Chicken Tortilla Soup

Now HERE is a definitely favorite from this household.  I make a few pots of this every winter and this week marked pot number one.  Never has anyone expressed anything but love for this recipe.  Don't let the longish list of ingredients scare you off!  The recipe is derived from one I found online and modified to get as close to the one used at my favorite little Mexican place.

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts (or equivalent amount), cooked and cubed
•  1 package taco seasoning, or make your own with this recipe
• 30 oz chicken broth
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 24 oz stewed tomatoes
• 1 jar of your favorite salsa or about 3 cups (pretty much takes care of most of the seasoning!)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1.5 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 chopped zucchini
• 2 diced avocados
• 1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained

Directions

• Coat chicken with taco seasoning and cook chicken in small amount of oil.  When done, cut into cubes.
• Combine cooked chicken with all other ingredients into crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours
• Serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheddar cheese

Sorry no picture!  Ate this bad boy up before I thought about grabbing the camera :(  

Guess I'll have to make it again :)

Spicy Shrimp Pasta

Here's a gem of a recipe that I made for the first time last year and forgot all about until just recently.  It got two thumbs up this evening and hopefully, you'll try it too!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
• 1 lb penne or other tube pasta
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste (in this out, we double it)
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Start water boiling and, when ready, cook pasta as directed by package instructions
• In a skillet, season shrimp with salt and pepper and cook in small amount of oil until opaque and cooked through - as I cooked this most recently, it occurred to me that it would be totally fine to start with pre-cooked shrimp for this recipe.  If you elect to do this, just set the shrimp aside for later.

• Remove cooked shrimp from skillet and set aside.  To skillet, add tomatoes (with juices), garlic, and red pepper flakes.  Cook, uncovered over medium-high heat until juices thicken, about 10-15 minutes.

• Add cooked pasta and shrimp to tomato mixture and continue to cook until heated through.

We served with shredded mozzarella cheese

Candy Cake Balls...

Ok this is something that my mom has started to make and it is so blog worthy!

You will need:

• One box of family size cake mix (we used German Chocolate) - and ingredients to make cake as directed on back of the box
• One thing of frosting (we used German Chocolate frosting)
• One package of white almond bark
• One package of white chocolate chips

1.) Make cake as followed on the box

2.) When cake is done take out in dump in a mixing bowl and mix in frosting a with mixer

3.) Make into teaspoon balls and place in the freezer for a couple hours till cold

4.) Melt almond bark and white chocolate chips together (we melted in small amounts so it did not get hard)

5.) Dip balls in white chocolate and let cool on a cookie sheet or wax paper

ENJOY!

Some other amazing combinations are cheery cake and frosting dipped in dark chocolate...

Stuffed Crust Pizza

My husband and I had been talking about it for a few weeks and tonight, we finally got down to business and took a crack at making a stuffed crust pizza, originally made famous by Pizza Hut maybe 15 years ago.

First, we started off with this whole wheat pizza recipe that I have used with success a few times now.

Next, we took string cheese and cut it in half lengthwise and lined the outside of the rolled out pizza crust with it. We folded the crust over it.  Be sure to seal the crust very well around the cheese.

Not quite sealed all the way but you get the idea

 Then add your pizza sauce and desired toppings.  The pizza shown below is a knock off of our favorite pizza served at a little pizza joint about an hour from here.  The pizza is called "The Roadrunner" and consists of pepperoni, sausage, and green chiles.

Bake as directed by crust instructions and enjoy!

Check out that cheesy crust

It was delicious and we can't wait to do it again!

While I have your attention, I've got a quick product review for you.  Faithful readers will remember that, as is the New Mexico tradition, I frequently cook with green chiles. Something I haven't yet ventured into since moving to New Mexico is trying different...shall we say....abnormal green chile products.  A few examples are green chile ice cream, green chile wine, and green chile vinaigrette.

I'll be honest...some of this stuff freaks me out.  But this evening, with our Roadrunner Pizza, we popped open some green chile beer and gave it a shot.

It was great!  It smelled like green chile and had a vague aftertaste of the heat of a green chile but went down just as smoothly as regular beer.  Do not fear the green chile beer!

BBQ Chicken Burritos

This has been a favorite around the Moore household for as long as we've been married (3 years last week for anyone keeping score at home).

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
• 1/3 cup favorite BBQ sauce 
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 4 tortillas, warmed

Directions

• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat
• Add chicken to oil and cook for 2 minutes
• Add garlic and onions to skillet and continue to cook until the chicken is done all the way through
• To the chicken, onion and garlic, add the corn, beans and BBQ sauce and heat through - this amount of BBQ sauce will not seem like enough at this point but when you add the sour cream in the next step, it starts to take on the consistency that you are looking for.  Don't be tempted to add more (like I have done before!) because it will make it too soupy!
• Mix in sour cream and heat through

• Sprinkle with shredded cheese and allow to heat (without stirring) until cheese melts - about 2 minutes
• Serve in warmed tortillas

Bacon-Wrapped Maple Pork Loin

Ok friends and people I never have meet before this is AMAZING! I did not get a large pork loin b/c I feel like two smaller ones cook better with more flavor and it makes it easy for leftovers! See a review for yourself here.

For brining pork

• 8 cups water
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (Grade B or amber)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
• 2 sprigs fresh sage
• 1 large garlic clove, smashed
• 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
• 1 (4- to 4 1/2-lb) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed (I used two smaller ones b/c I feel that they cook better and taste better, also great for leftovers!)

For roasting pork

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup (Grade B or amber)
• 16 bacon slices (about 1 lb)
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon water

Brine pork:Combine all brining ingredients except pork loin in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan and heat over high heat, stirring, until salt is dissolved. Pour brine into a deep 4- to 5-quart pot; cool to room temperature, uncovered, about 2 hours.

Add pork to brine, making sure it is completely covered by brine, and marinate, covered and chilled, 8 to 24 hours.

Roast pork:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Pat pork dry (discard brine) and remove any strings, then transfer to a roasting pan. Stir together garlic

, sage, and 1 tablespoon syrup in a small bowl and rub all over pork. Lay bacon slices crosswise over loin, overlapping slightly, and tuck ends of bacon underneath loin.

Roast pork until thermometer registers 140°F, about 1 1/4 hours. Stir together 1 tablespoon syrup and vinegar until combined. Brush vinegar mixture over bacon slices and continue to roast pork until thermometer registers 150°F, about 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand in pan 15 minutes. Transfer roast to a cutting board with a lip, reserving juices in pan, and let roast stand, uncovered, while making sauce.

Skim fat from pan juices and discard, then transfer jus to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir together cornstarch and water and whisk into jus. Simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in remaining tablespoon syrup. Serve pork with sauce.

(Please note this picture was a leftover picture but oh so good!)