender with a little salt and pepper and processed them until they were smooth.  I used about 6 cups of chiles to end up with about 4 cups of sauce. This is my version of a very simple and straight-forward enchilada verde sauce.

The filling for these enchiladas is:
2 1/2 to 3 pound rotisserie chicken, skinned, boned and the meat shredded
1 medium onion, chopped and sauteed in a little olive oil until browned
4 cloves of garlic, minced and added to the onion after it is browned
4 Hatch chiles, roasted, peeled and diced
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
3 cups of shredded cheese (1cup each of cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella), reserve some for the topping

Once the onion and garlic have been cooked, add the black beans, cilantro, chiles and cumin and heat through.  Remove from the heat and let cool.  Once cool, add the cheese and mix well.

Take your tortillas......this is the point in the evening when you realize, something is missing and it is a main ingredient for your meal.  As I frantically searched the refrigerator and freezer, all I can find are left-over cooked and frozen giant pasta shells from making stuffed shells a few weeks ago.  So, I put 1 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of 2 baking dishes, defrosted the shells, stuffed them with the filling, lined them up in the baking dishes, poured over the remainder of the sauce, sprinkled them with more cheese and baked them at 350' for about an hour, until they are nicely browned on the top.

They came out amazing and as soon as I can get the picture downloaded from my iPhone, I will add that to this post.

This recipe will make 26 stuffed shells.  In honor of this wonderful meal, I am going to don a sombrero and sing, "That's Amore"......

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,

Enjoy!!!
S.

Slightly new twist on an old favorite

Today was a rainy and cold day here in North Texas and it just felt like a great soup day.  I was in the mood for chicken tortilla soup, but didn't have everything in the house.  So, I improvised a bit and took a very basic chicken soup recipe, added chopped jalapeno and chopped cilantro and ended up with a nice "middle of the road" flavor.  Not too spicy, not to "standard".  Here is what I did:

4 quarts of chicken stock
1 package of your favorite pasta
6 boneless chicken breasts, skinned, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
4 ribs of celery, chopped to approx. 1/4 inch
6 carrots, chopped to approx. 1/4 inch
1 large purple onion, chopped to approx. 1/4 inch
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 large jalapenos, seeded, deveined and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon each of salt & pepper

In a large soup pot, on medium heat, bring the olive oil up to temperature
Add the onion and let saute
Add the diced chicken and let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add the remainder of the diced veggies and the chicken stock and stir
Cover and let cook on low until the chicken is cooked through, approx. 30 minutes
Add the pasta, stir, cover and let the pasta cook gently, approx. 10 - 15 minutes

Check to see if the pasta is cooked and taste for seasoning.

I know that this is really simple, but the cilantro and jalapeno made a big difference in the flavor profile.

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,
Enjoy!!!
S.

365 in 365 - # 109 - Baked or Fried Chicken Parts - Act 1: The Strips

There is a complete science to fried chicken that only the most seasoned southern cooks really get.  Let's break down some of the areas of the US and how we treat food....oh, this should be fun!!!

     The Northeast - if you boil it, they will eat it
     The South - if you fry it, they will eat it
     The West Coast - if you make it small and pretty, they will eat it
     The Pacific Northwest and Alaska - if it's game, they are game
     The Upper Midwest - if it will "stick to your ribs", they will eat it

Now, this is not to say that any region won't try anything else, this is just a very high-level view of regional American cuisine.  I'm from New England, and it used to be that if you boiled it, I would eat it...well, not any more.  We had clambakes, boiled dinners, all kinds of soups, chili with beans (sacrilegious....at least from a Texas perspective) and any number of other stewed, poached, boiled and / or simmered preparation methods......which all "boiled down to" something simmering in some kind of liquid.

Growing up in my house, we had fried chicken, but we had "Shake-n-Bake".  If you recall from one of my earliest posts, I was very clear that my mother was an adequate cook, but she was an extraordinary baker.

