Amanda's Chunky Chicken Quesadilla

I lurvvvvvvvvve Mexican food. The spiciness, the smokiness, the flavour explosion! I could eat refried beans and enchiladas every day. I guess technically it's tex-Mex, but whatever you want to call it it's freakin' delish!

A lot of people have a dish that they judge restaurants by. My husband's is chicken wings. If a restaurant can rock the chicken wings they have his repeat business and he'll try out the rest of the menu. But if their wings leave a bad taste in his mouth, we never go back. My dish is the quesadilla. If it's too greasy, too bland, not enough veggies, or I'm paying an extra $4 for 3 tiny pieces of chicken I'm not a happy chica.

I've taken all the best elements of all the best quesadillas I've ever had and combined them into one totally delicious tex-mex meal. Make this on a couple of 6" flour tortillas for a quick, light lunch, or on 12" flour tortillas for dinner with a side of Mexican rice or a salad.

Start by roasting some red, green and yellow peppers, and some onions in a bit of olive oil and chopping up some cooked chicken.

On top of a flour tortilla (this one is a 6") put a slice of jalapeno havarti or pepper jack cheese and top with a generous amount of the veggies and chicken

top the chicken and veggie mixture with shredded marble cheddar

top with another flour tortilla. Drizzle a wee bit of olive oil on top and sprinkle on a dash of seasoned salt and cajun seasoning. Bake at 350˚F for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

deeeeelish!

Print this recipe

Amanda's Chunky Chicken Quesadilla
serves 4

2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1/2 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
1/2 yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into strips
8 6" flour tortillas
4 slices (1-2oz) jalapeno havarti or pepper jack cheese
2 c marble cheddar, shredded
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp cajun seasoning

Instructions:

1. Slice peppers and onions and toss with a bit of olive oil and roast in a 450˚F oven for 15 minutes.
2. Slice a chicken breast and set aside.
3. Lay the flour tortillas on a cookie sheet and top with a slice of jalapeno havarti or pepper jack cheese and a generous amount of the veggies and chicken.
4. Top with shredded cheddar and another flour tortilla.
5. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoned salt and cajun seasoning.
6. Bake at 350˚F for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
7. Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole

Print this recipe

enjoy,

Chicken Corn Chowder

I love the movie The Devil Wears Prada. I had it saved on my PVR and watched it over and over and over... and then something went wrong with our PVR and when the guy came to look at it he deleted everything. So I ran out and bought the DVD, and I watch it over and over and over... as I did today.

One of my favourite parts of the movie is Andy's first day, she heads down to the cafeteria for lunch where she bumps into Nigel in line. As she's ladling soup into her bowl Nigel says "Corn chowder. That's an interesting choice. You do know that cellulite is one of the main ingredients in corn chowder.". I'm sure you see where I'm going with this.

All of a sudden I had a craving for corn chowder! Cellulite be damned! So here's my recipe for this creamy chicken, corn and potato rich soup that's great for lunch or dinner. Enjoy!

Print this recipe

Chicken Corn Chowder

2 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 small carrots, peeled & diced
2 lg. potatoes, peeled and diced small
2 c. cooked chicken or turkey, chopped
2 c. chicken stock
2/3 c. frozen corn kernels
2 c. half and half cream
salt & pepper to taste
1 sprig of fresh thyme

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large stock pot and add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the potatoes and the chicken and allow to cook for another 3-5 minutes.
3. Cover the veggies and chicken with the stock, cover and cook for 10- 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
4. Add the corn, cream and salt & pepper. Throw in the spring of thyme whole. After 5 minutes pull it out and discard. (you want to lightly flavour the soup, not overpower it with thyme.)
5. Serve immediately.

Tip: if you plan to serve the soup the following day or freeze it, leave out the cream and only add before you serve. It keeps better that way.

Print this recipe

enjoy!

Amanda

Turkey Pot Pie

I hated pot pies when I was little. HATED them. My mom would wait until there was a 50¢ sale and stock up on frozen chicken and turkey pot pies from the grocery store. They were bland and runny, and the crust was thick and hard, and if you were lucky you'd get 1 or 2 pieces of rubbery chicken in them. At the time I was branded "picky" but I like to think I just had discriminating taste at a young age! My mom was a busy wife and mother who worked 2 jobs so I was just happy to see my her let alone expect gourmet dinners. As a stay at home mom I have the time to fiddle around with cooking (and this blog) so I thought I'd give pot pies another try with my leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

I haven't mastered pie dough yet, nor did I have the energy to try (post Thanksgiving cleaning/tidying/digesting) so I used some refrigerated pie dough to save time... and as busy moms we need to make life easier whenever we can. I made these individual size (in a "Texas size" muffin tin) as my husband declared that he wasn't a fan of pot pies and I'd be eating them alone, but this could easily be adapted to one big family-sized pie if you don't want to bother with playing with the dough.

