Recipe #2 - Cheesy Taco Bake

I really have no excuse for waiting 3 weeks to post, other than the fact that we've been enjoying a bit more takeout and frozen pizzas than we have home-cooked meals. Well, I found my inner-chef calling again today, and this time with a craving for something cheesy and a little bit spicy.

I came across a recipe for a Cheesy Taco Bake, something similar to what I'd made and loved a few years ago. This one would require the use of my Kitchen Aid mixer to create a more challenging egg white and cream cheese crust, so I decided this was the recipe for tonight.

Ingredients

Crust
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 egg whites
1/3 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Topping
1 lb ground turkey, 93% lean (I used lean ground beef instead)
3 teaspoons taco seasoning
1/4 cup tomato sauce
4 ounces chopped green chilies
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions
1 For the crust, beat the cream cheese and eggs until smooth.
2 Add the cream and seasoning.
3 Grease a 9"x13" baking dish; spread the cheese over the bottom.
4 Pour in the egg mixture as evenly as possible.
5 Bake at 375ºF, 25-30 minutes.
6 Let stand 5 minutes before adding the topping.
7 For the topping, brown the hamburger; drain fat.
8 Stir in the seasoning, tomato sauce and chiles.
9 Spread over the crust.
10 Top with cheese.
11 Reduce oven to 350ºF and bake another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbly.
12 Serve with the toppings of your choice.



I have to say, I was a bit nervous for the egg white and cream cheese crust. But it turned out absolutely delicious and complimented the taco topping well. 25 minutes and the edges were a perfect golden brown. I served the taco bake over-top a bed of lettuce with optional sides including tomatoes, jalapenos, salsa and sour cream.

Recipe #1 - Cream Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Due to a few unexpected circumstances, this first recipe post took much longer than anticipated. I apologize to my dedicated followers for the wait, but I can assure you this first recipe is well worth it!

Most of my recipes will be adaptations from what I've found on the allrecipes.com website. I happened to stumble across this last year when searching for Truffle recipes. The thing I love about this site is the amount of user reviews, and modifications that they've made to suit their specific tastes. So rather than follow the recipe word for word, I like to read through the reviews and modify to my own specific tastes.

The first recipe I came across was for a Philadelphia Cream Cheese Recipe contest. Chicken had been my college and post-college staple for a while now, almost to the point where I haven't even considered new chicken recipes. But this stuffed cream cheese recipe caught my attention, and I had to try it.

I've modified slightly from the original post, taking in suggestions from other reviews:

Cream Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breasts

*3 chicken cutlets (cutlets minimize the time to pound and flatten typical chicken breasts)
* 1/2 package of reduced fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese with chives
* 3 slices of cooked bacon
* 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
* 1 T melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cook 3 slices of bacon, not too crispy.
Crumble bacon and mix with cream cheese and mozzarella cheese. Divide mixture into 3 balls.
Place 1 cream cheese ball mixture in the center of each butterflied chicken cutlet. Fold the chicken over the cream cheese mixture and secure with toothpicks. Arrange the chicken in a baking dish. Pour the butter over the chicken.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

I served this along with 2 servings of steamed Edamame, and it was absolutely delicious! The cream cheese & bacon make this dish very rich, so be careful with what you pair with. It doesn't take much to satisfy a strong appetite!

In prep:




Cooked:




Original Recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-cheese-garlic-and-chive-stuffed-chicken/detail.aspx

This is the first time I've attempted stuffed chicken breasts, and I couldn't be more pleased. Adam's also approved this for future dinner options, so I have to declare this an overall success! What stuffed chicken recipe would you recommend?

Welcome to Jen's Belly!

After brainstorming for what seemed to be hours (ok, it was about 5 minutes), I came up with what I found to be a charming, er, catchy title for yet another amateur's cooking blog. Since cooking initially originated as a creative and more delicious means to feed the human belly, I thought it was only appropriate for my very first cooking adventure to capture that same sense of simplicity.

OK. That's not exactly true. What I thought to be my more creative options had somehow been taken. "Taste and Tell," now who else would have thought of that??

So why did I decide to begin this blog? Something inside of me recently sparked a strong desire to take on more projects than I can possibly handle. But somehow that's always how I've operated best. Moving into a new house with a fantastic kitchen designed for a chef may have contributed slightly.

And, voila! Another cooking blog is born.

I've thrown around various theme ideas: Cooking Around the World, A to Z Masterpieces (yes, masterpieces may be a little optimistic), Taste of the Week. I'm still debating on what I like best, and it's highly likely that themes will change throughout this adventure. I guess we'll leave it up to Jen's Belly to decide!