Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells

I've had my eye on a recipe for Mexican chicken manicotti in Taste of Home's Pasta Cookbook for, literally, years. I finally decided to make it last night, only to discover that, for some reason, my local grocery store "doesn't carry" manicotti shells. What kind of grocery store that wants to call itself "well-stocked" doesn't carry manicotti shells? I was irritated. But I was determined to make this, so I improvised and used jumbo shells instead. There really isn't much of a difference between the two. Both are pasta, both can be stuffed.

This turned out absolutely delicious. The sauce and filling had just the right amount of heat, and I loved the creaminess that the sour cream offered. Joe really enjoyed it too, and it's something I can definitely see myself making again and again! Thankfully, we have plenty of leftovers for lunches this week.

Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells
Source: adapted from Taste of Home's Pasta Cookbook

1 package jumbo shells
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 small onion, diced, divided
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, divided
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup salsa
2/3 cup milk
Cilantro, for garnish

1. Cook shells according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the chicken, 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack chese, cheddar cheese, sour cream, half of the onion and half of the chilies. In another bowl, combine the soup, salsa, milk, and remaining onion and chilies. Spread 1/2 cup of sauce in a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

3. Drain shells; stuff each with a spoonful of the chicken mixture. Arrange over sauce in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over shells.

4. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining Monterey Jack cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Macaroni and Cheese with Peas and Bacon

I've been meaning to make this macaroni and cheese for a while, and I finally got around to it last night. Tyler Florence says this is "the only" macaroni and cheese recipe I'll ever need, and while I don't know if that's exactly true, his version of the classic is absolutely delicious. I loved the topping; the smokiness of the bacon and the sweetness of the peas and the sharp bite of the onion worked so well together, and the white cheddar cheese was the perfect compliment. This was just...yummy. There's no better word to describe it. Well, maybe besides comforting.

I changed this recipe up a bit, mostly out of necessity; I had to omit the fresh herbs and garlic cloves because I didn't have them on hand, and I cut the recipe in half so we weren't bogged down with leftovers. The recipe below is the original, which feeds 6 to 8, and my changes are reflected in purple.

The Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese with Peas and Bacon
Source: adapted from Tyler's Ultimate

Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni (I used shells)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups warm milk
5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (omitted)

Extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed (I used a sprinkle garlic powder)
Leaves from 1/4 bunch of fresh thyme (I used a few pinches of dried)
2 cups frozen peas, thawed in a colander under cool water

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente. Drain.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Gradually whisk in the milk and, whisking vigorously, cook until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

4. Meanwhile, heat a 2-count of olive oil in a saute pan. Add the bacon, onion, garlic and thyme and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. (I let the bacon go for a while by itself to get crispy.) Fold in the peas and season with salt and pepper.

5. To serve, scatter the pea and bacon mixture over the mac and cheese.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

I printed out Southern Living's recipe for red velvet cheesecake ages ago and filed it away to bake sometime in the future, and like so many recipes it got lost in the shuffle. Thankfully, Peabody posted about it a couple of months ago and reminded me. I meant to make it for Christmas, but time got away from me, and again the recipe went to the back burner. And then Annie posted about it a few weeks ago, and then I just knew I had to make it. I decided it would be the perfect finish to our indulgent Valentine's Day dinner. And it definitely was.

If you like red velvet cake, there's no way you won't love this dessert. It tastes exactly like its more traditional counterpart, and the cream cheese just makes it all the more, well, velvety in texture. And the cream cheese frosting? Genius! And awfully delicious, too.

The bright red color makes this cheesecake so pretty and so dramatic. This dessert is definitely worthy of any special occasion. I think it's going to become an annual Valentine's Day thing in my house, because despite its richness, Joe still managed to eat quite a bit of it all on his own!

Red Velvet Cheesecake
Source: adapted from Southern Living via My Recipes

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For the filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
2 (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring

For the frosting:
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish: cocoa powder

1. For the crust, stir together cookie crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

2. For the filling, beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

3. Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.

4. For the frosting, beat 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of springform pan. Garnish, if desired.

Valentine's Day Dinner for Two

Joe and I have never been huge celebrators of Valentine's Day, but this year more than any other year I wanted to do something special for the two of us. I didn't really feel like going out to eat, because everyone does that on Valentine's Day, and anyway it was probably the worst night to try to find a babysitter for our little man. So I decided to make dinner for us at home. And I'm so glad I did; it was probably one of the best Valentine's Days we've ever spent.