Bursting with chicken, veggies and a creamy sauce baked in a flaky, light pie dough, these pot pies are mmmmmmmm!

before the oven. I need to work on my edge crimping technique! Notice my fingernail impressions? soooo professional looking.

Turkey (or Chicken) Pot Pies

2 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 med. potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels
2 c. cooked turkey or chicken, chopped (a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store is a great time-saver if you don't have leftovers)
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 c. turkey or chicken stock
1 c. heavy (whipping) cream
salt & pepper to taste
3 Pillsbury® unroll-and-fill pie crusts (I needed 3 for my large size muffin tins, you may need less)
1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

1. Over medium heat melt butter and add onions, carrots, celery and potato. Sauté until tender.
2. Add chopped turkey or chicken and heat through.
3. Add poultry seasoning and flour and cook for about 2 more minutes.
4. Add stock, cream and frozen corn and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Roll out the pie dough and cut out circles roughly 2 times the size of the diameter of the openings.
7. Press the dough into the muffin compartments along the sides and bottom making sure there are no holes and that it's even.
8. Fill the dough with the chicken mixture even with the top.
9. Cut circles out of the remaining dough slightly larger than the size of the diameter of the muffin openings.
10. Pinch the dough together to seal the top and sides making sure there are no openings.
11. Make a slit in the top of the pie and brush the tops lightly with the beaten egg.
12. Bake at 350˚F for 30* minutes or until golden brown.

* Time varies depending on the size of your pies and your oven.

Delicious, creamy, turkey and veggie filling!

enjoy!

Amanda

Magic Soup

Whenever I'm sick, before I reach for the tissues or cold medication, I go straight to the freezer to see if I have any of this soup left. If I don't, I start to make it ASAP. It's another one of my Gran's recipes, she's truly my biggest cooking inspiration. This soup was always in her fridge once the weather started to cool down. I call it her Magic Soup cause this soup can cure any cold almost over night. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the chicken, maybe it's the veggies, or maybe it's just the idea that it's magic, but whenever I've been sick and had this soup I'm better the next day.

With Thanksgiving this past weekend, I found myself with a rather large turkey carcass and a whole lot of leftover turkey so I seized the opportunity to make my own stock for a big batch of soup.

Stock simmering

Stock is really easy to make. Take your bones and put them in a big pot and cover with water. You need some flavours to add depth to the stock so the next thing to add would be Mirepoix, also known as the Holy Trinity of cooking: carrots, onion and celery. No need to dice or be fussy with this, just a rough couple of chops is good. I was preparing the veggies for my soup at the same time so I also threw in the skins of the onion and carrots and the base of the celery, you're not eating them, they're just for flavour and will be strained out later. I also like to throw in a lemon or two to brighten up the stock. The last thing to add would be your herbs. Salt and pepper along with bay leaves, thyme and anything else you like can go in. Simmer the stock for a couple of hours to get all the flavour out of the bones, veggies and herbs.

Cool down your stock and strain it to removes all the bones, skin, and cooked veggies and then let it sit (you can even do this overnight in the fridge) and skim off the fat that rises to the top. And voilà, your very own homemade stock, perfect for Magic Soup!

Magic Soup

4 c. chopped chicken or turkey, cooked
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 tbsp. butter
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 c. small pasta (I use pasta stars but any will do)
1/2 c. short grain rice
8-10 c. of water or stock
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot and sautée to onion, celery and carrots for a few minutes.
2. Add the chicken and continue to sautée for 2 minutes.
3. Add stock or water.
4. Add the tomatoes (with juice), pasta and rice.
5. Cover and bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to low and allow to simmer until pasta and rice are cooked.

Enjoy right away or freeze in small batches for when you really need it!

*Note, my grandma was never a stickler for a recipe with this soup, she threw in whatever she had, cabbage, beans, macaroni, peas, etc... let your pantry be your guide!

My favourite way to have a bowl of soup!

enjoy,

Amanda