Chilaquiles with Chicken and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

 

Chilaquiles are popular breakfast food

in Mexico, but we like them for a quick

dinner.

They originated as a leftover dish using up

the stale tortillas and leftover red or green

sauce, meat and cheese.  Sometimes they

have scrambled eggs on top for a 

breakfast dish.  Our favorite is

with green sauce and chicken then topped

with cheese.

I chose to fry my own corn tortillas but we have made

them with tortilla chips when we were in a hurry.

I also made my own salsa verde but you can use

a bottled or canned variety too.

The tortillas are topped with the salsa and chicken

and then cheese is added and melted on top.

You can cook your finished chips in the salsa verde but

I like to keep mine crispier so I just top them with the salsa.

Chilaquiles with Chicken and 

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 dozen corn tortillas cut into strips or triangles

oil for frying tortillas or tortilla chips

2 C. cooked chicken, cubed

salsa verde (homemade recipe follows or

we like World Table Salsa Verde from Wal Mart 

or Herdez Salsa Verde)

3 C. monterey jack cheese

Fry the corn tortillas in oil brought to 350 degrees in

small batches until crisp.  Drain on paper towels

Layer the chips, salsa verde, and chicken and top

with lots of cheese on an ovenproof or microwave proof

dish.  Drizzle a little additional

salsa verde on top.  Heat until the cheese is melted

in a 350 degree oven or in the microwave.

Dig in and enjoy.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 1/2 C. fresh tomatillos, rinsed

2 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno chile, seeded

1 1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon powder

3/4 C. water

1 medium white onion, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Place cleaned, chopped tomatillos, garlic and

seeded jalapenos in a large skillet.  Cook over

medium high heat until tomatillos are blackened

and soft.  Do not use oil.  Remove and let cool

a few minutes.  

Place the water, bouillon and the chopped onion

in a saucepan and cook until the

onions are soft. Remove and let cool a few minutes.

Place the tomatillo

mix and the onion mix in the food processor

with the cilantro and puree.

Transfer the salsa to a saucepan and

bring to a 

boil and simmer until a nice salsa consistency. 

 Best if refrigerated for

about 3 hours, but it is great right away.

Makes about 1 quart

This salsa verde has a great fresh tangy

flavor.  We loved it.

(Adapted from Cooking With Baja Magic Dos -

a cookbook printed in 2005 that was left in 

our Cabo home for me to inherit - fabulous. You can 

buy it from Amazon.  Everything we have made in it is great.)

Click here for printable recipe.

Don't miss out on this traditional Mexican favorite.

It is super quick if you use tortilla chips

and canned salsa verde.  I really like Wal Mart's

World Table (my favorite) or Herdez's Salsa Verde.

You can have it with or without chicken and you

can also serve it with scrambled egg, but this is

our favorite way to serve it.

Lemon Basil Chicken Salad

If you are like me the basil is at it's peak and

just screaming to be used in so many recipes!

This wonderfully refreshing chicken salad

is perfect for using that basil in.

Basil has to be one of my favorites.  Wish it could winter over

but last year I did cut a sprig off and put it in a cup of

water.  It sprouted and we had fresh basil in the kitchen

until Christmas.

The flavors of lemon and basil are wonderful together

and everything is accentuated by the punch of 

toasted almonds.  I ate way too much of this!

Lemon Basil Chicken Salad

3 C. cubed grilled chicken

3/4 C. mayonaise

1/4 C. sour cream

1/2 C. fresh basil (measure without cutting up the leaves)

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stalk celery, finely diced

1/2 C. toasted slivered almonds

Place the mayo, sour cream, fresh basil and lemon juice

in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until the

basil is finely minced.  Place that in a large bowl and

stir in the cubed chicken, celery, toasted almonds and 

salt.  Stir to blend.  Cover and refrigerate for at least

an hour for flavors to blend.  

Serve as is or on croissants for a sandwich.

This was so yummy as it is, that I couldn't

do anything but eat it with a fork and I

am going to have to make it again soon

while the basil is here!

Click here for printable recipe.

I do like that in our market you can buy fresh basil in a little

potted plant during the winter months, but try this out

now when you have your own basil.

Rosemary Chicken Skewers with Tomato Bruschetta

Tender chicken marinated and grilled

infused with the flavor of fresh rosemary

is the perfect end of summer main dish.

