Puff Pastry Chicken Fajita Braid

Inspired by something I saw on the Cooking Channel, the main difference in my version is that I used a puff pastry sheet instead of Pillsbury crescent roll dough.

Chicken breast is cut into 1 by 1 by 1/2-inch strips. Or thereabouts. A little vegetable oil is heated in a skillet and the chicken is added, along with some chili powder, salt, and garlic. I also added a splash of chipotle marinade for a little, just a little extra kick. Sliced onion, and strips of red add green bell peppers are added. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from the heat.

Line a baking sheet with a silpat. Now spread out a sheet of thawed puff pastry dough. Yes, on the silpat. Spread the chicken and vegetable mixture on the center third of the pastry sheet. Spread about a quarter cup of salsa over the top. Sprinkle with grated jack and cheddar cheese.

Now the tricky part. Or as tricky as any part of this recipe gets. With a knife, make cuts one inch apart on the long sides of the pastry sheet not covered with the filling. Careful not to cut into the silpat! Carefully life the strips of dough, alternately, and cross them over the filling, to form a roll. Gently press the opposing edges to seal. Finally brush the top of the roll with a little egg wash.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes until the top is a deep golden brown. Cool for a few minutes. To serve, cut crosswise into slices. When I entered this into Weight Watchers recipe builder, I figured 8 servings and that came to five points. Goody! I can have two servings.

Bon appétit!

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

It was suggested that I make a seasonal cheesecake this month. I immediately thought of the Caramel Apple Cheesecake, but not only have I made it a couple times, but it is a very labor-intensive recipe.

A co-worker suggested a vegetable cheesecake like pumpkin. Yawn. I forget exactly how I settled on sweet potato, but I did. I did a google search and the first recipe that popped up look good.

A graham-cracker crumb crust is used. Instead of freezing the crust, it is popped in the oven for ten minutes. The crust is set aside to cool.

To save time and effort, instead of baking sweet potatoes, peeling them, and then pureeing them, I simply used a can of sweet potatoes and mashed them down into the measuring cup.

The mashed sweet potatoes are mixed with cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and heavy cream until smooth. Three eggs are added, one at a time, and mixed at fairly low speed until incorporated.

The batter is poured over the crust and placed in the oven at 350° for an hour. The oven is turned off and the cake rests in the oven with the door ajar for another hour.

Now the topping. In a saucepan, butter and brown sugar are heated until melted. The heat is increased and the mixture is brought to a boil. Heavy cream is added followed by chopped pecans. This is poured over the cheesecake and then refrigerated. The topping concealed the small cracks that developed in the surface of the cake.

I don't have a verdict on how this tastes yet, but if the batter I licked of the mixing paddle is any indication, it is delicious!

Bon appetit!

Tinga Pueblana & Green Rice

Again with the Cooking Channel? Yes. Again with, or rather, from the Cooking Channel. From the same episode in which I found the Mexican Corn Soup.

Tinga Pueblana is Mexican Pulled Pork, and the recipe says prep time is 15 minutes. Maybe on Jupiter. It became a lot more involved that I had anticipated. But, in the end, it was well worth the effort.

Two large russet potatoes are boiled, then diced and set aside.

Pork loin is placed in a large pot of cold water along with an onion half, garlic and bay leaves. This is brought to a boil and the heat reduced to low. The meat simmers until it is cooked through and no longer pink. This took about an hour, though the recipe says 45 minutes. No big whoop. The meat is set aside and the cooking liquid is discarded.

When the pork is cool enough to handle, it is shredded, either with fingers, or with a couple forks. I tried both methods, and settled on my fingers as the most effective method.

In a large skillet, chorizo is sauted until cooked through, removed to a paper towel-lined plate and onions are softened in the chorizo grease. The shredded pork, canned diced tomatoes and finely diced chipotle chiles are added to the pan and cooked until the tomatoes begin to break down. Five to ten minutes. Remember the potatoes? They are now added to the pan, along with the chorizo. Finally, some apple cider vinegar, dried thyme & marjoram are added. This cooks until some of the liquid has evaporated. Another five to ten minutes.

I served this with warmed flour tortillas, and Green Rice, the recipe for which is coming up next. Now even.

Chicken broth, poblano peppers and cilantro are pureed in a blender, and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, diced onion is sauteed in corn oil until translucent. Garlic and white rice are added to the pan and cooked for a minute while stirring. The green puree is added and brought to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice cooked through and tender. The recipe says about fifteen minutes. After 25 minutes the rice was not quite done, but my impatience got the better of me. And everything else was getting cold.

The pork was spectacular. The rice needed something. Perhaps complete cooking. I liked the rice despite a slight crunch. Susie didn't care for it at all. But she loved the pork.

Bon appétit!

Mexican Corn Soup

When I saw this on the Cooking Channel, it looked like a tasty, and easy soup to make. I was correct.

Corn, tomatoes, chicken broth and oregano are pureed in a blender, and then set aside. In a large saucepan, bacon is cooked until crisp. The bacon is removed and onion is softened in the bacon fat. Garlic is added and cooked for an additional minute.

The tomato-corn puree is added to the pot, along with additional chicken broth. This is brought to a boil and more corn is added. This simmers until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. The recipe calls for any foam that develops to be skimmed off and discarded. I didn't bother.

The soup is finished with some heavy cream and some chopped flat-leaf parsley. Rather than garnish with crumbled bacon, I just mixed it into the soup, after crumbling it. I garnished with a small dollop of sour cream, and a bit of flat-leaf parsley.

This came out superbly! I loved it. Susie loved it! No doubt the dog would have loved it as well, had we been willing to share.

Bon appétit!

Deep-dish Polenta Pie

My inspiration for this came from a Weight Watchers' recipe. Even the name. I added a few things. I love polenta! You can do so many things with it. And I can too.

Milk (1%), water and salt are brought to a boil. The heat is reduced to medium-low and yellow corn meal is slowly drizzled in while whisking continually. Continue whisking until the polenta thickens to the consistency of mashed potatoes. This takes about seven minutes. Stir in a tablespoon butter and three tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese.

Away from the heat, the rest of the ingredients are mixed in. Chopped broccoli, diced cooked chicken, reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes, chopped garlic, and chopped onion. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are well coated with the polenta.

The mixture is pressed into a lightly-oiled 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. I used a spring-form. A tablespoon of grated Parmesan is sprinkled over the top. It bakes at 400° for 35 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. Or serve at room temperature.

This makes eight servings, each of which counts as 4 Weight Watchers' points. Just 4! At that rate, you may have seconds! If you've been good.

I served each slice with a spoonful of salsa and a couple slices of avocado. Absolutely yummy!

Bon appétit!