We Have Company!

Okay folks, we roped someone into cooking dinner for us. And boy do we ever need it. Taneasha is on day twenty something of eating road food, and I'm sure there's more to eat in my house than granola and yogurt, but damned if I can find it.

Thankfully we have the darling Gemma Halliday here to feed us!

Check it out!

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Chicken Nacho Bake Experiment

First off, thanks so much to the lovely ladies here at Author’s Kitchen for hosting me today.  I’ve been salivating over their recipes for weeks.  The amount of cheese used on this blog makes my heart happy.

I’m nearing the end of my Hollywood Confessions Blog Tour, but please check out my website for the last tour stops, as I still have a few cool prizes to give away.  (Including gift cards, free books, cameo appearances, and Hollywood Headlines collectibles!)

Now, for the cookin’.  I have to admit, I’m not known as the world’s best cook.  In fact, up until recently, I had been a vegetarian for the past twenty years.  As you can imagine, when I finally switched to meat again, cooking it was way out of my comfort zone.  I’m slowly learn how not to burn it (only five kitchen fires later), but as the title of this blog states, I’m still more in the experimenting phase than the expert phase of my cooking journey.  So, here goes nothing…

Chicken Nacho Bake

What you need:

• ½ lb chicken
• 2 cups pinto beans (cooked)
• 2 avocadoes
• 2 tomatoes
• small bunch green onions
• tortilla chips
• Cheddar Cheese
• spices  (For mine, I used a good ¼ cup of mixed Mexican spices that I had on hand – chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and onion flakes.  But you can use whatever flavors feel south of the border to you or what you might have handy, adding more or less heat depending on what you like.  I’ve even added cinnamon sometimes for an unexpected sweet note to tempt the kids.)

The first thing I did was put the chicken in a pan with just enough water to cover, and half the spices.  I’m still a meat novice, so I prefer the milder white meat, but any cut of chicken that you like works.  I popped this up on medium heat until the water started to boil, then let the chicken hang out there soaking up all the yummy spice juice.

While my chicken was enjoying its bubbly soak, I got the veggies ready.  I grabbed a bowl and mashed the avocado…

Then chopped up my green onions…

Then diced the tomato.

(By the way – Seeley isn’t kidding when she says it’s hard to remember to take pictures of the food.  Do you know how many tomatoes I chopped before I remembered to take a pic of one whole?  We’ll be having tomato soup later this week for sure.)

By this time, my chicken was looking nice and cooked and losing its icky pink center.

So, out of the pan it came.  I popped it up onto the cutting board, but left the pan on the stove with all the spice juices still bubbling.

Into the same pan I added my cooked pinto beans and the rest of the spice mixture, just to let the beans soak up a bit of the flavor before going in the oven.

(Oh, shoot!  I forgot the oven.  ‘K, go put it at 350.  Perfect.  Now back to the chicken…)

While the beans cooked, I grabbed a couple forks and started shredding the chicken.  This was probably the most boring part of the whole process.  I had no idea how long it takes to shred chicken.  It’s kinda tedious, really, trying to get just the right bite-sized pieces.  This is where I started staring off into space and daydreaming.  On the upside, I got the first two chapters of my next book mentally plotted out.  Bonus!

Okay, so now that the chicken is shredded, it’s time to start building our multilayer bake.  I grabbed a baking dish and spread a single layer of tortilla chips along the bottom.  If you’re really ambitious, you could make your own by frying fresh tortillas, but I am nowhere near that ambitious.  So, I grabbed some of my boyfriend’s stash from the cupboard.  (Anyone else think it’s slightly more than coincidental that he puts all the good chips, chocolate, and munchies on the highest shelf in the house? I had to grab a stepladder to break into it.  Not cool, dude.)

Once the chips were down, the shredded chicken went on top of those…

And the beans came off the stove and went on top of that…

And then another layer of chips went down on top of that.  I added a couple slices of cheese on top, but only on one half of the bake, since my boyfriend doesn’t eat dairy.  (He’s also gluten intolerant, which often adds another challenge to cooking.  But, I am happy to say for anyone else who might have these kind of dietary issues, this recipe is entirely gluten free!) 

Into the oven this went (which was more or less pre-heated at this point), for about 15 min, or until the cheese got all gooey and melty-licious.

Once it was warm and melty, I pulled that sucker out and add the veggies I prepared earlier in layers.  First avocado, then tomatoes, and green onions.

And… ole!  You’ve got a chicken nacho bake!  You can garnish with a little lime wedge if you like, and the margarita is optional. (Though highly recommended!)

Huh.  What do you know?  No kitchen fire today.  I must be getting better at this. ;)

Thanks again to Taneasha  and Seeley for letting me come play in their kitchen!  And to celebrate my actually edible experiment, (the boyfriend even had seconds!  Muy bueno!) I’m giving away a Hollywood Confessions tile kitchen coaster! 

Just leave a comment below and you’ll be entered to win.  I’ll have the munchie-hoarding boyfriend pick a poster at random tomorrow and announce the winner here.

Enjoy your fiesta!

~Gemma Halliday

http://www.gemmahalliday.com

HOLLYWOOD CONFESSIONS

is now available in:

Paperback Print

Kindle

Nook

Ebook

Green Onion and Cheddar Soda Bread... Is the Mayhem Really Over?

June…hem?  Just doesn’t have the same ring, does it?  Well, May might be over, but things will continue to be a bit shaken up around here.  I will continue to be homeless for probably at least another two weeks.  Not a lot of gourmet cooking going on in a hotel, even if it does have a kitchen.  So, to help me out, Seeley and I will be switching our post dates next week.  She’ll be posting on Friday the 10th, and I’ll be posting on Tuesday the 14th. 

In more exciting news, we have a fabulous guest who will be posting on Friday, June 17th.  Gemma Halliday will be paying us a visit to celebrate her latest release, Hollywood Confessions.  Yes, I mean THAT Gemma Halliday!  How awesome is that?  She’ll be sharing a recipe and cooking story with us, so stick around for the fun.  In the meantime, You can check her out here. 

Ok, that ends the news portion of this post, we now return to your regularly scheduled programming.  Green onion and cheddar soda bread.  Ever prepare a meal that could really use a slice of bread or a roll, but you don’t have the time or energy for making yeast bread?  Soda bread to the rescue.  It’s quick, easy, and delicious.  Add green onions and extra sharp cheddar to the mix, and it’s even more fabulous.  So, let’s get started on it. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
8 ounces extra sharp cheddar
½ green onion, thinly sliced
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1 large egg

In a mixing bowl, sift or whisk together all the dry ingredients.  Cut your butter into small cubes and throw them into the flour. 

Mix on medium-low speed until it looks a bit like this:

If you don’t have a stand mixer, feel free to use pastry blender, two knives, or even your fingers.  Throw in the cheese and green onions.  As you can see, I used a very large grater for the cheese.  Regular graters are fine, or you can cut very small cubes.  Either way, mix it into the flour mixture until evenly distributed.   

Measure your buttermilk and then crack in the egg. 

Oops, I forgot about the pan.  Butter the bottom and sides of a square glass pan, and preheat your oven to 375°. 

Now, mix together the egg and buttermilk and pour them over the dry ingredients. 

Mix just until it comes together into a sticky mess, er… mass.

Scrape it from the bowl and plop it into your prepared pan. 

Wet your fingers and press it evenly into the pan.

Into the oven for 40 – 45 minutes.  The top will be a beautiful golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. 

Allow it to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.  Allow it to sit for at least another 20 minutes before you give into the temptation to cut yourself a big hunk.  It’ll help it stay together when you do cut it. 

Enjoy with butter or as a side for chili or any dinner.  Or simply nibble on it just the way it is. 

Stay tuned for more details about Gemma’s upcoming visit!