Spicy Chicken Tortilla Casserole

We love casseroles at our household. I particularly love them because you just put everything in one baking dish and put it in the oven. This came out of a casserole book I have at home. We ate it tonight for the first time and thought it was delicious! Its great for your kick of Mexican food. It tastes really fresh!

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

- 1 jar (16 oz) salsa, recommend chunky style

- 1 can (2.25 oz) sliced ripe olives

- 6 corn tortillas, cut into halves

- 2 cups (8 oz) shredded Mexican flavored cheese

- sour cream (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic; cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add chicken; cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Stir in salsa and olives; remove from heat.

Place 6 tortilla halves onto bottom of ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Top with half of chicken mixture and 1 cup cheese; repeat layers.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly. Serve with sour cream. 

Zucchini Stuffing

Got this recipe from my friend, Lisa Mann. She uses a pressure cooker to cook the zucchinis but I don't have one of those so I did the old-fashion boiling technique.

Recipe Details:
Makes 1 - 2 quart casserole
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes


Ingredients:

• 6 large (6 cups) zucchinis (chopped to 1/2 inch rounds)
• 1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup (substitute with cream of mushroom to make vegetarian)
• 1 (8oz) sour cream
• 1 box of Stove Top chicken stuffing (substitute with cornbread stuffing to make vegetarian)
• 1 small yellow onion - diced
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook zucchini in lightly salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, and place in a large bowl. Stir in the condensed soup, sour cream, onion.
3. In a small bowl, mix together stuffing and melted butter. Spread half of the stuffing mixture in the bottom of the casserole dish, add a layer of the zucchini mixture, and top with remaining stuffing mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown.

Sesame Ginger Glazed Chicken & Stir-fried Broccoli

It is of no surprise to anyone that I am not the family cook. There really is nothing too special about this dish, but I just thought maybe I'd share with you what I eat almost on a weekly basis for dinner! There really aren't any clean measurements.... I kind of throw it all together and it tastes different everytime, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Ingredients:

- Chicken breast tenderloins (Or plain chicken breasts)

- Salt

- Pepper

- Dried minced onions

- 1/4 Onion sliced

- Grounded Ginger

- Chicken seasoning

- 1/4 cup Sesame Ginger marinade (Lawry's brand)

- 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce

- 2-3 tbsp Soy sauce

- 2-3 tbsp Terriyaki Sauce

- 1-2 tbsp Sriracha

- Broccoli Florets (Broccoli Wokly) Steamed

- EVOO

- Minced garlic

- Teriyaki stir fry sauce

Directions:

Season all sides of chicken with salt, pepper, dried minced onions, grounded ginger, and chicken seasoning. Oil a frying pan, place chicken in pan and cook on medium for about 7-9 mins per side.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix Ginger sesame marinade, Hoisin sauce, Teriyaki sauce, Soy sauce, and Sriracha. Set aside.

After chicken cooks on the outside, add onions to the pan. Once chicken is thoroughly cooked, brush sauce on all sides of chicken and over onions as well. Let simmer in sauce.

In another pot, add 3-4 tbsp of EVOO. Add garlic (to your preference). Add broccoli and stir until broccoli is well coated. Drizzle teriyaki stir fry sauce and splash a little bit of soy sauce. Continue to mix until evenly coated and broccoli is at the firmness/softness of choice.

Enjoy!

Oi Seobaggi (Cucumber Kimchi) Revised

This is a revised take on the Korean cucumber kimchi (Oi Seobaggi).

INGREDIENTS

• 4 persian cucumbers cut into slices at an angle
  
• 1/2 yellow onion sliced into rings and breaking the rings.
  
• 3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar plus 1 1/2 tablespoon
  
• 1 tablespoon sambal olek
  
• 1 tablespoon hoison sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
  
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black toasted sesame seeds (optional)
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix cucumbers and salt in a collander and set aside to draw out moisture. At least 15 minutes.
   
2. In a bowl, mix 3 tablespoon vinegar with onion and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
3. Rinse cucumbers and thoroughly dry.
4. Drain onions and squeeze excess vinegar from onions.
5. In another bowl mix together onions, cucumbers, sugar, hoisin, sambal, sesame oil, and remaining vinegar.
   
