Authentic Enchiladas Verdes

Source: All Recipes

Yum yum yum! I have made a lot of Mexican recipes, but this is one of my favorites. This has a green verdes sauce that is spicy and delicious. Boiling the chicken in chicken broth makes it seem even more "chickeny" in flavor. This is a great recipe! If you love cheese, you MUST try this just for the queso fresco. It's my favorite cheese--and that's saying a lot. It just tastes so fresh!

Ingredients:

2 bone-in chicken breast halves (I just use chicken breasts)
2 cups of chicken broth (I use 2 cans--there is no way 2 cups can cover the chicken breasts)
1/4 white onion
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons of salt (optional)
1 pound of tomatillos, husks removed (with the other vegetables, they're small and round and have green husks on them)
5 serrano peppers (Whoa, whoa, whoa. I have no idea how hot this recipe would be with 5. I use 1 pepper. Buy 3 and blend one at a time to get the right spicyness for you.)
1 pinch of salt
12 tortillas
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of crumbled queso fresco
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Cover the chicken breasts, 1/4 onion, peeled clove of garlic, and salt with chicken broth and boil for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is done. Set aside until cool, and then shred the chicken. Reserve the chicken broth.

2. While the chicken is boiling, put serrano peppers and tomatillos in a saucepot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and boil until the tomatillos change from bright green to a dull, army green.

3. Put the tomatillos and serrano pepper(s) to taste in a blender. Add in another 1/4 onion, 1 clove of peeled garlic, and pour in the chicken broth until it's about an inch over the vegetables. Puree until blended.

4. At this point, the recipe says to fry the tortillas in an frying pan and then dip in the tomatillo sauce. I've never done this. I just put the shredded chicken, sauce, queso, and chopped onion in the tortilla, then set my oven to 350 and cook for about 15 minutes in the oven again, until the queso is slightly melted and the chicken is heated through again.

5. Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Poundcake

Source: Kitchenlink

I saw this recipe on Simple, but delicious and knew I had to try it. I had not even registered for a Kitchen Aid mixer for our wedding, figuring no one would buy it, and I was shocked when my aunt and uncle brought it to our wedding. This seemed like the perfect way to break it in.

As I saw in the original recipe, this makes enough to fill a 9x13 pan. I did that, but had to add about 15 minutes for it to be done. As well, make sure you have toothpicks on hand! I kept testing it with a fork, which created some really nice looking chunks in the middle, since it forms a crust when it cooks. And make sure to smooth it out so it's as even on the top as possible--otherwise when you add the glaze, it will run off to the edges of the pan.

But anyway, DELICIOUS! It was so moist and fluffy. One of the best desserts I've made!

1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Lemon Glaze-
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

2. Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed of an electric hand-held mixer; gradually add oil, beating until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon extract.

3. Pour batter into a prepared pan. Bake at 300F for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

4. Lemon Glaze: Combine glaze ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves. Spoon glaze over top, a little at a time. Let lemon pound cake cool completely. Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi Bake

Sadly, I have no photos of this recipe. I cannot find my camera. I am known for just setting things down in what I THINK are obvious places, so I'm sure it will turn up!

In any case, this is a simple, yummy recipe!

Source: www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter (I halved it)
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard (I also halved this)
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley (from my herb garden!)
2 pounds of raw shrimp (I bought frozen, rinsed in cold water to thaw)
1 pound of pasta

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley. Blend ingredients, and remove from heat once butter is melted.

3. Add shrimp to a shallow saucepan. Pour sauce over shrimp. Bake 12-15 minutes. While shrimp is cooking, add pasta to boiling water and cook per package instructions.

4. Remove from oven and serve over pasta. Enjoy!

Since I halved the butter, the pasta didn't have as much "sauce" as I would have liked. I'd suggest adding about 1/4--1/2 cup of white wine to make more sauce for the pasta.

Stuffed Peppers

I saw this on http://lovestoeat.wordpress.com/ and HAD to try it. I have wanted to try stuffed peppers since I saw them on "House" (go figure) and these did NOT disappoint. They were delicious--the sweetness of the peppers and the tomatoes melded perfectly with the meat mixture. Thanks, venice! These were amazing. My parents are coming to town next week, and I would make these for them if we JUST hadn't eaten them!

Additionally, I made the full recipe. If you only have 2 people (the recipe is for 4), cut it in half. Trust me, one pepper per person is filling enough!

One thing I LOVED about this recipe was the prep/clean-up time in allowed. I was able to prepare all the ingredients while the water was boiling, and clean up while the peppers were cooking. I always love that!

On a side note, I have started my herb garden:

It seems I am ALWAYS spending an ungodly amount of money per week on herbs. Today at Von's, I saw plants for $1.99, and decided to buy basil, thyme, parsley, and oregano. I live in California, so I'm able to keep them outdoors for now, but I encourage everyone to buy a couple of herb plants! They're easy to maintain, and you can keep them indoors for the winter. And you'll save if you're constantly buying fresh herbs, like I am!

Stuffed Peppers

1 tablespoon of table salt

4 medium bell peppers: red, yellow, or orange

1/2 cup of long grain rice (I used whole-grain rice)

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

1 pound of beef, preferrably ground chuck (I used ground turkey)

3 medium cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of diced tomatoes, drained (reserve 1/4 cup of the juice. I also used petite diced tomatoes.)

1 and 1/4 cups of monterey jack cheese

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley leaves

Ground black pepper and salt to taste

1/4 cup of ketchup

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and bell peppers. Boil for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove peppers from pot, drain excess water, and place on paper towels, cut side up. Return water to boil, add rice and boil until tender, about 13 minutes or per package instructions. (I had to transfer the water to a smaller saucepan since I lack a fine sieve.) Drain rice and transfer to large bowl; set aside.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Heat 12-inch skillet to medium or medium-high heat until hot; about 1 and 1/2 minutes, add olive oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown (3-5 minutes). Add ground beef and cook about 4 minutes, breaking up into small pieces and until no longer pink. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3o seconds.

4. Transfer the beef mixture to the large bowl with rice. Stir in tomatoes, 1 cup of the monterey jack cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Place peppers in a 9x9 glass baking dish. Fill each pepper with the beef mixture. Spoon 2 tablespoons (I used 1 tablespoon) of the ketchup mixture over each filled pepper and top with about 1 tablespoon of the remaining monterey jack cheese. Bake until cheese is browned and filling is heated through, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

By the way, my husband said I have "cheese issues" today. At this time, we have American, cheddar, queso fresco, fresh parmesan, colby, mozzarella cheese sticks, romano, and pepper jack cheese in our fridge. If having a "cheese issue" is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Source: my grandmother

This is one of my favorite, easy recipes. I'm not generally a casserole person, but this one is easy and reheats so well, I make it often. You can boil the chicken earlier and save it until you need to use it for the recipe.

3 chicken breasts
1 package of frozen cut broccoli
1/2 package of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
3 cups of Pepperidge Farm's Herb-Seasoned dressing mix

Boil the chicken in water about 15-20 minutes, or until done, and dice. While the chicken is cooking, cook the broccoli in the microwave per the package instructions. Once done, mix the diced chicken and broccoli in the bottom of an 8 1/2 x 11 baking dish. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese on top to your liking. Spread the cream of chicken soup over the top of the entire mixture with a spoon.

Make the stuffing according to the package directions. 3 cups of stuffing and 1 cup of water are typically what I use.

Top the casserole with the stuffing. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Enjoy!