Baked Chicken Flautas

Baked Chicken Flautas

This is the best Mexican dinner we’ve had at home in years.  This all started as a repeat effort to make chicken stock at home.  I made homemade stock in the past, but become convinced it wasn’t worth the effort.  The passage of time and subzero temperatures prompted me to try it again.  This time, I did not want to waste the chicken.  Thus, the following occurred this cold, Sunday afternoon on NFL playoff day:  (1) three quarts of decent home-made stock, and (2) an incredibly decent dinner for 2 (plus leftovers) of chicken flautas.  I plan to make this again and again. 

 

Stock

1 package of chicken pieces, pre-cut up (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 2 legs), washed.

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped (pretty big pieces, like 4)
Celery, the inside three ribs or so, with leaves, roughly chopped
Tsp of peppercorns
Tsp of salt
Sprig of fresh flat-leaf parsley
Water, enough to cover everything up

Place everything in a large stock pot.  Bring to a near-boil on medium high heat.  Skim off foamy scum.  Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl with a spout and ladle the foamy scum over the strainer.  Get rid of the scum, rinse the strainer and repeat.  Do not let come to a rolling boil.  Once most of the scum is gone, reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 35 minutes.  Remove the breasts and thighs.  Remove the skin, take off the good meat and set aside, and return the bones to the pot.  Simmer for at least another hour (or more).  Using the strainer over the bowl, ladle the stock over the strainer and dump all the solids.  Pour the stock into tall plastic quart containers.  Let cool.  Stick in the fridge overnight and remove the congealed fat from the surface the next day. 

Save the chicken for the flautas.

Red Sauce

½ Shallot, minced
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Penzey’s Sunny Spain
1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes. 

Heat oil over medium heat in a sauce pan.  Add shallot and sauté for a few minutes until soft.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper, a palmful of cumin and a few shakes of the Sunny Spain.  Stir together to a consistency similar to a roux.  Add the tomatoes.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for a least a half hour, uncovered.  Longer is good.  This was such a nice red sauce that the next time I will double or triple this and freeze some and serve with anything and everything. 

Salted Vinegar Radishes

Radishes

Salt
White balsamic vinegar

Slice radishes into matchsticks.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Add a swig of vinegar.  Let stand.

 Flautas

8 flour tortillas
Reserved Chicken
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Cheddar Cheese (about a cup)
String cheese
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375.  Wrap the tortillas in damp paper towel, then wrap in a kitchen towel.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Shred chicken with fingers and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin.  Build flautas:  Place about a palmful of chicken on a tortilla.  Sprinkle with cheddar and a few strings of string cheese.  Spread mixture in a line across the middle of the tortilla, then pull the mixture down the tortilla toward the bottom third. Roll the tortilla tightly, about the circumference of a flute, pressing so that the filling and tortilla are compact and the filling spreads nearly the full length of the roll.  Place on baking sheet.  Repeat.  Let the flautas rest for 10 minutes or more (to accept their shape).  Spray with cooking spray on each side of each flauta.  Bake in over for 20 minutes.  Turn each flauta.  Bake for 10 minutes more.  Flautas should be crisp and browned. 

Serve with the red sauce and salted vinegar radishes.  We also had refried beans (topped with some more radishes) and a green salad with carrots and pepitas.

 

Note:  This recipe included no migraine trigger foods or Mark's trigger foods (garlic, peppers, etc.)  We are such sallys. 

The Most Perfect Cookie Ever

I don't know if we have posted this cookie yet, however it is worth posting weekly.  My cousin Kelli's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Made a batch this morning and it was PERFECT.  They were crisp on the outside, chewy inside and didn't fall flat when you took them out of the oven.  Even if they fall flat they are great. 

I tweaked the recipe a bit.  Added some whole wheat flour.  I know this thing by heart.

