Tag: holiday

Honey Chipolte BBQ Chicken Sandwich


Honey-Chipolte BBQ Chix Sandwich

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July with your family and/or friends, and you got to indulge in some really good eats! I came across this recipe yesterday, and it looked so good, I just had to make it. I tweaked it just slightly to suit my taste, and it came out incredibly delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 
  • 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts 
  • 1 (7-oz.) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
  • 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. minced garlic 
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup canned tomato puree*
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp. honey
  • 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 sandwich rolls
  • 1-2 slices Swiss cheese (or you favorite kind)

Directions

  1. Combine water, 1 tsp. cumin, 4 sliced garlic cloves, and chicken in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Drain, and place chicken on a cutting board. Cut chicken across grain into thin slices; keep warm.
  2. Remove 1 tbsp.  adobo sauce from can; set aside. Remove 1 chipotle chile from can; remove seeds, finely chop and set aside. Reserve remaining chiles and adobo sauce for another use. (If you want more heat, remove 2 tbsp. adobo sauce and use 2 chiles.)
  3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp. minced garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Add 1 tsp. cumin; sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomato puree; cook 4 minutes or until mixture thickens to a paste-like consistency, stirring constantly. Stir in reserved 1 tbsp. adobo sauce, 1 chopped chipotle chile, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Add sliced chicken to sauce; simmer for 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
  4. Preheat broiler.
  5. Split rolls in half; arrange in a single layer, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 1 minute or until lightly toasted. Remove top halves of rolls from baking sheet. Divide chicken mixture evenly among bottom halves of rolls, and top chicken mixture evenly with cheese. Broil chicken-topped rolls 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven, top with roll halves and serve immediately.

* A substitution for tomato puree is to use 2 tbsp. of tomato paste mixed with 1/2 cup water.

Honey Chipolte BBQ Chick Sammy

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Candied Sweet Potato Casserole


Candied Sweet Potato Casserole

With the holidays quickly approaching, visions of dinner menus have been dancing in my head. One of my staples is a sweet potato casserole which always receives rave reviews, and I just realized I haven’t posted it. I took the traditional marshmallow-topped dish, and took it to a new level (in my humble opinion). I also decided to use canned sweet potatoes instead of fresh strictly to save on time.

Ingredients

  • 2 (29 oz.) cans sweet potatoes
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows
  • 2 tbsp. orange juice (if you’re not an OJ fan, you can use skim milk)
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp. kosher salt

Topping

  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp. flour
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 1/2 cup candied pecans, chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In a large bowl, mix sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup butter, egg, white sugar, oj, marshmallows, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  3. Transfer to a lightly greased 9″x13″ baking dish.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine topping ingredients and mix well (using your hands) to a consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Gourmet Sweet Potato Casserole

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Crazy For Cranberries


Here’s a simply amazing recipe for cranberry sauce that you can whip up in no time for the holidays!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar (1/2 cup white, 1/2 cup brown)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 4 cups cranberries (1 12 oz pkg)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp allspice

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, bring water, orange juice and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
  2. Add cranberries and return to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.
  4. Add spices and stir well.
  5. Remove from heat and cool completely at room temperature.
  6.  Chill in the refrigerator. Sauce will thicken as it cools.