Chicken Enchilada Caserole

This recipe has to be credited to my friends and teachers from North lake Elementary School. I spent most of my teaching career there in Garland, Texas.

The North lake staff had a lovely tradition of celebrating birthdays monthly in the teachers’ lounge. During lunch time, we brought in homemade treasures from salads and casseroles to cakes covered with candles. Many of the cooks shared their recipes many of them are among our family favorites.

Try this sumptuous Chicken Enchilada Casserole with your family and friends. If you are lucky enough to have a group like the teachers at North lake, you might share your recipes with them too.

Ingredients:

12 corn tortillas

½ cup cooking oil

2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

¾ cup chopped onion

¼ cup butter

3 tablespoon flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

2 cups diced chicken

1 cup (4 oz.) chopped green chilies

Directions:

Cook tortillas in oil—5 seconds per side to soften.

Place 2 tablespoons of cheese and 1 tablespoon of onion on each tortilla and role up. Place seam side down in 9x13 baking dish.

In a large skillet, melt butter and blend with flour. Add broth and cook until thick. Stir in sour cream, chicken, and green chilies.  Cook until heated—(do not boil!). Pour sauce over tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and light brown. This makes 6 servings with two enchiladas each. You’re going to love this! 

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo

How many different dishes do you make with your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers? Of course you always have turkey sandwiches and sliced breast meat with mashed potatoes and leftover gravy, but have you tried making soup?

One of my favorite turkey recipes is turkey and sausage gumbo. My son Chris first introduced me to gumbo and I must say it is one of my favorite soup recipes. Try this before you decide to toss the turkey.

Ingredients:

1 pound of Polish sausage or Andouille (spicy Cajun sausage) cut into bite size pieces

3-4 cups of skinned chopped turkey from leftovers or roasted chicken

½ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup flour

½ cup chopped sweet pepper

1 medium chopped onion

2 cups chopped celery with leaves

4 pints turkey or chicken broth

3-4 cloves minced garlic

2-3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 pinch of thyme

6 drops of hot sauce or to taste

¼ cup chopped green onion (for garnish)

1 cup brown rice cooked according to package directions

Directions:

When your turkey dinner is finished prepare the leftovers by removing skin and bones and separate meat into packages appropriate for your family meals. Freeze all that won’t be used within a couple of days.

1, Prepare turkey for soup by chopping it into bite size pieces and set it aside.

2. Place hot water in medium pot with turkey bones and scraps, some onion and celery.

This will make a flavorful broth. Cook until veggies are tender.

3. Sauté the sausage in a large skillet until brown. Remove most of fat using a paper towel then remove sausage from skillet and set aside.

4. Pour vegetable oil into skillet with remainder of fat. Add the flour and stir constantly on medium heat until roux is the color of chocolate (about 25-30 minutes).

5. Add chopped peppers, onion, and celery to skillet and cook until vegetables are tender (about ten minutes).

6. Pour broth from turkey bones and contents of skillet into soup kettle. Add more water and chicken bullion if needed to make about two quarts of liquid. Stir until soup is slightly thickened.

7. Add sausage, turkey or chicken, garlic and rest of ingredients through hot sauce. Simmer about an hour.

8. While soup simmers prepare brown rice according to package directions. This will take about 40 minutes.

9. Remove bay leaves and sprinkle soup with chopped green onions.

10. Serve this delectable gumbo over the rice. What a wonderful way to serve leftover turkey.

Send your recipes for leftovers to our blog. We’d love to share some of your favorites!

Russian Potato Chicken Soup

Hardy soups are for Winter. Maybe that's why Russia is famous for their soups--they have long winters.
My daughter-in-law is Russian and makes the best borsch imaginable.

My mother-in-law, Shirley's family came from Russia around a hundred years ago and her family recipe for chicken soup with matzo balls is great. It is just what the doctor ordered when you have a case of the sniffles.Today is cold and dreary and the forcast calls for snow--soup time!

This Russian Potato Chicken Soup recipe came from Ladies Home Journal about 20 or 30 years ago. My daughter-in-law says she had never eaten it in Russia before, but she thought it was delicious all the same. I'll just put my southern twist on it and say, "Ya'll stay for supper now. Ya' hear?"

Ingredients:

1) 1 1/2 pound chicken breast meat-chopped and sauteed with 2 tablespoons butter, or leftover meat from a broasted chicken

5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped   
4 cups chicken broth or 2 bullion cubes and 4 cups water

Prepare above ingredients and put in crock pot on high.

2) 1 medium chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery with leaves
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
Chopped green onions, fresh parsley, shredded cheddar (optional) as garnish

Saute onion, celery, parsley, and butter. Add to chicken mixture in crock pot. Let cook for three or four hours.

3) Just before time is up make rue in skillet by combining the following:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cooking oil

Allow to brown lightly. Dip one cup of broth from crock pot and add to skillet. Stir until smooth then dump the contents of the skillet in.the crock pot and stir.

4) Add 1 can of evaporated milk and correct seasoning with salt and pepper. If not thick enough you may add paste of flour and water and stir until soup is of the right consistency. Chop 2 green onions or 2 tablespoons parsley for topping. May serve with shredded cheddar.

This might turn in to one of your comfort foods. I hope you like it as much as we do. Have you got a soup recipe you would like to share? Send it to us or make a comment. I would love to hear from you.