Poblanos Stuffed with Cheddar and Chicken

You say Poblano, I say Pasilla (Pah-SEE-YA).   They are one in the same, I recently discovered--at least, in California grocery stores.  (I found a blogger who clears up the confusion here.)  I love Mexican food, but I can't handle really a lot of spicy heat.  Poblano peppers are perfect, because they are rather mild once they are cooked.

My inspiration to make this recipe comes from "Fine Cooking."  The original recipe boasts that it's a quick (and great) way to use leftover chicken.  I didn't have any, and so I decided to make my own shredded chicken.  I chose chicken thighs, because they are a good price.  For flavor I added bay leaves, whole peppercorns and my homemade Mexican spice (you could use taco seasoning).  If you have a Trader Joe's near you, I like these reduced-sodium chicken flavor concentrates (no MSG).  You could use plain water, though.

I let the chicken simmer for about an hour, let it cook enough to pull apart and shred.  I saved the cooking broth. Done.

I cooked one cup of brown rice, using the chicken broth.  Mmmm, good.  (Set aside.)

Slit the chiles from stem to tip and set on the baking sheet. Broil, turning every few minutes, until blackened all over, 5 to 8 minutes. Let cool slightly, peel off the skins, and cut out the seed cores, leaving the stems on. Rather than turning the chiles inside out, a spoon cleaned out any remaining seeds.

The fresh tomato sauce was the best part of this recipe, IMO. It was so good, that I wish I had doubled it-- so, take my advice!

You need fresh cilantro.  If you hate cilantro, leave it out (or use parsley). 

I used fresh Roma  tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. salt ...

..and pureed it in a food processor. 

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the chicken and rice, and then 1 cup of the cheese, the cilantro, and the lime juice.

Season to taste with salt.  Delicious! 

Divide the filling among the peppers, wrapping the sides of the peppers up and around the filling, some of which will still be exposed.

Broil the peppers until the cheese is melting and the top is beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Top with the remaining 1 cup cheese and broil until the cheese is completely melted, about 2 minutes.

TASTING NOTES:  Because I made my own shredded chicken, this took about 2 hours to prepare.  Using leftover chicken and/or rice would definitely be a time saver. On the other hand, the shredded chicken was moist and flavorful.  The leftover filling for the stuffed peppers can be used to make burritos or even enchiladas.  As for the tomato sauce, I would make this part of the recipe again and again.  It was fresh tasting, and perfectly seasoned. The cinnamon was subtle, and the peppers weren't over-the-top hot. Love.  I served this recipe with black beans.  Muy Bueno.  I can see making this as a vegetarian dinner, by omitting the  chicken, and using black beans and rice as the stuffing.   I will, definitely, make this again.

 A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

Enjoy!

 

Cheese Burger Buns

We have just returned from a nine day trip to Montana and Wyoming.  Gorgeous. Mind boggling. Peaceful. Inspiring. A photographer's paradise.

 To say that Yellowstone National Park is huge is an understatement! Our rental car logged in over 1200 miles, touring through Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

My husband shot a lot of video, and my camera capture a few hundred images of geysers, lakes, mountains, wildlife and thermal pools.  It will take a while for us to edit and organize images from our trip.

Craig and I were so impressed with the friendliness of the locals. Every shopkeeper, food server, or park employee greeted us with a friendly smile.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect, averaging 75 degrees.  Those of you who live in Montana or Wyoming-- you do live in one of the most scenic areas in our country.  I'm not so sure I could handle your winters, since I've never lived in snow country.  I do thank you for your warm hospitality, and a lifetime of memories!

My vacation continues until July 22nd, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you a few recipes that I'm back logged on sharing with you.  Since July 4th is two days away, I thought I'd start with homemade hamburger buns. 

Craig and I love to grill outdoors.  Burgers are still high on my list of favorite barbecue dinners.  We finally bought a new gas grill, for the times we don't have to patience to wait for briquettes to turn that perfect temperature.

Homemade hamburger buns aren't very difficult to make.  They have a much better texture than most commercially made hamburger buns.  "Brand X" buns feel gummy, to me.  I like a bun that is dense enough to hold up against ketchup, mustard and/or barbecue sauce.  Don't you?

This recipes comes from one of my favorite recipe websites, "King Arthur Flour".  I admit that I have an addiction to shopping on this website.  I had an unopened bag of their Vermont Cheese Powder, and I was thrilled to see a recipe that I could make with this.  NOTE: It's not a requirement to use this particular cheese powder. The recipe includes how to adapt this to freshly grated cheese.

