Salsa Verde Chicken with Seasoned Cornbread Dumplings

Salsa Verde Chicken with Seasoned Cornbread Dumplings
The Chef In My Head, adapted from Perfect One-Dish Dinners

For the Chicken:  
18 oz (about 4.5 cups) cooked, chopped chicken

Note:
You can use leftover cooked chicken, turkey, a rotisserie chicken from the market, or bake your own chicken breast (my favorite).  If baking your own:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees, rub chicken breast with olive oil, season with freshly ground pepper, sea salt and cumin.  Bake for 40 minutes or until done.  Allow chicken to cool slightly, chop in about 1-1/2" chunks and set aside.

For the Sauce:

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 jar (16 ounces) salsa verde (2 cups) I like HEB Brand "That Green Sauce"
2 roasted, peeled and diced Hatch Chiles (or one small can diced hot chiles)

1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk (or 2/3 cup half and half)

For the cornbread:

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 – 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallion greens

1. Sauce: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt butter over medium-high heat in a large oven-proof skillet. Whisk in the flour to make a paste. Add broth, salsa verde, and evaporated milk (or half and half) and whisk vigorously until thick and bubbly. Stir in chicken and turn heat to low to keep warm.

2. Cornbread: Meanwhile, heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until melted and steamy. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and scallions in a separate bowl with a fork. Pour in milk mixture and stir to form a dough. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the skillet with chicken mixture.

3. Transfer skillet to oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, until cornbread is cooked through, and the edges are crisp and golden brown. Enjoy!!

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Hatch Chile Cornbread

Hatch Chile Cornbread

All of my chiles are roasted, in vacuum sealed bags, labeled "HOT" or "MILD" accordingly, and in the freezer to use all year long.  Approximately a bushel of delicious, flavorful yumminess!  The only way to properly roast chiles is with a cold beer in hand, it's a hot job, but somebody has to do it.  I use them for lots and lots of dishes.  "The whole world" scrambled eggs, breakfast tacos, panini sandwiches, baked dishes, soups, Hatch Apple Cobbler(note to self: add to blog), cornbread and my personal favorite, Hatch Scalloped potatoes (need to add that one too). 

Many of you know I struggle with baking bread, actually breads of all kinds, and most embarrassingly cornbread.  Can you believe it?  I'm from Texas, this is just wrong.  Well finally my search is over, I have found a recipe that we all love.  So here you are, drumroll, please......

These are moist and do not crumble.  They go well with a Mexican breakfast, a steaming hot bowl of chili or just about anything where you would like an extra kick of spice.  Experiment with different cornmeals for variety.

Hatch Chile Cornbread Muffins (adapted from Red or Green New Mexico Cuisine)

3/4 C milk

1 8-oz can cream-style corn

1/3 melted butter

2 fresh eggs, beaten (thank you Peeps!)

1 1/2 C white, yellow or blue cornmeal

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 C mixed shredded cheddar cheese and Monterrey Jack cheese

3 to 5 fresh green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, deveined and chopped OR 4-oz. can green chiles, drained and chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners or grease and flour each cup.

In a medium-size bowl, stir together milk, corn, butter and eggs.

In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.  Add mixture from medium-size bowl to dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Do not overmix.

Spoon a large spoonful of batter into each cup, filling about 1/3 of each cup, and top with a little cheese mixture and green chile, dividing evenly and reserving a little for sprinkling on top.  Top with batter and reserved cheese and green chile.  Each cup should be about two-thirds full.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until muffins are golden and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Stuffed Deep Fried Avocados with Tomatillo Sauce

While flipping through my latest issue of Food Network Magazine, I noticed a Secret Ingredient Contest in the back of the magazine with Chiles starring as the main event. Chiles?? Well I can do that right, I am a Texan afterall! Wish me luck, here is the recipe I created and submitted for the contest!!

Rice/Chile Stuffing: 1 C Rice 1 garlic clove-whole, peeled ¼ C onion-finely diced 1 Tbl Spanish Rice Seasoning 2 C Chicken Stock, unsalted 3 Tbl Cilantro-roughly chopped ½ C Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded 2 Hatch Chiles-Roasted, peeled and diced Juice of 1 small lime In medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine rice, garlic clove, onion and seasoning. Dry saute until rice is lightly toasted. Add chicken stock, bring to boil then cover and reduce to simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff and allow to cool at room temperature. Once cooled, toss together with cheese, chiles, lime juice, and cilantro. Taste for seasoning and set aside. Salsa: 6 Tomatillos-quartered 2 medium onions-quartered 3 garlic cloves 2 whole jalapenos (red if you can find them for color) remove stem 3 Tbl Olive oil + 1 Tbl Salt & Pepper Juice of 1 Lime ½ C Cilantro 3 Hatch Chiles- roasted, peeled and rough chopped Preheat oven 400 degrees. Toss all ingredients and spread on baking sheet. Roast approximately 20 minutes or until edges are roasted. Transfer contents of baking sheet to food processor. To the processor, add the lime juice, cilantro and Hatch Chiles. Pulse until combined to rough chop. Preheat remaining olive oil in saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute Tomatillo mixture for approximately 15 minutes, stirring frequently until all flavors meld together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm. Avocados: 4 Ripe Avocados-peeled, cut in half and seeds removed 4 egg whites in medium bowl 3 egg yolks in small bowl 1 C flour 1 Tbl Ancho chile powder Salt & Pepper ¼ C Pepitas-toasted and ground roughly, additional ¼ C toasted & left whole 48 ounces Canola Oil Preheat oil in to 350 degrees. Combine flour, chile powder, salt, pepper and ground pepitas, in small baking dish, set aside. In medium size mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Break up yolks and fold into egg whites by hand, do not over mix. After removing seed from avocados, scoop out a little more of the flesh to make room for more of the rice stuffing. Fill each half of the avocado with the rice mixture. Press halves back together to reform avocado. Roll each filled avocado in flour mixture. Dip in egg white mixture to coat and fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain. To serve, Make puddle of tomatillo sauce in center of plate. Place fried avocado on top. Spoon additional sauce over top.

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Prime Rib & Hatch Chile Scalloped Potatoes

For once, I'm not exhausted after preparing Christmas Dinner!  Might be the fewer number of us (we actually ate at the breakfast table) or that I finally decided to create a smaller menu.  Either way, I am enjoying the weekend because I'm not completely exhausted.

Here's is my very simple menu!

Soupe A' l'oignon (French Onion Soup) previous post-October 6, 2009

Roasted Prime Rib with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Hatch Chile Scalloped Potatoes

Asparagus with Vinagrette Sauce

Roasted Prime Rib

4 pound boneless Prime Rib Roast

Olive oil

Freshly ground pepper

Grey salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat prime rib roast with olive oil.  Rub pepper and salt to taste,  I am pretty heavy handed with the pepper.  Place in shallow baking dish and roast uncovered until internal temperature reaches 110 degrees for medium-rare center, approx. 1 hour.  Once desired temperature is reached, remove from oven and place on warm platter to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

1 Cup Sour Cream

1/3 Cup Horseradish

1 Tbls Dijon Mustard

1 tsp. White Wine Vinegar

1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt

1/4 tsp. Freshly ground Pepper

Place all of the ingredients into a mediumn mixing bowl and whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Place in thee refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.  Sauce will keep in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Hatch Chile Scalloped Potatoes

2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes

6 fresh Hatch chiles (3/4 pound)

2 Cups Heavy cream

2 large garlic cloves

2/3 C. Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded

Kosher salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lay chiles on their sides on a rack of a gas burner and turn flame on high.  Roast chiles, turning with tongs, until skins are blackened, 5 to 8 minutes.  Transfer chiles to a bowl and let stand, covered, 15 minutes.

Rub skins off chiles with paper towels and discard stems and seeds.  Cut the chiles into 1/4-inch strips.

Bring the cream with garlic just to a simmer and remove from heat.  Peel potatoes and cut crosswise with your super amazing Cuisinart Food Processor into 1/16-inch thick slices.

Arrange one-third of potatoes evenly in bottom of well-buttered 1-1/2 quart shallow baking dish, overlapping them slightly, and sprinkle with salt to taste and 1/2 of chiles.  Repeat, ending with a layer potatoes.  Remove garlic from cream and pour cream over potatoes.  Sprinkle Monterrey jack cheese lightly over top.  Cover dish with foil and bake in lower third of oven for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until top is golden brown and bubbling, about 30 minutes more.  Cool slightly before serving.

Asparagus with Vinagrette Sauce

2 bundles fresh Asparagus

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp Grey Salt

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

4 Tbls. Balsamic Vinegar

4 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp Anchovy Paste

1 tsp Freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, cut into wedges after grating lemon rind.

Crush garlic, sprinkle with salt and crush again until you have formed a paste.  Scrape the crushed garlic into a covered jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, anchovy paste, pepper and lemon rind to the jar, cover and shake the mixture until well blended.  Set aside at room temperature.

Meanwhile, rinse asparagus spears and trim the ends.  Steam asparagu for about 10 minutes or to taste.  Arrange on a serving platter.  Let cool for about 5 minutes, then drizzle with the vinagrette.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Toasted Baguette for French Onion Soup

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