Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

One of my absolute all-time favorite dishes from my childhood comes from a Mexican cookbook published in 1977 by Better Homes and Gardens.  It has some surprisingly authentic recipes in it considering the time period.  This recipe, called "Chicken Enchilada Casserole" in the book, is really known better as sour cream enchiladas everywhere else.  It has a super creamy sauce, a shredded chicken filling accented by green chiles and sweet onion, and is topped by Monterey jack cheese.  Mmmm-mmmmmm.

My mom used to make this dish all the time as I was growing up, but lost the cookbook somewhere along the way a few years ago.  So when I asked her for the recipe and she told me she didn't have the book anymore, we both searched high and low online for a similar recipe.  Most of the ones we found are made with condensed soup and flour tortillas - blasphemy!!  The more similar ones still weren't the same. Yes, we made it that many times that we knew the ingredients well enough to know the recipes weren't the same.

Well, we finally broke down and just ordered two copies of the book from a used book seller online.  So now, we both have the recipe again - and there are many other awesome recipes in the book as well.  Recipes for soups, appetizers like flautas, other types of enchiladas, stews (chile colorado anyone?), baked dishes, even breads and desserts - most are pretty authentic if not slightly changed to reflect what people would have had available in their 1970's pantries at the time.  There is also a killer chile con carne recipe we've made a few times.  The title is simply "Better Homes and Gardens Mexican Cookbook." 

So without further ado, I present the best sour cream chicken enchiladas you've ever had.


Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
or Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Mexican Cookbook, 1977

1 Cup chopped onion
1/2 Cup chopped green bell pepper (I use rehydrated dried bell peppers because I rarely have fresh on hand)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Cups shredded cooked chicken (I use the meat from a rotisserie chicken)
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles

3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup flour
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt (optional, depending on the saltiness of the broth you use)
2 1/2 Cups chicken broth
1 Cup sour cream (go full fat on this)
1 1/2 Cups shredded monterey jack cheese
12 corn tortillas (plus extras "just in case")

In a large skillet or saucepan, cook onion, garlic and green pepper in the 2 tablespoons of butter until tender.  Combine in a bowl with the chicken and chile peppers.  Set aside

In the same pan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.  Blend in flour, coriander, and salt.  Stir in chicken broth all at once, whisking to prevent lumps.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Stir 1/2 cup of the sauce into the chicken mixture.  Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish and swirl to coat.  Wrap tortillas in a paper towel and microwave 30-45 seconds or until hot and pliable.  Optional - you can opt to dip the tortillas into the hot sauce instead of heating them in the microwave as the book suggests, but this gets quite messy, so I just microwave mine until they're pliable enough that they won't break when rolled.  Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup of the filling, placing each tortilla in the baking dish (I arrange mine in two rows of 6 enchiladas and they fit perfectly).  Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, making sure to coat everything so it doesn't dry out.  Top with remaining shredded cheese (I always use a little extra).

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and just starting to brown around the edges. Makes 6 servings for normal people - 4 for us hungry folks who can't seem to get enough.

Cherry Cheese Crescent Roll Danish Braid

During one of our pre-Christmas shopping trips at Costco, the husband and I picked up a 5-pack of crescent roll dough and I've been trying to find some good recipes for using them ever since.  Today, I finally got to make a recipe I've been looking forward to for several weeks.  I thought I was out of pie filling, but I happened upon a can of cherry filling left over from our Red Velvet Oozing Brains from Halloween!  Sooo... I made a cherry-cheese danish braid.  I can't wait to dig into it.



Cherry Cheese Crescent Roll Danish Braid

Danish
1 can Crescent roll dough
8oz softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 can any flavor fruit pie filling (I used cherry)

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream


Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°.

Lay crescent roll dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Try to keep the dough in one sheet, pressing together any seams that come apart.  Cut diagonal strips 1/2" apart on each side of the dough, leaving about 3-4" in the middle for the filling.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla.  Spread cream cheese filling over the dough, leaving the cut strips uncovered.  Spread cherry pie filling on top of cream cheese filling.  Beginning at one end, bring strips over the filling, alternating each side to form a braid.


Bake for 20 minutes or until medium golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine glaze ingredients.  Once the danish is cool, drizzle glaze over danish and enjoy!

I passed!

I've recently been working on my last task for my class at WGU, Legal Issues for Business Organizations.  I submitted it last week and today I found out I passed with a 4/4!  I'm honestly kind of shocked - I knew what I had written was correct, but I wasn't sure my answers were complete enough for the grader.  So now I get to move on to another class - probably Quantitative Analysis, but I'm not sure I have enough time to finish it.  It's an incredibly complicated course with difficult tasks to turn.  I'm not sure I can complete all of that in 2 1/2 months.

