Oh, Dr. Oz
I like to take Dr. Oz with a grain of, um, quinoa. But I have to admit, he sucks me in.
Grabbed O magazine last nite at the grocery store because the cover touted Dr. Oz’s 2-Day Wonder Cleanse. I figured I’d need a “cleanse” this weekend…after I ate the warm apple crisp I’d just made (topped with ice cream). Hey, it was an icy-cold blustery Friday night in Milwaukee. Just call me Moping in Milwaukee.
So I began this a.m. with Oz’s quinoa, ginger, nutmeg, prune, rice milk porridge. No prunes in the house, but I did have dried cranberries. Look and taste better, but I’m sure prunes are better for purging—I mean cleansing. No rice milk either. Does anyone really drink that stuff?
Even tho I had a cartload of groceries last nite, I now have to do a grocery run for the pineapple, kale, cabbage, fennel and other ingredients on the Oz list for the next two days. The recipes make a soup, a smoothie, a snack drink (pineapple-kale) and that quinoa porridge. Oh, and there’s dandelion tea, which is supposed to be a diuretic. (I may skip that tea. Water is a diuretic if you drink as much as you should daily. (Plus I think I’ll need my mint-chocolate tea to get me through the weekend of slurping cabbage-fennel soup and other slurries for two days.)
Wish me luck. Will let you know if I feel cleansed in 48 hours. Spring cleaning will have a whole new meaning for me.
Slosh. Slosh.
Here’s my version of the breakfast recipe:
HRK’s Breakfast Quinoa
Put 1/4 cup red quinoa and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Add two or three good shakes of cinnamon. Grate some fresh ginger into the pan (or add three or four shakes of ground ginger). Bring to boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the water is gone. Then add 1/4 cup nonfat milk (or almond milk or rice milk…ugh) and a handful of dried cranberries or snipped dried apricots. (Dr. Oz prefers prunes. Not me.) Simmer for 5 or 10 minutes more.
Quinoa is actually an amazing little grain, with an amino acid profile that puts it on the top of most good-for-you lists. Lot of fiber, too. I prefer my quinoa loaded up with vegetables in a salad or side dish. But, Dr. Oz says eat it for breakfast. So here I go.
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Face-First Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
Here’s how my thought process works when developing recipes. Valentine’s Day is coming up. So: Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Hmmmm. How’s about a new chocolate cupcake? Yeah.
What goes with chocolate? Something crunchy. Not nuts again. Pretzels? Yeah. Chocolate Cupcakes with pretzels on top. Not good enough. So what goes with pretzels? Beer. Yeah. Pretzels and beer, right?
In fact, I know just the beer: Chocolate Stout.
And that’s how this recipe was born. I like to insert a pretzel in a jaunty fashion off-center into the frosting…or sprinkle crushed pretzels on top just before serving. The photos, however, show the un-pretzeled versions. Obviously.
Photos: Richard Swearinger
Double Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate stout (Pour about 1/3 cup chocolate stout plus foam, let settle for 1 to 2 minutes, scoop off the foam, and you should have about ½ cup)
1/2 cup butter (unsalted, please. If you’re using salted butter, ditch the salt, above)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 ounces dark unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped, or semisweet dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 slightly beaten eggs
Dark Chocolate Frosting (next page)
Coarse sea salt
12 bite-size pretzels
1. Preheat the oven to 350* F. Line muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Set aside. Stir together flour, soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring stout, butter, and cocoa just to simmer; stirring frequently. Add dark chocolate, stirring until melted. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Whisk in eggs until combined. Add flour mixture, beating until smooth.
3. Fill cupcake liners about ¾ full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Or just tap the top of the cupcake with your finger. It should bounce back.) Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes, then carefully remove cupcakes from muffin pan and cool completely on rack.
4. Pipe or frost with Dark Chocolate Frosting (below). Sprinkle coarse salt over each cupcake. Top with a pretzel. (Or skip the salt and crush the pretzels and sprinkle on top.
