Open Source Cook

One of Jesse’s favorites. The fajita marinade can be substituted with any kind of seasoning desired.  This is one I tend to make a lot and it’s actually really nice to make when you’re taking a dish to someone.  I just found this out recently and it worked out really nice.  Basically, I did all of the steps leading up to putting it in the oven for the 30 minutes.  That way, when I took it over, all they had to do was bake it for 30 minutes and it was done.  They still had a hot homemade dish and they didn’t have to prepare it at all.

I’ve made this a lot in the past too.  This is one of those recipes that works really nice with the Salsa recipe and everyone seems to enjoy it.

Ingredients:
1 pkg of Fajita Marinade Mix
1/4 cup Water
2 tbsp canola oil
1 lb chicken breasts
1 pkg of original country gravy mix
2-1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups colby jack cheese
6 (10in) burrito style flour tortillas
1/4 cup green onions (optional)
shredded lettuce (optional)
tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine Seasoning, water and oil in a self-closing plastic bag. Add cubed chicken. Close bag and turn to coat chicken. Refrigerate 15 minutes, or longer for stronger flavor.
2. Prepare gravy according to package directions, except use 2 1/4 cups milk instead of water. Remove from heat; stir in salsa. Pour 1 cup gravy mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet add chicken and marinade. Sauté over medium-high heat 7-8 minutes.
4. Place 1/4 cup chicken in center of each tortilla. Top with 2 tablespoons of cheese. Fold over edges of tortilla and roll tightly. Arrange rolled tortillas in a single layer in prepared dish. Pour remaining gravy mixture over tortillas and top with remaining cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with black olives and green onion. Serve with lettuce and tomato, if desired.

I’ve been kind of slacking on adding recipes, so I’m going to make up for it tonight. First up is Chicken Stew with Dumplings. Jesse, and a few others, had to work from 2pm-4am one night last week so it was requested that I make Chicken and Dumplings.

This recipe was really easy to make and I included all of the measurements, but I really didn’t use them.  I did for the tricky stuff like the herbs and liquid, but for all the veggies, there was no measurments going on.  In the original recipe, mushrooms and green peppers were included as well, but neither of us like mushrooms so those were never going to be included and Jesse didn’t want the green peppers.  Not sure why, but if you want to add them (and any other favorite veggies), you should be able to without any problems.  The one thing that I found nice, and have used multiple times while cooking, is that Meijer sells carrots and celery in a package together.  It’s not a lot, but it’s the perfect amount for cooking when you only need a little bit.

Jesse likes a lot of dumplings, so if you’re a fan of dumplings, you’ll want to double this recipe.  You can NOT triple this recipe and still have room in the slow cooker.  The entire top of the stew was covered with dumplings since I doubled the recipe.  It still was able to cook and everyone was able to get dumplings, so it worked out alright, I just wouldn’t triple it.  However, I did also send along biscuits to go with the stew since I wasn’t sure how long the dumplings were going to last.  I made the regular old Bisquick biscuits, but one thing I did do was to add all of the spices that were in the herbs.  So in essence, I ended up with the dumplings, but in biscuit form.  They turned out really well and this is a trick that I’ve been using a lot lately.  Adding spices to the biscuits seems to go over well and even Ian kept munching on them like they were candy.

From everything I heard, the chicken and dumplings were a success.  However, I rarely hear anything unless Jesse is told something.

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced celery
2 cans (14oz each) of chicken broth
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breats, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 potato, unpeeled, diced
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 tsp dried basil leaves
3/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 to 1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Herb Dumplings:
1 cup biscuit mix
1/4 tsp dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp dried tarragon
1/3 cup reduced fat (2%) milk

Directions:

1. Combine carrots, onion, and celery in slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth, reserving 1 cup broth. Cover and cook on low 2 hours.
2. Stir flour into remaining 1 cup broth until smooth. Stir into slow cooker. Add chicken, potato, peas, and herbs to slow cooker. Cover and cook 4 hours or until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink. Stir in cream, salt, and black pepper.
3. For Herb Dumplings: combine biscuit mix and herbs in small bowl. Stir in milk to form soft dough. Spoon dumpling mixture on top of stew in 4 large spoonfuls. Cook, uncovered, 30 minutes. Cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes or until dumplings are firm and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve in shallow bowls.

Makes 4 servings.

I can’t remember if this recipe was given to us or if I found it on his website, but this courtesy of Dev_null, a friend of Jesse’s from #asp. This makes so much chili that I made it once for four and there was so much left over, we were still eating it a week later. This is one of those recipes where you make it for a pot luck or whenever you’re trying to feed a bunch of people. Don’t get me wrong, this chili is great, but it makes a LOT.

So why am I posting about chili during the beginning of summer? Well, Jesse was thinking about it the other day and he showed the recipe to some of his co-workers and the next thing I knew, it was being requested. The only problem is, neither Jesse or I drink beer. Well, I used to (and on some occasions will take a sip or two), so I have no idea what kind to use. Plus, what beer I did drink was imported and I’m not sure if Corona would taste all that great with it (I learned how to drink in Mexico, give me a break). When I made it before, I used chicken broth which was fine. However, I’m going to leave it up to the people who are going to be eating it. Do I use beer or chicken broth? If I use beer, what kind do I use? The plan is to make this in two weeks, so people have two weeks to give their input.  There is a poll in the sidebar, so go cast your vote.  I’ll be back in two weeks to give commentary on the recipe while I make it.

Ingredients:
3/4 of a lb of bacon
1 lb of chicken breasts
1 lb of stew beef
1 lb of sausage
1 can (24 oz) of chicken broth or beer
1 can (32 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (16oz) kidney beans
1 can (8oz) tomato paste
2/3 tsp black pepper
2 bouillon cubes
2-2/3 tsp ground cumin
1-1/3 tsp garlic powder
2-2/3 tsp mustard
2-2/3 tsp oregano
2 celery stalks
1 large green bell peppers
2 large onions
5 oz cornstarch (optional)
16 oz Salsa (garnish)
24 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese (garnish)
12 oz sour cream (garnish)
24 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Chop the stew beef and brown. Add to crock.
2. Chop the bacon into small pieces. Fry bacon preserving grease. Fry the vegetables in the bacon pieces. Moisten mixture with beer. Add to crock.
3. Brown the sausage. Chop the chicken into small pieces. Fry the chicken in the sausage. Moisten mixture with beer. Drain fat from sausage/chicken mix. Add to crock.
4. Add diced tomatoes, bullion cubes, and spice (to taste) to crock. Add beer to keep mixture moist.
5. Simmer for 2-4 hours.
6. Add tomato paste and beans. Add beer as needed to keep moist. Add cornstarch if you added to much beer. Simmer more. (total 12-24 hours)
7. Serve with tortillas, salsa, cheese and sour cream. Substitute chicken broth for the beer when needed

So this was a complete improvisation. My original thought was to make my Chicken Rice Skillet, but then I realized that I didn’t have the rice. So this recipe was born. It’s nothing spectacular, but it smells good. I tend to just throw things in when I’m cooking and since I was improving, I threw in some garlic. It helps lower cholesterol and since Jesse’s is up there, I’ve been making a lot of things with garlic these days. The jar of red sauce I used was something I had in the pantry. It happens to be an organic Italian Herb made by Muir Glen, but any kind of sauce will do.

It doesn’t look the greatest, but according to Jesse “It’s not as disgusting as I thought it would be”. The picture is’nt all that great either. I took it off of Ian’s plate, which also happens to be his high chair tray. My dishes are white as well, so I doubt I would have gotten a great picture from that as well. For something coming out of “oh no I don’t have any rice”, it’s not bad. It’s your basic pasta primavera ripoff.

Overall, not a bad dish. One thing I would do different, I served the dish by spooning the sauce over the pasta. Next time, Jesse recommends mixing the pasta in with the sauce before serving.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1-1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups water
1 tbsp margarine or butter
1 bag (1 pound) frozen broccoli and corn
1 25.5 oz jar of red sauce
3 cloves of garlic
garlic powder
Medium shell pasta, cooked

Directions:

1. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.
2. Add water and margarine; heat to boiling. Stir in vegetables, garlic cloves, garlic powder, and sauce. Simmer until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat, cover and let stand about 5 minutes before serving. Spread over shells and enjoy.

Jesse likes a lot of dumplings, so my dumpling recipe is twice what normal recipes call for. He also likes a lot of gravy, so it may seem like the liquid is disproportionate with the chicken and veggies. All of this is correct.

This actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would. We did have a slight problem when I used our 2 quart pan. It was a tight fit. Next time, we are definitely going to have to use something bigger. I’m thinking I need a 3 quart pan.

Overall, it was good. I did end up making more biscuits, since I thought Jesse would end up eating all of the dumplings on me. I did add a twist on the biscuits. I added oregano and parsley to the bisquick dough so it would have the same taste as the dumplings. I’m hoping this doesn’t make the difference is dough types to obvious. Jesse ended up saving me some dumplings, so I haven’t had a chance to try this out yet.

Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken, breasts - skinless boneless
Carrots
Onions
Celery
Potatoes
1-1/2 cups Water
1-1/2 cups Chicken broth (or 1-14oz can)
1 tsp dried Basil
Salt
Pepper, black
1 Bay leaf
2 cups Flour, all-purpose
4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 cup Egg product or 2 beaten
2 tsp Parsley
1/2 cup Milk
4 tbsp Vegetable oil
1 cup Water, cold
1/2 cup Flour, all-purpose

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken. In a large pot (bigger than 2 quarts) combine chicken, the 2 cups water, onion, potatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Add celery and carrots. Return mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes more or till chicken and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaf.
2. For dumplings, in a mixing bowl, combine the 1 cup flour, parsley, baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and oregano. In another bowl, combine the egg, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until moistened. Drop batter onton the hot chicken in broth. Do not drop batter into the liquid. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into dumplings comes out clean. Do not lift cover while simmering. Transfer chicken, dumplings, and vegetables to a serving platter; keep warm.
3. For gravy, pour broth into a large measureing cup. Combine the 1/2 cup cold water and 1/4 cup flour; stir into the broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve gravy over chicken and vegetables with dumplings.