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 Bulgur Chicken Salad Total time: 20 minutes, plus chicken cooking time
Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine (March/April 2010).
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup fine-grain bulgur wheat
1/4 cup almond slivers, toasted
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped (optional)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
In a small saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Place bulgur in a small-medium bowl. Add chicken broth to bulgur and let set for 5-10 minutes, until most or all of the broth has been absorbed.
In a medium bowl, mix together oil, lemon juice, and seasonings. Add shredded chicken, and mix well to coat. Add almonds and mint, toss to coat. Add bulgur and mix well.
Serve cold or room temperature.
 Ginger Lemon Biscotti Total time: 1 hour
3 cups cheap all-purpose flour (or 2 1/2 cups of King Arthur flour)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup – 1/2 cup minced ginger root
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl, set aside.
Beat sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add eggs, zest and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix just until just blended. Fold in ginger.
Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12-15 inches long. Place the loaves 3-4 inches apart on a prepared or non-stick baking sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or until you can handle the loaves without burning yourself) on a cooling rack or cutting board.
With a serrated or extremely sharp kitchen knife, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 2 dozen.
I’ve used both lemon zest and orange zest to great, tasty success.
 Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Total time: 1.5 hours
1/2 c raisins, soaked for 30-60 minutes, then drained
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
1 c cheap ap flour
1 egg
1.5 c rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsps vanilla
Preheat the oven to 360.
Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, mix well.
Add flour and baking soda, mix lightly until just incorporated. Add oats and mix lightly to incorporate. Fold in raisins gently.
Spoon out dough by large tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on cookie sheets before moving to cooling rack (about 5 minutes).
 Enchiladas Verde Con Pollo Total time: Plan for 3 hours your first time, 2 hours each time after that.
The 2010 May Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food, and they chose a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.
6-8 fresh Anaheim chiles (or 4-5 pasillas)
4-6 tomatillos – peeled, with stems removed
4 cups Chicken broth
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons yellow onion, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ tsp Kosher salt (add more to taste)
¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)
Hot sauce, your favorite (optional)
2 Boneless chicken breasts (you can also use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs)
3 tablespoons Olive oil or other neutral vegetable oil (use more as needed)
Kosher salt and pepper
12 Small Corn tortillas (5-6 inch/13-15 cm). (you can also use wheat tortillas or other wraps)
6 ounces grated Monterey Jack, 170 grams (other cheeses (cheddar, pepper jack, Mexican cheeses) can be used. Just be sure they melt well and complement the filling)
Cilantro for garnish, chopped and sprinkled (optional)
 Pureed Peppers and Tomatillos Directions:
Roasting Fresh Chiles
1. Coat each chile with a little vegetable oil. If you are doing only a couple chiles, using the gas stove works. For larger batches (as in this recipe), grilling or broiling is faster.
2. Lay the oiled chiles on the grill or baking sheet (line pan with foil for simpler clean-up). Place the grill or broil close to the element, turning the chiles so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered.
3. As they are completely charred (they will probably not all be done at once), remove them to a bowl and cover with plastic. Let them rest until they are cool, about 10 minutes.
4. Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out. Open the chile and remove the seeds. Turn the chile skin side up and with a paring knife, scrape away the skin. Sometimes it just pulls right off, sometimes you really have to scrape it. (I kept the seeds in the pepper.)
5. DO NOT RINSE!
 Corn tortillas made with masa Green Chile Sauce
1. Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft. (I prefer to grill mine, along with all peppers, onions, and garlic.)
2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor, add roasted green chiles, peppers, onions and garlic, and blend some more.
3. Return the tomatillo-chile mixture to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, oregano, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.
Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas
1. Heat a gas grill to medium high or build a medium-hot charcoal. Coat the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes a side for boneless chicken breasts.
3. Cool and then slice into thin strips or shred.
 Uncooked Enchiladas Skip steps 4-12 if you’re just rolling your enchiladas.
4. In a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Dip the edge of a tortilla into the oil to check – it should sizzle immediately.
5. Using tongs, put a tortilla into the pan and cook until soft and lightly brown on each side, about 15-20 seconds per side (at the most).
6. Drain on paper towels.
7. Add oil as needed and continue until all 12 tortillas are done.
8. In a baking dish large enough to hold four separate stacks of tortillas, ladle a thin layer of sauce.
9. Lay four tortillas in the dish and ladle another ½ cup (4 ounces/112 grams) of sauce over the tortillas.
10. Divide half the chicken among the first layer of tortillas, top with another ½ cup of sauce and 1/3 of the grated cheese.
11. Stack another four tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese.
12. Finish with the third tortilla, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
13. Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
14. To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.
My combination of peppers and chicken broth yielded enough sauce for two dishes. I made these with homemade corn tortillas the first night, with shredded chicken, and then with store-bought flour tortillas and shredded pork the second night. I think the corn tortillas had better texture and flavor, but the shredded pork was far tastier than the plain salt&pepper chicken.
