Chicken and Cheese Topped Biscuits

It sounds crazy, right? When I first thought of doing it, I thought I'd lost my marbles.

As you may already know, I am an avid Pinterest browser. I have been seeing all these recipes pop up for all kinds of things made in muffin tins. There's been individual meatloaves, taco shells, lasagna cups...just about everything you could think of.  Then, I thought of something else.

I hadn't been able to figure out what to do with some leftover cilantro lime chicken that I had taken out of my freezer. Originally, I planned on doing chicken burritos, but my husband said he really wasn't in the mood for a burrito. Well that just burst my bubble.

I began perusing the refrigerator to see what else I could make when I see that my sneaky hubby bought refrigerated biscuits. (If you know anything about me, you know that I hate buying packaged foods.)

Out of spite and a little inspiration, I decided to try something a little funky.

Chicken and Cheese Topped Biscuits

1 can Pillsbury biscuits

leftover chicken, shredded

shredded cheddar

taco seasoning ( I used my own blend)

Preheat oven to 450F degrees. Remove a biscuit from the can and flatten in your palm.  You may stretch it slightly as well to best create a bit of a cup in the pan.  Lay biscuit disc in bottom of muffin tin and allow it to form to the sides. In center of biscuit cup, layer chicken, cheddar, and seasoning. Do this for the remainder of the biscuits to fill your muffin pan.

Place in oven and allow to cook for 10-12 minutes. These will be extremely hot due to the melted cheese, so please be careful when removing them from the pan. 

We garnished with a little sour cream and salsa to spice it up.

Yields 10 biscuits. (Your can's capacity)

Reality's Cooking!

So, here's the thing.  My little sister is on Summer break from college.  She lives with me when she's not living on the university campus.

She begged me to start watching a couple of her favorite shows with her:  Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef.  Admittedly, I didn't want to watch them.  I had no desire to see a boss - in this case Gordon Ramsay - shout obscenities at their crew; I got enough of that in retail and don't feel the slightest twinge of want to watch it happen over and over again.

Surprisingly enough, it's been oddly uplifting.


Don't get me wrong, I still don't like seeing people get verbally abused, but to see trained professionals in Hell's Kitchen burn and undercook items, gives me hope for my amateurish attempts.  I actually found myself speaking to the boneheads for not knowing what they are doing.  For example, on tonight's episode, a chef did not know the ingredients for a California Cobb Salad.  There was an example sitting not far away, and yet he added an abundance of sliced white button mushrooms that should not have been there in the first place.

Ugh!

What's crazier still, is that the menu doesn't seem to change.  Retention in these chefs is sorely lacking. Another chef had cooked scallops perfectly during one challenge and yet ever since then, she can't seem to cook a single one correctly. I don't get it.  Maybe it's the pressure of the situation, but in this instance the old cliche rings true.  "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Here's the Kitchenista herself!  Anna!

On Master Chef things are a bit sweeter, for the time-being.  We're just getting to know a few of the amateur chefs.  They were just whittled down to eighteen, including one very tall gentleman, a blind woman, and a single mom.  One woman in particular, touched my heart.  I found her recipe for Tarragon Beef Stuffed Onion Wrap with Shallot Vinaigrette and Horseradish Creme from this evening's episode rather intriguing.  I Googled it to see if anyone else had a similar recipe and was pleasantly surprised to find that she has a blog called "Brave Apron".  She's so adorable, and I find myself really pulling for her.  Her husband was a contestant in the beginning two stages, but sadly he didn't make it through.  He's a sweetie as well, but you could tell from the get-go that his wife was going to beat the pants off of him!

Are there any other shows I should be watching in relation to food?

Lunch With Mom

Sunday was a good day.  My mother had been traveling by car all weekend, and I wanted to give her a good meal.  I set out to make something cool, but pleasing to the palette that wouldn't leave her feeling weighed down.  I also wanted her to be able to choose how she ate her meal.  Seemed a complicated task, but I was up to the challenge.

I know most people can make a chicken salad sandwich pretty easily.  This was a successful lunch and my husband thought that I should add it to the blog because he felt it was worthy.  I was just so happy that my mother, sister, and husband all seemed to enjoy it greatly!

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Fruit Lover's Chicken Salad

3 cups shredded chicken
1/2 cup mayo
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 cup sweet relish
1 cup diced onion
1 Granny Smith's apple, diced
1 cup sliced grapes (because I like color, I used both white and red grapes)
1 tablespoon Tone's Rosemary Garlic spice
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together shredded chicken, mayo, mustard, relish and onion.  Add apple and grapes and mix well.  Mix in your spice.  I used Tone's Rosemary Garlic spice, but you can use a mixture of 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon rosemary and 1 teaspoon of paprika.

(If I'd had them in my pantry, I would have added 1/2 cup cranberries.  Also for a little more texture a 1/4 cup of sugar coated, toasted walnuts, chopped fine. Replacing the mayo with 1/2 cup plain yogurt would be a good substitution as well.)

(If this meal had not included my mother and husband, I would have used more spice.  1 additional teaspoon garlic salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper.)

I gave the option of serving on Hawaiian bread buns or on a bed of spinach leaves.  Crazily enough it was eaten both ways by all.  You could also serve as part of a lettuce wrap meal.

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The above recipe could be used for shredded turkey as well.  My husband said it might be good as a tuna recipe; I hesitate on that point because, I am NOT a big seafood fan.  I keep trying, but my taste buds keep rejecting it.

Happy eating!

Kitchen Sink Recipes and Me!

Hubby and I couldn't figure out what we wanted for dinner tonight, but we both knew that neither of us wanted to cook.  So, what does one do when no one wants to cook nor can they agree on what to eat?

Grab the take-out menus!!

Nope, not us.

To the leftovers!

Funny thing about our leftovers from the weekend...we didn't really have a lot.  There was some crispy bacon, hardboiled eggs, a teensy amount of grape tomatoes and cookie dough.

I had to tell myself to save the cookie dough!

It was enough to make a meager egg salad, but that wasn't really what I wanted, so I began perusing the pantry.   I saw a can of chicken, noodles, pasta, macaroni, green chiles, etcetera.  I absolutely did not want to cook. It had been too hot throughout the day and I just wanted something cool.  I then went back to the fridge to see if there was anything that would strike me.

After some thought, I decided it was time for another of my "Kitchen Sink Recipes".  Have you ever heard of those?  It's when you just throw a bunch of items together and make something--everything but the kitchen sink.

My mother used to do that sort of thing when we were little.  Sometimes we really dreaded those nights and prayed that the dog was close. **shiver** She'd call every single one of those mystery mixtures, "Goulash."  I've had Goulash, Ma.  That stuff is good!

Sometimes her concoctions were alright, but boy oh boy there's only so much a kid's constitution can take.  A few times there was not enough milk on the planet to help choke that stuff down with.

Sorry, Mom.  I love you, but you know it's true.  I think that's why you didn't always eat when we ate.  How rude!

I have quite a few Kitchen Sink Recipes already.  Some I have starred because they have been so interesting, that I actually decided they were good enough to feed them to other people to gauge reactions.  Some were extremely favorable--one in particular, that I may or may not share later.

Mind you...this was made from some leftover ingredients and remember that I LOVE to experiment.  I also believe in tasting as you go.  If you taste as you work, you won't serve something horrid to those you love.

Tonight's Kitchen Sink Recipe:


Chicken Club Salad


Ingredients:

10 grape tomatoes, sliced
4 hard-boiled eggs, diced*
1 13oz can of shredded chicken, drained*
6 slices crispy bacon, finely chopped*
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
2 ripe avocado, cut open and diced or ready for mashing
2 Tbsp pickle juice*
1 Tbsp spicy mustard
1 Tbsp Mayo*
1 tsp garlic salt
Salt & pepper to taste

Shred the chicken with a fork until it is the size you would prefer it to be.  Salt and pepper as desired.  Add egg, tomatoes, bacon and onion.  Add avocado and mash-mix the ingredients.  The avocado will be your bonder for the most part.  Add pickle, mustard and mayo and mix well.  Add garlic salt and mix again.

Serve on bread, crackers or cucumber slices.

Viola!

Conclusion and Notes:
*I only used about half of one yolk and used all the whites. Do what you think is right for you.
*I would have preferred to use shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken for added flavor, but I didn't have that on hand.  With the rotisserie chicken, I don't believe the salt or pepper would have been needed.
*As for the bacon, hubby didn't care for this texture. I think it's a preference thing.  I rather liked it and the saltiness it added.
*Pickle relish definitely would have been better for that extra tang.
*If I'd had plain yogurt, I would have used it instead.

The Hootenanny

You're probably thinking, what is a Hootenanny?  Is that a redneck thing?

The latter is what my husband's uncle would ask.  I, on the other hand, had never heard of such a thing.  When it came across as a breakfast food item on Pinterest, I was intrigued.

Admittedly, my husband and I are not big breakfast eaters, but I'm willing to try anything once and it seemed super simple.  I played with the recipe a little. 

Hootenanny

(Oven-Pancake)

Original Ingredients:                                     Food Junkie Ingredients:

1 cup of white flour                                            1 cup all-purpose white flour

1 cup milk                                                          1 cup 2% milk

6 large eggs                                                        4 jumbo eggs

1/4 tsp salt                                                         A handfull of blueberries

1/2 c melted butter

Mix flour, milk and eggs well (if you are using the salt, mix that in also).  Pour batter into a greased 13x9 pan (I used a glass pan).  Pour melted butter over batter (or sprinkle blueberries); do NOT mix.  

Bake in oven preheated to 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Time varies slightly depending on oven size and altitude.

Cut into pieces, drizzle with maple syrup--or a syrup of your choice--and serve!

Their Result

Food Junkie's Result

Conclusion:

Hubby liked it.  He worried me at first, because he said, "Wow, that's interesting."  That's usually a bad thing, but he took another bite.  "That's like French toast, an omelet and pancakes all mixed up."  I asked if that was good or bad, and he said it was a good thing.  I left him alone and knew that I would find out in a few minutes whether or not he actually liked it.

Sure enough, he finished the serving I had given him and then went back for more. Whew!

He and I discussed it and I will pour the butter over the batter next time, but maybe not as much.  We think it would be good to add a 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon to enhance the flavor a little.  For a sweeter taste, I may add a little brown sugar as well.

All in all, I would consider it a success!  Go make yourself a Hootenanny!