Easy Chicken Pate (Chicken Spread) with a bonus of Chicken Soup

Would you like a creamy chicken  spread to put on a cracker or a piece of toast? This one can be as easy as opening a large can of cooked chicken breast, draining it (save the liquid) and whirling it in the blender with a few tablespoons of butter and a bit of the liquid to make a paste, or you can go gourmet and start with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

If you make it from scratch, you will need:

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
about 1 quart of water
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stick of butter (prefer real butter, not margarine)
Seasoning to taste (I used about 1 tsp. poultry seasoning,  1/2 tsp. salt and a dash of black pepper)

Start with two boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Place them in a saucepan and cover them with water. Add the onion and garlic. If you have a stalk of celery and a whole carrot, dice those and add them to the broth as well. One chicken breast will become the foundation for soup that will be frozen for later use and the other will become the chicken pate.

Bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to let the chicken cook until it is nearly falling apart.  (If you aren't going to be home, you can pop this into a 1 qt. crock pot and let it cook for 6-8 hours.) When tender, remove each breast. Dice one and return it to the broth. Set it aside for soup. Cut the other into 1-2" cubes.

Cut the stick of butter into cubes. Alternate adding chicken cubes and butter cubes to your food processor or blender. Use about 1/3 of each for starters and add a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth to the mixture to help it mix. Blend until everything is smooth. Remove the blended chicken spread from the processor and place it into the container you will use for storing the pate. Process the next 1/3 of chicken and butter with more broth. Repeat until all of the chicken and butter is blended and smooth. Stir all the parts together in your refrigerator container and season to taste.   Viola! Chicken pate!

The bonus from this project is the second piece of chicken that is happily diced and stirred into the chicken broth with the carrots and celery. You can freeze this in multiple containers to wait until you want soup. The one quart of broth can easily become two or four servings of soup, depending on the quantity you like to serve. When you thaw one container of broth, add a few more vegetables and either vermicelli or minute rice. Heat until bubbly and you are set for chicken soup!

Quick Tamale Pie

I love Tamale Pie, but my recipe feeds an army. If you aren't ready for Tuna Tamale Pie, how about the real thing? All it takes are 2 packets of Tex-Mex Meat Mixture from the previous post, cornmeal, butter, cheese, salt and pepper.

Heat the Tex-Mex Meat Mixture in a small pan on medium heat. If it is dry, add diced tomatoes or tomatoes juice until it is a thin chili. Bring to a simmer.

While the meat is warming, boil 1-1.5 cups of water in a small sauce pan. Add a pinch of salt to the water. Once it is boiling, stir in 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal. Stir constantly and let the mush thicken. When it is the consistency of thin gravy, remove from heat. Stir in about 1 tsp. butter. (Cook longer if you want a stiffer mush on the pie.)

Butter a 1 quart baking dish. Add the meat mixture. Pour the cornmeal on top.  Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes (until mush is thick and filling is bubbling). Remove from oven, sprinkle with grated cheese and return to oven to melt the cheese,

Serves 2.

Make-Ahead Meat Mixture: A Recipe Pattern

It is hard to cook for one when food is sold in family -sized quantities. What do you do?

If you have freezer space, make-aheads work well. I will demonstrate creating make-ahead meal bases from 2 pounds of hamburger, but the principle can be applied to whatever you cook frequently: ground turkey, diced chicken, tufu! The idea is to cook the entire two pounds of meat in as basic a quantity as possible and then to package it in freezer bags for later use. I like 1/2 cup quantities for cooking for one. You can package in quantities that suit your style.

1. How do I use this meat? (What is the Lowest Common Denominator?)

I usually fry hamburger with onions, and sometimes onions and green peppers. Once the meat is brown and crumbly, it is ready to package. This works in the Tex-Mex, Italian, or Cajun dishes I prepare, so that is my Lowest Common Denominator.

2. How much will I use in this form?
I could stop right here and package all the meat as 1/2 cup servings and freeze them.  But let's think about this.

What do I cook most often? Tex-Mex. Ok. I will take out and freeze up to half of the basic meat mixture and season the rest of it for a basic Tex-Mex mixture. This will give me twice the mileage from my purchase.

3. Tex-Mex Mixture: I like whole kernel corn and Ro-tel tomatoes in my Tex-Mex.  My seasoning favorite is Williams Chili Seasoning. (Their Taco Seasoning is good, too.) For my make-ahead I will then add about 1 cup of frozen whole kernel corn and a can of Ro-tel tomatoes. The spices are to taste. I added 2 Tbs. Williams Chili Seasoning this time as well as salt and pepper. When is is mixed well and bubbly, I can package it as 1/2 cup servings.

4. Label each package with the name of the contents, date, and quantity : Tex-Mex Meat Mixture, July 2018, 1/2 cup. Flatten the zipper freezer bags. If you wish, line them up on a cookie sheet. Place in the freezer. After 24 hours, they will be solid and you can remove the cookie sheet and stack them compactly in a corner of the freezer.

