Chicken & Asparagus Crepes

I know I told you I'd have this recipe for you yesterday, but it was such a gorgeous day--one of the first one's we've had this season, and I just couldn't have myself sitting at home indoors. Sorry!


I tried something new yesterday.

I went to Zumba class.
Zumba is a dance fitness workout.
Oh boy, oh boy!! Is it ever funnnnnnnnn!!!

Now, I'm not a huge workout buff--and I definitely cannot dance. I am very long limbed, and clumsy as all get out--but Zumba was fun. And I sweated. Boy did I ever. It was a great, great, fantastic workout.

Afterwards, I didn't feel exhausted like I normally would after sweating that much, I felt incredibly energized.
Have you tried Zumba?
You should.
My friend got me a Groupon in our area for Zumba--TRY it! It's FANTASTIC.


Annnyywhooooo, back to these delicious Crepes.

Deliciousness wrapped in a perfect pancake-omelet.

**I must post a disclaimer: As I said in the last post, my camera was a little wonky during crepe-time--so these pictures may be a little funky. Also, I am not an excellent editor. But please, please don't let un-delicious looking pictures distract you from the deliciousness that this meal truly was. We all have our moments**

These ended up being very similar to enchiladas (in the step-by-step, not the ingredients or flavor.) You fill them, you roll them, you bake them, and you cover them with sauce. See the similarity?

Let me tell you something, though: These were better than enchiladas.
I am a huge enchilada lover, myself--and these were better. Why am I even talking about enchiladas?
These crepes, they are not enchiladas.
They are cheesy-chickeny-herby goodness, wrapped in a sort of pancake, sort of omelet, then smothered again in creamy, cheesy, goodness.

Um, yes please.

And now, I share with you--the secret of these heavenly bites...

Chicken & Asparagus Crepes

(Printable Version)
Adapted from here.
What is required:
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (such as dill, parsley, mint, or chives), or...
      1 teaspoon of each dried herbs (I used thyme, parsley, and dill)
salt & pepper, of course
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 crepes (recipe here)
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 pound asparagus
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half & half, milk, or cream (whatever you have)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

First, shred the chicken into a medium bowl.

I just used 2 leftover chicken breasts leftover from the night before. You can do the same, or just boil and shred some or you can use rotisserie chicken.

Then add the ricotta.

Yep, that's ricotta--not ice cream.

Then grate some Parmesan...

My favorite part of grating cheese in when you do allll that work grating, then you finally get to lift the grater up, and you have a nice big cheese pile.

Add the Parmesan, herbs, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper to the chicken mixture.

Mix it. Mix it good. Mix it....Mix it reeeeaaal good.

Next, you'll need a 9x13 baking dish, lightly sprayed.

In the dish, lay out 1 crepe, and spread a little of the chicken mixture on it.

Roll it up, and push it to the end.

Do it again....

And again.

Until all 8 crepes are rolled.

See, looks like enchiladas.

Stick this in a oven that's been preheated to 425˚ F.
No need to cover it. It will only be in there about 15 minutes--while we make the sauce.

For the sauce:

Chop up a shallot or 2 (I used 2, mine were small.)
Do you know what a shallot is?
A shallot is like an onion--but it has a much milder, sweeter flavor.

These are shallots:

But wait...Aren't those onions?

Nope--they're shallots. They're mini.
See:

Anywhooo, chop them up--just like you would an onion (be careful though, they're small.)


Then, get your asparagus ready.

First, cut the ends off (not the end shown in the picture--the other end....Someone in school cut off the end in the picture--oy.) You want to cut the dry parts off the end--they are just that, dry, and not good to eat.

To know where to cut, bend the asparagus gently.

It will bend naturally near the end...

Then bend a little harder...

And it will break naturally where it should be cut.

You don't have to do this to all of them, just one. Then you can chop the ends off the other ones about the same distance up as where the one broke.

*Can I just say that I'm mortified by my nails in these pictures. Please don't judge me by these pictures. Some people like chipped nails--like my old college roommate (Hi Mouch!). I; however, do not like chipped nails, and I can assure you that the problem has been addressed and the nails have since been properly manicured.*

Back to it, back to it...