We started out the meal with goblets of champagne with strawberries, and while everything was cooking we snacked on crusty sourdough bread dipped in olive oil and herbs:

I served a simple salad of baby spinach, strawberries and goat cheese, sprinkled with salt and pepper and dressed with store-bought strawberry balsamic vinaigrette (and FYI, this salad may sound simple, but it was sooooo delicious. Joe proclaimed that it is his new favorite salad, and I plan to serve it at our son's first birthday party in May):

I also made roasted asparagus that I slathered with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder and cooked in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. The other side dish was caramelized onion mashed potatoes. I prepared the onions just like I do for my French onion soup, then added them to mashed potatoes along with cream cheese, a touch of heavy cream, and a bit of butter. All that sweet onion flavor really came through in the potatoes, and the cream cheese made them so rich and creamy. They were so good!

For the main event, we had chicken breasts with champagne cream sauce (the recipe is below), which were very, very good. The flavor of the champagne really came through, and the shallots and mushrooms were such a nice addition to the sauce. Letting the chicken poach for a bit in the sauce made it so tender and juicy. Sorry the picture is so out of focus, but I was ready to start our romantic dinner for two!

Chicken Breasts in Champagne Cream Sauce
Source: adapted from Cooks.com

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
1 shallot, chopped
Half a package of fresh sliced button mushrooms
2/3 cup champagne
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts to the pan and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until golden. Remove chicken to a plate; cover and keep warm.

2. Add the shallots and mushrooms to the skillet and cook until shallots are translucent. Pour in champagne and cook over medium high heat until it is reduced by about half. Add the cream and salt and cook until the sauce thickens slightly. Whisk in the butter. Add chicken back to the pan and cover so chicken can finish cooking in the sauce. Arrange chicken on plates and top with the sauce.

Sweet Strawberry Cookies with Chocolate Cream Filling

The first Valentine's Day that Joe and I spent as a couple was in 2001. I wasn't much of a baker at that time, but I still decided that I wanted to bake some cookies for Joe for Valentine's Day. I came across a recipe for some cookies called "pink pillows" that sounded simple to make and very tasty. It was the first time I'd ever tried to bake cookies without my mom's help.

Alas, because of my relative baking inexperience, I did not know about a little thing called "carry-over cooking." So when the 10 minutes were up and the cookies didn't look quite done, I just left them in the oven instead of taking them out to finish baking. I think I ended up baking one batch of cookies for 30 minutes. Ya'll, I was a novice.

I still remember Joe's face when he tried to bite into one of the cookies. (Yes, I still gave them to him. I knew the bottoms of the cookies were burnt to a crisp a little bit brown, but I thought they might still be all right.) But Joe could barely bite into them, they were so hard. When he finally got a bite off, I watched his face crinkle up as he mumbled, "They're delicious." I remember being so touched at his sweetness that I actually cried a little bit. Mostly, though, I think the tears were from sheer embarrassment.

Joe mentions those cookies every Valentine's Day and teases me about them mercilessly. I kept the recipe and I've been meaning to redeem myself for quite some time now. This year was the year.

To make the cookies more special, I decided to make little strawberry cookie sandwiches with chocolate cream filling in the middle. These cookies are such a sweet treat for Valentine's Day. These are very cakey cookies and don't spread when they're baking, so next time I think I'll flatten them before baking so they're not quite as thick. I do think they're awfully cute, though, as they are; they look like little scoops of strawberry ice cream. I doubled the cookie recipe, which gave me 25 cookie sandwiches.

I have officially redeemed myself. Joe loves these, and so do I. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Sweet Strawberry Cookies with Chocolate Cream Filling
Source: cookie recipe adapted from Meals.com; chocolate cream filling recipe from Baking Delights

For the cookies:
4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Nestle Nesquik Strawberry Flavor Powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs

For the filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
3 tablespoons sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375º.

2. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, Nesquik and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

4. While cookies are baking, prepare the filling. Cream butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Beat in melted chocolate and sugar, scraping down the sides as needed. Place filling in a plastic bag; snip one corner of the bag.

5. Pipe the filling onto the bottom side of 25 cookies. Top with the other 25 cookies, pressing cookies together firmly to adhere filling. Refrigerate.