Top it with a bruschetta sauce using

a combination of your fresh garden 

tomatoes and your fresh

and you have created the

perfect harvest meal.

If you are like me, your rosemary has 

happily grown into long strong

sprigs that can be stripped of their

leaves as used as skewers for

grilling meat.

You can't imagine the flavor that using the

rosemary for the skewers infuses into the meat.

This is a WOW dish and it will make you

so proud of your gardening skills.

The chicken is cubed and marinated in a

rosemary flavored marinade so

you get the fabulous flavor on the

inside and the outside of the meat.

Pop some crusty bread on the grill and 

use that as the base for serving your chicken skewers

and your bruschetta sauce.  This is one of those

dishes where you will be saying "Mmmmm..." with 

every luscious bite.

Rosemary Chicken Skewers

6 large strong fresh rosemary sprigs (8-10 inches)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade

1/2 C. olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Bruschetta

crusty bread, sliced

olive oil

fresh garlic

 Tomato Bruschetta Topping

3 C. chopped mixed tomatoes (I love to add the yellow, but

if you don't have any, just use red)

2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

1/2 C. finely chopped fresh basil

1/4 C. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1 T. balsamic vinegar

a few grinds fresh pepper

Make the Tomato Bruschetta Topping by

gently mixing the ingredients together and set aside.

Cube the raw chicken.  Strip the leaves off the 

rosemary sprigs leaving the leaves on the top one inch.

Thread the chicken onto the skewer and place in a deep

baking pan.  

Whisk together the marinade ingredients and brush

on the skewers.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes

to one hour.  Remove from fridge and heat the grill.

While the grill is heating brush the crusty bread

with olive oil.

Grill the chicken.  When the chicken is almost

done, grill the bread alongside of it.  When the

bread is done rub it with the fresh garlic clove.

To serve, place the toasted bread on the plate, top 

with the chicken skewer and then finish with

the Tomato Bruschetta  sauce.

Serve with parmesan if desired.

What a great, fresh harvest meal

using your rosemary, tomatoes and basil.

If you are lucky enough to live in a place where the

rosemary doesn't freeze, you can make this year round.

We have successfully dug up our rosemary plants

and kept them alive in the kitchen all winter,

but here in Utah they won't winter over.

Spicy Grilled Salmon or Chicken with Grilled Peaches

When a main dish makes you want to sing between bites 

you know it is one you have to get the recipe for and 

this Bobby Flay Recipe certainly makes me want to 

sing!

My friend Tammy introduced me to this recipe on our 

maiden voyage of our houseboat - Enterprise.

I told you we loved to eat really well at Lake Powell.

Everyone was anxious for her to email the recipe.

Our friend Wally had just brought us over some

Red Sockeye Salmon that he had caught in Alaska.

I decided to make the recipe and try it on both the

salmon and the chicken.

It is one of those fabulous recipes that is so full of flavor, but so 

easy to make.  I have seen grilled peaches for ages but have never

made them - don't put it off - give it a try this week!!

Spicy Grilled Chicken or Salmon with Grilled Peaches

(Slight adaptation of Bobby Flay's 

Grilled Chicken Breast With Spicy Peach Glaze.)

2 C. peach preserves

1 T. finely chopped garlic

3 T. olive oil

2 T. soy sauce

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 small jalapeno or serrano chili finely chopped

boneless chicken breasts or salmon filets

fresh peach halves - one per person

toasted, chopped pecans

Marinade

1/3 C. soy sauce

1/3 C. vegetable oil

1/3 C. maple syrup

1 clove garlic, crushed

Mix the marinade and marinate the meat for 30 minutes. 

( I changed the recipe and added the marinade.)

Meanwhile prepare the spicy peach sauce by mixing 

all of the ingredients together.

Heat grill.  Grill chicken or salmon about 5 minutes per side.

Brush peach glaze on both sides and continue to grill until

done.

Brush the cut side of the peach halves with the peach glaze

and place cut side down on grill for about 2 minutes.  Turn

over and spoon more glaze onto cut side.  Cook about 3-4 

minutes more or until soft.  

Serve the meat with additional glaze poured over

and the grilled peaches.  Top both with toasted pecans.

(I added the pecans too.  They give a nice nutty crunch.)

Even my non-fish lovers gobbled down the salmon.  It was the reddest

salmon I had ever seen and was perfect with the glaze, peaches and pecans.

The peaches would be fabulous as a side dish too.

This is me rappelling down a cliff at Lake Powell.

The first step off the top is the scariest.

We work up a big appetite here and it is fun to

have such great food.  So glad Tammy introduced us

to this great recipe.

I will be posting with

Foodie Friday

On The Menu Monday

Yummy Crockpot Nachos

This is a staple at my daughter's home - especially if she is having

a large crowd over.  The chicken slowly cooks in the crockpot

and at the end salsa, corn, beans, cream cheese and cheese are

added to make a one pot meal.  

I made this when her 7 year old daughter was over and as I put it

together to take a photo she promptly told me I was doing it wrong -

that they just serve the chips on the side of the dip.  I told her

everyone could do it the way they wanted, so we set up a 

make your own nacho bar with chips, the chicken dip, salsa,

additional cheese, guacamole, ranch dressing, limes and cilantro

on the side.  Of course she just had the chips and dip - separately!

It may not look like much, but the flavor is great.

Crockpot Chicken Nachos

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (can be frozen)

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 can corn kernels, drained

1 can black or kidney beans, drained

2 C. salsa

8 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1 C. grated cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese

Place chicken and brown sugar in crockpot and

cook on high for 3-4 hours (if frozen) less if thawed

or until chicken shreds easily.  Add remaining ingredients

and heat through for 15-20 minutes making sure that

the cream cheese blends in.

SERVE AS DESIRED

(or as instructed by your resident expert!)

Set out desired ingredients and let everyone create

their own personalized nachos.

Posting with

Foodie Friday

On The Menu Monday

Country Club Chicken

Oh YUM!

This savory smothered chicken is absolutely

KILLER!

Yup another Pinterest HIT for Pinterest Week.

Well, let's be honest, with tablescaping and

other post, I really made this into more than a week -

but I have been having sooooo much fun!

I have to admit not everything I have tried

has been a hit, but this one is ridiculously delish!

This recipe comes from Kayotic Kitchen

and she says that this is an old recipe from 

community and church cookbooks.  I hadn't ever

had it so maybe you haven't either, but put it on

your to die for, I mean to do list!

First you are going to lightly brown your seasoned chicken

breasts in a frying pan that you crisped your bacon in.

Then in that same pan you will cook up your mushrooms

and onions, which will soak up all the fabulous flavor.

This next step threw me a little - you are going to add

Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup 

(Oh, no, I don't want this to taste like Mom's old

Cream of Mushroom casseroles!  Don't worry -

it doesn't taste like them at all!)

The sauce is finished off with white cheddar

and the crumbled bacon.  Everything tops the

chicken and pops into the oven to finish baking.

Country Club Chicken Recipe

(lightly tweaked)

6 slices bacon ( I used the precooked from Costco)

1 T. butter

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

1 large onion

8 oz. mushrooms

1 T. white wine vinegar

3 T. water

2 cans Campbells' Cream of Mushroom Soup

2/3 C. white cheddar

 (mine was white cheddar with cracked pepper)

(Yes, I did omit the apple on purpose - just didn't

sound good to me.)

1 lb. spaghetti

Cook the bacon in the frying pan.  Even with the Costco

precooked bacon I was able to get a little bacon grease

in the bottom of the pan.  Remove the bacon, let cool and crumble it.

Save

about 1 T. of the grease.  Add the butter, more as less

as needed.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and

then brown on each side.

Remove the chicken to a baking dish.  Add the onion

and the mushroom and cook until soft.  Stir in the vinegar, 

water and the soup.  Heat through.  Add the cheese and stir

until melted.  Stir in the bacon.  Spoon the mushroom sauce over the

chicken until as she says, "...you can hear them scream

'Help me, I'm drowning!" (She really is very funny!)

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken

is baked through and the sauce is bubbling.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil

for the spaghetti.  Season it with salt and cook

the spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain.

Serve over spaghetti and 

garnish with additional slices of bacon

and fresh parsley.

I want you to know that I had this brilliant idea to go

out to the garden and dig under the snow to see if there

was any fresh parsley. 

 YUP there was! I should have thought of that before.

 How fun was that?

So this is featuring fresh parsley from my garden in the winter!!!

This one is make you weak at the knees YUM.

Definitely company worthy!

As a matter of fact - we loved it so much that I am going

to share with you another idea for this recipe -

SOON!

I will be posting this with

Foodie Friday

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken - Pinterest Week

It all started one week night when I was trying to

decide what to make for dinner.  I really love to

cook (but not clean up) but I don't love to decide

what we are having.  I decided to just open my

Pinterest Recipe Pantry and choose something.

This Bacon Wrapped Chicken caught my eye

and I had all of the ingredients - that was really important as I

had no intention of running to the store.

When I pound chicken, I place it in a plastic bag,

but not tightly sealed so that the bag doesn't pop

open.  Then I use my french rolling pin to evenly

pound the raw chicken thin.

The recipe called for garlic and chive cream cheese but since I only

had plain cream cheese, I decided to add my own 

flavorings so I chopped a little chives and added some

granulated garlic.

I found the recipe on Blogchef.net.  Bobby is the author of

Blog Chef and there are so many yummy

comfort food recipes on this site.  Go give it a try.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breast pieces

(pounded thinly)

8 oz. cream cheese

2-3 T. finely chopped chives

1/4 tsp. granulated garlic

12 pieces partially cooked bacon

(I used the precooked bacon from Costco)

I like to use the precooked or partially cooked

bacon so that the bacon still isn't raw when 

the chicken is done and I don't like wiggly bacon.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

In a medium bowl mix the cream cheese,

chives and garlic. 

Spread the thinly pounded 

chicken breasts with the cream cheese mix.

Roll the chicken breasts up from the narrow end

and set aside.  

Place the precooked bacon on a plate covered

with a paper towel.  Top with another paper towel and heat

in the microwave for 1 minute to soften the bacon.

Now wrap the bacon around the chicken.

Secure with toothpicks.

Season with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Bake at 400 for

about 20-25 minutes or until the juices run clear.

(This is the uncooked chicken.  See how the precooked bacon

is already brown and mostly cooked?  You will to just warm 

it up a little in the microwave so it will be flexible enough to

wrap around the chicken.)

Oh, when you slice it open, you get the creamy

goodness of the cream cheese and the salty crunchiness

of the bacon in each savory bite.  Definitely a keeper!

This was delicious and simple and is certainly

company worthy.

I have a lot of people tell me they don't like recipes

they have tried on Pinterest.  I tell them that just 

because the picture looks great doesn't mean the

recipe is going to be great.  Sometimes you may want to

tweak the recipe a little to make it so you like it (like

using the precooked or partially cooked bacon) but 

we thought this recipe was great.

I will post this with 

Foodie Friday

Masaman Chicken Curry - It's Thai Tonight

Masman Chicken Curry, a Thai dish is

another new dish that the girls suggested 

for Girl's Camp.  Pretty exotic camping fare!

This was my first venture with Thai food

(besides spring rolls and pad thai).

Since I had never had it, I had to test it out

before we served to to 24 at Girl's Camp.

My 17 year old son and my 20 year old daughter

walked in on the test dish and it was an 

instant favorite.  I was a little nervous about

serving this to girls between ages 12 and 18

but they all loved it too.

Hope you enjoy it.

You may have to find a specialty store

featuring Thai foods to get a few

of the ingredients, but it is worth

the search.

Masaman Chicken Curry Recipe

2 T. vegetable oil

3 T. masaman curry paste (Thai store)

3 T. red curry paste

2 - 19 oz. cans coconut milk (much better

if you don't use light)

1 3/4 C. water

6 T. soy sauce

7 T. sugar

4 T. tamarind liquid (Thai store)

1 lb. cubed, cooked chicken (or tofu)

1 C. cut up carrots

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 C. red potatoes, cubed with skins on

1/2 C. cashews, chopped

Jasmine or brown rice to serve it over

In a large pan heat the oil and stir fry the

curry pastes for a couple of minutes to bring

out the flavor.  Add the coconut milk and 

heat for a couple of minutes to blend flavors.

Add the water and remaining ingredients

except cashews. 

Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes

and carrots are soft.  If desired you can add

a little cornstarch mixed in cold water at 

the end to thicken up the sauce.

Serve over rice with the cashews.

You may stir the cashews in, but some people

don't like nuts, so we added them on top.

I had never had Masaman Curry before.  It has a very

mild, complex flavor and everyone loved it, even

our youngest girls.  

I will be posting this with

On The Menu Monday

Foodie Friday