1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 heaping tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp salt
2 stick butter room temperature (or about 20 seconds in the microwave flipping every 5 seconds)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups quick cook oats
1-2 cups chocolate chips

1.  Sift together flour, wheat flour, baking soda, salt.  Set to side
2.  Cream together butter, white sugar, brown sugar
3.  Add eggs to butter & sugar mixture 1 egg at a time
4.  Add vanilla to butter/sugar/egg
5.  Add in dry ingredients a third at a time
6.  Add oats
7.  Add chocolate chips

I bake these for 11 minutes at 360 in my oven.  Adjust for your oven.  I don't add a full 2 cups of chocolate chips.  Too much for us.  Yes, this recipe has a shit load of sugar.  I think Nestle Toll House uses 3/4 cups.  Simply not as good.

Also I use this as a base for other oatmeal cookies.  Add cranberries instead of chocolate chips and use a very little bit of almond extract instead of vanilla.  I like them better than the chocolate chips.  Raisins and nuts. 

I need to start collecting extracts other than vanilla and almond.  I am seeing some sort with an orange extract (I use orange liquor as a substitute but apparently drank it all with some margaritas).  Or what about adding coconut???  Hmmm.

Christmas Ale Brown Bread

I’m really excited about this bread.  I hope this works out. 

For 2013, I am on a brown bread baking quest.  Something reminiscent of the great Irish brown bread, like the stuff we chomped on at the only open restaurant on Inisheer a couple years ago.  I pulled a promising recipe from Cooking Light, which I went to make this morning, but then realized that I had no eggs.  I only needed one, but we finished off the last of the eggs for breakfast (Mark's slow cooked eggs).  Mark, very economical in food consumption, looked at the seven eggs this morning and said, “Should I just scramble all seven or do you need one of these?” 

 “Nope, scramble all seven.”  I replied.

 No it’s really my fault, for not realizing I would need that egg for the awesome brown bread recipe.  I can take the heat.

 So, on to Plan B.  For years I’ve wanted to make this simple beer bread recipe from a cook book I got from my Mom a long time ago called “All American Comfort Food.”  It’s a simple, paperback cook book with no pictures, but a good read in my opinion.  For instance, the beer bread recipe’s preface reads:

Beer, honey, and bread are such a medieval combination you’ll have to pin up your hair with this one and throw chunks of it to the dogs under the table.  It also happens to be really good, and really good bread makes a lasting impression on anyone who eats it.

 Could it really be that good?  Really?  I mean, if this works out, it could be life changing.  A three ingredient bread?

 Here’s the recipe:

 3 cups self-rising flour

1 12-oz can beer (I used a bottle of Christmas Ale)
1 T honey

 Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.  In a large bowl combine the ingredients, mixing well.  Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until browned and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Turn out onto a wire rack and cool.  Makes 12 slices.

So far, so good.  Bread is baking and we are watching the Browns.  The season is over, and this is likely Shurmur’s last game (Hey Shurmer:  You can't take those time-outs with you), but they are making a game of it.  They even successfully faked a punt. 

Not a Frosting Fan

G is not a frosting fan.  He doesn't like it on cakes, cupcakes, and well anything else.  So for his birthday I wanted to make something other than the typical marble cake in a rectangle pan with no frosting.  Further, I am terrible at marble cakes.  It usually looks like a yellow cake where someone mistakenly added some chocolate to it.  And, I have a pretty footed cake plate that I wanted to use.

The solution was one round chocolate cake and one round yellow cake.  Use your favorite recipe or box.  I used the extra batter for cupcakes.  I baked each according to the package directions.  I am guessing I overfilled the pans a bit.  Let cool completely and then cut each in half so you have two round chocolate layers and two round yellow layers.

Now the glue.  I made some whipped cream with heavy whipping cream (now G is not opposed to whipped cream!) and confectioners sugar.  Can probably use your favorite store bought whipped topping.  Then I folded in a whole jar of red raspberry jam.  Smeared on between layers and on the top.  Didn't do the sides.

It was a hit!!!

Picture isn't the best, but you get the idea.

