Green Chile Chicken Enchilada’s

I’m slowly figuring out a routine that allows for working, time with Cason and cooking every night.  I’ve tried a few new things the past few weeks and this was definitely one of my favorites. 

I always thought I didn’t like Enchilada’s because I don’t like the traditional ranchero sauce that most restaurants serve. After Cason was born, a few different people brought us enchilada’s.  Some were more traditional with beef and red sauce and some were chicken with cheese or sour cream sauce.  I liked all the different versions so I knew it was time to make them myself.

The Foodie Bride has a Green Chile-Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas Recipe that is highly recommended and freezes well so I decided to give it a try.  It was a huge success and not TOO hard to make. 

I left out the cilantro (because I don’t like it) but didn’t change anything else.  We’ve had this several times in the last month since I made it the first time.  It makes enough for two full meals (I put one in the freezer) and some lunches of leftovers.  Perfect!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

I love anything I can cook in a crockpot. Since work + commute makes for long days, its great to have meals that are ready when I get home. This recipe has been a big hit on a local message board for some time but it took me a while to get on the bandwagon. Not sure why but we were missing out for the past year. I am not sure who this recipe "belongs" to but I wish I did so I can give them credit.

Ryan and I both really like the way these turn out and its super easy. I told him tonight that I was glad he liked it because we'd be having it a lot after the baby is born!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
1 chicken taco seasoning packet (you can use a reg. taco seasoning packet but the chicken kind is best)
6 FROZEN chicken tenderloins (or 3 frozen breasts)
1 container of fresh pico (or can of Rotel)
1/4 c. Olive Oil
1/4 c. Water

Cover the bottom of the crockpot with the taco seasoning.
Lay frozen chicken on top.
Pour Pico/Rotel over chicken.
Pour Oil and Water over everything.
Cook on Low for 4-6 hours. If home, turn meat half way but not necessary.
Shred chicken with a fork and stir into juices.
Let cook/simmer for 30 minutes more (if time is tight, I skip this step)

Serve on tortillas with a shredded Mexican cheese blend. Great for leftovers, too.

I always use Rotel because I tend to make this when I'm having a "what to cook" moment. I keep Rotel and Taco Seasoning in the pantry most of the time and there is always some frozen chicken in my freezer from sale days when I stock up. Fresh pico would go bad in our house so I never buy it.

As an aside, a neat tip I learned (from another source that I can't find anymore) is how to make your "big" crockpot smaller. Many people get the bigger crockpot with the programmable/digital timer which can be too big for meals for two. We aren't big leftover people (with some exceptions) so I like to just cook enough for the two of us on many things. What I learned is that you can put a covered casserole dish inside your crockpot to make it the right size for smaller portions. This way, the meat is in a smaller space and is able to continue to cook in the juices and not dry out. I use the appropriate size Corningware French White covered dish to hold whatever I am cooking (brisket, roast, pork loin, chicken tacos). Just place the casserole dish with the food you are cooking, covered, into the crock pot. Put the crockpot cover on and cook as directed. Works like a charm and since the casserole dish is smaller I can normally fit it in the dishwasher for easier cleanup. Here is a picture of mine (uncovered after cooking) for reference.

Spring Chicken Roll-Ups

I first saw this recipe on a blog I follow. It's a Rachel Ray recipe so I hoped it would be easy enough. It turned out pretty good despite on mishap. The middle of the chicken was not cooked through when I took this out of the skillet. I think the problem is that when rolled, it made an inner layer of chicken. Next time, I'll do more of a fold-over than a roll-up. It had really nice flavors and Ryan liked it (always a plus with chicken).

Spring Chicken Roll-Ups
by: Rachel Ray

2 (6-ounce) pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices provolone cheese
4 thin slices prosciutto
12 thin spears asparagus, trimmed of tough stems and blanched in salted water 2 minutes, drained
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 cup chopped, flat-leaf parsley, a handful

Cook's Note: Some markets sell "thin cut" chicken for a premium price. With a sharp knife, cutting the chicken breast yourself is easy. When chicken is on sale, stock up. Plastic storage bags can be stacked and frozen. Each portion will thaw in minutes and ready to use for dinner any night of the week. Plus, by halving and pounding out the breast meat, you're stretching your dollar and the meat to provide twice as many portions.
Halve the chicken breasts horizontally separating each into 2 cutlets.

Place each halved cutlet in an individual freezer plastic storage bag (with slider tab). Add a tablespoon of water to each bag and pound into1/8-inch thick cutlets.

Arrange the 4 cutlets on work surface. Season cutlets with salt and pepper on the side facing up. Cover each piece of chicken with 1 slice cheese and 1 slice ham. Starting on 1 side of the breast, place a small bundle of 3 asparagus spears.

Wrap and roll the chicken around the asparagus. Wash hands.

Heat about 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

When hot, using tongs, add the chicken roll-ups to skillet with seam side down. Season the roll-ups with salt and pepper.

