Mexicali Chicken & Cheese Sandwiches

2 1/4 cups (12 ounces) cooked, shredded chicken breast
1 can (4 ounces) Diced Green Chilies
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
5 Kaiser rolls, split & toasted
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Preheat oven to broil.
Combine chicken, chilies, ketchup, water & chili powder in medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat just until bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook for 5 minutes to blend flavors.
Spoon warm chicken mixture onto 5 roll bottoms. Sprinkle evenly with cheese; place on baking sheet. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes until cheese is melted. Place roll tops on sandwiches; serve.

Banana Split Cake

Please don't kill me when you see how much butter went into that thing. :-) Glad y'all liked it! (Thanks, Shelley!)

4 cups crushed graham crackers
3 sticks butter, room temperature
2 eggs
16-ounce box powdered sugar
20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
2 to 3 bananas, sliced
12-ounce container whipped topping


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust, mix crushed graham crackers and 1 stick of butter. Line bottom and sides of a 13 by 9-inch pan with mixture. Bake crust for 5 to 8 minutes.

Beat the eggs, 2 sticks butter, and the powdered sugar until fluffy. Spread mixture on cooled crust. Add layer of crushed pineapple and layer of sliced bananas. Cover with whipped topping and sprinkle with nuts or graham crackers. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Original Recipe

Garlic Cheese Bread

Here is the cheese bread recipe that I brought to group last night. Again, it's Pioneer Woman so just click the link. No one can give a recipe like she does with all the pictures and commentary.

I will say that this is better than the cheese bread we had at a five-star restaurant when David proposed. We left out the green onion (by accident) but it was still amazing.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

12 oz chicken tenders
1 c carrot, diced (3 carrots)
1 c celery, chopped (5 sticks)
1 onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 (15oz) cans chicken broth
1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes w/ chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 Tbs lime juice
1 c frozen corn kernels
10 corn tortillas, sliced into strips
Fresh cilantro (optional), to taste

Directions
Place all ingredients, except tortillas & cilantro, in slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours. During last half-hour, add tortilla strips. During last 10 min, add cilantro.

Serve w/ sliced avocado & grated Monterey Jack cheese; garnish w/ fresh cilantro.

Stuffed Pork Chop - Weight Watchers Magazine recipe

1 (10oz) package frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
2 Tbsp. golden raisins
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tso. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
4 (1/4-lb) boneless center-cut pork chops
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1. To make filling, mix the spinach, raisins, garlic, 1/2tsp. of the salt, & 1/4 tsp. of the pepper in a medium bowl.
2. Insert a small knife into one side of each pork chop and cut until a pocket has opened. Fill each pocket w/ 1/2c. of the filling. Secure the opening w/ toothpicks.
3. Sprinkle the chops evenly w/ the remaining 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/4 tsp. pepper. Heat a large heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) over high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Add the chops & cook until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to a large plate; cover loosely w/ foil & keep warm.
4. To make the sauce, add the broth to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat & simmer, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is reduced by one half, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Pour the sauce evenly over the pork.
Points Value 5

Chicken A La Carbonara

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 slices bacon
1 egg
1/2 lb. bag of bowtie pasta
2 Tbs. Italian Seasonings
1 tsp. Garlic salt
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. Basil
2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Pepper

Melt 1/8 cup butter in a saucepan, and add the onion, garlic cloves, 1 Tbs. Italian seasoning, and chicken breasts. Stir often on medium heat, until chicken is almost cooked. Add garlic salt, and basil. Stir. In another pan, place 5 slices of bacon, and cook until somewhat crisp, yet not stiff. Remove from pan, and lay aside to cool. Once bacon has cooled off, cut in 1 inch sized pieces. Use another saucepan for the pasta. Fill saucepan with desired amount of water for pasta, and bring to a boil. Add a dash of salt to water. Once chicken is cooked, add the heavy whipping cream and remaining butter while stirring often. Whisk in egg and do so quickly, so the egg can be mixed in evenly without any egg chunks. Remove egg chunks, if they cannot be avoided. Stir often, while adding salt and pepper. Allow the cream mixture to come to a boil. Add the bacon pieces to cream mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes. Stir often.
Makes 4 servings.

Pasta ala Marlboro Man (from Pioneer Woman)

You've gotta go to her post. I simply cannot do it justice. I made a half batch and we had enough left over for a generous lunch. The only changes I made were simmering the meat for an hour covered instead of just 30 min. (My window of free time was during the boys' naptime which was slightly earlier in the day than the proper time would have been to be cooking this, but it came out really well anyhow.)

Goopy Burgers

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1/3 c. chopped green pepper
1 1/2 tspn. vinegar
1 can tomato soup
1 tspn. salt
1 tspn. dry mustard
1/2 tspn. thyme

Brown, drain, mix, simmer 20 minutes uncovered.

These are basically homemade sloppy joes. Matt's Granny made them for him as a kid. One of his favorites. I serve on fresh HEB kaiser rolls with tots on the side.