Anywho.....If I have learned one thing, there is fried chicken, and then there is fried chicken (spoken with a slow southern drawl) and is an entirely different experience.  Let's be clear about one thing right now......I do not know what a "gizzard" is, I will not be frying any of them, and there will be no chicken parts in my kitchen that are not "normal".   The cats get the "giblets" as a treat.


At this point, I am playing with versions of fried chicken.  Despite the rumblings of some of the most seasoned southern cooks, I like to completely immerse my chicken in buttermilk overnight.  Buttermilk has a "tang" that subtly infuses the chicken and it keeps the chicken moist and tender.  


So, get yourself a chicken, if whole, cut it into parts, or you can get a fryer all ready cut up.  I happen to like purchasing the parts separately so that I can choose how many of each that I want.  Today, it is 4 boneless breast pieces for chicken strips and / or chicken bites (not nuggets).  One of our new commercials (In the US) asks, "what part of the chicken is a nugget?".  My answer, "Well, I simply don't know."


The first step is to trim the breast pieces of fat and cartilage.  Cut them into 1 inch strips, being sure to cut side to side, not top to bottom.  Put in a large bowl with a cover and then douse the whole thing in buttermilk, being sure to stir well so that the buttermilk gets in between all the chicken pieces.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  You can refrigerate for as little as 2 hours, but the chicken just won't be as tender.

For the breadcrumbs, you will need 2 cups of bread crumbs.  I am a big advocate of making my own with chunks of ciabatta bread (crust and all) thrown into a food processor with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cracked (not finely ground) black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 cup of dehydrated onion flakes and 2 tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley.  Process until all is well blended and pour into a pie plate.

Let's talk about "club finger"......that terrible condition that results from taking wet meat, dredging it in flour, dipping in egg wash and then into what ever coating is going on the meat.  To avoid this terrifying condition, take the chicken strips out of the buttermilk bath with a fork and let some of the excess milk drip off.  Then, using the fork, place the chicken coated in buttermilk in the bread crumbs and coat it nicely on all sides.

For a nice baked version - place the strips on a jelly roll pan, lined with tin foil and sprayed with cooking spray.  Preheat your oven to 350` F, and cook the strips for approximately 20 minutes, or until firm and golden brown.  test one of the larger strips for doneness by cutting in in half to ensure that the meat is cooked thoroughly.

For a nice fried version - be sure to heat at least 1 inch of oil in a deep frying pan to 375` F, carefully "slide" the strips into the oil on by one, and fry (turning as needed) until golden brown on all sides, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

These are simply wonderful.  I'll be posting a few versions of these with different seasonings from around the world.

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,
Enjoy!!!
S.

Mexican Lasagna - ole`

One of Jason's favorites...and soooo very easy.

Susan's Sensational Mexican Lasagna

Preheat oven to 350’

13 X 9 inch pan

Lg jar of picante sauce

1 - 15 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 can of chopped green chiles

15 lasagna noodles (3 extra, just in case), cooked until al dente

2 rotisserie chickens, meat taken off the bones and shredded

1 - 15 ounce can of black olives, sliced

1 large onion, sliced very thin with rings separated

1 large green pepper, julienned

5 cups mixed cheese, shredded (2 cups Cheddar, 2 cups Monterrey Jack, 1 cup Mozzarella)

Mix the picante sauce, the tomato sauce and the chiles

Place enough sauce in the bottom of the baking dish to moisten it (about ½ cup)

Line the dish with 3 – 4 lasagna noodles, 

spread with 1/3 of the shredded chicken,

1/3 of the onions, 

1/3 of the green peppers

1/4 of the cheese

1/4 of the remaining sauce

Repeat layers, ending with noodles and cover with remaining sauce

Cover with tin foil and place on a baking sheet to catch any liquid that may bubble out

Bake for 1 hour, uncover and turn the broiler on

Spread the remaining cheese over the top and place back in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling

Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.