The only change I made, in their recipe, was to use Rapid-Rise Yeast instead of Instant Yeast.  I have both types of yeast (of course), but I find that Rapid-Rise yeast lives up to its name.  I wanted homemade buns in just a little over an hour.  The egg-based bread dough was super easy to make.  My bread machine broke, years ago.  I never replaced it, because my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer does a great job of mixing and kneading dough.

The dough doubled in about 45 minutes-- I helped that process to speed up, by placing the dough in a slightly pre-warmed oven.  I turned my oven to WARM for 3-4 minutes, then turn it off.

I pressed the dough into a flattened it, and cut it into eight pieces.  I then shaped them into balls...

...flatted them a bit, covered them and let them double for about 30 minutes.  I am using King Arthur Flour's hamburger pan, but you can easily shape these on top of a parchment lined baking sheet.

These rolls baked in about 15 minutes.  They smelled so good, with that aroma of cheddar cheese.

We fired up the new gas grill, and used some homemade barbecue sauce to flavor the burgers.There was no need to add cheese, since the flavor was in the buns. 

The texture of these buns were perfect-- they had a beautiful crumb, and a nice balance of fluffy and tender bread.

I'm a fan of mustard and ketchup with my burgers. Once in a while, I like a good barbecue sauce as my only sauce.  I'll share this sauce, soon, because I made it for a brisket that we slow-grilled a couple of weeks ago.


Sure, I'll still buy burger buns when I don't have 1-1/2 hours to spare, making my own.  But they won't taste nearly as good as baking your own.  If you love cheese, then you'll enjoy this Cheeseburger Bun.   The recipe comes from King Arthur Flour, so you can't go wrong.

I'm glad to be back home, and I'm ready to get back to my own cooking.  While it's a treat to take a break from cooking and washing dishes-- I got tired of eating out for nine days, and eating food that wasn't exactly memorable.  Sorry, West Yellowstone, but the choice of good eats isn't that great.  I still love you, though!


You can view a printable recipe card at the end of this post.
 

Man Pleasing Chicken (Applies to Moms, Women or Wives, too)

For those of you who haven't jumped on board with Pinterest, I'll give you fair warning-- Pinterest can become a time drain. It's a fun one, but I've had to detox myself--considerably-- from my addiction.  Seriously.  Never heard of Pinterest?  Pinterest is, a website that has an infinite number of mouthwatering photos that countless fellow food lovers (myself included) have "pinned" onto our personalized "boards".  Essentially, it's my way of, categorically, saving recipes onto my bucket lists "boards". I've also discovered some great food blogs, this way.

I won't live long enough to make all the recipes that I've pinned, but I'm slowly working my way through them.  It's interesting how one particular Pinterest photo can make a recipe go viral.  My own "Best Meatloaf Recipe" received 25,000 hits in one day!  This chicken recipe became a hit with Pinterest, and the original blogger is "Witty in the City".  (The recipe was adapted from the "I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook"). "Witty" has received over 400 comments for that recipe!  After making it, I can see why.  It's that good.

You only need three ingredients, plus chicken.  Fortunately, I always have those ingredients on hand: Maple syrup (not pancake syrup), Dijon Mustard and Rice Wine Vinegar.  Fresh rosemary makes a perfect garnish.  The name of the recipe speaks volumes.  I've made this recipe three times, already, because my men love it. 

The original recipe uses 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar.  Dijon mustard can be overpowering, in my opinion and I wanted the maple syrup to shine through--- so I used 1/4 cup Dijon mustard and 1/2 cup maple syrup.  Love.

Round #1: I used chicken thighs, bone-in.  After seasoning the chicken with salt & pepper, I poured the sauce over the chicken, and coated it.

In a 450F preheated oven, I baked the thighs, basting them with the sauce halfway through,  until it reached 165F-- about 30 minutes.  Garnish with fresh chopped rosemary, and it's perfect!
NOTE: There was a lot of fat on the surface, that I carefully drained out. Served with brown rice, it was a big hit at the dinner table. My men spied my plate, hoping for more.

ROUND TWO:

Chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in: Using a little olive oil, I seared them until golden brown, then drained the fat and baked them at 450F.   I got less fat, and delicious.

ROUND #3:  I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  I still got a little fat on the surface, but nobody complained.  I also started lining my baking dish with foil, for easier cleanup.

TASTING NOTES:  No matter how you choose to prepare this recipe, it's going to be good. I no longer measure when I make the sauce.  Adjust the flavor to your taste buds liking, to balance the Dijon to Maple ratio.  I think this sauce would be delicious with pork chops, and I'm going to test that theory.  This is the perfect quick meal to make, after a long day at the office.  

Today, I need to get busy packing and doing last minute chores, as Craig and I are flying to Bozeman,  Montana to spend eight days exploring Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Tetons.  I have a busy day ahead of me, so I'm staying off Pinterest!  I don't need a time-drain!   I might post more recipes, if I can.  If I don't, it means we are too busy exploring the beauty of Montana and Wyoming!

A printable recipe card is at the very bottom of this post. Or, click here if you can't see it.

 

Migas for Breakfast (The Homesick Texan)

Before I share this Tex-Mex breakfast, let me post my disclaimer right away: Except for a cross-country trip, in 1976, where I found myself white-knuckling through Dallas during rush hour, I have never been to Texas-- I've been through Texas.  Literally.  I've made a few plane connections at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport, but I've never had the pleasure of sight-seeing the many Texas places-to-see that I've read about.  Someday...

I've been a loyal reader of Lisa Fain's foodblog "The Homesick Texan", for quite a while.  I impressed with her friendly and approachable food blog persona-- she even responds to comments! I always appreciate bloggers who take the time to interact with their followers.

For that reason, I bought Lisa's cookbook, that is titled the same as her food blog.   I have bookmarked so many of her recipes, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading her stories about her life in Texas.  Like my disclaimer says, while I haven't eaten authentic Tex-Mex food in the Home State where it is proudly served--  I can personally attest to how easy and delicious her Chili Gravy recipe is (from her blog), because I made it for my  Cheese and Onion Enchiladas.  If you love the flavors of Mexico, get the book!

 Star ingredients: jalapeno, onion, garlic, cilantro-- and my own leftover tomatillo salsa verde

On Saturday mornings, I much prefer to make a breakfast with eggs.  That's the day that Craig and I have to do our weekend chores, and I need protein to get me going.  I'd never heard of Migas, before, but according to Lisa--

"If you’ve ever had breakfast in Austin, chances are you’ve had a plate of migas. This dish of eggs scrambled with fried corn tortilla strips, salsa and cheese is ubiquitous in some of the Texas capital city’s most popular breakfast spots, including Las Manitas where it’s almost a crime not to order their marvelous migas. I have fond memories of spending lazy mornings in this bustling Congress Avenue diner, scooping spoonfuls of the crunchy, cheesy eggs and bacon-laced refried beans into fluffy flour tortillas. There’s no better way to start the day."

The picture of this dish, in her cookbook is mouth-watering.  I had to make this! I used a combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, and leftover corn tortillas (we do love our Taco Tuesdays).

For the eggs:  Beat 6-8 eggs (I used six), about 1/4 cup milk, salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp ground cumin, and about 1/4  cup of fresh cilantro.

In my beloved cast-iron skillet, I heated about a half-inch of vegetable oil and fried the cut tortilla strips; cook them for about 2 minutes, remove and place on paper towels. Set aside. Pour out most of the oil.

Saute the onion and jalapeno (NOTE: Lisa uses four jalapenos, but I used only half of ONE jalapeno), until tender-- about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook just until fragrant--about 30 seconds.

DISCLOSURE:  I made this recipe TWICE, on separate weekends.  With all due respect to the author, my first attempt didn't quite work, to my expectations-- per the cookbook.  I'll explain why at the end, and will show you how I had better success on attempt #2.  MY WAY, TAKE TWO: add the eggs....

Cook the eggs, on medium-low until partially cooked...

...add the cooked tortilla strips.

Add about half the cheese; give this a gentle stir to combine.

This step is completely optional: I wanted to use leftover salsa verde, and it was refrigerated. I don't like adding cold salsa to hot food, so I added some salsa over the mixture.  Preheat the broiler, with the rack on high and broil for about one minute-- until the cheese is bubbly and melted.

Breakfast is ready!

TASTING NOTES, TAKE ONE: The first time I made this recipe, I thought the flavors were good. Personally, I thought the textures weren't quite right.  In the cookbook recipe, the instructions say to cook the eggs for about a minute, then add the cheese and to gently stir.  Problem:  Cheese plus gooey eggs = gooey, gloppy eggs.  No bueno!  Plus, when the tortilla strips got added to the gooey, gloppy cheese/egg mixgure, they got soggy.   

