Buffalo Chicken Wontons... Two Ways

As you know I'm totally head over heels in love with buffalo chicken and all it's various forms.  I heard about the idea of buffalo chicken wontons and knew I had to try it.  Buffalo chicken in fried dough, there was no question that I would like it!  So I experimented with filling and frying and baking.  I came up with two simple methods, and both are stinkin' tasty.  This makes a great appetizer that isn't overused.  Here's the DL...
Filling Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
4-5 Tablespoons buffalo sauce (adjust to your taste preference)
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1Tablespoon chopped green onions

Buffalo Chicken Wontons with Spicy Blue Cheese Dip

Traditionally made wontons with a major twist on the filling.  

Ingredients
Filling from above
canola oil for frying
wonton wrappers

Directions
Fill saucepan or deep frying pan with about two inches of oil.  Heat over medium heat.
Meanwhile lay out a couple wonton wrappers (make sure other wrappers are covered until you are ready to use them so they don't dry out).  Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper.  Brush two edges of the wrapper with water and fold the dry corner over to meet with the moist corner.  Press edges together to create a seal.  Set aside and continue with remaining wonton wrappers.

Place a couple wontons at a time into hot oil.  Cook until each side is light brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.  Set on paper towel to drain.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Serve with Spicy Blue Cheese Dip.  Enjoy! (makes 40-50 wontons)

Spicy Blue Cheese Dip
Ingredients
1/3 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1-2 Tablespoon buffalo sauce
1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley
Directions
Mix all ingredients together and enjoy.

Buffalo Chick Cups

Baked not fried these puppies are a little healthier.  These bite size snacks are tasty and easy to pull off.

Ingredients 
Filling from above
wonton wrappers
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 cup chopped green onions or chives
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray.

Line each muffin cup with a wonton wrapper by gently pressing it into the tin and folding over where needed to create the "cup".  Lightly spray the top of the wonton cups with non-stick spray.  Bake for 5 minutes.  

Remove from oven and  place about a tablespoon of filling into each cup.  Top with a pinch of the cheese.  Return to oven and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  

Top with green onions for garnish and let sit for a couple minutes before serving.  Enjoy!  (makes about 30 cups)

Green Chili Enchilada Stacks

Things have been a little quiet around here.  I didn't have internet for almost a week, long story.  Thus, blogging wasn't accomplished.  But now I'm back online and have a stack of recipes to share with you.  Speaking of stacks (sweet segue), may I introduce to you these amazing Green Chili Enchilada Stacks.  These are a great quick dinner and they are super duper yummy.  There is minimal work involved and they will fill you up.  If you make shredded chicken ahead of time and freeze it then these puppies are even faster.  This is a great twist on an old classic and takes less time to pull off.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
12 corn tortillas
canola oil for frying
1 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 Tablespoons butter
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies
1 can (10 oz.) green enchilada sauce
sour cream (for topping)
salsa (for topping)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put about a half inch oil in a small frying pan and heat on medium.  Once oil is hot flash fry the tortillas, about 2 seconds on each side (you want them to get soft, not crispy).  Place on paper towel to drain.  Set aside.
In frying pan over medium heat melt butter.  Add onion and garlic & cook for about 10 minutes, until onion is soft.  Turn off heat and mix in chicken.

Place tortillas on a baking sheet.  Top with a little bit of chicken mixture and plenty of cheese.  Remember you will be stacking these so do over do it on the toppings.  Place in oven for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is totally melted.
Meanwhile in small saucepan over medium-low heat mix together the green chilies and enchilada sauce.  Cook until heated through.

On a plate stack three of the chicken and cheese top tortillas.  Cover with green chili sauce to your liking.  Top with sour cream and salsa.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Father's Day Feast

Father's Day is almost upon us.  So, here are a few recipes to make the man of your house feel like a king!  Happy Father's Day to all those great dad's out there.

Flank Steak

Classic Enchiladas

Homemade Pizza

Cheese & Caramelized Onion Stuffed Burgers

Crispy Oven Fries

Giant Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Pizza Dip

BBQ Pork Sliders

Good Ol' Fashion Mac & Cheese

Braised Pork in a Sweet Soy Sauce

Gooey Caramel Brownies

Mexican Mac & Cheese

I'm a big fan of mac and cheese in all it's various forms.  So when I saw a recipe for Mexican Mac & Cheese I was sold.  I took the idea and made up my own cheese sauce & added ingredients I liked.  I kept it mild for my kiddos, but you could really spice it up if you like.  This is a great way to change up an old standard.  It's delicious and filling and will make everyone's tummy happy.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
1 16ounce package dry macaroni noodles
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup taco seasoning (or 1 pack taco seasoning)
5 Tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, diced
3 Tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup salsa
hot sauce to taste
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 (3.8 oz) can sliced olives, drained

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook noodles according package directions and rinse with cold water, set aside.
While noodles cook, melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, cook for 8 minutes.  Add ground beef to onions and continue to cook until meat is cooked through and no longer pink.  Add water and taco seasoning to meat and stir to coat.  Cook until water i mostly gone.  Remove from heat and stir in all but 1 tablespoon of the green onions and all of the olives.  Stir the meat mixture in with the noodles and set aside.
 In saucepan over medium heat melt 3 tablespoons of butter.  Whisk in butter, stirring constantly for about one minute until lightly brown and bubbly.  Slowly add the milk and cook whisking often until milk thickens.  Stir in the cumin and garlic powder.  Slowly add 1 1/2 cups of the Mexican cheese blend and the cheddar cheese.  Whisk until cheese is completely melted.  Add hot sauce to your liking and salt to taste (if it doesn't taste quite right it probably needs more salt).  Stir in the salsa.
Pour cheese sauce over the noodles and mat.  Stir until everything is coated. Pour into a baking dish and top with remaining cheese.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Remove from oven and top with remaining green onions.  Garnish with sour cream and salsa.  Enjoy!

*I make my recipe with homemade cheese sauce, but the original recipe used jarred cheese sauce.  I tried it with this which I diluted a bit with milk.  It worked well, I just don't like using that stuff too much because of all the junk they put in it.  But if you were in a hurry the jarred cheese sauce is a good solution.

Cheddar Oven Fried Chicken with Cheesy Herb Sauce

I saw this recipe for cheddar fried chicken and thought it sounded heavenly.  So I took the idea and ran with it. And let me tell you, it done turned out real good.  What's nice about this recipe, besides the fact that it incorporates so much cheese, is that you don't have to fry the chicken in oil.  Yet, it comes out crispy and delicious.  And the cheesy herb sauce... well, you know how I feel about cheese sauce.  This meal is easy and quick to whip up.  Perfect for a quick dinner.  Here's the DL...
Ingredients
8 chicken tenders, or 4 breast cut in half
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups crushed Ritz crackers
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put chicken in  a bowl and pour buttermilk over the top, set aside.
Grease a 9"x13" baking dish.  (You can use butter or non-stick spray depending on how skinny you feel that day ;)
Put your cheese and cracker crumbs in separate shallow bowls.  Take a piece of chicken out of the milk bath and put it into the cheese.  Using your fingers press cheese into chicken until it is coated.

Then put cheese covered chicken into the cracker crumbs and coat well.  Place in the prepared baking dish. Do this with the remaining chicken.  Cover with tin foil and bake for thirty minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until edges are brown and crispy.  Serve with cheesy herb sauce on top.

While chicken is baking make your Cheesy Herb Sauce:
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon goat cheese
1 chicken bullion (or enough for 1 cup of broth)
2 teaspoons parsley
Directions
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Whisking constantly add flour & cook for about 1 minute or until bubbly & brown (make sure you cook it to this point to get all the flour taste out).  Add milk, gently whisking until mixture gets thick.  Add the chicken bullion and whisk until it is incorporated.  Whisking constantly add the goat cheese until melted.  Then slowly add the Parmesan, cheddar cheeses.  Stir until cheese is completely melted.  Add salt to taste (if it doesn't taste right you probably haven't added enough salt) and parsley.  Serve over Cheddar Oven Fried Chicken.