Guess who’s Coming to Dinner – Chris from Nibble Me This

Have you heard?

Welcome to OuR KrAzy kItChEn has a new weekly bit on Thursday’s called Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Well, I say weekly. It kind of depends on how well or crappy I do with this post. If I tank, I might take the whole series down with me. Wow….the pressure!

So my name is Chris and I run a little blog called Nibble Me This that I started this year. I focus mainly on live fire cooking which means smoking, bbq, grilling, fire roasting, fire baking, and yes, even cold smoking. My weapon of choice is the Big Green Egg but don’t fret, most of my dishes can easily be recreated on a grill or even your stove top. This dish is a good example of that.

Chickamauga Chicken

Chickamauga is the name of a tribe of Native Americans, a creek, a city, and a Civil War battle that occurred near Chattanooga, TN. I’d love to tell you a fascinating story that explains how this recipe comes from any of those. But to be honest, my son Trevor named this dish in March 2007 when we first made it. He just liked the sound of it and it stuck.


Chickamauga Chicken

Ingredients
4 each Tortillas corn, sliced as described (2 yellow, 2 blue if possible)
3 ounce Ranch dressing
1 ounce Bbq sauce
4 slices lemon
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper ground
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Red pepper ground
1 teaspoon smoked Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Onion powder
4 ea Chicken breast halves, boneless, skinless pounded to 1/4 inch thin
1/2 cup Cheese shredded, (do a blend, sharp cheddar, pepper jack, colby, etc)
2 ounce Black olives sliced
2 each Green onion julienne sliced

Instructions
Cut a tortilla in half and place halves on top of each other. Then slice into 1/4″ slices sideways into strips (your final pieces should be 1/4″ thick by 2-3″).

Heat vegetable oil over medium high heat in a skillet so that the oil is about 1/4″ deep. Fry the tortilla pieces in batches until all are golden brown. Set aside on a paper towel on a plate. Season each batch with a little salt or some of the chicken rub.

Mix ranch dressing & bbq sauce together to make the ‘Mauga Sauce (Trevor’s name for it) and set aside, preferably in a squirt bottle.

Rub both sides of chicken breasts with a lemon slice and then season with dry spices.

NOTE: Follow EITHER the live fire instructions OR range/oven instructions. If you do BOTH, I promise you won’t be happy with the dish.

Live Fire Instructions: Grill over DIRECT heat for 4-5 minutes per side over a medium hot grill (350f).

Range Top Instructions: Dredge in flour. Saute about 4-5 minutes per side in 1.5 tablespoons of butter and 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown. You want the chicken to be cooked through and ready to eat at this point.

Top with cooked tortilla strips, green onion, black olives, and cheese.

Live Fire Instructions: Place back in cooker at 350-400f over INDIRECT heat for 10-15 minutes until breasts hit 160f internal temp.

Oven Instructions: Place under broiler for about a minute until cheese melts.

Drizzle with the ‘Mauga Sauce (bbq sauce/ranch) and serve.

So here’s how it went tonight.

TIP: Get a bunch of squirt bottles from your dollar store. They’re great for stuff like the ‘Mauga sauce and make your sauces look better than just spooning the sauce on.


TIP: Use a raised rack over newspaper to let your tortilla strips drain instead of letting them sit in soggy paper towels on a plate. They’ll be crisper.

TIP: If you’re a little squeamish about touching the raw chicken when applying the rub, use food gloves. They help reduce the squeaminicity of raw chicken.
Here’s one of the advantages of live fire cooking, try to get chicken looking like THIS in a saute pan.
Building the stacks, layer by layer…


Oooey gooey mega goodness.
Topped with ‘mauga sauce and served with Spanish Rice (recipe over at my blog) and avocado slices.
Ahhhh yeah. Someone pass me a Dos Equis.

Maple Chicken


Vintage Recipe Thursday is hosted by Joy at Joy of desserts
Magazine Mondays is hosted by Ivonne over at Cream Puffs in Venice


4-6 boneless, skinless chicken
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place chicken pieces in a shallow buttered baking dish.
  • Whisk remaining ingredients together until smooth.
  • Pour evenly over chicken breasts.
  • Bake uncovered 50 – 60 minutes.
  • Baste occasionally.

wildatheart

Spooky Witch Hands – Monday Munchies

This spooky witch hands were so easy that I can’t even call it a recipe. They are simply Pillsbury bread sticks – unrolled, sliced in half and then formed into long finger shapes (keeping every 5th one a little shorter and fatter for the thumbs), add sliced almonds for the fingernails and bake for 15 minutes at 375. Serve them with some marinara for dipping for a snack, use them on your Halloween party buffet, or serve in bowls of chili or spaghetti for a perfectly spooky meal!

Shirred Eggs ~ Simply Delicious Sunday




SHIRRED EGGS
for 4 Jumbo eggs:
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup diced ham or crumbled bacon
2 green onions, minced
1 cup cheese, your choice
salt & pepper to taste
Frank’s Hot Sauce

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Melt butter and place 1 tablespoon in the bottom of each ramekin. Make sure you swirl it around the sides too.
  • Sprinkle your meat and onions into the ramekin.
  • Crack an egg into each ramekin.
  • Salt & pepper.
  • Bake for 6-10 minutes or until egg whites are just set.
  • Top with cheese.
  • Bake another 6-10 minutes or until eggs are set to desired doneness.
  • With a spoon gently remove egg from cup onto plate or toast.
*At home I use individual ramekins for just the two of us, but when camping or having company I use a muffin tin to make them all at once.

final blog signature.

originally ran at 3 Sides of Crazy November 2008

Pineapple Casserole~ Simple Saturday with girlichef

Although it a seemingly odd combination…pineapple and cheese come together beautifully in this recipe from my friend Danielle. I enjoy it warm…with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream! Simple and tasty…what simple meal or drink ideas did you make this week?
Pineapple Casserole
from Danielle of Cooking for my Peace of Mind

1 can (20 oz)pineapple chunks, drained
1 can (20 oz)crushed pineapple, drained
5 Tbs. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 – 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups Ritz cracker crumbs
1 stick butter (1/2 c.), melted

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a small casserole dish (I used an 8×8). Combine the pineapple, sugar, flour and cheese in a large bowl. Pour into the casserole dish. If you haven’t yet smashed up your Ritz, do it now and then spread the cracker crumbs over the mixture and drizzle the melted butter over the top. Bake for ~30 minutes, or until golden.

*originally posted at: girlichef

Yummy Mummy Cookies

I found these cookies in a magazine over a decade ago.  I have a three ring binder filled with holiday food ideas.  I haven’t tried many of them.  Mostly, they are good intentions that I have not gotten around to doing.  Do many of you have that same problem?  Do you cut out ideas or copy down recipes only to find that they sit in a drawer or a shelf without being used?

Yummy Mummy Cookies

2/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 ½ cups flour

½ cup cocoa

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 pkg white chocolate chips

2 Tbls shortening (don’t use anything else if you want this to be white)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and eggs. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the butter mix. Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes.

Roll 1 Tbls dough into a carrot shape about 2 ½ inches long. Roll 1 tsp dough into a ball and press this into the body of the mummy as the head.

Bake 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on a wire wrack.

Melt the white chocolate and shortening in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Add more shortening if it isn’t runny. Heat again if chocolate is not melted all the way.

Place 1 cookie at a time on a narrow metal spatula. Spoon white chocolate mixture over the cookie while holding the cookie over the bowl. Place on waxed paper. If mixture begins to thicken, microwave it again. As coating begins to harden, use a toothpick to score lines in body and on face to resemble mummy.

What Did You Bake Today?

Be Back Soon

Popping in to let everyone know I’m still alive and will be back in the swing of things soon. This cross country move has had its ups and downs! I’ll have DSL and be up and running next Tuesday or so!

wildatheart

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Hi, Martha@Menagerie (and your Monday Munchie host here at the Krazy Kitchen) here to post this week to introduce our new Thursday meme “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner!”

Tamy is on the middle of a cross country move so I’m here to share one of my very favorite and super easy recipe ideas for this week. We’ll be welcoming our guest hosts in the coming weeks!

For today it’s my “No way it’s meatloaf!”

This really is meatloaf believe it or not!

When I make meatloaf I usually make about a 3-4 pound meatloaf and still, with two growing boys and my husband there is usually only about 1/4 of it leftover – not enough for another night, unless you are thinking frugal and thinking creatively that is.

These wonderful creations are simply slices of meatloaf (using your own favorite meatloaf recipe) wrapped in puff pastry dough and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. Notice just how huge they are – the photo below is shown on a regular size dinner plate – all that from 5 little slices of meatloaf!

I call these meatloaf wraps. The kids can just grab them and go if they want to, but they are even better smothered in brown gray. They are so ridiculously filling! Add a side salad and that’s all you’ll need to round out the meal.

(I really have to stop using my clear glass plates in food photos, makes it look like I just serve my food directly on the counter – I don’t, I promise!)

These wraps, pockets, puffs or whatever you want to call them are a great way to use leftovers – in fact, guaranteed even better than the first night!

If you are interested in being a guest host here at Our Krazy Kitchen please click HERE to leave your link! 🙂

PANTRY ORGANIZATION

Most of you already know that I feel most at home in the kitchen and despite my VIRGO guided perfectionist ways, I too have a tendency to have a messy pantry. We all have those moments when it’s just easier to put it anywhere other than where it really goes. I’ll show this set of before pictures with the disclaimer that we’ve been super busy around here and it really was easier to just shove it back in.
I don’t use a ton of prepared foods due to health concerns, but we all have a pantry full of this and thats. I was fortunate in that the forced remodel of this kitchen allowed me to set things up my way when it went back together. I like to group like things together and that helps to make meal preparation simpler. In the Lazy Susan next to the stove I keep the small appliances together and then on the shelf above those I keep the canned meats, canned vegetables and soups. In the opposite Lazy Susan I group together canned fruits, Jell-Os, box mixes like cake mixes, rice mixes and stuffing as well as jams and jellies. In yet another cabinet I have grouped together all the” seasoning” bottles like soy sauces, vinegars, oils, Worcestershire, etc…. In the 2 shelves below that I keep all the back stock like extra ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, etc… Spices and such use on a daily basis are all labeled and alphabetized in their handy box close to the stove while additional infrequently used spices, bread crumbs, flavorings, baking soda & powder and such are kept in a separate cabinet. Baking staples are also all grouped together.

I have all of my seasonings and ingredients placed in such a way that the butcher block becomes my central point for creating. I try to keep all the necessary tools also within an arm’s reach. All of my reaching into cabinets is also at a minimum and I don’t have to dig for what I’m looking for. Every person and every family is different in their likes and tastes, so there is no right or wrong to pantry organization, just what works for you. That said, I have found that logic, organization and common sense play an integral part in kitchen success.


No matter what the size or shape of you ‘pantry’, the whole idea is to make your job easier and cooking more fun. So take that willy nilly approach and toss it out the window. It’s time to organize and see what you have in your pantry. Knowing will help you to keep things rotated and up to date. When I was growing up, my dad always wiped the lids of cans and then dated them when we got home from the store. I don’t go that far, but I do make sure to rotate the older forward paying attention to expiration dates and replace the restock to the rear.
Now for the after pictures.
I try to group like items together. For example the parts for a Mexican Meal are all together. The green chiles are right night to the enchilada sauce which is next to the refried beans, etc…
I store the back up stock on the lowest shelves since I don’t get in there very often. I also pull forward the most frequently used condiments and ingredients so I don’t have to dig for them. The refrigerator is the hardest ‘pantry’ part to keep organized since everyone is in and out ,all day some days, but I try to keep like items together here too. The jams are all on the same shelf, the pickles are grouped together, my garlic, pestos, bases etc… are all together on one of the top shelves to keep everyone from moving them!

This post originally ran on 3 Sides of Crazy as a guest post series for Barbara over at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers who hosted the Homemaking September 2008 Shape-up. It was an all around comprehensive house to home style of posts to help us get our homes and lives whipped into shape.

Then it ran at OuR KrAzY kItChEn this past July when Martha and I first collaborated.