David and I got married last summer, and everyone threw us a couples’ shower last spring. The day was beautiful, and everyone had a good time. Not surprisingly, a huge portion of  the gifts were for the kitchen, and we still use them all the time. Even the Chop ‘N Scoops.

The shower was centered around the fact that Dave and I like to cook. One game involved having people identify different fresh herb plants, and another stocked our spice cabinet by having people bring the spice that represented them the most and then make their case (the winner was my good friend Becky from high school—for as long as I’ve known her, she’s been obsessed with the color orange, and for the spice game, she brought a jar of dried orange peel. Case closed!).

The other really cool thing that the bridesmaids did was to collect recipes from everybody and compile them into a cookbook. We look through it often, and I finally got the chance to try one last week: Chicken Enchiladas.

I wouldn’t call this dish authentic. It’s not meant to be. But between you and me, I’ve made more authentic enchiladas, and I’ve eaten authentic enchiladas, and I’m pretty sure I liked these the best. I liked them with chicken, but I bet they’d be just as good with ground beef, shredded beef, or even chorizo.

Double Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

• 1 lb cooked chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 16 ounce jar of salsa con queso
• 16 ounce container sour cream (I used reduced fat; I usually do)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese, divided (I used Tillamook medium cheddar, but sharp cheddar or jack, or even a combination, would be good), divided.
• 1 small can enchilada sauce, mild
• 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning
• 10-12 small corn tortillas

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the dish with a thin, even layer of enchilada sauce.
2. In a large bowl, combine salsa con queso,  sour cream, and 1 & 1/2 cups shredded cheese. Add chicken and taco seasoning, and stir to combine.
3. Fill each tortilla with a 1/4 cup of the chicken & cheese mixture, roll up, and place seam-side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat, until the dish is full of tortillas. You should have at least 1 cup of the chicken/cheese mixture leftover.
4. Pour a layer of enchilada sauce over the tortillas in the baking dish. Carefully spread with the remaining chicken/cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cup of shredded cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until heated all the way through. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Note: I prefer the corningware dish for this casserole, instead of something like Pyrex, because the corningware doesn’t stick very much and is easier to clean. It’s also a little deeper.

I like the top layer of cheese to get crunchy at the edges, but if you don’t, just cover this with foil. Even though there’s sour cream in this dish, we used extra sour cream when we ate it. I enjoyed scooping up these enchiladas with thick, crunchy tortilla chips.

Our first wedding or engagement gift of any kind was a panini press that David’s mom picked up for us. It’s cast-iron/enamel, similar to this one. We actually use it quite a bit. Often, our panini are just glorified grilled cheeses (and there’s nothing wrong with that!) but last time, I created something a little more special.

Chicken & Bacon Panini with Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli

For each sandwiches:

• Two slices of good quality bread (We like this sourdough)
• 1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato aioli (recipe follows)
• 2 ounces thinly sliced deli or leftover chicken breast
• 2 slices crispy bacon
• 1 ounce fontina cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 ounce sharp cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil

1. Preheat a panini pan and press over medium high heat.

2. Spread one slice of bread with the aioli. Top with fontina cheese, followed by chicken, bacon, and cheddar cheese, in that order. Spread the remaining slice of bread with mustard to complete the sandwich. .

3. Brush the outside of the sandwich (both slices of bread) with extra virgin olive oil.

4. Place in panini pan and top with press. The sandwich is done when the bread is crisp all around and the cheese is melted all the way through. Slice in half and serve immediately.

Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli
Makes enough for 4 sandwiches

• 1/4 cup of mayonaise
• 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes (oil packed), drained
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Turn on your food processor and drop garlic cloves into the bowl through the feeding tube to chop. When the garlic has been minced, scrape down the sides andadd the other ingredients. Pulse until combined, about 10 times.

I think we may have bought our last box of macaroni & cheese. I like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in a pinch, and Velveeta is pretty good, occasionally. They aren’t as good as homemade, of course, but they’re also an entirely different animal than most homemade macaroni & cheese recipes. After all, when it comes to homemade mac & cheese, you’re usually talking about a rich, heavy dish, baked in a casserole, topped with bread crumbs. And there’s nothing wrong with that, except that that kind of macaroni & cheese is almost a meal in and of itself. Sometimes, you want macaroni & cheese to take it’s rightful place as a side dish.

