Name: Make-Ahead White Chicken Enchiladas
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, seeded, quartered, and sliced; 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced; 2 tablespoons flour; 1 cup heavy cream; 1/2 cup sour cream; 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded and divided; salt and pepper to taste; 2 cups shredded chicken (I used smoked chicken, which was a fantastic idea); 8-ounce can salsa verde, divided; 8 corn tortillas; toppings: sour cream, chopped cilantro, avocado

White Chicken Enchiladas (Make-Ahead)

March 20, 2015

White chicken enchiladas are a great make-ahead meal. You’ll be over the moon knowing creamy enchiladas are waiting in your fridge at the end of the day!

White chicken enchiladas are one of those meals that threaten to make me crazy, only because I’m such a perfectionist when it comes to my cooking. I’ve told you guys about my food tantrums, right? Well, I’m a grown-up and I’ve told myself that having food tantrums is ridiculous, but when I make enchiladas all bets are off. Now, if I cook the tortillas for a few seconds in oil to soften them, they won’t break…but let’s be real. Who has time for that?

So, when I made these and heated the tortillas in the microwave I held my breath and hoped for the best. As you can see…they broke. And I almost threw in the towel and stopped taking photos of this dish because broken tortillas. Then, however, I remembered that the people who read my blog are real people who also break tortillas and this is not Food and Wine paying me to get glamour shots of the enchiladas. Because let’s be honest…food photos are about lies. If you see pretty enchiladas in a picture, they have probably been fabricated in some way very different from the way that you would actually make enchiladas in your own kitchen. So I’m here to tell you: Chattavore makes real food in a real kitchen. I promise not to get too real…I’ll always wipe the crumbs off the counter before I take a picture!

These may not look pretty, but the beauty in these white chicken enchiladas lies in the fact that you can cook up all the components when you have about 20 extra minutes (assuming you have some shredded chicken stored away somewhere, which I usually do), put everything in the fridge, and then assemble and bake. Perfect for a night when those 20 extra minutes might put you over the edge on time. There’s nothing like coming home and knowing that dinner is in the fridge, almost ready.

Oh, and the other beautiful thing about these white chicken enchiladas is how great they taste. Honestly, I am not a fan of the usual red enchiladas. Enchiladas always look and sound so good when I see them on a restaurant menu, but then I’m always disappointed when I order them because they’re so….meh. These though? These are not meh, not at all.

So, if coming home to almost ready to eat white chicken enchiladas waiting for you in the fridge is your idea of a great evening, you should definitely make these. You will not be sad that you did.

Yield: 4 servings

Make-Ahead White Chicken Enchiladas

10 minPrep Time:

45 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, seeded, quartered, and sliced
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded and divided
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded chicken (I used smoked chicken, which was a fantastic idea)
8-ounce can salsa verde, divided
8 corn tortillas
toppings: sour cream, chopped cilantro, avocado

Instructions

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until beginning to turn translucent. Add the bell pepper and jalapeño and cook until tender.
Sprinkle the flour over the cooked vegetables. Cook and stir for one minute. Add the cream and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream and 1/4 of the cheese until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a covered bowl and store in the refrigerator.
Combine the chicken with half of the salsa verde. Pour the remaining salsa into a bowl and store in the refrigerator. Wrap the tortillas in paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds.
Place 1/4 cup of the chicken and a tablespoon of cheese into each tortilla and carefully roll up (some of them will probably break, but that’s okay!). Arrange the tortillas in 2-2.5 quart oblong baking dish. Cover and store in refrigerator. Place the remaining cheese in a bag or covered bowl and store in refrigerator.
To finish the dish: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the sauce in the microwave or a small saucepan until it reaches a pourable consistency. Spread over the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is browned. Serve immediately topped with remaining salsa and other desired toppings.

https://chattavore.com/make-ahead-white-chicken-enchiladas/

Click here to print the recipe for make-ahead white chicken enchiladas!

Cheesy Corned Beef Hash (Leftovers)

March 18, 2015

There is no better way to use up your St. Patrick’s Day corned beef than cheesy corned beef hash. Top it with a fried egg for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Who’s tired of me talking about corned beef (raises own hand)? Sorry. You can’t make corned beef without making corned beef hash, and aside from Reubens, I can’t think of any better way to use up St. Patrick’s Day leftovers than corned beef hash (well, these boxties were pretty good). There’s nothing better than the kind of leftovers that only get better the longer they sit in the fridge, and corned beef fits the bill.

I’m a big fan of making hashes of all sorts for dinner…leftover ham and sweet potatoes? Let’s make a hash out of it. Leftover roast beef and carrots? Um, hello, hash? Heck, even chicken and broccoli mix pretty fantastically into a hash. The truth is, if you cook up a little onion, some vegetables, and some meat in a pan and throw a runny egg on top, you really can’t go wrong.

I don’t always put cheese in my hash, but when I asked Philip if he thought I should put some cheese in this corned beef hash, he pointed out that cheese is never a bad thing. Well, rarely, anyway…I suppose there are some things you should probably leave cheese out of. But it was definitely a good idea here, especially with some rye toast. And you guys, we used up every single bit of our leftover corned beef, which is always a good thing. This meal came together in less than 30 minutes, not counting the time it took for the potatoes to cook in the microwave (you could definitely use the leftovers from the slow cooker corned beef and cabbage, but ours had been sitting the fridge for a few days and I hate the way potatoes taste after days in the refrigerator. By the way, if you hate cabbage, like I know a lot of people do, feel free to leave it out.

Do you like to use your leftovers to make hash? What are your favorite ingredients to use? If you have corned beef, do me a favor and make this cheesy corned beef hash!

Yield: 4 servings

Leftovers: Cheesy Corned Beef Hash

10 minPrep Time:

20 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter, bacon fat, or olive/canola oil (I used bacon fat)
1 medium onion, chopped
5 medium red potatoes, baked and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (or use leftovers from slow cooker corned beef and cabbage)
2 cups finely shredded cabbage or leftovers from from the slow cooker corned beef and cabbage (I used Fresh Express angel hair cole slaw)
2 cups leftover corned beef - cut into 1/2 inch cubes
salt and pepper
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
4 fried or poached eggs (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the butter, bacon fat, or oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the potatoes and corned beef and stir to combine. Press the hash with a spatula and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes, until browned.
Carefully turn the hash over and press down again. Continue cooking and pressing until mostly browned, then stir in the cabbage and cook until softened. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Top the hash with the cheese and allow to cook for a minute or two so the cheese begins to melt. Divide among 4 plates and top each plate with a fried or poached egg, if desired. Serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/leftovers-cheesy-corned-beef-hash/

Click here to print the recipe for cheesy corned beef hash!

Waffle Casserole with Sausage

February 25, 2015

Sausage and waffle casserole is everything you might imagine – waffles, sausage, eggs, cheese, and maple syrup. And amazing.

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Sausage and waffle casserole sounds like the stuff of dreams, at least to me. I mean, who doesn’t love a breakfast casserole? Whether it’s traditional, like my grandmother’s egg soufflé or a twist on a much more time consuming dish like French toast casserole, breakfast casseroles give the cook the freedom to spend time with their family or their houseguests while breakfast (or dinner, if you want to get really wacky) cooks.

When I first saw a recipe for a casserole made with sausage, waffles, eggs, cheese, and maple syrup in The Cook’s Country Cookbook, I knew they were on to something. I made the casserole, following their advice to use six Eggo waffles, stacking the waffles, whole, into the baking dish, and using maple sausage, which the recipe called for. Oh, and 1 1/4 cups of milk to six eggs.

All of the above turned out to be a mistake. We decided to make the waffles from scratch, but if you don’t want to put that much time and effort into it, go by weight (or at least estimate the weight by the amount in the box). There just wasn’t enough waffle in my casserole to soak up all that liquid from the eggs, the milk, and the syrup. But whoa, that’s a lot of milk…so I decided to scale that back too. And maple sausage…doesn’t taste that great. The maple syrup that I whisked into the eggs added enough maple flavor that I decided skip any artificial flavoring. Just go with regular sausage.

Second time around with this sausage and waffle casserole was much better. We put it together on Friday night, pulled it out of the refrigerator when we got out of bed on Saturday, and watched television while it baked. Is that the perfect weekend breakfast or what?

So if you need something to serve at your next brunch or family holiday breakfast, or really whenever, give this sausage and waffle casserole a go!

Mary

Yield: 4-6 servings

Sausage and Waffle Casserole

40 minPrep Time:

2 hrCook Time:

2 hr, 40 Total Time:

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Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds waffles (I used homemade); torn into 1-2 inch pieces (if using frozen waffles, thaw first)
1 pound breakfast sausage
unsalted butter for buttering the pan
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups or 3/4 of an 8-ounce package) cheddar cheese, shredded
6 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup!!!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the waffle pieces onto a baking sheet. Bake for 30-60 minutes, until dried out but not browned. While the waffles are toasting, brown the sausage and drain away any excess fat.
Increase oven temperature to 325 degrees. Butter an 8×8 inch pan. Place the waffle pieces into the pan. Spread the browned sausage over the top of the waffles then follow with the cheese.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Pour over the casserole. Cover with foil. Place a small plate on top of the casserole and weight with a heavy can. Let sit for 25 minutes. Alternately, you can make the casserole the night before and leave it in the refrigerator overnight, in which case you do not need to weight it. If you do this, take it out of the refrigerator 25 minute before you plan to cook it.
Remove the foil from the top of the pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Turn the oven to broil until the top of the cheese has browned. Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes before serving.

Notes

Cook time includes time to toast the waffles.

https://chattavore.com/sausage-and-waffle-casserole/

Click here to print the recipe for sausage and waffle casserole!

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My Grandmother’s Egg Soufflé

January 22, 2012

My grandmother’s egg soufflé is really a traditional breakfast casserole. It’s super-simple to make and it’s an über-delicious crowd pleaser!

All right, when I say “egg soufflé”, I realize that sounds redundant. You’re probably picturing a big, round, fluted souffle dish with a tall tower of fluffy egg climbing out of the top, right? Okay, stop. Because that is not to whence I am referring. No, no….my grandmother’s egg soufflé is a breakfast casserole with a fancy(ish) name.

If you’ve read my post “Why I Cook“, you know that my grandmother was probably the greatest influence on my love of and fascination with food. She cooked dinner nearly every night and was a very precise cook. She had several dishes that I would consider her “signature dishes”, things that I can’t eat without thinking of her. This is definitely one of them. When I was growing up, we only ate this once a year, on Christmas morning. Every Christmas morning, I could be assured that we would eat egg soufflé and Pillsbury orange danishes. There’s a funny story about this casserole, too. When someone would pass away, my grandmother knew that most people taking food to the family would not think about breakfast, so this was what she always took to the family. It was a secret recipe, and she didn’t share it with anyone but family members, whom she assumed would keep the secret, well, a secret. Unfortunately, her mother, my great-grandmother, apparently was unaware that this recipe was a secret….and she published it in her church cookbook. My grandmother was not happy.

I wonder how she’d feel about me sharing it on the internet. I hope she’d be okay with it….and I hope that, while the recipe is not 100% true to her original, she’d be proud that I’ve made it my own. It’s the best breakfast casserole I’ve ever had, and I hope that you’ll try it, in honor of my grandmother Betty. By the way, this is a “make-ahead” recipe that needs to sit overnight, so it’s great for special occasions, so you don’t have to slave over the oven.

The casserole is best when it has a little time to set before you serve it. The bread really soaks up the egg, and the combination of the warm, soft, eggy bread, the sharp cheese, and the spicy sausage is perfection. I don’t make this very often, but every time I do, it makes me appreciate a little bit more the gift that my grandmother gave me just by being in the kitchen every night. It’s almost like having her here every time I make her egg soufflé!

Yield: 6-8 servings

My Grandmother’s Egg Souffle

15 minPrep Time:

1 hrCook Time:

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Ingredients

1 pound bulk breakfast sausage or breakfast sausage links
6 slices white sandwich bread, crusts cut off, cubed
8 ounces (2 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Cook the sausage until fully cooked. If using links, cut into 1-inch pieces.
Arrange the bread crumbs in an 8x8 inch baking dish. Evenly distribute the sausage over the top, then the cheese.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour over the bread, sausage, and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, remove the casserole from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes with the foil on, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/my-grandmothers-egg-souffle/

Click here to print the recipe for my grandmother’s egg soufflé!

My grandmother's egg soufflé is really a traditional breakfast casserole. It's super-simple to make and it's an über-delicious crowd pleaser! | chattavore.com

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