Author Archives: The Cooking spoon

Buffalo Pulled Chicken Enchiladas

The creamiest Enchiladas you will ever make, slightly spicy and so delicious. Perfect comfort food, for any time of year and any left overs freeze well.
I served it with a salad and it was more than enough for four people since they’re quite filling.
You could also feed six people from this recipe and serve with a side of rice and beans, a salad or some corn.

Serves: 4 – 6
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INGREDIENTS:
• Buffalo enchilada sauce
• 3 small chicken breasts or two large
• salt and pepper for the chicken breasts
• 1/2 C. cream cheese, softened and at room temperature
• 2 cups mozzarella
• 1 sliced avocado to serve
• some pomegranate seeds for decorating (optional)
• 8 medium Tortillas, soft
• 1/4 C. sour cream to serve

BUFFALO ENCHILADA SAUCE:
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. taco seasoning
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 can water (from the tomatoes )
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• a dash of cinnamon
• 1 tsp. coconut sugar
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp Buffalo Hot sauce like Frank’s (or more), taste as you go!!

METHOD:
Add oil to a pan and add the flour. Cook for two minutes on medium high and add the seasoning and give it a stir.
Add the remaining ingredients and let simmer for about five minutes.
Blend the sauce at this point with a hand held blender for a smooth result.
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken breast in the sauce, bring to a simmer and cover partially. Let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.
Remove the chicken breast form the sauce and place on a large plate, shred with two forks.
Mix the sauce with the cream cheese.
Place one cup of the sauce mixture over the shredded chicken together with 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella. Mix with a spoon.
Cover the tortillas with a damp cloth or kitchen towel and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave to soften.

Divide the chicken mixture over the tortillas and roll them up.
Get out a baking dish and cover the bottom with a thin layer of sauce.
Place the filled tortillas on top with the seam down.
Lightly spray the tortillas with cooking spray. This will help the tortillas turn golden in the oven. Place baking dish in the oven, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until the tortillas begin to turn golden.
Remove the baking dish from the oven. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle remaining cheese over the sauce.Lightly cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil after 20 minutes and bake, uncovered, for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden. Remove from oven.
Pour over the sour cream and place sliced avocado on top. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Note: if kids are eating it might be an idea to omit the hot sauce all together and put the bottle on the table for the adults to add.
Enjoy!
Myra XO

Melted Grilled Cheese Dip

16 Replies

This has to be my favourite starter, and anyone who loves cheese will go mad over this. I mean who doesn’t love melted cheese?
The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any leftover cheese you may have lying around, they just have to be full fat , light cheeses don’t really melt properly and end up being rubbery.
You want the whole melted gooey, cheesy, stringy experience.
On the bottom of the dish there is a layer of onion confit, made by cooking a lot of onions with some brown sugar and dark balsamic vinegar. You can make your own or use a jar of store-bought onion jam or onion chutney whichever you prefer. Or even just golden fried onions will work too.
Then it’s topped with a layer of Cranberry sauce, again store-bought is fine or make your own.
Finally the whole thing is topped with mixed grated and cubed cheeses. Use whatever you have lying around. I tend to make it with leftovers, so each time its a bit different, sometimes with some added Gruyère or Roquefort, and every time its delicious and disappears in about 10 minutes (and that’s because guests are trying to polite).
It’s made in about 10 minutes plus oven!!!

⏰ Prep time : 10 minutes
🍝 Cooking time : 20 minutes
🍴 Serves : 4 as a starter
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INGREDIENTS:
• 1/2 Cup Onion Confit , Onion jam or Onion chutney
• 1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce
• a grating of pepper
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 150 gr / 5.2 oz Brie, crust remove and cut into cubes
• 150 gr. / 5.2 oz Cheddar, grated
• 100 gr. / 3.5 oz Gouda, grated

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Pre heat the oven to 220 C / 425 F
2. Place all the cheese in a bowl.
3. Mix the milk with the corn flour and mix through the cheeses.
4. Get out your baking dish and spread the onion jam, confit or chutney on the bottom
5. Then top with a layer of the cranberry sauce.
6. Cover with all the cheese from the bowl.
7. Place in the middle of a hot oven and bake for about 20 minutes until golden and bubbly.
8. Place on a big plate surrounded by crackers and bread and serve straight away.
Enjoy!
Myra XO

