Chicken Flautas

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Our Growing Paynes

I find it interesting the so called shortcuts people like to take when cooking. How so much processed food seems to be the go to when they don’t really save time or money. In fact, it’s more expensive for the most part. When I was doing my pinning on Pinterest I came across a recipe for Chicken Flautas that called for canned chicken that came already seasoned. I wouldn’t want to even guess what preservatives and junk would also be in that can. No way, thank you.

I mean, how hard is it to mix a few ingredients together and slow cook chicken? Not very hard! While I cooked the chicken in the oven, you can use a slow cooker and walk away.

Our garden is doing so much better than last year so this is dish was a great way to use what is just outside our door. I was able to use tomatoes, hot peppers and sweet peppers for this meal.

Technique for Chicken Flautas

Pre heat the oven to 300F/150C.

Mix the marinade ingredients and make sure the chicken is coated. I cooked twice as much chicken so I could use some for salads and lunches.

Slow cook for 3-4 hours, until the chicken is tender and shreds easily. Using two forks, tear the chicken apart.

Set aside. Heat up the olive oil in a skillet. Sauté the onions, mushrooms and garlic until the onions begin to soften. Add the peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken, seasonings, lime juice and chicken stock. Stir well and simmer. You want to reduce the liquid so the mixtures stays moist but isn’t overly liquid.

Heat up the vegetable oil in a saucepan to about 335F/170C.

Place the filling on flour tortillas. I accidentally bought quinoa flour gluten free tortillas. I was a bit worried that this would end up a failure. Thankfully they fried up well. Roll the tortillas tightly and spear with a toothpick. Fry until they are golden brown and crispy. Drain and place on a piece of kitchen roll to absorb the extra oil.

In an attempt to keep this somewhat healthy, I served it over a bed of lettuce. I chopped up a fresh tomato, a spring onion and cilantro to top along with queso fresco. You can also serve with dollops of sour cream or guacamole.

Chicken Flautas

Slow cooked chicken, seasoned with hot peppers, then wrapped in deep fried goodness.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword Chicken Flautas

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Our Growing Paynes

Ingredients

Shredded Chicken

1 lb boneless chicken breast
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock

Chicken Flautas filling

2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 mushroom, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 hot pepper, chopped
1 cup sweet pepper, finely chopped
2 cups shredded chicken
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp fresh cilantro (coriander leaf)
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup chicken stock

Tomato and Spring Onion

1 tomato, coarsly chopped
1 small spring onion, chopped
dash lime juice
sea salt to taste

Completing Chicken Flautas

1/2 deep sauce pan of vegetable oil
12 half 8" flour tortillas
1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Instructions

Shredded chicken

Preheat the oven to 300F/150C.
Mix the ingredients together in a baking dish and add the chicken. Make sure the chicken is nearly covered and coated. Bake for 3-4 hours until the chicken is fork tender. Use two forks to shred the chicken. Set aside.

Chicken Flautas filling

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Sautè the onions, garlic and mushrooms until the onions start becoming soft. Add the peppers and the chicken. Mix in the seasonings, lime juice and chicken stock. Simmer until the liquid is nearly reduced to zero. You want the mixture moist but not overly wet.

Tomato and Spring Onion

Add the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Completing the Chicken Flautas

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of filling onto each half tortilla. Roll tightly and secure with a toothpick. Heat the vegetable oil to 335F/ 170C. Deep fry the flautas until golden and crispy. Drain and place on kitchen roll to absorb excess oil.
Place the flautas on a bed of lettuce, top with the tomato and spring onion along with the cheese. Serve immediately.

Southwestern Turkey Burgers

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Our Growing Paynes

Winter is back with a vengeance! Mother nature does like to mess with us. Offices were closed so I got a snow day. It was lovely to watch the snow come down in the comfort of home. It also allowed me to catch up with some projects I’m working on. There is a possibility I might have to have hand surgery soon so all my knitting and crocheting projects need to get done. Which might guarantee I won’t need surgery! Fingers crossed.

We are also getting ready for our exchange student to come this weekend. She has actually been here since August but they way they do it now is the student spends three months with a host family then moves on to another one. So now it’s our turn. She is from Denmark and I’m looking forward to trying out recipes from there. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am looking into the Danish rye breads to give that a go.

Before winter returned we had some fabulous warm weather which meant lighter meals. I do miss salads. I thought it would be fun to do turkey burgers, not realising how mushy the ground turkey can be to work with. Very sticky! But if you can get past that you can have a great meal.

To make the burgers I mixed a pound of ground turkey meat with half a cup of freshly grated cheddar cheese, a few splashes of hot sauce, 1-2 tablespoons of chili powder, and a teaspoon of ground cumin. Season with sea salt and pepper. Mix and form into burgers. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Brown both sides.

Finish off in the oven at 350F/175C. Finely chop scallions, peppers, garlic, and mushrooms. Add them to the skillet with 1-2 cups of frozen corn. Add 1-2 tablespoons of chili powder, a teaspoon of ground cumin, 1-2 tablespoons of lime juice, sea salt and pepper, finish with fresh cilantro.

As the burgers finish cooking top with pepper jack cheese to melt. Serve over mixed lettuce greens and top with the veg mix. We also cooked up some sweet potato fries.

An easy dinner to put together when you want loads of flavour on a busy night.

Orzo with Lemon Chicken and New Tools

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

Some learning curves can be exciting. Some not so much, like my learning curve with statistics in college. Loved the subject but come test time it was always like I’d never been to class. Never got far on that curve, bell or no bell. But now I’m liking my learning curve. Because there are a few projects I want to do, such as start a YouTube channel, and I was in the weeds with Unix, much to my chagrin, I needed tools that I could make headway on my own. I.e not bugging my husband/IT guy all the time. He has always been good about helping me but I hate not knowing how to do something!

So I am now a proud new owner of an iMac. And I’m loving my new setup. One, I can find and set up software I need, that is a big step in getting things done. Though if it heads into Unix territory like GIMP then I have to ask for help there but for the most part it’s been good. And it’s pretty easy to get an apple person on the phone if need be. I’m quickly collecting senior tech phone numbers.

I do like the iMovie on the desktop, much easier than the iPad. So watch this space as they say, I hope to have something soon. The big thing I need to figure out is the uncopyrighted music so I don’t get slapped by YouTube.

Going through our cupboards I realised we had orzo still so I thought it would be nice with lemon, yoghurt, and oregano.

I also wanted to grill up some chicken thighs. Prep these ahead of time with a marinade. With a ratio of 2:1 mix olive oil and lemon juice together. Season with sea salt and pepper. Finely chop a couple of garlic cloves and a small handful of fresh oregano. Mix well and coat two chicken thighs.

Set aside for about an hour. In a skillet heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and start softening about half a cup of chopped red onion. Once the onion starts to become translucent add 3-5 cloves (depending on size) of garlic, chopped.

At this point start grilling the chicken on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a medium simmer. It’s important to stir frequently as orzo has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the skillet. Add more liquid as necessary because you want to make sure there is enough for the sauce.

When the orzo is half cooked add a few sliced mushrooms and another small handful of oregano, chopped. Stir well. Near the end of cooking add a third of a cup of plain yoghurt and about a cup of chopped red bell pepper. This gives the dish a nice pop of colour.

Serve once the chicken is cooked.

The flavours of this dish are very bright with the yoghurt and lemon. It’s a great dish if you are getting tired of salads!

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

Spring seems to be back! The air is fresh and the days are beautiful. I hope it lasts awhile. I wasn’t ready for summer and the sticky heat. It was lovely being in the garden yesterday getting in the last of the tomatoes. If only we can get rid of the rabbits. They are back! Which means putting more bloodmeal down around the veg so they stay away.

Because it was so cool I took the opportunity to make a warming dish while I still had the chance. My first Moroccan meal, years ago, was a dish similar to this. We ate it with our hands round a coffee table, sitting on the floor, in the traditional way. It was delicious.

Heat up several tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Season chicken thighs with sea salt and pepper on both sides. Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Brown both sides of the thighs then transfer to the oven to cook through.

In the skillet cook about 1/2 -3/4 cup of chopped onions and 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped until the onions have softened. Add a few sliced mushrooms.

Add a cup of chicken stock and bring to a simmer. I didn’t have any fresh ginger (forgot to put it on the list!) so I used ground ginger. Start with a 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1-2 teaspoons of ground tumeric, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, and 1-2 teaspoons of paprika. Allow to simmer for a bit. Taste the broth and adjust the spices as needed. At this point I added more tumeric and paprika. Everyone’s tastebuds are different.

Dice up half of a red pepper, a great colour to go along with the tumeric, and add the pepper and the chicken to the broth and simmer for a few minutes. While this had been cooking I cooked up the couscous according to the instructions on the package.

Layer the ingredients and serve. Make sure you put enough of the broth on the couscous as couscous can be a bit dry. Which isn’t good for a nice meal!

There is a Curry for Everyone

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

When we visited my in-laws I wanted to do a curry night because my father-in-law loves curry but knowing that my mother-in-law isn’t a huge fan of curries I planned on doing something for her as well. Especially since the curry I wanted to make was the tomato garlic beef curry which is really spicy. When my MIL said that it’s the heat that turns her off of the curry I thought I would make her the mild chicken curry I make for those that aren’t into the spicy side of things.

