Daring Cooks Challenge: Green Chile Chicken Tamales

Blog-checking lines: Maranda of Jolts & Jollies was our January 2012 Daring Cooks hostess with the mostess! Maranda challenged us to make traditional Mexican Tamales as our first challenge of the year!

Green Chile Chicken Tamales:
Servings: About 24 tamales

Ingredients
1 – 8 ounce (225 gram) package dried corn husks (If you cannot find corn husks, you can use parchment paper or plastic wrap.)

For filling:
1 pound (455 gram) tomatillos (can sub mild green chilies – canned or fresh)
4 – 3 inch (7½ cm) serrano chiles, stemmed and chopped (can sub jalapeno)
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 ½ tablespoons (22½ ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups (480 ml) low sodium chicken broth
4 cups (960 ml) (400 gm/14 oz) cooked and shredded chicken
2/3 cup (160 ml) (30 gm/1 oz) roughly chopped fresh cilantro (also known as coriander)

For the masa dough:
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) (265 gm/9⅓ oz) lard or vegetable shortening
1 ½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (10 gm/1/3 oz) salt (omit if already in masa mixture)
1 ½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (8 gm/¼ oz) baking powder (omit if already in masa mixture)
4 cups (960 ml) (480 gm/17 oz) masa harina (corn tortilla mix), I used instant masa mix
1 ½-2 cups (360 ml – 480 ml) low sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Place the dried corn husks in a large pot and cover with water.
2. Place a heavy plate or a smaller pot full of water on top of husks to keep them in the water. Let soak for 3 hours or up to 1 day, flipping occasionally until husks are softened.
3. Once husks are softened, boil chicken about 20 minutes or until fully cooked.
4. Immediately place hot chicken into the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Turn mixer on high to shred chicken (this takes about 3-5 seconds).
5.  Place the jalapenos and chilies a food processor;  Add the garlic and process until smooth.
6. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.
7. Add the chile puree and boil, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes (it should turn thick like a paste).
8.Add in the chicken broth, stir to mix well. Reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until mixture coats the back of a spoon and is reduced to about a cup (240 ml).
9.  Stir in the chicken and cilantro. Salt to taste

10. Prepare the dough. In the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium high heat, cream together the lard or vegetable shortening, baking powder and salt.
11. Mix in the masa harina, one cup (240 ml) at a time.
12..Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add in 1 ½ cups (360 ml) of the chicken broth.
13. If the mixture seems too thick (you can taste it for moistness) add up to ½ cup (120 ml) more of the broth 2 tablespoons (30 ml) at a time. (The dough should be a cookie dough like texture).
14. Take 3 large corn husks and tear them into ¼ inch (6 mm) strips. (I would suggest you put these back in the water until use because they dry out and start breaking when you try to work with them.

15.Take a large pot with a steamer attachment. Pour about 2 inches (5 cm) of water into the bottom of the pot, or enough to touch the bottom of the steamer. Line the bottom of the steamer with corn husks.
16. Unfold 2 corn husks onto a work surface. Take ¼ cup (60 ml) of dough and, starting near the top of the husk, press it out into a 4 inch (10 cm) square, leaving 2-3 inches (5 -7½ cm) at the bottom of the husk. Place a heaping tablespoon (15 ml) of the filling in a line down the center of the dough square.
17. Fold the dough into the corn husk. And wrap the husk around the dough.Fold up the skinny bottom part of the husk and secure it with one of the corn husk ties.

18.Stand them up in the steamer. If there aren’t enough tamales to tightly pack the steamer, place crumpled aluminum foil in the excess space.
19. Steam the tamales for about 40 minutes or until the dough deepens in color and easily pulls away from the husk.

Taco Soup

As the temperatures begin to drop, I begin to rely more on the hearty dishes.  I love soup and am always happy when I can find a recipe that pleases most family members(In this family, someone is always bound to dislike something!).  I put together a taco soup recipe that is a combination of a what I liked in a couple different recipes.  I make our own salsa so I used that in place of the picante sauce one of the recipes called for.  My husband, much as I love him to death, dislikes "vegetables" in his foods so I end up putting a lot of vegetables in the blender for him.  Its a happy medium.... I get my flavors and he gets his "chunky vegetable free" food. 