I'm not one to give up on a recipe that has promise.  So, my adaptions were to cook the eggs more,  then add the tortilla strips, to let them retain more of a crispy texture.  Then I added half the cheese, to melt into the egg-tortilla mixture.  By broiling the remaining cheese, I got the creamy-melted texture I wanted.  Bingo!!

 In a way, Migas reminds me of Nachos, but the eggs makes this a perfect, hearty breakfast.  I can see lots of possibilities with this recipe that can be personalized to your own taste. Lisa says that you can add crumbled Mexican chorizo, chopped poblanos or anything else. If I had any refried beans, I'd definitely want to try adding those.  I garnished this with sour cream, green onion and cilantro. If I had a ripe avocado, yep, that would be added to it.    I only wish I had flour tortillas-- and I plan to make Lisa's recipe, from her cookbook.  Migas for breakast.  It's a good thing.  

Now, I want to go to Austin, Texas!

A printable recipe is at the end of this post. If you cannot view it, click here to be directed to Key Ingredient.

 

Apple & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I have a confession to make. It has to do with "stuffing". I'm specifically talking the kind of stuffing that we cram inside our Thanksgiving turkey.  I've been told that I make delicious stuffing, but I wouldn't know.  You see, I'm one of those Un-Americans who doesn't like stuffing.

There. I said it.  I don't get what's so good about goopy, soggy bread, a bunch of onions and vegetables-- maybe oysters, or nuts... slathered with gravy.  Every year, I take a bite and I'm still not impressed.  Pass me the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, and I'm happy. I'm sorry. I just can't get excited about stuffing!

 

Until, a couple weeks ago-- I saw a recipe for "Apple Stuffed Chicken Breasts", on Mel's Kitchen.  I looked at the bowl of apples  that I keep stocked for lunches, and  realized that apples would make a good pairing with chicken.  I had  chicken breasts, waiting to become dinner. Then it hit me-- I have lots of fresh French tarragon in our herb garden, and I decided this would compliment the chicken (parsley or sage would work, too).  The next thing I knew, I grabbed some shallots, for extra flavor and I preheated the oven to 425F.

I admit that any kind of measuring, flew out the window.  I eyeballed about 1 cup of grated Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.

One peeled and sliced apple went into the bowl, and about one cup of breadcrumbs, and a little garlic salt.

 

After cutting a slit into the boneless chicken breast, I began to cram the stuffing in.

Then I pondered, how to keep all this stuffing from falling out...

..and I grabbed the kitchen twine and problem solved!

I much prefer to sear and roast my meats, whenever possible.  This method has proved succesful for me, in that my meats remain moist. After seasoning each breast with coarse salt & pepper,  I seared each chicken breast in a bit of olive oil, in an oven-proof skillet.

Then, I flipped them over and put them into a preheated 425F oven, for about 25 minutes (or until the chicken is at 160F).

I removed the chicken breasts, set them on a plate and loosely covered them with foil.

The pan sauce I made, turned out to be one of my best ones yet!  I started by deglazing the pan with some apple cider, then I added a splash of white wine.  This is Boiled Cider, and I buy it from King Arthur Flour.  The boiled cider really brings out the flavor in apple pie, and I'm finding it works great in so many recipes. I added a "splash" (about 2 Tablespoons), and about 1 cup of chicken stock.  Then, I let it reduce to about half-- about 7-8 minutes, on medium-high heat.

The aroma of this dinner cooking brought my husband out of his office, and anxiously waiting for dinner.  

The pan sauce was truly one of my best-- the sweetness of the apple cider, and a splash of acidity from the white wine-- perfection!

TASTING NOTES:  This is a stuffing I learned to love, at first bite.  Melted cheese and apples is a terrific combination.  The shallots and the mild anise flavor, of the tarragon, added a lovely savory element to the sauce.  My husband loved this dinner, and I have to say that I did, too.   The next time I make this, I think I'll butterfly the chicken so I can add a lot more stuffing, then roll it, and tie it with kitchen twine.   These could easily be prepared in advance, and then cooked when company arrives.    This recipe is a keeper. I promise you.

Who says that chicken gets boring?  Not this way!  I pretty much changed around the original recipe, but I still thank Mel's Kitchen for inspiring me to stuff chicken with apples and cheese--brilliant!

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. If you can't view it, click here.