Chicken Enchilada with homemade sauce

   I have made these chicken enchiladas a few times in the past, and it seems I have made some real improvements with this dish. My husband says this is true and I hope he is right rather than me praising myself. Could it be  both ? ( ha ha ! )

   I decided to write down this new recipe this time just in case I forget what worked really well this time, so here it goes. 

   One really important and helpful ingredient I used in this recipe is buying a nice juicy rotisserie chicken from BJs. They are really delicious and the juices work well during the bake. First, I tear apart the chicken and chop them up into small cubes. I made chicken broth out of the rotisserie chicken bones, which was a wonderful idea... no waste and super tasty ?!

   I needed the chicken broth to made the enchilada sauce... tada! The enchilada sauce recipe is key to this recipe ... hey you can buy the sauce from the store if you choose to do that but as for me I made my own..hee hee !

Here are the ingredients and instructions on both the enchilada sauce and the casserole.

Enchilada sauce:

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup warm water  

1/4 cup flour  (mix flour into the warm water, mix well )

2 tbs cumin

1 tbs chili  ( +/- depending on how spicy you want it to be )

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tbs paprika

1 tbs garlic powder

15 oz mild salsa ( or you also use tomato sauce, I like salsa )

Pour everything together in a sauce pan and cook, stirring occasionally in medium to low heat until bubbly and thicken, turn off heat and let it come to warm or room temperature.

Casserole:

1 medium size onion - chopped

1 recipe enchilada sauce (or at least one can of 28 oz enchilada sauce)

2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

18 to 20 8-inch flour tortillas

I am using 2 Pyrex baking dish, greased the bottom of the dish with a few drops of vegetable/canola oil. Layer a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the dish. 

In a big bowl, combine chopped onions and chicken together.

Add some enchilada sauce to the mixture just enough so the mixture could come together.

Fill each tortilla with 2 heap tablespoon of chicken and sprinkle with some cheddar cheese and roll up tightly and place roll on the dish. 

Place each roll one after another tightly so they fit snugly together.

After all the rolls are in the dish, cover the entire top of dish with enchilada sauce. 

Bake at preheated 350 degree oven for 35 mins.

As soon as the time is up, sprinkle the top of dish with a layer of cheddar cheese and put the dish back to the oven while the oven is still super hot but turned OFF.

After about 5-15 mins, casserole is ready to be served, enjoy!!!

        We put a big dent on this dish after dinner .... it was real treat for our palettes  and our tummies                   were grateful ;)

Hungarian Goulash

I found and love this recipe on https://www.savorytooth.com/hungarian-beef-goulash/ and I have used this recipe a few times. So I am putting this in my blog so I refer to the recipe. I will be adding pictures of the goulash as well. 

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1-2 inch chunks

3 yellow onions chopped (about 2 pounds)

2 cups broth (either beef, vegetable or chicken broth)

6 ounce can tomato paste

10 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup paprika

2 tsp cayenne 

1 tsp salt

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs oil (either olive or canola)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. I used a 6 quart dutch oven.

Add onions, garlic, salt, and pepper to the pot. Cook until the onions soften, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Coat the beef chunks in a mixture of paprika and cayenne, and add to the pot. Cook until the beef browns, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add broth, balsamic vinegar, and tomato paste to the pot, and stir. Cover with a lid and let simmer until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve and garnish with parsley or cilantro or spring onion (optional) .

frozen birthday cake

I recently made this 'Frozen' themed birthday cake for a 3 year girl. It was 3 layers of vanilla and sour cream cake with buttercream icing. I decorated it with blue and white marzipan stars and snow flakes, along with a sprinkling of buttercream dotted snow drops. It had an elegant appearance but was really a simple theme and design. It worked really well. I had a few of movie character figurines on top
 ( Elsa, Ana and Olaf )along with a cardboard number 3 that I laced with a paper napkin.

Fabric Remnants

I am really tired of looking at my old kitchen hot pads. They have taken a beating over the many years I have been preparing food in my kitchen. Each time is use them I feel that I should go buy some new ones and throw these away.
The materials are still good it is just that their appearance is really an embarrassment. They are screaming to me, "throw me away ! Please put me out of my misery ! Do anything but for crying out loud just don't leave me this way !
  So when your kitchen hot pads start making demands on the chef, it is really time to do something ! So, let's give them a make over. Time to pull out some the remnants and give these guys a new look so here you are... do you feel better now ? You definitely look better. What do you think ?

Simple Ribbon-Tie Bench Cushion

My girlfriend recently moved into her new home that has a very nice antique bench. But it needed a cushion of some type. She was looking for ideas because it is a unique size and asked if I could help her. I have not done a bench cushion before so I looked around for some type of template to use, but it didn't give me any ideas that excited her. She really just wanted something simple with a little bit of flair. So this was my idea. I think the ribbon ties hit the mark. What do you think ?

Oh, the ribbon-ties can be flipped to the back, it does not need to be in the front ;)

Shrimp Chicken Dumplings (Wonton)

 I recently had a fun visit with a hometown girlfriend of mine. She made some wonderful comfort food for us that was quite a feast . Her spread had all the goodies I used to enjoy back home. One of the delicacies she made for us was a recipe for shrimp dumplings. They were really really delicious and I was so happy to find out that she made extras for us to take home. ( Thank you !) She also was generous by giving me the recipe to try at home. And here is the result of her recipe and my efforts.


Thanks Julie !! I hope I made you proud of me :)

Recipe to follow shortly.

Nyonya Kaya ( Egg Jam )

Tis the season for making treats , so I thought I would try to make "nyonya kaya". Making 'kaya' takes time but I also find it therapeutic to make it, especially when I  need to slow down and take my time. It feels good not to be in a rush :)  This recipe will also make a nice holiday treat for friends when gifted in a mason jar.
My 'kaya' didn't turn out as pretty as my mom used to make because I used canned coconut milk instead of freshly squeezed coconut milk. But it still tastes great, almost the same taste as my mom's recipe.
And here it is....

INGREDIENTS
 10 eggs
 2 1/2 cup sugar
 500 g thick coconut milk
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 1/2 cup sugar for caramel

DIRECTIONS
1. Stir eggs, vanilla and sugar with hand whisk till sugar has dissolved.
2. Add coconut milk into egg mixture.
3. In a separate non stick sauce pan, melt and heat 1/2 cup sugar without stirring. Once it melted, stir till it thickens and golden in color.
4. Stir caramel into egg/coconut milk mixture.
5. Heat double boiler in medium heat, pour egg mixture into boiler.
6. Constantly continue stirring the egg mixture together, this will take 75 to 90 mins until mixture till it has thickened and golden in color.
7. Remove from double boiler and cool thoroughly, pour into 3 or 4 glass containers or mason jars. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.