Creamy Chicken Pockets

Okay, this is one of the recipes from the recipe party I hosted the other day. Thanks you Amber for bringing these super yummy pockets! Also, I made a huge mistake at the grocery store and accidentally  bought country biscuits instead of the crescent rolls. Although the biscuits turned out a lot thicker, they still made good pockets. So, if you get home and realize you have the wrong canister for this recipe, still give it a try. 

Yield: 24 pockets
4 TB olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced (8 tenders or 2 big cans of canned chicken)
1 cup minced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 TB butter, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
4 tablespoons milk
3 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls/ or 3 pastry sheets (each cut into 8 squares)
2 TB butter, melted
Bread crumbs (Italian seasoned or Panko)
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken with the onions and garlic.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons melted butter until smooth. Stir in the cooked chicken, onions and garlic. Add the salts, pepper and milk. Mix well.
Separate the crescent roll dough into the eight triangles or cut into eight squares. Dollop a tablespoon of filling into the center of each triangle and fold the corners up to seal. Press and seal firmly. Place on ungreased baking sheet or stone and repeat with the remaining dough and filling OR use greased cupcake pans. Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs (optional).
Bake for 11 – 13 minutes, or until golden brown.
Recipe Note: To heat up leftovers, bake in a preheated 350˚F oven for 10 minutes.

Fresh Roasted Salsa

I haven't posted in a very long time, and I have no excuse... except I'm lazy.

Do any of you have a plethora of tomatoes in your garden and you are sick to death of bottling/canning/freezing - which is code for blanching/peeling/cutting/chopping/crying/boiling/burning yourself/waiting to enjoy the 'fruits of your labor'??  Me too!!

We used to bottle some pretty good salsa - but I came across this little gem on a blog, I can't for the life of me remember the site (this was before Pinterest) - once we ate this, the old stuff was disappointing.  It's a pretty flexible recipe.  Here's what you need:

Tomatoes - Approximately a sink full. Washed and cut in halves.
Onions - Washed, peeled and quartered.  I use two onions per tray of tomatoes.
Jalapenos - Washed, stems removed and cut in halves.  I use two per tray of tomatoes.
Garlic - Peeled whole cloves.  I like a lot, I think there are four or five per tray of tomatoes.
Salt - I use coarse salt, I don't know why, but I like to see that I've got plenty sprinkled on the veggies.
Cilantro - Washed and drained.  I like a huge handful of the ends with the leaves.  (But, save for after roasting.)

Lay out your tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and garlic on cookie sheets - sprinkle generously with salt.  Roast at 425 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.  The tomatoes loose their juices and everything gets a little 'charred'.  I use a slotted spoon to scoop everything into the food processor with the cilantro - this batch of salsa was about 3 food processors-full.  If you like thinner salsa - you can add the tomato juice from the cookie sheets.  I like thick and hearty salsa so I don't.  Add salt to taste.  If you like lime juice, you can add that too.  But, it really doesn't need it.

I hope you like this salsa as much as we do.  It's super easy and barely any prep work.  See.  I'm lazy.

Infamous Winger's Sticky Fingers

Pinterest Recipe #1= Success!

If you love Winger's like Ethan and I do, but hate eating out then this recipe is for you. It is one of those recipes that really does what it claims to do: mimic a restaurant recipe.

For the chicken...

I just buy a package of Tyson’s frozen breaded chicken strips and bake them according to their conventional oven directions. (**Warning: this makes enough sauce to feed the whole family about 10-12 pieces of chicken. So, if you're not feeding a crowd you might want to halve the recipe like we did.)

**If you wish to fry them, go for it! Or if you have your own breaded chicken recipe and you feel up to the challenge, then try it! Tyson’s frozen breaded chicken is already done (just bake according to package's directions)and is way easy for the meal in a crunch.**

Now for the SPECIAL Wingers Sauce

• 1 and ½ cups brown sugar
• 6 Tbsp FRANKS hot sauce (I would use the original because the buffalo version she suggested was a little too hot for my sensative pallet = ))
• 4 Tbsp water

Heat sauce until sugar is dissolved, then pour over chicken!

Enjoy! Serves about 2 with a little left over….so 2 for the price of 1!


Blog where the recipe was originally found: http://www.chef-in-training.com/2011/06/infamous-wingers-sticky-fingers.html