6. Refrigerate until thoroughly cold.
7. Serve cold garnished with sesame seeds.
   

Celery with Tofu and Dried Shrimp

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cake hard baked bean curd (can substitute with 1 cake pressed soy sauce marinated tofu) cut into strips 2 inches long and about 1/4 in wide
  
• 8 stalks celery cut down the centerlong long way and then cut into 2 inch long pieces
  
• 1/8 cup of dried shrimp coarsely chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic minced
  
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 cup chicken brothe
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat wok with oil until very hot
   
2. Add garlic and shrimp and stir-fry for 20 seconds
   
3. Add soy sauce, salt, chicken broth and celery and stir-fry until celery is slightly translucent
   
4. Add tofu and stir-fry until tofu is heat through
   
5. Add sesame oil and stir-fry for a another few seconds
   
6. Plate and serve hot

Stir-fried Eggs and Tomatoes

Adapted from The Food of China cookbook (with my tweaks):

INGREDIENTS

• 4 eggs
• 2 ripe medium-large red tomatoes
• 2 scallions finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl beat together eggs, sesame oil, and salt
2. In a wok, heat oil until very hot
3. Add scallions to wok and stir-fry for 20 seconds
4. Add egg mixture to wok and stir until almost set
5. Add tomatoes and soy sauce to wok and stir-fry for another minute
6. Plate and serve hot

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook.

After a failed attempt at oatmeal raisin cookies last week (when they tell you to soften butter...absolutely DO NOT microwave it!) My over-softened butter resulted in flattened cookies...yuck.

I decided we've had this book for a long time now, I might as well try cooking something from it...so I'm starting with cookies.

The cookies came out good, not too sweet and chewy.

The ingredients

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
About forty-eight 3-inch cookies (I only got about 3 dozen)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets.

Whisk together:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

Beat in a large bowl until well blended:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir in the flour mixture. Stir in:

• 1 cup raisins, chopped (Chopping the raisins is a good trick!)
• 3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  
• (3/4 cup chopped walnuts)

Shape the dough into generous 1 1/2-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Flatten the balls into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are lightly browned all over, 12 to 14 minutes. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool.

1-inch rounds flattened

In the oven:

The finished (and delicious) product:

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

You can't go wrong with bacon!

Bao sent us an assignment each. Anh 2 Mike was flourless chocolate cake (previous post)...mine was meatloaf. Both were delicious!

If you like bacon cheeseburger and meatloaf, you can't go wrong with this. I'm thinking about modifying this to make it takes like Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger by using BBQ sauce instead of the ketchup/mustard combo. Might be delicious...

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen. Modifications include a dash of onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. I like big flavor. I also added 1/4 of a cup of the fried onions mixed into the meatloaf mixture before baking. We love onions!

I also formed 2 handformed loaves instead of using a pan. I learned this trick from Alton Brown...doing it this way gives room for fat to render out of the meatloaf...Fat = NOT good eats.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 (8-ounce) package sharp Cheddar, grated
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs, toasted
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1 (3-ounce) can French fried onions

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck and next 8 ingredients, mixing well.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup and mustard. Stir 1/4 cup ketchup mixture into meat mixture, reserving remaining ketchup mixture.
4. Press meat mixture into a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan, or shape into a loaf and place on a rack in a broiler pan. Spread remaining ketchup mixture over loaf. Bake 40 minutes. Top with French fried onions; bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink (I used an oven thermometer until it reached 160 degrees F).

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Taken from Tyler Florence's recipe on FoodTV.com. Modified by adding cream of tartar to the egg whites.

Bao and Chi Hai seem to love it.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 stick unsalted butter*
• 9 large eggs, separated
• dash of cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 2 cups heavy cream, cold
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1 inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs - this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate - then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

Beat the egg whites (and dash of cream of tartar) in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 20 to 45 minutes (depending on your oven). Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.

While the cake is cooking, whip the cream until it becomes light and fluffy.

Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners' sugar and topped with whipped cream (we forgo'ed the whipped cream).

Flourless chocolate cake

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

I think it's safe to say that we are obsessed with red velvet desserts, having back to back posts about them. Here is what happens when Paula Deen meets Oreo Cakesters:

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves: 12-15 sandwiches

Ingredients:

-1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

-2 tablespoons cocoa powder

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/4 cup butter, room temp

-1 cup sugar

-2 eggs

-2 tablespoons buttermilk

-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 tablespoon red food coloring

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

-1 lb cream cheese, softened

-2 sticks butter, softened

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-4 cups powdered sugar

-3/4 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

-Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl

-Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 mins. Add eggs 1 at a time.

Then beat in buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and red food coloring. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.

-Onto parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using an ice cream scoop, forming 2-inch round circles.

-Bake for 10 mins, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

-In a large mixing bowl, beat the

cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar on a low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

-Spread cream cheese frosting between 2 cooled cookies and roll the edges in finely chopped pecans, if desired.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcake recipe courtesy of The Cake Mix Doctor and Lamb decoration courtesy of Martha Stewart.

This cupcake recipe is a hit! I've made it a dozen of times and so has my sister. My sisters actually made these lamb cupcakes for my lamb theme baby shower. So cute! Too bad I was pregnant with pregnancy diabetes and couldn't eat one...ugh. The cream cheese frosting used is actually the recipe on the back of the Sprinkles red velvet cupcake mix.

Piping the little lamb faces.

The finished product -- so cute!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(courtesy of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook)
24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2 -inch size)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream (see "the Cupcake Doctor says")
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
3 large eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon or scoop N cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting.

5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Place these cupcakes, uncovered or in a cake server, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. The cupcakes are ready to serve.
Store the cupcakes, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
The Cupcake Doctor Says
Use reduced-fat sour cream, and you'll sacrifice only fat and calories, not flavor. If you can't find plain German chocolate cake mix, buy the pudding in the mix version and forgo the added pudding. For more chocolate flavor, use chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla, but the cake won't be as red in color.
Cream Cheese Frosting
(from Sprinkles red velvet mix)

8 oz cream cheese
4 oz butter
3 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 tea. vanilla extract
1/8 tea. salt

Cream the butter, cheese and salt in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated, then add the vanilla.

Lamb Decorations
(from MarthaStewart.com)

2 ounces mini marshmallows, halved crosswise
6 full-sized marshmallows, halved lengthwise, then diagonally to create lamb ear
24 brown mini candy-coated chocolates (we piped frosting noses)
3 pieces pink bubblegum, cut into 12 small triangles (we piped pink heart noses)

Arrange the halved mini marshmallows around the perimeter of each plain-buttercream cupcake, in two concentric circles. Leave room for ears on the edges, and an empty circle in the center for the face. Place halved full-sized marshmallows in reserved spots for the ears. Place two mini chocolate candies in upper half of each empty circle to make the eyes, and a bubble gum triangle for the nose.

Pumpkin Souffle

Technically I didn't make this - Mike did. But since I'm online, I'm going to post it for him. This was so delicious I eat two every time he makes it. (Yes, I'm fat.) He found the recipe online and made his own modifications.

Here they are out of the oven!

The finished product (YUM):

Pumpkin Souffle Recipe
(Adapted from Ben's Pumpkin Souffle Recipe with my tweaks)

RECIPE SUMMARY:
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 13 mins
Ready in: 45 mins
Servings: 7 Ramekins

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 eggs, separated
• 4 tbsp plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice
• pinch of cream of tartar
• 1 tbsp room temperature unsalted butter 3 tbsp granulated sugar to line ramekins
• powdered sugar for decoration
• whipped cream for topping

TOOLS:

• 6 or 7 6 oz ramekins
• 12x18 disposable roasting pan
• Boiling water enough to fill roasting pan and come up half the edge of a ramekin

DIRECTIONS:

Pumpkin Base:

• Warm cream and pumpkin in a saucepan
• In a medium bowl, whisk 4 tbsp sugar into yolks until just mixed
• Whisk in flour
• Temper mixture with warm liquid
• Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. DO NOT BOIL
• Remove from heat and stir in pumpkin spice
• Cover with plastic wrap pressing down so wrap touches mixture
• Let cool to room temperature (or refrigerate for later and bring back to room temperature before using)

Souffle:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
• Coat inside of ramekins with butter, then sugar
• In a large bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks adding 2 tbsp sugar and cream of tartar partway through
• Gently fold whites into base (I'd split the whites and fold in 1/3 at a time)
• Spoon mixture into ramekins
• Place on roasting pan in over and fill pan with boiling water up to half the height of the ramekins
• Cook time: 13 mins.
  

This Blog

This blog serves as an online cookbook (if you will) for the inspiring 'chefs' in our family. It will be a collaborative of recipes either we tried from books, websites, friends or if we're daring - make up ourselves!

Bon apetite!