CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

 To initiate the cooking entry for the blog, I decided to go with the chicken enchilada casserole.  I just refer to this recipe as chicken enchilada, but I have been informed by a friend that it isn't your typical chicken enchilada.  So I tried different things to fill it out; I added some corn and then I tried it with rice.  In the end, I was told that my original recipe was better.  So now I just refer to this recipe as a chicken enchilada casserole. 


 This recipe is very versitle.  I have shredded the chicken for this recipe, but generally I cut the chicken into chunks.  I have placed either jalepinos or diced green chilis in the sauce and sometimes I will put sliced black olives on top of the cheese.  I've also played around with the tortillas I use, alternating between corn and four tortillas.  ( I think corn tortillas work the best).  I have experimented with layering the tortiallas and then the sauce, almost like a lasagna, or else I just roll the tortillas.  Adding the rice and or corn also works, it's just a matter of taste.  You can add items into the sauce to your liking.  Playing around with the ingredients of the sauce to tailor it to your own individual taste is the best thing to do.  With that in mind, here are the ingredients that I use for my sauce.




INGREDIENTS:


1 pkg Extra thin corn tortillas (24 count)
1 can (19 oz) green chili enchilada sauce
1 can ( 4 oz) diced green chilis
1 pkg (16 oz) sour cream
1 can ( 10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 - 2 skinless chicken breast
2 C shredded cheddar cheese




DIRECTIONS:


 Cut chicken into chunks, cook thoroughly. ( I use clean scissors and cut the chicken into chuncks about 1/2" x 1/2".  I like to use scissors becuase it is faster and easier to cut the chicken.  Just make sure the scissors you are using are CLEAN before and that you clean them after, as well).  I DO NOT season the chicken because I feel there is plenty of flavor in the sauce, so the chicken does not need any. 
 Drain the chicken completely.  Using either a large frying pan/skillet or a medium saucepan, combine the enchilada sauce, green chilis, sour cream, soup and chicken and mix completely over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low, stirring ocassionally.  Spoon a thin layer of saue ( avoid getting any chunks of chicken) onto the bottom of a 9x13" pan, evenly coating the bottom. ( This will keep the tortillas from sticking to the pan).

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Warm up 5 tortillas at a time, to make the tortillas more pliable.  Working with a single tortilla at a time, cover the remaining with a wet paper towel.  Place a couple small spoonfuls into center of tortilla, roll closed.

 Place into pan.  Continue rolling tortillas and filling up pan.

 I ended up with 9 rolls, lenthwise, and an additional 4 widthwise to fill the space.

 

 Cover tortilla rolls with remaining sauce.

 Cover with cheese.

 Cover with foil and cook for 35 minutes.  Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes, cut and serve.



~When I warm up the tortillas to roll them, I heat them for 40-45 seconds in the microwave.  Rolling them warmed up makes a BIG difference!  Otherwise the tortilla is likely to tear as you roll it.  Covering the rest of the warmed tortillas with a wet paper towel keeps them warm and moist. 

~If you decide you want to shred your chicken, this is how I do it.  I bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, put the skinned, whole chicken breasts in the water.  Cover and cook the chicken all the way through.  ( I test the chicken with a fork, poking the center to see if it's done).  Once the chicken is cooked, drain the water and let the chicken cool.  Shredding it will be easier if it's cooled!  When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the chicken apart with your fingers.

 SCONES

 I got today's recipe from Tiff, a college roommate.  I can still remember vividly, the first time she made this recipe while we were living together.  They were AMAZING!!!  So naturally, I had to get the recipe from her.  I have been making them ever since.  The recipe is simple and can be easily altered.  When Tiff first made them for us, she made apple cinnamon and orange cranberry.  I loved the orange cranberry!  The apple cinnamon were good, I'm just not crazy about cooked apples.  One of the things I love soo much about this recipe is that the flavor combinations are endless!  For today, I made the lovely orange cranberry and also blueberry lemon scones.


RECIPE:

2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C chilled butter, cut up
3/4 C milk


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray/grease two cookie sheets.

 Combine flour, sugar baking powder and salt.  Cut butter into mixture.  (I cut the butter into quarters, then cube those, adding the butter one cube at a time).

Add milk, mix until sticky.  (This is where I add the flavors for the scones).* 

                                                             (cranberry orange dough)

(blueberry lemon dough)

 Place on sprayed/greased cookie sheets.  Flatten dough to 3/4 inches thick.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Cook for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.  Cuts into about a dozen strips.

(orange cranberry  )

(blueberry lemon)

~*For the orange cranberry scones, I use about 1/4 C cranberries and the zest from 1 orange.  I use dried cranberries and I let the cranberries soak in warm water for at least 10 minutes before I need them.  When I am ready to put them in the dough mixture I drain the water.

~*For the blueberry lemon scones, I use about 1/4 C blueberries and the zest from 2 lemons.  I use dried blueberries for this, less messy than using fresh blueberries.  I let the blueberries soak in warm water for at least 10 minutes before I need them, then I drain them before I add them to the dough.

~You can also top the scones with a powdered sugar glaze.

~For apple cinnamon scones, I use 1 apple and dice it up into little pieces and about 2 tsps of cinnamon.  You can also make a poppy seed and almond scone.  I've yet to make that one, I think that'll be the next flavor combo I try!

~The strength of the orange and lemon flavors will depend on how much zest you use.  I like a strong flavor, so I use more.  If you would like a more subtle flavor, use less.

~I prefer using unsalted butter, but all I had thawed today was salted butter.  In which case, I just omitted the salt from the mix.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE KITCHEN ITEMS.......

 For this post I'm going to step away from the usual recipe and instead discuss one of my favorite kitchen tools.  COOKBOOKS!!!  I have at least 10 different cookbooks, but today I want to focus on one.  My 1970, second edition, Betty Crocker Cookbook ♥ It's a 5-ring binder, "red pie" cookbook that I commandeered from my mother. (Here's what it looked like new).

 Here's what mine looks like:

 What makes this particular cookbook soo special?  I was a sophomore in high school when I made my first recipe from this book.  It was snickerdoodles, and that was when I discovered I enjoyed baking and also, that I was good at it!  The recipes in this cookbook are also relatively easy to follow, and use common ingredients.  It's frustrating to me when I want to try a recipe, only to find out that it requires an ingredient (or ingredients) that are uncommon, and rarely used.  Such is not the case with this cookbook.  Not to mention that the food is DELICIOUS!!!

 I 've made several recipes from this cookbook.  Some of my favorites are: snickerdoodles (of course!), coffee cake, streusel coffee cake, strawberry-rhubarb pie, corned beef and cabbage, German chocolate cake and the coconut frosting, apple cobbler, peach cobbler, peach crisp and peanut brittle.

 This cookbook is older than I am!  It has been used and loved over the years and shows the wear.  The spine of the book has seen better days.

 There are splatters/stains from use in the past.  Going through the book it is easy to see the more used recipes due to the residue left on the pages.

 Many of the pages bear evidence of heavy use by the presence of reinforced labels along the holes for the binder rings.  The following picture is a page where all five ring holes are reinforced!

 I've looked on eBay and Amazon to find a "cleaner", more pristine copy, but I think I'll stick with my copy.  It has seen me through many years and various recipes.  Here's to you, my 1970, second edition, Betty Crocker's Cookbook!

CHANGES

 Last month I was able to spend a couple weeks visiting one of my brothers.  While I was there I made something that I had intended to post during my visit, but an issue arose and the post was put on hold.  However, as I was baking I was able to use a kitchen appliance that I have been fixated with for some time.  Which got me to thinking about changes I could make with this blog.

 The stats for this blog indicate that there are people, other than me, that are reading this.  I hope you like the changes I have planned.  If not, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.  ( Your comments and suggestions would STILL be appreciated if you like the changes I have in store). 

 With that in mind, here is what I would like to do.  Instead of posting a new recipe once a week, I'd like to break down the weeks in a month and post different things.  At least half of the posts will still be recipes for desserts I've tried, with pictures to match.  Starting next week, here is what I'll do that will be different.  One post a month will be about one of my favorite things associated with baking.  Be that a product or brand, an ingredient or a kitchen appliance.  The other change being a post once a month for a recipe for a main dish.  With pictures, naturally.

 I think these new changes will freshen up the blog and hopefully generate some comments.  It is my hope that you will like the changes and continue to frequent my blog.  I would also like, very much, to hear from you all.  To know who is out there reading this, ideas you have for future posts, recipes you would like to share with us and if you had tried the recipes posted, and if so, how they turned out for you.

 I wish you all a wonderful rest of your week and a productive, relaxing weekend!  I'll see you next week as I cover one of my favorite kitchen items :)

(Storefront, Ruidoso, NM)

 It's weird not posting pictures, so here are some from a previous visit with the aforementioned brother.

(Roswell, NM)



 The past two weeks I have given much consideration to what I wanted to post next.  I had narrowed it down to one of three possibilities: strawberry rhubarb pie, chocolate chip cream cheese bars, and double chocolate chip brownies.  While I am sure that eventually, all three will end up being covered at some time in my blog, I hope you enjoy what I decided to go with this week.


 When I bake I have several brands that I prefer to use.  This week's recipe comes courtesy of one of my favorite brands, Nestle®.  I found this recipe on the back of a bag of their chocolate chips while I was in college.  It was an instant hit and I have made it many, many times since.

 NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE®

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS:

2 C. (12 oz pkg.)  NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, divided
1/2 C. (1 stick) butter or margarine, cut into pieces
3 large eggs
1 1/4 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C. chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

 Melt 1 C. morsels and butter in large saucepan over low heat; stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in eggs.  Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla and baking soda.  Stir in remaining morsels and nuts. 

 Spread into prepared pan.

 Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.  Cut into bars.

~Sometimes I like to change things up a little bit and I'll drizzle caramel over the top of the brownies right after they come out of the oven. (I was almost out of caramel when I took this picture, otherwise, there would be more caramel drizzled over the top).

~Once the caramel and the brownies have had time to cool down, I'll sprinkle powdered sugar over the top.

~If you would like, you can gently shake the pan to more evenly distribute the powdered sugar over the top of the brownies.

~I cut the brownies into 28 pieces, 7 rows of 4.

~I have gotten used to not baking with nuts, there are a lot of nut allergies out there, and I never know who will end up eating what I make.  So  I tend to just leave out the nuts unless otherwise requested.