Enter AB’s Stovetop Mac & Cheese. Alton Brown’s Macaroni & Cheese recipe is just as quick and easy as the box variety.True, there are a few more ingredients, but they’re actually ones that we always have on hand.

Alton Brown’s Stovetop Mac-n-Cheese

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Note: See? That’s it. Just like with the blue box, boil the pasta, add some stuff, and stir. The flavor, however, is much, much better than any boxed macaroni and cheese. It was rich and creamy and deliciously cheesy.

Forewarning: This garlic bread is so yummy, we’ve had it three times since I came across the recipe about a week and a half ago.

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman‘s blog. The cheese topping is the perfect amount of gooey, but the bread stays crisp under all that cheese because it’s toasted first in a skillet. We never let a crumb of this bread go to waste–a few minutes in the toaster oven makes even the leftovers delicious!

Cheesy Garlic Bread
Adapted from PioneerWoman

• 1 loaf of crusty bread (french or italian)
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
• 3/4 cup Monterrey Jack cheese (grated)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 green onions, white parts removed, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves minced garlic

1. Preheat oven to 425. Mix cheeses and mayonnaise in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Cut the loaf of bread in half, and then half each piece again. Working with 1/4 of the loaf at a time, heat  a little less than a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and add 1 clove of minced garlic. Place one of the pieces of bread in the skillet and toast in the skillet. Watch the garlic, to be sure it doesn’t burn. Repeat with remaining olive oil, garlic, and bread.

3. Spread the prepared cheese mixture on each slice of bread, and bake in a 425 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and brown.

You won’t be disappointed!

I found this dish on The Knot website when I was still buried in wedding planning last summer, but it sounded promising, so I bookmarked it. We’ve made it twice now. The first time, as listed below. The second time, I used a whole package of noodles, which lightened it quite a bit by spreading the creamy cheese sauce out over a greater number of servings. Anyway, it’s great as written, but easily made healthier, which is a nice feature in a recipe.

Chicken Noodles Romanoff
From the cookbook Most Loved Casseroles by Jean Paré

• 5 cups medium egg noodles
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup 2% cottage cheese
• 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon onion flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Cook noodles in boiling salted water in large uncovered saucepan or Dutch oven for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but firm. Drain. Return to same saucepan.

Add next 9 ingredients. Stir. Transfer to greased 3 quart casserole.

Sprinkle with second amount of Cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, in 350°F oven for 30 to 40 minutes until heated through.

Note: You don’t have to use leftover chicken. If you need to make the chicken from scratch: Start with 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4 – 6 ounces each). Place in a large frying pan with 1 cup water or chicken broth. Simmer, covered, for 12 to 14 minutes until no longer pink inside. Drain. Chop. Makes about 2 cups of cooked chicken.

I substituted low fat cheese and low fat sour cream to make this dish a little bit healthier, and the taste didn’t suffer at all. It’s really a nice comfort food style casserole; like macaroni & cheese, but with a lighter taste and texture.

This biscuit recipe was one of the first things to catch my eye in the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook. In fact, it’s been mentioned and planned a few times around here, but for some reason, it kept getting pushed to the back burner. Finally, we tried it last week.

First of all, I loved how easy the recipe was. I threw everything together and baked them all for a weeknight dinner. The recipe was super simple, but the biscuits were beyond delicious. The texture was perfect–moist and flaky, with a great crumb, and the slightest crunch of cheese on top. I also used my new fancy Maldon  sea salts to finish the biscuits, which added an extra level of tasty crunch.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook

• 2 cups of flour, plus more for kneading the dough
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 cold extra-large egg
• 1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar (I used Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar), plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk
• 1 teaspoon Maldon Sea Salt, for finishing

1. Preaheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. WIth the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

3. Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small glass measuring cup and beat lightly wth a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with a small handful of flour and with the mixer still on low add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.

4. Dumb out onto a well-floured board and kneed lightly about six times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 5×10 inches. With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with sea salt and extra cheese, and bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Note: I’m sure I’ll make these again. The Back to Basics cookbook has these in the breakfast section, and I understand that completely. They were very tasty as a bread alongside dinner, but they did bring to mind images of ultimate bacon, egg, & cheese biscuits or even some amazing biscuits and gravy. Maybe next time.

The idea for this burger came to me during a discussion about Mexican Risotto and Chorizo. Aside from the Mexican Risotto, my family uses Chorizo as the basis for our taco meat, and has for years. It adds a heat and a flavor that you won’t find in any spice packet. I was trying to think of something new I could make, and that’s when the idea of the taco burger came to me. The burger is made with a combination of Chorizo and ground beef. We topped these burgers with homemade pico de gallo, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, and a little bit of sour cream in place of the traditional ketchup/mustard/pickles. And the results were pretty tasty.

Taco Burgers

For burgers:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb mexican Chorizo
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 8 1/2 inch chunks of sharp cheddar cheese.

For toppings:

• pico de gallo or salsa (“recipe” for pico de gallo follows)
• sour cream
• shredded lettuce
• thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese (surprise! We used Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar)
• 8 hamburger buns

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the first four ingredients and then season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until the ground beef and chorizo have thoroughly mixed. Let rest for about 15 minutes, to let the flavors meld. (I used this time to prepare the pico de gallo and other toppings)

2. Cut a portion of the cheese into 1/2 inch thick chunks, about the size of two postage stamps across.

3. Begin to form patties from the hamburger mixture, pressing a chunk of cheese into the center of each patty and then molding the patty around it so that the cheese forms the center of the burger.

4. Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal sized patties and cook the burgers. These could be grilled, if you use clean, oiled grill grates to avoid sticking, but here in Chicago, in January, I cooked these on the stove, using our grill pan. (Similar to the one you see here). It took about 8 minutes on each side to cook these burgers thoroughly. I lightly oiled the grill pan, to avoid sticking. Remember, the Chorizo is pork, and needs to be cooked through completely–longer than you might cook your burgers normally. You won’t overcook the beef, though. The spicy pork sausage brings plenty of moisture to the burger.

5. Serve on toasted buns with pico de gallo or salsa, shredded lettuce, cheese, and sour cream.

Note: These flavors were really, really good. I had a little bit of a problem with the burgers holding together in the cooking process. I believe I could fix that next time by using something to bind them–right now, I’m imagining a little bit of egg and tortilla chips crushed to crumbs in the food processor instead of bread crumbs. Even with the burgers threatening to crumble at the edges, they were still delicious and pretty simple to make. I’ll definitely be trying these again.

P.S. I know I’ve used it here before, but remember, Chorizo is a spicy mexican sausage. You can get it in most regular grocery stores, usually in the meat case with other sausages. It brings a salty flavor to the dish, so go easy on the salt. Spanish style chorizo is also available at some stores, but for this, you want the mexican style. The Spanish Chorizo is cured and smoked, and has a pepperoni-like texture. Mexican Chorizo is an entirely different thing.

“Recipe” for Pico de Gallo

The word “recipe” is in quotes because this is more of a method than a true recipe. Pico is one of those things that can be “right” twelve different ways, and is really dependent on how you want it to taste. So here’s what I did, and feel free to make adjustments to the amount of ingredients as you go.

• 4 roma tomatoes, diced and seeded
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small jalapeno, finely diced
• 1-2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1-2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes, onion, and 1/2 of the jalapeno in a small mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of lime juice and fresh cilantro. Mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for about 3-5 minutes to let the flavors meld, and then taste again. Add more lime juice, cilantro, or jalapeno, as desired. Sometimes, a pinch of sugar (1/4 teaspoon) can help to tone down the acidity of winter tomatoes.

Note: I skipped the jalapeno. If you like spicy, add as much as you like.

David and I have been making risotto for a long time. It’s one of those things that impresses non-cooking people, just by the sound of it, but it’s really not that hard to make at all. It just requires a little bit of attention. We make a more basic risotto that is delicious, with the traditional Parmesan cheese, but I’ve also developed a few variations on that theme, and this is one of them.

This risotto is just as creamy as the traditional kind, with added bite from the sharp cheddar cheese and added spice from the spicy mexican sausage. I put a little sour cream on mine, but that’s not necessary, I suppose (David skips it). This really turns out to be a like spicy Mexican Macaroni and Cheese. Yum.

Mexican Risotto

• 3.5 Cups Chicken Stock or Chicken Broth
• 1/2 C. white wine
• 1 Cup of sharp cheddar cheese (I prefer Tillamook’s Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar, it’s not hard for us to go through a pound a week of this stuff!).
• 1/2 Pound Mexican Chorizo Sausage
• 1 Cup Arborio rice
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin