Slow cooker chicken with salsa verde

Delicious and so so tender!!!!

Place number of boneless chicken breast in slow cooker - if you want to serve 2 use 2. 

Pour half jar of salsa verde over top for 2 breast and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. 

Meat literally falls apart when placed on top of a tortilla !   Shred cheese on top of each and microwave for 20 seconds till melted.   Top with avocado or lettuce + tomato salsa and sour cream if desired. 

Mexican Casserole

My boys are coming home for the holidays and this is one dish we are going to make for them to take back for their freezer.  Had this with our friends the other night and it is quite delicious.  This is definitely a recipe worth keeping.
It does take a lot of ingredients but nothing out of the ordinary.
You can make ahead and freeze to bake later.
Shopping List:
Large 9 x 13 aluminum pan.
1 medium size bag of tortilla chips - crush half bag into small pieces


1 whole deli chicken purchased at any grocery - take all skin off and debone, then chop or shred into bite size pieces
1 can black beans - drained and washed
1 can corn
1 jar verde salsa (green sauce from tomitillos)
1 jar salsa
1 can chopped jalapeno peppers - drained and chopped
1 green or red pepper chopped
1 red onion chopped (med size)
1/4 cup fresh parsley or cilantro
1 clove garlic minced finely
1 tsp cumin or chili powder 
1 fresh lime - squeeze all juice out of it


1 package grated Mexican cheese mix - divided in half (middle and top)

Serve with 1 small tub of sour cream, fresh chopped tomatoes or jar of salsa


Grease aluminum pan with butter or margarine or Pam.  Put crushed chips in bottom till covered.  No more tortilla chips needed once it is covered.
In large bowl mix beans, corn, jalapenos, lime juice, salsa verde, spice, salsa, onion, pepper, parsley, garlic.  Then add chopped chicken.
Pour 1/2 of this mixture into pan and smooth.  Layer with 1/2 of the shredded cheese.   Then add rest of mixture and rest of cheese on top.

If you want cheese without a bit of crust cover and bake covered with aluminum foil - keep it tented so it does not stick to cheese.  I baked it without and you get a little bit of a crust, nice though.   Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.   Serve with tub of sour cream, and salsa or fresh chopped tomatoes on top.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorite dishes...  to eat and to make and to give away!  It is quite simple and such a comfort food.  Smells wonderful when baking.
The recipe below makes two pies, one to eat and one to give away or freeze.
Step 1 Pie Crust - use homemade or store bought.   I often make these into the rectangular aluminum pans to take to the boys.  I do not put the crust on the bottom, just fill with the chicken mixture then cut the pastry top to fit.  Makes great care package for them.

Stash in Freezer

Step 2  Bake chicken
2 large skinless chicken pieces - can be breasts or thighs mixed - bake them in an oven baking dish with salt, pepper, thyme or poultry seasoning.  I add a bit of water to the bottom and 1 large spoon of Knorr Chicken Stock. 
Bake for about 1/2 hour at 350F.   Remove from oven and let cool, keep the juices.  Remove chicken from baking pan then shred chicken from the bones.  Discard the bones. 
Step 3 While chicken is baking peel 4 medium size potatoes and dice into a medium size pot of water.  Add about 1 cup frozen peas.  Peel and clean 2 medium size carrots, dice and add to pot.  I also dice 1 small mild onion and 1 stalk of celery and add to pot.   Boil the vegetables for about 15 minutes till tender.  Drain.
Step 4 Make gravy in baking dish or pour liquids into a large pot first.  Add 1 1/2 cups milk.  In a bowl add 4 tbsp flour and 1/2 cup water, mix.  Heat broth and milk to boiling then add flour/water mixture and thicken to a gravy consistency.  Keep heat going to attain the thickness.   Once gravy is made turn off heat and add the vegetables and chicken, stir and you are ready to fill the pies.
Step 5  Spoon filling into the pie crusts.  Cover with another shell, put slits on top for air holes.
Step 6 Bake in preheated oven at 425F for 10 minutes,  then reduce to 350F and bake for 30 minutes.   Will be bubbling.   Serve immediately.

Alfredo Sauce Pasta + Primavera + Chicken

This is one of those recipes that never come out the same since I make it with whatever vegetables are in season or in the house!  One thing that remains the same is the Alfredo Sauce which is so tasty - you could have it without the chicken or the vegetables and it would be a great pasta meal.  I have culminated this sauce from two or three recipes till I have found what tastes the best to us.

Pasta
In medium saucepan cook noodles til al dente.  My favorite are the linguine with black pepper in them.  Usually about 15 minutes.  I also cook any vegetables necessary such as asparagus or sweet pod peas or thin carrot sticks in the same pasta water.

Alfredo Sauce
4 tbsp butter melted in saucepan
add 125 grams of cream cheese and stir and melt into the butter on medium heat, this takes a while.
Add 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup of chicken broth to the pan, stir.
In another 1/2 cup of milk add 3 tbsp of flour, whisk in small bowl then add slowly to sauce mixture.   Sauce will thicken slightly.


Chicken
You can use grilled chicken sliced into bite size pieces, or oven roasted breasts also cut into pieces.   Just add to the sauce or if hot it can be added on top the pasta serving dish.   A nice alternate is shrimp.  Add garlic, sliced zuccinni, mushrooms, shallots.


Drain pasta and vegetables and pour into large serving bowl.   Add sauce and mix, top with chicken.   Serve steaming hot.