Buffalo Wings

This is our new go-to wing recipe.


Ingredients
12 whole chicken wings
3 ounces unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


Directions
Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

Skrit Steak with Blue Cheese Butter

1 1/2 to 2 lbs skirt steak (tenderized flank steak)
evoo (extra virgin olive oil) for drizzling
steak seasoning blend
4 Tbspn butter, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
2 Tbspn chopped chives

Heat a grill pan over high heat. (Matt used a regular non-stick skillet pan) Drizzle meat with evoo and steak or grill seasoning blend. Grill meat 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove meat and let it rest 5 minutes to allow juices to redistribute.

Mix butter with cheese crumbles and chives.

Slice meat very thin on a heavy angle. Place the meat on a plate and top with small scoops of blue cheese butter. Butter gets all oozie-melty. So yummy.

Courtesy of Rachael Ray - 30 minute meals.

We made up a box of wild rice and sauteed some spinach for sides. Made for a quick and yummy dinner.

Perfect Lemonade

Okay, this is more of a ratio than a recipe, but I wanted to put it down somewhere because I'm constantly forgetting it.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

METHOD

Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Chicken Florentine Style

This is a Food Network recipe my sister in law told me about. I can't get Food Network to cooperate today, so no link for you. But here's the recipe (with my shortcuts):

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
all-purpose flour
4 T butter (less than original recipe)
2 T diced shallots or mild onion
1 T chopped garlic
1 1/2 c dry white wine (you could use chicken stock if you aren't a wine person)
1 c whipping cream (or milk)
1 T fresh parsley
2 10 oz packages frozen cut spinach, cooked in the microwave

Season chicken and dredge in flour, shake off extra. Melt 2 T butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook 5 min per side or til browned. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook the spinach in the microwave.

Melt 2 T butter in the same skillet as before over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute until translucent, scraping the skillet as you go. Add wine and increase heat to med-high; boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 3 min. Add cream and boil until reduced by half, about 3 min, stirring often. Add parsley and season to taste. Add chicken and any accumulated juices back to the sauce and turn to coat. To serve, put chicken on top of spinach and pour sauce over. (I also added some whole wheat angel hair pasta because there was some extra sauce.)

Classy enough to serve to the in-laws!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I got this from a blog a long time ago but I think the original is on AllRecipes somewhere. Anyhoo, here's our favorite version:

2 Tablespoons butter
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 large yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 crushed garlic clove
1 1/4 cups 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5 oz grated sharp cheddar
Large handful of grated monterey jack cheese
16 oz package frozen chopped broccoli
1. Melt butter in stock pot on medium, add onion and cook til' soft. Add pepper and garlic, and cook for a few minutes. Add broccoli and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer to broccoli is tender (10-15 minutes).
2. In separate bowl, whisk flour into milk until completely dissolved. Stir into soup, stirring frequently ti'l thickened. Reduce heat to low, and then stir in cheese til smooth and heated through. Salt to taste.
Serves 4-5.

Bowtie Festival

I think this is the one I was asking Rachel for... She made the most amazing meal for us when Korben was so tiny.

JOHNNY CARINO'S BOWTIE FESTIVAL

FOR THE BOWTIE FESTIVAL:
1 oz. melted butter
1 tsp. chopped fresh garlic
1/8 cup diced red onion
1/8 cup diced cooked bacon
1/4 cup diced Roma tomatoes
3 oz. sliced cooked chicken
1 oz. heavy (whipping) cream
3 oz. Alfredo sauce (recipe follows)
1/8 cup Asiago cheese
1/2 tsp. salt, pepper, and garlic salt
10 oz. precooked bowtie pasta

In a heated saute pan combine butter, garlic, onions, bacon, tomatoes, chicken, and spice mixture.

When onions begin to turn translucent, add heavy cream and Asiago cheese.

Once cheese and cream have reduced by half, add Alfredo sauce and bowtie pasta. Toss until well combined and remove from fire. Allow to cool for a few minutes so the cheese and sauce thicken.

ALFREDO SAUCE

1 quart heavy whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. black pepper
1/4 cup whole milk

Saute heavy cream, milk, and black pepper to a consistent boil. Remove cream mixture from heat and fold in parmesan cheese. Store completed sauce in refrigerator until use.

Source: Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant
From: KYTX-TV CBS 19 / Cooking at Five Recipes

Sugared Pecans

I have a lot of requests for this recipe after Christmas, so here it is.

Sugary Spice Pecans

1 c sugar
1/2 c water
1 t cinnamon
dash ground cloves
2 c pecan halves
1 t vanilla extract
cooking spray

Combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring contstantly. Add pecans and vanilla, cook stirring constantly until all syrup is absorbed and pecans are coated. Spread mixture on a baking sheet covered with cooking spray and cool; separate pecans. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. Note: it is important to keep stirring through the entire process, about 20 minutes. If you want to make a lot of pecans, keep it in small batches because otherwise your arm will get really tired!!