Chicken Enchilada Using Crepes

The two main spices for this recipe, along with Adam's Reserve and the new Culinary Tonight spices

Steaming flour or corn tortillas makes them fairly easily to handle, but it won’t make your man any happier with the taste of the enchiladas. My husband does not like flour tortillas and complains if I use them, so I make crepes. Crepes are not, at all, difficult to make even if the hype says they are and especially when you realize that they are really just a thin pancake. There are several recipes across the internet that work great and then there is the simple way; use a pancake mix and thin it to the right consistency. I don’t have precise measurements for the crepes I make; its 3-eggs, approximately 1/3 cup of margarine or butter (mine are not weight watchers friendly), milk and flour until the mixture meets my satisfaction. There are, also, egg crepes that require no flour—we’re not fond of this type.

When my children were younger, I would make enough crepe batter to produce 20-beautifully golden super-thin pieces and end up with 10 by the time the meat was finished. There were no mistakes, but there was a lot of sneaking into the kitchen while mom wasn’t looking, to grab a crepe or two. There would be a third or fourth before they got caught, literally, with their hands in the crepe stack.

The only “real secret” to crepes is in the pan, the pan must be hot, hot, hot…not hot enough to burn, but fairly hot so that the mixture begins to cook on contact. I use a ladle to dip the mixture from the bowl and pour into the pan while rolling to coat the bottom evenly. It’s easy-peasy and use a spatula to flip them…tossing crepes into the air when your vent-a-hood is too low, will only cause a disaster that Mr. Clean frowns upon.  

Crepes

Chicken Filling:

Boil and bone 3-leg quarters, or use 3-boneless, skinless breast, shredding the pieces with a fork

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

½ tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cumin or 1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp cilantro (if using fresh cilantro, the measurements will vary)

1/3 cup water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1/3 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

In 10-inch sauté/fry pan, over medium-high heat, add 3 tbsp oil and onions. When onions become transparent, add chicken, nutmeg, cumin, cilantro and water. Allow mixture to begin to bubble, add bouillon cubes. Heat mixture through, reduce heat to low, add cheese and allow cheese to melt. Reduce heat to warm and cover.

White Sauce:

1-8 oz. container sour cream or 1-8 oz. cream cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup milk

½ cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

½ tsp paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

In 2-quart sauce pan, over medium-heat, add sour cream, lemon juice, and milk. Allow mixture to heat through, but do not burn. Reduce heat and add cheese, paprika, salt, and pepper. When using cream cheese, it is necessary to add a little more milk to make it a creamy consistency—similar to gravy. Do not forget the lemon juice, as it helps to break down the sour cream or the cream cheese.

Note: This recipe will feed 4 easily. To stretch the mixture, it’s always a great recipe to use those extra peppers from the garden. For a spicier sauce, use ¼ tsp cayenne pepper. Using Adam’s Diced Onions will alleviate some of the time spent on prep. There is no oven baking to melt the cheese, all portions of the recipe are made on the stove top. While making the crepes, keep your eyes peeled for marauding children with big eyes and little sticky fingers.

Adam’s Featured Spice: Cinnamon

Just let me go “Rachel Ray” for a moment and say, “Yummo!” Cinnamon, whether used as a savory or sweet spice, is one of my favorites. Our spice cabinet would be left-lacking, if cinnamon was not present. Many times, when a recipe request cumin, I will substitute cinnamon…yes, they’re different in taste and smell, but cinnamon is often a better choice. Cumin can and has numbed a few tongues in its day. My youngest daughter loves cumin and has a penchant for using a tad, or a tablespoon, too much of the spice and it does, literally, cause a numbness—at least that has been my experience. Use cumin with the knowledge that it has a creeping spice effect and it’s not always a pleasant one.

We use cinnamon in sauces, bar-b-q, and sometimes, in soups. I keep cinnamon mixed with sugar in my spice cabinet to make cinnamon toast on those mornings that a light breakfast seems appropriate. If you choose to keep a shaker-full in your cabinet, rather than buy the pre-mixed, it’s best to mark what’s in it, because it does look suspiciously like pepper. Ours is mixed of equal-parts cinnamon and sugar, but could be mixed to accommodate less cinnamon and more sugar, or more cinnamon and less sugar. It is, also, excellent in the chicken mixture for Chicken Enchiladas—I make these with crepes, as my husband is not fond of the flour tortilla and they’re easier to roll.

On the Adam's website, there are pure spices and spice blends, along with pricing and the ability to shop online. The newest in the Adam’s lineup is the Culinary Tonight (gourmet flavors); an extremely—in that, "I can’t wait to try way"—interesting assortment. I do recommend buying the spices you use, frequently, in the larger quantities, as we often buy the diced onions to use in a quick-fix meal and its back on the list, to purchase, again. We buy the large size and it’s such an easy ingredient to grab when you’re in a hurry that it can be found on our grocery list 5 to 7 times a year. Adam’s Diced Onions are less irritating to the digest system than whole-fresh onions. Please check out the websites and see the varieties you might want to purchase.

History of Cinnamon

Chicken Ala King

I don’t keep a scale in my kitchen and prefer no scales in the house...it’s personal. So it’s impossible for me to give you the exact weight on anything unless it’s marked on the package. Suffice to say, I use two handfuls, approximately half the package of Fettuccini noodles, while preparing this dish. The sauce will make enough for a family of 4, but you will need to use the whole package of noodles (7-oz) for that serving.

A neat trick I learned years ago watching the “The Frugal Gourmet” was to allow the sauté/fry pan to heat thoroughly before adding oil, he always repeated “hot pot, cold oil, food won’t stick,” and he was right. Another neat trick is to use wine in foods to help clean the pot and to reclaim the tasty bits that stick, such as flour. Worcestershire can be used in-place of the wine; however, the tastes are considerably different.

Making Roux: Used to thicken sauces.

Sprinkle the flour over the meat and vegetables and stir. It will begin to clump, but not to worry. Be careful not to burn the flour.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

3-medium chicken breast cut into 1-inch squares

½ small yellow onion ( for a crunch, use French’s French Fried Onion Rings)

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp white wine (omit if children are eating this meal)

1-4oz. jar Pimentos

1 tsp Nutmeg

½ tsp Cumin

1 tsp garlic

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 cup milk

3 chicken bouillon cubes

3 slices Provolone cheese or 1/3 cup shredded Mozzarella

½ pkg fettuccini noodles (approx. 3.5-oz)

1 tbsp margarine or butter

¼ tsp salt

Chicken Ala King Sauce

In an 8-oz sauté/fry pan, over medium heat, add oil and allow it to come up to temperature. Add diced chicken and onions (if using French’s onions do not add until end), allowing chicken to cook through and onions to become transparent. Reduce heat to medium and sprinkle with flour, stirring to coat all ingredients. Add white wine; using wooden spoon scrape pan thoroughly to regain lost bits. Add pimentos, nutmeg, cumin, and garlic, stirring constantly. Add cream of mushroom soup, milk, and bouillon cubes, stirring as it thickens; reduce heat to low. When all ingredients have thickened, add 3 slices of provolone cheese (evenly spaced in the pan) or shredded mozzarella evenly sprinkled over mixture, allow cheese to completely melt. While hot serve over fettuccini noodles

Noodles:

Fill 3-quart pot to within an 1 & ½ -inch of rim, add margarine or butter, and salt; allow to come to rolling boil, drop in noodles and cook according to package instructions; approximately 10 to 12-minutes.

My husband will not eat “al dente” pasta, so our noodles are thoroughly cooked. The choice is yours. I haven’t found this dish to be a leftover-friendly, as it rarely reheats well.

Note: The onions, nutmeg, pimentos, bouillon, wine, and cheese, may be omitted from this recipe and you will have a proper chicken ala king, although it will be somewhat bland. The cheese in this dish is a personal preference, with provolone the preferred taste but mozzarella is a good substitute. You might buy Chinese egg noodles and not be obligated to cook fettuccini. Mushrooms, where available and fresh, might be added for that extra earthy taste, and fresh red bell peppers can be substituted for the pimentos. When adding mushrooms, it is unnecessary to add the cream of mushroom soup. The roux mix might be increased to accommodate liquid in the sauce. Bone-in chicken pieces work as well as boneless breast, but it will require skinning, boiling, and removing chicken from the bone, and who needs all that?

