Friday, October 19, 2012

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas




 I LOVE BBQ pizza!  Really love it.  Problem is, I love regular pizza more.  So, if I can choose between the two, I will almost always choose regular. Sometimes I will have a slice of both. 

On the way home from church the other day, my husband asked if I could come up with a recipe for these.  This was completely his brain child, for which I am thankful.  I think my husband's looming deployment has taken the wind out of my sail, or caused a slow leak of creative juices for in the kitchen.  So, I took the inspiration and ran with it.  And boy was I pleased!

These are awesome. Gave me that "fix", as I was craving BBQ chicken pizza.  SUPER easy, and delicious.  I will be making these again and again as a quick family meal. 
Do not skip the sour cream bbq sauce mix.  It is amazing with these and would be on many other things as well!



BBQ CHICKEN QUESADILLAS

INGREDIENTS:
per quesadilla
  • 1/3 cups  chopped grilled BBQ chicken per quesadilla (about 4 chicken breasts total for all the quesadillas)
  • 1/3 cup cheddar cheese
  • few red onion slices
  • 1-2 TBSP sweet BBQ sauce
  • 1 TBSP fresh cilantro
  • avocado (opt.)
for the SOUR CREAM BBQ SAUCE:

Mix equal parts sour cream with BBQ sauce.


DIRECTIONS:

For our family, we used about 4 chicken breasts, 1/2 an onion, 2 cups of sharp cheddar and a handful of cilantro.  Dice chicken up to 1/4-1/2" dice.
 Preheat a large skillet (preferrably iron one) on med- med low.  

 If you would like, you can lightly butter the tortillas to prevent sticking.  Place a tortilla on and layer, cheese, then chicken, onion, cilantro, a bit more cheese and the drizzle of BBQ sauce. Top with another tortilla.  Cook until golden brown and carefully flip.  Cook the other side until golden.  Slice and serve topped with sour cream bbq sauce.  Enjoy!



Thursday, October 18, 2012

Chicken Rice Crispy Casserole



 I have several recipes to post.  Blogspot and I have been having issues with photos.  We seemed to have worked out our differences, so I am going to try to post a few.

This dish is super easy and one that brings me back to my childhood.  My mom used to make it, and the yummy rice crispy topping remains my favorite part.  I am not a rice fan, but in dishes like these, which is comfort food at it's best, I enjoy it.  It is kinda like mac n cheese goodness in a rice and chicken form.  My kids all devoured this dish and loved the buttery rice crispy topping. 


CHICKEN RICE CRISPY CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:
  • 3 TBSP butter, divided
  • 2 cups rice crispies
  • 1 sm-med, chopped onion
  • 2 c. dry rice, cooked (I use brown)
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can cheddar cheese soup
  • 1 can (use the soup can) of skim milk
  • 1/2 roaster chicken or 3 cups chopped baked chicken
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese
  • paprika
DIRECTIONS:

Cook rice.  Meanwhile, melt 2 TBSP butter in fry pan.  Pour over rice crispies and mix gently to coat.  Set aside.  In same skillet fry pan, melt 1 TBSP butter and add onion.  Cook until tender.  Add soups, milk and 1 cup of cheese and cook over med/med-low until cheese is melted.  Add rice and chicken.  Stir to coat.  Pour into lightly greased casserole dish or 9x13 casserole.  Bake for 20 minute at 350.  Remove from oven, cover with remaining cheese, add Rice crispies and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until warm through.  Sprinkle with paprika.

Some variations:
Add sliced green olives to rice part.
Add slivered almonds to rice crispy top.


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

TWD: BWJ Cheddar Cheese Bagels


So, I was excited about this recipe.  Homemade bagels is something I might not attempt if it weren't for the baking group that I am a part of.  Maybe because there are bunch of steps, or maybe because I am just lazy.  Regardless, of the gazillion of reasons I could come up with for why I would not make them, I had to make them.  And my family and I are so glad that I did.

I read the recipe carefully this time, so I wouldn't do a major screw up.  And of course, I could not make  just a plain old bagels.  First, I subbed half whole grain flour because I don't do white if I can help it. To make up for the loss of gluten, I added 4 tsp. of vital wheat gluten the mix.  I didn't get the rise I wanted in an hour, but it seems like that is the trend with me right now.  Wondering if my house is too cool, or my yeast is on its way out???




