The Whole Enchilada! Salsa Verde Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas! Bulk Cooking Recipe!

Let's make meal number 4 from our roasted chicken!  Today we are making a delicious pan of Salsa Verde, sour cream, chicken enchiladas today!  These are super easy to make, quick to get on the table and this pan will feed between four and six people, depending on how many they choose to eat.  I planned for two enchiladas per person, however if you have younger kids they may eat less.  I only enjoyed one and was full and satisfied.  These are rich and delicious.  So, this may stretch further than four people.

I have used flour tortillas, shredded chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheddar and pepper jack cheese to make this very satisfying and filling meal.  Paired with an avocado salad, green salad or jicama and orange salad this will be a completely delicious and well rounded meal.  You could even add fresh spinach to the filling to include more greens.    As economical, budget stretcher meals go, this one is one of my favorites!

The secret to this dish is definitely in the sauce!  You can choose to start with a homemade cream of chicken, but this is a quick recipe so I make no apologies for using the canned soup.  The sauce is simple.  Sour cream, cream of chicken soup and a healthy dose of your favorite jarred salsa verde sauce.  I sometimes like to also add a small can of chopped green chilies to add more of that flavor.  

The filling is simple.  shredded chicken, shredded cheddar cheese and a bit of the sauce.  All mixed together to make a thick but workable filling for the tortillas.  I divided the filling evenly between eight "fajita sized" flour tortillas.  I prefer the Cesareo style tortillas because they are a bit thicker and roll much easier.  Spreading the filling across the middle portion of the tortilla then rolling tightly into a compact cigar.  I fit all of these into a foil pan and they were perfectly snug.  You can feel free to use your favorite baking dish to make this as well.  Just be sure the enchiladas have enough space to spread out on each end.  You don't want them folded up on themselves.  

When all the enchiladas were filled and snugly set in their cooking pan, I poured the creamy sauce over them and spread it evenly.  As this bakes the sauce will cook down into all the crevices and become even more delicious.  I then topped this with a generous handful of pepper jack cheese.  You can add more or less to your preference and if you like a different type of cheese then go for it!  I think just about anything would be great with the exception of Mozzarella which has no business around Mexican style cooking.

This bakes up in just around a half hour, uncovered and is bubbly, cheesy, creamy and amazing.  Everyone is going to love this one.  Even people who think they don't like enchiladas will love this.  The creamy sauce is the key!   This casserole is best made and eaten fresh.  Leftovers are alright, however not exceptional due to over sogginess of the tortilla after it sits post cooking.   If you should have leftovers, they should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eaten within 3 days.  

I don't recommend this recipe for freezer banking due to the sour cream.  Once frozen and thawed this will "break" making the sauce separate and look unappetizing and not become creamy upon baking.  So this should not be frozen before or after cooking.  

I hope that you give this salsa verde sour cream chicken enchilada recipe a try and I hope you love it!  I hope that you give bulk cooking a try some time soon!

Happy Eating!

You can get a printable version of this recipe on my website by clicking here:  http://bit.ly/2j1ZWyK

You can see how I made this in my YouTube video:

Noreen's Kitchen

Salsa Verde Sour Cream

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded 2 cans, cream of chicken soup’ 2 cup sour cream 1 cup green chili salsa

1, 4 ounce can, chopped green chilies 8, medium sized flour tortillas 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

Step by Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, green chili salsa and additional chopped green chilies.  Whisk together until well combined.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine chicken and sharp cheddar cheese along with 1 cup of the prepared sauce mixture.  Blend together well, to make a somewhat thick paste like consistency.

To prepare the enchiladas, place a tortilla down on the work surface in front of you.  Spread approximately 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture, across the tortilla, in a line, just off center, toward you.  Roll up the tortilla tightly.  Place into a baking dish that comfortably fits the width of the enchilada.  Continue filling and rolling until the chicken mixture and the tortillas are used.

Pour the sauce over the prepared enchiladas in the pan.  Spread evenly.  Don’t worry too much about getting the sauce down in all the nooks and crannies.  That will happen as it bakes.

Top with the shredded pepper jack cheese.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until the pan is bubbly and the cheese is melted and lightly browned on the top.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for five to ten minutes before serving.  This will help the enchiladas to set up a bit before you attempt to lift them out of the pan in one piece. 

Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eaten within three days.

This recipe is not recommended for freezing either before or after baking due to the inclusion of sour cream which may separate and break after thawing.

Sour Cream Biscuits! Not Your Grandma's Biscuit!

Today I want to share with you this simple and delicious twist on a good, old fashioned every day biscuit!  This sour cream biscuit is easy to make just like your traditional buttermilk biscuit, but this uses sour cream and milk instead of buttermilk.  This may be something you can make if you don't want to use buttermilk, don't have it available in your area or just don't feel like running to the store for a special ingredient.  

