Chicken Enchiladas/Three Amigos Night

Dusty Bottoms:
Do you have anything here besides Mexican food?

My mom recently purchased Three Amigos on Blu-Ray, so we decided to watch that with a Mexican food themed dinner. Served? Chicken enchiladas (loose recipe below) with rice and refried beans, corn, and chips and salsa. The enchilada recipe was one I saw forever ago in a magazine. I remember changing some of the ingredients, then the next thing I knew I had forgotten the amounts. Now, my family just makes them to taste. After each ingredient listed below I typed in parenthesis about how much we used.

Chicken Enchiladas (Loose Recipe)
This amount made five enchiladas, baked in a 9x9 dish.

Cooked chicken breasts, chopped (we used 3 boneless)
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 6 ounces)
Yellow onion (1 small)
Sour cream (about 6 ounces)
Cilantro, fresh (little less than a 1/3 cup, finely chopped)
Whole wheat tortillas (five)
Cooking Spray
Sour cream, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, or whatever else you would prefer for toppings.

Coat cooking dish with spray. Combine first five ingredients thoroughly. Spoon mixture into tortillas. Spray with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

The original recipe makes 8 enchiladas:
3 cups cooked chicken breast, pulled
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Mr. Flugelman: Do you know what "nada" means?
Dusty Bottoms: Isn't that a light chicken gravy?

Lucky Day: Dusty, how do you like your bat?
Dusty Bottoms: Medium rare.

Bartender: We don't have beer. Just tequila.
Ned Nederlander: What's tequila?
Bartender: Uh, it's like beer.

New Orleans with the Fam

Celebration in the Oaks

Celebration in the Oaks: Geaux Saints!

Celebration in the Oaks

Sailing on Lake Pontchartrain

Taking a break to enjoy the sunset

J, manly

Bliss.

Jeremy's Omelets Redux

Ingredients for one omelet:
Four egg white and one egg yolk
Diced vegetables: red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, tomato, garlic, chives
Cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese
Jalapenos (optional)
Salt and pepper
Strawberries and chives for garnish



Directions: Whisk eggs with salt and pepper. Pour into greased skillet (make sure to use a smaller skillet). Add the diced vegetables and optionally, jalapenos. As the egg begins to cook more thoroughly add cheese on top.
Fold set egg over. Let cheese melt and egg finish cooking. Plate with strawberries and chopped chives for garnish.




-TJ & JJ

J working his magic.

Garnish.

The process.

Yumminess.

Voila!

Christmas Cheer

J and I are on the road December 9th - December 26th. We spent our last evening in the western suburbs of Chicago in downtown St. Charles. I also bought a new camera so...here are a few pictures. :)

Lu.

Going out!

St

Gingerpeople :)

White Bean Chicken Chili

Made this tonight and it felt so good to be cooking again! It was served with french bread and spring greens with pear-champagne-gorgonzola dressing (thanks Trader Joe's!) Blackberry cobbler was for dessert.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

Canola oil (enough to lightly coat bottom of chili pot)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, shopped
2 4-ounce cans of green chili peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin, ground
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground
1 carton (32 ounces) low-sodium chicken brot
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
3 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
Salt to taste
Shredded pepper jack cheese, to taste/garnish

Directions:

Add oil to the chili pot to coat the bottom. Turn heat to medium-low. Add onion and cook until it begins to turn translucent. Mix in the garlic, green chilis, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Let heat for a moment.
Add the chicken broth, cannellini beans, and chicken. Simmer on medium-low 20 minutes, and stir it occasionally.
Salt to taste. J helped me with that as I have no concept of taste at the moment (boo, sinuses!)

Serve piping hot off the stove with some pepper jack cheese on top. Mmmm...

-TJ