Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Enchiladas

The fun of experimenting with fusion enchiladas continues.  One of my favorite dishes is Chicken Alfredo.  And yes, sometimes just as the Alfredo sauce reaches the perfect stage of thickness, you know the ideal consistency to coat those fettuccine noodles, I'll add a couple of handfuls of fresh baby spinach to wilt.

So for this version of enchiladas, we'll use a bottled Alfredo sauce.  You can definitely make your own if you'd like.  I also used a box of frozen spinach and this dish came together in a flash.

Here's what you'll need:

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken tenders

1 (10 oz.) box of frozen spinach

1 (8 oz.) ricotta cheese

2 t. dried Italian seasoning

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1 (28 oz.) jar of Alfredo sauce

5 oz. freshly grated Parmesan

8 medium sized tortillas

fresh basil for garnishing

To cook the chicken, I used the Instant Pot.  I added the chicken, about a cup of water, salt and pepper and let it pressure cook for 20 minutes.  If you'd rather, you can gently simmer the chicken until the chicken easily shreds.  However, you cook the chicken, just make sure it's shredded, not cubed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large skillet, over low heat, add the spinach.  The water  will evaporate as the spinach heats and you don't have to worry with thawing the spinach and squeezing dry.  Genius, right?

When the spinach has thawed with no water left, remove the spinach from the heat.  Stir in the chicken, ricotta cheese, Italian seasoning, and the nutmeg.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Gently stir in about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of the Alfredo sauce.  

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish and add a thin layer of Alfredo sauce in the bottom of the dish.

Place the tortillas on a flat surface such as your countertop or kitchen island.  I always roll my enchiladas from my butcher block.  Divide the filling evenly between the tortillas and sprinkle with the Parmesan.  Roll the tortilla up around the filling and place seam side down in the baking dish.

When all the filling is used, pour the remaining Alfredo sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with any remaining Parmesan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the enchiladas are hot through and through and the Parmesan has melted.

Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  Sprinkle with fresh basil before serving.

Grilled Jamaican Pork Burgers with Pineapple

 

I have posted before about grilled pork burgers.  To be honest, I prefer ground pork over ground chuck for burgers.  Sweet Harold had been craving one with grilled pineapple rings which pair so deliciously with the pork.

I decided to season with homemade jerk seasoning.  The recipe can be found HERE.

Let's make some burgers! 

The first thing you'll need to do is open and drain one large can of pineapple slices (in their own juice) and place them on paper towels to drain.  Cover with additional paper towels and lightly press to remove as much juice as possible.

I used a little over one pound of ground pork and divided that into four burgers.  Then I liberally seasoned the patties with the jerk seasoning.

Preheat your grill on high.  Place the burgers on the grill and let cook for 3 - 4 minutes.  Lower the heat to medium high and rotate the burgers 1/4 turn.  Let cook another couple of minutes and then flip them carefully with a spatula to cook from the other side.

While the burgers cook, place the pineapple slices directly on the grates and let them cook for a few minutes and then rotate them a 1/4 turn.  In another minute or so flip them over to grill the other side.

Grilling brings out so much sweetness from the pineapple.

For another blast of Jamaican flavor, I decided to glaze the burgers with this sauce (after they reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.).  

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For these particular burgers, that already have so much flavor going on, you might want to be a little choosy with your condiments.  Our favorite method is a light swipe of mayo on both buns, shredded lettuce, an onion slice, and those grilled pineapple slices!

Dining Out Southeast: Louie's Cheesesteaks and Pizza, Attalla, AL

 

We've been hearing a LOT of great things about this unique restaurant in nearby Attalla.  Is it one of those nights where your family or friends can't decide what exactly they want to eat?  Pizza?  Sandwiches?  Strombolis or Calzones?  Louie's has got you covered!

Who is Louie you may ask?  Here's our new friend ready to start working his magic.  Thanks to Greg Bailey/Gadsden Times for the photo. We meant to have a photo op, but we got too busy chatting and forgot!

Before I get to our meal from today, let me tell you a little about what makes this restaurant (and the food!) so special.

Louie makes the dough for the pizza, sandwiches, strombolis, and calzones fresh each day.  Based on the humidity and the temperature on any given day, this expert knows exactly how to adjust the ingredients of the dough to make it perfect each time.  Also, there are 100 balls of dough made each day.  When they're gone, they're gone.

Louie also has a greenhouse which means that there is always fresh basil!  The Italian Sausage is house made from a family recipe.  The ricotta is seasoned before being used as an ingredient.  Are you picking up on the love that goes into each BITE of food you're getting here?  Trust me, this attention to detail makes a huge difference in the end product that you're purchasing.

Earlier today, Louie decided to make a "Grandma's Pie" just like his grandmother made for him.  While we're waiting on our food to be prepared, what did he do?  He offered us a couple of slices!

The dough is light and airy.  The sauce has an amazing depth of flavor:  rich tomato, fresh herbs, garlic all combined for sauce perfection.  The thinly sliced onions with a light cheese topping made this an ideal start to our meal!

We decided that we wanted to try a calzone AND a pizza.  For our calzone, we selected ham and cheese:  ham, ricotta, mozzarella cheese.  

We were able to sit at the bar and watch our masterpieces being freshly prepared.

and into the pizza oven and voila!  

This calzone is what calzone wannabes dream of being.  The dough was nice and chewy and had a delicious flavor.  The ham and mixture of cheeses melted into an ooey gooey filling and the seasonings in the ricotta were spot on.  That marinara for dipping was not wasted!

The Meat Lovers Pizza was loaded with toppings:  sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, Italian Sausage, smoked bacon, ham, and parmesan cheese.  

And here is the result!