Last Chance Crab Cakes

A few weeks ago, I bought the good can of lump crab on sale (still around ten bucks), and thought I would give crab cakes at home one last chance.  These were good!    I then had a dream that I made crab cakes eggs benedict.  Problem is, I have never poached an egg.  This will be my goal for 2013.

1 lb lump crab meat (the good stuff), drained

Juice of one lemon
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 Shallot, minced
2 ribs of celery, minced
Old Bay seasoning (about a tablespoon)
1 ½ T light mayo
2 eggs, lightly whisked
4 slices of whole wheat bread, toasted.
Canola Oil.

 Preheat oven to 200.  Cover a baking sheet with parchment.

Mix everything together in a big bowl, crab through eggs.  Make bread crumbs out of the toast.  Either place the toast in a large sealed bag and tear and pulverize (or crumb in a food processor).  Fold about half of the crumbs into the crab mixture.  Place the remaining crumbs on a large plate and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a little more Old Bays.  Form the crab mixture into 8 balls.  Make cakes by pressing each ball into the crumbs on the plate, one side at a time, being careful to press everything together.  Place cakes on a plate and chill in the fridge.  When ready to cook, Heat a generous tablespoon of oil in non-stick skillet on medium heat.  Cook cakes two at a time, about 2 to 4 minutes each side.  Placing finished cakes on the baking sheet and keeping them warm in the oven. 

When all the cakes were finished, I left the finished cakes in the oven about a half-hour while we cocktailed.  Served with slaw. 

Risotto of the Week

When I served the steaming bowl of Risotto to Mark this Monday night after a long day at work, I said:  "I've always wanted to be the type of person who would go home after a long day at work, too late to grocery shop, and whip up something like this from what I found in the pantry and freezer."  He looked at me like I was a freak, then sipped his Scotch.  Maybe so, but this risotto was pretty good. 

Swirl of olive oil
1 onion, hastily diced
1 Cup Aborio Rice
Swish of chardonnay
Salt
1 box of chicken stock
1 pat of butter
Frozen Ohio sweet corn, thawed (About a cup, or whatever)
1/4 Cup (or so) of crumbled gorgonzola cheese
"Real" bacon bits

Make the risotto like you always do:  Heat the oil in a saute pan on slightly more than medium.  When it gets hot, sizzle the onions for a couple minutes.  Add the rice and toast it for a minute or two.  Throw in a pinch of salt.  When it starts to pop and most of the oil is absorbed, add a swish of wine, enough to cover the rice.  Once its mostly absorbed, add the stock a bit at a time, stirring, and adding more each time the little bubble forms.  Do this for about 20 minutes, or until the box is almost gone and the rice just starts to soften when you taste it.  Then, turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the burner.  Add the butter, cheese, corn and bacon bits.  Mix it up until it is creamy and excellent.  Eat!

Corn note:  This is Beth's corn thing, which she learned form Nancy, who is, by all accounts, the foremost authority on what to do with fresh late summer corn.  So, when you have an extra ear of boiled summer sweet corn, slice it off the cob into a bowl, then use the back of the knife to rub the juice out of the cob and add to the corn.  Throw it in a freezer bag and freeze it. 

Beth's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

According to Beth, they are real, and they're spectacular.  In her words:

Made them yesterday. Perfect size, perfect consistency, perfect flavor, perfect reviews from Greg. So what did I do? Well followed the directions on the whole wheat flour package. The only real difference is using whole wheat flour instead of normal.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
sift the three together and set aside

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 sticks butter
Cream together

Add 1 egg to butter/sugar mixture. Then add 1 tsp of vanilla.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Then add in 1-2 cups of chocolate chips. Whatever is your pleasure.

Preheat oven at 375.

I used a stone sheet pan from pampered chef. Lined it with parchment paper for easy clean up. In my oven I baked the cookies for 12 minutes. Instead of the teaspoon method to drop cookies which I hate, I formed small balls and just set them on sheet. I pressed down every so slightly not to really lose the ball shape.

Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from sheet to cooling rack.

The only thing really different about the recipe is the flour.