A Fabulous Cooking Class

I think one of the marks of a good leader is surrounding themselves with great people. I'm not sure I'm an especially great Relief Society President, but one thing I do have down is surrounding myself with great people. THANK YOU to Mary M. and Debbie B. for organizing last week's cooking class. I'd be lost without the two of you!

Last Thursday, the Relief Society (the womens' organization at my church) sponsored a very fun and oh-so-delicious cooking class using food storage items. My friend, Marilyn L. was the teacher and about 18 of us piled into her kitchen to gleen some pearls of wisdom from her.

Now let me tell you, this woman is amazing. She even makes her own yogurt and pasta. So, as you can tell, I had a lot to learn from her. The theme of the cooking class was stretching your food dollar by using beans (pinto, black, white, etc.) to supplement your meat. She made four amazing dishes that would feed 6 people, each using only one chicken breast. And, you really felt like you were getting LOTS of chicken when you ate them. Are you kidding me? When I make a soup or casserole, I almost always use 6 chicken breasts for my family. So you can see why I NEEDED this class! Just think of all the scrapbooking supplies that could be bought with my savings on chicken alone! Note: Marilyn's family, like many of the members of mine, is not too thrilled with whole beans in their foods, so Marilyn puree's much of what she uses to stretch the chicken. I was so excited with the results. Delish!

I thought I'd share Marilyn's recipes today. Also, another wonderful lady, Debbie B. brought her delicious cornbread for us to eat and also shared her recipe, which I will also share. I was great to take pictures of some of the wonderful ladies who attended, but silly me, I totally forgot to take photos of the food itself. Trust me when I tel you it was beautiful, as well as tasty!

Debbie B.'s Honey Cornbread
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 Tbs. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. butter (1 stick)
1 scant cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour an 8 x 8 baking pan and set aside. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl and set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of mixer and cream until smooth. Add honey and eggs, and beat to blend, scrapping bottom and sides of bowl frequently. Beat in half of the milk. Beat in half of the flour mixture. Repeat with remaining milk and flour mixture. With mixer at lowest speed, continue to mix for 4 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in oven 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Now on to Marilyn's recipes:

Marilyn L.'s Chicken and Pinto Bean Enchiladas
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups of pinto beans with some of the cooking liquid
Taco seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 shredded chicken breast
1 cup grated cheese
2 cups homemade enchilada sauce (see recipe below)
10 flour tortillas

In a large skillet, fry onions in a little oil. Add pinto beans, taco seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Smash beans. Add shredded chicken breast. Pour some enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Fill tortillas with the bean and chicken mixture and a little cheese. Roll up and place on top of enchilada sauce. Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Garnish with avocado, tomato dices, or sliced black olives.

Marilyn L.'s Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce
2 6.5 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup chili powder
1 Tbs. dried oregano
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs. olive or canola oil
1 onion, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped

In a medium sauce pan, combine tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, pepper, salt and garlic. Cover and cook over medium heat. Meanwhile, coat fry pan with oil and saute onion. Stir in sauce. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in bell pepper and cook 10 minutes more.

Marilyn L.'s Black Bean and Chicken Tortilla Casserole
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans green chilies
1 or 2 cups shredded chicken breast
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup evaporated milk or homemade evaporated milk (see recipe below)
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup homemade enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas
1 or 2 cups cooked black beans
Diced tomatoes
Cooking spray
1/2 cup extra sharp cheese
Crushed tortilla chips

In a pan, warm broth, green chilies and chicken. In a small fry pan, add oil and cook onion. Add to chicken mixture. Add milk. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Tear corn tortillas. Layer tortillas, chicken mixture, black beans, tomatoes and cheese. Repeat layers again. Top with cheese and tortilla chips. Bake in 350 oven for 20-30 minutes just to warm through. Great served with cornbread and a salad.

Marilyn L.'s Homemade Evaporated Milk:
1 cup water and 2/3 cup powdered milk

Marilyn L.'s Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Noodles:
1 1/4 cup flour (or 3/4 c. whole wheat flour and 1/2 c white flour)
2 large eggs

Put the flour into a large bowl and make an indentation in the center. Beat the eggs and pour into the indentation. With a fork, gradually pull the flour into the eggs. When it is a rough mass, knead until smooth adding a little more flour if needed. Cover with plastic wrap and rest 30 minutes. Roll and cut into desired shapes. This makes 1/2 lb. pasta.

If you intend to use your fresh pasta within a week, place loosely in an airtight container before it dries and refrigerate. You may keep fresh pasta frozen for up to a month. You can dry it for long term storage by hanging for 4 hours or bunching loosely and setting on a towel to dry. Dry pasta stored in a tightly sealed container in a cool dry cabinet will keep indefinitely.

Soup:
2-3 quarts chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 shredded chicken breast
1 cup white beans
Add any of the following:
Diced carrots, diced celery, diced mushrooms, diced zucchini, diced green pepper, diced cabbage, corn. Season to taste.

With the butter and flour, make a roux. Add broth slowly while mixing. Add chicken, beans and vegetables. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Ten minutes before serving, add noodles and bring to a boil.

Tortilla Soup with Pinto Beans
Fresh or dried cilantro to taste (Marilyn used a hand full)
4 cloves garlic
Diced onion or dried flakes
1 small can of green chilies
10 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 quarts chicken broth (homemade)
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups pureed pinto beans or 1 can refried beans
1 shredded chicken breast

In a blender, add 1 cup chicken broth, cilantro, cumin, salt, green chilies, garlic, onion and can of tomato dices. Puree and pour into a stock pot. Add rest of the chicken stock. Boil over medium heat for 10 minutes. In a blender, puree the pinto beans. Add to the stock pot and cook over medium heat for 10 more minutes.

Add shredded chicken and heat through. Ladle into bowls. Garnish with avocado, cheese, chopped tomato or fried tortilla strips.