cwm's side blog

mostly dinner

[cwmsideblog]

cheddar ranch cheeseball

16 oz of cream cheese

2 cups of shredded cheddar (i used a store-bought mix of medium, sharp, and white cheddars)

1 packet of ranch dressing seasoning mix

oh hey, did i not post this yet? dump everything in a bowl and stir. when it is mixed, pat it into ball shape and put it in the fridge before serving. serve on any type of cracker you can imagine. clearly this size recipe is meant for several people but if you wanna buy yourself a giant box of ritz crackers and eat cheese crackers for a couple of days, no one is going to judge. we’ve all been there.

[cwmsideblog]

chicken alouette

8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

chive & onion flavored cream cheese

2 sheets of puff pastry

egg wash (1 egg mixed with a bit of water)

no joke i heard this recipe in an asmr video and always wanted to try it, so when my local kroger had a sale on chicken i got the cream cheese and puff pastry and went to town. (the cheese is actually supposed to be alouette which is a specific brand but i didn’t find it so philadelphia cream cheese it was.) the idea is to roll out the puff pastry and cut it into 4 squares per sheet, spread some cheese on, put the chicken on top, wrap up the whole thing like a little package (or, y’know, not), paint with egg wash, and then bake it at 375 degrees f for 35-40 minutes. and i did all of those things! and yet.

i was in a rush to talk to the lady doing my free in-home flooring estimate and i crammed all 8 chicken packets in a 9x9 glass pan. they should have been on a cookie sheet or at least a larger pan so the sides of the pastry could cook! i also did not think to oil the dish. a not-insignificant amount of pastry stayed behind when i served the chicken. also i glopped a spoonful of cream cheese on each square of pastry instead of spreading it and this makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE. i needed a bagel or something to sop up the rest of the cheese after i finished the chicken and pastry.

but even with the extra sogginess, this shit was delicious. puff pastry is a magical thing. i kind of want to try this with every kind of cheese - like maybe some of that cheddar ranch cheeseball i made a while back. 

[cwmsideblog]

scrambled egg quesadilla

whip eggs and add seasoning and cheese

heat butter in a pan

pour eggs into pan and push cooked edges in carefully

put large tortilla on top of egg; push down so egg soaks/adheres to tortilla

flip when egg slides in pan

top with another tortilla, flip again to crisp up both sides

this was pretty good. more of a technique than a recipe; this would be good with taco seasoning or shredded chicken in the egg. i made it plain to use up some tortilla shells (and because i was tired of scrambled eggs on toast). bigger than expected; neither j nor i finished a whole one.

[cwmsideblog]

did this again tonight and it worked great! this time i used the soft-taco sized tortillas and added taco seasoning to the egg. my partner and i ate a whole one each and then split a dessert version with strawberries and chocolate chips. the dessert one got soggy because i microwaved frozen strawberries with brown sugar to get them soft enough to mash, so it was really strawberry syrup with chunks, but it tasted great. i use flour tortillas btw; this would probably not work as well with corn tortillas.

[cwmsideblog]

bbq beef flatbread 

 whole wheat flatbread 

equal parts barbecue sauce and ketchup 

good quality roast beef lunch meat (i think?) 

sliced baby swiss 

shredded mozzarella 

peanut butter peach flatbread 

whole wheat flatbread 

creamy peanut butter mixed with honey 

1 peach, thinly sliced 

brown sugar 

i was hanging out with my 10-year-old nephew on his last day of summer vacation and i raided my brother's fridge to make lunch. everything was layered in the order listed and put under the broiler to warm. if i hadn't been distracted texting my partner it would have been perfect, but it got a little burnt. my nephew liked it anyway. next time i would skip the peanut butter and honey for the peach flatbread; juicy peach and brown sugar would be perfect. served with baby carrots and potato chips.

[cwmsideblog]

cheddar puffcakes

4 eggs

2/3 c flour

2/3 c milk

2/3 c shredded sharp cheddar

salt & pepper

butter

omelette fillings of choice (i used ham)

get a 12-cup regular sized muffin pan. put a sliver of butter into each cup and put the pan in the oven while it preheats to 400f. whisk the eggs, flour, milk, and cheese in a bowl. salt and pepper to taste. when the butter is melted, take the pan out and tilt it to get butter all over the muffin cups. put your ham or other omelette fillings into the cups and top with egg mixture. bake for 20-24 minutes.

the original recipe didn’t have ham and said to put everything in a single baking dish, but i like miniature foods. i made half with ham and half without in case the ham fucked it up. the ones with ham didn’t puff as much but they’re super tasty. this recipe is pretty cool because it can be scaled up or down with 1/3 c of flour, milk, and cheese to every 2 eggs. this could be a good way to make a bunch of personalized omelettes that are all ready at the same time.

