Quick Buttery Beer Bread

Quick Buttery Beer Bread makes 1 loaf

Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter 3 cups self rising flour 2 TBL sugar 1 12 oz beer Directions: Melt butter and pour enough into a 9x5 inch loaf pan to coat bottom. 

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and beer.  

Spoon dough into loaf pan.

Pour remaining butter over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until bread is a light golden color.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting with a serrated knife. Serve warm. 
*If you don't have self rising flour you can make it. You will need to triple the recipe to make the beer bread.  1 cup flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt mix well

Wild Rice Chicken Soup

Wild Rice Chicken Soup serves 10-12

 1 C chopped carrots

 1 C chopped celery

 1 lg onion, finely chopped

 1 container sliced mushrooms

 1 64 oz chicken broth

 2 boxes Rice a- Roni Wild rice Long grain

 2 tbsp butter

 4 tsp fresh minced garlic

 1 1/2 C parmesan (you can use less)

 4-6 boneless breasts  ( I sometimes use rotisserie chicken)

 1 Cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Bring 1/2 broth to boil, add rice and seasoning pkgs, cover and simmer 25 min.

Generously sprinkle seasoning salt on chicken breasts. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan, sear chicken breasts.

Cut chicken into bite size pieces.

Sautee veggies in butter for about 7 min.  

Add veggies, remaining broth, chicken, cheese, and cream, simmer 10-20 min.  

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Chicken Tortilla Casserole Serves 10

Ingredients 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or rotisserie chicken
Salt
Chicken Gravy, recipe follows
1 cup canned green chiles, chopped and drained
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Cooking spray
Twenty-four 6-inch corn tortillas or 12 10-inch flour tortillas
4-5 cups shredded Cheddar

Chicken Gravy:

6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper (I use 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper)

Add the chicken to a large stockpot, cover with water and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken and set aside. Reserve 3 1/3 cups of the broth (1 cup is for the chicken gravy, supplement with boxed stock if you don't have enough.)

You can use a rotisserie chicken. Reheat in oven according to directions.  It  should release some juices, pour those in measuring cup, add chicken stock to make it 3 1/3 cups of stock. (You will not get much liquid from chicken but what you get is extremely flavored.)   Shred the chicken.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large sauce pan, heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.  Saute onion until tender about 5 minutes, add garlic and green chiles stir 1 mniute. Mix in the cumin, salt, pepper. Set aside. 

Chicken Gravy:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and the flour turns light brown in color. Gradually whisk in the stock and milk and continue to stir while cooking over medium heat. When the mixture thickens, after about 5 minutes, whisk in some salt and pepper.

In a large saucepan with the onions mixture, combine 2 1/3 cups of the reserved broth, the Chicken Gravy, and sour cream. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. 

Spread 1 cup of the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Arrange a layer of 6 tortillas over the mixture.

Then top with 1 cup shredded chicken and 1/2 cup of the Cheddar. 

Repeat this layer three more times, ending with cheese. Spread any remaining mixture over the cheese. Make sure all of the tortillas are covered or they will get very hard during baking. 

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.


*I use costco rotisserie chicken.  We usually will have 2 chickens for dinner the night before and I shred what is left over for this casserole.