Dark Chocolate Frosting
Makes enough to cover 12 cupcakes
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup milk (or cream as long as we’re being decadent)
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or 8 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped)
2 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar
1. In a small saucepan, heat the butter and milk over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture is bubbly, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and stir in dark chocolate until melted.
2. Remove pan from heat and add powdered sugar. Beat by hand until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Stir well before frosting cupcakes. Add additional milk if frosting is too thick.
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The Zen of Baking: Italian Cream Cake
There’s something settling and soothing about baking a cake. For me, anyway. More often than not, I use my old handheld mixer, even though I have the legendary KitchenAid stand mixer. The smaller mixer makes it all less complicated in a way-too-complicated world. (Plus it’s a bicep exercise in my book.)
I get my “om” on as I turn off my mind and watch butter and sugar combine to a thick pale yellow fluffly mass. I am mesmerized by the whir of the beaters as egg whites transform into white billowy clouds. The act of gently folding those egg whites into the batter—to insure a light and airy cake—makes me feel light-hearted (or maybe light-headed). :0
What prompted that soliloquy? Well, I felt the urge to bake cakes this week. Two in one week! One, our family’s recipe for Banana Cake with Fudge Frosting (perhaps I’ll share another day).The second was this Italian Cream Cake from Better Homes and Gardens for a friend’s birthday. It ended up to be a three-layer beauty that foiled my attempt to deliver it under a beautiful glass cake dome. Too tall. So I simply flaunted it on a pedestal and covered it loosely with plastic wrap, putting candles on top to keep the plastic wrap from touching the frosting.
I usually like to tweak or reinvent while I cook, but because baking relies on science, my first go-round always starts with a tried-and-true recipe. I did increase the Cream Cheese icing, because, hey, it’s for a birthday cake. But the cake recipe belongs to BH&G. Here it is.
Italian Cream Cake 
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
directions
1. Separate eggs. Allow egg yolks, egg whites, and butter to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour three 8×1 1/2-inch or 9×1 1/2-inch round cake pans; set pans aside. In a bowl, stir together flour and baking soda; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a very large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until well combined. Add the egg yolks and vanilla; beat on medium speed until combined. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Fold in coconut and the 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans.
3. Thoroughly wash the beaters. In a mixing bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold about one-third of the egg whites into cake batter to lighten. Fold in remaining whites. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pans.
4. Bake about 25 minutes for 9-inch pans, about 35 minutes for 8-inch pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans. Cool thoroughly on wire racks.
5. Place one cake layer, bottom side up, on serving plate. Spread with about 1/2 cup of the Cream Cheese Frosting; sprinkle with 1/4 cup pecans.(Note from Jeanne: I also sprinkled flaked coconut between the layers in addition to the pecans.) Top with second cake layer, bottom side down. Spread with 1/2 cup more frosting and sprinkle with 1/4 cup nuts. Top with remaining layer, bottom side up; spread top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Press remaining nuts (and coconut, if you like. I like.) around side and on top of cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting: In a bowl beat 12 ounces cream cheese, softened; 6 tablespoons butter, softened; and 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla until smooth. Gradually add 6 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating until smooth. (Note from Jeanne: I only used about 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar. It was plenty thick and made for a less sweet frosting.)
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Broken Heart Lemon Sugar Cookies
After my mother’s funeral this week, I’ve been running on empty. No motivation. What to do during the times I always phone her to chat? What to do with the Valentine’s card I had for her? What to do on those holidays when I usually bake goodies to send to her?
Decided I’d bake anyway. For me, baking is one of those auto-pilot kinda projects. Plus there’s always butter, flour, and sugar in my house. I wanted to create a Valentine’s sugar cookie with a bit of tang and happened to have 2 lemons in the fridge. I cut the cookies on the thickish side because I like them with a bit of crispness on the outside, but plenty of softness in the center. And because I think sugar cookies are kinda boring, I added lemon peel to the cookie dough then iced the finished cookies with a lemony glaze.
