Creamy Chicken Baked Flautas

Have you ever roasted a whole chicken?  If you have you probably know that there can be a good amount of meat on one of those beasts.  At least for Sarah and I it's too much for one meal and you hate to see it go to waste.  This is one of those good recipes where you can put that left over chicken to good use.  After we had finished eating the roasted chicken I finished carving it up and pulled as much meat as I could off of it, put in a bag and stuck it in the freezer until I was ready for this recipe a week or so later.

To make the Chicken Flautas you need the following (according to the recipe):

• 2 cups of roasted chicken, chopped
• 2-3 tbsp sweet yellow onion, diced
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbsp cream cheese (I used 1/3 fat)
• 3 tbsp Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (I used lower fat)
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Flour Tortillas
• Cooking spray

I didn't have an onion (Sarah's not a fan of onion anyway), fresh (or dry) cilantro, Monterrey Jack cheese,  or coriander.  So I fudged (That's what makes cooking fun anyway!). 

First preheat the oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with foil.

Next I combined the ingredients into a bowl and mixed it well.  

 My cast of ingredients...I used cheddar instead of Monterrey Jack and used Onion flakes (dried) instead of onion (not pictured).
Mix it up with the Chicken (yes capitalized, because the Chicken is important, without it it wouldn't be Chicken Flautas...)

Mix it good then spray the foil on the pan with some PAM! 

Put some Chiken mixture down the middle of some tortilla shells (if the shells are too stiff stick them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds first) then roll them up and put them on the pan.

Spray the tortillas with some PAM to make sure they get nice and golden crispy.  Then stick in the oven for 8-10 minutes, flip them, and go for another 5-6 mins.  

So yummy!  Would go great with a nice guacamole...but alas we didn't have avocado either.  Our 1 year old just ate it for his dinner...funny how he gets to eat all the good stuff.

Here's the site I got the recipe from.  We did try it originally with cilantro and it ended up having a very strong cilantro flavor so if you are not into cilantro go easy there.  Oh and be warned, they stay hot in the middle for a LONG time so don't burn your mouth! Enjoy!

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2011/05/creamy-chicken-baked-flautas.html

Whiskey-Peach-Barbecue Chicken

It's been awhile since I've done one of these posts but tonight I got a chance to try a new recipe.
I made Whiskey Peach BBQ Chicken.  I've always liked cooking with alcohol, it adds great flavor and aroma.
To start with you add 2 Tbs of oil and 2 Tbs of butter in a large pot on med-high heat.

Next drop in 4-5 chicken thighs at a time skin side down and cook until brown. Then flip and brown the otherside.  Once both sides are browned set them aside on a plate and brown the rest of the chicken.

Once the chicken is done pour out about half the grease then throw in one diced yellow onion.

Cook the onion for a couple of minutes stirring it around in the pot.  Next pour in 1.5 cups of whiskey. Stir this around for a couple of minutes letting the whiskey reduce some. 

Next, add 12 oz of BBQ sauce, a can of Peach preserves, 2 Tbs of Worcestershire sauce, one cup of water and 3 peeled garlic cloves.

The Cast of Characters

Stir all those ingredients together, then add the chicken back in.

Cover and put the pot in the oven for 1.5 hours on 300.  The meat will literally fall off the bone when it's done.  

The final verdict was that it was good, I was hoping for alot more flavorful but it wasn't as strong as I'd hoped.  While it was good I think we decided it wasn't worth the cost of the Whiskey :).

Here's the source.  Until next time...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/08/peach-whiskey-barbecue-chicken/