Foodie Friday: Mama-Slappin' Good Food

When LK and I lived in Memphis we loved to eat the local favorite- barbeque. One place we would go when we could wrangle up a sitter was the Germantown Commissary. Their slogan was just about as catching as their food: So good yu'll slap yo mama.

Well this week I'd have to say the food was so good you'd slap your mamasita (except since I'm the mamsita- please don't).

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, pg 115
This meal will leave you asking "Ted who?!"  It is just that good.  As Geo said "it's almost like a satisfying meal."  I think that was a good thing.  I used canola oil (she gives the choice of EVOO or canola) and I did (begin your backpatting now) move to unbleached flour.  I used chicken broth (she gives the option of broth or base + water), and cooked the chicken and chopped it as I did last week.  I only had 10 tortillas instead of 20 so my rolls were bigger than what I'm sure Tanya was anticipating in her description (if only there was some way to write down and keep track of exactly what I need to buy at the store).  Since I had less tortillas, I had some chicken and monterey jack left over.  With the little bit of left over chicken mixture I had, I just shoved it around the side of the baking pan and with the cheese, I just added it to the top of the enchiladas with the cheddar cheese.  I think worked out pretty well.  I meant to roll up some spinach inside the enchiladas because 1- I had the spinach and 2- I love spinach enchiladas, but I forgot while I was rolling so I just put some fresh, raw, spinach on top.  Super yummy.  Super yummy.

Chicken Pillow, pg 120
Anytime I see a recipe that mixes crescent rolls with cream cheese and fresh garlic, I'm immediately harkened back to my Pampered Chef sales days.  Yes, that's right, I use to sell Pampered Chef- and the best part was, I didn't even cook back in those days.  It was, to say the least, my gateway drug into sales.  I loved going into someone's house, throwing food around, making people laugh, trying not to leave something out or set something on fire (thank heavens for damage insurance!) and getting paid for the whole experience.  While I didn't get paid for this dinner, it was so tasty I should have!  Once again, I used my new-to-me food processor to chop up the chicken.  And it really does look like a pillow once it's all cooked-- well once it did. actually. bake.  See- somehow I only set the oven at 250 instead of 375 so it took way way way longer than 12 minutes to cook (see, it is like back when I sold PC!) - but is was very much worth wait.

One Step Pineapple Angel Cake, pg 148
I made this for our family game night dessert.  So simple - I gave each boy one ingredient, they dumped them in a bowl and I stirred.  Super easy.  Here's what I didn't know- did you know that if you mix crushed pineapple and the juice with angel food cake mix you can get one rocking fizzy, bubbly, science experiment in the making. Really, dye that puppy red and you've got yourself the inside of a volcano for your kid's science fair like that!  What I didn't know is that it would continue to grow and bubble while cooking (does it do that every time you make angel food cake or is it something about the pineapple?).  What a mess! A sticky, sweet, tasty mess.  Thankfully I had the foresight to put the baking dish on to a stone with a lip so it didn't make that sticky mess inside the oven.  We had 5 guests staying with us this week- three middle school girls and their parent sponsors here in the city for middle school mission trip- and one of the sponsors marveled at the cake, going on and on about how amazing I am that I "bake."  While I don't consider this baking (it was just too easy), who was I to correct her.

Creme Wafers, pg 184
I made these for little treats when Darin and Theresa came over to play a little Spades (boys-v-girls, tied 1 to 1) and for whatever reason I decided to dye the icing orange (in this house where we Boomer more than "Bleed orange" of all places I know! ).  The shape was a little funky thought too- she calls for circles but the flower cutter-- well it was calling to me.  I'm horrible at judging how thick/thin I've rolled something out but I'm going to guess each wafer is more than the 1/8 inch thickness called for in the recipe.  Just guessing here.  But they were still cooked through (not browned as specifically pointed out to not be in the recipe).  The whole process takes some time so it's not a last-minute-throw-a-treat-together kind of dessert but they are worth working towards.  And she's right, you'll have most of the ingredients on hand so in that regard it's easy.  I even had the whipping cream on hand, left over from another recipe.  A nice tasty way to use un-needed whipping cream (other than just beating it into whipped cream and eating it in it's sugary fluffy state).  One tip to note- the filling gets squishy as it comes to room temperature so either keep on a chilled platter, only get out what you'll be using at that moment, or eat fast.  I leave you to choose.


Next week I'm making Southwest Pizza at Geo's sweet request, come back to see how it turns out.