Ultimate Enchilada Bake recipe

 

Ingredients

• 6 skinless chicken breasts
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 6 pasilla or poblano chiles
• 1 (16 ounce) can (or equivalent fresh) tomatillos
• 3 sprigs fresh cilantro
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 24 small corn tortillas
• Lard or shortening for frying
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• Shredded lettuce
• Chopped ripe olives
• Sour cream

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directions

Poach chicken, keeping water at a bare simmer, until cooked through.
Remove from poaching liquid, cool slightly and remove/discard bones. Shred meat.

Stir onions into cream cheese, then add shredded chicken. Set aside.

Broil the chiles until soft, then puree with the tomatillos and cilantro until smooth.

Add cream, egg, salt and pepper, and continue to puree.

One at a time, dip the tortillas into the chile/tomatillo sauce, then fry in lard to

soften. Place chicken filling on tortilla and roll up. Spread some of the chile/tomatillo sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and lay the rolled/filled enchiladas seam side down in a single layer. Pour remaining sauce over these, top with parmesan and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.
Top with shredded lettuce and olives.
Serve sour cream in a dish on the side.

Grandpa Sonny's Bread Stuffing

1/2 cup butter

2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups sliced celery

1 cup butter

32 slices toasted bread, cubed

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp McCormick poultry seasoning

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 egg

1/2 pound chicken livers

Broth from gizzards and livers and enough chicken broth to make 2 cups

 

Cook neck, livers and gizzards in medium saucepan. Add water, some chopped onion and celery leaves and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 hours replacing water as it cooks off. Drain off broth and reserve to cool in fridge. After it cools skim off some of the fat. Refrigerate cooked livers and gizzards.

Toast the bread. I use the broiler of the oven and toast both sides. Tear into pieces and put in large bowl or roasting pan. Let cool and leave uncovered til needed.

Melt 1/2 cup butter in large skillet and sauté onion and celery on med-low heat until tender about 45 minutes. Add 1 cup of butter and allow to melt. Remove from heat and stir in salt, poultry seasoning and stir well. Let cool at room temperature.

Remove meat from neck bone. Place neck meat, gizzards, and almost all the livers in a blender along with the egg and 1/2 cup broth. Process until relatively smooth. Pull out any gristly chunks leftover by the gizzards and toss out. Dice remaining liver.

On the top of the bread pour blender contents, butter and veggies from the skillet and the parsley. Using your hands bring up bread from the bottom to the top to mix thoroughly. Add remaining broth and keep mixing until the bread is no longer hard and it is mixed well. Stuff neck and body cavities and add any leftovers to a bread loaf pan. You can bake this when the turkey is down to 1 hour of cooking time.

Grandpa Sonny was a meat cutter by trade (Chicago Stock Yard) and had access to the best cuts of meat and top of the line seasonings. I recommend using McCormick Poultry Seasoning because the dressing tastes just like Grandpa used to make.

KRISPY KREME DONUTS

Donuts
3 (1/4 ounce / 7g) packages yeast (3/4 oz / 21g total) - I used "Rapid Rise" but traditional is fine too - it just affects the rising times
1/2 cup (120ml) water (105-115F / 40-46C)
2 1/4 cups (530ml) milk, scalded, then cooled
3/4 cup (169g) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup (227g) shortening
7 1/2 cups (940g) all-purpose flour
canola oil for frying

Glaze
1/2 cup (227g) butter
3 cups (375g) powdered sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
6 -9 tablespoons (90-135ml) evaporated milk (can substitute regular milk or water for milder flavor)

Proof your yeast by adding it to the warm water. Mix it up and let it rest.

Scald the milk in your microwave or on top of your stove, and let cool.

Combine yeast, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 3 cups (375g) flour.

Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.

Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Carefully (not like me), stir in remaining flour until smooth.

Cover and let rise until double, 30-60 minutes, depending on the yeast you used. I went the full 60, and you can see in step 4 what happened! (I would do it again, they were great!)

After the dough has risen, turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour.

Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Separate donuts and holes, as they take different frying times (but are equally delicious). Save your scraps - they are both great to test your fry time and to snack on while you're making the rest!

Cover and let rise until double, 30-40 minutes.

**If you want to make these donuts for breakfast, let the donuts rise in the refrigerator overnight!***

I like to make up the glaze at this point because it can sit at room temp until the donuts are fried and ready to be dipped.

