Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Lone Star Steak House Chili

From my Top Secret Recipe book........



1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp fresh jalapeno, diced
1 15-ounce can kidney beans (UNdrained)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf

garnish:
grated cheddar cheese
diced onion
diced jalapeno
corn chips
sour cream

1. brown ground beef in a large saucepan over medium heat. drain fat
2. add onion and jalapeno pepper and saute for about 2 min.
3. add reamining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.serve one cup in a bowl with any garnish desired.

** I used about a 1/3 cup of onion finely diced that I sauted in a tbsp of olive oil while the gound beef thawed in the microwave. I am not a fan of strong onion flavor and I have found that this method seems to ease up the flavor, or I use shallot if I have it. I didn't have a jalapeno, but I had a pasilla pepper, so I used about 2 tbsp of that, diced fine. I also did not have a bay leaf, so I just left it out. I did add a 1/2 tsp of ground cumin, which gave a nice flavor to it. It was a really easy recipe and we liked it. I have never made chili from a recipe before, but this seems to be a keeper, and we won't have to eat it for a year, like my usual HUGE pot of chili.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Honey Chicken Enchiladas

I stole this one off the Good Things Utah website. It was made on a day when they were focusing on recipe blogs. It looks awesome and the girl who made it said that it has passed thru many blogs, so here it is. I will let you know what I think when I make it next week.

Prepared by Holly Hanks
http://phemomenon.blogspot.com


1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large breasts), cooked and shredded
12 corn tortillas
2 cups of Mexican cheese blend, shredded (1 small bag usually is 2 cups)
1 14-oz can of green enchilada sauce (mild or medium, to your taste)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of heavy cream
nonstick cooking spray
1 Tablespoon of chopped cilantro, to garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cooked and shredded chicken in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate while you prepare the tortillas, 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, in the refrigerator.
Heat a large griddle till a drop of water skitters across (about 350 degrees F). Spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray or a oil it with a little bit of canola oil in between each round of tortillas. Heat tortillas about 20 seconds on each side till warm and flexible and some golden brown spots have appeared. Remove the tortillas from the griddle and keep them between a couple of paper towels until ready to use.
Spray the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Add a large spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada - it will be more of an over lap on the seam side that rolled tightly. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish starting at one end with the long edge parallel to the longest side of the pan so that you end up with two columns of six enchiladas each.
Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada sauce and cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top. Serve with sour cream, black beans, and rice or a green salad for a great meal.
Serves 4 to 6