USING A PRE-PACKAGE MEAT MIXTURE

Once frozen, the meat mixture is ready to be thawed and turned into taco soup, chili, or any other dish that I want. All I need to do is add the beans, or other ingredients not already present.

I decided to use some of the mixture now to create individual taco bakes for myself and a guest. I could have just as easily thawed one of my meat mixtures to begin this recipe. If you notice that the ramekins are different sizes, it is because I eat far less since my gastric by-pass. That means "Cooking for One" becomes "Cooking for 1/3" :)

Taco Bake for Two

1 cup Tex-Mex Mixture 

Water or tomato juice as needed
Thin tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Small bakeproof dishes or ramekins
Butter for ramekins
Cookie sheet

1. Butter bottom and sides of ramekins.
 2.Warm meat mixture. Add liquid if needed (water or tomato juice.) Add more seasoning to taste.
3. Crumble tortilla chips to make a thin layer in ramekin.
4. Spoon meat mixture over chips, and then sprinkle with cheese.
5. Repeat. End with a cheese layer.

IF YOU WISH TO FREEZE AT THIS POINT, COVER DISH WITH ALUMINUM FOIL, LABEL AND DATE, AND THEN FREEZE. This should keep frozen about six months.

Place ramekins on cookie sheet, Bake at 350° F. about 30 minutes until bubbly. Garnish with more cheese if desired.

T'N'T Tuna Tamale Pie

Over my 69 years I have tried many diets. I lost a bit; regained a bit. At my heaviest, I reached 275 pounds, but most of my life I have weighed in around 225-250. Last spring I said "Enough!" I had a gastric bypass procedure. Five months later I weigh 191 and am still losing! Yea!!

Naturally my new stomach changes all my food interests. I REALLY need Cooking for One recipes, because even "one serving" will feed me for 2, maybe 3, meals. Do I ever get overwhelmed when I make my old recipe for tamale pie. In the old days, it would feed my family of four hearty eaters and a small army as well. Then I remembered TNT Tuna-Tamale Pie. Ah! I can have Tex-Mex comfort food again!

Tuna Tamale Pie may sound strange, but the tuna blends amazingly well with the chili spice. If you aren't that adventurous, you might substitute 2 ounces of cooked ground turkey or ground beef for the tuna.

The recipe comes from a 1982 set of Weight Watchers Recipe cards.  It says it makes one serving, but it makes a quart casserole full. Even before I had surgery, I didn't eat that much in one setting. Consider this good for two, or something for one that makes extra to freeze for another day. For me-- well, it may serve 8 (of me), just like the old recipe.

I have transcribed the recipe as written on the card. (My changes are in parentheses.) Be aware, changing the recipe changes the calorie count. I've included all the Weight Watchers counts at the bottom just as they appear on the card. I have no idea how those might translate to today's Point System.


T'N'T Tuna-Tamale Pie

1/2 chopped onion (1 Tbs. dried onion flakes)
1/4 cup dried green bell pepper (1 Tbs. dried bell pepper. I make my own.)
1 cup drained, whole canned tomatoes
1/2 cup. tomato juice
2 tsp. Chili powder (or Williams Chili Seasoning)
1/2 tsp. each ground cumin and paprika (leave this out if you use the Chili Seasoning instead of Chili powder)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3 ounces drained canned pinto beans (Ranch Style beans are also good)
2 ounces, drained canned tuna, flaked
1 ounce uncooked yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup water
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. double-acting baking powder
Dash salt

In and 8-9 inch nonstick skillet, cook onion and green pepper until soft, about five minutes. (If using dried onion and dried green pepper, soak them in a bit of hot water for about 5 minutes to reconstitute, and then drain them and add to the skillet. You can skip the cooking step.)  Add tomatoes, juice, and spices. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Stir in beans and tuna. Pour mixture into a small (1 quart) casserole. (I use several 4-8 ounce baking dishes sprayed with no-stick spray. I freeze the extra, covering them with aluminum foil.)

In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients. Drop cornmeal mixture by teaspoonsful onto the bean-tuna mixture. (I might sprinkle a pinch of grated cheese on top for a bit more protein.) Bake at 375 degrees F. until bubbly and topping is browned, about 30 minutes.

Each serving is equivalent to: 1/2 c. Limited Vegetables, 2 1/2 servings Vegetables, 1/2 serving Bonus (1/2 c. tomato juice.) 3 ounces Legumes, 2 ounces Fish, 1 serving Bread Substitute. 3 servings Extras (1 Tbs. flour, 2 servings Fat.)

Per serving: 529 calories, 29 gm. protein, 17 gm. fat, 70 gm. carbohydrates, 1406 mg sodium, 37 mg cholesterol

Roseanna's Baked Talapia

My friend Roseanna is also perfecting her cooking for one. While visiting today, she taught me to make a great baked talapia. The beauty of this cooking method is it can done in an oven or over a grill and the fish may be seasoned with  whatever you have on hand.  We do love our flexible recipes!