Next up: Chicken Enchiladas using Crepes

Easy Chicken Marinade

Simple and Delicious:

My husband, the gadget lover, decided to purchase a NuWave oven…hm, never used one and really didn’t have much faith that it would do what was advertised, but okaaay. It uses convection, conduction, and infrared to cook the food and it does it all on 110-volts, not bad. The electric company is going to be disappointed over this one.

I avoid using our microwave because it cooks the life out of things, not that food is alive when you put it in the thing just that micro-waves seem to alter the natural state of foods, while the NuWave maintains the flavor, the juices, and the shape of foods without making edges hard. It turned out to be a very good purchase and I love it, however, it required me to think of dishes in a different way.

You don’t have to own a NuWave to cook the chicken but I thought you might like to hear a real person guarantee the usefulness of the little alien-looking appliance.

The marinade takes 4-ingredients and 30-minutes in the refrigerator to create the appropriate taste. 

Spices:

1 to ½ tbsp of garlic

2 tbsp of brisket rub

Liquids:

½ c Woody’s Cooking sauce (Hunts or any brand bar-b-q sauce can be substituted)

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

In a plastic Ziploc bag, add the spices to the sauces. Close bag and squeeze gently to mix. Add 4-boneless, skinless chicken breast to bag, knead the bag gently to coat pieces thoroughly, store in the refrigerator for 30-minutes.

Cooking:

In conventional oven, preheated to 350-degrees, place chicken on foil-covered baking pan and cook 12 to 15-minutes per side. In NuWave oven, spray rack with non-stick cooking spray and cook (setting 10—the preferred setting on the oven) 8-minutes per side. It’s a simple and fairly quick way to make a great bar-b-q in a short time with few spices.

Woody’s Cooking Sauce is a fairly savory sauce while other bar-b-q sauces tend to be sweet. Adding a small amount of onion salt, regular salt, or vinegar, will take some of the sweetness out. If you prefer your bar-b-q sauce to be sweet, then adding 2-tbsp of brown sugar, molasses (makes the marinade stick), or honey in equal proportions, will make Woody’s sauce less savory. With Worcestershire, you always want to watch the amount of salt you add because it has a salty flavor.

If you want it feisty and savory, adding 1 to 2 tsp of paprika and/or cumin (for braver heat-loving souls, cayenne is good) will give it extra flavor. Spices truly are the best way to dress up any bland or tired ingredient.

Side dishes for the chicken in our home are corn-on-the-cob and baked potatoes. Unfortunately, the only way to quickly cook a baked potato is in the microwave. Our NuWave can manage it in 47-minutes depending on the size of the potato. We start the potatoes when we put the chicken in the marinade, so that the meal gets done, all in the same time frame. I still use my stove top and my deep fryer for most vegetables, even old cooks have a new trick or two to learn with new-fangled gadgets.

Note: Due to the garlic and the brisket rub, this is not a good recipe for date nights unless your man/woman turns out to be Dracula.

Adam’s Extract on the internet: Company Page and Facebook

Spices, the Base of Any Great Dish

There are two ways to be sure that the spices you’re using will taste well together; 1—you can smell them and know what their taste will be, or 2—there are spice charts available in many different places—online and in stores—that will help you decide which spices to use while cooking your meal. Fortunately, I can smell the spices and know the taste. You can smell them and dip your finger into them for a better idea. Some spices have virtually no smell or lack a strong smell—ginger is one that comes to mind. The point is to make sure your spices will taste well together and enhance the foods they’re added to for flavor.

We have a spice cabinet and a spice rack. My husband and his stainless fetish, added the rack to our spice collection…and we do have duplicates, having forgotten whether or not we have a spice we need, we often buy one only to get home and discover we already had that particular spice.