Oreo Cheesecake

8 Replies

This cheesecake is such a show stopper! Creamy like you’ve never tasted before. Filled with Oreo cookies on an Oreo cookie base and the wonderful thing about this recipe is that it’s quite straight forward, for the crust you just crush the Oreo cookies with filling and all, add a little melted butter and done.
The filling is really simple too, so creamy and hands down my favourite cheesecake recipe. Unless you don’t want to bake in which case you’d probably be better off with something like this no-bake white chocolate cheesecake with Raspberry swirl , or if you just need a small cheesecake fix you can make these Berry Cheesecake crumble bars instead.
Either way, this cheesecake is thick, rich and dangerously decadent and a must try!

Prep time : 20 min

Baking time : 45-50 min

INGREDIENTS:

• 250 grs / 9 oz / about 22 cookies for crust
• 8 cookies for filling, quartered or roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp. melted butter
• 850 gr. / 3 ¾ cups cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs plus 1 yolk at room temperature

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350 F / 180 C. Place the cookies for the crust in a resealable plastic bag. Flatten bag to remove excess air, then seal bag. Finely crush cookies by rolling a rolling pin across the bag. Alternatively crush cookies in a food processor by pulsing until completely crumbled. Place in a bowl and add the melted butter, mix well. Press firmly onto bottom of 8 inch/ 20 cm. non-stick spring form pan. Place in the freezer while you make your filling.
2. Beat cream cheese, flour, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Quarter the remaining 8 cookies. Gently stir into cream cheese batter. Pour over prepared crust.
3. Place on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake at 350 F/180 C for the first 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 320 F / 160 C. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn off the oven and open the door just a tiny bit (I put a large wooden spoon in the opening or a folded tea towel), leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour. This will prevent the cheesecake from cracking*. Cool at room temperature until no longer warm to the touch. Then refrigerate for at least four hours but preferably overnight.
4. When ready to serve, decorate with whipped cream and tiny Oreo cookies if desired. I like to remove the cheesecake one hour before consuming so the cheesecake isn’t too cold.

*the trick to a perfect cheesecake is to NOT remove it from the oven straight after baking, and don’t open the oven door during baking either. This will make it crack. If that does happen any way, it’s not the end of the world, just sprinkle with crushed cookies, or decorate with fruit, Gananche or whipped cream.

Enjoy!
Myra XO

Classic Shrimp Cocktail

7 Replies

Shrimp Cocktail has to be one of the most classic starters I can think of. It’s one of those dishes that almost everyone loves, and is perfect for dinner parties since it’s light, fresh, delicious and elegant. Leaving you plenty of room for the main course.

You can make the sauce in advance, cook the shrimp in advance and assemble the Shrimp Cocktail just before serving, which is fairly easy.
The sauce is really delicious and that tiny bit of vanilla takes it to the next level.

Use just a small amount of Tarragon, you want a hint in the background without overpowering the Shrimp.

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Prep time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 5 minutes
Serves 4
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INGREDIENTS:

• 110 ml. / 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
• 100 ml. / 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 50 ml. / 1/4 cup crème fraîche
• 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• A splash of tabasco (optional)
• Salt and black pepper
• 1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
• 1 tsp fresh chopped Tarragon
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• 450 gr. / 1 lb. cooked shelled prawns
• 1 iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
• 1 avocado, peeled and diced
• Some lime wedges and pomegranate arils for decorating.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine the ketchup, mayonnaise, crème fraîche, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the vanilla and chopped Tarragon
If you’re cooking the shrimp yourself; this is how.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the shrimp all at once, bring back to the boil and lower the heat to a simmer, cook until the shrimp change color to a beautiful coral. Normally for medium sized shrimp this will take about 5 minutes at the most. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Drain and cool. Then peel the shrimp and discard the shells.
Add the shrimp to the sauce and stir to coat, reserving some larger shrimp to decorate and place on top.
Place the shredded lettuce on the bottom of four glasses or glass bowls, followed by the avocado, then a generous spoonful of prawns and sauce.
Decorate with lime wedges and Pomegranate arils.
Serve straight away.

Enjoy!
Myra XO