Stuffed Mushroom Pickles

 Stuffed Mushroom Pickles

I have always hated mushrooms. They are nasty things whose cousins can grow on your feet. They taste like a sponge and are, all around, not a food ingredient. I believed all of this for 36 years because my mother told me so. Turns out the woman lied. Ok, not totally. I am still am not a huge fan, but they are growing on me. No pun intended. To date there are only two ways I will eat a mushroom. One is ground up in a meatball or ravioli. The other is as a pickle. 

I love pickles. I will try just about anything in pickle form. I am not sure why but I found picked, stuffed mushrooms appealing.  I was watching Barefoot Friends (a cheesy, Korean, reality TV show complete with subtitles) and one of the episodes had mushroom pickles.... Stuffed, Mushroom Pickles. This changed the ball game. They looked appealing; this is a first for me. I normally look at a recipe and try to figure out how to remove or replace the mushrooms. But these were different. They were visually stunning.  Unfortunately, this was not a cooking show, there was no recipe. All I knew was that the guy cooking used King Oyster Mushrooms, scallion and peppers….no idea what the pickling spice was. So after a long, drawn out search I found something similar I could adapt to my experiment.

Turns out when all is said and done, these are some delicious pickles, wonderful sliced and thrown in a kimchi soup or a nice ramen soup. I was shocked I liked them since I am texturally handicapped with some foods.They still have a bit of the spongy mushroom texture but the scallion and pepper in the middle give the needed crunch.

I have to admit they look a bit better when stuffed with multiple colors and then sliced after pickling. But either way they are delish. 

So how are they made?

Ingredients:

1lb Package King Oyster Mushrooms

½ cup canola oil

1 tbs sesame oil

1 bunch scallion

1 Orange and yellow Pepper

1 red hot pepper of choice (I skipped the hot pepper in the first batch because I was out, but they are defiantly well worth adding in the second batch)

1 cup Rice wine vinegar

¼ cup Shoyu (soy sauce)

2 cloves garlic

¼ cup sugar

½ cup cider vinegar

Water

Cut the heads off of each mushroom. In a pan heat the oils. Place the mushroom into the hot oil and watch carefully. Turn over as each side gets to a golden brown. When all sides are brown removed and place on a paper towel to drain.

Poke a spoon handle, chopstick or your finger through the stem of the mushroom and stuff with a piece of scallion and a thin slice of all types of pepper. Place into a container and cover with vinegar/sugar/shoyu solution, drop in the cloves of garlic and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 days then eat. I like to slice mine into rounds and add them to all sorts of dishes.

Yes I realize I said they look visually stunning, they did on the show, there were multiple colors inside and they were sliced really pretty. Mine look like the ugly step sisters. Don't let that stop you though. They taste amazing. The pickled bell of the ball. 

Cold Weather Kimchi Three Ways

Cold Weather Kimchi Three Ways

I love Kimchi, just about every type I have tried. Granted, there are over 200 variations and I have tasted about 10, to date the only type I am not fond of is the Pumpkin Kimchi...but then i detest almost everything pumpkin other than jack-o-lanterns.  So I decided to make a few to complement my standard cabbage kimchi. The nice thing is that kimchi lasts a while in the refrigerator, its healthy and great for a grab and go side, a nice fried rice, garnish or addition to soup.

Baby Bok Choy Kimchi

Ingredients

1.5 lb Baby Bok-choy

1/3 cup coarse sea salt

1 large onion, sliced thinly

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

1/4" slice ginger, minced

1 tbs raw sugar

3-4 fresh chili’s

3 tablespoon Fish sauce

2 tbs Gochujang (Korean fermented chili paste)

1/2 cup Korean chili flakes

Directions

1. Rinse the Bok Choy to remove any dirt. Drain well.
2. In a large shallow bowl spread Bok Choy and sprinkle sea salt evenly over. Cover and let it sit for 40 minutes.
3. Rinse the Bok Choy in cold water and drain.
4. Mix ½ the onion, garlic, ginger, sugar, fish sauce, and chili paste in a blender until smooth. Chop the fresh chili into rings and mix with paste. Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add Korean chili flakes, mix well.
5. In a large bowl combine Bok Choy and the sliced onion together. Spread the chili mix through all of the Bok Choy leaves and onion making sure to coat inside and out.
6. Eat as is or let sit for 24 hours on the counter in a covered dish then move to refrigerator.
7. Consume within 2 weeks or so. This is one of those kimchi best served fresh.

