Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

There are a bazillion recipes for this all over the internet. This is the version I've adapted for our family. It's quickly become a family favorite and is pretty simple to throw together in under an hour for dinner. Plus, it's a lot less processed than many of the versions floating around.

Ingredients

Filling:
• 1 lb chicken, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2tsp Mexican oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• green chile, diced (optional)


• 8 8-inch flour tortillas, softened
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or other Mexican/southwestern type cheeses)

Sauce:
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tsp oregano
• salt to taste
• 3 green chiles, roasted and diced (1, 4 oz can)
• 1 cup sour cream

Directions
Make filling:
1. In large frying pan, heat oil & cook onion til soft. Add chicken, garlic, oregano, chile, salt & pepper cooking together over medium-high heat until chicken is just done.
2. Divide cooked filling evenly between 8 tortillas; add 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese to each tortilla.
3. Roll enchiladas and place seam-side down in 9x13" baking dish that has been lightly sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.

Make sauce:
4. While chicken is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan; whisk in flour to make a roux. Gradually whisk in chicken broth small amounts at a time (to prevent clumping). Bring to boiling, stirring frequently. Add chiles, oregano and salt. Correct seasonings.
5. Remove from heat and let cool a bit; whisk in sour cream. Pour sauce evenly over enchiladas.
6. Top with remaining 3/4 cup cheese and bake at 400° for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce near edges of baking dish is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Balti Butter Chicken with Pullao Rice

I made this last night and oh my goodness, is it amazing! Al said it was the best he's had. I hope that you like it too! I made the rice first because the chicken didn't take that long to assemble.

Pullao Rice:
1C Basmati rice, rinsed until water runs clear
2T butter
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1t salt
2C water

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add spices. After 2 minutes add rice and fry for 1 minute. Add water, bring it to boil, cover pan and reduce heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with fork.


Balti Butter Chicken:

2/3C plain yogurt
1/2C ground almonds
1.5 t of cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves
1/4t ground cloves
1/4t ground cinnamon
1 t garam masala
4 cardamom pods
1t grated ginger
1t grated garlic
1.25t salt
2 C canned crushed tomatoes
2 lbs (roughly 6.5C) boneless chicken breast, cubed
3T butter
2T olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced
2T chopped cilantro
3T heavy cream

Mix yogurt, almonds, spices, tomatoes, add chicken, set aside.
Melt butter and oil in a deep skillet, saute onions until they are transparent, about 3 min.
Add the chicken mixture and saute for about 10-12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.
Add cilantro, cook for 2 minutes. Add cream, stir and bring to a boil for only 1 minute.
Serve with pullao rice. Enjoy!

Chicken Potpie or Dumplings

This chicken (or turkey) stew recipe, adapted from the Joy of Cooking, can be used for either potpie or dumplings. It's super yummy and thick. I've only made this with leftovers from roasted chicken, shredded and added after the vegetables are cooked. The original recipe calls for browning raw pieces of chicken and cooking along with the vegetables.

Chicken Fricassee:
3 1/2- 4 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
1 1/2c onions, chopped
1/3c flour
1 3/4 c chicken stock, broth, or water
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (optional but yummy)
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes cubed
1/2 tsp dried oregano, thyme or herbe de provence
1/4 tsp crushed rosemary
salt & pepper to taste
1/4c- 1/2c heavy cream
1/2 c. dry white wine

Debone (make into bite-sized shreds) and set aside chicken.

In a dutch oven or heavy soup pot, melt some butter or oil and cook onions til they are clear but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring often.

Reduce heat to low and whisk in broth, carefully getting rid of lumps. Whisking constantly bring to a boil over high heat. Add mushrooms, carrots, potato, herbs, salt & pepper. Cover and reduce heat so liquid barely bubbles. Cook until veggies are tender, about 20 minutes.

Whisk in milk & white wine. Add cooked chicken.

***If making with dumplings, plop dumplings on top, double check liquid levels (if stew is too thick, add broth), cover and allow dumplings to steam over medium-low heat for about 10-12 minutes.

***If making potpie, transfer stew to prepared baking dish and cover with thin biscuits. Bake in preheated oven at 375' for 20-30 minutes. Until biscuits have risen and tops are slightly browned.

Dumplings recipe (from Joy of Cooking):
Whisk together:
1 c cake flour (I used all-purp, no problem)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Break 1 egg into 1-cup measure. Add milk til cup is half full. Beat well and stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Add more milk if necessary but keep batter as stiff as possible. Using a small spoon, drop spoonfuls of batter into simmering stock or stew (dipping spoon into hot water or hot broth between will help ease batter off of spoon).

Potpie biscuits:
Use your favorite biscuit recipe rolled very thin and cut into circles (if a rolled recipe) or dropped evenly (if a drop recipe) across the top of a baking dish. Just in case you haven't got a favorite biscuit recipe, here's mine:
2c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3c butter or shortening
~ 3/4 c. water

Mix dry then wet, roll & cut. Bake at 450' for 10 minutes.

Pad Thai

This is one of my very favorite recipes. The prep of the noodles takes a little time but it's so worth it.

Serves 2-3
1/3 of a 1 pound package of clear rice noodles (very thin ones are easiest to use)
Quartered lime
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce (Tiparos, from Jay International)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
Just under a pound of cooked meat of any sort (I mostly use tofu or chicken)
Cooked veggies (I use broccoli and carrots)
About a handful of bean sprouts
2 chopped up green onions
2 Eggs
About a handful of chopped peanuts
2-4 cloves of chopped garlic
Oil for frying (I prefer peanut)

Submerge noodles in a bowl of hot tap water. Cover and let sit at least 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes. Combine Sriracha sauce, fish sauce, and sugar in a cup and have it ready. Put heat on medium. Fry garlic in wok for a few seconds. Add noodles and a little water if they need to be softened up a bit. Add sauce mixture. Move noodles aside and scramble eggs in the wok. Mix scrambled eggs with the noodles. Throw in cooked meat/veggies and cook long enough for them to heat up. Add about half of the sprouts and green onions. Serve on plates and garnish with limes, the rest of the sprouts/green onions, and chopped peanuts.

When it comes to the sauce, all that's important is the 1:1 ratio. So often I will double the amount of sauce to make the dish spicier. But the way it is, Alex can eat it--it's spicy but not too spicy for her. I then add more hot sauce just to mine. There are probably a lot of different hot sauces besides Sriracha that would work with this recipe, too. It's not exactly like Pad Thai at a Thai restaurant but it definitely satisfies my desire for Thai food.

Turkey Tortilla Soup

This is a great way to get a second meal out of a roasted chicken or turkey. We have this every year the day after Thanksgiving, and many, many other times throughout the year, too. I rarely have as much meat as they call for, and it turns out fine. I find soup to be very adaptable. Very quick and easy but satisfying meal. Easy to make with "mommy-brain"-you hardly even have to measure anything!

1 T. vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken

1 box (32 oz) chicken broth

2 c. frozen corn kernels (you can use leftover cooked corn, just throw it in at the last second)

1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tsp ground cumin (or more to taste)

Possible Garnishes:

tortilla chips, shredded cheese, diced avacado, sour cream, lime wedges, chopped cilantro

In large saucepan, cook onion and garlic in oil over medium-high heat until tender, about 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except tortilla chips and garnishes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Ladle into bowls. Top with broken tortilla chips and garnish as desired.

This is a Dierbergs recipe.