Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I decided to try a new recipe I found on Pinterest. I did not conceptualize this dish, I never grew up with any sort of Mexican food other than usual tacos. Since I've moved down to California, I've been bombarded with Mexican influenced flavors, I've always liked tortilla soup... so I decided to give it a shot, and it was pretty darn good.

To make enough for 6 servings, you will need:

1 lbs Chicken Breast, trimmed

15 oz. can sweet whole corn kernels, drained

15 oz. can diced Tomatoes, drained

5 cups Chicken Stock

3/4 cup Onion, chopped

3/4 cup Green Pepper, chopped

1 Serrano Pepper, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

Monterrey Jack Cheese, divided

Seasoned Tortilla Strips

Directions:

To your slow cooker, add first 9 ingredients plus 1 teaspoon of Salt and 3/4 teaspoon of pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours or slow for 8.

Prior to serving, remove chicken breasts. Transfer chicken to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for easy shredding. Alternately you may shred chicken by hand. Season chicken and salt and pepper, Return shredded seasoned chicken to slow cooker bowl. Stir gently.

Instead of purchasing seasoned tortilla strips for this recipe, you can crisp up your own by buying the small corn tortillas, adding them to a large pan with Olive Oil at the bottom and letting them crisp up on medium heat, add a little pit of salt. Spoon soup into the bowl, add cheese and top with tortillas.

BBQ Meatloaf with Hash Brown Casserole

I made an other old school favorite with a new side dish. This is my Grand-Mothers recipe, we did not change it... we dare not. This delicious savory meatloaf is comforting for the soul.

For the Meatloaf, to make a serving of 6 you will need:

3 Pounds Ground beef, extra lean

1 cup Breadcrumbs (I use the Italian Seasoned)

1 medium Onion, chopped fine (using the food processor)

2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

1 8 oz. can of Tomato Sauce

1 20 oz. can of Tomato Sauce

4 Tablespoons of Vinegar

4 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tablespoons of prepared Mustard, heaping

Preparation:

Combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, onions, salt and pepper, egg and 8 oz. can of tomato sauce. Place in a 9/13 baking dish, shape into a loaf and bake at 350° for 60 minutes to set meat.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and simmer while meatloaf cooks. Once the meatloaf has been cooking for 60 minutes, pour sauce over top and continue to bake for 30 minutes more (internal temperature must reach 160°). Remove loaf from oven, allow to rest for a few minutes, slice and serve topped with some of the sauce.

To make these as individuals you can use muffin trays (sprayed with pam). When using individual loaved, reduce initial baking time to 30 minutes.

For the Hash Brown Casserole, makes a serving of 6 you will need:

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 cup Cheddar cheese grated

5 oz. half and half

2 pounds Hash Brown Potatoes, cubed frozen

salt and pepper

cooking spray

1/3 cup Margarine, melted

2 cups Corn Flakes, slightly crushed, 2 cups = 4 oz.

Directions:

Spray containers with pam

Thoroughly combine soups, cheddar cheese and half and half. Add frozen half crowns, mix well. Pour into prepared containers.

Preheat oven 350°. Combine corn flaked and malted butter. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

Chicken and Dumplings

This is definitely an old favorite. My mom pieced this recipe together a while back from different chicken and dumplings recipes.This recipe is definantly most enjoyed on a cold Sunday evening with the people you love most. The Ultimate Comfort Food

The ingredients for this recipe will be for 8 servings:

Chicken Stew Ingredients:

1 rotisserie Chicken from the market (already cooked)
4 small Carrots, angles sliced
8 ounces of Mushrooms (optional)
5 cups of Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Peas (optional)
4 Tablespoons of Butter
1/3 cup of Flour
1/8 teaspoon of Paprika
1/2 cup of Half and Half
White Pepper to taste

Dumplings Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons of Shortening (Crisco)
3 cups of Flour
4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup of Milk

Preparation:

Prepare the dumplings first. Add to large processor bowl shortening, flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse until mixture resembles fine crumbs, hold for later use.

Shred chicken, taking it off the bone and discarding the skin and hold for later use.
Drizzle oil in a large skillet or saucepan (opening should be big to make as many dumplings as possible and MUST have a tight fitting lid), sauté carrots to get them colored and hold for later use.
Continuing in the same skillet, melt butter, stir in flour (roux) and paprika and cook for 3 minutes, slowly adding Chicken Broth to roux, whisking until sauce is smooth, cook 2 minutes. Add Cream, pepper and reserved carrots and check seasoning. Toss in the peas.

Add milk to dumpling to mixture, mix to combine. Bring chicken sauce to a low rolling boil and drop dough bu small spoonfuls over boiling liquid. Get the dumplings in as quickly as possible so they cook evenly. Cook dumplings uncovered for 10 minutes (keep the liquid to JUST boiling) cover dumplings, reduce heat and continue to cook for 10 minutes more. dumplings are cooked when they are fluffy and dry on the inside, almost like biscuits.

You can make your own chicken broth by cooking a whole chicken in water with mirepoix**, cook the chicken for 90-120 minutes. Discard the mirepoix, using the chicken stock and chicken. When adding the chicken broth, make sure you have at least 5 cups, if not, make sure you add enough water to make 5 cups.

**Mirepoix is a mixture of onions, carrots and celery, typically used to make stock to add flavor.

Shrimp Créole

Tonight I was feeling like a good old classic, and it also helped that I had some extra shrimp in my freezer. I decided to make one of New Orleans favorite dishes... Shrimp Créole, It's a mildly spicy, tomato based sauce with tons of deep flavors, served simply with some beautifully cooked and fluffy white rice.

To be able to Serve 4:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound of Shrimp

3 Tablespoons Flour, toasted

3 Tablespoons Butter

4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 teaspoon of dried Onion

1 teaspoon of crushed Red Pepper

28 ounces of Chicken Broth

4 bay leaf

1 teaspoon of Thyme, dried

1 teaspoon of Parsley, dried

4 cups of White Rice

Directions:

If you do not have toasted flour on hand: Place flour in a small skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until flour turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN THE FLOUR.

In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Stir in toasted flour and mix thoroughly. Add tomato paste, then chicken stock and stir until well combined. Stir in onions, salt, crushed peppers, bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Stir to blend. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.

Add shrimp all at once, stir to blend and cook until all shrimp have turned pink, 5-10 minutes. Serve on top of cooked rice.

I suggest you serve this dish with some Fresh Bread and Butter, the sauce can be a little spicy for people who can't handle spice very well (such as myself) and if you can handle heat... I still recommend the bread because I was never known to say no to Bread... I blame my mother :)

Chicken and Pasta in Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce

This recipe is indeed an old favorite, we've made it for our own friends and family possibly as much as our old clients.  This one if fast, easy, flavorful and easy on your pocket book

For 4 servings you will need:

1/4 Cup Sundried Tomatoes in Oil
1 Cup Chicken Broth
3 Chicken Breasts, Boneless/Skinless, cubed
3 Tablespoons of Butter
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon White Pepper
1 large Shallot, minced
1/2 Cup White Wine
1 Cup of Heavy Cream (33% or better)
1/2 teaspoon Marjoram, crumbled
12 ounces of Penne or Farfalle Pasta
1/4 Parmesan Cheese

Preparation:

Drain and Rinse sundried tomatoes, finely chop and put aside for later use
Reduce chicken broth to 1/2 cup (Half) on the stove in a pot, boil until reduced (doing so will intensify the flavor of the chicken broth)

Melt butter in large skillet, season chicken with salt, and pepper and sauté over medium-high hear until chicken is brown in all sides and cooked through. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and put aside for later use.
Continuing with the same skillet, add minced shallot and sauté over medium heat 1 minute. Add wine and deglaze skillet, add sundried tomatoes, cream, concentrated chicken broth (that we reduced by half at the start of the recipe) and marjoram and return chicken to skillet. Bring mixture to a low rolling simmer over medium heat, cook uncovered until sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes DO NOT BOIL AS BOILING MAY CAUSE CREAM TO BREAK DOWN.
Meanwhile, cook pasta to al dente. Drain and toss with sauce and serve with a good sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese.

As a side dish, I recommend: Caesar Salad, fresh Bread and a good Red Wine.

Introduction to my blog

When I was 16, my mother recruited me to work in the business she had build when I was 12. I had no experience in cooking, my mother had an accident in her kitchen and lost a good chunk on her thumb. I helped her with her cooking on the day, it was a very long day... She had to show me how to do exactly everything by telling me and could not actually show me anything because of the bandage on her hand. After 12 very long hours in the kitchen with her that day I had caught the bug. I worked at a couple of dead end jobs, my mother's business had grown too large for her to be able to handle it by herself, and she had extended a job to me, after some thought I decided to accept. 

For about a year I worked directly with her in the kitchen as she showed me how to work and cook exactly like she did, she is somewhat of a perfectionist, and wanted someone to cook for her business exactly as she would, so her clients would never even notice the change of chefs. After the year ended I started cooking by myself as she created menus and dealt with more of the administrative side of the business. We had a policy of never repeating a recipe for a client unless they asked us to, so mom started running out of recipes of techniques she had showed me and started adding more complicated dished to the menu that she hadn't even ever made herself and I started to learn by error by myself and that's when I realized I enjoyed cooking, learning new things and evolving as a chef.

After working for about 5 years, while playing online video games I met a man who, after many governmental hoops we had to jump through, I married and moved to California to be with. Which resulted in me and my mom selling the business we had worked so hard to build, it was a very sad day for me, I loved my job and working with mom.

Once I moved to the states I kept having the cooking itch, although I tried VERY hard to find a job in a kitchen in the states, living in Southern California, it's very crippling trying to be a woman with out  knowing Spanish working a kitchen. I got shot down more times than I'd like to admit which prompted to start looking for different opportunities. I was very lucky and landed a job at a wonderful office and I count my blessings that I have such a wonderful job, but that cooking itch is still very prominent in my life. I now cook for myself and my husband, the same recipes I used to cook for clients for very good money. Although I know he appreciates it, it's definitely not the same. So I cook and bring left overs to work for lunch like every normal red blooded American, although I've started getting "oh my gosh that smells amazing" " you made that?" "I need that recipe", which where I got the idea of this blog, I have decided to share my personal recipes with who ever might want to try them. Some of them are new recipes my mother and I conceptualized ourselves, some are upscale versions of old favorites and some are old family recipes that we dare not mess with. 

I will be posting pictures of my food I've made with the recipes for the dinners I make, and also to push myself to try new things and expand my box of old favorites, I hope who ever might be reading this will be interested enough to check back in for new, and old recipes.... Bon Appetite