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National Junk Food Day...Say Whaaaa'?

Heck yea! We have a reason to indulge, friends. I never knew of this day until a freindly radio personality mentioned in their morning dialogue and boy did it give me reason to cel.e.brate.

Here's the run down.

I made it a point yesterday to take a detour past the office candy jar multiple times. A route that I typically try to avoid, found me treats of M&M's and Rolo's yesterday.

For dinner, I made Oven Baked Chicken Chimichangas from a variation of this recipe I found over at Tasty Kitchen.

And they were everybit as tasty as they appear in this picture. My variation used some leftover Honey Jalepeno Rotisserie Chicken from HEB.

What? You haven't had it? That's preposterous! Get your hiney right on over to your local HEB and pick one of these babies up. You won't be sorry. I promise.

Back to my variation....I also had no spinach or cilantro on hand, so we just left that part out. I used the Verde Sauce and Sharp Cheddar too. The flavors from the chicken and seasonings were scrumptious!

I served it with a Spanish Rice and Guacamole.

And there is no better way to top off the celebration than with Rocky Road Frozen Custard from Ritters.

If I could marry an ice cream, I'm pretty sure this would be THE one. Go find a Ritters near you, but know that the Rocky Road is spoken for. Get your own flavor to marry.

Indulging to the stroke of midnight,

A Record of Chicken Enchiladas

I made chicken enchiladas this last week that were a hit with two of my most favorite men.

Sometimes I just throw in a little fo this and a little of that and forget how to replicate recipes. I get scolded when I do that. I have been forewarned that this should be a repeat meal, so I need to record an account of how it was prepared.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures to go along. I wasn't planning for a foodie blog entry, so I am completely unprepared and this entry will appear completely lame. But, if you can stick with it and trust that they turn out absolutely gorgeous and even more delicious, I promise you won't be sorry.

I roasted a chicken for dinner the other night and as is normally the case, half was eaten and half was leftover.

Deboned leftover roasted chicken = all kinds of fun!

The other players:

1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp flour
1 can enchilada sauce
salt
pepper
corn tortillas
1 can green chilis
1 Tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 chopped onion
1 1/2-2 cups grated cheese
1 can chopped black olives
cilantro

How it works:

Heat the oil and stir in the flour. Let cook, stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes. Add the can of enchilada sauce, salt and pepper and heat through. While the sauce is heating, saute the onions in a separate pan. Add in the chicken, green chilis, cumin, and paprika. Next you will lightly fry the corn tortillas until soft. Dip them in the enchilada sauce and fill them with spoonfuls of chicken, cheese and black olives. Once all are filled top with remaining enchilada sauce, grated cheese and cilantro. Heat in the oven for 20-25 minutes on 350.

To complete the meal, I took some leftover corn-on-the-cobb and  "de-cobbed" it. Is that a word? Oh well, it is now. The corn was heated in a pan with a tablespoon of butter and a few spoonfulls of premade pico. The enchiladas were topped with a dallop of sour cream and guacamole.

Happy Eating,
Amy

This ain't no 'Pork'n Beans'

After sitting in a class at church last night and listening to stories about the increasing number of Jesus followers in the Middle East and learning that MBB stands for Muslim Background Beliefs and being enlightened about the etymology of the words God and Allah, I found it only fitting to come home and feast on this dish.

I know my food photography skills are lacking people, but work with me here.

Know what that is? That is the tasty goodness of the other white meat, folks. Yep...it's a pork tenderloin in all it's delighful glory. Just simmering away in a mushroom sauce getting ready to be devoured.

You thought I was going to get all serious here, didn't you?

Well, this is serious. Seriously good stuff.

So, listen up.

Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce

1-2 lb pork tenderloin
1-2 (or three) cloves of garlic

paprika

2 Tbsp butter

2 tsp. marjoram

1/4 cup lemon juice or white wine (you know my choice, right?)

1-2 cups sliced mushrooms

salt and pepper

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup cold water



Rub pork tenderloin with garlic and paprika. Heat butter in skillet and brown tenderloin on all sides. I had to remove my tenderloin here because I don't have a large enough pan, but it does not hurt to leave it in the cooking dish. Add in mushrooms and saute until browned. De-glaze the pan by adding the white wine or lemon juice to a relatively high heat and scraping on the browned, crispy goodness from the pan to create a tasty liquid. Stir in the marjoram and then add the tenderloin back to the pan, if you removed it. Let the pork simmer in the liquids for about 25-45 minutes or until done. Be sure to turn the meat regularly to coat with all sides with the liquid and seasonings while cooking. The cook time will vary depending on the size of the tenderloin.





Mix the flour with the cold water. When the tenderloin is done, remove it from the pan and add the four mixture to the liquid to create a gravy. Simmer for about 2 minutes until the liquid is thickened. Pour mushroom gravy over the tenderloin and serve.





Served up this evening with a side of mashed, skin on, red potatoes and a side salad.





Those potatoes made a great pairing. Not just because they were simple and quick, but the flavors really played well together. I just love it when flavors play well together, don't you?





How to potatoes: Boil the potatoes and when soft, drain and add milk and butter to taste. Mash with fork to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.





P.S. No offense should be taken by an of my non-pork eating friends. I love you all. I really do.


P.S.S. I would imagine that a beef tenderloin could be substituted in this recipe to capture an almost as delightful experience.

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Chicken and Dumplings Cure All

About three weeks ago, Griffin came home from Beach Retreat with a blazing 103 degree temperature and a killer case of strep throat. My dad's wife was out of town that week too, which means that he pops in to check on us around dinner time each night. Get my drift? He had a case of feeling under the weather himself, so what better to help ease the pain of these two ailing fellows than a big bowl of steaming chicken and dumplings.

I strapped on the apron and went to work.

Here are the basic ingredients.

Chicken (You can use everything from an oven-roasted to boneless, skinless chicken breast to a whole fryer- just whatever you have lying around)

Chicken broth

Can of cream of chicken

Can of cream of celery

Can of flaky biscuits

Flour

Salt and Pepper

If you do not have a pre-cooked chicken, boil your chicken in the chicken broth until done (about 20 minutes). Remove the chicken and add your two cans of creamed soup. Let the liquid simmer for about 15-20 minutes while you debone or shred your chicken and prepare your dumplings.

To prepare the dumplings, remove your biscuits from the package and tear each apart using the three layers that are already present on the flaky biscuits. Prepare a flour, salt and pepper mixture to dredge your biscuits in before cooking.

Finishing up, dredge your biscuits in the flour on both sides and drop into the rolling liquid one at a time. Do not stir your mixture during this time. Just push the dumplings down to ensure they get cooked thoroughly. Stirring the mixture before the dumplings have a chance to cook will cause them to dissolve and you will end up with some tasty but creamy chicken soup.

After the dumplings cook for about 15-20 minutes, add your chicken back in to the mix. Serve up a piping hot bowl to ease your ailments or just to warm your soul.

Enjoy!

Purple Hull Pea Wonder

A couple of weeks ago I stopped in at Dilorio's Farmer's Market in Hempstead and couldn't help but buy more than one of nearly everything home grown they had. Including a big bag of fresh purple hull peas.

So, how did they turn out? Delicious!

Take a peek...


First, rinse the peas well under cold water.
Chop up 3-4 pieces of bacon per pound.
Cook the bacon on low-medium heat until brown.
Add the peas and cold water to cover.
Salt to taste.
Simmer for about 20-30 minutes until done.

Simple enough. Serve them up with a fantastic cornbread and you're taste buds will love you.