Dongchimi (radish water kimchi)

This is literally winter kimchi. It is great stuff, served cold with noodles or some rice. 

Ingredients:

• 5-6 small palm-sized Korean radishes, about 5 pounds’ worth
• ⅓ cup salt
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ts worth of ginger, minced
• 2-3 green chili peppers, stemmed
• 1 cup worth of Korean pear, cut into chunks (can be replaced with 2 sweet pears)
• 3 scallions  washed and drained
• 1 red onion, sliced into pieces ¼ inch thick
• 2 liters (9 cups) of water
• a large glass jar that can hold 6 quarts (6 liters), or 24 cups.

Directions:

1. Wash the radishes thoroughly to remove any dirt. Slice the ends off and peel the radishes.
2. Place ½ cup course salt in a bowl of water and mix until dissolved. Add whole radishes and let sit for 3 hours then remove the radishes and reserve the salt water.
3.  Layer ginger, garlic onion, pear slices, whole chili and other vegetable with radishes inside a large jar. Make a few holes in red and green chili peppers with a fork before you add them for extra heat and flavor or as I did, slice them into rounds
4. Pour in the brine mixture.
5. Close the lid and let it sit at room temperature for 2-3 days until it ferments. When it ferments, the brine will get a little milky and it will taste a little sour. It will also smell sour and some bubbles will float to the surface. At that point, always store it in the refrigerator and take some out whenever want it.

Radish Top Kimchi

This was one of my favorites. I even took it to school and a few of my students were gutsy enough to try it. It went over well. It is spicy, but not overpowering and retains a great crunch.

 

Ingredients

1lbs radish stems

1 tbs sugar

1 cup onion sliced thin

1” ginger, minced

2 tbs garlic minced

2 chili peppers (green or red) sliced into rings

2 tbs Korean chili flakes

4 tbs fish sauce

Glass jar

Water

3/4 cup salt

Prepare the radish leaves

1.      Cut the stems off of Young radish

2.      Cut into pieces about 3 inches long and put them into a big bowl. Rinse well, remove any dirt or grit.

3.      Sprinkle ½ cup of salt over the stems and mix with your hands. Let it sit for 60 minutes (drain and add salt as needed).

4.      Rinse and drain the salted stems thoroughly. Drain in a colander and set aside.

5.      In a bowl dissolve ¼ cup salt with 4 cups of water and set aside.

6.      Combine the remaining ingredients with the drained stems, pack into a glass jar and pour the salt water over top until just covered.

7.      Let sit out on the counter (covered) for 24 hours then move to refrigerator and eat at leisure. It is delicious with rice or soup.

Cheater's Ravioli Two ways:

Cheater's Ravioli Two ways:

 I love ravioli, unfortunately most of the ingredients on the pre-made, frozen variety found in the local super market are unpronounceable. This means my very unpredictable constitution cannot handle such diversity of ingredients. In plain terms, I like to know what is in my food.

What's that you say? Ravioli's are to difficult to make? To time consuming? To much work?  Not when you cheat. There are three wonderful items that make creating a ravioli dinner simpler than you thought. 

1. A cookie dough scoop
2. A blender of some sort
3. A package of Dim sum wrappers (you can use wonton wrappers but they cook a bit translucent)

 I made two kinds, and I made a lot. The dim sum wrappers come in 100 count packages and I made 2 packs worth (they freeze wonderfully for later use, so make a lot).

The first was a vegetarian version stuffed with eggplant tapenade (recipe below) that I had canned over the summer. The second was a pork and smoked apple-wood Gouda stuffed ravioli.  I also made two separate sauces to complement each kind.

 Eggplant Tapenande Filling:

Preheat your oven to 350°

Take the eggplant and cut the ends off. Then slice each in half.

Onions - one large onion per 4 eggplants. 

I used a variety of different types of eggplants for this. What ever you have on hand works.

One head of garlic per two onions

Cut the onions into quarters and just cut the tops off of the garlic heads.

All of this to a baking dish and add some salt and drizzle with olive oil

Place your baking pans in the preheated oven and bake until all vegetables are very soft about 30-40 minutes.

Put the soft vegetables in a food processor and process until you have a paste. Keep going until all of the vegetables have been processed.

Add salt to taste.

Add about a tsp of hot pepper flakes (or more if you like)

Prepare your jars for pressure canning.

Put the "tapenade" in half pint jars leaving 1/2" head space.

Follow the directions of your pressure canner, processing the jars for 85 minutes at 10lbs pressure

When I open the jars I squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice in and stir it in. It really brightens the flavor.

This is not the prettiest food you will ever can but it is tasty.

 To Fill the Ravioli

Thaw the dim sum wrappers and place on a plate. Get your trusty cookie scoop and a paint brush. (A clean, never touched actual paint, brush)

Line a baking pan with wax paper. Have a small bowl of warm water and egg white mixed and ready.

Place one scoop of the tapenade in each dimsum wrapper. Use the brush to put a thin layer of water/egg onto one half of the wrapper edge. Fold the wrapper over carefully pressing to make sure there are no air bubbles. Air bubbles lead to exploding ravioli.

Place in a single layer on the wax paper. At this point they are ready to cook or freeze. I recommend freezing them flat. Then placing them into a baggie for storage. To cook them place into salted boiling water for about 8 minutes. Top with sauce and off you go.

I usually make these while watching a movie. It goes faster. It is a bit time consuming but at least there is no dough to make and when you are finished you have many meals worth.

I served these with my home made pasta sauce.

Pork and Gouda Ravioli

Ingredients:

1lb pork loin, fat removed
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs parmesean
salt/pepper to taste
1 egg
1 scallion
1/2 cup riccotta
1 block of smoked apple-wood Gouda, chunked. 

Reserve the Gouda, then throw all the remaining ingredients in a blender and make a nice pink paste.

To Fill the Ravioli:

Thaw the dim sum wrappers and place on a plate. Get your trusty cookie scoop and a paint brush.

Line a baking pan with wax paper. Have a small bowl of warm water and egg white mixed and ready.

Place one scoop of the pinkish goop in each dim sum wrapper. Add a slice of Gouda about the size of a quarter. Try to not have to many edges or you could poke a hole in your ravioli. (If your really feeling lazy you could just shred and add the Gouda in with the rest of the ingredients.) Use the brush to put a thin layer of water/egg onto one half of the wrapper edge. Fold the wrapper over carefully pressing to make sure there are no air bubbles. Air bubbles lead to exploding ravioli.

Place in a single layer on the wax paper. At this point they are ready to cook or freeze. I recommend freezing them flat. Then placing them into a baggie for storage. To cook them place into salted boiling water for about 8 minutes. Top with sauce and off you go.

I usually make these while watching a movie. It goes faster. It is a bit time consuming but at least there is no dough to make.

I served this with a lemon Parmesan sauce. I would love to share but I honestly don't have a recipe. It involves a lot of butter, a little lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, and some parsley. But I have also eaten them with strait up pasta sauce. Or just a bit of melted butter and lemon. Its good no matter what.

As tasty as most of my posts are (at least to me) I thought I would share a 2 year experiment.  I am all about saving money. I started making everything from scratch for two reasons, one...my intestinal issues cannot take the processed foods, and two....I am cheap. Homemade is often much more economic, especially in bulk. Over time I have made everything from my own version of spices and rubs to dish soap and body wash. Even toilet bombs.  But there were so many different recipes for laundry detergents that I had to work through a few to find the one that worked.

It had to be powder form, liquid is just a storage nightmare.
It could not be scented, I break out in hives.
It had to be cost saving.

Over time this is the recipe I found. It is from Being Creative's site

Now her version lasted 9 months and cost about $20.00, mine lasted about 24 months (but at the time I was the only one using it).

I did tweek the recipe a bit, I suggest you check out the original and try what works for you. 

1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

 

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle

1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

5 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle (if you use Zote bars use 2 bars instead, Zote can be found at Home Depot)

1 huge container of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (5 lbs total )

Sam's Club was great for finding huge amounts. 

or 

You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store.

I grated the naptha soap, and in a large bucket combined all the other ingredients until completely mixed. I use a 2 tbs scoop.

Stuffed Swiss Chard

The farm market by my house never fails to have great produce. This time around they had huge bundles of Swiss chard. This is an under rated green. Beautiful in color, tastes a bit like a mild spinach. It is easy to cook, earthy in taste and versatile. Beautiful, green and fresh. So after looking up about 100 recipes on what to do with it I decided to throw together my own. Turns out my instincts were spot on.

 (yes, this is only ONE stuffed leaf)

Fresh is always best and this recipe is no different. I used non-gmo, fresh ingredients.

1 bunch (about 9 huge leaves) swiss chard.
1 cup rice, raw (I use a mix of sweet short grain and brown rice)
1 cup adzuki beans (canned or pre-soaked)
1 cup diced tomato
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 tbs crushed garlic
3 tsp italian seasonong
1/2 tbs seasoning salt
1/2 lb raw shrimp, pealed, De-veined and minced.
2 cups pasta sauce (I used home made Fra Diavolo)

Remove the leaves from the stems of the Chard. I saved the stems for a nice stir fry later in the week. 
I soaked the beans for roughly 5 hours in water then boiled them for another 40 minutes until tender. While that was cooking I then got out the trusty rice cooker (i cannot cook rice on the stove without burning it). I cooked the rice with the garlic and steamed the chard until pliable at the same time using the handy steamer basket on my rice cooker.

Combine the cooked rice, spices, feta, tomato and beans. Place about 3/4 cup into each large Chard leaf and roll much like you would a stuffed cabbage.

Place into a casserole dish, cover with pasta sauce and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  Serve.

Tofu...fresh made

TOFU from scratch?

If you have read this blog you will have found that I have a relatively new love of tofu. However, I  have an old love of making food from scratch. Going back to basic ingredients is not only healthier, but it tastes better too. I prefer foods that are not overly processed with chemicals or grown by GMO farmers and are certified organic. Because of this I have discovered that many ingredients that I used to purchase to "save time" are simple to make.(it is usually cheaper too) At the end of the time well spent is usually a great reward. Making tofu from scratch was no different.

The hardest part was finding non GMO soy beans. Go on, give it a try. Just about every soy based product seems to be GMO. After an effort I found some and it was well worth the effort. It is much better than the store bought and every part of the process is useful. Nothing goes to waste.

 Where do I get these magic beans you ask? Insert shameless promotion here:

Bob's Red Mill is certified organic, this means NO GMO soy.

Now to the good stuff...

Tofu

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of dry soy beans and 2 TBSP of Epsom Salt.
• Instead of Epsom Salt, you can use 3tbs of lemon juice.

Equipment:

• Food processor or blender,
•  2 large pots, 
• 1 colander, 
• 1 strainer, 
•  cheesecloth. 

Process:

• Soak the dry soy beans over night in the refrigerator. They will expand so make sure to give the plenty of room and water.
• Rinse the soaked beans and discard any discolored ones if you spot any.
• Blend a little at a time with enough water to cover the beans. 
• Add the processed beans to your largest pot with 12 additional cups of water.
• Stir frequently and simmer for about 20 minutes. This will foam up a bit so be careful not to let it boil over. 
• Strain into your second pot. Use a spoon to press out as much of the milk as you can. The liquid is soy milk. The solids are okara. (Don't toss this! Its good. Hang on till the end to find out more about Okara.)
  
  (I took out a jar of soy milk for drinking and cooking at this point and continue making the rest into tofu.)
• heat the soy milk back up to around 180 degrees. 
• Dissolve 2 TBSP of Epsom Salt in 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water.
  (Alternatively you could use 75ml of lemon juice.)
• Remove from heat and gently stir together.
• In about 5 to 10 minutes the curds will separate.
• Use your cheese cloth and place in a mold. Skim out curds and pour into mold.
• Press down with a small plate and heavy object.
• Leave for about 20 minutes. Refrigerate and eat.

Okara:

Now...what is Okara you ask? No it is not a miss spelling of Okra. It is a useful byproduct of making tofu. Why should I keep it? Okara is the left over soy bean that did not dissolve into the water. It is great stuff. Want a healthier cookie? Replace 1/2 the flour with okara. Bread? sure why not. Out of bread crumbs for your meat balls? Okara will work. Get the idea? You can freeze it as is, or do like I do and stick it in your dehydrator. It will form into a bark that you can then grind up into a course powder.

The great thing about this recipe is that nothing goes to waste. It is a definite kitchen winner. 

Last Easter

Rainbow Eggs

Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue, I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow.....

Hi, my name is Keldra and I am an addict. I am addicted to Pinterest. I have looked at pretty flowers, creative foods and for Easter (yes I realize it is June and I am just NOW posting this...what can I say. I was lazy). I decided to try a Pinterest find that I thought my 4 year old nephew would love. Rainbow deviled eggs. They were fun to make. They were gorgeous to look at. They were delicious to taste....but the boy still wouldn't eat them. Apparently he doesn't eat eggs.  Oh well. The rest of the family loved them. Can't please everyone, particularly picky toddlers.

Not only pretty but tasty.

Ingredients.
1 dozen eggs
2 tbs Mayo
1tbs horseradish
1 tbs sour cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
food coloring set
paprika (optional)
Scallion (optional)

Procedure:

• Carefully place eggs in water, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and remove from water. Place into cold water to stop cooking process. Peal and cut in half. Remove the yolk and place in a blender with everything except scallion and paprika.  Blend until smooth and place blended mix in a zip lock bag. Set aside. 
• Fill up 6 cups or bowls with 1 cup Luke warm water in each.
• Place a few drops of each color into its own cup. Mix to make green, orange and purple.
• Add 2-3 egg white halves to each cup. Then go watch TV for 20 minutes or so. 
• Check the color. If its not dark enough add a bit more coloring and leave it in for another 5 minutes. 
• When desired color is reached removed and rinse. Pat the halves dry with a towel (this is important or you get slimy eggs)
• Cut the tip off a bottom corner of the zip lock bag and squeeze the mixture into each egg half. Top with a sprinkle of paprika and a bit of scallion.   Serve.

Rutabaga Hash

 Rutabaga Hash

Lets face it, in the winter potatoes are pricey and I am cheap. A bag of spuds costs 3-5 dollars and with it just being me...half the time they rot before I can eat them all. To buy the tuber by the pound is even worse. But rutabaga's are cheaper ugly cousin. Most stores do not have a bunch in stock. These sad looking veggies look like little purple and white softballs that no one loved. They are waxy on the outside, hard at a rock on the inside. But they are cheap and when cooked right, tasty. And they can do anything their more expensive neighbor the potato can do. One really large rutabaga runs about $1.00 and can work for 2-3 meals. You can do anything with a rutabaga that you can do with a potato. If you have ever taken a look at this large wax covered rock of a vegetable and ran screaming in the other direction, keep in mind...they are not scary at all. Think of them as the potato's fat, homely cousin. You can turn it into:

• soups
• chips
• mashed
• fries
• hash

The list is only as short as your imagination.

I went with Hash.

Ingredients:
1 cup diced rutabaga
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup crisped chicken bacon
1/2 tbs butter
1/4 cup broth or water

Put the water in a skillet with the rutabaga cubes and cook covered over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until fork tender. Drain excess water and add the butter, onion and chicken. Stirring constantly so it does not stick cook for another 5 or so minutes (until the onions are clear and the rutabaga browns on the edges)

Canning Season has begun!

Once again canning season is upon us. And just in time. I am down to my last jar of pasta sauce. I made 40 jars last year and it was not enough. I am totally out of salsa, pickles, and many other staples. Time to can. Like always I started in my back yard (only this year I did not plant anything, turns out I hate gardening). I have a rhubarb plant that was given to me by a friend. It goes gangbusters each year. I normally give most of it away, make a pie or two....but this year...its time for Rhubarb & Ginger jam and Rhubarb pickles.

(pretend you see a picture here...i cannot find the camera cord)

Rhubarb Ginger Jam

5 cups fresh Rhubarb - diced

4 T. lime juice

4 t. lemon zest

2 cup water

4 T. fresh ginger

2.5 cup sugar
2-3 mint leaves

Pectin (i used the low sugar kind, just follow the directions on how much)

Combine all ingredients in a thick bottomed pot and cook until rhubarb is tender and falling apart. Place the mint leave on top and let them cook with everything else (remove when it is time to blend) Let it cool and put in the  blender, continue to breakdown the rhubarb till smooth.  Put it back in the pot. Cook on high for 5 to 7 minutes or until it thickens to the gel point. 

Sterilize canning jars. You will need 5-6 half pints, lid, and rings. Ladle the hot recipe into the hot jars, clean the rim, add lids and rings. Process the jars 10 minutes in the water bath. Remove and set jars on the counter overnight undisturbed to set. 

I am not a huge fan of sweet jellies or jams, but this is more sweet/tart. I was licking the spoon. 

I adapted this recipe from:

Canning Homemade!

Rhubarb Pickles

(pretend you see a picture here...i cannot find the camera cord)

I can take no credit for the rhubarb pickles I admit that I found this recipe on Tall Clover Farm's website and decided to try it.  Turned out great. I do think my next batch might include about a 1/2 cup more sugar and some ginger for fun but they are lovely.

Lacquered Pork (Momofuku Bo Ssam)

Lacquered Pork (Momofuku Bo Ssam)  

I think I have mentioned my love of easy to make dishes. I also have a love of pork (who doesn't), and I love Asian style foods.  This dish is the best of all three. It has minimum preparation and piggy goodness. Pop it in the oven and ignore it for hours. Then Serve. Its perfect for when you want to impress your guests with something that looks as if you slaved all day to make.

This is also a great recipe to make for a family dinner, shred and eat or freeze for grab and go meals. 

Ingredients

3-5 lb bone in pork shoulder
1/3 cups white sugar
1/3 cup salt
1/8 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup brown sugar

Procedures

Combine sugar, salt and garlic in a small bowl. Score the fat on the pork shoulder. Rub sugar mixture into the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, drain liquid from the meat.  Heat oven to 300 degrees.  Cook, covered for 5 hours.  Remove meat from the oven, increase oven temperature to 425. Coat the meat with brown sugar and return it to the oven, cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until sugar caramelizes.  Serve with rice on lettuce leaves.

Note- I have made this multiple times. It always turns out fabulous. I have even played with the recipe slightly by cutting small slits in the meat and stuffing 5-10 1/2 cloves of garlic into the meat or a mix of garlic and fresh ginger sliced very thin. Every version turns out wonderful. 

This goes great with a little of the Yongnomjeong sauce recipe I posted a while back.I make an Asian coleslaw and serve it as a lettuce wrap or type of Asian style taco.

To make leftovers into steamed buns-

Shred and dice the one pound lacquered pork. In a separate bowl combine:

2 shallots (finely diced)

2 chopped spring onion
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon cornflour

2 tbs honey
½ tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine (mirin works in a pinch)

½ teaspoon five spice powder

1/4 teaspoon ginger, grated

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or pan.
2. Add diced pork to the wok/pan and stir then add spring onions and shallot, cook for 1 minute.
3. Add hoisin, soy sauce, honey, wine, ginger, 5 spice powder, oyster sauce and sesame oil to the pork mixture, stir fry for one minute.
4. Mix corn flour and stock together and then add to the pork mixture.
5. Stir well and keep cooking until the mixture thickens, 1 or 2 minutes.
6. Remove mixture from wok/pan and place in a bowl to cool. Set aside until ready to use.
7. Thaw rice bun dough (i cheat and buy it), roll out into 3” rounds and place 2-3 tbs meat mixture onto each round. Pinch dough closed around meat and place in steam basket. Steam 10-15 minutes until done.

 

Cilantro Jalapeno Chicken aka the perfect pot luck dish.

Cilantro Jalapeno Chicken:

 aka the perfect pot luck dish. 

I am always at a loss as to what to bring to pot luck dinners.  Making salad is a bit of an easy out, there are always too many desserts, never enough main courses. But who wants to prepare a difficult meal, pack it to go and hope it survives the trip? Especially when it has to be re-heated. I usually go for the side dish. My standard is a dish of  mixed boil in a bag rice, a can of diced chili's, a can of beans, a can of diced tomato's and some taco mix. It's a standard dump and go dish that's cheap, feeds many and easy to make on site.  I love easy, I particularly love cheap, easy and quick. However it was always lacking in something. So I kept looking. That's when I found this dish. It's not overly expensive. It makes a ton and it's a standard dump and go that reheats well.  This dish is perfect and a real crowed pleaser.

It also looks really pretty if you make it in a bunt pan. Or as I did in little individual bunt pans.

Cilantro Jalapeno Chicken

Don't let the name fool you. There is just a bit of heat. The Jalapeno's are just for flavor and boy o' boy does this have great flavor.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked rice
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• 1 lb diced chicken breast meat
• 1 can (12 ounces)  evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon diced pickled jalapenos, or fresh if you have them

• 1 tbs Garlic Powder
• Salt to taste

Garnish (optional)- sour cream and whole jalapeno rings

Procedure 

Heat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except garnish.  Spread into a large casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Garnish if desired.