Cover the pan loosely with tin foil and cook 4 to 5 minutes, turn roll-ups over and cook and other 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove cooked roll ups to a serving plate.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons flour Stir in the chicken stock and Dijon mustard, scraping up any drippings from the bottom of the pan, and simmer 1 minute.

Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley and spoon over chicken.

Pulled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

I found this recipe on Foodie Bride. I can't seem to get enough grilled pineapple these days so a dinner sandwich with grilled pineapple sounded great. And, as always, I like to try new ways to cook Ryan's least favorite meat... Chicken.

The flavors were awesome but something was funky about the chicken. It was all sort of mushy... probably didn't let it sit long enough before shredding. I dunno, I'll likely try this again soon to perfect it.

Pulled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches
copied from: FoodieBride

1/2 cup Heinz 57 Sauce
Fresh pineapple, cored and sliced into 7 1/4″-1/2″ inch rings
2 Tbsp honey, plus more (if desired)
Tabasco sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
6 buns or sandwich rolls (I used sliced, toasted sourdough)

Heat grill to medium heat.

Place one 1/2″ ring of pineapple into a food processor or blender and process. Puree. Or obliterate. You’re looking for a sauce-like end-product.


Pour the processed pineapple into a medium bowl and stir in the steak sauce, agave nectar, and a couple of dashes of Tabasco. Taste and add agave if additional sweetness is desired.

Remove 1/4 cup of sauce to use for basting and reserve the rest for serving.

Brush pineapple rings with olive oil and place on the grill. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, until the sugars start to caramelize and nice grill marks have developed.


Pound chicken breasts lightly, just to reach an even thickness. Brush the Hawaiian sauce on one side of the chicken breast and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until internal temps reach 170 (about 6-8 minutes), turning once halfway through. Before turning the chicken, baste with the remaining Hawaiian sauce.

Remove chicken and pineapple rings from the grill when done. Let chicken stand for 5-10 minutes before shredding with two forks. Add the chicken to a bowl and toss with the remaining Hawaiian sauce. Divide the pineapple rings and Hawaiian chicken between the 6 buns/sandwich rolls and serve warm.

Thanks, FoodieBride, for another great recipe!

Food Network Cooking: Fried Chicken

I had a couple of chicken breasts thawed out and was trying to decide what to make. I saw Guy Fieri make fried chicken on the Food Network a couple of weeks ago and had been wanting to try it. So, I went back to the Food Network website and started looking at Fried Chicken Recipes, intending to use Guy's. But, the idea of Paula Deen and Fried Chicken really just made the most sense. I couldn't resist trying her "Grandmother Paul's Fried Chicken". I think it was a sign.

Ryan's parents gave us a bunch of leftover's from Kevin's rehearsal dinner... mashed potatoes and green beans are a perfect compliment to Fried Chicken! Made this meal even more worth it to only have to cook the chicken! Thanks!

My grandmother (my dad's mom) made a mean fried chicken. She made fried chicken every time we came to visit--everyone's favorite! This is one of the recipes, like her chocolate chip cookies, that no matter how many times she showed us how she made it, our attempts were never quite the same.

Paula's Grandmother did not deep fry the chicken... she pan fried and steamed the chicken... basically frying in a little oil, with the lid on. I had to watch the video of the episode where Paula (yes, first name basis here) cooked this to make sure I understood. I'd suggest you do the same... its less than 3 minutes. All in all, it was a good recipe. The meat was a little dry... maybe I should try soaking the chicken in a brine like Guy's recipe calls for.

Grandmother Paul's Fried Chicken
By: Paula Deen
"My Grandmother Paul always said to season chicken and return it to the refrigerator and let it sit as long as time permits, at least 2 to 3 hours. And always use small chickens."

Salt and pepper, for seasoning chicken
Crisco shortening, for frying
3 eggs
1/3 cup water
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 (2 1/2 pound) chicken, cut into pieces

Heat shortening in a cast iron skillet to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs with water in a small bowl. In a shallow bowl, season flour with pepper. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then coat well in flour mixture. Carefully add to hot shortening, in batches if necessary, place lid on top of skillet, and fry until brown and crisp. Remember that dark meat requires a longer cooking time (about 13 to 14 minutes, compared to 8 to 10 minutes for white meat.)

Aussie Chicken

I tried another new recipe from the recipe exchange this week. Allison sent this recipe, Aussie Chicken, found on AllRecipes.com. I am always looking for new chicken recipes since Ryan tends to be "anti-chicken". This recipe sounded like a winner since the chicken was covered in bacon and cheese, two of our favorite foods!!! The result was fantastic... Ryan ate all of his and about 1/3 of mine! That is success in our house when it comes to chicken!

Aussie Chicken
Modified from AllRecipes.com
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
2 teaspoons seasoning salt
6 slices bacon, cut in half
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

Rub the chicken breasts with the seasoning salt and Worcestershire. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Saute Mushrooms in large skillet with butter. Remove from pan and set aside.
Place bacon in skillet. Cook over medium high heat until crisp. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the mustard, honey, corn syrup, mayonnaise and dried onion flakes. Remove half of sauce, cover and refrigerate to serve later.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the breasts in the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned.
Remove from skillet and place the breasts into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Apply the honey mustard sauce to each breast.
Then layer each breast with mushrooms and bacon.
Sprinkle top with shredded cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken juices run clear. Garnish with parsley and serve with the reserved honey mustard sauce.