Love them, but wish I could share them with my mom. She was the one who inspired my love of baking. (Mom was the baker in our family. Dad the day-to-day cook. Both were gardeners and loved being creative in the kitchen. Thank goodness I inherited the gardening, cooking, and baking genes.)
These are simple to make and just in time for Valentine’s day. You might want to change the title tho before serving them up to the love of your life!
Broken Heart Lemon Sugar Cookies
About 3 dozen 2- to 3-inch cookies
Most sugar cookies are similar. I used several basic recipes as models, then tweaked to my taste. This version is 
most like the Rich Roll Cookies from Joy of Cooking. I reduced the granulated sugar because I’m not a sugary-sweet person. I added powdered sugar because I like the lighter texture it offers. I also added lemon peel and boosted the vanilla to balance the lemony tartness, and I upped the baking powder. Not sure why!
And I topped the cookies with a lemony glaze. You can add sprinkles before baking and skip the glaze, if you like.
Beat until creamy:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (it adds a light texture)
1 to 2 tsp. lemon peel (I use a Microplane to remove the lemon peel in fine shreds)
1/4 tsp. salt
Add and beat until combined:
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Add and beat on low (or stir with a wooden spoon) until combined:
2 1/2 cups flour
Divide dough into thirds, flatten into disks, and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Using 1 part of dough at a time, roll dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Use a 2- to 3-inch cutter to cut out cookies. Place on cookie sheet about 1-inch apart.
Repeat with remaining dough. Pat dough scraps together and roll and cut.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges get a hint of brown. Do not over bake. Remove to a cooling rack. When cool, frost with Lemon Glaze.
Lemon Glaze: Whisk together 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 2 to 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp. lemon peel, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.
7 Responses to “Broken Heart Lemon Sugar Cookies”
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Sizzling Sausages and Grapes
Made this recipe the other night from a fresh-on-the-newsstands bookazine that I edited: Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Casseroles.
Am loading up my own picture, but if you compare it to the one in the magazine, it’s pretty evident that I am not a real photographer. I’m trying to learn because, frankly, I’m envious of a number of food bloggers who flaunt gorgeous photos. Like Chocolate & Zucchini or David Lebovitz (I pout whenever I read his blog and view his photos. I want to be him. I also want to be David Sedaris, who is not a foodie, but his writing is up there with garlic mashed potatoes on my list of favorites.) Then there’s Matt Bites. I am over-the-moon envious of his blog photos, but he doesn’t really count because he’s a professional photographer.
So, what do I do to make my food photos leap off the blog and make you gasp at its delicious beauty? I suppose investing in a real camera might be a start. And maybe a few props. But I don’t get that whole lighting thing. I mean, the food already looks good. Why can’t that be translated through my rinky-dink camera in my rinky-dink kitchen? I think smell-o-vision would help too because I want my food pictures to capture the heady aroma that accompanies the meal.
Got tips?
If not, I’ll continue to torture you with my point and shoot images lit from my ceiling-mounted track lighting. In the meantime, this dish is really droolworthy. And so easy.
It’s from Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Casseroles ‘zine. The Sizzling Sausages and Grapes recipe is easy and would have served 4 if I had shared. But I like leftovers. And it is winter, the time to build up an extra layer of warmth on your body.
The grapes in this one-dish dinner roast to a mellow mushy jam-ish delight and take on a happy tang when they get a finishing splash of balsamic vinegar.
Yes, the recipe calls for purchased polenta. (Of course you can make your own. I used Melissa’s Organic tube o’ polenta. Kinda good, especially when the Italian sausage juices melted into it. It’s got onions and rosemary too. That’s it. Pop it in the oven and do a good deed for your neighbor while it’s sizzling. Or pour a glass of red wine and sink into another chapter of David Sedaris.
What’s your favorite winter comfort food … or book to snuggle up with?
Sizzling Sausages and Grapes
1 1/2 pounds seedless red grapes, stems removed and rinsed (the grapes, not the stems)
1 16-oz tube refrigerated cooked polenta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 to 2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. snipped fresh rosemary
6 sweet and/or spicy Italian sausage links (about 1 1/2 lb. total)
1 to 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1. Preheat oven to 350. In an ungreased 3-qt. rectangular baking dish (13×9 pan) combine grapes, polenta, onion, oil, and rosemary. Toss to coat.
2. Using a fork, prick each sausage in several places. Add sausages to mixture in baking dish, nestling them into the grape mixture.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 50 to 60 minutes or until sausages are cooked through and grapes are slightly shriveled. (I probably could have roasted mine a tad longer.) Drizzle with balsamic vinegar; toss to coat. Makes 4 servings.
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Couldn’t Resist Those Adult Beverages?
Photo: IKONIX Studio
So, you and Capt. Morgan engaged in a sorrow-drowning affair?
Not the best heart-healing approach perhaps, but there are ways to settle the sloshing and muffle the morning-after throbbing.
Part of the reason your head feels like it’s stuffed with fluff after a night of extreme imbibing is that you’re dehydrated. Yup. There are other factors involved, but who cares about science at a time like this?
You need Hangover Helpers. STAT.
Many old wives’ tales offer hangover remedies. Some scientifically sound. Some, well, maybe not. But why not give ‘em a try?
Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate. We’re not talking about drinking more alcohol, which is a diuretic. We’re talking water, straight up. Hoist one tall glass of water for every adult beverage you consume. Best to consume during party time, but it also helps just before you stumble into bed with that lampshade on your head. Or slurp it down as soon as you’re able to peel your eyes open the morning after. Or knock back some soothing tea laced with ginger. You get a two-fer when you sip ginger tea: Ginger chases away nausea, and the tea helps with that hydration.
Consume ample asparagus. Apparently young asparagus shoots and leaves whomp up the effect of enzymes in your body that break down alcohol. (Asparagus has leaves?) Anyway, the research—in Korea—was done on drunken rats who were given asparagus extract, but still.
Gobble carb-laden foods. This may be a fabled cure, but it works for us. Carbs seem to soak up a lot of whatever’s sloshing around in your stomach. You also could try the mnemonic BRAT treatment suggested for people with, um, gastrointestinal distress. BRAT stands for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast.
Lindsey swears by her hangover cure-all: Fried Rice with Portuguese Sausage.
Fried Rice with Portuguese Sausage
2 Tbsp. oil (divided)
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (remove hot, hot, hot seeds and veins first)
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz. Portuguese sausage (linguica), Andouille, or Polish sausage, coarsely chopped
3 cups cooked rice (leftover…or cooked rice in a pouch)
2 tsp. hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce or fish sauce
Sriracha or hot sauce, optional
4 green onions, sliced
1. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or deep skillet. Add onion, carrot, and jalapeno. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until onion softens. Add garlic, stirring for about 30 secons. Add sausage slice; cook and stir for 3 minutes more.
2. If needed, add remaining oil. Stir in rice, hoisin, and soy sauce. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes more or until rice is heated through. Taste. If desired, splash in Sriracha. Sprinkle with green onions.
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Dark Chocolate and Almond Toffee Crisps
I keep a stash of those crisp little squares—perforated with perfect little holes—for emergencies. A bowl of tomato soup is naked without saltines.
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Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Crust
Photos by Liz Banfield
I am not one to deny food pleasures. But I do realize that ALL pleasure without restraint can be painful. If I eat too many muffins I develop doughy-soft muffin tops that spill over the waistline of my jeans.