I doubled this recipe and used one can of white beans and one can of red kidney beans.  I only used one can of diced tomatoes and used roasted petite diced tomatoes.  In the past I have used the addition of the pepper, chili powder and cumin but my salsa is so spicy I didn't feel it needed the addition.

I served this up with some fresh cornbread, yummy! 

Taco Soup

adapted from taste of home

1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey

2 teaspoons olive oil,   I omit and  just use a bit of cooking spray in my pan

1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken, vegetable or beef broth   I prefer chicken broth
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, white beans or kidney beans,rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1-1/2 cups picante sauce or salsa
1 cup uncooked  pasta
1 small green pepper, chopped   I omitted this because my salsa was heavily seasoned
2 teaspoons chili powder        I omitted this because my salsa was heavily seasoned
1 teaspoon ground cumin        I omitted this because my salsa was heavily seasoned
sour cream, optional

shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Directions:

In a medium  skillet, brown and drain ground beef; set aside. In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic  until tender. Add the broth, browned beef,  beans, tomatoes, picante sauce, pasta, green pepper and seasonings. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with cheese and sour cream. Yield: 6 servings.

Secret Recipe Club: Vegchiladas

Another entry into the Secret Recipe Club begins. At the beginning of each month you are assigned a blog to browse through and recreate a recipe. I had the wonderful pleasure of exploring Eilonway's  blog, "My Emu is Emo."  The blog is a combination of her love of cooking and music.  Not only did I get to view fabulous sounding recipes but I was also challenged to expand my horizons with new musical sounds.  At first I was reading all her fun posts without even thinking about finding a recipe!  I have to admit that I am a huge lover of music and have quite the eclectic collection of my own.  After reading my fill, I went back through her blog and focused in on choosing a recipe.  It just so happened that my mom, who lives with us, has been craving nachos and so I zeroed in on her post for " Vegchiladas get earthy, spicy and complex."  As luck would have it, we had all the ingredients on hand.  It was very good and a nice alternative to having meat on your nachos.


Vegchiladas (click on the link for her versions)
2 yams
1/2 an onion
1 can beans (I used S&W Pinquito beans with onions, peppers, cumin and garlic)
tortilla chips
cojito cheese
salsa  (I used my own canned version)
sour cream

Clean and  dice your yams.  I halved my yams diagonally then cut into half again. I then cut into 1/4 inch chunks. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees F., until tender. It me about 1/2 an hour for yams to get tender.
Dice onion and place into warmed medium skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Drain beans and add to cooked onion.
Layer chips with yams

Top with bean and onion mixture.  Add cheese layer.  Repeat.

Serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Southwest Frito Pie

I was searching through my Taste of Home magazine trying to come up with something quick and easy to make for dinner.  To be honest, I was a bit out of ingredients in my house but was too lazy to go shopping.  When I came across the recipe for the Southwest Frito Pie, the picture alone enticed me.  I changed it up a bit and it was a pretty good dish.  I wish I would have had some fresh tomato and avocado, but there's always another day!  The original recipe called for only one can of beans but I wanted it to be more substantial so used two cans of beans.

Southwest Frito Pie

adapted from a recipe of Janet Scoggins, Taste of Home magazine

2 pounds extra lean ground beef  

1/2 onion, diced 

3 Tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons all purpose flour  

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups water

1 can (15 ounce) pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 ounce) black beans, rinsed and drained

Frito brand corn chips

Optional Toppings:

2 cups lettuce, chopped

1 1/2 cups  shredded Mexican cheese mix

1 can diced tomatoes with chili peppers

Sour cream

fresh minced cilantro

Directions:

In a large skillet, or dutch oven, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until no longer pink: drain off grease if you have an excess of grease. I didn't need to drain off anything because I used extra lean ground beef.

Stir in the chili powder, flour,cumin, salt and garlic powder until blended: gradually stir in water.

Add the beans and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat: simmer, uncovered for 12-15 minutes or until thickened (may need to add a bit more flour to get the consistency you like), stirring occasionally.

To serve, place chips inside bowls, top with been mixture and desired toppings.

Serves 6

I put the chips on the bottom and around the sides

Monthly Challenge for April: Sandwiches - Fajitas!!!!!

April's Monthly challenge was sandwiches.  I love bread (my thighs will prove it to you!) so I was very excited about this challenge. I love mixing up stuff for sandwiches to make a quick meal.  I had some round steak that had been in my freezer for a bit too long and I knew it would be tough. One way to rescue tough meats is to put them in a marinade to help break up some of those connective tissues.  I Had some chicken breasts as well so added them into the mixture as well.  Hubby is a veggie-phobe (I'm working on him but he is still very picky) so I cooked up the peppers and onions on the side with just a bit of the marinade I had made.  Was a very yummy meal!  I served it up with some Spanish quinea (using the recipe from a previous challenge but kicking it up a notch).

For the Marinade I used:
Juice of two limes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
about 2 teaspoons soy sauce
I have a jar of sliced jalapeño peppers in my fridge so I added a tablespoon of those into the marinade and about 1/4 cup of the liquid as well. 
Two tablespoons water
4 green onions

I sliced up the meat (thin), put it into a ziplock bag and added the marinade ingredients into it.  I gave the bag a good squishing then placed the bag into a bowl (in case it leaked) and let it set for about three hours.  When it came time to cook it I just heated up my cast iron skillet and got it really hot.  I took the meat out of the marinade (other wise the meat would have steam cooked with all the marinade liquid) and cooked the meat through.  Really quite yummy!

The Daring Cook: Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

Yikes!  How fast does a month go by anyway???  I completed the challenge this month on May 5th... Cinco de Mayo. So much has been going on though that I completely spaced out posting this on the 14th.  So sorry Daring Kitchen!

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen 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.

I never made my own enchilada sauce before nor my own tortillas so I did all the posssible recipes.

While the enchilada sauce ended up being more expensive than buying the stuff in the can AND was quite tedious, it is something that I will do again.  The taste is phenomenal!

Ingredients:

1½ pounds Fresh Anaheim chiles (about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles) 24 ounces 678 grams -

roast, peel, remove seeds, chop coarsely.
7-8 ounces Tomatillos (about 4-5 medium)212 grams - peel, remove stems

4 cups Chicken broth (32 ounces/920 grams) I used stock I still had on hand from a previous challenge

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)

2 tablespoons Cornstarch (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening)

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) I made my own.

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

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, or close up in a paper bag. Let them rest until they are cool.

4. Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out (it rarely does for me). 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. Do not rinse.

Green Chile Sauce

1. Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil and remove the papery outer skin from the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft.

I used the broiler.

2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.

3. Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chiles, minced onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.

4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes.

6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.

Corn Tortillas (from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen)

1 3/4 cups masa harina

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot water

Pour hot water over masa harina, cover and let sit 30 minutes. Add (additional) cool water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is soft but not sticky.

Divide the dough into 15 balls and cover with plastic wrap.

Heat a large (two burner) ungreased griddle or two large skillets, one on medium-low

and one on medium-high.

Put a ball of dough between two sheets of plastic. If you don’t have a tortilla press, press to a 5-6” circle using a heavy frying pan or bread board or other heavy, flat object. Put the tortilla into the cooler pan or cooler end of the griddle. The tortilla will probably stick, but within 15 seconds, if the temperature is correct, it will release. Flip it at that point onto the hotter skillet/griddle section. In 30-45 seconds, it should be dotted with brown underneath. Flip it over, still on the hot surface and brown another 30 seconds or so. A good tortilla will balloon up at this point. Remove from heat and let them rest while cooking the remaining tortillas. Use quickly.

To make the 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.

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.