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil or butter..
Then add the shallots.

Cook for about 1 minute, then add the asparagus.


Add the broth..

Then add the cream, salt, and pepper, and lemon zest.
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, to thicken a bit.

Remove the crepes from the oven--serve with sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
YUM.

See! So easy!



I'm off to start my weekend...It's another gorgeous day--maybe I can convince the Boo to take the pup and I to the park...

Do you have any big weekend plans? Anything exciting happening in your neck of the woods?


soooon.

Enjoy!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Last weekend I was able to FINALLY visit my best-best-best friend Claire and her family in Texas. Paul had a "business" trip to Texas, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get out of here and go visit my bestie.

Claire's husband, Stephen is in the Army and althought they are from Michigan (like me!) they are stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. I had so much fun visiting Claire, Stephen, and their precious 16 month old, Rylee--and also got to learn all about Army, Army life, and Army lingo. Unfortunately, the only pictures I managed to snag of Claire were of her picking wedgies--so I'll save her the embarrassment of posting those.

While visiting, Claire treated me to one of my absolute most favorite dinners from our childhood, Chicken Tetrazzini. Claire's mom always made THE BEST chicken tetrazzini, but she only made it when someone died or for birthdays, so it was always a rare, special treat. Until last weekend, it had been more than five years since I had had this delectable dinner--but it's amazingness was not forgotten by me.

So, without further adeau, I present to you:

Chicken Tetrazzini recipe adapted from Marilee Ludwick

What you'll need:
1 lb spaghetti noodles
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 ounces sour cream
2-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Boil your pasta and your chicken

Meanwhile:

Mix the chicken soup and sour cream in a bowl. We also added a small can of mushrooms--your choice. You could even add peas, beans, asparagus, or any other vegetables you like.

What a mooch!

Banana's. Yummy!

Oh. Sorry. Distractions. 

Back to the food!

Strain your s'ghetti

(WHAT? A man in the kitchen?)

Shred your chicken.

Add it all to the bowl, along with your seasonings, and stir until combined.

Dump it into a 9x13 baking dish, and top with the shredded parmesan.

Then, just pop it in the oven at 350˚ uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and brown...

Like this!

YUM. 

You WILL NOT be disappointed with this dinner.

I PROMISE. 

So good.

SO so good.

Yum.

Chicken Chilaquiles!

Chicken Chila-what-ees? Chicken chilaquiles, I say. (Chee-lah-key-lays)

In light of my current trip, (I'm in TEXAS, visiting my best friend, everrr!) I've decided to give you a nice spicy, Mexican recipe.


This. Is. One. Of. My. Favorite. Dinners. (Paul's too!)

This meal, chicken chilaquiles (let's see how many times I can say it in one post!), is delicious. What are chilaquiles you might ask? Chilaquiles are a Mexican dish, traditionally with corn tortillas and a tomato-ey sauce with cheeeeese.

My recipe-bestie, Martha (yep, we're on a first name basis), does a yummy spin on this traditional Mexican dish that's spicy, warm, filling, satisfying, and authentic tasting--we could eat it every day of the week here at the Yerrick house. I a million-billion times recommend trying this recipe--you won't regret it, and you'll crave it daily. Also, you can make a big batch like I do and freeze the left-over's for later!

First, let me say that I LOVE this cookbook. It's by far my favorite cookbook right now.

It has pretty little pictures of every recipes--and the recipes are always divine. I have yet to make a bad dish from this book. My favorite part is that it's divided into seasons and uses ingredients that are easily found that time of year.

Now, to begin this divine experience...The cast of characters:

The original recipe calls for rotisserie chicken--but I just boil chicken and shred it. You can do whatever you prefer.

Anyways, you'll need 3 chicken breasts. Boil them, let them cool a bit. Shred them, then set them aside.


Next, you'll need a red onion. A beautiful, delicious, juicy red onion.