Beer Can Chicken

How do you get a husband that doesn't like chicken to eat chicken? Cook it with beer! I had often heard people talk about "Beer Can Chicken"... one of my High School friend's families called it "Beer Butt Chicken" which is really an appropriate term.

Sometime after we got married, I decided to give it a try. I had heard that the hardest thing was getting the chicken to stand up on the grill which always made me nervous. I was at Wal-Mart one day and found a little stand that is made specifically for beer can chicken, so I bought it and it's great.

What is so fantastic about cooking the chicken this way is that it stays VERY moist. Even though the chicken takes an hour to cook, its not dry. This is always Ryan's biggest complaint about chicken, that it's dry. Not the case with Beer Can Chicken!

There are probably many ways to season the chicken but this is what I do.



Beer Can Chicken
1 whole fryer chicken (about 4lbs)
1 can of beer, your choice
Tony's Seasoning
Garlic Pepper
Vegetable Oil

Preheat grill so that the coals/flames are on the outside of the grill. Chicken will drip lots of grease so you don't want it on the coals.

Drink (or pour out -- gasp) 1/2 can of beer. Carefully cut open beer can so it has a larger opening. Be careful -- don't cut yourself.



Remove all insides of the chicken and rinse the chicken. Pat chicken down with a paper towel to dry off some.

Rub chicken with vegetable oil, inside and out.

Sprinkle/rub chicken with Tony's and Garlic Pepper, inside and out.

If you have the little stand, place the can of beer in the stand. Place the chicken down on top of the can, so that can goes INSIDE the chicken. The chicken will be standing up-right, with legs at bottom, wings at top.

Place chicken on grill and cook for 1 hour or until it reads 180 on a meat thermometer.



I have no tips on how to cut the chicken up. I just do my best to get the breasts off and then cut off the drumsticks. It's not a pretty sight. I won't be going on any sort of cooking show anytime soon!

Chutney Chicken Salad

I never really liked chicken salad until the past year. I grew up with a strong aversion to Mayonnaise. It really, REALLY grosses me out. I wouldn't eat anything that touched it or that I could tell had mayo in it. I wouldn't touch sour cream either, looked too much like mayo. So things like chicken salad, potato salad, etc were just off limits. Then, as I got older I started to eat potato salad (probably because I live for potatoes) but chicken salad was still a no-no. Then one day, my world was turned upside down.

I helped throw a baby shower where we served chicken salad finger sandwiches from Primos Cafe and Bake Shop. I was really hungry that day and decided the sandwiches didn't look too "mayo-y" so I gave one a try. Then I had a second and a third and a fourth and maybe even a fifth little finger sandwich. From that point on I was addicted to a chicken salad that I could only buy at a restaurant 2 states away. As my parent's next visit to Texas approached, we started brainstorming ways they could carry it on the plane with them but couldn't come up with a good way to keep it cold that didn't involve ice(liquid) or freezer packs(gels) going through security. Not only that, but one little 8oz tub was something like $8!!!

So I just dealt with it until my next visit home. Primos is a long time fixture in the Jackson restaurant and bakery world but a place I had actually never been. I was sure missing out on a good thing. The first place on my list of places to eat is typically Keifers but that time, it was Primos for lunch. I didn't even have to check the menu. I'll have a Chicken Salad Sandwich, and a sweet tea of course. Yum. We got a tub for me to take home as I was checking my luggage and could pack it with some gel packs. It made for great lunches that week.

The little tub from Primos calls the chicken salad "Chutney Chicken Salad" and it listed all the ingredients: Chutney, Mayonnaise, Chicken, Pecans, Celery, Green Onion, Grapes. Sounds easy, but what is Chutney?

Mom asked on of our friends who is an excellent cook and she told us two interesting bits of information.

1. The chicken salad would probably use what is called "Major Grey's Chutney".
2. The Junior League of Jackson cookbook Come On In has a recipe in it for "Chutney Chicken Salad" that is very close to the Primos recipe.

Ah-hah. I have that cookbook. And it really is about the exact same thing as Primos. Once again, my co-workers Erica and Marsh have given it the stamp of approval.

Chutney Chicken Salad (Come On In)

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Major Grey Chutney
8 Chicken Breast Halves, cooked, in bite-sized pieces
2 stalks Celery, coarsely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, coarsely chopped, sprinkled with lemon juice
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 cups cooked brown rice (see note below)

Thoroughly blend mayo and chutney. Combine with all other ingredients. Serve chilled.

My notes: I don't include the rice. I find that the celery can be overwhelming so I normally cut it back some. I add extra pecans and don't toast them. You can use green or red grapes, whatever you prefer. Tastes delicious on sourdough bread.