Chicken Stew with Dumplings

This has a thick sauce and juicy chunks of chicken and vegetables, topped with fluffy dumplings.  It is the perfect comfort food for company or making a big batch allows for plenty of leftovers and this warms up great.  

Chicken Stew
2 1/2 cups chicken bouillon stock - Knorr 
2 lbs of chicken - thighs have the best flavour, but I use breasts mixed with the thighs
3 small carrots cleaned and cut in chunks
2 potatoes peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks
1 small mild onion chopped into small pieces
1 1/2 tbsp butter
2 stalks celery chopped
1 cup button mushrooms
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup milk


Dumplings
1 cup sifted cake and pastry flour
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
2/3 cup milk approx.


In a large pot bring chicken stock to boil.  Add the chicken, cover and simmer over medium low heat till juices run clear when chicken is pierced about 30 minutes.  With a slotted spoon transfer chicken to plate and remove meat from bones (wear rubber gloves) cut chicken meat into bite size pieces.
Add carrots and potatoes to stock; cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Add chopped onions; simmer till tender about 8 minutes.  With slotted spoon transfer vegetables to plate.   Pour stock into a large measuring cup if necessary add more stock to bring it back up to 2 1/2 cups.
In same pot melt the butter over medium high heat, cook the celery and mushrooms, stir often till they are softened about 8 minutes.  Add flour, thyme, salt and pepper; cook stirring for 1 minute.  Gradually whisk in the reserved stock and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium low simmer and stir often for 5 minutes till sauce thickens.  Return chicken and juices to the pot, add the carrot/potato mixture, peas and milk stirring to combine.  Keep simmering while you add the dumplings.


Dumplings:
In a bowl whisk together flour, parsley, baking powder and salt.  Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter till it is coarse crumbs.  Using fork stir in enough milk to make sticky spoonable dough.  Leaving space around each one drop by tablespoonfuls onto simmering stew; cover and cook without lifting the lid for 15 minutes.  Once this is finished you can serve from pot on table.  


Serves 4 heartily.

Spicy Chicken BBQ Rub

This rub has only 4 simple ingredients which you mix together and keep in an air tight container.  In the summer when we are BBQ'ing so much I make a double or triple size batch to keep on hand, it is very addictive!  The rub makes the chicken have a crackly crisp outside and juicy inside.  I use it on chicken pieces with the skin on or on the whole Beer Can Chicken recipe.   I know the boneless, skinless chicken is better for you but it gets dry too quickly when BBQ'ng. When you bite into it at first it has quite a spicy taste but then you can't stop eating it and wanting more!   This recipe is from the Beer Can Chicken Cookbook.
Makes just a bit over 3/4 cup
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar, light or dark
2 tbsp black pepper
For two skin on, bone in chicken breasts, wash them in cold water and pat dry with paper towel, in the meaty breast area I butterfly them for a quicker more even cook on the grill. On a plate use large spoon to cover bone side of breasts with rub, then using your hands press in firmly.  Flip over and repeat on top side, in the butterfly and edges.  Heat your BBQ to 400F.
Cook bone side down first for about 8 minutes.  Turn putting breast side down for another 8 minutes.  Test thickest part of meat before serving.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This is my favorite entree.... in fact I made this a month ago but we got carried away with dinner and our plates were completely emptied when I realized I did not get a picture!!!  I skip a step that most recipes include, they like you to coat the roll ups and then brown them before finishing in the oven.   I have found that you can skip that step and we find the result is a softer edge which we actually like.
Serves 4.  Preheat oven to 350F.
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts.  Cut each one in half between top and bottom.  
4 slices old fashioned ham sliced regular
4 slices Canadian swiss cheese (softer than Switzerland)
4 toothpicks
wax paper or parchment paper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
6 large mushrooms (cremini or button) - sliced
1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth, made from Knorr Bouillon
pepper

In a dish lay the roll ups cover with the flour.  Using your hands cover all sides and ends, till dusted with the flour.    Using a baking dish put the rolls into the bottom, and cover with the pepper, chicken broth and sliced mushrooms.  I use enough broth to cover the bottom and have about 1/4 to 1/2 in the bottom.  Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 1 hour.  Serve each to a plate and spoon juices over top.

Before pounding

After pounding

Oven Fried Chicken

Believe it or not this recipe came from a Cooking Light magazine, having only 342 calories in a serving and 8.8 grams of fat.  Cracker meal will give the coating more crunch, you can buy it but I often use 10 saltine crackers with a kitchen mallet.  Just drop them in a zip lock sandwich bag and crush to fine crumbs.  As well you need 1 cup low-fat buttermilk and if you don't keep it in the house you can always add 1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk, let it sit for 10 minutes before using so it morphs into a thicker consistency.  You will need a frying pan that can sear on top of the stove and then be capable of a high heat in the oven.

1 cup low fat buttermilk
4 bone in chicken breasts skinned or other pieces
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cracker meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 425F.  Wash and pat dry chicken pieces.  Combine buttermilk and chicken in bowl and soak.  In a bowl or plastic bag combine flour, cracker meal and all spices.   One piece at a time take chicken from buttermilk and coat with flour/cracker coating.  Transfer to platter.  
Complete all pieces.  Tip:  If you like extra crunchy chicken you can repeat the coating process, only you need to start with the chicken dipped in flour then the buttermilk then back to the flour.  Melt butter in fry pan on medium-high heat on stove, do not burn the butter.  With chicken meat side down, sear 4 minutes and turn over and put pan into hot oven.   Bake for 30 minutes, or till thermometer registers 165F in thickest part of breast.