Chicken and Green Chile Chilaquiles

Chicken and Green Chile Chilaquiles, originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

I used to not like this dish when I was a picky kid. On chilaquiles night my mom always made me my own plate of nachos.

However, when I moved away from home I found myself craving this dish that I hadn't had in about 13 years. I promptly called my mom for the recipe, and made it the following weekend. It's now one of my boyfriend's favorite dishes. The left overs last a few days so if you're looking for a meal to stretch a bit, you've got one here.

What you'll need:

1. Authentic tortilla chips meaning NOT grocery store bought ones like mission or tostitos. Try visiting a carniceria or a Mexican restaurant that makes their chips there.

Yelp! forums or the craigslist food forum might be a useful tool in locating them if you're having trouble. They helped me find some in my area.

2. 1 can of green enchilada sauce

3. About 2 cups of shredded cheese. I usually use cheddar and monterey jack.

4. 2 chicken breasts

5. Jalapenos (optional)

6. Cilantro (optional)

Of course you can tailor this recipe to your likings such as more or less chicken, variation of meat, other chiles, etc.

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Cut chicken into strips and boil in water seasoned with onion powder and garlic for about 8 minutes or until slightly cooked (you'll be putting it in the oven later).

3. Drain chicken and shred.

4. In a medium sauce pan warm enchilada sauce on low heat.

5. In a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish lay tortilla chips on the bottom to form first layer, then follow with half the shredded chicken, cheese, cilantro, jalapenos, drizzle some enchilada sauce, and any other ingredients you've chosen to add.

6. Add a second layer of chips and repeat the previous process. You might want to put a little more sauce on top than you did the first layer since there's more ingredients to absorb it.

7. Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 20 minutes

8. After about 20 minutes, lower the temp to 350 uncover the dish (becareful of the steam!), and cook for an additional 20 - 30 minutes. Basically until cheese is melted and chips on edges are showing signs of slight burn.

9. I try and cut it with a sharp knife using a spatula to lift the food out. The first serving's like a pie serving always a bit of a mess!

10. You might want to add some more enchilada sauce (if you have any left over).

Quiche

Quiche, originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

(Pardon the not so good picture, as it was taken with a cell phone camera.)

I thought I'd share a recipe for Quiche Lorraine. It's a dish my mother always made on Easter while I was growing up, and as I spent last Easter away from home I made it for myself.

A quiche is a baked dish usually consisting of eggs and cream as the main ingredients. You might hear a lot of men saying they won't eat anything named "quiche," but yes people, real men do eat quiche.

What you'll need:

- 9" deep dish pastry shell

- 12 slices bacon (about 1/2 lb)

- 1 cup shredded swiss cheese

- 1/3 cup minced onion

- 4 eggs

- 2 cups whipping cream

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 teaspoon sugar

- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne red pepper

Making the dish:

1. Pre-Heat oven to 425.

2. Fry bacon strips crisp. Once they are cooked drain them. I place them on a paper towel on a plate to pat dry. Crumble the bacon.

3. Sprinkle bacon, onion & cheese into pastry pie shell.

4. Beat eggs slightly, and then beat in remaining ingredients.

5. Pour cream mixture into pie pan.

6. Place on a cookie sheet in case of spillage in the oven.

7. Place in over and bake for 15 minutes.

8. Reduce oven temp to 300 and bake 30 minutes (I usually bake for 45 minutes) until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean.

9. Let stand 10 mins. before cutting.

Zapp's Spicy Creole Tomato Flavored Potato Chips

Tomato Flavored Potato Chips, originally uploaded by G. J. Charlet III.

I found these while perusing the chips section at a Walgreens near my work.

The picture of the tabasco sauce on the front of bag caught my eye.

Anything that looks like it might have a trickle of spice intrigues me. Besides, I just saw a thing about Zapp's chips on the Unwrapped show on the Food Network. Prior to then I'd never heard of them.

The day after my purchase as I sat down to eat my turkey sandwich I slowly opened the bag of chips. A strong scent of vinegar hit my nostrils, and I was a bit unsure.

I took the first bite. And I was still unsure.

They're pretty vinegary, sort of sweet tasting, and barely spicy.

I think I may have become addicted. Bite after bite I enjoyed them more. Heck I found myself on Zapp's web site trying to order more. Seems as if they're a limited edition... they appear to have a different limited edition flavor each month.

They're addicting. Which is amazing because they're essentially salt and vinegar kettle style chips with a hint of tomato and spice.

