Focaccia Pugliese

Before my husband was my husband he wooed me with food, specifically with his baking. One of the first things he made was focaccia. I was madly in love, and not just with my boyfriend. The bread was so fluffy and moist, the crust was the perfect amount of crispy and chewy, and the toppings burst with flavor. I had focaccia before that day, I'm sure of it, but I was shocked that he made it by himself and from scratch; that was the day I knew I truly loved focaccia.

Since our young days as a couple we've made this dozens of times, and I'm still amazed that it's made with potatoes—who knew?! The recipe below makes one thick and poofy focaccia that's lighter than it looks thanks to the velvety olive oil and creamy potatoes. (Keep this in mind when you have Thanksgiving leftovers!) 

Our staple toppings are usually a smattering of pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, rosemary, and Parmesan cheese. But sometimes we get creative and add mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, or other veggies we have on hand. I also suggest using a good extra-virgin olive oil—a little bit goes long way, so bust out your good stuff!

Oh, one other note: this is addicting. Consider yourself warned! 

Focaccia

by The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
1 cup room-temperature mashed potatoes (we use instant potatoes if we don't have "real" potatoes on hand)
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup water, warm
1 cup water, room temperature 
3-4 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
sprigs of rosemary 

Optional Toppings:
2-3 Tbs pesto
12-15 olives (green and/or black) cut in half
1/2 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped  
2-3 mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1/2 onion, sliced or chopped
1 bell pepper, sliced or chopped 

Directions:
In medium-sized bowl whisk yeast into warm water and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining water (room temperature) and 1 tablespoon of oil. Combine mashed potatoes (room temperature—if it's hot it'll kill the yeast), flour, and salt into yeast mixture and stir for about 3 minutes. Continue stirring until it gets too difficult, then mix with your hands. Knead until dough is velvety, elastic and slightly sticky. Place dough on a clean, lightly floured workplace and continue kneading until dough is no longer sticky (add a more flour a little bit at a time if necessary). Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon of oil in empty bowl, then place dough back in bowl. Flip dough to get it covered in oil; cover bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled (about 2 hours). 

Preheat oven to 400F.

Spread dough onto a well-oiled cookie sheet (9x13"). Cover with towel and let double (about 1 hour). Once doubled, press your fingertips into dough to create "dimples." Spread pesto evenly across the top, scatter on your toppings (except sun-dried tomatoes*), and sprinkle cheese and rosemary. Drizzle remaining olive oil, making sure to cover edges and corners. 

Bake for ~20 minutes, adding sun-dried tomatoes just as focaccia is golden brown.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I grew up on my tias' green chile chicken enchilada casserole, but I never bothered to ask how they made it; I mean, why learn how to cook it when they'll make it for you? Actually, that's not true. I think I did ask—several times—but their recipe included "some" of this, "a little" of that, followed by a dash, a pinch, and a sprinkling of "those." They all swore it was "really easy to make," which is why they didn't have an actual recipe.

I'm the type of person who needs clear-cut directions. Spell it out for me in detail so I can check, double check, and then have someone else make sure I got it all right, otherwise you'll end up with salt cookies instead of sugar cookies. So a few weeks before I moved from New Mexico to Georgia, my mom and I practiced making green chile chicken enchiladas. It turns out making the casserole really is pretty freaking easy.

I've been making this now for more than two years and I'm proud to say I don't use a recipe for it anymore, which is why it's probably taken me so long to share this with you. I have the basics down, but sometimes I'll throw in a little something extra (it's great with an additional 1 cup of sauteed mushrooms) or play around with ingredients (sometimes I use whatever cheese I have on hand, and I love using leftover Thanksgiving turkey in place of the chicken). The recipe also works great cut in half, which is something I like to do when it's just me at home.

Like most casseroles, this tastes better after it's been out of the oven for a few hours and even better the next day. All the flavors have time to sit, mingle, and get to know each other, resulting in a party in your mouth later. If you do make it ahead of time, just pop it back into the oven for a bit to warm it back up. Serve with Spanish rice, calabacitas (coming this week!), and homemade tortillas!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

by The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 (10 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 batch green chile sauce (or 1-2 cups green chile, pealed and chopped)
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic
8 corn tortillas, quartered
1/4 cup your favorite salsa
12 oz shredded cheese (cheddar or Colby/Monterrey Jack blend)
1/2 onion, chopped (optional, but only if you absolutely, positively HATE onions)

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350F (180c). Lightly spray a 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.

In a medium-sized pot on medium-high heat, combine soup, chile, and (cooked) chicken. Add ground pepper, cumin and garlic; mix to combine. Once the mixture starts to boil thickly, take off heat, stir, and set aside.

Submerge quartered tortilla pieces in salsa one at a time and place along the bottom of the casserole dish so the whole thing is covered (it takes around three and a half whole tortillas per layer—it's okay if there are some spaces or if they lay on top of each other). Spread half of chicken mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle half the onions over chicken mixture, then add around a 1/4 of the cheese over the onions. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients ending with the cheese.

Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Let cool, slice, and serve! (It's often not very set when we eat it straight out of the oven, but it still tastes great and will firm up for leftovers!)

Ice Cream Bread

Ice cream bread? Say what?

If you're scratching your head right now, you're not the only one. I saw this a few days ago on Pinterest (anyone else completely addicted to that site?) and knew I had to try making it immediately.

Not only did I try it, but I've kind of gone crazy trying different flavors. I'm still baffled that this bread is made with ice cream! Make this with your leftover ice cream or pick up a pint for a  fun, ridiculously easy, and tasty bread. When I say "ridiculously easy to make" I truly mean that. There are only two ingredients:

Self-rising flour* + Ice cream

The flavors above are strawberry on the left and "turtle tracks" (caramel, chocolate, and peanut butter) on the right. I've also tried pineapple coconut ice cream (SO delicious) and peach ice cream. I just bought some coffee ice cream and plan on making some bread with that very soon. I happen to like chunks in this particular bread, so to the strawberry ice cream I added additional frozen strawberries, and to the peach I added pecans. The sky is really the limit!

If you try this, let us know what you think and what flavor you used; I'm curious how it'll taste with different ice creams.

Ice Cream Bread

from The Hungry Housewife originally from 1001 Ways to Cook Southern

Ingredients:
2 cups (1 pint) ice cream
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour*
(For every cup of flour add 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt {sift together}. There you go, now you have self-rising flour.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 x 4 loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. In a medium bowl mix semi-melted ice cream and flour together until just combined. Scoop into the loaf and and smooth out. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the loaf comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it. Remove from the pan and allow to coo. Enjoy!