This recipe uses thai curry paste. I agree with both camps of buying the paste or making it. Making it isn’t difficult if you have some time and all the ingredients. However, we had the kids this weekend and now that the weather is warm we have to work on a ton of projects, so time was limited.

My husband also made naan to go along with this.

Because this was just for me and my husband I cubed a breast and a half of chicken and heated up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Start cooking the chicken. Finely chop 3-4 cloves of garlic and slice a couple of scallions. Cook for a few minutes.

Slice a few mushrooms and about a cup of pepper. I chose orange to make the dish pop. Add half a cup of chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add Thai Green Chili paste. Start off with a little bit and build up to the heat level you would like. Add 1/2 -3/4 cup of coconut milk. Adjust the heat level with the curry paste. Season with cilantro (coriander leaf) and a teaspoon of garam masala.

Once the chicken is cooked through serve in a bowl with the naan. My husband also made a wonderful mango chutney to go along with this.

When I made this for my mother in-law she really enjoyed it. Success! It was nice to make something she liked since she had made us so many yummy meals while we visited. We ate very well!

Spicy Sausage and Bursting with Pride

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

It’s been quite the week with the kids and the end of year celebrations. Even though I’m not a fan of so called graduations at a level below the end of high school I still enjoy cheering them on. Our son had his 5th grade recognition and received the President’s Award for Academic Improvement. Each child had to do a mini speech about their favourite memory from school. They did really well. It’s not easy speaking in front of a crowd. And the poor kid was struggling through a cold from hell.

Our daughter had her 8th grade recognition yesterday. Somehow she managed to go four years straight without missing a day of school. I have no idea what that is like. I was always sick growing up. She also achieved high honours 11 out of the 12 quarters. We are so proud of our kids and what they have achieved so far.

It’s quite something to see how they are doing on their journey.

We had a chilly day a week ago and my son requested pasta so comfort food was on deck. A local farm had some lovely jalapeno sausages. Good ones too, not like the mealy ones we kept getting at the co-op. So I’ll have to buy them as she has them!

Because of the jalapeno I wanted to go with Mexican flavours to highlight the heat.

Begin by browning the sausages in the skillet with a bit of olive oil. Brown all the sides but don’t worry about cooking all the way through. They’ll be finished off in the dish.

Set aside and add a few cloves of garlic, chopped, and a few mushrooms, sliced. Saute until the garlic is softened. Then add chopped peppers and scallions. Cook for a minute or so then add a chopped tomato.

Add a cup of homemade stock and bring to a simmer. Slice the sausages and add to the mixture. Next add a tablespoon of lime juice, a tablespoon of chili powder, a couple of teaspoons of cumin, and salt and pepper to season. Chop up some fresh cilantro and stir in at the end. Once the sausage is cooked through add the pasta and toss well.

Top with a bit of sour cream and shredded cheese. I really liked this as comfort food. Loads of flavour and colour. And it chased away the chill. 🙂

Homemade Mustard with Garlic and Chilli

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Our Growing Paynes

It’s been a crazy week and today isn’t any different. We are almost done with the bathroom, I put what I hope to be the last coat of paint on the walls this morning. I completely spaced on having said yes to making some baked goods for the PTA event tonight so that’s in the oven. Most of the grocery shopping is done and then it’s an afternoon of getting everyone round to eye appointments. So this will be a quick post!

Several weeks ago I bought mustard seeds to make homemade mustard. I finally got round to it this week. Even though this is incredibly easy you still have to find some time to do it.

I used half brown mustard seed and half yellow mustard seed for this recipe. I did some research online and found that the basic steps are the same. Just change up the ingredients to get the flavour you want.

In a non reactive bowl put in 1/4 cup of brown mustard seeds and 1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds. Cover with 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar.

Set aside, covered, for two days. I ended up going 4 days but it didn’t ruin the recipe so that was lucky.

For this round I wanted to do a garlic one and a garlic chilli one. I had oven dried some Ring O Fire peppers from our garden. That is really easy to do as well. Bake them at 300F/150C until they are dried.

This garlic clove turned out to be too much garlic so after finely chopping it I saved half for another dish. Pour the mustard seeds with the vinegar into a blender and add the garlic and 1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Blend until you get the consistency you prefer. I removed half of the mustard and stored it in the fridge. Then I chopped up the pepper and added it to the blender.

Again blend until you like the consistency.

I was really pleased at how these came out. I definitely want to play around with flavours. A friend of ours in Scotland suggested using whiskey. The possibilities are endless.

Sweet Potato “Pasta”

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Our Growing Paynes

There are so many food fads swirling round, one of which is to use veg as a pasta substitution. As I’m in the middle of a gluten free month it made sense to hop on this particular bandwagon. Not sure how this experiment is going. The initial pain free days have started to slide back. And I did trip up here and there because there are hidden sources of wheat seemingly everywhere. Including vodka! I knew most vodka was grain distilled but I spaced it. Now I’ve switched to potato vodka but they don’t really have flavoured potato vodka so the next step is to figure out how to flavour my own.

