Chicken Tamale Casserole

Okay, so by now you know I’m on a casserole kick in preparation for the birth of my baby girl.  Here’s another one that I love.  This chicken tamale casserole really sticks with the no pressure theme as it is easy to make, takes little prep, and is a great weeknight meal.  The inspiration for this recipe came from Cooking Light but I made some significant changes and turned it into “my own”.  I hope you enjoy my experiment!

Mexican flavors are highlighted with green chiles, cumin, and red pepper.  The tamale part of this casserole is made from a corn bread mix that soaks up and pairs well with the enchilada sauce.  Like I do for most casseroles, soups, and other dishes that call for chicken – I used a rotisserie chicken.  Seriously, always keep a rotisserie chicken on hand!

Chicken Tamale Casserole

1c pre-shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided

1/3 c milk

1 egg

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

1 (14 ¾ oz) can cream-style corn

1 (8.5oz) box corn muffin mix

1 (4oz) can chopped green chiles, drained

cooking spray

1 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce

2c shredded cooked chicken breast

½ c sour cream

cilantro (for garnish, optional)

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine ¼ c cheese and next 9 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist.  Pour mixture into a 13x9” baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Product plug: I prefer to use Jiffy corn bread mix.  I like how light the corn bread turns out and I also like the bit of sweetness it adds.  As for the enchilada sauce, I prefer Chi-Chi’s brand.  It tastes more authentic and less like it’s been sitting in a can for months.  But you can obviously use whatever suits you best or whatever you have on hand :)

Bake at 400F for 15 mins or until set.  Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top.  Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining ¾ c cheese.  Bake at 400F for 15 mins or until cheese melts.  Remove from oven; let stand 5 mins.  Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tbsp sour cream.

Huevos Rancheros...AND A WINNER!

On Sunday, I woke up and wanted a good hearty breakfast.  BUT…I wanted something different than I normally make.  No muffins, no pancakes, no waffles.  I wanted something that challenged me in the kitchen and brought some versatility to our somewhat boring breakfast rotation.  The first thing I thought about was huevos rancheros.  It’s filling, it’s different, and it’s delicious.  I couldn’t wait to make it.  Now the challenge was…HOW?

I started scouring the web for various recipes.  It seemed like every recipe was different.  One called for you to make your own salsa (which I didn’t feel like making), most had barely cooked eggs (I like mine medium-well), and most importantly, all of them had no meat!  What the heck?  I needed some meat.  What better to go with a Mexican breakfast dish than chorizo?  I experimented and it was amazing.  Here’s my creation:

Huevos Rancheros

1 15oz can black beans

½ c water

1 tsp salt, divided

1 tsp pepper, divided

1 tsp hot Mexican chili powder (or regular chili powder), divided

1 tsp garlic powder, divided

1 tsp onion powder, divided

1 tsp cumin, divided

1 tsp olive oil

16oz ground chorizo

½ c diced onion

1 jalepeno, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

6-7 canned whole peeled tomatoes, seeds removed

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 corn tortillas

4 large eggs

¼ c crumbled queso fresco

chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Drain and rinse black beans.  Add black beans and ½ c water to a small pot at medium heat.  Add half of the salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Once heated, use a fork to mash some of the beans and reduce heat to low until ready to use.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Brown ground chorizo.  Add jalepeno, garlic, and onion about half way through cooking.  Once chorizo is browned, crush tomatoes into the chorizo mixture using your hands.  Add remaining salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until ready to use.

Note: I grabbed fresh chorizo from the grocery store packaged meat section.  Hopefully you can find it at a grocery store near you.  Remove the skin, add it to the pan, and brown it.

Coat a cast iron skillet in vegetable oil.  Heat 2 tortillas until browned on both sides.  Break one egg over each tortilla.  Carefully flip tortilla to cook egg to desired doneness.  Flip tortillas and eggs back over and cook a couple of minutes.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and eggs.

Tip: Cooking method for eggs may vary depending on how well you want your eggs cooked.  If you want them sunny-side up, then you can fry them in a separate pan and just place them on top of the tortillas.  Cooking them on top of the tortillas works well for medium or medium-well eggs.

Place tortillas and eggs on a plate, top with black beans, chorizo mixture, and queso fresco.  You can also garnish with green onion and/or chopped cilantro.

NOW…WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!  It’s time to announce the winner of our 1-year anniversary giveaway!  We want to thank those of you who commented on the blog and gave us feedback on Facebook.  It is always great to hear from those who have followed us from the beginning and those new fans who we want to keep wanting more.  This year is sure to bring more goodies, so be sure to stay tuned!  And don’t forget that you can always contact us with recommendations for improvements at nopressurecookercontact@gmail.com.

DRUMROLL PLEASE………………………………………………………………………………………………

AND THE WINNER IS…………………………………………….

JODY LAURA!!! 

Jody, thank you so much for your feedback!  We hope that you continue to follow us and please enjoy some of our favorite kitchen items as a token of our appreciation!

*Jody, please send your full name and home address to our email address and we'll ship the goodies out to you as soon as possible :)