2023 TAILGATE FARE - WEEK 6

Good Morning Dubbers! I hope everyone is doing well!

The Bye week seems like it took forever to get through, like always. Thanks all for contributing to last weeks "Bye Week Extravaganza"; made your chili Norcal and it was AWESOME. Also, happy National Get Funky Day!

This week we take on Maryland, playing our 5th undefeated team in a row. Let's hope the Bye Week gave the team some much needed rest after dumping the domers. Looking at the weather, Fall will officially be here in Cbus, with a high of 55 on Saturday (perfect foosball weather). I usually try to make something themed with the team we are playing, but my wife made this recipe recently and it is too good not to share:

Chicken Enchilada Caserole

Ingredients

1 can creamed corn
1 box corn muffin mix
1 can Old El Paso chopped green chiles
¼ cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp. cumin
2 cups shredded cheese (use fresh if you can – cheddar, Colby, Monterey etc, the kraft store bought stuff can work in a pinch though)
2+ cups shredded cooked chicken, (rotisserie chicken works well here; use at least 2 cups but can use more if desired)
1 can Old El Paso red enchilada sauce
Toppings: jalapenos, sour cream, diced avocado, diced tomatoes, cilantro, chives

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Note, if you use a smaller dish, the cornbread mix will be thick so you may need to bake it longer otherwise it will be mushy.
In a large bowl, combine the creamed corn, muffin mix, chiles, sour cream, egg, cumin, jalapenos, and 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Add to baking dish and spread out with a spatula (like a cake).
Bake for 20-25 minutes or so, until the edges are golden brown. Check for doneness with a toothpick or fork.
While the cornbread is baking, combine the chicken (cooked and shredded, or pulled) and the enchilada sauce and mix well.
When cornbread is done, pour the chicken mixture over the top of the baked corn mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cup of the shredded cheese.
Bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Slice into squares and top with sour cream, diced avocado, diced tomatoes, and cilantro if desired.

Pro Tips

You can add black beans or chili beans (or both) to the chicken mixture if you want.
Swap the chicken out for ground beef, chorizo, ground pork etc. – all work well.
Add some salsa to the chicken mix instead of/in addition to the enchilada sauce. Or swap for green sauce, add green tabasco sauce etc.
Add bacon…because, bacon.

The Greatest Hit

Today's flashback recipe is from 4 years ago, week 6 against Sparty (sorry folks, Urban isn't going to be your coach). What a dumpster fire MSU is in...Yikes. So in honor of Sparty trying to hire our former coach, it reminded me of this recipe I posted when we played them back in 2019. I also chose this as the flashback recipe because A: it is delicious, and B: it is easily customized to your liking by swapping ingredients for the "guts":

Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, roasted and shredded
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 - 16. oz package shredded Colby-Jack cheese
1 lb. Bacon, cooked crispy and chopped
2-4 Jalapenos, diced, depending on how hot you like your treats
1 package Ranch dressing mix
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 dozen flour tortillas

Directions:

Roast chicken in the oven, and then shred (season the chicken however you like; for these I am using some Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle).
Fry up the bacon, then chop up.
Mix the shredded chicken, cream cheese, diced jalapenos, chopped bacon, cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, and 2/3 of the ranch packet together in a big bowl (using the whole packet can be too much ranch, but use it all if you want).
Scoop about 2-3 tbsp. of the mixture onto the flour tortillas (depending on size of tortillas; over-stuffing can occur, and it shoots out the ends while cooking), then roll up. Fill baking sheet with your taquitos, then brush with some melted butter and top with salt, if desired.
Bake at 425F for about 15 minutes or so.
Serve with ranch dressing, sour cream, and/or salsa.