This is a very basic biscuit recipe.  I have developed this based on my traditional buttermilk biscuit recipe and it makes a big pan full.  You can easily cut this recipe in half if you like or you can make the whole think and only bake what you will eat and freeze the rest of the raw biscuits on a sheet for later use.  

As far as biscuits go this is pretty simple.  Flour, butter, leavener, a bit of sugar for a golden brown finish, milk and sour cream.  You could use all sour cream, but that will make this biscuit super heavy.  Adding the milk give this a lightness that you will enjoy.  Mix it up as you would any other biscuit, by cutting the butter into the dry ingredients then I like to mix the milk and sour cream before pouring into the bowl.  Toss with a fork to form a shaggy dough then dump  onto your well flour work surface.

The magic of flaky layers comes in how you handle the dough from here.  First you will want to press everything together.  Don't "knead" the dough.  Fold the dough into itself like you would fold a letter.  This is called laminated.  When you laminate dough you develop layer upon layer of flaky goodness.  When the dough is pressed out like this it will puff kind of like puff pastry, but not as high.  Biscuits are awesome when you prepare the dough like this.  I like to fold the dough into itself at least four times for maximum flakiness.

When you have folded the dough enough times for your liking, be sure not to do it to many times, which will result in a tough biscuit, go ahead and press or roll out into approximately at 10 x 12 inch rectangle.  You will want the dough to be approximately 1/2 inch thick.  Then cut out in the size you like.  This time I used a large, 4 inch biscuit cutter because I will be using these biscuits to serve with creamed chicken for dinner.  You can cut them smaller and my preferred size is the 2 1/2 inch cutter.  It makes perfect size biscuits for biscuits and gravy, serving on the side with eggs or stew or for eating out of hand with butter and jam.  

These bake in a moderate oven at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown.  When they come out of the oven, I like to brush the tops with melted butter.  This will add flavor and ensure a soft top to your biscuits.  Allow these to cool for a few minutes before serving, even though they will be very hard to resist!

These biscuits are flaky, buttery, and have an amazing tang from the sour cream.  Different that that of the buttermilk.  These are simply delicious and I may say that I like them just a little more than my traditional recipe for buttermilk biscuits!  This recipe will definitely be showing up more often at my house!

I hope that you will give these sour cream biscuits a try some time soon and I hope you love them!

Happy Eating!

You can see how I made these in my YouTube video:

Noreen's Kitchen

 Sour Cream Biscuits

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cold and cubed 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt 1 cup sour cream 1 cup milk Melted butter for brushing on top

Step by Step Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl blend flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk together. 

Add cubed butter to the flour mixture and toss to coat and make sure the butter cubes are separated.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, sand or coarse meal.

In a small bowl or jug, mix the sour cream and the milk together until smooth. Pour the liquid mixture into the butter and flour mixture.  Blend with a fork until it just comes together.

Flour your work surface liberally with more all purpose flour.  Pour the dough mixture out onto the flour.  Dust the dough with even more flour on the top.

Work the dough gently by folding into thirds, adding more flour as needed to keep a nice smooth and not sticky dough.  Press down and turn a quarter turn.  Fold into thirds again, press down, turn a quarter turn and flip the dough over, then repeat the folding and turning process twice more.

Roll or pat the dough out into a 12 x 16 inch (approximately) rectangle.  Then cut out using a biscuit cutter in the size desired.  Be sure not to twist your cutter.  That will cause your biscuits to be lopsided and also will inhibit them from rising to their fullest.

Place cut biscuits on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.

You can choose to place the biscuits close together or leave an inch or two between.  This is up to you, depending on whether or not you like your biscuits crispy all around the edges or soft. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or just until golden brown on top and around the edges.

Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.


Get a printable version of this recipe on my website:  http://bit.ly/2aW06mn

A New Year, A New Beginning, an Old Favorite! Chicken Paprikash

The New Year brings with it, new hopes, new dreams and the setting of goals along with lessons learned as we close the previous year. In this last year I have stepped outside my box a little more and made even more videos for my channel and started this blog. My love of cooking has inspired me to do a lot of things that in the past I would not have considered doing. I have done things in the past year that I never would have done even 5 years ago due to the fear of rejection and quite possibly fear in general. Fear is a great motivator. Not a good one, but one that motivates you to continue doing nothing for fear that you will be ridiculed and made fun of. Fear is unnecessary.

My bank publishes a little magazine every quarter with information about the military and retired military, basically a marketing tool to make you feel like they are working for you. But, I digress, in a section of the publication, they had little quotes that people had submitted for a corresponding article and when I read the following entry, it really made a lot of sense. It made me cry, but it made a lot of sense:

‘My mother gave me the best gift of all when she told me life was too short to fear anything. The day before she died, she told me, “You know there really isn’t anything to be afraid of. I hat that I was so afraid of everything.’ My life changed that day, and I will be forever grateful.”

This kind of puts thing in perspective. Many of us spend our lives afraid of something. Worrying that things will not go our way. Lying awake at night thinking about the “What ifs”. At some point we have to stop being afraid and start doing something that we are afraid of and let our fears go, because the only way to let go of fear is to face it head on. If we don’t than we will never achieve anything.

I understand that this is quite unconventional talk for a cooking blog, but I promise I will get to the point. I have decided to embrace 2011 in a way that I have never before approached a new year, with gusto! I have been “thinking” about doing a cookbook for a number of years, at least 10 years in fact. I haven’t because more than once my own mother upon hearing the news of my idea looked at me and asked my “why do you want to do that?” “There are lots of cookbooks out there” “What would be so different about what you cook?” So with my self esteem crushed and doubting myself, I just put the idea back in its little mental box and let it go. Not anymore. I am doing the groundwork for my cookbook and all those fears be damned. I can do anything I want to do! And so can you! Put your mind to it and get it done.

So with all this talk about getting motivated and moving forward, I also began thinking about some of the wonderful recipes that I remember from my childhood. Now I’m talking about the foods that your doctor would not recommend, the recipes that made you run home from school because you knew that Mom was making THAT for dinner. The recipe that I wanted to make was Chicken Paprikash.

Now, my Mommom, my paternal grandmother made this Hungarian peasant dish on a regular basis, and it was always delicious. My mother made this occasionally while we were growing up and I remember it being one of my favorite meals. Seasoned chicken stewed to perfection and then enveloped in a tangy creamy sauce and served with elbow macaroni. Perfect, filling and delicious and relatively inexpensive to prepare.

So as it was, that I was at my parent’s house this weekend, I asked my mom to tell me how to make this recipe. I have not had it in an estimated 20 years time, but just the thought of it, invoked the memory of its flavor and deliciousness. And so, she explained how to make it. I went right to the grocery store to procure the necessary ingredients and planned on making it the next afternoon.

In the end, it was exactly as I had remembered. I was so pleased with it that I took some right over to my mom and she stood in her kitchen lapping spoonfuls of the wonderful sauce to her mouth and with her eyes closed, shaking her head in pleasant approval of a job well done.

I will tell you that there is nothing more satisfying than preparing a dish for your family that is met with such approval and delight! In the end, making my family happy is the ultimate goal, but this one came with the extra added bonus of outwardly making my own mom happy.

Here is how you make this dish. I will warn you that this is not quick and easy. It is not by any stretch of the imagination instant and it is not heart healthy, it’s not something you make all the time and it’s not on Weight Watchers. It is just plain, Eastern European peasant food. A meal that has been served countless times to countless numbers of people. A meal that may have gone by the wayside because of our busy lives. But I highly recommend that you take the time, plan for an afternoon and make this meal. You will be happy with your decision.

Ingredients:

8 Chicken Thighs on the bone with skin

4 Chicken Breasts on the bone with skin

½ cup cooking oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon Hungarian Paprika

2 Medium Onions Quartered and sliced

¼ Cup plus 1 Tablespoon Hungarian Paprika

6 Cups Chicken Stock

4 Cups good quality Sour Cream (I only use Daisy)

¼ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Prepare chicken by trimming the fat from each piece and washing well and patting dry with a paper towel. Cut most of the rib section from each breast and then cut each one in half so that they are a similar size to the thighs.

**SIDE NOTE: You may also choose to use a whole cut up chicken or chicken pieces of your choice or even leg quarters that have been separated.**

Place oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat while you prepare the chicken.

Mix 2 cups flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a large plastic bag. Dredge each chicken piece well to thoroughly coat and set aside on a sheet pan or plate.

Place chicken pieces, skin side down into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Make sure each piece has room around it. My pan is 14 inches across, so I am able to do this in only 2 rounds. Brown each piece for 5 minutes per side. Remove from the pan to a waiting plate. Remember our goal here is only to brown the chicken, not to cook it through.

Once your chicken has been removed, add in the sliced onion and the paprika. Sautee until the onions is somewhat soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken on top of the onion and then add in the chicken stock on top of everything. Give everything a stir, lower the heat to medium low and cover. Simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is tender and nearly falling from the bone.

Constructing the sauce:

Remove chicken to a plate. At this point you have the option to remove the skin, it has given all it has to give and does not really taste great. Your call, leave it on or take it off, it will not really affect the overall dish.

Turn off the heat. Give the cooking liquid a good stir. Place ¼ cup of flour into a bowl along with the sour cream and blend well with a whisk. Take 3 ladles full of the cooking liquid and add them to the sour cream mixture to temper the sour cream and prevent it from curdling later. Once the liquid is blended well into the sour cream mixture, slowly whisk the mixture into the cooking liquid, continue to whisk until the sauce comes together. At this point you can skim the fat from the top of the sauce. It is easer to remove once you have added the sour cream.

Return chicken to the pan and turn the heat on medium low. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and allow to simmer while you prepare some elbow macaroni. About 30 minutes.

Now you are ready to serve with some of that elbow macaroni and some seasoned green beans. A meal fit for a king. You will think that you have died and gone to heaven. It will give you solace and hope that the New Year will bring you good things and who could argue when you see the bowl full of goodness you just prepared?

I hope that 2011 is the best for you as ever. I hope that you try this and I hope that you like it.

As always:Happy Eating!

What's for Dinner? Quick Weeknight Quick Potato Soup

This week was the beginning of the new school year in our area.  My girls started school this past Wednesday.  Back to school always makes me wax nostalgic of my own school days.  I remember the eager anticipation of starting a new year.  Meeting a new teacher and seeing my friends on a regular basis after the long hot summer of separation.  It also reminds me of the comforting times spent around the dinner table with my family recounting the days activities.  Sharing in our happiness and our troubles.  It was a great time.  Truly a thing I did not appreciate until I had grown and realized how great it truly was.  As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.  This is true of people and of times in our lives.


The family times around the dinner table were made even more memorable thanks to the bountiful spread my mother would always put on the table for us to share.  After a long day at school, there were few things that one could appreciate more that some of mom’s home cooking!  I hope that someday my girls will feel the same, when they are preparing to send their children off into the world.  Coming home to a comforting and warm bowl of hearty soup is always a great way to fill their bellies and help their brains tackle all that homework that they will undoubtedly be bringing home with them.  


This soup is so easy to prepare, you will not believe that this silky creamy soup can be made in under an hour.  Pair this with a green salad, some crusty  bread and butter or soft cheese and you are well on your way to making sure that your children will be satisfied in body and soul ready to take on algebra, earth science or Shakespeare.  Give this a try, I know that you will be glad you did!


This recipe is well suited for a day when you don’t know what to make.  Perhaps you have half a bag of potatoes sitting under your kitchen sink ( I always assume that everyone does things the way I do)  Maybe you have a couple of carrots in the crisper drawer, along with the celery that you bought last week and the half an onion that you put away over the weekend, and some heavy cream half and half or whole milk, you have what you need to make this.  


Don’t have the aromatics?  Use some frozen veggies!  That ½ bag of frozen broccoli, is screaming to be picked to play on this team.  Whatever you have that would be suitable for a soup, would be great to get this going.  Do the potatoes in the broth and add what you want.  Don’t want to use the heavy cream, use milk or plain yogurt!  Make this your own, you’ll love it and so will your kids!  Simple, hearty and satisfying, and you didn’t have to spend the whole day in the kitchen killing yourself on this one either!  







Here is what you will need to make this recipe:


2 pounds of potatoes peeled and cubed (I used Yukon gold)
1 medium onion or about 1 cup chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
1 cup carrots chopped ( I used matchstick carrots that I chopped up even more with my hand chopper)
½ stick butter (4 Tablespoons)
4 cups hot water
4 chicken bullion cubes
1 carton chicken stock
¼ teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt (use Jane’s Crazy Mixed up Salt if you can get it.  If not, no biggie!)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup heavy cream (or ½ and ½ or milk or yogurt)
Toppings:
Crumbled Bacon
Cheddar Cheese
Green Onions
Dollop of Sour Cream


In a large deep skillet or stock pot,  Melt butter, add onion, celery and carrots.  Sautee until soft and onion is translucent.  Add potatoes and give things a stir.  Combine bullion cubes or powder with hot water and add to pan along with entire carton of chicken stock.  Stir in celery seed, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.    Cook over medium high heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, but not falling apart.  Towards the end of the cooking time, mash some of the potatoes while stirring, to thicken the soup with the starch of the potatoes.  Turn heat off and add heavy cream and whisk lightly to combine.  Allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.  NOTE:  don’t allow the soup to boil otherwise you may risk breaking the cream and although it will taste fine, it will look really nasty.  


Serve this to your family after a long day.  Share, laugh, love and make memories over steaming bowls of this hearty soup that says “I Love You”.  


I hope you try this and I hope you enjoy it.  Until next time:  See Ya!