Chicken Pot Pie over Popovers

We had to go get a CO2 for our Soda Stream at Bath Body and Beyond today and I splurged to get the Pop over pan I have been wanting. I saw this on "Brunch with Bobby" and have been obsessing about it ever since. Tonight I gave it a test run and made popovers with chicken pot pie gravy over them and inside them. I may make some more for Easter Breakfast and put sausage and gravy over them.

The popovers are very easy to make but my form only make 6 at a time which could be a problem! These went pretty quick! They have a cream puff shell consistency and could be filled with cream or the filling of your choosing.

The Popovers

2 eggs room temperature
3/4 cup milk room temperature
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp butter melted and at room temperature

Pre heat the oven to 425 and rub each of the popover tins with butter. When the oven is hot put the popover pan in the oven for 5 minutes while you make the dough. Remove the tin from the oven and  ladle the dough, The dough will be very thin once you incorporate the milk. Fill each of the popover tins half way and bake for 30 minutes without peeking. Remove from the oven and serve right away!

The Chicken Pot Pie Filling

I make this easy pot pie filling a lot and sometimes serve it with biscuits however, I found the popovers to be a great addition.

2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
2 chicken breast diced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup mixed veggies (frozen)
salt and pepper
1 diced potato that has been steamed in the microwave

Brown the chicken breast and remove from the pan. Next melt the butter and stir in the flour. Brown until the color of the flour is light brown. Add the chicken broth and salt and pepper and stir with a whisk until the gravy comes up to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the mixed veggies and the chicken back in. Cook the veggies through, season with salt and pepper, and serve with the popovers.

Cute Easter Idea

It was the last day before Spring Break at my job and my boss made me the cutest and most delicious gift. I just had to share!

The vase was filled with cake pops and chocolate covered pretzels. Both were delicious and devoured the moment I stepped foot in my house:) The cake pops themselves were a variety of flavors like cinnamon and cherry. I have a cake pop maker, but my friend makes these by using cake pieces and evaporated milk to make the balls and then dips them in chocolate and covers them with sprinkles.

Catch Up! Peanut Chicken Wraps and Skillet Potatoes

I have been so busy with school and life that I haven't been able to blog as much as I would like. Today I am a making a recipe I made a few weeks ago for Chillies Rellenos. We get credit in my Spanish class if we make a dish. Plus we get to eat like pigs tonight. We have 13 people in the class and had 18 last semester. There was so much food last time that no one went hungry. I will try to snap some pics later on tonight.

In the last few weeks, I have been snapping pictures so I will sit down soon and get them posted:) This is a quick recipe for Peanut Corn Flake Chicken Wraps. I made this chicken recipe a few months ago for a Thai dish and liked it so much I decided to make it into a wrap.

Corn Flake and Peanut Chicken Wraps

1/4 cup smashed peanuts
1 cup or more of Corn Flake crumbs
1 egg beaten
salt, pepper, thyme, garlic or onion salt, Cayenne
12 warmed tortillas
lettuce for dressing
your favorite taco sauce
pinto beans (optional)

Set the oven to 425 degrees. On a paper plate add 1 cup of Corn Flake crumbs, smash up 1/4 cup peanuts, salt,  and pepper. On another plate add one cup of flour a tsp. of Thyme, garlic salt, a pinch of Cayenne, and pepper. Beat an egg and add a splash or two of milk. Beat with a fork and set up a breading station.

I cut three large boneless-skinless chicken breasts into strips. Next use the one dirty hand, one clean hand principle. First roll the chicken in the flour, then into the egg, and into the the Corn Flakes and peanuts. This makes about 25-30 pieces.

Place on  a sprayed cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes flipping half way through. Next place 2-3 pieces in a warmed tortilla and add the fixings of your choice. I added lettuce, a taco sauce sauce,avocado, and  pinto beans. With this I served oven skillet potatoes.

Oven Skillet Potatoes

6 skin on potatoes diced into wedges or cubes
Emerils BAM seasoning
salt and pepper
2 TBSP oil

I started my cast iron skillet on the stove over medium heat and added the potatoes to get a crispy layer going. I seasoned them and added some oil on top to coat them and mixed them together. I  placed them on the lower rack of the oven and baked with the chicken for 25-30 minutes stirring about every 10 minutes. The crust was amazing on these. I also put some of these in my chicken wraps.

They are perfect for Sunday breakfast.

Banana Split Cake

If you are on Facebook, you've most likely seen the Banana Split Cake recipe. The recipes I have seen are full of calories. I tried to reduce mine by using fat free Cool Whip, omitting the pudding, and using half the amount of toppings.

Here is how I made mine. It turned out much like a no bake cheesecake. 

Banana Split Cake 

1 pkg. Lt. Cream Cheese

1/2 jar Smucker's Strawberry Topping (1 TBSP for drizzle)

2 chopped bananas

1 can crushed pineapple drained

2 TBSP Hershey's Syrup

1 8oz container Lite Cool Whip or 1 can fresh Redi-wip. 

1 8oz box light cream cheese softened 

1/2 pkg graham cracker crumbs

2 TBSP butter melted

2 TBSP sugar

1/4 c. roasted nuts crushed

12 Maraschino cherries

In a medium bowl use a mixer to blend the cream cheese and 1/2 of the small Smucker's strawberry topping. 

In a 9x13 pan add the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar and use the fork to mix them together. Use your hands to press to the bottom of the pan. Next slice up the bananas and lay flat on top of the crust. Add 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture over the bananas and spread out. Add the entire can of crushed and drained pineapple. Top with the remaining cream cheese. 

Next add the toppings in any order you would like. I used a TBSP of the strawberry juice and went one direction on the top and then went over that with chocolate syrup. Over that I added 1/4 dry roasted peanuts that I put in a plastic bag and beat with a rolling pin. (way to work out my aggression!) The last step was to add 12 cherries. Makes 12+ servings. 

BBQ Corned Beef Brisket, Cabbage, Red Potatoes and Carrots

Every year I make this recipe handed down from my mother-in-law, BBQ'd Corn Beef Brisket. I myself have been making this for 15 years. She passed away in 2007, but would be proud I have carried on the tradition. My hubby and I always reminisce about the year he ate an entire corned beef brisket by himself. I was waiting for him to come home before I ate and he ended up eating the whole thing by himself! Now I am smart and make it while he is sleeping!

When looking for a corned beef brisket make sure you choose one that isn't really fatty. Mine was about 3 pounds which never seems like enough!  Also make sure it has a seasoning packet. This not only gives flavor to the beef but to your cabbage.

BBQ Corned Beef Brisket with Cabbage, Red Potatoes, and Honey Glazed Carrots

The Carrots and Potatoes

Corned beef Boiling

1 lb. baby carrots or regular carrots cut into slices
2 TBSP honey
water for boiling
salt for seasoning

Boil the carrots until fork tender. I usually start them with the potatoes and they take about 30 minutes. Drain and add about 2 TBSP honey and a TBSP butter. Stir and heat for about 3 minutes on medium heat. Serve as a side to the corned beef.

The Potatoes

3 lbs red potatoes eyes removed and cut in half
enough water to cover the potatoes


Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes on medium high heat until fork tender
Mash them with a fork tableside and add butter and salt

The Corned Beef and Cabbage

Boil the corned beef in a large soup pot with the seasoning packet for 2 1/2-3 hours. I check the water level every hour. Remove from the water and reserve the water for the cabbage. Set the oven to 350 degrees. Make your own BBQ sauce or take the easy way out and use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. Baste the brisket with BBQ sauce and place in the oven in a roasting pan. Bake for about 30 minutes basting once or twice.
While the beef is in the oven cut the core out of the cabbage and cut the whole cabbage into fourths. Boil for 30 minutes while the BBQ is in the oven. Drain the cabbage from the liquid before serving and add a pat of butter.
Remove the corned beef from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes to cool. Slice and serve with the sides. Reserve 1/2 of the brisket and hide in an secret location.

Mexican Fried Ice Cream Revisited

I haven't made this in quite some time but it is such a treat to have that I decided to make it again: Mexican Fried Ice Cream. There used to be a restaurant here named Chi-Chi's that not only had the best margaritas, but they also had the best Mexican Fried Ice Cream. I tried to get as close to the original taste as possible. Minus the cherry on top! It is is important to stick the ice cream in the freezer during each of the coating stages and a hour or two before you intend on frying them.

Mexican Fried Ice Cream


1/4 c sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
cornflake crumbs
honey 
vanilla ice cream
wax paper 
cookie sheet 
ice cream scooper
oil for frying
whipped cream 
cherries 

Form two round ice cream balls per person. Lay on wax paper. Stick ice cream balls and cookie sheet in the freezer.  Ready the rest of the ingredients. Mix the cinnamon and sugar and take the ice cream balls back out of the freezer. Roll in cinnamon sugar and place back into freezer. Next step is to roll in the cornflake crumbs. Place back in the freezer to harden for a hour. Ready about 3 inches cooking oil. Dip the ice cream ball in heated oil for 2 seconds to get a crispy shell. Serve with honey drizzled on top, whip cream, and a cherry.

Fish Tacos and Chilies Rellenos

As usual, I start preparing a large meal and everyone leaves the house! I had planned on my daughter and her boyfriend and us but it just turned out to be the three of us instead of 5. I knew I would be the only one touching the chilies but to my surprise, they were not hot at all! This was also my fist successful attempt at making them. My friend at work suggested I use egg whites, and that did the trick!

I began preparing the peppers around three. I first put them over an open flame to blister the skin. Turn the pepper using the stem and be careful not to burn your fingers!

From there they can go into a paper bag. I used a pan and covered it with tin foil. This makes the skin fall off easily. Cover them for about 10 minutes and then begin to peel the skin off the pepper. I start from the top and work my way down.



Next make a slit in the peppers and add the cheese. I used Queso Fresco cheese and cut a slice and put it in each pepper. I then secured the slit I made in the pepper with a tooth pick. Remember when serving you have toothpicks in there. They get covered with the batter and then you find one unexpectedly.

I had mentioned that this was my first successful chilies. I had used the whole egg last time and my girlfriend had suggested to use just the 2 egg whites. I also used self rising flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and a dash cumin. To that I added about a cup of buttermilk. I didn't happen to have buttermilk on hand so I made my own. All you need to do is add a TBSP. of either vinegar or lemon juice to milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes. The milk then forms into buttermilk. I mixed the buttermilk in with the dry ingredients with a whisk and then dipped the peppers in one by one letting the excess drip off. (Please note I made the peppers last. I didn't want my fish to be spicy just in case the peppers were really hot)_The peppers were first dipped in some flour and then the wet batter.

The oil. I preheated about a half of a bottle of vegetable oil in a sauce pan. Once I saw ripples forming on the bottom of the pan, I added the peppers. I used a slotted spoon and another spoon to help me flip the peppers over. They cooked really fast, in about 5 minutes total. I drained them on a paper towel and kept them in a warm oven.

I have the Foodnetwork's Sunny Anderson to thank for the fish taco and quick pickle relish recipe. I discovered this a few years back and my hubby requested I make it. I used 5 tilapia fillets and cut them into cubes.  The batter is a basic beer batter. To two cups of self rising flour, I added one Miller Lite beer (Milwaukee represent!)  The spices were the same as in the chilies rellenos except for a touch more Cumin. The batter looks really thick. If it's too thick, you can add water. I added all the fish at once and used the one dirty hand, one clean hand technique.

I used a slotted spoon and helped the fish off the bottom of the pan. It floats to the top and the batter turns out a light golden brown. The fist is completely cooked in about 4 minutes. I turn once and move to a paper plate lined with paper towels. From there it went into the oven to keep warm. The fish was served in flour taco shells with the quick pickles. That recipe can be found on the Foodnetwork.com Here is how my tray in the oven looked!