Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Posted by: Annie

Finally the temperatures have started to drop and I can annoy people around me by loving the cold. I can also make soup. This soup was a major hit in my house. We are notorious for never eating our leftovers, but every drop of this soup was finished. Also, besides being delicious this soup is healthy!

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic

1 tablespoon bottled grated ginger (I could not find this in a bottle, so I finely grated a fresh piece of ginger)

2 stalks fresh lemongrass, peeled (I also could not find this ingredient. I was at the mercy of Fresh Grocer by my work so I omitted this ingredient)

2 cups water

2 (14 oz) cans fat-free, less sodium chicken broth

1 pound chicken breast tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta (I probably added a little more than 4 oz, but just remember to add more broth if you want a nice broth to noodle ratio)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 red chile pepper, finely chopped (I used half of a chile pepper)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Saute garlic, ginger, and lemongrass (or not, in my case) for three minutes.  Stir in water and broth, and bring to a boil.  Once the water/broth combination has reached a boil, add in chicken and pasta.  Cook for an additional five minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.  Remove from heat (at this point I dumped the contents of my skillet into a big soup pot for easier stirring) and stir in the remaining ingredients.  Let stand 5 minutes and discard lemongrass (if used).

Source

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Posted by: Maggie

Thanks to my love for pumpkin, another key fall flavor has been unfairly neglected here on A Bitchin' Kitchen.  I decided to bake something with apple to help make our quickly growing collection of fall recipes more well rounded.

While browsing through the archives of one of my favorite baking blogs - Visions of Sugar Plum, I came across the recipe for Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies, and immediately knew it was the fall recipe I was looking for. 

I was a bit worried about finding dried apples, but I was able to track them down in the baking aisle at Harris Teeter (not with the raisins, or the other dried fruits in produce as I had originally suspected).  Funny story, while at the grocery store picking up ingredients for these cookies, I knocked over an economy sized glass jar of applesauce, broke it, and then ran away from the scene of the crime.  Who does that? It's like I immediately regressed to being a 5 year old and was afraid of telling an employee that I made a mess.  I feel like I should send them a batch of these delicious cookies to apologize.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup apple sauce (I used sweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup finely chopped dried apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and then stir in oats.

In a large bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and applesauce on medium speed until creamy.  Add in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low, and beat in oat mixture.  Stir in pecans, butterscotch, and apples until combined.

Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets about an inch apart.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheets, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

*Note - I almost always chill cookie dough for 30 minutes or so before baking, but I found it to be unnecessary with these.  They don't spread much at all, and I ended up rolling the dough into small balls and slightly flattening them to get a nicely shaped cookie. 

Beef Enchiladas

Posted by: Maggie

One of the many great things about having Jeff in my life is that I feel more inclined to make labor intensive or time consuming recipes for dinner.   It never seems quite worth it to cook something that takes longer than 30 minutes when I'm the only one eating it.  Fortunately, Jeff is a willing guinea pig when it comes to my cooking endeavors.  I'm also fortunate that he's patient, since we did not start dinner on Friday until 8:50 since these (worth the wait) enchiladas took Sooooo. Stinkin'. Long.

This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, which my lovely sister and co-blogger Annie gave to me for Christmas.  You can also find the recipe online here.

It's easy to adjust this recipe to your desired spiciness since it calls for canned green chilies and red sauce, both of which are usually available in mild, medium, or hot.  I used mild stuff, but ended up dousing my portion in Tabasco, so next time I make these I'll probably use spicier ingredients. 

Here's what you'll need:

For the sauce...
1 T canola oil
1 T all-purpose flour
1 can (28 oz) enchilada or Mexican red sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 T chopped cilantro

For the meat...
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 whole medium onion, finely diced
2 4 oz. cans diced green chilies
1/2 t salt

For the tortillas... 
10-14 corn tortillas
1/2 cup canola oil

For assembly...
3 cups grated cheddar
1/2 cup chopped black olives (I left these out because Jeff doesn't like olives, but I think they would be delicious if you use them!)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional, for garnish)

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives (if using), and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. If desired, sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving. Serve with sour cream and Mexican rice, and enjoy!