Each ingredient paired perfectly with the next.  No seasoning overpowered another.  The ratio of sauce to meats to cheese was balanced.

Upon Louie's recommendation, we added a drizzle of his homemade hot honey.  Well, that took perfection into the realms of heaven.  Make sure you ask for the hot honey!  You can thank me later.

Did I mention that Louie also has house made pickles in a variety of flavors?  There's double dill, garlic dill, hot dill, suicide hot dill, sweet heat, bread and butter, sweet ginger, sweet horseradish, green tomatoes, hot green tomatoes, barrel aged sauerkraut, mini garlic dills, giant garlic dills!  Yes, we brought some home.

Here's a picture of the menu board.

If these kinds of things mean something to you, and yes, they should.....

We can't wait to return to try the Philly Cheesesteaks and Strombolis.  If you're looking for a cozy place to grab a great meal with wonderful owners, look no further than Louie's.

Louie even invited me to be in one of his famous FB videos.  Yes, you can find it on either their FB page or at Fleur de Lolly's FB page.

What a fun afternoon!

Around Lolly's Sideboard: Lighthouses

As summer is winding down, let's have one more sideboard that reminds us of time spent at the seashore!

Sweet Harold found this unique set on FB marketplace a few years ago and it's one of our favorites.  Clean, classic lines with pops of red makes me almost able to smell the salt air.

He has always had a fascination and admiration for lighthouses and I love that we were able to enjoy this set of dinnerware.

I paired my Scarlet Fiestaware salt and pepper shakers to bring out the red in the plates.

The coffee mugs are a nice size...not too big, not too small.

The set includes a large serving bowl along with soup/cereal bowls.

Another red pop of color from the Fiestaware carafe!

The maritime figures were all my mom's.  I loved using them for this sideboard.

Harold has four beautiful Harbour Lights lighthouses.  These were perfect on top of the sideboard.

Every time I've walked through my kitchen during the last few weeks, I have to smile when I see these beautiful lighthouse dining pieces.

Air Fryer Jalapeno Peppers

 

I whipped up these easy jalapeno poppers over the weekend and they were a hit with our friends.  A few simple ingredients and the air fryer had these ready in a jiffy.

Remember to wear gloves when prepping the peppers.  The oil from the peppers, membranes, and the seeds can wreck havoc with your fingertips!  Trust me, that's a lesson you never forget.

You can make a few of these little poppers or a lot....the filling is very forgiving.  Need a little extra for a few more peppers?  It's a simple fix to mix up a tad more.

I had about 12 peppers which made, of course, 24 halves.  So here's what you'll need to make a nice batch of jalapeno poppers.

My Emeril Lagasse French Door Air Fryer has a heavy grill pan. I used that to bake the poppers.

12 jalapenos

8 oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 T. fajita seasoning

2 - 3 T. panko bread crumbs

Put on food safe gloves!  Wash jalapenos and halve lengthwise through the stems, if possible. 

Carefully remove membranes and seeds.  Discard those.  Set peppers aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese and fajita seasoning.

Using a small spoon, divide the filling evenly between the pepper halves and place on the grill pan of the air fryer.  Continue until all the pepper halves are filled.

Sprinkle the panko bread crumbs evenly over the filling.

Preheat the air fryer on the "bake" setting at 400 degrees F.  

Place the poppers in the air fryer for 15-18 minutes until the peppers have softened and the filling/bread crumbs have browned.

Let the peppers rest for a few minutes before serving.  Top with sour cream or salsa if you'd like.  For the cilantro lovers, a little chopped on top would be delish.

Instant Pot Soft Chicken Tacos

I needed a quick and easy supper this past week and the Instant Pot came through as always.  With a few simple ingredients found in my freezer, pantry, and refrigerator, supper was ready FAST!

A 9 year old friend recently highly recommended this salsa for me to try.  He gave it a strong review and stated it was "better than most restaurant salsas."  Well, that was enough to convince me to try not only their salsa, but their taco sauce as well.  He was correct.  This is some yummy salsa.

Here's what you'll need to make shredded chicken for soft chicken tacos, burritos, tostadas, etc.  This chicken would be delicious piled high on top of a green salad! 

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken tenders

1/2 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

3 T. taco seasoning

1 t. granulated garlic

1 t. onion powder

8 oz. Mateo's Gourmet Salsa

regular or low carb tortillas

shredded cheese

sour cream

Mateo's Taco Sauce

(avocados, shredded lettuce, jalapenos)

Place the chicken tenders into the Instant Pot and add the water and season with the salt and pepper.  Place the top onto the Instant Pot and set the vent to the closed position.

Set the Instant Pot to cook for 20 minutes on high pressure.  Let the chicken cook and naturally release for 10 minutes.  If the pressure is not completely gone in 10 minutes, manually release.

Using tongs, remove chicken from the Instant Pot and place in a large bowl.  Be careful, because it's going to be HOT!

Using the tongs, or two forks, shred the chicken.  Empty the liquid from the Instant Pot and return the chicken to the inner pot.  

Select the saute setting.  Add the seasonings along with the salsa.  Stir to combine and continue stirring so the chicken doesn't stick.  Let cook for a few minutes and then cancel the sauteing.  

Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.  You don't want the chicken too "wet" because no one likes a soggy chicken taco!

At this point, you can cool and refrigerate until you're ready to eat.  This is a good meal to prepare at night while you're doing laundry or lunch prep for the next day.  When you get home the next day, your chicken is ready!

But if you're ready to enjoy this immediately, heat the tortillas or taco shells according to package directions.

Then you can load them up with all your favorite toppings!

I went simple and made the shredded cheese my first layer, topped with the shredded chicken, then the taco sauce, and finished off my creation with some sour cream.  These were so delicious!