Mom's Cheesy Potatoes

I was driving to work the other day, and the temperature was 16.  SIXTEEN.  Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I then had to check the weather online.  With the wind chill, the temperature felt like 2.  TWO!!

This kind of weather requires cozy food.  Enter Mom's Cheesy Potatoes.

I'll admit, this isn't the classiest dish I've made, and it has one or two minimally processed ingredients.  But nothin' beats Mom's Cheesy Potatoes when you need to warm up your middle.

Mom's Cheesy Potatoes
Serves: My brother and one of his friends or 8 other people

1 can cream of chicken soup
16 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper
32 ounce bag of frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick butter, melted
2 cups Grape Nuts Flakes cereal*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, whisk together soup, sour cream, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir in potatoes and cheese.  Pour mixture into the baking dish.

In a separate bowl, stir together butter and Grape Nuts Flakes.  Spread on top of the potatoes.

Bake the cheesy potatoes for one hour.  If the topping is getting too brown, cover with foil and continue baking.

*Make sure you get Grape Nuts FLAKES and not regular Grape Nuts.  Using cereal on top might sound odd, but it's reeeeeaaallly good.  My mom would substitute Wheaties, my dad's favorite breakfast cereal, in a pinch, though.

Chicken Enchiladas with Queso Fresco

I have to confess something.

Although this is the second week of the year, I'm already cheating on my resolution to use a new ingredient every week.  Today's ingredient is from last week.  If I average one new ingredient a week, don't you think that's good enough?

My second new ingredient was queso fresco.  I love cheese, so this was right up my alley.  This soft cheese crumbles like feta and, actually, tastes a bit like mild feta.  I wasn't sure how it would melt, but it melted pretty well on top of my enchiladas.  I am definitely going to use it again.

Have you ever used queso fresco?  If so, I'd love to hear how.

Chicken Enchiladas
Serves: 6

1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in very large pieces
4 cups enchilada sauce
2 cups crumbled queso fresco cheese*, divided
4 ounce can chopped green chiles
1/2 cup cilantro, minced
Salt and pepper
12 soft corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Pour enchilada sauce into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add chicken.  Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred it with two forks.  (Alternatively, cut it into bite-sized pieces.)  In a medium-sized bowl, combine chicken, 1 cup queso fresco cheese, 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce you cooked the chicken in, chiles, and cilantro.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Wrap the tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until tortillas are pliable.

Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on each tortilla and roll them up tightly.  Place the rolled tortillas, seam-side down, in a 9x13 baking dish, and pour 1 cup enchilada sauce over top.  Sprinkle with queso fresco.  Cover dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove foil and bake 5 minutes longer, until cheese is melted .  Serve with remaining enchilada sauce.  

*Can't find queso fresco?  Not attempting to use a new ingredient every week?  Substitute your favorite cheese and let me know how it works.

Jicama Slaw

As I mentioned, I wanted to have a kitchen resolution for 2011.  Well, "resolution" sounds too strong.  Let's call it a kitchen goal.  Anyway, after much soul-searching, my 2011 kitchen goal is to use a new ingredient every week.

It's only a few days into January, but so far, I'm sticking with it.  Check back in March, and I might be telling a different story.

My first new ingredient was a fun one.  Jicama.  Here are my observations about it:

1. The "j" is pronounced like an "h".  And, yes, I did pronounce it "jick-ahhhh-ma" the first several times.  My Buffalo accent made it sound even more unpleasant.  (Hang head in shame...)
2. It is crunchy!  And refreshing!  And in a strange way, a little bit sweet.
3. Verdict: I like jicama.

Jicama Slaw

Serves: 6

1 pound jicama, peeled and shredded in the food processor (or julienned if your feeling classy and/or patient)

1 pound carrots, peeled and shredded

1/2 small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

3-4 tablespoons lime juice

Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, and toss gently to combine.  Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to several hours.  

Pot of gold?

Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen, the food that I'm slicing/dicing/sauteing/frying/whatever reminds me of something else.

I was cutting up this onion the other day, and all I could think of was the double rainbow video on YouTube.  I wonder if the husband finds hot dinner as inspiring as that?

This picture is also a sneak peak at tomorrow's recipe.  Come back to find out what's at the end of this double rainbow.

Duly Noted by Lady of the House

I used to say I didn't keep a journal for fear of someone reading it and discovering what a crazy person I am. Then I got pregnant, and found great comfort in writing TO this unborn someone rather than the typical stream of conscious I thought was meant to fill the pages of a diary. Yes, I'm still crazy, but I'm so glad I've got a running log of my pregnancy. It's something I've kept up, and because my focus is in recording things for my daughter, I find a huge sense of freedom in getting things down on the page.

I think the New Year is a great time to start this practice of documenting your life. You can make it what you want, maybe just a few pages every week or so. I've noticed that the smallest memory takes on significance when it's transferred to the written word. Pages written a month ago already seem to have a patina that my faulty memory will never match.

A journal is also a terrific household tool. No one touched the gazpacho you slaved over for your friend's baby shower? Write that down! You planted your bulbs on what date last year? You gave Aunt Greta a lovely pair of mittens for her birthday? Note it, and you'll not only have an interesting little tale of a year, but a really useful reference for all occasions.

Call me sentimental, but I think anything bound and full of handwriting becomes a treasure. Here are some charming journals I've spotted. You know me, I always have a website or two up my sleeve.

-The One Line a Day journal by Chronicle Books for someone who likes to keep things short, sweet and poignant.

-Another Day Cloudy Memory Notebook for someone who just needs a place to keep her thoughts in a no-rules manner.

-Buttery Leather and Posh journals by Graphic Image for someone that may as well pen a novel, like our fearless leader, Erin the great.

-Pocket Pads by Random House for someone that jots down funny things she sees on the bus, her grocery list, and what she's packing for Mexico.

Be fabulous, and put it in writing!

xoxo

Lady of the House

Amish Friendship Bread--Part II

Yesterday, I promised the recipe for Amish Friendship Bread.  Today, I deliver.

If you have received a bag of starter from a friend, skip the first portion of the recipe below (for the starter) and skip straight to "Amish Friendship Bread."

Amish Friendship Bread Starter
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water.  Let it stand for 10 minutes.  In a large glass, plastic, or ceramic bowl, thoroughly combine flour and sugar.  Mix thoroughly so it doesn't get lumpy when you add the milk.  Very slowly stir in the milk and dissolved yeast mixture.  Cover loosely, and let it stand at room temperature until the mixture bubbles.  Consider this day 1 of the 10-day bread cycle.

Amish Friendship Bread
Important Note: Don't use metal spoons or bowls.  Don't refrigerate.  If air gets into the bag, let it out.  It is normal for the batter to rise, ferment, and bubble.

Day 1: Do nothing.  This is the day you receive (or create) the yeast starter.
Day 2: Mush the bag.  (Some say "mash" the bag, but doesn't "mush" sound like much more fun?)
Day 3: Mush the bag.
Day 4: Mush the bag.
Day 5: Mush the bag.
Day 6: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk to the bag.  Mush it all together.
Day 7: Mush the bag.
Day 8: Mush the bag.
Day 9: Mush the bag.
Day 10: Follow the instructions below:

Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl.  Add 1.5 cups flour, 1.5 cups sugar, and 1.5 cups milk.  Stir to combine (using a non-metal spoon).

Write the date on four gallon-size Ziploc bags.  Measure one cup of batter into each bag.  Keep one bag for yourself and give the other three bags to friends along with a copy of the recipe.  (Please note: according my my (ridiculously extensive) reading on the subject as well as a hot tip from my friend Kathi, you CAN freeze the starter if you don't want to keep baking bread every 10 days.  Just begin the cycle where you left off once the starter has thawed.)  You should have a little over a cup of batter left in your bowl at this point.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease two loaf pans.

In a separate small bowl, combine the following:
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

Use half of the cinnamon sugar to dust the greased pans.

To the remaining starter batter in your bowl, add:
3 eggs
1 cup oil (or 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients:
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 large box OR 2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Evenly divide batter between the greased pans.  Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the top of the batter.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.  Cool until the bread loosens from the sides of the pan (about ten minutes), and remove from the pan.  Serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until it's gone.

Amish Friendship Bread--Part I

My friend, Jennifer, brought Amish friendship bread to work the other day.  Although I'd never heard of this cake-y concoction, I sliced myself a hefty piece and scarfed it down between conference calls.

Oh. Em. Gee.

I like to think of myself as a coffee cake connoisseur of sorts.  And this Amish Friendship Bread was the Best. Coffee Cake. Ever.  Every time I needed to pass Jennifer's desk, I had to look away from the blinding, sugary light emanating from the bread, plug my nose to avoid inhaling it's gloriousness, and RUN.  Even still, by the end of the day, I had eaten so much Friendship Bread, I had total gut rot.

But I still wanted more.

So, I took home one of the bags of bread "starter" that Jennifer had brought in.

"What in tarnation is starter?"  You're probably asking yourself.  Well, I'll let you in on the secret of Amish Friendship Bread.

Although it appears to be a regular, old quick bread, Amish Friendship Bread is nothing of the sort.  Wikipedia describes it as the chain letter of cooking because your bread begins with a flavor-enhancing yeast starter that you receive from a friend.  In order to keep the starter alive, you need to feed it.  Like a pet.  Or a small child.  Of which I have neither.  So the analogy makes sense to me.

After caring for the starter for 10 days, you make the best bread you'll ever taste, and you also have more starter...enough to share with friends!  Then your friends make the best bread they'll ever taste and continue to share.  And the cycle continues for infinity.

Have I piqued your interest in Amish Friendship Bread?  No?  Well, look at this sugary goodness:

If this doesn't get your socks going up and down, I don't know what will.  Come on back tomorrow for THE RECIPE.  I tracked it down from the Amish.  And by "Amish," I mean internet.