[cwmsideblog]

leftover hash

you guys i am not even kidding about this one. we had a bunch of leftovers and i basically mixed them together. check it out:

giant soft pretzel

a baked chicken breast seasoned with wildtree onion blend

four mini egg rolls

chopped up all of the above and tossed in a hot pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, then added

nacho cheese meant for pretzel

half a serving of velveeta shells and cheese

an egg

a slice of american cheese

stirred until hot and melty, then poured in a splash of whole milk and covered the pan to let everything heat through. took off the lid, stirred a few more times until the liquid was soaked in, served.

i am not going to lie, it’s the weirdest thing i’ve ever made but it was not the worst thing i’ve ever eaten. if i were going to do it again (which i never ever would) i’d leave out the mini egg rolls and cut the pretzel and chicken smaller. but the pretzel was hard as a rock from being in the fridge but the egg and cheese soaked in and made it soft but not mushy. it made like three or four servings but i’m not going to save the rest. leftover leftover hash would just be ridiculous.

[cwmsideblog]

asiago chicken pasta

okay this one is straight up weird. mostly because i forget everything alton brown ever taught me about the chemistry of cooking and also because i don’t keep cream in the fridge.

chicken

milk

ranch dressing

butter

asiago cheese

pepper

more milk

pasta

i had some chicken that needed to be cooked so i threw it in the crock pot with a packet of ranch dip seasoning and a splash of milk. what i forgot was that milk in a crock pot will separate into curds and whey. okay. i strained out the curds (now packed full of ranch seasoning) and wrapped them into a packet with about 17 layers of paper towel to make a sort of cheese approximation. chicken and ranch curd went into the fridge overnight.

tonight for dinner i put a stick and a half of butter into a saucepan along with the dairy lump and like an ounce of freshly grated asiago (i got like 2 pounds of the stuff at costco, i’m just trying to use it up). i melted all of that and seasoned with pepper, then cut the chicken into small pieces and threw it in. it sort of shredded itself in the sauce, which was fine, but it looked really oily because of the pools of clarified butter sitting in the pot, so i mixed in some whole milk to make it look more like a sauce. poured the whole thing over cooked pasta.

there were about a hundred ways this could all have gone terribly wrong, but it actually tastes good enough that i’m eating it for dinner instead of the leftover indian food i’ve been craving all day.

[cwmsideblog]

cheesy mexican chicken and rice, variation boil chicken with packet and a half of taco seasoning cook rice with other half packet shred chicken and put back in pot to cook some more mix leftover queso blanco with sour cream mix shredded chicken, flavored rice, queso mixture i added some taco water bc it was a little too thick. i refrigerated for about an hour before eating then reheated it and wrapped in soft flour tortillas. it was good when i tasted after cooking but holy shit awesome after refrigerating.

[chickwithmonkey]

chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

10 soft taco shells

2 c cooked, shredded chicken

2 c shredded monterey jack cheese

3 tbsp. butter

3 tbsp. flour

2 c chicken broth

1 c sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Stir in sour cream and chilies. Do not bring to boil.

Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

recipe from joyful momma’s kitchen. these are effing delicious. i’ve never had enchiladas before but my partner and i scarfed them down. 

the only change i made was that i had more than 2 c of chicken, and my tortillas were so thick i could only fit 9 of them in the pan. i just baked the chicken, but next time i might do it in the slow cooker with some very mild spices - the dish is flavorful enough that it doesn’t need much. i might also try cutting the tortillas in half before rolling and baking to make them easier to serve. or i might just make huge batches of this sauce and pour it on EVERYTHING I EAT.

[cwmsideblog]

apparently this was good? i don’t remember it at all. this is why i needed a side blog.

[cwmsideblog]

the best cheese sauce ever (reposted from main blog)

3 lbs white american cheese

2 1/3 c milk

4 oz chopped green chiles

4 oz chopped jalapenos

put in crock pot. turn on crock pot. stir sometimes. when it’s all melted, you are done.

a double batch is like a fucking gallon of cheese sauce. this shit is super expensive because white american costs $6/lb at the deli counter so i spent $20 on this today. you should be able to find the chiles and jalapenos in little 4oz cans in the mexican food section. the type and amount of liquid can be changed too; i once made it with heavy cream and it was bangin’.

if you just want to try a really small batch (cheaper) go with 3/4 lbs cheese, 2T chiles or jalapenos (depending how hot you like it), and 1/2c milk plus a tablespoon or whatever in the microwave, stirring every minute until melted. if you do make a tiny batch, DO NOT EAT IT ALL the first day. leave some in the fridge overnight and microwave to rewarm because as amazing as it is the first day, it will blow your fucking tastebuds to shreds with its awesomeness the second day. i promise.

ps i’m sure you know this but get the cheese in big chunks at the deli (not slices) and then cut into cubes to melt. ALSO this is one of my favorite lunch recipes: like 1/4c of cheese sauce with 2-3 oz of leftover taco meat mixed in, dip chips in it, smile happily as your jealous co-workers stare at you. i’m also planning to pour it over these microwave chimichangas we got at costco. I CARE A LOT ABOUT CHEESE OKAY.

[cwmsideblog]

faux jaffa cookies

cookies:

pillsbury orangesicle cake mix

3 eggs

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

teaspoon of vanilla extract

splash of lemon extract

mix cookie ingredients. i used this thingy to measure out a tablespoon of dough for each cookie. bake at 350f for about 11 minutes. let cool, then dip in ganache. 

ganache:

chocolate

milk

butter

sugar (i did not measure any of these ingredients. it was 8 dark chocolate dove candies and a double handful of chocolate chips along with maybe 3 tablespoons of skim milk, a tablespoon and a half of salted butter, and probably 3 tablespoons of sugar. anything will work as long as the ganache is very thin.)

mix milk, sugar, and butter over double boiler. whisk in chocolate. let cool slightly before dipping cookies so you don’t burn your fingers. put cookies back on baking tray and refrigerate.    

[cwmsideblog]

fried cheese bread

$1 loaf of french bread from walmart (it’s delicious i can’t help myself)

sharp cheddar cheese finely shredded

butter

slice bread into 1-inch slices. butter both sides of each slice. lightly fry one side of bread and flip. put cheese on the fried side and flip again when bottom is lightly fried. repeat. watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. this shit is addictive. i had 5 pieces tonight for dinner.

[cwmsideblog]

cheesy mexican chicken and rice

cook boneless skinless chicken breast in slow cooker with taco seasoning and water/chicken broth (i used liquid from 7-can enchilada soup that i removed from the soup to make it less soupy)

shred chicken when cooked; remove some liquid and use to cook rice

mix rice with chicken and shredded cheddar cheese

this one just sort of happened, and the cheese was a lucky last-minute addition. one of the best things i've cooked. it took more effort than hamburger helper but it tasted better. if i make the 7-can soup again i will definitely make this the next day.

[cwmsideblog]

scrambled egg quesadilla

whip eggs and add seasoning and cheese

heat butter in a pan

pour eggs into pan and push cooked edges in carefully

put large tortilla on top of egg; push down so egg soaks/adheres to tortilla

flip when egg slides in pan

top with another tortilla, flip again to crisp up both sides

this was pretty good. more of a technique than a recipe; this would be good with taco seasoning or shredded chicken in the egg. i made it plain to use up some tortilla shells (and because i was tired of scrambled eggs on toast). bigger than expected; neither j nor i finished a whole one.

[cwmsideblog]

ranch chicken cornbread casserole

1 can chicken breast in water (12.5 oz)

about 2/3 cups ranch dip (i used the kind where you mix the powdered ranch flavor into a tub of sour cream)

1 box jiffy cornbread muffin mix

2 tbsp milk

1 egg

preheat oven to 400 f. mix chicken (do not drain) and ranch dip in a bowl, breaking up the big chunks. put chicken in a greased pie pan, reserving 1/3 cup of liquid. prepare cornbread mix using egg, milk, and ranch mixture. spoon batter on top of chicken. bake for 20-25 minutes.

(edited to include more accurate recipe from when i first posted it on my main blog.)

[cwmsideblog]

cheeseburger pockets 

jumbo butter-flavored biscuits

1lb ground beef

ketchup

turkey bacon

wildtree onion seasoning

kraft cheese slices 

moderate failure - j liked but i did not. way too much ketchup, too much filling in each biscuit pocket, the bacon made it gross. could be good if tried again.

[cwmsideblog]

loaded potato soup

leftover bob evan's loaded mashed potatoes

heavy cream

shredded cheddar cheese

wildtree onion blend seasoning

cooked turkey bacon, chopped

served with munster grilled cheese with turkey bacon, fresh broccoli on the side