Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce

June 6, 2012 by Mackenzie

These enchiladas were incredible. I’ve made a lot of different enchilada recipes over the years, but this one is my all-time favorite!

Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce
(Recipe from Mexican Cooking Made Easy)

Chicken:
1 Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 cup light sour cream
1 Tbsp. chopped onions
1/2 cup “southwestern mix” shredded cheddar and jack cheese

Shred the chicken while it is still warm. Place into a bowl and set aside, discard unused parts of chicken. Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, saute until soft. Add chili powder, ground cumin, salt and tomato sauce. Add chicken and mix well. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Transfer to a large bowl and add sour cream, onions, and cheese. Mix well and set aside.

Green Sauce:
2 lbs husked tomatillos – I just used canned. (I used one 1lb 12 oz can plus 3 more tomatillos from a smaller can)
4 green chilies – again I just used canned chilis, but whole chilies not the diced chilies.
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil

Cut out stem from each of the tomatillos and discard. Put the destemed tomatillos, chilies, onions, cilantro, salt, and oil in food processor and mix until smooth.

Assembly:

6 flour tortillas, 8 in.
1/2 cup “southwestern mix” shredded cheddar and jack cheese
1/4 cup sliced olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Warm tortillas on skillet or wrap in foil and heat in oven until soft. Spread 1/2 cup green sauce on a 9×13 and warm remaining sauce in 10 inch skillet. Dip tortillas in warm sauce, remove immediately, and place in 9×13.

Spread 1/2 cup chicken filling down center of each tortilla. Wrap tortilla around filling and tuck, seam side down, in 9×13. Repeat with all six tortillas. Cover with remaining sauce and 1/2 cup cheese, top with olives. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with rice, beans, sour cream and salsa.

Brown Butter Parmesan Chicken Penne

May 25, 2012 by Mackenzie

Knowing the star of our meal would be the Hearty Whole Grain Basil Bread, my uncle and I searched for a simple, but still flavorful pasta that would be a perfect compliment to our bread! And we found it!

With caramelized onions, mushrooms, paprika flavored chicken, parmesan, and a brown butter sauce – this pasta is now one of my top favorites!

Brown Butter Parmesan Chicken Penne

Serves 6

1.5-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 1/2 Tbsp. canola oil

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 medium sweet onion, sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

3/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 pound whole wheat pasta (penne or linguine)

2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese + more for topping

fresh chopped parsley for topping

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add canola oil. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, then toss with salt, pepper and paprika. Add to the skillet and brown on all sides, cooking for about 8-10 minutes total. Remove and set aside in a bowl.

Turn heat down low and add 1/2 tablespooon butter. Add sliced onions with a pinch of salt and stirring occasionally, cook until caramelized – about 15 minutes.

While onions are caramelizing, heat a small saucepan over low heat and add 5 tablespoons or butter. Whisk constantly until butter has brown bits on the bottom, then immediately remove from heat. (We never got the brown bits but we were afraid we were going to burn the butter if we went any longer – it was still really good!) After removing from the heat, whisk for about 30 seconds more just to make sure the bits don’t burn. Set aside. At this time, also prepare the water for the pasta and cook according to the directions.

After onions have caramelized, set them aside in a bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter and add mushrooms. Cook for 5-6 minutes until juicy and caramelized. Place onions back in the skillet, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Increase the heat to medium and add wine. Let the wine bubble and cook for 3 minutes. Add chicken and pasta both to the skillet, tossing multiple times to coat. Turn off heat and stir in grated cheese. Drizzle brown butter (make sure you get the brown bits!) over top, tossing to coat a few more times. Top with additional cheese and chopped parsley!

Hearty Whole Grain Basil Bread

May 24, 2012 by Mackenzie

HEARTY WHOLE GRAIN BASIL BREAD

My uncle and I were scrolling through my pinterest food page, looking for something to make for dinner the following night. We saw this bread from The Diva Dish and knew immediately we had to make it! So we built our whole meal around it (brown butter chicken penne and a lentil quinoa salad) and boy was it amazing!

If making bread intimidates you – just follow the directions carefully and I promise it will turn out great! It really isn’t that hard, you just need to have patience and a free afternoon!

Hearty Whole Grain Basil Bread

Author: Mackenzie

Serves: 6 loaves

Ingredients

1/3 cup millet (hint: Whole Foods bulk section!)
2 1/4 oz. envelopes active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons honey
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup whole grain all purpose baking flour (or could sub more whole wheat pastry flour – which is what we did)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
4 tsp. coarse salt (we used sea salt)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (melted)
3 Tbsp. 100% pure maple syrup
1 cup fresh chopped basil (large chunks)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flax seeds (if you don’t have them on hand, buy them in the bulk section so you don’t have to buy the big package)
1 Tbsp. chia seeds (again – do it bulk)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 egg white

Instructions

Soak millet in 1/2 cup warm water for 20 minutes, set aside. In a separate bowl add 1/2 cup warm water and sprinkle yeast in. Add 2 tsp. of honey and whisk together until combined. Set aside for 10 minutes, or until foamy/frothy.
In a separate bowl add flours and salt and whisk together. Once yeast is ready, pour yeast into a mixing bowl fitted with dough hook. Add melted butter, 1 1/2 cups warm water, and 3 tablespoons maple syrup. Mix until combined. Then add 3 cups of flour mix. Mix on low speed until smooth.
Add millet (plus water in bowl), and the rest of the seeds/oats, and basil.
Mix at low speed until combined. Then add remaining flour until dough is combined and somewhat smooth.
On a floured surface kneed dough for about 5 minutes until a smooth ball forms. Place dough in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for an hour or so. (I did about 1 1/2 hours)
When dough has risen, punch it in down, knead a little more and then divide dough into 6 balls. Place on cookie sheet fitted with a cooking mat. Take your egg white, and add a little water, and brush the tops of the dough balls. Then cover baking sheet with plastic and let dough sit for about another 1 1/2 hours.
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees, and when the dough is ready, bake for about 22-25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through.
Brush with more butter straight out of the oven and enjoy the delicious smells wafting through your house!

3.2.2802

Perfect Pizza Sauce

May 23, 2012 by Mackenzie

Check out my previous post for homemade calzones! We made our own pizza sauce and it was delicious! I highly recommend making your own pizza sauce next time you make pizza!

Perfect Pizza Sauce

(Recipe from Life’s Ambrosia)

1 (14.5 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4-1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, depending on how much spice you like

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. allspice

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble slightly, about five minutes. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Done!

Braided Calzones

May 23, 2012 by Mackenzie

The other night we had a bunch of family in town and so my uncle and I made calzones! It was a fun way to make a classic meal but be able to customize it for each family member!

We used homemade pizza dough and a homemade pizza sauce and they were both fantastic!

Here is the recipe for the dough… I’ll post our pizza sauce in the next post!
And don’t worry about how complicated it looks to braid them like this! I’m including step by step pictures and I promise it really isn’t all that hard!

Braided Calzones

Calzone Dough

(Recipe Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Amy’s Cafe)

Makes four personal-size calzones or one large calzone.

1 C lukewarm water

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. dry milk powder

3 C bread flour

3 Tbsp. olive oil (aprox.) plus more for drizzle

1 egg (beaten)

2 tsp. water

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, salt and sugar and stir to combine. Set aside for 15 minutes and then stir in (with dough hook attachment) the dry milk powder, flour and olive oil and mix until a dough forms. Turn onto a floured surfact and knead for ten minutes (seriously, knead it for that long!). The dough should feel smooth and elastic. Drizzle olive oil over outside of dough to cover and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm place for 1-2 hours – or until doubled in size.

Beat down the dough and split into four balls. Place into a 9×13, cover, and let rise again for 15 minutes.

Roll out each ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle.

Side tip: When I rolled out the dough… it helped to become a professional pizza thrower and toss my dough! ha!

Transfer to a cookie sheet, especially if you are doing one giant one. Spoon pizza sauce (check out next post for homemade pizza sauce recipe) onto the middle of the calzone and then top with your favorite pizza toppings (pepperoni, sausage, red onions, red peppers, black olives, mushrooms…)

and finally cover with cheese! Now for the braiding part: using a sharp knife, make diagonal cuts one inch apart, down both long sides of the rectangle. Don’t cut all the way to the fillings.

To wrap it up, fold up the bottom and starting at the bottom and alternating sides, overlap the strips of dough onto the filling in a lattice pattern. Stretch the pieces all the way to the other sides and tuck the strips underneath the filling. Pretend you are wrapping up a baby!

The above picture is what happens if you cut the strips too close to the filling – the filling will kind of burst out of the dough.

And ta da! (At the top, just kind of do the same and fold it over and tuck it all in… I haven’t found a good way to end it yet)

Brush calzone with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 2 tsp. water). And bake at 375 degrees for 20 (several small calzones) or 30 (one large calzone) minutes.

We topped the calzones with the leftover pizza sauce so add even more flavor 🙂

Chicken and Black Bean-Stuffed Burritos

May 17, 2012 by Mackenzie

We had some leftover chicken from our BBQ this past weekend and so I scrolled through my pinterest boards to find something new and fun to do with it. I got the okay from Spencer to make these (big deal! haha!) and they turned out great! A quick and easy meal!

Chicken and Black Bean-Stuffed Burritos

(Recipe from My Recipes)

Makes 4 burritos

1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken breast
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup refrigerated fresh salsa
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Cooking spray

1. Bring first 6 ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in shredded chicken and green onions.

2. Combine beans and salsa. Spoon 1/4 cup bean mixture and 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese. Roll up.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 2 burritos. Place a cast-iron or other heavy skillet on top of burritos, and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan, and repeat procedure with the remaining 2 burritos.

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