King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Another chicken recipe since I can never have enough!

Ingredients

• 1 (4 1/2- to 5-lb. ) whole chicken 
• 2 celery ribs, cut into 3 pieces each
• 2 carrots, cut into 3 pieces each 
• 2 1/2 to 3 tsp. salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• 1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup
• 2 (10-oz.) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Mexican-style chili powder*
• 3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 12 (6-inch) fajita-size corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch strips

Preparation

If applicable, remove giblets from chicken, and reserve for another use. Rinse chicken.

Place chicken, celery, carrots, and salt in a large Dutch oven with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 50 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is done. Remove from heat. Remove chicken from broth; cool 30 minutes. Remove and reserve 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Strain any remaining cooking liquid, and reserve for another use.

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 6 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add bell pepper and garlic, and sauté 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in reserved 3/4 cup cooking liquid, cream of mushroom soup, and next 5 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes.

Skin and bone chicken; shred meat into bite-size pieces. Layer half of chicken in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top with half of soup mixture and 1 cup Cheddar cheese. Cover with half of corn tortilla strips. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining 1 cup cheese.

Bake at 350° for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Notes from Southern Living:

*1 tsp. chili powder and 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper may be substituted for Mexican-style chili powder.

Lightened King Ranch Chicken Casserole: Reduce butter to 1 Tbsp. Substitute reduced-fat cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup for regular and 2% reduced-fat cheese for regular. Prepare recipe as directed through Step 4.

Bake, covered, at 350° for 50 minutes; uncover and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Cracker Barrel 2% Milk Natural Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

Quick-and-Easy King Ranch Chicken Casserole: Substitute 1 (2-lb.) skinned, boned, and shredded deli-roasted chicken for whole chicken, 3 cups coarsely crumbled lime-flavored white corn tortilla chips for corn tortillas, and 3/4 cup chicken broth for cooking liquid. Omit celery, carrots, and salt. Prepare recipe as directed, beginning with Step 3.


Source: Southern Living
FEBRUARY 2008

French Breakfast Puffs

These delicious looking muffins are a great "on the go breakfast"  item.

I just watched this episode of The Pioneer Woman and they look so easy to make . . . my kind of breakfast for those busy mornings!

Recipe courtesy Ree Drummond
The Food Network
SHOW: The Pioneer Woman
EPISODE: Feeding Cows, Feeding Cowboys


Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk

Coating:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Lightly grease 12 muffin cups. 

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside. 

In a separate large bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the eggs and mix again. Alternate adding one-third of the flour mixture and one-third of the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. 

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. 

Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and set aside. 

To make the coating, melt the butter in a bowl or glass pan. In a separate container, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Dip the warm muffins in the butter, coating thoroughly. Then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Helpful Hint: 

After cooling completely, puffs can be frozen in plastic bags and reheated later. 

Lemon Blueberry Cake

When you are short on time, Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade recipes are the best!  I just watched this episode on the Food Network and she put this gorgeous cake together really fast.

Gorgeous cake . . . and I can almost taste the wonderful lemon flavors.

Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee
The Food Network
SHOW: Semi-Homemade Cooking
EPISODE: Grilling on the Mississippi


Ingredients

• 2 (8-inch) round store-bought (bakery) yellow or white cake layers
• 1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract, divided
• 2 (12-ounce) cans cream cheese flavored frosting
• Fresh mint sprigs
• Fresh blueberries
• Lemon slices, quartered
  
  

Directions

Use a knife to slice cake layers in half horizontally. 

Use a pastry brush to brush each layer with lemonade concentrate; set aside. 

Stir 1 teaspoon of lemon extract into each can of frosting; set aside. 

To assemble cake: frost and stack the cake layers on top of each other.

Decorate cake with clusters of mint sprigs, blueberries, and quartered lemon slices. 

Nutella Bomboloni

These delicious little donuts remind me so much of a pastry my Nana used to make.  The photo takes me back to a special place and time where I can smell the donuts and feel the burn on my tongue since I could not wait for them to cool off!

This recipe comes from a new discovery that I love called the Italy Food Page on Facebook.  Their link follows the recipe.

Ingredients 

• 2 jars Nutella 
• 1 lb Ricotta 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 4 teaspoons baking powder 
• 2 cups all purpose flour 
• 4 eggs 
• 2 quarts Canola oil 
• granulated sugar 

To make donuts: In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 jar Nutella, ricotta, salt, vanilla, baking powder, flour and eggs. Mix until smooth to form dough. 

Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough into hot oil at 375° and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. 

Remove donuts from hot oil, drain on paper towels for a moment, roll in granulated sugar, and fill with Nutella. 

Serve immediately!

Source:  Italy Food Page