However, the holidays are fast approaching and I intend to eat my way through them. Starting with the Knock-Your-Socks-Off Pumpkin Pie. The recipe is from a family of organic dairy farmers in Wisconsin run by 6 sisters, ages 11 through 19. Yup. The Holm Girls Dairy is run by a bevy of diversely talented young beauties who happen to be farmers who get up at dawn and work ’til the cows come home. (The dairy is part of the Organic Valley co-op.)
And they have fun while doing it. I spent some time with the family when they celebrated a harvest feast. It was crowded around the farm table, but that’s what keeps the family close.
The whole Sibling Revelry story is in Organic Gardening magazine and includes other recipes you might want to make room for on your holiday table. But this pumpkin pie recipe with its fresh ginger crust and streusel-pecan topping is not to be missed. (The girls top the pie with freshly whipped cream with cinnamon.)
FYI: I do go into holiday-eating training mode starting…TODAY. I lighten up on most meals so I can indulge a bit when the occasion presents itself. Made veggie-laden beef barley soup last nite. (Stand by for that recipe.)
Knock-Your-Socks-Off Pumpkin Pie
Ginger Pastry (recipe below)
1 15-ounce can organic pumpkin
1 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Streusel Topping
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. On a floured surface, roll Ginger Pastry into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim pastry to 1 inch beyond pie plate. Fold edges under crust. Crimp decoratively, forming high-standing crust (about 1/2 inch above rim of dish). Freeze for 15 minutes.
3. Line crust with foil and then fill with pie weights (dried beans work well). Bake crust 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake another 10 minutes or until crust is set and light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin, cream, sugar, eggs, honey, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt until thoroughly combined. Pour into pre-baked piecrust.
5. Bake pie for about 50 minutes or until it begins to set. Remove from oven and let pie stand for 10 minutes to set slightly. Meanwhile, make Streusel Topping. Sprinkle topping over pie. Return pie to hot oven. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes more or until pie is set and streusel is golden brown.
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie
Ginger Pastry
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fresh ginger root, minced
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice-cold water, plus more as needed
1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, minced ginger root, allspice, and salt.
2. Using a pasty blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. In a small bowl combine egg yolk with 2 tablespoons water.
4. Add yolk mixture to flour mixture; toss with a fork until mixture forms moist clumps. (Add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if dough is too dry.)
5. Form dough into a ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 to 24 hours. Allow dough to sit at room temperature about 10 minutes before rolling into a piecrust.
Makes 1 (9-inch) piecrust
Streusel Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter
1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and ground ginger.
2. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans and crystallized ginger. Sprinkle topping over pie before baking.
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Rum and Coke Chicken Wings
Photos for A Life of Spice by www.veggiebelly.com’s Sala Kannan
I have to admit this is the only good color photo we have of a recipe from our cookbook. Yup. The only photo. Don’t you hate being on a budget?
Anyway, the wings photo was posted on food writer Monica Bhide’s blog, A Life of Spice. She ever-so-kindly plugged Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen and mentioned the Rum and Cola wings after checking them out for herself. Wanna see what Monica wrote? Click here.
When Monica and I originally connected, it was over food, but not literally. She pitched a food story or two to me when I was a full-time editor. Then, when I was laid off, Monica shared tips to ease me into the freelance world. In hindsight, it’s kind of funny. I’ve been a magazine editor/writer for years. I hired freelancers regularly. I knew the drill, yet all of a sudden I was floundering because I WAS LAID OFF. I felt worthless. My career? Gone in one swell foop. I was devastated.
But Monica, a writer I had never met in person, reached out to help, making suggestions and offering support when I was down and almost out. (She has the most mellifluous voice. Just talking to her on the phone is a soothing experience.) She helped me realize that I was still the editor and writer I always had been. Maybe even better, now that I was free of the corporate shackles.
Yup, to quote a cliche: “When one door closes, another opens.” Because I was downsized, our cookbook was born.