Cut the top and the bottom off, then cut it in halt from top to bottom.  Then, cut it in half again--also from top to bottom. Turn it on its side, then slice it very thinly. Set aside.

Chop up some garlic. I use 6-ish cloves--depending on my mood. I'm a huge garlic fan. Anywhere from 4-8 cloves of garlic will suffice, depending on your taste. 

Heat some oil in a stock pot on medium high heat and saute the onions, until tender, then the garlic, until fragrant.

Heres a quick tip about garlic...If you want the garlic flavor to stand out, then add the garlic at the end. If you want it to be more subtle, saute the garlic near the beginning. 

Next, add in your can of tomatoes. You can really pick any can of tomatoes you want. The original recipe calls for whole peeled tomatoes, I don't really like using these because I don't like big chunks of tomatoes in my food. This time I chose to use crushed tomatoes, but sometimes I use diced tomatoes. It really doesn't matter, canned tomatoes are canned tomatoes. 

After your tomatoes, stir in your tomato puree--about half the can. 

Yay! Now it's time for my favorite part. The chipotles. Where do you buy chipotles, you ask? Well--they are in the ethnic foods aisle, by the Mexican food. They come in a little can like this:

There are other brands, so your can may not look identical to this one--but you get the idea, right?

These bad boys are SPICY. They pack some punch. Be wary if you heat them by themselves. You. Will. Choke. And cough. And gasp for air. One time, I made chipotle burgers and it was bad bad news for everyone in the room--but that's a whole different post. (By the way, while typing this I spelled 'news' 'noos' because I was sounding it out in my head...yeah, long day.) 

Anyways, back to the wonderful can of chipotles. Chop up one, two, or three chipotles (depending on the level of spiciness you desire, I went with 2.)

Add them to the pot. These will add a delicious smoky and spicy flavor to the dish. One of my favorite kitchen ingredients. 

Get a few of teaspoons of the adobo sauce that the chipotles are in and add that to the pot too--things are about to get crazy in here. 

You can easily transfer the remaining chipotles and their sauce to a different container and store them in the fridge for later use. 

After the chipotles, add a cup of chicken broth.

Then a tablespoon-ish of salt (this should be adjusted to your liking).

Add 2 tablespoons of cumin.

Then add pepper, oregano, chipotle powder (optional), cayenne, chili powder, and a dash of garlic powder. 

Rinse and drain 1 can of black beans. Add it to the pot.

And finally, add your shredded chicken to the pot.

To heat to medium low, and let everything simmer for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, grate some monterrey jack cheese and chop up some cilantro. (I like to grate my own cheese as opposed to buying pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in flour and gives things a different texture--it leaves a gritty feel behind. When you grate your own cheese it tastes creamier and it also melts better. Plus, it's less expensive!)

After 15 minutes, stir in cilantro. 

To prepare your bowls, line a bowl with corn tortilla chips. Ladle chicken mixture on top of chips, then top with a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese, and fresh chopped cilantro. 

You will NOT be disappointed with this heaven.

Chicken Chilaquiles recipe adapted from Martha Stewart. 

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

4-8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 cups shredded chicken

1 teaspoon oil (vegetable...olive...butter...whatever you have, really)

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato puree or tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, finely chopped (reserve sauce)

1 can black beans, drained

2 cups low sodium chicken broth broth

1 jalepeno, finely chopped (optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

4 T cumin

1 T dried oregano

1 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t chipotle powder

1 t chili powder

1 T garlic powder

1 T coriander 

1/2 c cilantro, chopped

Corn tortilla chips

Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Sour cream

1) Heat oil in pan and saute onions until soft. Add garlic (and jalepeno) and saute until fragrant. 

2) Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato puree, chipotle chilis, 2 T adobo sauce (from chipotle can), chicken stock, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cayenne, chipotle, chili powder, and garlic powder and 1/4 cup cilantro. Stir in shredded chicken and black beans.

3) Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

4) Serve with corn tortilla chips and topped with sour cream, Monterrey Jack cheese, and fresh cilantro. 

Enjoy!