Homemade Taquitos

I found a recipe for homemade baked chicken taquitos, and I just couldn't say no.  I altered the original recipe, found on the blog Chef in Training, partly because it was too spicy to be acid reflux friendly and partly because I didn't realize I didn't have the right ingredients. For instance, onion powder is not the same thing as garlic powder. Go figure.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican flavored cheese (or cheddar)
small corn tortillas
kosher salt cooking spray

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, lime juice, cumin, onion powder, and garlic.  Once combined, add the cilantro and green onions.  Add the chicken and the cheese and mix thoroughly,

3) Working with 2-3 tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave between two paper towels until they are soft enough to roll (20-30 seconds).

4) Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the lower third of a tortilla.  Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can.

5) Placed the rolled tortilla seam down on the baking sheet.  Repeat until mixture is gone.  Make sure the taquitos are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt.

6) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and golden.

They turned out great! And tasted fantastic (despite missing a couple ingredients)!  I ate 3 and froze the rest for lunch this weekend.  I'm glad I gave this recipe a try.

Cousin Sarah's Famous Mac and Cheese

My cousin Sarah is an excellent cook.  She taught me her wonderful macaroni recipe a few years ago, and as my friends could tell you, it's become a tad famous.  I'm actually a little appalled I haven't put it on the blog yet.  Anyways, the other day I was with some friends and one of them (Zoe) told me how much she missed and was craving my mac and cheese.  Well that convinced me.  It was time for a macaroni night!  So I gathered some friends, and together we demolished the mac and cheese!

Cousin Sarah's Famous Mac and Cheese

1 (8oz) package of fusilli or spiral noodle (it holds the cheese better than elbow)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups good quality shredded cheddar cheese (I think I used 4 cups, whoops)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 onion, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Cook and drain noodles according to package directions; set aside.

3)  In a large saucepan, melt butter and saute onion, until fragrant an translucent. Add flour, salt, and pepper, using a whisk to stir until blended.

4) Pour milk and cream in gradually, stirring constantly.  Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly). Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.

5) Add shredded cheese little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

6) Add noodles to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.  Transfer the macaroni to a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

7) Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

8) Try to stop yourself from eating the whole thing.

This picture doesn't do it justice!  This is one of those meals that you have to force yourself to stop, otherwise you'll catch yourself stealing noodles off someone's plate (sorry Kirsten).  Thank you Zoe, Nick, Erin, Leah, Kirsten, and Sophie for sharing this wonderful meal with me!  And thank you Sarah for teaching me to make it how ever many years ago!

I'm bored. Time to make cookies!

I finished my homework (well most of it), and decided to improvise some cookies.  I found a recipe for Toffee Crunch cookies on Food Network and decided to mess with it!  Instead of toffee candy bits, I made homemade toffee and swirled it in.  Oh, and I added rum.  I don't know why.  It just sounded like a good idea.

Rum-Toffee Cookies

1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Toffee (recipe follows)
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Toffee

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla.  Beat the egg slightly and add to butter mixture; mix well.  Sift flour, salt, and baking soda, then slowly add to the mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  Mix in the oatmeal and almonds.  Put in fridge or freezer to chill while toffee is made.

3) Melt the butter over medium heat.  Once melted, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.  Allow it cook (it may bubble, that's okay), stirring occasionally.  It may seem that the ingredients are not incorporated, I waited until it was a rich caramel color and then added the cream; stir.  The cream allowed the butter and sugar to combine.  Take the toffee off the heat and allow to cool.

4) Stir the still slightly warm toffee into the chilled dough.  Drop in teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Well that was interesting, in the sense that it didn't quite work.  The cookies were incredibly flat and kind of formed one large mega cookie.  I also didn't follow my own advice and used foil, which the cookies stuck to. One the left are a few of the pretty ones.  But you know, they may be a bit funky but they taste great!