I split my dough in half and mixed cheddar cheese in half, sprinkling some on top for baking.  The other half, I kneaded 1tsp. of cinnamon and 1/3-1/2 cup of raisins in at the end, then made a yummy streusel topping for baking.  My kids loved the topping.   I also made the holes a little smaller so it would hold a bit more of the topping while baking.  I was going for a Panera like bagels, and uhile it fell short, it was still certainly delish.

One last thing, I did not bake for the initial 25 minutes it called for, but reduced it to 20, because it was getting a bit too brown for my liking.

For this recipe, buy the book.... or you check our host Heather's website.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Pumpkin Bread (better than Starbucks)




 Pumpkin Season had begun.  AHHH!  I am glad my husband will be here to share in a little bit of it before he leaves (sob!).  Drowning my sorrows in pumpkin baked goods and pumpkin pie creamer sounds about right.

Which brings me to Starbucks pumpkin bread.  Moist, dense, sweet, soooo good.  I could eat it everyday and not tire of it.  I have tried a few recipes to fine my own version and have been disappointed.  So, here I went and adapted one to become my own.  It is better than Starbucks.  Yes... hard to beat, big claim.  But seriously, this bread was so good.

Now it took FOR-E-V-E-R to bake.  Just remember, good things come to those who wait!



PUMPKIN BREAD
yield: 1 glorious loaf

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 1/2 cups flour (I used my mixed grains)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 TBSP
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup canola oil (I subbed less than half of oil for drained applesauce)
  • 1 small package cook and serve vanilla pudding
Top with seeds or streusel.

TOPPPING:
1/4-1/3 cup chopped pumpkin seeds, optional

 FOR THE STREUSEL (optional, this bread is still amazing without it)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup pepitas (or pecans, walnuts, or any other nut, chopped)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, room temp (or margarine for vegan/dairy free*)

 DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour (or grantulated sugar) 1 bread pan.
Drain applesauce if using.  Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pudding mix, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and sale.  In a separate large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin puree, and oil (and applesauce is subbing).  Dump dry ingredients into wet.  Stir until flour disappears.
Pour into prepared loaf pan.  Top with pumpkin seeds (Pepitas) or streusel.   (For Streusel: mix it all with your fingers until coarse crumb.  Sprinkle over generously.

Bake at 350 for 70-80 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

TWD:BWJ Pumpkin Pecan Loaves




TWD:BWJ PUMPKIN PECAN LOAVES

P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-I-O-N.  yup.  That is what I did.  I meant to make this last week.  Then this weekend... then yesterday I finally delved in.

 Now I knew this was a yeast bread, because I had looked at the pictures.  And I even read the recipe.  But when I read cranberries, I thought craisins.  A blond moment perhaps.   Or maybe a Polish moment.  No matter what kind of moment it was... I obviously was not all there.  So, the obvious thing...  I used craisins.  A whole lotta them.  So my loaf is about 50% dough, 50% raisins, craisins and nuts.

Now to the bread.   First off, I hate walnuts.  Really don't like them.   Serisously...  makes me do the "eww!" shiver thinking about eating them.  But I love pecans.   Easy substitute.  Walnuts out, pecans in. 

Next, 3 small loaves? Crud!  I don't have small bread pans.  A medium and normal one will have to do.

Made the dough.  Shoot!  It needs to chill overnight.  How did I miss that?  I can still post it on Tuesday.  So here, I am.  Posting.  See?

One last hiccup.  My bread was not rising.  The dough feels glorious, and looks good.  How can it breath with no air?!? (short musical intermission- Jordan Sparks... how can it {the bread} breath with no air?)  Sorry, back on track here.  Rising.  None.  Got it?  Good.


So this is my story.  This is a lovely, though lengthy, recipe.  And I am sure if I could follow directions it would have been incredible.  Alas, I can't.

Glad it was forgiving, and still tasted delightful.  It did rise enough so it was light, and not a brick, so bonus there.  Glad I have more than one loaf too, because if I had only one, I might not share.  ;-)  I would love to make this one again with the real cranberries.  Really yummy!

Anyway...  Thanks to Rebecca, from This Bountiful Backyard, who was our lovely host, who can follow directions a whole lot better than this Rebecca.  If you want to see how good you are at following directions, head on over to her website for the recipe.