The list of Spices:

Lemon Pepper Seasoning—used mostly with chicken

Chili Powder—a must-have for spice lovers

Ground Cumin—if you love Texmex, or Mexican dishes, it’s a must-have

Ground Nutmeg—great in meatballs or cookies

Cinnamon—multiple uses for this little spice with the big taste

Garlic Powder—if you use onions, you must have garlic

Paprika—what meatloaf or spaghetti could be complete without this guy

Brisket Rub—should have a warning for heat but great in bar-b-q or most beef dishes

Cayenne Pepper—don’t be afraid but don’t over use

Coriander—its leaves are used in the form of Cilantro, another great spice to keep around

Italian Seasoning—yummy in pastas and meatballs

Basil—soups just aren’t soups without this bad boy, the leaf form makes many delicious dishes, as well

Bay Leaves—we keep two kinds; whole leaf and crushed

Crushed Mint—good in deserts and mixed drinks

Caraway Seeds—my husband hates this one and it should—stress on should—be used sparingly because of a very strong flavor

Chives—unless used in its natural form, this spice has a minimal flavor

Dill Weed—good for canning pickles, and in some dishes, but user beware it has a strong flavor, as well

Celery Salt—use sparingly, as it has a very “salty” flavor

Thyme—good in spaghetti

Marjoram—sometimes used in baking

Mustard Seed—best if ground

Parsley—not a great deal of flavor but will substitute for milder versions of dishes using Cilantro

Oregano—a must-have for Italian cooks

Pizza Seasoning—can be substituted for Italian Seasoning, the taste is very similar

Rosemary—in spice form, not terribly over-powering, fresh Rosemary should be used sparingly

Buy your spices as needed, because they are expensive and do have a "shelf-life."

This is the small list of spices that we use frequently and the must-have spices, used, almost daily or for the meals we eat more frequently. One item that I use, that is truly not a spice, but should be kept in the cabinet is Chicken Bullion. Chicken or Beef Bullion can be used instead of broth and it keeps much longer in the cabinet. Broth tends to ruin, quickly, in most refrigerators.

Also kept in our cabinets, by the handfuls, are canned Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, and Tomato Paste, all of which have multiple uses. Other items that all cooks should have available to them are: spaghetti noodles, elbow macaroni, dried beans, brown sugar, powdered sugar, flour, corn meal, white sugar, and syrup, molasses, or honey. Larger families often eat spaghetti, lasagna, and so forth, because they are cheaper to make and make more servings. Don’t be ashamed to eat spaghetti, it kept a large family of 7 alive for a good many years. 

Note: We use very few canned vegetables and soups because the additives, added to make them keep longer, are suspected of causing cancer. (Cancer Centers of America)

Most “must-haves” are common in homes across America and most cooks know what they are and how their used. However, when used in the right combination, they too, can twist up Betty.

Twisted Betty’s Cook Book

In the day—dinosaurs, frozen dinners in foil, and OMG, no microwave ovens—girls, generally, learned to cook watching and helping their moms prepare dinner. That was not the way I learned to cook because my mom was a feminist—of sorts—before feminism was made cool by women seeking attention for being women. Feminist or not, everyone should know how to prepare a meal; male or female, doesn’t matter. However, all that aside, at the tender and probably inappropriate age of 11, my mom handed me the Betty Crocker Cook Book and said, “Knock yourself out kid!”

To my dad’s relief, I didn’t burn down the house and I did learn to cook. Forty-three-years later, I not only cook, my dinners have spices, pizzazz, and taste nothing like the bland and somewhat difficult foods in the Crocker Cook Book. I’ve developed techniques for different things that once seemed impossible and have used old standard for those things that anyone “can do” if they have the “want-to” do them.

If you need “step-by-step” instructions, it‘s best to stick to Betty’s book, because I won’t go there. But anyone with the basics can make the meals that I make for my family with ease. Thinking outside the lines is the basis for making a meal that you and your family can enjoy, and those special times can be spent at home instead of a restaurant.

So let’s twist Betty up!!

I will be posting a recommended spice list and you're welcome to send a recipe that you would like altered to my email inbox.

Send with "recipe" in the subject line. Tell me what you've found that you don't like about it and I will zest it with zing to make it more flavorful for your family. Add your name--if you would like--and a little about where the recipe came from or a family tale about it, and your name will appear along side your story and what we did to make it a feast or nice repast for your family.