She says the fish needs a little bit of fat and a touch of salt and pepper. The rest is up to you.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Tonight's recipe uses the following ingredients. Adjust spices to your own taste. Roseanna often uses paprika instead of lemon pepper.

1 frozen talapia fillet per person. (2 if you are a big eater.)

1/2 tsp. butter

salt and pepper to taste

We added juice from 1/8 of a lemon

Sprinkle of lemon pepper 

Generous pinch of dried parsley

Place each talapia fillet in the center of a square of aluminum foil. Drop the butter on top of the fillet. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon juice over that. Sprinkle again with lemon pepper. Finish by sprinkling with the parsley.

Fold the aluminum foil to make a packet, giving it a generous amount of head-space before closing the top with a butcher's fold. Crimp ends and roll over once. 

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes in a 425 degree oven. The longer time is needed for larger fillets. Ours were 3/4 cooked at 15 minutes.  Open packet.  Return to oven for 8-10 minutes to finishing baking and to allow fish to slightly brown. Fish is done when it flakes freely.

Close foil  to keep the fish warm and let it rest for at least 5 minutes while you are getting the rest of the meal together. We served ours with a green salad. It would also be good with a baked potato or seasoned rice, and the vegetable of your choice.

If you are cooking this on a grill, wait until you have a good bed of coals such as you would use for a baked potato. Place fish on the grate, not in the coals. Check a bit more frequently after the first 15 minutes than when baking in an oven. It will probably take longer, as well, because outdoor temperatures won't be as high as the controlled oven. The key is that fish is done when it flakes. It will be baking in the steam created by the packet.

Minestrone for One (or Two)

I was hungry for Minestrone. I don't buy many convenience foods or canned soups. I am even trying to wean myself off the "cream of" cooking soups, so getting Minestrone meant I'd have to make it myself.  A quick Google search and another Pinterest search along with a run through my favorite "cooking for one" cookbook drew a blank. No Minestrone for One recipes.[Sigh.]

Ok, here I go again. Let's throw something together and see how it tastes. The contents of this soup were dictated by what was in my larder. If you have zucchini or other traditional vegetables that I did not have, add no more than 1/2 cup each of any of them.  Fortunately, when I was canning green beans, tomatoes and other vegetables last summer I put them up in 1 cup (1/2 pint) jelly jars (vegetables) and 1 pint canning jars (tomatoes.) That  reduces waste on a day of experimentation. If you are using commercial products, consider buying those small, one-serving cans of vegetables.

MINESTRONE FOR ONE
Yields 2 servings

1 cup canned tomatoes
1/2 cup green beans, drained
1 carrot, peeled and cut into coins
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 package fresh mushrooms, chopped
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/4 cup elbow macaroni
1/2 bay leaf, broken into large pieces
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
pinch chili powder
water as needed

Pour tomatoes and vegetables into a 1 quart saucepan. Place on low heat and simmer.  While this is heating, saute mushrooms and onions in olive oil in a small skillet. When onions are clear and mushrooms are heated, turn off heat and add to vegetables in saucepan. Add water to within 1/2" of top of pan. Add spices. Stir in elbow macaroni. Let simmer until macaroni and carrots are al dente. Be certain to find all the sections of the bay leaf and remove it before eating.

Cooking for One in Terracotta

Terracotta bakers soaking in water before baking.

I love browsing at thrift stores. There are so many treasures waiting to be found! My latest find were two individual sized terracotta bakers. One is shaped like a bowl and the other is shaped like an apple. Hm...are they trying to tell me to bake an apple?

I didn't know what to expect with terracotta. I have heard they steam the contents and make the most tender dishes. All I've ever read said to soak them well before baking. I had no other clues before experimenting. Hm... What to try?  I decided to try chicken breast with vegetables. At the worst I'd have a stew.

In each baker, I put 1 1/2 cut up chicken tenderloins, 1 sliced carrot, about 1/2 cubed potato, a few sugar snap peas because I didn't have any green beans, and 1/2 cup stewed tomatoes with a bit of onion and the liquid from the tomatoes and then popped them into a 350 degree F. oven. I checked progress every 30 minutes. It took 2 hours for the potatoes to become tender.

I was glad I put a baking sheet under the terracotta bakers because the liquid boiled over and made a mess on the baking sheet (not the oven!). (Note: line the baking sheet with aluminum foil for easier cleaning).  I am not certain if I should have used less (or no liquid) or if I should have added some water after everything went dry. The bowl-shaped baker retained a bit of fluid but the apple-shaped one cooked completely dry.

And what did I get after 2 hours? It was much like chicken and veggies cooked in a crockpot. The root vegetables cooked well. The sugar snap peas were mush. Think of the bakers as a manual medium-slow cooker.  The meat and veggies were all tender, but the carrots had not lost their shape.

I will definitely try this again, but I may research more what others cook in terracotta.