My sister gave me a spiral cutter for veg this year. It’s a fun gadget for things like curly fries. And it’s perfect to make “pasta” with the sweet potato.

There is a bit of elbow grease needed to do this with sweet potato as it is pretty firm. Actually my husband helped me out with this bit. 🙂

In the skillet heat up some olive oil and soften a small chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic.

Add in chopped pepper and mushrooms. After a couple of minutes add the sweet potato.

Add a cup of chicken stock and a cup of tomato sauce of your choice. We had some arrabiata sauce to use up. Stir well and cover to cook the potato.

While this was cooking I did up some chicken for the non seafood lovers and some salmon for the rest of us. I kept it simple and baked the salmon. I also roasted potatoes as a side dish.

I got a thumbs up all round even from my daughter’s friend who isn’t a fan, like me, of sweet potato. 🙂 And I have to say this was even better after a day or so for leftovers. The flavours really came together.

Jalapeno Relish – Think It’s Finally Hot Enough!

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Our Growing Paynes

Before we rolled up our sleeves and tackled the house we had to contend with frost warnings. After a flurry of pepper picking I had to do something with them so they didn’t go to waste. Because we have a lot of hot peppers, jalapeno relish sounded like a good idea.

Not only was a it a good idea it is a really quick relish to make when you list is long. In fact it is faster to do it than this post! I followed this recipe for the most part to make my relish.

This is all done in the food processor. I sliced about 12 jalapenos and 1-2 Ring O Fire peppers. I figured I was going to make this really hot for my husband. I keep trying with the heat but while he enjoys the hot stuff I make it doesn’t seem to blow him away like it does me. He likes things spicy!

Add 4-5 cloves of garlic, half a small onion, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, and a large handful of cilantro.

Pulse away until you get the consistency you want. Freeze or can the extra relish.

And yes this blew him away. 🙂 Finally! It’s hot enough to use sparingly on dishes.

Taking Risotto South of the Border

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Our Growing Paynes

You know when you get a flash of inspiration and get excited, tell someone, and their response is “Erm, ok”? That was my husband and me last night! He had asked for risotto but I wasn’t in the mood for the usual one we do. After debating in my head what to do I decided on doing a chilli sort of risotto. I think that bit is what my husband wasn’t excited about as it brought to mind beans and the like. I reassured him that I was thinking of the flavours instead of a full on chilli.

This is an easy dish to prep ahead of time if you are rushing about. Our daughter tried out for the football team (soccer) at school and she did well enough to get on the A team. Which considering she hasn’t played since she was about 5 was an excellent effort. So we now deal with the practices and games, including a practice last night. Hence the prep in advance. First game this afternoon!

In a saucepan bring to a boil homemade chicken stock. You will need 4-5 cups depending on how much aborio rice you use. In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter then add a small chopped onion to saute. Once the onions have softened add 3 chopped cloves of garlic and saute for a couple of minutes more. Then add 1-1 1/2 cups of aborio rice to the skillet and stir well. Add a few splashes of lime juice and chipotle tabasco sauce.

Add a cup of stock and stir well. Gradually add the stock, letting the aborio absorb the liquid.

As the risotto cooks begin to add the seasoning. I added ground cumin, chilli powder, ground cayenne pepper, and dried oregano. When the risotto is halfway cooked add half a cup of frozen corn and a few sliced mushrooms.

After a few minutes add a chopped bell pepper and a sliced jalapeno. Keep adding the stock. When it is almost cooked add 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and some chopped tomatoes. Stir well and adjust the seasoning and the lime as needed. Add a few chopped teaspoons of fresh cilantro and serve.

Grate some more parmesan cheese over the top and add a dollop of sour cream on top. My husband and the kids really enjoyed this twist on risotto. I loved the heat in this dish. Of course, if you want the spice to knock your socks off add more hot pepper!

Our Growing Paynes

A journey about cooking, traveling, gardening, and crafting.

Tag Archives: peppers

Chicken Flautas

Technique for Chicken Flautas

Chicken Flautas

Ingredients

Shredded Chicken

Chicken Flautas filling

Tomato and Spring Onion

Completing Chicken Flautas

Instructions

Shredded chicken

Chicken Flautas filling

Tomato and Spring Onion

Completing the Chicken Flautas

Southwestern Turkey Burgers

Orzo with Lemon Chicken and New Tools

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous

There is a Curry for Everyone

Spicy Sausage and Bursting with Pride

Homemade Mustard with Garlic and Chilli

Sweet Potato “Pasta”

Jalapeno Relish – Think It’s Finally Hot Enough!

Taking Risotto South of the Border