And I wanted to include essays of others who had bounced back from heartbreak. So when I heard how Monica Bhide met her husband, I had to include her story in Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen. “Love in the Time of Cardamom” begins: “I was a lonely graduate student in an unfamiliar land.”
In an effort to ease her homesickness, Monica decided to make her mother’s rice pudding. The comfort food spread an enticing aroma that went beyond her apartment and caught the attention of a young graduate student. Monica’s tale tweaks at the heartstrings. Want to read the whole story? Let me know and I just might post it here. Or you can read it in the book.
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Celebrate Hatch Chile Peppers with Stacked Mexican Pizza
Don’t tell anyone, but I really like the Mexican Pizzas at Taco Bell. (Except they don’t cut them into wedges anymore at my nearest drive-through, so how am I supposed to eat and drive?)
In celebration of this weekend’s Hatch Chile Pepper festival in Hatch, New Mexico, I decided to play with a Mexican pizza. But my version is a lot plumper than Taco Bell’s…because I’ve loaded it up with chicken, black beans, and Hatch chiles. I call it: Hatch Chile and Chicken Stacked Pizza. Let me know if you’ve got a better title. This SEO thing is really sucking away my creative juices. It’s breaking my heart…
If you’re in Iowa, the Saturday Downtown Farmers’ Market in Des Moines has a vendor during Hatch season (NOW NOW NOW) who roasts chile peppers before your very eyes. He pops them into plastic bags so the charred skin steams and loosens. Take the bag home, peel off the blackened skin and you’ve got a stash of meaty, mildly spicy chiles. Put them in a fresh freezer bag or two, close tight, and tuck in the freezer until the chile mood strikes.
The vendor “Juan O’Sullivan” is generous with tips, recipes, and advice. What do you do with your Hatches?
Take a peek at Pioneer Woman’s how-to guide to roasting peppers here. Or learn a bit more about Hatch chile in a video by Chef Ida Rodriguez of Melissa’s Farm Fresh Produce.
Hatch Chile and Chicken Stacked Pizza
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon tandoori seasoning or 1 teaspoon cumin plus 1/2 teaspoon coriander
2 cups green enchilada sauce
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts from a deli roast chicken)
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 hatch or Anaheim chile peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Three 8-inch flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
Optional toppings: chopped tomatoes, sour cream, fresh cilantro
Lime wedges (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook onion in hot olive oil over medium heat about 4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and tandoori seasoning; cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the enchilada sauce, the chicken, black beans, tomato, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir for about 5 to 10 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
3. To assemble, spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Arrange one of the tortillas on sauce. Top with half of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.
4. Top with another tortilla and remaining half of chicken mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Top with last tortilla. Spread remaining 1/4 cup green enchilada sauce over tortilla.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through, topping with remaining 1/2 cup cheese during the last 10 minutes of baking. Let stand on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. If desired top with chopped tomatoes, sour cream, and/or cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
2 Responses to “Celebrate Hatch Chile Peppers with Stacked Mexican Pizza”
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Anne Carothers-Kay says:
I am SO trying this next week! It looks yummy.
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Jeanne says:
It’s really good, if I do say so myself. And you know the shortcut, if you don’t have Hatch chile peppers. Just use green chiles from the can!
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Success! They are quite delicious.
Glad you like them, Karen! Happy Valentine’s Day.
33ky
Here’s a link to my version of this cookie: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150603109633069&l=102cf52cb0
Are those cute little red hearts on top easy to find? I’m planning to make these for my son’s preschool class. So cute!
THe red hearts are Wilton’s Jumbo Heart Sprinkles. You should be able to find them at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. Some grocery stores carry them too, but I’ve had better luck at the hobby/craft stores. (Or if you have kitchen stores in your area, they should have them too.)
They are very cute cookies
Grandma would have loved them! She was very proud of you!!
Thanks, Amy. Wish you were here. I’d share! Happy Valentine’s Day…