Southwestern Recipe Week

Hey, I'm back from outerspace! I finally got the energy and time to do another post. I have had a few Southwestern recipes that I have been wanting to post. About a month ago, I went to the last Wining Women event in my neighborhood and the theme was the Southwest. The person who was hosting didn't know (until she went to the liquor store) that Maryland does not import wines from the Southwest. Instead, she chose wines from South America. They were very good wines. I don't particularly care for dry red wines but there were a few sweeter wines and several whites that I liked. She kept the food theme to the Southwestern United States so I brought a really tasty dish called Enchilada Meatballs. My niece who lives in Arizona sent the recipe to me. We ate those meatballs for dinner and I brought some to the Wining Women event. The recipe makes a lot of meatballs. They are yummy.

Enchilada Meatballs
from Taste of Home

Servings: 48

Ingredients:

2 cups crumbled corn bread
1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the corn bread, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and salt. Crumble beef over mixture; mix well. Shape into 1-in. meatballs.

Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat tomato sauce and remaining enchilada sauce. Drain meatballs; place in a serving dish. Top with sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Serve with toothpicks. Yield: about 4-1/2 dozen.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Chicken Corn Soup with Rivels

I have an old Good Housekeeping Cookbook from 1973! I was in the 8th grade back then and started to enjoy cooking. I am not sure how many of the recipes in this book I actually made way back when but one of the recipes I've tried recently with D is called Chicken Corn Soup with Rivels. I have never heard of Rivels before I saw this recipe. Are rivels something that are commenly known? I have no idea. I googled "rivels" and came up with this definition:

"Rivels are an old-fashioned pasta dish usually made by dropping tiny pieces of dough into boiling soup. Rivels are probably Germanic in origin, and they make an easily prepared short "noodle", which have gone out of favor in modern cooking. They are usually cooked in a chicken soup."

This is the only recipe I have ever seen them in. Most times, I make this soup without the "rivels". D just got an upper palatal expander put in by his orthodontist on Monday and he is having a hard time eating lately. He has mostly been asking for soup so don't be surprised if you see lots of soup recipes on here for a while. This one is really like a complete meal. I don't actually use a whole chicken and cook it for 3-1/2 hours. I don't have time for that most days. I use about 3-4 pounds chicken breast. I cook this soup in my slow cooker. First I put the 6 cups of water into the slow cooker and set it on high. I let the water heat up for about 1 hour or until it gets nice and hot. Then I start following the recipe.

CHICKEN-CORN SOUP WITH RIVELS

1 4-pound stewing chicken, cut up
1 cup chopped onions
salt and pepper to taste
1 12-ounce cans whole-kernel corn
1 cup chopped celery with leaves
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

About 3-1/2 hours before serving (yikes!):

In a covered large soup pot over medium-low heat, simmer chicken, onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper and 6 cups hot water for 2-1/2 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken to cutting board; cut meat from bones into small chunks; add chunks, corn and celery to soup. Continue simmering, covered for 10 minutes. Discard bones.

Meanwhile, prepare rivels: In a medium bowl, with fork, stir flour, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and enough milk to make mixture crumble coursely. With spoon, sprinkle mixture into simmering soup. Add chopped eggs. Cook 20 minutes until rivels are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes 12 cups or 8 servings.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook