Recipe Revisited: Chopstick Chicken

Fresh ingredients and nuts give this hot chicken salad a satisfying crunch

Hello there Beaver!  I was going through my cookbook the other day looking for Carol Vant's Quiche recipe (more on that later) when I came across this old casserole recipe you and I used to make a lot when we were younger, i.e. before the children decided they didn't like casseroles. Basically Chopstick Chicken is a hot chicken salad, but instead of mayonnaise it uses cream of mushroom soup, which is good because you can use regular, fat-free, low sodium, or heart healthy versions. Another thing this casserole has going for it is that it uses very few ingredients and therefore it's very simple.

Fresh out of the oven this recipe's a real winner. I love the crunch of the chow mein noodles and cashews. The goodness stops there, however. I had completely forgotten that this dish does not reheat well! The noodles turn to mush and the nuts get softish, even if you heat the leftovers in the oven rather than the microwave. For this reason I don't recommend making this recipe unless you know you'll eat it all.

A quick stir and you're done.

Chopstick Chicken

Serves 3

Ingredients

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup water
3 oz. can crispy chow mein or rice noodles
2 chicken breasts halves, cooked and diced
1 cup celery (about 3 hearts)
1/4 cup chopped onion (about 1/3 onion)
1/2 cup cashews
dash pepper

Procedure

Combine soup and water. Add 1 cup of the noodles, chicken, celery, nuts, onion and pepper. Mix together and place in a round baking dish. Sprinkle remaining noodles on top and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling.

Time to pop this casserole in the oven!

Great Guacamole

Every avocado-loving family has their own
version of guacamole

Hiya Beaver!  We seem to be on a Tex-Mex kick here lately. No surprise considering how much you and I both love spicy food. Today I'm thinking about our family's great guacamole recipe, the one that was handed down to me by my mother. This one is different than most guacamole recipes in that it's meant to be a salad, not a dip. Years ago, in our family at least, guacamole salad was served on a salad plate atop a leaf of lettuce and you ate it with a fork. Here's the basic recipe Mom wrote down for me when you and I were newlyweds:

Mom's Great Guacamole

Cut avocados in half, scoop out and mash.  Add one or two spoonfuls of mayonnaise, chopped tomato, onion, celery (optional), a shake of Worcestershire sauce, dab of picante, and cumin to taste.

Now, if you're a novice, this doesn't give you very much to go on, does it? I wasn't much of a salad eater so I tweaked this basic recipe to make it more of a dip to be eaten with tortilla chips. It's been a big hit at parties and tailgates and I don't mind sharing my version. I can't call it Mom's any more since I took out the diced veggies and kicked up the picante.

Great Guacamole

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe avocados
2 - 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 - 3 tablespoons picante sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4-5 drops Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin
pinch salt or to taste
pinch pepper or to taste

Procedure

Cut the avocados in half; remove pits and discard all but one. Scoop the fruit out of the skins, dump it in a bowl, and mash lightly with a fork.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mash or stir until desired consistency. My guacamole comes out fairly smooth due to the mayo, but I make sure to leave a few lumps of avocado goodness. Finally, grab a chip and have a taste. The salt from the chips might be enough flavor enhancement but I usually end up adding salt in the end. Place the guacamole in an airtight container with the reserved pit on top of the mixture (keeps it from turning brown) and refrigerate a few hours before serving.


A dear friend of mine in Fort Wayne asked for this recipe back in 2005 and says she still makes it today, but her family likes a little bit more Tabasco. She writes, "Our favorite little Mexican restaurant does squeeze a lime in theirs when they make it so that might add a nice touch to yours."

The lime really does add a great flavor to guacamole. Good friend Harley makes a divine guacamole that calls for lime. It's the only sour cream-based guacamole I've tasted that I wholeheartedly approve of so I begged him to share it with me, and he did.

Harley's Great Guacamole

Ingredients

3 avocados
1 small tomato, cut into chunks
1 small, sweet onion, finely chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, sliced, seeded, chopped fine
1/2 garlic clove chopped fine
2 small limes, juiced
1/2 cup sour cream

Procedure

Peel the avocados and mash into a bowl.  Add all ingredients and mix well.  

Harley writes, "The sour cream is added last.  I add the amount of sour cream that gives the guacamole the consistency that I want.  Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less."

Finally, previous guest editor Oliver Axtell sent me his own version of Mom's recipe. Though not included in the list of ingredients, he has lime juice in the photo (top) so I assume he adds lime juice. Also, he substituted salad dressing (in the form of Miracle Whip) for the mayo. Oliver writes, "During my 88 years, I have eaten guacamole salad in Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Reynosa, Guadalajara and Mexico City. In none of those places have I found the guacamole salad any better than that made by this recipe. It is my wife's recipe and is so good that one would think she had Latino blood in her, but such is not the case."

Guacamole Salad serves two.

Great Guacamole Salad

Ingredients

3 large avocados, scooped out into a bowl and lightly mashed

1/2 tablespoon onion, finely chopped (approx. 1/4 onion)

2 tablespoons tomato, chopped (approx. 1/4 tomato)

2 tablespoons celery, finely chopped (approx. 2 stalks)

3 or 4 dashes Tabasco sauce

1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise 

Procedure

Mix all ingredients.  Leave the mixture a bit lumpy.  Refrigerate.

Note:  To chop anything fine, you can't beat the Ulu knife, with its blade curved to fit the concave surface of the thick cutting board.  The Ulu has been used for centuries by the Alaskan Eskimos as an all-purpose cutting tool. -- Oliver

Ulu knife

To our readers: Is your guacamole similar to ours or very different?  We'd love to discuss guacamole with you!  Feel free to comment!

BIG THANK YOU

Fresh green chiles from Hatch, New Mexico

Hey Beaver! You're never going to guess what came in the mail today. Fresh produce from New Mexico!

To whoever ordered me a box of Hatch green chiles: Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a surprise! Someone must have read my post (Bonnie's White Chili) to learn that I couldn't find a proper green chile pepper here. I'm going to cook them straight away so I can chop them up for freezing.

Straight from the Hatch [NM] Chile Store!

For our readers who don't know, here's a little background about these particular peppers, found on the website of the store that my peppers came from, The Hatch Chile Store. They have some recipes on their site too. I'm definitely going to use some of these Hatch chiles to make Green Chile Pumpkin Pie.

Once again, many thanks, whoever you are!

Mexican Shredded Beef Enchiladas

Hola Bonnie, when Ollie and I were in New Mexico in 2008, we discovered awesome shredded beef burritos at a restaurant called Joannes's in Espanola. I have been working on Mexican shredded beef since then and here is my favorite recipe. I decided to make enchiladas, but the beef is good for tacos, and burritos also. The key is good shredded beef and here is my favorite recipe for the beef. As you can see it has many of our favorite ingredients, especially ancho chile powder and cumin. There is a lot of leftover beef that I use for a variety of meals.

Mexican Shredded Beef Enchiladas

Shredded Beef Ingredients

2 pounds beef shoulder
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large onion, sliced
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 bay leaves

Credit to "Mexican Pot Roast Tacos" on www.foodnetwork.com

Ingredients for the shredded beef.

Here are sliced onions and crushed garlic ready for cooking

Season all sides of the beef with a fair amount of salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, or other heavy pot that has a tight cover, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over moderately high heat. Add the garlic and the beef to the pot, browning the meat on all sides, taking the time to get a nice crust on the outside.

Add the onion and allow to lightly brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. I like how the onions create moisture that allows the crusty bits from the pan to be scraped off with a spoon to add flavor to the mix.

Add the crushed tomatoes, plus 1 tomato can of water, spices, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add enough water to cover the meat.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer with a lid for 3 hours until the meat is fork tender. Let meat cool in the liquid. Shred meat and set aside.  I add some liquid from the stock for flavor and moisture.

Beef ready for shredding.

The beef shreds easily.

Make the Enchiladas

Now it's time to make the enchiladas.  First I tenderize corn tortillas in hot vegetable oil.  A quick dip in hot oil, turning once, does the trick.

Tenderizing and browning the corn tortillas.

Ready to roll the enchiladas.

The tortillas are then dipped in enchilada sauce and filled with the meat, a little cheese and rolled.  I like mild cheddar cheese for this.  The baking dish is greased with shortening.

Ready to roll.  There is a sprinkling of cheese under the shredded meat.

After putting more enchilada sauce on top and sprinkling with a little cheese, it bakes at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling.  It was delicious.

Ready for the oven.

The La Victoria enchilada sauce is very good.

This took about 1 1/2 cans of enchilada sauce.

Ready to bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling.

Guest Editor's Pick: Southwestern Salad

Colorful Southwestern Salad

There is no doubt about the Southwestern nature of this colorful salad, considering that it contains avocados, red bell peppers, and black beans, and considering also that the flavor of the dressing comes primarily from freshly chopped cilantro. The recipe comes from a book entitled Ramen Noodle Recipes. The ramen noodles are employed solely as a garnish. They enhance not only the general appearance of the dish but also, the texture of each bite.

Ripe avocado melts in your mouth

Southwestern Salad

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

Salad: 

8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1 avocado, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes

2 hearts of romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into ½ inch strips

1 cup of frozen corn, thawed

1 15-ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained

Dressing:

¼ cup lime juice

1/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

1 ½ tablespoons minced green onions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Garnish:

1 package of Ramen noodles, any flavor, uncooked

Procedure

1. Combine all the ingredients of the salad; toss well.

2. Mix the ingredients of the dressing.

3. Add the dressing to the salad; toss well.

4. Crush the raw noodles into small bits and sprinkle over the salad.

Gorgeous salad tastes as good as it looks

(Note:  Guest editor Oliver Axtell resides in Dallas, Texas and writes about religion, Christianity, and church on his blog Ollies Follies.  He also does all the cooking for his family.  When he's not trying a new recipe or writing, Oliver likes to garden and is especially proud of his roses.)

Bonnie's White Chili

Hiya Beave! So it turns out I'm not "prediabetic" as I had thought. The nurse told me I'm one point over normal. That's what I get for eating white rice with dinner the night before a blood test.

I'm still dedicated to finding recipes that incorporate the power foods recommended by the ADA. My old (circa 1986) White Chili recipe (which I derived from the awesome Family Circle Chicken Enchiladas in Cheese Cream recipe) has been a mainstay in our family, and is so popular it was even featured at a Dallas church Harvest Bazaar in the early 90s. Close inspection of the ingredients shows that it's very good for you! The combination of chicken and great northern beans with just the right spices and seasonings makes for a very tasty bowl of health. I decided to cook up a batch of our chili last weekend.

My original easy-peasy recipe calls for canned beans.
This time I decided to try and make my own.

I'm watching my sodium intake so I know that Bush's Great Northern beans are 460 mg per half cup and 230 mg per half cup "low sodium." Really, neither version are that bad. I wanted to eliminate that sodium (cut out the flavor as our son Ollie would say) by making my own beans from scratch. In the process I also decided to make my own green chiles, saving an additional 70 mg of sodium per two tablespoons. I also always use sodium free chicken bouillon when I cook. Read on to see the pictures of my process. And at the end of the post is my original, flavorful White Chili recipe from 1986.

Soak the beans in water overnight.

The next morning I cooked the beans according
to package directions.

Your trick: Poach the chicken along with chunks
of celery, carrot, and onion. Don't forget the
celery leaves!

The vegetables enhance the flavor of the chicken.
Leave the skin on during cooking.

I prefer to save the cooking broth for something else
because I don't want too many conflicting flavors in the chili.

After skinning and deboning the chicken I got about 3 1/2 cups
cubed meat from the original 2.4 lb package.

I decided last minute to make my own green chiles.
These are actually poblanos; no one had Anaheims in stock!

Slice and dice the boiled chiles. Taste one first;
if it's not hot enough leave in some seeds.

Drain the beans, add all ingredients to the pot and simmer
about an hour (tilt lid and stir occasionally).

When all was cooked and eaten I have to say that I need a lot more practice cooking dried beans. I followed the package directions carefully but the cooked beans weren't silky smooth like the ones you get in the can. Rather, mine were mealy and distracting in my white chili. Also I had to increase the salt several times to get the flavor right.  I'm sticking with my original recipe, below, from now on.

Bonnie's White Chili

Ingredients

2 21-ounce cans great northern beans

2 pounds chicken breasts (with skin and ribs), cooked and diced

1 large onion, diced

1 can chopped green chiles*

2 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon chili powder**

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, or 1 large clove garlic, minced

Procedure

Add all ingredients to a large pot and simmer with lid tilted for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. You want a thick consistency so let the liquid cook down somewhat. This is chili not soup!

Top with shredded Monterrey Jack cheese and serve with good tortilla chips.

Yields about 4 Texas-sized bowls. I always double the recipe to accommodate four (apparently starved) guys.

*Be careful not to buy chopped jalapenos! This changes the flavor considerably. If you decide to cook your own use Anaheim peppers (first choice) or Poblano (second choice), but not jalapenos. All green colored peppers are not alike.

**Beaver already knows this but our readers should be cautioned to not use chipotle chili power. Chipotle is a smoked pepper and you don't want that flavor in your chili! Also, if you know anything about chili you know that the 1 tablespoon chili powder is correct. Reducing the chili powder will turn your finished product into a nice, boring, chicken and bean stew. If you don't like chili, don't make chili.

Hotel Hot Wings

Hi Bonnie.  When I was traveling a lot last year, I mostly stayed in Residence Inn by Marriott.  On weekends (as you know), I really enjoy hot wings while I watch sports.  There usually wasn't a wings place nearby, so I had to figure out how to make good hot wings and french fries with just a cook top range and a microwave oven.  I think I figured it out.  I made some yesterday in the apartment and thought I would share the method with you.  It's very simple and makes great Hotel Hot Wings.

Here are the ingredients:  whole chicken wings, all purpose flour,
rank's Red Hot, butter and microwave french fries.
The microwave fries are surprisingly good.

 I use whole wings. They are thawed, not frozen.

The stock pot is full of water and I'm bringing it
to a boil before putting the chicken wings in.

Fresh beer helps the process go more smoothly.

Timer is set for eleven minutes.

The wings go into the boiling water and cook for exactly eleven minutes.
Near the end of the cooking time, some of the wings float to the top.
This also seems to take some fat out of the wings,
you can the see some of the fat rising to the top.
Maybe it's more healthy.

When the wings are done, let them cool and cut them
into sections and throw away the tips.

Here are the cut up wings. There are 16 pieces.

Then I coat the wings in flour.  I don't add any liquid
because the wings have oily skin from the boiling.
I also don't make the coating thick.

It's time to make the wings sauce.
I use the classic 1/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot.
I put the burner on very low heat
and leave the pan on until the butter melts.

Now I fry the wings in a little bit of oil
to brown them and get them crispy.
I cook them on medium low to reduce splatters.

It's time to make the fries.  Only four minutes in the microwave oven.

Pour sauce on the wings and it's time to eat!

The kitchen gets a little messed up, but it's worth it.

All done.