Kristi's Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 c rice uncooked

2 eggs

1T Butter

1T Olive Oil

4 Green Onions

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1 cup frozen peas

Garlic Salt

Salt

Pepper

Soy Sauce

Instructions:

My friend uses boil in a bag rice, but I put 2 cups of white rice in my rice cooker. While that is cooking, melt some butter and olive oil in a pan. Sauté the green onions in that. Then add eggs and slowly stir them… You don't want to actually scramble them. 

Then add the chicken (which should already be cooked and diced) and peas. 

Then a little garlic salt and pepper. When rice is done cooking, add it to the pan and stir it all up. Add soy sauce to taste.  

My friend typically does 2 boil in a bag rice bags at a time and three eggs.  Another option is to buy chicken strips from the deli and use that for the chicken. You can use fried chicken strips or you can use baked chicken. Or shrimp or whatever meat.

Pesto (Or Not) Brie Dip

Hot Mama Notes: The recipe above is what I used as the basis for my Brie dip.  The problem was that I had no green onions (I substituted fresh garlic chives from my garden!) and no pesto (I omitted it altogether, but in hindsight, I should have chopped up a few fresh basil leaves from my garden.) and no plum tomato (I used 5 cherry/grape tomatoes from my garden).  I also did not have 1 lb of Brie.  I had 2 wedges.  Still, I followed the directions as given, and my Brie turned out AWESOME!!!!  Mine might have been cooked a little longer.  The cheese was pretty much completely melted.  But, no matter, it tasted AWESOME!!!  I served it with a loaf of crusty white bread (french and italian) that I cut in half to make the pieces smaller and thus "bite size". :)  I will definitely make this again, though Brie is SUPER expensive.  $5 for each wedge.  They were given to me, so I didn't feel the pain.  I used a tiny (5"x7"x1") glass baking dish in our small oven.

Hot Mama Grade: A

Chicken Black Bean (or Spinach) Enchiladas

Hot Mama Notes: My family likes this enchilada recipe.  It is a good one.  Easy to make, and easy to make substitutions if you need to.  I also like that it doesn't have as much cheese as some enchilada recipes do.  I make a lot of substitutions to this recipe.  I cook one package (frozen or fresh, usually 3-4 breasts) of chicken in the crockpot with one can or jar of green enchilada sauce.  After the chicken is done, I shred the chicken.  As per the recipe, I take the chicken out of the crock pot using a slotted spoon and put it in a separate bowl.  This way the chicken is dryer/drained.  I use the remaining liquid in the crock pot in lieu of the cream of chicken soup.  Combine the measured liquid from the crock pot, the sour cream, picante and the chili powder.  In separate bowl, combine chicken, cheese, and beans (I try to use my own cooked beans from the freezer, but if I don't have any, then I use one can black beans, well rinsed and drained in a colander).  Put 1 cup of sauce into the chicken mixture.  Put chicken mixture into tortillas, roll, and place in pan seam side down.  I use a pampered chef stoneware 13x9x2.  Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas.   Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or so.  When I needed to make a vegetarian dish, you can omit the chicken and use cooked spinach (steam fresh spinach in the microwave steamer or use frozen cooked spinach), along with  either cream of asparagus or celery soup, or use plain green enchilada sauce.  The vegetarian option is good, as well, though I prefer chicken.  I use flour tortillas.


Hot Mama Grade: A-

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Hot Mama Notes: This recipe was one that I tasted at my friend Tawnya's ice skating pot luck.  We liked it so much that we asked for and received the recipe.  I've made it since then, and it is good, but not as aesthetically pleasing as regular enchiladas, but it's easier and quicker.

Hot Mama Grade: B+

Dill Dip

Hot Mama Notes: This is the best dill dip ever.  Seriously.  It is so tasty and ridiculously easy to make.  A real crowd pleaser!  :)  Make sure to whip the dip with a hand mixer or stand mixer.  Otherwise it is lumpy and not as good.

Hot Mama Grade: A

Cooking Lentils

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-dried-lentils-on-the-stovetop-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-116321

What You Need

Ingredients

1 cup dried green, brown, or French lentils
2 cups water
1 bay leaf, 1 garlic clove, or other seasonings (optional)
1/4 - 3/4 teaspoon salt

Tools

Measuring cups
Strainer or colander
Small saucepan

Instructions

Any amount of lentils can be cooked in this manner. Just maintain the 2:1 ratio of water to lentils described below.

1. Wash Lentils: Measure the lentils into a strainer or colander. Pick over and remove any shriveled lentils, debris, or rocks. Thoroughly rinse under running water.

2. Combine Lentils and Water: Transfer the rinsed lentils to a saucepan and pour in the water. Add any seasonings being used, reserving the salt.

4. Cook the Lentils: Bring the water to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer. You should only see a few small bubble and some slight movement in the lentils. Cook, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. Add water as needed to make sure the lentils are just barely covered.

5. Salt the Lentils: Lentils are cooked as soon as they are tender and no longer crunchy. Older lentils may take longer to cook and shed their outer skins as they cook. Strain the lentils and remove any seasonings. Return the lentils to the pan and stir in 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Taste and add additional salt as needed.

6. Seasoning and Using Cooked Lentils: Cooked lentils will keep refrigerated for about a week. Season them with olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, fresh herbs, and eat them on their own. Lentils can also be added to soups, salads, or other recipes.

Other Notes:

For weeknight meals, we like keeping green or brown lentils in our cupboard. These cook quickly and evenly without becoming mushy and are the most versatile for our recipes. Yellow, red, and orange lentils are fantastic, but since they tend to get mushy when cooked, they are usually best added to soups and sauces rather than cooked on their own.

After trying many different cooking methods for lentils, we have found that the most reliable way to cook perfectly tender lentils is to bring them to a rapid simmer, and then reduce the heat to low for the rest of cooking. You want to see just a few bubbles in the water and some gentle movement in the lentils. They will plump up nicely without splitting their skins or becoming mushy.

The other trick is to wait to add the salt or any acidic ingredients until the lentils are done cooking. These ingredients can cause the lentils to stay crunchy even when fully cooked. If you stir in the salt while the lentils are still warm, they will absorb just enough to taste fully seasoned.

It's also important to buy the freshest lentils you can find and then use them within a few months. Older lentils take longer to cook and tend to shed their skins during cooking. You may also see tiny white flecks where the lentil started to sprout. They're still tasty and entirely edible, but just not as presentation-worthy.

Once cooked, your lentils are ready for any kind of culinary action you want to throw at them. They can be tossed into both green salads and grain salads, used in sandwich wraps, added to soups and chilis, or even made into veggie burgers. Some nights, I love a simple bowl of warm lentils tossed with good olive oil and vinegar with a poached egg to complete the meal.

JC's Salsa Verde

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/juan-carlos-salsa-verde/1110876

Ingredients: Chile paste:

1/4 pound Serrano chiles; red, roasted

1 large Onion; coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons Granulated sugar

1 tablespoon Canola Oil

Salsa:

1 pound Tomatillos; dehusked, chopped (approx 10)

2 cloves Fresh garlic, peeled

1 bunch Cilantro; chopped

1 teaspoon Ground cumin

1 teaspoon Fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Course Salt Directions: De-stem, and then roast the serrano peppers in a broiler oven until the skins blacken. Turn, repeat. Remove to cool. In a medium skillet, sautee the onions in oil, adding the granulated sugar as you go, until they turn a caramel brown. You may, at this point, deseed the serrano peppers to reduce their spiciness, but I don't find a need to do that. Put the caramelized onions and the serrano peppers into the food processor and pulse until it is a smooth paste. Remove using a rubber spatula to a container. Husk the tomatillos and chop them coarsely. Puree the salsa ingredients in food processor until smooth, mixing them into a ~6 quart bowl. Add chile paste to the bowl to desired spiciness, mixing well. Freeze leftover chili paste in airless ziploc bags. Hot Mama Notes: I made this salsa because my husband's friend posted his personal recipe on facebook, and we happened to have several red serrano peppers from the garden that needed to be used asap.  I have never roasted peppers before, so that was a good learning experience for me.  I learned that the blacker the skin, the easier it is to pull off the roasted pepper from the blackened/burned skin.  One note on this recipe, it says to use 1 lb of tomatillos or about 10.  This seems to not match to me.  I bought one pound of tomatillos, as measured at the store on their scale, and I came home with 4 or 5 tomatillos.  I wonder if it was not enough?  I made the chili sauce as directed except I used the Blentec blender instead of a food processor, since I don't have one.  It seems to have turned out well.  Next, I worked on the salsa part.  I have made tomatillo green salsa once before, and I remember COOKING the tomatillos first.  However, this recipe calls for using them raw, and that is what I did.  I chopped them up and put everything into the blendtec as directed.  It was a bit soupy.  I could get past the consistency, though.  The taste was rough.  Very sour.  I gave my husband a taste, and he also thought it did not taste right.  I tried putting in more of the chili sauce, but it did not seem to help.   I am going to look up the other green salsa recipe I made, and compare directions.  I think maybe the tomatillos need to be boiled or cooked first. I also omitted the following ingredients, as I did not have them: the cilantro and cumin.  I may pick up a bunch of cilantro and cumin tomorrow, and see if that improves the salsa, as well. Hot Mama Grade (as is currently, without cooking or other adjustment): D