Needless to say, that's why I haven't posted in awhile.  I will hopefully be back to baking and posting soon!

Mimi's Café Honey Bran Muffins

I've got a huge folder on my computer full of recipes I plan on making someday.  I finally got around to making the Mimi's Honey Bran Muffin clone I've been wanting to make for probably over a year.  I don't know why I waited so long as they're pretty easy to make and they turned out *exactly* like the original.  They are moist and full of flavor.  I'll definitely be making these again and that's saying something - I don't normally make the same recipe twice.

Mimi's Honey Bran Muffin Clone

Makes 12 regular sized muffins

Dry Ingredients:

1 Cup AP flour

1 Cup wheat bran (I use Bob's Red Mill)

4 teaspoons dry milk powder (I use Nido whole milk powder)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Liquid Ingredients:

1/3 Cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 Cup honey

2 Tablespoons molasses

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/2 Cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons butter, melted (I use unsalted)

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 350°

Spray a regular 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.  Be sure to coat the top of the pan as well to make removal of muffins easier.

Mix glaze ingredients together.  Distribute evenly between 12 muffin cups - I ended up with about a scant tablespoon per cup.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix until combined.

In a 2 or 4 cup glass measure or a small bowl, mix wet ingredients and whisk until thoroughly combined.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened - be sure not to overmix.  Let mixture sit for a minute or two to thicken.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full (I used a medium cookie scoop and placed 2 scoops in each tin).  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let muffins cool for 5 minutes and then turn out onto parchment or waxed paper.  Be sure not to let muffins cool in their pans or the glaze will solidify making it difficult to remove the muffins.

Enjoy their sweet, buttery, moist goodness.  I'm embarrassed to admit, I had 1 right off the bat, then another after dinner and then 2 more while crocheting in bed and watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix.  

Christmas Day 2012

So even though it's not technically 2013 yet, I have a few resolutions I'm planning on making when New Years finally hits.

•  Spend more time on crafts, baking, and creating

•  Have vegetables available at all times, which leads to...

•  Incorporate more vegetables into our dinners

•  Venture into cooking more with coconut oil, coconut flour, and other healthy ingredients

•  Try to get at least one day of exercise in a week.  I know this doesn't sound like much, but when
    you don't exercise at all and are in pain every day, anything but sitting around is difficult


Seems simple enough, right?

Oh yeah - and try to post at least once a week on here!  I've had blogs before, but never managed to keep them up to date.  I'd always forget to take pictures of projects or things I'd made.  Lately, I've been trying to get in the habit of photographing everything.

So... that means I have a recipe to share with you.  This is our family tradition of fried dough.  My grandmother used to make fried dough Christmas morning and we would eat it with butter and syrup. It continued on with my mom and now I make it as well.  I recently looked into the origin of it and it seems to be a German thing - my grandmother was German.  They're really called "German fried scones" and are traditionally eaten Christmas morning with butter and honey.  It's not the kind of scone you're probably used to.  It's a yeast-based dough.

My grandmother and mom always used frozen white bread dough they defrosted overnight, but I like to make my own the day before and stick it in the fridge.  I then take it out Christmas morning and let it come to room temp while we open presents. I make mine with a sweet dough base that has eggs, butter, and sugar and then I add something called "Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion" by Lorann Oils.  It imparts the traditional flavors of a Danish dough - vanilla, butter, and citrus.




Fried Dough
Adapted from Master Sweet Dough

Ingredients:

2/3 C whole milk (I used 3T whole milk powder plus 2/3 C water)
5 T sugar
1 3/4 t instant yeast (I used yeast specifically made for sweet doughs)
2 eggs
2 3/4 C bread flour
1 t salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened and cut into small cubes

For serving:

Salted butter
Maple syrup

Directions:

Warm milk in microwave until just lukewarm (or use lukewarm tap water).  In bread machine bowl, combine milk, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, flour, and yeast, in that order (or whatever your bread machine instructions say).  Set to the dough cycle and make sure you check about 5 minutes in to make sure the dough is coming together properly - I needed to add about 3/4 C more flour to mine.

When dough cycle is done and dough has doubled in bulk, you can either proceed with making the fried dough or refrigerate the dough overnight in a greased plastic bag.

To make fried dough, heat oil to 375°.  Tear off small pieces of dough and flatten to about 1/4" thick. When oil is hot, place a few pieces of flattened dough into the oil, taking care not to crowd the pan.  Fry on one side until deep golden brown, then flip and fry other side.  Remove from oil and place on paper towels or brown paper bags to drain.

Top with salted butter and honey or maple syrup.