Chicken Enchilada Casserole & Corn Salsa

I was in a Mexican mood but sick of the same old tacos or burritos. Hubby was off fishing with my nephew. That left Red, my youngest son and I  home at dinner time. He had just purchased new photography lights. Red is a fashion photographer and isn't too fond of shooting food but he so enjoys eating hot n spicy meals.

I was looking in the freezer and thinking, almost out loud. "Oh man he just got new lights...  I sure would like some good food photos to post. Wow, there isn't much to choose from in here, mostly chicken in this freezer..." I decided on a chicken experiment. "Red, what do you think about  a new spicy chicken casserole for dinner? Are you hungry? And, I'll make some spicy, hot corn salsa to top it off." I thought that maybe a new spicy creation from Mom might entice him to try out his lights. "Sounds awesome Ma". So I began to prepare dinner, snapping pictures with my own point and shoot while I was preparing.

1 lb chicken breast pieces c/o Angel Food Ministry
1 small onion diced  (1/2 - 2/3 cup)
4 tbsp Sofrito (Spanish tomato/vegetable base)
1 tbsp Adobo seasoning
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder (2)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
10-15 slices pickled jalapenos, diced
1 tbsp liquid from jalapenos
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
15 small corn tortillas
1 small an diced green chili peppers
2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes in tomato juice
Olive Oil
Sour Cream


Preheat oven to 400. First, pour enough oil into a large fry pan to about cover it. Add the chicken pieces, and cook, stirring frequently, over medium low heat for about five minutes. Sprinkle the chicken with Adobo seasoning and add the onions. Next add Sofrito, continue to cook until chicken is no longer pink.

Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder, and cayenne pepper while cooking and stirring until chicken is done and has developed a thick saucy coating . Remove from heat.

Next prepare the tomatoes. About half will be used for the casserole and the balance for salsa. Combine 1 can of tomatoes, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder, and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Taste and add more seasoning  as your taste requires.

For the casserole, lightly oil sides and bottom of a deep casserole dish. Lay five tortillas in the dish, overlapping  the edges and covering the bottom completely. Spoon some chiken and onion mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the green chilies on top. Cover with 1 cup of the cheese. Sparingly sprinkle some of the tomato mixture on the cheese. Repeat for two more layers. About half of the tomato mixture will be remaining. This will be used for the salsa. Bake casserole for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of tortillas are just crisp.

While the casserole is baking add the corn, jalapenos, and their liquid to the remaining tomatoes. Mix well and refrigerate.

So the dinner was cooking... I asked Red, will you shoot it before we eat? His response....

And his dinner ; - )

My newest experiment was really good. The sour cream and oh so hot and spicy salsa definitely completed the meal. Next time I try this, I'll make two changes: I think I'll make double the tomato mix in order to add half while cooking the chicken. The other would be black beans in the salsa, I was out of them this time.
Are you hungry?

♥

Chicken Enchilada Casserole & Corn Salsa

2009-05-27T01:26:00-04:00

redkathy

casserole|chicken|mexican|spicy|

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Corn Dogs n Onion Rings, Spring time Fair food

What to do with those packs of jumbo hot dogs, part of Angel Food Ministry's regular box this month. I thought to myself, I don't want plain old dogs. It's spring time and a bbq would be great but I don't have a gas grill, and I just hate lighting the little charcoal kettle. Springtime reminds me of the fair when I was a child. It ran for one week just before the beginning of summer....

I know, I told the guys, we're having "Fair Food" tonight!  They were impressed with that. My son said, Mom that's awesome. I had an idea of how to make corn dogs but no real recipe. First I checked out the Food Buzz, my favorite food place on the web. I found a recipe for "baked corn dogs" by Kim who writes ORMG. The recipe looks great and is low fat too. "That's not fair food" echoed from the other room after reading the corn dog recipe aloud. Needless to say, I continued my search using Google.

After reading about ten or so recipes, I picked out one from all recipes.com, used the ingredients as stated. I altered the process a bit by applying some of tips I read in my search.

• 8 jumbo hot dogs
  
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 8 skewers
  

Preheat deep fryer to 400.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg to the milk and mix well. Stir milk/egg mixture into dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Spoon batter into a glass taller than the length of the hot dogs.

Insert skewer into the center of the hot dog, to about 3/4 of the length. Dust hot dogs with flour to help batter stick. I read that dipping the hot dog into batter and swirl around the sides of the glass. Swirl was not really the correct description, it's more like firmly hold the stick and push the hot dog around the sides of the glass. Remove hot dog and allow excess batter to drip for about a half a minute. I found it was helpful to rotate the dog during this dripping process for a more even batter.

Of course I'm using my favorite appliance, my electric turkey fryer! (no the oil is not really that black, it's just the photo) Lower hot dog into deep fryer, holding stick for a few seconds to avoid sinking. Fry for 6 or 7 minutes, turning at half way mark. Drain on paper towels.

It was my intention to make a beer batter for the onion rings. It was getting late, I had some batter left over so I decided to experiment with the onion rings rather than toss the batter. I added five good shakes of Emeril's Original Essence... I guess a BAM goes here! I sliced two large onions a little over a 1/4 inch thick and carefully separated the rings. Next I dropped them into the batter a few at a time. Using a fork, I turned them a few times in the batter to coat evenly, allowed the excess batter to drip off, and dropped them into the fryer. I cooked them for two or three minutes each, again turning half way through.

The corn bread on the dogs was nice and thick, not too sweet like a store bought corn dog. The batter worked well on the onions. I didn't allow it to be thick like the hot dogs and Emeril's Essence gave it just enough BAM to pull the whole idea together! Hubby was doubtful about the corn batter for the onion rings until he ate one... "Now this is some home made Fair Food"

Are you hungry? ♥

Corn Dogs n Onion Rings, Spring time Fair food

2009-05-11T02:21:00-04:00

redkathy

dinner|side dish|

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Quick Corn Muffins

Anyone who knows me, knows that I always have five or six different things going on at once. I cook, blog, and take calls for work all at the same time. It's no wonder I love quick recipes and short cuts that won't compromise flavor!

Anyway, this is one of the best corn muffin recipes I have tried, not too sweet and not too dry. I found this recipe somewhere online and adjusted it just a little.

You will need:

3 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 c. Bisquick or any baking mix
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 eggs
2/3 c. milk
butter or margarine

Yield: 1 doz. muffins

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a muffin tin and place it in the heating oven.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine sugar, Bisquick, and cornmeal. Add in the eggs and milk. Stir to combine, beating only just enough to combine all the ingredients. Some lumps are ok ;)

Remove the muffin tin from the oven and distribute the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.

Bake muffins at 400°F for 15 minutes. Upon removing, brush tops of muffins with butter or margarine.

Notes:

I used non stick cooking spray and greased pan after heating.

No need to melt the butter or margarine. I took my pastry brush and dragged it over a spoon of cold margarine then brushed the freshly baked muffins. This not only gives added flavor to the muffins but creates a wonderful shine as well.

♥ 

Quick Corn Muffins

2009-05-05T00:45:00-04:00

redkathy

bread|

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2009-05-02T22:06:00-04:00

redkathy

uncategorized|

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