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Chicken Tortilla Torta with Poblano/Spinach Cream Sauce

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Since Gooch has been gone, Chloe's been asking us about fostering or adopting and this opportunity came Saturday after her second Lemonade Triathlon in Jonesboro....this is a beagle/schnauzer mix that's 6 weeks old and Chloe's named her Beezuz....and she's NOT HOUSE TRAINED....just sayin...

I'm so lucky that Chloe spends most of her time on National Geographic, PBS Nature and Animal Planet instead of iCarly and other shows....she took this from my tv this morning....love it...

I have to say I took a photo of Terry's cookbook so I wouldn't have to copy his fabulous recipe...you've gotta get his cookbook.

The chicken, poblanos etc...

The poblano cream sauce, delish...be sure to add your hit of heat, we needed japs and a tablespoon, at least of Asian chile paste... it may be bland for most of ya'll...




Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Since Jackie's back from eating out in Omaha at the College World Series, I thought I'd make another recipe from Fresh, Lake Austin Spa, Terry Conlan.  I had a poblano pepper, cilantro that needed to be used (and man I wish Cilantro would last longer, it hates hot days), spinach and corn tortillas that were calling my name.  I think it's time for me to slim down my pantry since I had a freezer scare last week.  I gotta treat my pantry like I packed for the overseas trip.  I need to fit it all in the bag that goes in the overhead bin, just sayin.

Here goes, I love this recipe, I will take a moment and say it takes an hour to prepare, which disgusts me because of my time limits, but it's Wednesday so I love to be in the kitchen.  Spice up the cream sauce with japs, Asian chile paste or even cayene.  The recipe:

"Stacking the tortillas gives this dish a presentational panache rolled enchiladas do not achieve.  You can completely assemble the tortillas and filling (without the sauce) in advance, if you choose.  Simply wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and microwave until warm when you are ready to serve."

12 oz. boneless chicken breasts, I use organic, and only did 2 breasts for Jackie and me
1/2 c. sliced onion
1 garlic clove, chopped, I used 2
6 black peppercorns
1/2 t. salt, I skipped
2 poblano chiles, I had one and substituted a green bell from the garden
1 tomato, I used two roma's from Hays, my tomato plants don't have a bunch yet
12 oz. fresh spinach leaves, I used one box of frozen
1-1/2 C. sliced onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped, I used 2
1 t. masa harina de maiz or flour, I used masa
1 oz. fat free and 1 oz. low fat cream cheese, I used 2 oz. regular
1 t. cumin
1/2 C. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 t. fresh lime juice, I used lemon, Hays was outta limes yesterday
1/3 C. fat free sour cream, I skipped this
2 T. skim milk, I skipped this
8 corn tortillas, I used 4 since I'm serving 2 peeps

Combine the chicken, 1/2 cup onion, 1 garlic clove, peppercorns and salt in a saucepan over medium meat, add enough water to cover and bring to a simmer and cook gently, skimming as necessary, for about 20 minutes or until the chicken so cooked through.  Remove the pan from the heat and allow the chicken to cool int he broth.  Remove and shred the chicken; set aside.  Strain the broth, reserving the liquid and discarding the solids and return the broth to the saucepan over high heat and boil until the stock is reduced to 1-1/4 cups.  Blister the skins of the poblano chiles over an open flame or under a broiler and place them in a paper bag and close tightly and set aside for 10 minutes and remove the childes, peel, seed and cut into strips.  Cut an X in the bottom of the tomato and blanch in boiling water in a saucepan for 30 seconds, peel, seed and dice the tomato.  Blanch the spinach in boling water in a saucepan for 30 seconds and drain and squeeze dry, I skipped this, thawed the frozen spinach, drained and squeezed dry.  Saute the 1-1/2 cups sliced onions with nonstick cooking spray in a nonstick skillet until they are soft.  Remove 1/2 the onions and combine with the spinach in a blender and add the cumin, cilantro and 1/2 the chiles.  Puree and set aside.  Add the tomato, 1 garlic clove, chicken and remaining chiles to the onions in the skillet and season with salt and pepper.  Saute over medium heat for 1 minute and set aside and keep warm.  Combine the chicken stock and masa harina in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring constantly until slightly thickened and add the cream cheese and cook stirring constantly until the cheese melts.  Pour the sauce into the spinach mixture and process on slow speed until mixed, add the lime juice and taste and correct the seasonings (this is where I'd add the asian chile paste and some japs).  Combine the sour cream and skim milk in a squeeze bottle and shake to mix well.  Warm the tortillas and place1 tortilla on each of the 4 plates and top them with the chicken mixture and arrange another tortilla over the top of the chicken and add the spinach sauce over the tortillas. Drizzle a design on the top with the the sour cream mixture (I skipped this).  **My tip is to add 1 T. Asian chili paste and 1/4 C jalapenos to the dish to spice it up, it is somewhat "bland" so with these two additions, you should be good to go!  Adding some black beans also is a great idea.

I promise to finish blogging the trip...I'm just now getting caught up on the Midsouth Kids Triathlon we're having in Wynne on August 20...the USAT sanction application was due June 20 as well as Farmfest two weeks ago, Chloe's Lemonade Triathlon last weekend, Stella's Birthday, Memorial Day weekend bike ride...it's been, and will continue to be, a fast and furious summer.  I've added pictures of Chloe's new puppy Beezuz and we're fostering a dog that looks exactly like Biscuit but yellow.  What a summer so far....

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