Welcome to What's for Dinner Wednesday! Tonight I'd like to share an experiment from Mr. Poe's favorite food genre - chicken enchiladas.
Ingredients: 8 flour tortillas, 8 oz chicken breast (cooked and shredded), 1 cup cooked rice, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 can Rotel, 1/2 cup sour cream, 2 cups milk (not pictured), 8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese (divided).
Combine chicken, rice, soup, Rotel, sour cream, and 1/3 of the cheese in a medium bowl:
Place a liberal amount of the mixture on a tortilla, fold, and continue until all the tortillas are stuffed. Arrange the filled and folded enchiladas in a single layer in a casserole dish. In a small saucepan, warm the milk over med heat. Add cheese and stir frequently until the cheese melts; pour the finished cheese sauce over the enchiladas:
Bake at 350 until filling is hot, cheese sauce is bubbly, and the tops of the enchiladas are slightly browned (about 10-20 minutes depending on the starting temperature of filling ingredients). Enjoy!
It's another What's for Dinner Wednesday, and today I'd like to share with you an Americanized version of Chicken Curry based on some tips from my major professor, Dr. Walters.
Ingredients: 1 can cream of soup, 1/4 cup sour cream, 4 oz chicken, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, curry powder to taste, 2 small potatoes (optional, not pictured), saffron rice (not pictured).
Saute chopped chicken, chopped potatoes, and seasoning in a small saucepan till browned. Add the soup (I used cream of mushroom) and sour cream, and simmer until the chicken has finished cooking and the potatoes are soft (about 20-30 minutes):
Serve over cooked saffron rice and naan. Note: Mr. Poe and I have different tastes when it comes to curry. To please both our palates, I add 2 tsp during the cooking process and an additional couple on mine right before I eat it.
Enjoy!
What's for Dinner this Wednesday is another original recipe that reminds me of fall but really makes a tasty dinner any time of year- Fall Harvest Pasta.
Ingredients: 4 oz chicken breast, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 an apple, 1/2 cup of grapes, 1/4 cup of pecans, 1 Tbs olive oil (not pictured), pasta.
Dice the chicken, fruit, and nuts, then saute in olive oil with all the spices on med-high heat until the chicken is cooked and the fruit is soft (15-20 minutes).
Serve over your favorite pasta (Note: I would recommend a thicker noodle than angel-hair), and enjoy!
Another What's For Dinner Wednesday is upon us, and tonight I'd like to share with you another result from my kitchen experiments while Mr. Poe was traveling a few months ago. I was in the mood for chicken curry and was contemplating apple pie for dessert, so I combined the two and added in some cheddar cheese (I've always been strangely curious about the combo of apple pie and cheese) to make...curried chicken and apple pie, two ways.
Ingredients: 4 oz chicken breast (chopped), 1/2 an apple (chopped), 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons flour (not pictured), 1-2 cups milk, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 package saffron yellow rice (cooked), 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.
Saute the chicken, apple, and spices in the olive oil, using a medium skillet on med heat. When the chicken is cooked and the apple has softened, add flour to the skillet, and continue to cook for a minute longer. Add milk, stir, and continue to heat until the sauce thickens. Once thickened, reduce the heat and stir in the cheese until melted:
To serve...
1) For a traditional chicken curry look, pour the sauce over rice and accompany with grilled nann:
2) For a more 'apple pie' look, spread some uncooked naan dough in the bottom of a casserole dish. Combine the sauce with the rice, and layer it over the dough. Cover with another layer of dough, then bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until the naan is light brown and crispy:
Enjoy!
Since it's the night before Thanksgiving, many of you are probably busy preparing for your holiday meal and don't want to put much thought or effort into tonight's meal. So What's for Dinner this Wednesday? Empanadas- a quick and easy dish that can be altered to use with whatever meats and veggies you have on hand.
Ingredients: 1 can of biscuits, 1-2 cups chicken (cooked and shredded), 1 small tomato, 1/4 cup jalapeno, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 tsp cumin, and salt and pepper (not pictured).
Finely dice the veggies and combine with chicken, cheese and spices:
Roll out the biscuits (I use my fingers) until they're approximately 1/4 inch thick, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Put a heaping 1-2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on half of the biscuit:
Fold the other half of the biscuit over the filling (to form a half-circle), and seal the empanada by pressing a fork gently along the curved edge of the biscuit:
Cook according to the biscuit package directions. Serve with salsa and sour cream, and enjoy!
It's another What's for Dinner Wednesday here at the blog, and I am hungry for some down-home cooking! Tonight I present to you chicken casserole for two.
Ingredients: 1/2 chicken breast (cooked and shredded), 1 can of cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4+ shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup croutons*.
Combine chicken, soup, lemon juice, sour cream, and 1/4 cup of the cheese in a small casserole dish with salt and pepper to taste. Top with a handful of cheese and the croutons:
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until bubbly around the edges (about 15 minutes) and then enjoy! This dish goes well with Mrs. Holley's cabbage salad and my special green beans:
It's fantastic for company or pot-lucks...in larger batches of course!
*You can also top with crushed Ritz crackers tossed in melted butter instead of croutons.
It's that time again, folks: What's for Dinner Wednesday! Today we'll look at a very lite pasta dish for two that we absolutely love: Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta.
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil (lemon infused is fantastic), 1 tomato (diced), 6-8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast (chopped), 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning, pasta (cooked), 1 teaspoon salt (not pictured), 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (not pictured).
Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a medium skillet on medium-high. Add the chicken, garlic powder, lemon pepper seasoning, Italian seasoning, and salt. Cook until the chicken is done (approximately 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to low-medium, and add the tomato and the remaining olive oil; allow the mixture to cook for 2-5 more minutes until the tomato softens a bit:
Add cooked, drained noodles to the skillet, and toss in the mixture, coating the noodles in the oil and mixing in the chicken and tomatoes. Then enjoy!
Today's What's for Dinner Wednesday is one of Mr. Poe's favorites dishes from his favorite food genre: Fajitas.
Ingredients: 6-8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast (or skirt steak), 1/2 package fajita seasoning, 1/2 a medium-large bell pepper, 1/8 of a medium onion, 1 cup water (not shown), 2-3 tortillas (not shown), desired toppings (not shown).
Dump seasoning and water into a medium skillet, and stir to dissolve some of the seasoning in the water. Thinly slice the chicken, onion, and pepper, and add to the liquid in the skillet. Toss to coat:
Cook on med-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is done, the pepper is tender, and the onion is transparent (approximately 15 min). Spoon over tortillas:
Top with your favorite toppings (we love cheddar, sour cream, jalapenos, and salsa), and serve. Refried beans, chips and queso dip, or chips and salsa partner wonderfully with this dish, as you can probably imagine. Enjoy!
Last week I was able to visit the Lukes for a few days, and they made all kinds of tasty treats for me. One of the first recipes of theirs that I'd like to share with you is one that Mrs. Luke developed herself, based on some inspiration from their honeymoon...Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wraps (serves 4).
Ingredients: 2 boneless skinless chicken breast, 1/2 cup + 3 Tbs Jamaican Jerk marinade, 4 slices of bacon, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (not shown), 1/2 cup mayo, 1 mango, 1 tomato, 1 head of lettuce, 4 tortillas, 1/8 cup onion (finely diced, not shown), 1/2 tsp garlic powder (not shown), 1/2 tsp onion powder (not shown), 1/2 tsp salt (not shown), 1/2 tsp pepper (not shown).
Dice the chicken and mix it in a ziplock bag with the 1/2 cup of Jamaincan Jerk marinade. Place the bag in the refrigerator and allow the chicken to marinade for at least six hours. Slice the mango and puree it using a food processor. It should look like the image below:
Keep all but 2 Tablespoons of the mango puree in a small bowl. Combine the reserved 2 Tbs of puree, mayo, onion, the remaining Jamaican Jerk sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to make a sauce:
Place the chicken and marinade in a skillet:
Cook over med-high heat till done. Also cook the bacon using your favorite method (microwave, stove top, oven, etc.). Then slice the tomato and lettuce into small pieces, and crumble the cooked bacon. To assemble, layer the mayo sauce, cheese, chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mango puree on a tortilla:
Then wrap and enjoy! It's delicious and tastes just like a trip to the islands...or to the NC coast.
