Smoky Corn Chowder and other recipes

This recipe caught my eye as soon as I started looking through Real Simple: Easy, Delicious Meals (which I got cheeeeeap with a rare 50% coupon from Borders!). It's not too hard, even though I am not super-experienced at making soups (or at, um, putting them in blenders and not having the soup almost explode everywhere). I couldn't use a nonstick Dutch oven, which I would have preferred, but other than that it went pretty smoothly. And it was delicious. I'd definitely recommend it!

I'm including the other recipes I made to go with the soup, or rather, that the soup was made to go with. The chicken enchilada recipe is one my dear friend Rachel gave me years ago, and the chocolate silk pie is from my sweet friend Erin, and was given to me as part of her bridal shower gift to me.

I discovered that I had only two tortillas to work with, rather than the required eight, so instead of rolling the enchiladas up, I added the chicken and onions to the sauce on the stove, spread all the (now very chunky) sauce in a 9 x 13 pan, put the two tortillas on top, and covered the whole thing with sharp cheddar cheese. I baked it for the recommended amount of time, and then added a couple minutes of broiling on low to sort of give the cheese a nice crust. What this ended up doing was to fuse the cheese and the tortillas together, which was kind of cool, I thought, though completely unintentional. So if you run out of tortillas, you can do it that way, or you can do it the way I've done it every other time I've made this recipe and just roll them up like always. :)

One thing to note on the pie: the chilling time of 5 - 24 hours. I definitely mis-read that as a 2, not a 5, and had grand plans of the pie being ready just as dinner was over. Not so much. But it was ready at around 9:00, which is when everyone wanted to eat dessert anyway. And it was delicious. Thanks, Erin and Rachel, for providing me with these wonderful recipes!

Smoky Corn Chowder, from Real Simple: Easy, Delicious Meals
Serves 6 (I guess depending on how generous your servings are, this could be true, but I found it served 4 quite adequately. I think 6 would have been a stretch.)

8 ounces sliced bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I broke the bacon up after it was cooked - cutting raw bacon is just too messy and ineffectual)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 10-ounce packages frozen corn (I couldn't for the life of me find 10-ounce packages, so I bought two 16-ounce packages and used just half a cup from the second package)
3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup half-and-half
Kosher salt and black pepper (I used table salt - I'm sure Kosher would be better but as I am not totally familiar with the differences I'm gonna say don't worry about it)
4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1. Cook the bacon in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

2. Spoon off and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings and return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, and red pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the corn, broth, and half-and-half and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the pot and stir in 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

4. Divide the soup among bowls and top with the scallions and bacon.


Chicken Enchiladas, from Rachel Bechtel

Sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chopped green chilis (chilies? how do you pluralize this word??)
1 cup sour cream

Other ingredients:
1 package cooked chicken (I used Trader Joe's cooked cubed chicken breast - I think it was 1 pound - and it was just right)
8 soft tortillas, burrito size (see above)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I used sharp cheddar)

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan over medium heat until hot and bubbling.

3. In each tortilla, put a small amount of chicken, sauce, cheese, and onion. Roll up tortillas and place in 9 x 13 dish, seam side down.

4. Top with leftover sauce and cheese.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and edges of tortillas look cooked.

Enjoy!


French Silk Pie, from Erin Nesbit

1 ready-made crust - Oreo is best
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup refrigerated egg product (next to eggs in grocery store)
whipped cream and/or chocolate curls, for garnish (optional)

1. In large mixing bowl, beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 4 minutes or until fluffy.

2. Stir in melted and cooled chocolate chips and vanilla.

3. Gradually add egg product, beating on high speed and scraping sides of bowl constantly until light and fluffy.

4. Transfer filling to crust. Cover and chill for 5 to 24 hours.

5. Garnish with whipped cream and/or chocolate curls.