(Credit to G. J. Charlet III for the photo).

PopChips

PopChips, originally uploaded by ilikegranola.com.

So I work at a rehab facility that serves its employees the same lunches and snacks as the clients.

It really bothers me to see how poorly these clients are being fed, but I do suppose that in being addicts they've eaten worse during periods of their lives.

If I had the money, cooking talents, and a different degree I'd love to open up a business that caters to such facilities and clientele. The food I would provide them would be healthier and taste good.

Anyway, I'm straying from my original post intention:

PopChips

I received the Sea Salt ones as a snack one day at my work. They don't appear to be listed on their website so I don't know if they're a test market item or what.

I was pretty excited about these because the appear to be healthy. At least healthier than the other foods provided. But do they taste good?

NO!

I eagerly opened the bag and immediately sniffed its contents. I have a pretty good sniffer, which I think influences my love for food some. Anyway, they smelled similar to cardboard or perhaps even eucharist wafers you'd get at church. Blech!

Then I tasted them. The amount of salt on the cardboard "chip" was ridiculous. The bag says that there's only 180 mg of sodium, but I call B.S. There was a faint taste of corn behind the predominantly salty and oily tastes.

I found them to be so horrible that I immediately throw the bag away. That's not good. In fact, I don't think I've ever met a chip I didn't like. Heck, there's not much food that I meet that I don't like.

I don't recommend these. Don't waste your money. If you got them free maybe you should try them out.

(Credit to:ilikegranola.com for use of the picture through their flickr.)

Wolferman's English Muffins

English muffin, originally uploaded by stu_spivack.

I received a catalog from Wolferman's a bit before the holidays.

I'm not quite sure why.

Needless to say I got sucked in and decided to purchase some Pumpkin Spice english muffins for my sister. They're pretty expensive, and the more you buy the "cheaper" they get.

So I bought more.

I purchased some for my sister and myself. My purchase included: pumpkin spice, maine blueberry, cranberry citrus, cherries jubilee, original, sourdough, apple orchard, cinnamon and raisin, and chocolate chip.

I freezed most of mine except for the sourdough and apple orchard.

My first tasting was of the sourdough english muffins which were rather large and fluffy. Biting into them with a thin layer of butter was absolutely wonderful. Way better than Thomas'!

I was a bit disappointed with the flavored ones I've tried thus far: apple orchard, cranberry citrus, and pumpkin spice. They all smelled really good, but their flavors just weren't strong enough. However, a tiny bit of jam does help those flavors come out.

I'm not sure I'd buy the flavored ones again, but most definitely the sourdough and original... there's just no going back to Thomas' now.

(Thanks to stu_spivack for the picture).

Chocolatier Blue.

Chocolatier Blue., originally uploaded by _e.t.

An article in the Chronicle a few months back alerted me to this place a few blocks away.

As always, I yelped my opinion:


"... The four I had/have were/are passion fruit caramel, espresso, lemon, and grapefruit. I put the past and present tenses because we've been eating them slowly to savor their tastes.


As soon as I got home I ate the lemon which was pretty darn good. My choice of lemon came from the recommendations of other yelpers.


The passion fruit one... well, let me try it now...


Mmmm... pretty good. At the first bite I thought "mer. too much caramel" (I don't care for caramel too much). But when you let it rest on your tongue and melt the passion fruit flavor comes through and blends wonderfully with the chocolate and caramel.


As for the other two, I don't have an opinion yet as I've yet to try them. But based on the previously eaten chocolates I'm guessing they're not going to be bad at all!"

Thanks to _e.t. for the use of their beautiful photo.

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He'Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale

He'Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale,
originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

While at Andronico's earlier this week, I did my usual run through the beer aisle keeping my fingers crossed that Two Rivers Cider finally have decided to bottle their Pomegranate Cider... but as usual, I had no such luck.

However!

I did find He'Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale. It's an imperial ale brewed with the "juice of 10,000 luscious pomgranates."

Now, I've never heard nor considered using the words luscious and pomegranate in the same sentence, but it couldn't be that bad. Right? I mean, I like ale and I like pomegranates so I shouldn't be complaining.

The ale is 8% alcohol and has a rosy-amber tinge to it, and smelled well, a lot like ale. Prior to taking the first sip I'd read reviews that it tasted like strawberry or raspberry syrup, but I did not find that the case.

I can't say that it tasted much like pomegranates, but I had no complaints. It was good, and I'd drink it again if I ever come across the $6 the larger than average bottle cost me.