Melt the butter and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Add milk (or water) until desired consistency is reached.

*** to make chocolate glaze, melt 6 ounces of chocolate along with the butter!***

Use a deep pan to heat the oil. I used a shallow one to be able to take better pictures, but this provides a real fire hazard. So be safe!

Heat your oil to 350F (180C). A thermometer makes this part fool-proof, and you can monitor the heat to make sure it stays in this prime frying range.

I like to use a scrap of donut first to test different frying times.

Even after you take the donut out of the oil, the remaining oil on it is hot enough to continue cooking it!

Carefully place the donuts in the oil. Cook on each side for about one minute. Use chopsticks to flip the donuts and remove them from the oil.

Place donuts on a rack or paper bags or paper towels to drain.

Now is the time to take your donuts into a magical dimension. Dip them in the glaze and set them on a rack to dry. I dipped both sides of my donuts in the glaze (obviously!), but you can just do one if you would like.

These donuts are simply amazing. Once you try them, you're going to want to make them again and again. In fact, I woke up the next morning craving them, and I can assure you, they're still good the second day.

STUFFED RIGATONI

1 package rigatoni -- cooked

***Sauce***

2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 cup minced onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water (more if needed)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole leaf oregano

***Stuffing***
1 pound sausage
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

PREPARATION:

Cooked rigatoni should be quite firm so be sure to undercook by 4-5 minutes. The pasta will finish cooking in the oven. Saute onion in olive oil until almost transparent. Add other sauce ingredients; simmer for 30 minutes; remove bay leaf.

Stuff each rigatoni with sausage mixture, using a pastry bag or a zip lock bag. Cut off a corner from the bottom of the bag. Add to casserole dish; pour sauce over rigatoni and bake 30-40 minutes at 350 F.

5 Minute Individual Potato Gratins

This recipe is courtesy of Melissa d'Arabian of the Food Network. These potatoes are so decadent and satisfying you'll make them often. A great side dish for any meat meal.

Vegetable spray

2 large russett potatoes, roughly peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

2 green onions, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup heavy cream

 

Spray 8 muffin tins with vegetable spray. Layer potato slices, cheese, and onions into each muffin cup. Season with salt and pepper and top each gratin with 1 or 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, removing the foil halfway through cooking time. Invert gratins onto plate and serve.

Jack in the Box Tacos

Why oh why is Jack so far away from me? These tacos are easy to make and taste just like Jack's.

1 lb ground beef
1/3 cup refried beans
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs chili powder
1/4 cup Ortega or pico pica mild, taco sauce
12 soft corn tortillas
3 cups cooking oil, Crisco brand
6 slices American cheese
1 head lettuce, chop fine

View full recipe

Brown the beef over low heat, use a wooden spoon to chop and stir the meat. When the beef is brown drain the fat. Add the refried beans and use the wooden spoon to mash the whole beans into the mixture to create a smooth texture.
Add the salt, chili powder and 2 Tbs of taco sauce to the mixture. Remove from the heat. In another skillet heat 1/4 inch of oil until hot.
Spread 1/2 of the beef mixture on the center of each corn tortilla. Fold the tortillas over and press so that the beef filling holds the sides together. Drop each taco into the pan of hot oil and fry on both sides until crispy. When cooked remove the tacos from the oil and place them on a rack or some paper towels until they cool.
Slightly pry open add 1/2 slice American cheese and some lettuce. top with about 1/2 tsp of the remaining taco sauce.

Paul Lynde Stew

I made my favorite stew recipe today. The hubby has been bugging me for a potful so we enjoyed a big bowl of Paul Lynde Stew over a heapin' helpin' of homemade mashed potatoes. So simple yet so delicious. I have been making this since 1975. Paul was on the Merv Griffin show and made the stew. You had to mail in a request for the recipe and I've been making it ever since.

3# beef stew meat cut into bite size pieces
1 can carrots
1 jar small onions or 4 onions cut in 1/4ths
1  15 oz can stewed tomatoes, broken up
1 can peas
1 can green beans
1/2 can beef consomme
4 Tbsp Tapioca (Minute brand)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 bay leaf
1/2 c white wine
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1/2 Tbsp pepper
Drain all veggies except tomatoes. Layer ingredients in order given. Cover and bake @ 250 degrees for 6-7 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes.