HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!

In honor of Matt's birthday tomorrow (Sunday), I'm posting three recipes. The first one is Orange Chip Scones and they are amazing! I have some baking right now and the house smells soooo good. The other two are recipes from my new friend Lilliana from Mexico. She came in the store the other day and we swapped recipes. Enjoy and Happy Birthday Matt, we love you!

Orange Chip Scones (but more like cookies)
4 c flour
1 c sugar
4 tsp baking soda
1 c mini chocolate chips
1 Tbsp grated orange peel
1 c butter cut into pieces and softened
1 c buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
1 Tbsp milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soday and salt. Add chocolate chips and orange peel; mex well. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Combine butter milk, 2 eggs, and orange extract in small bowl. Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture; mix just until a sticky dough is formed. Do not overmix. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Combine remaining egg and milk in small bowl. Brush egg mixture over top of dough. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool. Drizzle with icing: 2 c powdered sugar, 1/4 c orange jui8ce, 1 Tbsp grated orange peel, 1 tsp orange extract. Mix until smooth and drizzle over top of cooled scones!

Pico de Gallo

10 tomatoes
1 can corn (drained)
1 can black beans
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 med onion chopped
juice of 2-3 limes

Chop up the tomatoes, cilantro and onion. Stir all ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips.

Guacamole

5 avocados, smashed
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
juice of 1 lime
dash of oregano, salt and pepper

Mix together and eat with tortilla chips.

Two recipes from mom

Mom has been sending my recipes so I'm going to post two of them here today.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 C. flour

4-6 med green tomatoes, sliced ½ inch thick

1 egg beaten

¼ C milk

1 C seasoned dry bread crumbs

3 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp cooking oil

Combine sugar & flour. Place on a shallow plate. Dip both sides of each tomato slice into the mixture. Combine egg & milk & dip each tomato slice in liquid; then dip in bread crumbs. In a skillet heat butter & oil and fry until brown but firm.

SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN

Cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Dip into cornstarch then into beaten egg. Fry until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels. Place on cookie sheet. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake 350 for 1 hour. Turn occasionally.

SAUCE

¾ c sugar

½ c white vinegar

4 Tbsp catsup

¼ C chicken stock

1 Tbsp soy sauce

Dash salt

Heat in sauce pan until sugar is dissolved

Southwestern Eggrolls

Well, here they are...the best superbowl appetizers you'll ever make or eat!

Chili's Southwestern Eggrolls

Posted by: Wildhare 09-08-99 4:49 PM

Top Secret Recipes version of Chili's Southwestern Eggrolls

1 chicken breast fillet
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced green onion
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons diced, canned jalapeno peppers
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
five 7-inch flour tortillas


Avocado-Ranch Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup smashed, fresh avocado (about half of an avocado)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
dash dried dill weed
dash garlic powder
dash pepper


Garnish:
2 tablespoons chopped tomato
1 tablespoon chopped onion


Preheat barbecue grill to high heat.

Rub chicken breast with some vegetable oil then grill it on barbecue for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Lightly salt and pepper each side of chicken while it cooks. Set chicken aside until it cools down enough to handle.

Preheat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add red pepper and onion to pan and sauté for a couple minutes until tender.

Dice cooked chicken into small cubes and add it to pan. Add corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to pan. Cook for another 4 minutes; stir well so that spinach separates and is incorporated into mixture. Remove pan from heat and add cheese; stir until cheese is melted.

Wrap tortillas in a moist cloth and microwave on high temperature for 1 1/2 minutes or until hot.

Spoon approximately one-fifth of mixture into center of a tortilla. Fold in ends and then roll tortilla over mixture. Roll tortilla very tight, then pierce with a toothpick to hold together. Repeat with remaining ingredients until you have five eggrolls.

Arrange eggrolls on a plate, cover plate with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

While eggrolls freeze prepare avocado-ranch dipping sauce by combining all of ingredients in a small bowl.

Preheat 4-6 cups of oil to 375 degrees.

Deep fry eggrolls in hot oil for 12-15 minutes and remove to paper towels or a rack to drain for about 2 minutes. Slice each eggroll diagonally lengthwise and arrange on a plate around a small bowl of dipping sauce.

Garnish dipping sauce with chopped tomato and onion.

Serves 3-4.

Comment on Recipe

Matt called me tonight and said they had made the Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup recipe and it was wonderful! I can't wait to try that one. I'm too tired tonight to post more recipes but in the morning I'm putting up some that would be good for the superbowl. We had a class at work tonight with chef Philip Cardon and he made some wonderful stuff! Can't wait for Feb. 1 now!!

Olive Garden, Baby!

Oh my goodness, I just ran across a great website! It's part of the Olive Garden website and they share some of the Olive Garden recipes! I'm stoked. I was browsing the site because I want to go there for dinner tonight but wanted to check the menu and prices...I was thinking, "man, I wish I knew how to make some of this stuff, it would be so much more cost effective" when I saw the link for recipes. I'm including it here for you as well. Happy eating!

http://www.olivegarden.com/recipes/featured_recipe/

Kooky Cookies

This is a great cookie recipe. You could even add chocolate chips if you wanted to.

1 c vegetable oil
1 c butter, softened
1 c white sugar
1 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c cornflakes
1 c rolled oats
1 c chopped walnuts
1 c unsweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Beat butter and sugars until fluffy. SLowly add oil and beat until oil is well incorporated. Add egg and vanilla and beat to mix.
In a small bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and stir just until mixed. Combine corn flakes, oatmeal, nuts and coconut and add to cookie mixture; mix just until combined.
Use a cookie scoop to produce consistently sized cookies, but you can drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, if you don't have a scoop. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. You can also form the dough into balls and freeze them to bake at a later time. Yummy!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada's and Reneka's Salad

Mom sent me some recipe's today so I'm going to post two of them. I think the salad would go great with the enchiladas! Thanks Mom!

SOUR CREAM CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

2 cans cream chicken soup

3/4 C milk

1-4oz can mild green chilies chopped

1- 16oz container sour cream

1 bunch green scallions

2 tbsp instant chicken boullion granules dissolved in ¼ C hot water

3 chicken breasts cooked

1 Dz tortillas

1 lb grated cheese

Cook in 300 degree oven for 45 min. Add cheese the last 15 min

RENEKA’S SALAD

1 small package baby spinach

1 lb bacon cooked and crumbled

1 pkg sliced mushrooms

1 ½ C grated Swiss cheese

4 or 5 red onion rings

DRESSING

1 TBSP poppy seed

½ C rice vinegar

1 C olive oil

½ c sugar

½ tsp dry mustard

¼ C chopped up red onions