Crescent Chicken Puffs!

Was looking for a good appetizer, that's fast and easy to take to a party where there would be all ages of people.  Needed something most would enjoy.  It came to me~ who doesn't like Crescent rolls??!  Use the crescent rolls as the 'puff' and stuff it!  These turned out great, and people loved them! I made them before the party, brought them there, uncooked, then threw them into the hostess' oven to cook, so we'd have nice and hot puffs!

Crescent Chicken Puffs!

2 tubes of big and flaky crescent rolls-cut all crescents in half

1  13 oz. can chicken meat, drained

1/2 cup minced onion

4 Tbsp Mayo

2 Tbsp sour cream

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsps tarragon

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt, or to taste- needs salt as crescents are sweet

What you'll need! Mix all together into a bowl, and stir well~

Cut each piece of crescent in half, so you'll have 16 pieces, instead of 8 from each tube.

 

Put chicken mixture, about the size of a large gum ball, or golf ball, into center of crescent half. Pull up sides, and squeeze seams together and shape into a ball shape....doesn't have to be perfectly round! :)

After you shape the puffs, egg wash the tops of them.  (egg wash is just the whites of an egg mixed with a tad bit of water)  The egg wash gives it a better look after cooked up!  Put onto cookie sheet either sprayed with Pam, or on wax paper.  Bake in 350 degree, preheated oven, for 13-15 minutes, until nicely golden brown.

Take them out of oven and place on nice serving platter!

See the yummy chicken inside these little treasures??  

They didn't last long!  All ages really liked these!  If you're looking for a fast, easy appetizer that is well liked,  this one's a good one!

Texas Jalapeño Cheesy Bread!

I wanted to make up some 'olive, cheese' bread, but my boys and hubby want no part of olives!   I had a great Texas idea~ Jalapenos to the rescue!!  These baked up bundles of YUMMY, gooeyness were DEVINE!!  I will make these often, and for sure with our homemade Chili, next time I make up a big ole batch of it!!!!

TEXAS Jalapeno Cheesy Bread!

Take 8 oz. grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 stick of softened butter- room temp
1/2 cup Mayo
2 stems of green onion-chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper- seeded and chopped small
Mix well~

I had 2 small baguettes here, but you can get one big one.  Spread cheese mixture all over, evenly!   Seems like a lot, cuz it is!! :)  That's what makes this so extra YUMMY!

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, then put under broiler for a quick minute or so, to get the cheese even more golden brown! (watch closely!)

I cut these into nice size pieces, on the diagonal!  SOoo yummy! People almost liked the bread more than the main dinner this night!  You could even make these as appetizers for the big game~ just cut into littler pieces!  They'll be GONE, fast!!

Clay's Whole Grilled Beer Can Chicken!

One of my triplet sons, Clay,  has taken a liking to grilling and is getting really good at it!  He told me this afternoon he'd make dinner tonight!  Wooooo hoooo!!!!!  LOVIN' IT!  He told me he is going to grill up 'Beer Can Chicken'!  (he doesn't drink the beer, the chicken does, as it cooks! The beer steams and flavors it from the inside!)  Clay actually went shopping for the food, and seasonings...we had the beer!  It turned out AWESOME!!  We all loved it, and Clay said it was really easy!  Music to my ears!!  Easy, and great tasting=WINNER!!

Whole Grilled Beer Can Chicken!

You can use any seasonings that you like, or prefer~

Clay used 2 Tbsp of Char Crust seasoning (new to us, this was Hickory and Molasses flavor...we liked it), 1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 tsp Slap Ya Mama (white Pepper Blend)~ he put these all together in small bowl, mixed it up, then rubbed it all over chickens

These chicken were 5 1/2 pound birds~

All you'll need, except a pan to put them in, that can go onto grill~ Clay made up 2 chickens for this BIG family of ours! :)

Open the can of beer using a can opener~

Cans with tops removed, 1/3 of beer poured out or drank up...we gave our beer to my hubby in an ice cold mug!   He liked it! Ha! Cans are just waiting on the chickens to be put onto them!

All seasoned up, and standing on beer cans...put it like a tri-pod.   Clay made sure to push the chicken all the way down the beer can, so 'butt' was sitting on pan! 

Looks like the chicken on the left is already drunk!  LOL!  :)   Now, spray chicken, all over, with Pam!

Clay carrying out the 'drunk' birds!   Be careful, they can 'tipsy' over! :0

Put onto a grill (ours is gas, with 3 burners)  after you have first heated up grill to high, then turn off middle burner, leaving only the 2 on the sides on, and lower those two burners to med, med-high heat.  Put birds onto grill in the middle area, that has the  burner off.  Needs to cook on indirect heat~ Grill for 50 minutes to 1 hour with lid closed.  Clay did 1 hour for 5 1/2 pound birds.

Waving, HI!  Saying, "I'm perfectly 'Charred' and ready!!"  Pull chicken off grill, remove beer cans and discard- careful not to burn yourself on hot cans,  and put chicken onto a platter.  Tent with aluminum foil.  Let sit 5 to 10 minutes before you cut into it to serve.

Take pan drippings and put onto stove top on medium heat, if you'd like to make a gravy. We are gravy freaks, so Clay was not going to blow this part off!!  Remove some of the grease, and add milk and wondra powder, bits at a time, while whisking.  

 Whisk it all up til you have the right consistency~ play with it, til it is to your liking.  Add salt to taste!  The gravy from this ended up tasting wonderful!!

The Beer Can Chicken was moist and juicy, and the flavor of the skin was very good!   I'd have to say, I'd give Clay an A!  We'll be making him grill these guys up more often!!  We were all SPOILED!!  Thanks, Clay!!  I love and adore you!! He's going to become a Texas Grill Master!!  I can see the future, now! :)

Asian Chicken Skewers!!

Can't get more 'summery' feeling then grilling chicken skewers outside by the pool!  They are a bit spicy, yet nice and sweet! These are easy, and so very yummy! I serve them with Knorr's curried rice you can buy at the grocery store and with a cold, crisp salad!  Simple, weekday, throw together meal!

Almost done!

Asian Chicken Skewers!
About 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs~ cut into 1 1/2 -2 inch pieces
6 oz mild sweet chili sauce
1 Tbsp ponzu sauce, sold in Asian aisle in grocery store (or substitute 1 tsp soy sauce)
2 tsp fish sauce, sold in Asian aisle
1Tbsp Red Curry Paste
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Skewers, metal or wooded (if wooden, soak first for 30 minutes before you skewer the chicken)

Marinate the cut up chicken pieces in the stirred up sauce in a large bowl, or large zip lock bag for about 15 minutes, then skewer the chicken, sometimes folding up pieces. Put as many pieces as you'd like on the skewers, close, but not too pushed together. Take marinade and put into saucepan and bring it to a boil. Put skewers on an oiled grill at medium heat.  Grill them for about 7-10 minutes, turning them, and basting with the marinade you just boiled up.  I had a lot of chicken pieces on these skewers, so I cooked them about 10-11 minutes with grill lid open, then 2 more minutes with grill lid shut.  That worked out well!  Take them off grill, and put onto platter, and tent with aluminum foil for about 4 minutes, then serve!  Really easy!

Bacon Wrapped, Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Jalapeno Cream Cheese!

Trying to spice things up a bit, and put a fun twist on a pork tenderloin!  I usually grill them, but wanted to try and bake one up, after stuffing it, then wrapping it all up in bacon!!  It was fun to make with my boys~ they were very helpful, handing me the bacon pieces so I could wrap the tenderloins faster!  This was EASY, EASY, but everyone thought it was some fancy, hard to make dish I had slaved over!  NOPE! It was FANTASTIC tasting, however!! :)

2 or more 1 1/2-2 pound pork tenderloins (if you do more than 2, remember to get more ingredients)
8 oz. Tub of Chive and Onion Cream Cheese~ (use as much as you'd like, a tub is more than enough for 2 tenderloins)
1 jalapeno, seeded, cut in pieces (1/2 a jalapeno for each tenderloin)
About 8 pieces of bacon, per pork tenderloin
Slap Ya Mama, cajun seasoning~ white pepper blend
black pepper and a bit of salt
Sugar~ about 1/2 a tsp, so 1/4 tsp per tenderloin

Can make this with a pork loin, as well! Details about that at the bottom! :) 

Season tenderloin with a bit of salt and pepper, and cajun seasoning~ Cut pocket into pork tenderloin, lengthwise.  Make sure not to cut all the way through, but pretty deep, so you can get lots of cream cheese and jalapenos in there!!

Wrap up tenderloin in bacon, but be sure that the ends of the bacon come together near the bottom of the tenderloin, not the top, so when they bake, they don't pull away from tenderloin! Top the bacon wrapped tenderloin with a bunch of the Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning, and sugar!

