Chicken Tortilla Cassarole

Sorry for the lag posting. Busy as school starts. But without further ado, Chicken Tortilla Cassarole. (From Cover and Bake)

You'll need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and diced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce and 2 tsp sauce (canned)
• 2 cans (15.5 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• ~2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 2 lbs chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 tbsp line juice
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 18 corn tortillas
• 12 oz shredded cheese (mexican variety or chedder and jack cheeses blended)

To do:

• Preheat oven to 300
• Heat oil in a Dutch oven until shimmering
• Add onion, bell pepper, cumin, chili powder and salt. Stir until soft, about 10 minutes
• Add Garlic and cook about a minute, until fragrent
• Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about another minute
• Whisk in broth and bring to simmer
  
• Add chipotle, sauce, beans, and tomatoes
• Simmer for about 5 minutes
• Add chicken, cook until no longer pink, about another 4-5 minutes
• Stir in cilantro and lime juice
• Spray both sides of the tortillas with cooking spray
• Lay them on baking sheets and heat in oven for 5 minutes
• Remove tortillas from oven and turn oven to 450
• Spread 1/3 of the chicken mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 pan
• Layer 6 tortillas over the chicken mixture
• Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of cheese over the tortillas
• Repeat to make a second layer
• Spread remaining chicken mixture in the dish
• Cut remaining tortillas into quarters and spread over the top
• Sprinkle remaining cheese
• Back for 15 minutes
• Let cool for 10 minutes before serving

Using 2% cheese, it's about 8 points/serving in WW. Makes 8 servings.

Marinara or What are you doing with all those tomatoes?

I've been working on figuring out how to make a marinara sauce from scratch. I've been running into problems, mostly that the sauce is either too light in flavor or not spiced correctly, so I'll see if I can elicit some comment and see what others might suggest. Here's what I've done so far:

Stuff:

• ~8 tomatoes (this last attempt I've mixed half roma, half "other")
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 pound ground bison (or beef)
• 1/4-1/2 cup wine
  

 To do:

• Heat oil until shimmering and slightly smoking
• Add onion and garlic, saute until translucent
• Add meat and brown
• Add remaining ingredients
• Bring to a simmer
• Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for an hour or so

This last time I added about 2 tsp tomato paste to strength the tomato flavor. I thin I'm skimping on the spices, perhaps, or using the wrong ones. Suggestions?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is based on the standard Toll House cookie recipe with some alterations to make them a bit more healthy. (The whole wheat flour makes them a bit more filling and cutting the butter down helps with the fat.)

You'll need:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips

And how to do it:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Mix both flours, baking soda and salt in a small bowl
• In a large bowl, beat butter, applesauce, sugars, and vanilla until smooth
• Add one egg at a time, beating each into it the sugar and butter mixture
• Add the flour a little at a time into the butter mixture
• Fold the chocolate chips into the batter
• Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets covered in parchment paper
• Bake for 7-8 minutes
• Cool on wire racks covered in waxed paper

This should make somewhere around 4 dozen cookies or so.

Beef Stroganoff

This on is based off of a new cook book I've gotten: Cover and Bake. It's been awesome, making some very nice meals based off of traditional casseroles and slow-cooker recipes.

You'll need:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 pound sirloin, cut into 1/2" squares
• 10 oz mushrooms, quartered
  
• 1 medium onion, diced
  
• 1 tsp canned tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 6 oz egg noodles(I used whole wheat, egg whites only ones)
  
• 1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt (Or, if you want a non-light version, sour cream)

To do:

• Put 1 oz of oil in a skillet (12") and heat on medium high heat until just smoking.
• Saute mushrooms until golden brown on the edges, about 8 or so minutes. Place in a bowl.
• Put 1 oz of oil in the skillet and keep on medium high heat.
• When just smoking, add beef. Let it cook without stirring until the bottom is well browned. Then stir some to brown the rest of it. Add to the bowl of mushrooms.
• Add remaining oil to skillet. Reduce to medium heat. When it starts to shimmer, add onion and saute until tender.
• Add tomato paste, sugar, and flour and mix. Add the broth and wine. Bring to a simmer. Add meat and mushrooms (and any juices in the bowl). Cover, reduce to low heat and simmer until the meat is tender, about 30 minutes.
• Add the noodles, keep covered, and simmer until noodles are tender, 10-15 minutes.
• Remove 1/2 cup of the sauce and mix it with the yogurt. Then pour that mixture into the skillet and stir well. Serve.

This version is not as heavy as some Stroganoff I've made. Still, very filling. Makes about 4 services. (WW points: 8 with yogurt and whole-wheat pasta.)

English Muffins

I like English muffins but I don't like how hard it is to find ones that don't have high fructose corn syrup or other highly processed food-like-substances in them. Thus, I'm trying my hand at making some. Here's the last batch I tried, based loosely on a recipe from CookingBread.com:

You'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups luke warm water
• 2 cups whole wheat flour, separated
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour, separated
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 egg whites
• cornmeal

And how to put it together:

• In a large bowl, mix the water, yeast, baking soda, and 1 cup of each type of flour. Mix until smooth.
• In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. (To do this, use a hand mixer or standup mixer on high speed. Whip them until when you stop the blades and pull them out of the egg whites the peaks made don't droop.)
• Fold the whites into the batter. This was a bit weird and it may look like they're not blending. They will, just keep folding them in.
• Add remaining flour in 1/4 cup at a time, adding the salt in after the first 1/4 cup.
  
• Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed for 6-10 minutes, until elastic and smooth.
• Lightly oil a clean bowl and place dough in it. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise 1 hour
• Punch the dough down and place on a floured surface
• Roll the dough out to a 1/2" thickness and cut with cookie or biscuit cutter into 3" rounds
• Sprinkle cornmeal over waxed paper and place rounds on the meal. Sprinkle a bit more over the tops. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise 45 minutes
• After the second rise, heat griddle to 350. Lightly oil it if it's not non-stick.
• Place the muffins on the griddle. Cook each side for 4 minutes. Repeat. (So cook side A for 4 minutes, flip, cook side B for 4 minutes, flip, cook side A for 4 minutes, flip, cook side B for 4 minutes.)
• Let cool on wire rack

WW points: 1/muffin. Makes ~2 dozen

Thai Night

Tonight was Curried Zucchini Soup and Thai Mango Chicken. (We had a 1/2 mango or so that needed used and a 1/2 can of coconut milk that similarly was getting old.)

The soup. You'll need:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 onion peeled and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 pound zucchini, rinsed, ends trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth, separated
  
• 2 cups coconut milk (we use light)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder

And the to do part:

• Heat oil in in a medium sauce pan over medium heat
• When it just begins to shimmer and smoke, add onions and garlic. Saute until soft, about 8 minutes.
• Add the zucchini and 1 cup of the broth. Simmer until zucchini is soft, about 10 minutes.
• Blender. You can do this by transferring the contents to a standard blender, or my preferred method of using an immersion blender right in the pot. Blend until smooth. When done, return it to the pan, if it left it.
• Stir in remaining broth, coconut milk, and curry powder. Stir until hot.

This should make about 4 servings. (And about 3 points a serving if you're doing Weight Watchers.)

Now for the main course. You'll need:

• 1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded, and chopped
  
• 1 ripe apple, peeled, cored, and chopped*
• 1 tablespoon roasted red chili paste
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• juice of 1/2 a lime (about a tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 "thumb" ginger (I think this means a thumb sized hunk, at least, that's what I used), grated
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 medium onion, sliced into sticks (or use 1 small yellow and 1 small red onion)
  
• 1 bell pepper, pick your favorite color, sliced into sticks
• 1/2 pound or so green beans, cleaned, snapped
• 1 handful of nuts, I used peanuts
• 4 servings of rice or rice noodles, you pick
  

*Or use 2 mangos

And what to do:

• Put the mango, apple, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, ginger, and garlic in a food processor and make into a fine mess of a puree. Taste it to make sure it's got the right mix of sweet, salt and spice.
• Heat oil in a saute pan or wok until it shimmers and just starts to smoke
• Toss onions and chicken into the pan and stir. Cook until the chicken is browned and the onions are translucent.
• Add the sauce, peppers, and green beans. Mix well. Cover and cook until green beans are done, stirring occasionally.
• Serve over the chosen starch

For the Weight Watchery types, this was 5 points for the chicken and veggies, add the points for your chosen starch.

Pizza

Making pizza from scratch does take a bit of time and effort, but the outcome is well worth it. This dough doesn't require rising time, thankfully.

Start with the sauce:

You'll need:

• ~8 Roma tomatoes
• ~2 cloves garlic, minced or run through a garlic press
• ~2 tsp olive oil
• ~1/4 cup white wine
• ~1 tsp fresh thyme

• Chop 4 of the tomatoes and puree them with your favorite pureeing tool. I use an immersion blender.
  
• Chop the remaining tomatoes into the puree
• Put the tomatoes in a sauce pan on medium heat
• Add all other ingredients
• Simmer until reduced (mine took 20-30 minutes). The more you simmer, the thicker the sauce will be.
  

Makes enough for one medium-ish pizza, depending on how much sauce you like.

For the dough:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, separated
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 Tbps olive oil
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 packet yeast (1 tsp or so)
• 1 tsp salt

• Preheat oven to 425
• Mix 1/2 cup of the whole wheat flour and all the all purpose flour with the salt and yeast.
• Mix in the olive oil and water to make a wet dough
• Add the remaining 1/4 cup of wheat flour
• Kneed on a flour surface for ~5-10 minutes, until well mixed
• Let rest 10 minutes

Now the directions diverge, depending on if you want normal pizza or a deep dish.

For normal pizza:

• Roll into one 12" or so pizza round
• Place on your favorite pizza baking utility (I'd recommend a pizza stone)
• Bake for 5-10 minutes at ~425
• Remove from oven and add sauce, cheese (~1c shredded cheese) and other toppings
• Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly

For deep dish

• Roll into a rectangle to fit into a 8x10" pan*
• Place in the pan of the size you want
• Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for 60-90 minutes
• Bake at 425 for 5-10 minutes
• Remove from oven and add sauce, cheese and toppings
• Bake another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly

*If you want to make a larger pizza, us a 9"x13" pan and double the dough recipe. (And likely the sauce recipe as well.)