When I say "macaroni and cheese," Mr. Poe does not typically think "meal"...but I think I've developed a pretty monstrous Macaroni and Cheese dish. Again, I don't measure very much, so taste as you go and make this your own!
Ingredients: 1 box macaroni noodles, 1/4 cup diced onion, 8 oz diced chicken (not shown), 1 can petite diced tomatoes (drained, not shown), 3 Tbs olive oil (divided), 3 cups milk, 2 Tbs flour (not shown), 2 tbs pepper (not shown), 2 tbs salt (not shown), 2 tbs garlic powder (not shown), 1/2 tsp nutmeg (not shown), 2-3 cups cheese (divided, any kind).
While boiling the noodles, add 1 Tbs of the olive oil, chicken and onion in a 10" skillet. Cook over med heat until the chicken is fully cooked and the onions are transparent.
Remove the chicken and onions from the skillet, and add the remaining 2 Tbs of olive oil and 2 Tbs of flour. Whisk together to make a roux, and cook for 1-2 min. Add milk and seasonings, whisking occasionally on med-high until thickened slightly.
Add all but 1/2 cup of the cheese, whisking frequently until well combined. Remove from the heat, and add the drained tomatoes, cooked chicken and onions. Toss with tongs. Pour pasta in a large casserole dish; dump cheese mixture over the noodles and toss again until well coated. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly. Then serve...mmm mmm good!
One of our favorite favorite Asian dishes that I make is a little something I like to call Asain Chicken. (How original...) I got the original idea from a recipe for a shrimp dish somewhere in my mother-in-law's kitchen. One note - I never measure the ingredients in this dish, so precision is not important for a tasty result (3-4 servings).
First the ingredients: 2 Tbs butter (not shown), 2 Tbs flour (not shown), 1 can pineapple chunks (with juice), 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 green bell pepper (cut into approx 1" chunks), 8 oz chicken breast (cut into approx 1" chunks), 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 Tbs chili powder, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 1/2 Tbs soy sauce, 5 Tbs sugar (not shown), 1 tsp salt (not shown), 1 tsp pepper (not shown), and cooked rice (not shown).
Melt the butter in a 10" skillet on med-high heat. Add flour and whisk together to form a roux. After cooking the roux for 1-2 minutes, add pineapple juice and vinegar. Whisk these ingredients together until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients (except peppers, pineapples and chicken), and whisk to thoroughly combine. Allow to thicken for 1-2 minutes, whisking occasionally.
Add in peppers, pineapples and chicken. Stir with a heat-resistant spoon.
Cook 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked and peppers are softened.
Serve over cooked rice. Yum yum!
Happy What's for dinner Wednesday, I'm actually "cheating" in that this recipe was actually made for lunch on Sunday. It was pretty tasty though, and I'm sure we'll be making it again soon (but not too soon for possibly obvious reasons). This recipe was also adapted from the back of a Knorr Rice Sides Buffalo Chicken flavor package (serves 4).
The ingredients: 1 package Knorr Rice Sides Buffalo Chicken flavor, 3/4 bottle of Moore's Buffalo sauce, 1/4 cup onion (thinly sliced), 1/2 cup green bell pepper (thinly sliced), 1Tbs olive oil, 1.5 cups cooked and diced chicken* (not shown), flour tortillas (not shown).
Prepare rice in a 2 qt saucepan according to directions on the back of the package.
Place oil, onions and peppers in a small skillet and saute on med-high till onions are translucent and peppers are slightly softened.
Turn the burner down to low, and add the cooked chicken* and buffalo sauce to the cooked veggies. Stir to coat.
Once the rice is finished cooking, place a tortilla on a plate. Layer the rice and then the chicken mixture on top. As an afterthought I wouldn't recommend this much filling in a single taco ;). Add sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese if desired.
Wrap and serve. This one was Mr. Poe's, and it was so big that he had to eat it with a fork. Mine was smaller and easier to handle.
*I had some left over empanada filling (cooked chicken (~1 cup), corn (~1/2 cup) and cheddar cheese (~1/4 cup)) that I used instead of cooking more chicken.