Put into glass pan (cream cheese pocket side up), and bake for 45 minutes, to an hour at 375. (Internal temp. should be 160)

Ooooo~ looks so nice!  After you take tenderloins out of oven, tent them with tin foil, and let sit 5-10 minutes.  After that time, place them on a platter, and cut them into pieces~ the cream cheese inside, with the jalapeno is divine!!  This is a great recipe~ I'll be making it, often, because my boys loved them, and so did I!! :)

Tried this recipe with a 3-4 pound pork loin roast, and it came out GREAT, as well!!!  Just make a slit down the center, lengthwise, about 3/4 of a way down  roast but not cut all the way through.  Added a whole tub of the onion and chive cream cheese, 2 seeded, sliced jalapenos, then made the same way with the bacon wrapping around it, coming together at bottom of roast. Seasoned it up just the same.  Baked at 375 for 1 hour 20 minutes.  Was so juicy and yummy!!! 

LOOKS GOOD, doesn't it??!!  :)  Another great option to add to your repertoire!! 

TEXAS Shrimp Dip~

My, oh my~ Great stuff!! 

This is the PERFECT Texas Summer, 'poolside' dip for parties!!  Nice and CHILLED, but spicy!!  SOoooo easy to make, and so very yummy!! This is another recipe I make where people always ask for the recipe!!  Sometimes my teen boys ask for THIS for dinner, and nothing else!  Dip for dinner, poolside, while we all chill, and talk!  Can't get much better than that!!  (OK~ it's not JUST 'perfect' for Texas folk, but any backyard party!! I promise~ you'll love it! :)

Texas Shrimp Dip

2 pounds frozen, cooked, peeled salad shrimp- thawed and picked through

12 Oz. bottle Red Devil Hot Sauce- or any other Louisiana hot sauce

1 small red onion, diced very small (almost minced)

2 large ripe tomatoes, diced into smaller pieces

1/2-3/4 bunch of cilantro, minced

The juice of 1 large lime

4 ripe avocados, cut into nickel size chunks

3 Tbsp of sugar~ YES, 3 Tbsp with a capital T!

After you thaw shrimp, put them into bowl with  all other ingredients, except for the avocado! 

Stir well, and chill in fridge for 30 minutes, if you have time.  When ready to serve, cut avocados up, and stir into shrimp dip!  Careful not to smash avocados~ 

This is big enough for a nice size crowd, so sometimes, when it's a smaller get together, we keep half of the dip chilling at home, and only serve the other half with only 2 avocados tossed in.  We eat the rest the next day, adding the other 2 fresh avocados in when ready to eat!!  We serve this awesome dip with Tostitos Hint of Lime Chips!  It's AWESOME!  A marriage made in dip heaven!! :)

Crawfish Etoufee, made easy!!!

OK~ So my family LOVES Crawfish Etoufee and we always go to expensive restaurants to get it, or in the past I have made Chef Paul Prudhomme's recipe from scratch, which is excellent, but more time consuming! A friend of mine told me about how she uses 2 types of soups to make the sauce instead of making a roux~ well, I had to try!! I'll make crawfish etoufee more often, the easier it is to make!! I tried it, and was blown away by how close the flavor was to etoufee made from scratch!!! Have to share with y'all!!!!

     CRAWFISH ETOUFEE

Looks good, doesn't it?!

1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
1 can cream of celery soup (normal size)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (normal size)
2 lbs cooked, thawed, and rinsed crawfish tails
1 Green pepper~ chopped small (not minced, but small for this and all listed below)
1 med-large onion~ chopped small
2 jalapeño peppers~ chopped small
2 stalks celery~ chopped small
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 sticks of butter
2 Bay Leaves
3/4 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
Red pepper flakes~ to taste, if not spicy enough
Salt~ to taste

Chop up veggies and sauté in melted butter til well cooked. Bay leaves, and garlic in too!

This is what you add to the cooked up veggies~ this was for a double batch, you'd use a small can of tomatoes, and only one can of each soup for just one batch!

Put soups, spices and tomatoes into pan! Stir well~ Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Put all the crawfish tails into the Etoufee sauce after simmering for 20 minutes! Look at the pretty color of those tasty little tails!!!  Stir tails in well~Simmer for another 5 minutes, just enough to warm up the already cooked tails!

All mixed up and ready to serve over cooked rice! Salt and pepper to taste! Adjust spiciness with hot pepper flakes, to your liking!! 

YUMMY~  Hope you enjoy this great recipe as much as we all did! It's a keeper recipe that I'll make often!! Easy, great tasting Crawfish Etoufee!!! Hard to beat!!!!