Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas (w/ Tequila Lime chicken) and Sour Cream sauce!

So I've made enchiladas before, but I wanted to find something that would really pop, something awesomely unique.  The idea came to me after making soup with Tequila lime chicken. What if I made enchiladas with it instead? Thus after merging three different recipes worth of ideas (and a few of my own) these utterly delicious babies were born.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas (with Tequila Lime Chicken!)

in Sour Cream Sauce

Serves 2-3 people (You can easily double the recipe for a larger batch)

For the Enchiladas:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

1 tbs butter

1 tbs lime juice

1 tbs tequila

1/2 tbs  onion powder

1/2 tbs garlic salt

1/4 tbs cayenne pepper

1 tbs Cajun seasoning

1 sm can Hatch Green Chiles (I prefer mild)

1 cup yellow onion, diced

Flour Tortillas (usually 4 is enough)

A few handfuls of shredded Mexican Blend cheese. (1/2 cheddar 1/2 mozzarella)

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup sour cream

1 jalapeños, seeded and minced (You can do two if you like the heat)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Enchilada Filling:

Take the 4 spices (Cajun, Cayenne, garlic and Onion) and blend in a small bowl to make a dry rub.

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat.

Pour the spices over the chicken breast, covering all the sides, then add chicken and remaining spice to the butter in the pan. Pour in the tequila and lime juice and flip the chicken to help the flavors blend.

Pan fry the chicken on Medium heat for 4-6 minutes until cooked through. Be careful not to blacken the seasoning mixture. If the liquids boil out and the mixture looks too dry you can add a few tbs of water to help keep from burning.

Let the chicken cool for a few minutes.

While the chicken is cooling, sauté your diced onion until transparent.

Shred the chicken breast into roughing bite sized bits, then add chicken and can of green chilies to the onion in the pan. Blend and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Sauce:

In a small sauce pot melt butter, and blend in flour on medium heat, stirring to make a roux. When the mixture is golden brown, slowly stir in broth.

While stirring, blend in sour cream, garlic, salt and pepper.

Bring to a low boil, and reduce heat to low, adding in jalapenos.

Simmer for 5 min to cook jalapenos.

Enchilada Prep

Coat a 8x8 glass pan with butter, then get out tortillas.

Starting in against one edge, hold the tortilla like a taco, fill with chicken/green chile/onion filling, then fold the edges over like a burrito. If the tortilla doesn't want to stay closed, I use a little bit of sour cream sauce to 'glue' the tortilla closed.

Repeat until pan is filled with closed, stuffed enchiladas.

Slowly pour sauce over, trying to get all around the tortillas. If you have too much sauce, save the remainder to pour over the enchiladas once they're served.

Preheat oven to 350 and cook enchilada's for 20 Minutes.

Pull out pan and top with shredded cheese then put back in the over for another 5 minutes.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

PS. If you ever want to have the tequila lime chicken by itself, just follow the first few steps and serve. It should pair nicely with margaritas.

If you have any suggestions let me know!

Liz's Pumpkin Spice Muffins

My most requested holiday recipe! I love to make a double batch and bring them to Thanksgiving Dinner or cook up a bunch just before Halloween. 

These are delicious nicely dense muffins adapted from a bread recipe. The combination of spices and pumpkin make them taste almost like pumpkin pie. You can use fresh cooked pumpkin instead of canned, just watch the moisture content as fresh pumpkin can be a wetter substitute. 

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Makes 12 Big Muffins, 18 Medium muffins

1cup Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

1/2 can Pumpkin (I bag and freeze the remainder for a 2nd batch)

1 3/4 Cups Flour

1/4 cup Water (Use less for a denser muffin)

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Cloves

1/4 tsp Allspice

1/4 tsp Ginger

Preheat Oven to 350.

Beat the eggs and blend into both white and brown sugar. Add in Pumpkin, Oil, water, and all the spices, finally working in the flour to a nice smooth mix.

Prep a muffin pan either with nonstick spray or muffin papers. I use a standard 12 Pan, for large muffins you fill each cup to just below the top, for medium muffins, fill the voids only halfway. (You'll need 2 pans to make 18 medium muffins)

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, checking with a toothpick for doneness. 

Simple Home-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Home Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It's Pumpkin Carving time! I've been told by several friends that they have trouble cooking pumpkin seeds, so I thought I'd jot down my method for others to use. :) I do have two disclaimers, I live at both high altitude, and in a VERY dry climate. I don't know if either of those factors can effect something like this, but if you don't achieve the results your hoping for, it may just require some tweaking on the bake time and temp.

Ingredients:

Fresh Pumkin seeds, right out of the gourd.

Salt

2 bowls

Colander

Paper towels

Cookie Sheet

Oven

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

First off, getting the goo off the seeds can be a little tricky. Cut open the pumpkin and take everything out into a medium bowl. Once you have it all out where you can see it, separate the seeds from the threads into the second bowl, by hand. (You can wear gloves if the texture bothers you.)

Once you have all the seeds in the 2nd bowl, there are still usually threads of pumpkin and juice all over them. Fill the seed bowl halfway with water, and rinse the seeds, sifting through the water to remove the rest of the threads.

(by this point any pumpkin threads that you've missed really won't harm the process)

Pour seeds into colander and drain, shaking to get as much moisture off of them as possible.

Ready a layer of paper towels, then pour the seeds onto them, pat the water off to get most of the drops. (The seeds will often stick to the paper).

Transfer seeds to a cookie sheet, and remove them from the paper towel if stuck. Spread them across the sheet evenly. They can still touch,  just try to smooth them out so there aren't any stacked on top of each other.

Salt the seeds. You can use sea salt, or kosher salt, I just use table salt. Be generous. For one, salt helps absorb the moisture and give them a crisp outer shell, for two, it brings out the flavor. If you over-salt you can usually just rub it off after they've cooked.

Slide the cookie sheet in and bake for 5-10 minutes. Look for a dry, just barely golden color on the edges. The salt makes them pale, so you don't want to wait for too much color change.

Pop them out, scrape them off the sheet with a spatula, and eat as soon as they're cool!

Good luck! :)

Sausage and Seafood Gumbo

Sausage and Seafood Gumbo

Also known as my 'AMAZING Gumbo', this is a fantastically thick and flavorful gumbo. I do use a box for the base, but each of the added ingredients changes the flavor and elevates it to beyond delicious. Even diehard Cajuns love the way this gumbo comes out. The sausage adds a great spice, and if you want to kick it up even further, add a dash of cayenne pepper. If you have never had Okra before, it really thickens the broth, and has a unique texture. If you aren’t sure you’ll like it, try a little less.

½ lb peeled de-veined raw shrimp. Tails removed. (medium size)
½ lb raw lump crawfish meat (Inland you can usually only find it frozen.)
½ lb Andoullie sausage links, sliced, precooked.
½ lb chopped Okra
1 box Zatarains New Orleans Rice Gumbo Mix
6 cups cool water (divided)

For best results, pour 2 cups water into the pot, add the Gumbo mix (which includes Rice and seasoning) and whisk until all lumps have dissolved, then add the remaining 4 cups and bring to a boil.
Add sausage to pot, reduce heat, cover and slow boil 10 minutes.
Add shrimp and crawfish to the pot, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Finally, add Okra, and simmer uncovered 3-5 minutes until thickened.
Serve in bowls and enjoy!

This can make a fantastic meal all on its own, but the perfect side dish to go with it is cornbread. I cheat and use a quick mix, but if you buy it or make it. It’s a fantastic pairing.

Kitchen Finesse: Visual Measurements

Kitchen Finesse: Visual Measurements
One of the many Trade Secrets Revealed

One truly helpful cooking tip that all the pros use is the art of visual measurement. Do you think a restaurant chef is going to get out a measuring cup every time for each dish he’s making? Of course not.

While it’s true that many kitchens rely on one person to prepare the ingredients and seasonings, and another chef to actually cook the meal, it remains a system of learning to guess by sight, and season accordingly. Most restaurant chefs don’t even have the time to sample a dish before it goes out to the customer (Would you really want them to?) so the mark of a good chef is getting it right, or close enough to perfect, every single time.

Every chef guesses one way or another, some slightly high, some slightly low, some times the estimate you make is even influenced by whether or not you personally like the herb or spice in question. Like when a restaurant changes cooks and the spicy soup never seems quite the same.

If you’re a visual learner, there’s an easy trick to start yourself off on the visual measuring scale. (If you’re not, keep practicing and you might find a way that works best for you.) Practice with clean hands (obviously) and salt/sugar. Take a measure of each common measurement, ¼ tsp, ½ tsp, 1 tsp, ½ tbs, 1 tbs. Start with ¼ tsp, cup your palm, and pour that much salt into your hand, pay very close attention to the size of the pile, how tall is it, how much does it weigh, how big is the diameter. Try to memorize it. Then pour that salt off, and without measuring, pour the same amount into your hand. If you think you’ve got it right, then try to carefully pour it back into the measuring spoon to see how close you were.
Adjust, and try again.

This is the first step to visual measurement. After you’ve had some time to practice, or you just prepare the same dish long enough, you’ll be able to toss the ingredients together directly in the pan, and with a little tasting to be sure it’s right, you won’t need to measure for some recipes at all!

Now, clearly this only works for small units of dry seasoning. Liquid seasoning you can practice by pouring into a clean bowl, then into a measuring spoon, but the practice and attention to detail is still required.

For larger servings, say, diced vegetables, the absolute best way to ‘cheat’ and improve your ability guesstimate larger measurements is to get a set of tiny to medium glass mixing bowls. Yep, just like the TV chef’s use. I received two sets of glass mixing bowls, (The smallest is the perfect size for individual dipping sauce) and they are the MOST used items in my kitchen.

Using bowls of different sizes is the ideal way to establish a sense of scale, whether it’s a ½ cup of diced shallots, to 2 cups of diced carrots, you’ll be able to get an approximation of size, no matter how light(spinach) or heavy(potatoes) the item is.

Even if you doubt your ability to get things right without measuring, the best aspect of learning this skill is the confidence you will develop in the kitchen. Feeling like you can cook well isn’t a matter of how easy it is for you to do, it’s a matter of practice, start small, learn little tricks like these, and even if you’re never cooking a five course chicken cordon bleu you’ll still feel happy and comfortable cooking the things you CAN cook in YOUR kitchen.
Cooking is fun! Enjoy it!

Homemade Fried Chicken Strips

The batter recipe originally came from a fried Chicken recipe featured on the old show ‘Take Home Chef’. I adapted the meat and method a little bit, to make it easier for frequent cooking. I tend to cook on a budget so I’m a big fan of bulk frozen chicken breasts.
*Bonus cooking tip: The best way to thaw frozen chicken is to put it in a bowl of warm/hot salted water. ½ tsp salt for 3 Chicken breasts is usually enough, with just enough water to completely cover the meat. This thaws the chicken fairly quickly, (without partially cooking it like the microwave) and the salt both adds flavor and preps the chicken for seasoning.
These chicken strips are pretty easy, made from scratch, and utterly delicious. Once I got used to making my own, no restaurant chicken basket has been able to measure up. I use a deep fryer (an investment I highly recommend), but if you don’t have one you can fry with a large pot filled with oil, just use a lot of care and caution.

Homemade Fried Chicken Strips
Serves 4


3-4 smaller Chicken breasts cut into ½ inch strips
3 tsp Salt (divided)
1/2 pint Buttermilk
1 ½ cup Flour
2 tbs dry mustard
1 tbs Paprika
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 ½ tsp Onion Powder
¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Rub 1 tsp salt into the chicken pieces and place in a med. mixing bowl, pour the buttermilk over the chicken, stirring just enough to make sure all the pieces are coated. Refrigerate chicken in buttermilk for an hour. This can be made up to three hours ahead.

Dry mix: In a medium-large mixing bowl, combine flour, mustard, paprika, onion, garlic, black pepper and remaining (2tsp) salt. Mix lightly with a wisk or fork to until dry ingredients are evenly blended.
After Chicken has properly marinated in the buttermilk, place on the counter beside the dry mix, ready a large cookie sheet on the other side. This is the labor intensive part, you can use tongs, a fork or your fingers. Take each piece of chicken out of the buttermilk one at a time and dredge in the flour mixture until evenly covered. Try to save as much buttermilk as you can.
Place dredged pieces on the cookie sheet so they aren’t touching.
Preheat your deep fryer to 165 degrees (chicken setting).
Then, take ANOTHER cookie sheet, and place it on the other side, of your mix bowls and swap the buttermilk with the dry mix, now dip each piece back in the buttermilk, and back into the flour, then lay out on the other cookie sheet. (Granted, there may be other ways to do this, but this is the best way I’ve found to keep organized.)
Once each piece has been coated twice, drop them one at a time gently into the fry oil. Depending on the size of your fryer or fry pot, try to limit it to between 4-6 pieces at a time.
I’ve found 3 minutes is usually the perfect cook time, a little more or less based on the size of the pieces. There’s also an art to listening to the fryer, the oil will bubble loudly an energetically at first, but once the chicken reaches the same temperature as the oil, it the fryer calms considerably. I still recommend sticking to a timer to be sure.
Dry each batch on paper towels as you go. When all the strips are nicely fried to a golden brown, serve on plates.
I recommend dipping sauces. Honey BBQ and Ranch go fantastically with this mix. Enjoy!

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

This is a tangy, fragrant, garlic rosemary and chicken dish that goes great with buttery polenta or mashed potatoes. It’s fairly easy to put together, the key ingredient being the fresh rosemary.

Rosemary requires a little preparation, it must be stripped from its stem, and then bruised, either with a mortal and pestle, or another method is to hit the herb on a cutting board with the back of a heavy knife. This bruising method brings out all the flavor and scent within the herb. Rosemary is completely edible, just be sure to remove any of the woody stems. Also, herbs go through ‘seasonal’ phases just like vegetables. Winter rosemary will be drier, with thicker stems, and will require more care in preparation. Good spring rosemary is so young and new, that you can even eat the stem. (Easy test, if the stem bends easily in half without fraying or breaking, it’s soft enough to eat.)

The best part of this dish is the combination of the lemon, garlic, and herb to make a fantastic heady aroma. I pan fry the chicken for a nice crisp crust, and the crunch of the fried rosemary is wonderful. It’s a great dish for entertaining, with just a little effort the chicken can be plated to look just as fancy as any restaurant dish.
Serves 4

Lemon Rosemary Chicken
4 Chicken breasts (boneless skinless and thawed)
1 stick (8 tbs) Butter
1 tbs fresh minced garlic
1 tbs Lemon Juice
3-4 Good sized Rosemary branches (One case of the store bought)
½ tsp of Salt
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive oil.

Allow at least an hour between preparation and cooking, so that the chicken has a chance to marinate.
In a medium microwave safe bowl, dice the butter into several smaller pieces. Add the minced garlic, and microwave 30-45 sec to melt the butter. Strip and bruise the rosemary leaves, and then add to the butter mixture. Finally, add the Lemon Juice, and the Extra virgin oil, and blend gently. Allow the rosemary to steep in the mixture for a couple minutes while its still hot.

Take the chicken, and trim off any fat. Score or poke the chicken with a fork a few times, then salt the meat rubbing it into the chicken on all sides. Place the chicken in a medium sized bowl, and pour the rosemary garlic butter over the chicken, stick a few sprigs of rosemary into the scores in the chicken, so that they’re tucked into the meat. Make sure the sauce evenly covers the chicken on both sides of the meat. Cover the bowl, and let sit for an hour. (If longer, refrigerate)

When ready to cook, take a large nonstick skillet (large enough to grill all four breasts, or at least two at a time), and place on the range at medium high, allow the pan to get nice and hot, then remove the chicken from the sauce, shredding most of the butter before going into the pan.
Sear the chicken until crispy on first one side, then the other, (around 3-4 minutes per side) then reduce heat to medium, and spoon the remaining sauce evenly over the breasts. (If you don’t use all the butter that’s okay, but the more rosemary and garlic you get in the pan the better.) Cook the breasts in the pan for another 10-15 minutes or until cooked through.
Serve the breasts on a plate and spoon rosemary and juices back over the chicken (and side dish). Inhale deeply and enjoy!