I always use extra sharp white cheddar cheese for “your choice shredded cheese”.
I prefer to boil my meats and shred them, rather than grilling or pan frying. I also feel it’s helpful to season them with at *least* salt, pepper, and some sort of chili powder.
I chose to roll my enchiladas instead of stacking them. If you choose to roll your enchiladas, it’s very important to put sauce on the bottom of the pan, under your rolled enchiladas.
I found this recipe and my adjusted process to be really easy and convenient for me, and it tastes better than the recipe I had been using, so it’s definitely a keeper.
 Brunswick Stew Total time: 4-6 hours.
The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.
I’ve halved the recipe and all but butchered the rest of it. My changes are mostly in italics. For the original recipe, please visit the Wolf’s Den.
Adapted from “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee
2 lb chicken (I used 2 pounds of t-bone steaks)
1/2 lb rabbit, quartered (I used 1/2 pound of homemade sausage)
4-6 slices bacon, roughly chopped
6 cups chicken broth or stock (I used beef broth)
1 lb potatoes
1 1/2 cups canned or soaked navy beans, drained
1 large onion
1 large tomato
1 large celery stalk
1 carrot
2 serrano peppers
1 1/2 tsps sea salt, and to taste
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
tabasco sauce to taste
1-In the largest stockpot you have, preferably a 10-12 qt or even a Dutch Oven if you’re lucky enough to have one, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until it just starts to crisp. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside. Reserve most of the bacon fat in your pan, and with the pan on the burner, add in the chiles. Toast the chiles until they just start to smell good, or make your nose tingle, about a minute. Remove to bowl with the bacon. (I removed the bacon, but I added my onions at this time and sauteed them until golden brown. Then I added my peppers and proceeded to step 2 without removing anything else from the pot.)
2- Season liberally both sides of the rabbit and chicken pieces with sea salt and pepper. Place the rabbit pieces in the pot and sear off all sides possible. You just want to brown them, not cook them completely. Remove to bowl with bacon and chiles, add more bacon fat if needed, or other oil of your choice, then add in chicken pieces, again, browning all sides nicely. Remember not to crowd your pieces, especially if you have a narrow bottomed pot. Put the chicken in the bowl with the bacon, chiles and rabbit. Set it aside. (I did not remove anything from the pot.)
3- Add 2 cups of your chicken broth or stock to the pan and basically deglaze the pan, making sure to get all the goodness cooked onto the bottom. The stock will become a nice rich dark color and start smelling good. Bring it up to a boil and let it boil away until reduced by at least half. (Here’s where I transferred everything to my pre-warmed crockpot and set it to “High”.) Add your remaining stock, the bay leaves, celery, potatoes, chicken, rabbit, bacon, chiles and any liquid that may have gathered at the bottom of the bowl they were resting in. Bring the pot back up to a low boil/high simmer, over medium/high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover, remember to stir every 15 minutes, give or take, to thoroughly meld the flavors. Simmer, on low, for approximately 1 ½ hours. The stock may become a yellow tinge with pieces of chicken or rabbit floating up, the celery will be very limp, as will the chiles. (Instead of playing the waiting game, I just dumped everything into my crockpot, including all the remaining vegetables, closed the lid and let it sit for 4 hours on high. I added the lemon juice, vinegar, and some super yummy chipotle tabasco just before serving.)
(Optional 4- If you used meat with bones, complete this step) With a pair of tongs, remove the chicken and rabbit pieces to a colander over the bowl you used earlier. Be careful, as by this time, the meats will be very tender and may start falling apart. After you’ve allowed the meat to cool enough to handle, carefully remove all the meat from the bones, shredding it as you go. Return the meat to the pot, throwing away the bones.
4- Add in your carrots, and stir gently, allowing it to come back to a slow simmer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for at least 25 minutes, or until the carrots have started to soften.
5- Add in your onion, beans, and tomatoes. As you add the tomatoes, carefully crush them up. Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring every so often until the stew has reduced slightly, and onions, and beans are tender. Remove from heat and add in vinegar, lemon juice, stir to blend in well. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.
6- You can either serve immediately or refrigerate for 24 hours, which makes the flavors meld more and makes the overall stew even better. Serve hot, either on its own, or with a side of corn bread, over steamed white rice, with any braised greens as a side.
For my broth, I did a slight variation of the optional Sunday Chicken Broth recipe provided in the challenge. Instead of using chicken bones, I used beef bones! Sunday Beef Broth!
This was a very different tasting stew from what I’m used to, even with my own personal touches. There seemed to be a very high acid content, which was startlingly good to me (not normally a fan of sour).
The optional recipe from the April 2010 DC Challenge.
From “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Makes about 1 quart (4 cups or 919.68 grams or 32.303 oz)
Estimated Time- 1 ¼ hours
Bones and trimmings, but not giblets, of one 3 ½- 4 ½ lb (1594.32-2049.84 grams or 56-72 oz) chicken, or 12-14 oz / 341.64-398.58 grams / approx. 2 cups chicken bones and trimmings
1 large onion, trimmed, peeled, quartered
6 large stems fresh flat leaf parsley
1 stalk celery, cut into 2” lengths
2 large bay leaves
5 cups / 1149.6 grams / 40.379 oz cold water
1 cup / 229.92 grams / 8.076oz crisp dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Place bones/trimmings in medium stockpot and add onion, parsley, celery and bay leaves. Add wine and water, liquid should cover all ingredients, if not, add more until it does. Bring to vigorous simmer over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer gently for roughly 45 minutes to an hour, skimming any scum or fat that comes to the surface.
Strain broth into bowl through fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids. Measure what you are left with, if not planning to further reduce, then salt and pepper to taste.
Store in tightly sealed container in refrigerator until the remaining fat congeals on the top. Remove the fat, and unless not using within 2 days, keep tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Otherwise, freeze, and it will keep for upwards of a month.
I used t-bones and fat scraps from my steaks and 1/2 cup sherry instead of a full cup of wine.
 Cheesesteak "hot pocket" sandwiches Total time: 1.5 hours
1/2 pound thinly sliced beef, cooked
1 cup shredded cheese
2 Tbsp cream cheese
1 large jalapeno, minced
half batch of Empanada Dough III or other pastry dough
Preheat oven to 425.
Mix together cheeses and jalapeno until somewhat smooth (about 40 times around the bowl).
Add meat and mix well.
If using the empanada dough or pastry dough, separate out into 8 equal parts. Roll nearly flat. Place a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture into the center. Fold over and press close.
Bake on 425 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
As I was rolling out the dough, I was thinking, “man, this would be a lot faster if I’d just used bread and made sandwiches in my sandwich maker”. Oh well, next time.
 Inside the cheeseteak sandwich... not-so-minced jalapenos!
Total time: 10 minutes
2 cups flour
4 Tbsp butter, chilled
4 Tbsp shortening, chilled
6-10 Tbsp really cold water
1 tsp salt
Mix salt into flour in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender (or the absolutely impossible double-butter-knife chopstick method), cut butter and shortening into flour until mix is crumbly with pea sized lumps or smaller. Slowly add one tablespoon of water, mix. Repeat this until dough forms a ball.
You should definitely use your hands to press the dough together after the 4th tablespoon of water.
 Brownies I Total time: Approximately 1 hour.
Maybe it was the Peter Seller’s clip, maybe it was how easy the pita bread was, or maybe it’s just because I want a brownie recipe for when that pouch of yummy mix is not on sale… Whatever the case may be, I’ve lately been inspired by Michele at Veggie Num Nums to bake a lot of things.
3/4 cup + 2 T all purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 T butter
1/2 tsp instant coffee (optional)
Preheat oven to 350.
In a small microwave safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate chips. Stir every 20 seconds.
Mix everything up, mix in chocolate, scrape into a greased pan. And to quote Michele “Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through. Brownies should be slightly firm to the touch and a crust should form on the top. A toothpick will not come out clean.”
I baked for 14 minutes, rotated, then baked for another 14 minutes.
Today, I am using 1/2 tsp of instant coffee from a packet of Starbucks Decaf Italian Roast VIA.
These were crisp around the edges, nice and chewy. The texture was spot on what I like in a brownie. I felt there was a sort of aftertaste of sugar, but that might have been from inhaling…
 Butter Tarts with Almonds Total time: Approximately 1 hour.
1 cup flour *
3/4 cup almonds, chopped
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened* + 1 Tbsp butter, melted
6 Tbsp cream cheese, softened*
1 egg
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of allspice
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream together cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter. Add flour to make a dough. Press pastry into the bottoms and sides of a tassie pan (24 tassie size) or muffin tin (8-12 muffin size).
Mix together remaining ingredients. Spoon 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp of filling into each tart for tassie pan or 2-3 Tbsp of filling into each muffin cup.
Bake 20-35 minutes. Long range, I know; but what you’re looking for is for the pastry to turn golden and/or the filling to puff up. Tassie pans are typically 20-25 minutes. Muffin pans are 30-35 minutes. You definitely want to watch after you round the mark to make sure the golden doesn’t turn brown (it happens fast, apparently!).
 Inside the Butter Tart * Use these items to make your own dough, or use store bought pastry shells, or use your favorite pie crust/pastry dough.
Canadian butter tarts are made like American pecan pies. You want for your gelatinous filling to settle at the bottom and for any nuts or filling to “float” to the top and create a crisp top.
I used my muffin tin, and I got 10 butter tarts. They were perfectly done at 25 minutes on 350. A toothpick came out clean.
It’s embarrassing how quickly these were devoured, so I’m just not going to tell you how many are left.
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