Buffalo Chicken No-fried Fried Rolls

What do you get when Far East meets Deep South? Spring rolls filled with hot wings! Who says the south isn't multicultural?

(PS- If these look gross it is only because I ate all the good looking ones before I remembered to take a picture. They may not be pretty, but they are good.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cubed, cooked chicken breast
• 1/4 -1/2 cup Frank's Hot Wing Sauce
• 1/4 cup Blue cheese, crumbled (optional)
• 1/4 cup Celery, finely diced
• Phyllo dough squares (aprox. 5x5)
• Pan spray
• Blue cheese dressing

Preparation:

1. Mix chicken with hot sauce to taste. Add in blue cheese crumbles (optional) and celery.
2. Place about a tablespoon of chicken filling in the center of one Phyllo sheet.Moisten edges of dough with water and roll dough around filling, sealing edges tightly.
3. Place on baking sheet and spray with pan spray. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, flipping once to brown both sides.
4. Serve with blue cheese dressing... and football on the tv.

Fresh orange cranberry muffins

While Jen was settling in and watching her favorite movie, Zoolander, she thought "what goes well with orange mocha frappuccinos?" Boom, orange cranberry muffins were born! I did, however, recommend that she make them at least 3 times this big but we didn't have a tin big enough for that.

 

Ingredients

• 2  cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3  cup sugar
• 2  teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon salt
• 1  cup  chopped fresh cranberries
• 2/3  cup milk
• 1/4  cup butter, melted
• 1  teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  large egg, lightly beaten

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir. Stir in cranberries. Combine milk, butter, orange rind, vanilla, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 18 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.

Hippie scramble

We found this one while at a Saturday Market in Eugene. I just remember there being a lot of tie-dye, patchouli, and tofu. Needless to say, this one is a bunch of tofu, vegan, organic goodness (although it wouldn't taste bad if you threw a couple chunks of bacon in it)!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 block tofu, drained and pressed
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup each green bell pepper, carrots, celery, and other vegetables of choice
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
• soy sauce to taste
• black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Stir the spice blend together in a small cup.

Preheat a large pan over medium high heat. Saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Add additional vegetables and saute until cooked to desired doneness. Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. The tofu should get browned on at least one side. The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the ban. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate.

Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.

The Whole Enchiladas

In the backroom of a seedy Tijuana bar Jen and I were engaged in the final hand of some high stakes poker. We raised the pot but all our adversary had was his mother's enchilada recipe to throw in. Needless to say we won the hand and got The Whole Enchilada.

Ingredients

• 2 bone-in chicken breast halves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 5 serrano peppers
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch salt
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine chicken breast with chicken broth, one quarter onion, a clove of garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 20 minutes. Reserve broth, set chicken aside to cool, and discard onion and garlic. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken with your hands.
2. Place tomatillos and serrano chiles in a pot with water, enough to cover them. Bring to boil, and continue boiling until tomatillos turn a different shade of green (from bright green to a dull, army green). Strain tomatillos and chiles, and place in a blender with another quarter piece of onion, 1 clove garlic, and a pinch of salt. Pour in reserved chicken broth, so that liquid just covers the veggies in the blender by about an inch. Blend all ingredients until they are completely pureed. Pour salsa in a medium saucepan, and bring to a low boil.
3. Pour oil in a frying pan, and allow to get very hot. Slightly fry tortillas one by one in hot oil, setting each on a paper towel afterwards to soak some of the oil. Finally, dip slightly fried tortillas in low-boiling green salsa, until tortillas become soft again. Place on plates, 3 per person.
4. Fill or top tortillas with shredded chicken, then extra green sauce. Top with crumbled cheese, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro.

Sloppy Italian

I like to call this dish "Chuck Norris Pasta". That's because after you cook it, it looks a little dishevled, almost like you shouldn't really approach it. If you put a little salad next it, it's like it's just hiding in the woods. Then you eat it and BLAMO! You just got roundhoused kicked right in the mouth by the bearded penne!



Ingredients

• 1 pound gluten-free brown rice penne pasta
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 1/2 diced onion
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 pound chicken sausage
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons red chili pepper flakes

Directions

Cook pasta until tender. While pasta is cooking brown sausage in a saute pan. When thoroughly cooked, remove meat and add olive oil to the pan. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are tender. Add the meat back to the pan and add marinara sauce and drained pasta. Stir in cheeses and pepper flakes.

Pour into a casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown on top.

Nothin' Beets a Salad!

Dwight Schrute made us work on the farm out in Sisters for 3 weeks before he gave up this little gem. That explains why it has been awhile since our last post.

Ingredients

2-3 large red beets
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
1 clove minced garlic (or less)
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound spinach, chopped 
1/2 cup walnuts or hazelnuts

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or chevre

Directions

Heat oven to 400°F. Cut stems off beets and place on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Make a pouch out of the foil, sealing it tightly. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let beets steam for 10 minutes. Open pouch to cool.

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and garlic in a small bowl. Whisk in the oils and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

After beets have cooled, peel off the skins and cut the beet into bite-size pieces. Mix beets with half of vinaigrette, then mix spinach with the rest of the vinaigrette. Transfer greens to plates and top with beets, walnuts, and cheese.

"I'm stuffed" squash

 This dish is so good it was once described as the equivalent of riding a unicorn on a rainbow alongside Neil Patrick Harris while drinking pure joy from a Lil' Jon pimp cup made of squash.

Ingredients

• 1 small acorn squash cut in half  
• 1/2 pound ground chicken sausage 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup diced bell pepper
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth 
• 1 cup cooked rice 
• 3 cups spinach
• 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
•  1 Tablespoon chopped fresh herbs
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. If necessary in order for the squash to sit upright, cut off a small portion of the bottom. Set squash on a baking pan and set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, brown the sausage. Remove the meat from the pan, add the olive oil and saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until they begin to soften. Add cooked rice, sausage, wine, broth, and spinach and continue cooking until heated through. Add herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Cram as much of the filling into the squash halves as you can. Top off by pouring extra broth ton top of the rice mixture to fill in any holes in the filling. Bake for 1 hour or until the squash is tender. Serve extra rice filling on the side. Eat.