Pre-Olympics Fiesta

So...I've basically been off of the internet for most of the day because I wanted to make sure I did NOT  see any spoilers about the Women's All Around Gymnastics event.  We are 4 minutes away until it starts, and let me just say that I literally stayed off of most of the internet all day because I wanted to be SURE I did not see any spoilers like I did on the night of the Ladies Team competition.  As a former gymnast, this night excites me like no others, even missing out on seeing some of my nearest and dearest friends.  It's just that important to me.

Thank goodness both the Food Network site and blogs were safe and I ventured out looking for new stuff and man did I ever LUCK OUT!  My friend who lives in Cali (shout out to John P whom I have "known" since high school) has been sharing a blog called Gilded something.  I will share the FULL name and link after gymnastics is over, but I am scared to go out to FB to get the whole link for fear of spoilers.  Let me just say that this gal can BAKE and the dinner recipes I found were very much my style.  She seems to like elegant food, but not in an overcomplicated way.  She *may* even inspire me to try some baking.

Anyways, I found a Creamy Chicken Flautas recipes from her blog, and a Mexican Rice recipe from Paula Deen on Food Network.  For the flautas, I actually MEANT to follow it to the letter; I did accidentally leave one ingredient out, and I have to say that I really liked the freshness without the cheese, though I am sure that it would be good with it as well.  And believe it or not, I MEANT to alter Paula's recipe.  I liked the concept, but had my own vision.  So here we have it - Thursday night Mexican Pre-Olympic Fiesta.

Here is the link to her blog!   Will try to figure out how to do "tags" and "links" and stuff...sorry...still learning!

Creamy Chicken Flautas - from Emily's blog

Ingredients:

3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa
4 oz diced green chiles
freshly squeezed lime juice from 1/2 a lime
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
3 cloves garlic, minced or garlic pressed
3 tbsp chopped cilantro - ironically, our grocery store was out of fresh, so I finally tried the organic paste and let me just say I am in love with it.  It lasts for 3 months and gives a huge burst of flavor!
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded chicken (I used a rotissirie chicken from Kroger and took off the skin and shredded it as suggested by Emily)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese (oops! - left it out!)

Tortillas - I used the small size - corn - but I will say that corn tortillas have a tendency to tear.  I love the flavor of the corn tortillas, but if anyone  has advice on how to keep them from tearing, please tell me.  I used 10 tortillas for the above filling with some leftover filling
Cooking Spray
Kosher Salt (oops - I had sea salt and used that.  Will google it later and see what the difference is.  I love learning all this new stuff!)

1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  I realized I was out of pp, so I used tin foil.  I think with the corn tortillas, I could have used a lower oven temp as I overcooked them a bit - but I did love the crispiness that they had!
2.  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients in the first block (up to the tortillas) and stir until they are thoroughly combined.
3.  Heat the stack of tortillas you are going to use for 30 seconds in the microwave so that they are soft and pliable.   As per Emily, if you find that you're one short and need to heat an extra one, don't do it by itself for 30 seconds - maybe only 10 seconds.
4.  Lay the tortilla flat and spoon 2-3 tbsp of filling in a straight line on the tortilla.  Most people say to do it down the center, but again - as per Emily, do it a bit closer to the edge you are rolling up so you can make it tighter.

5.  Once it's rolled up, place the filled tortilla on the prepared baking sheet with the edge of the tortilla hidden on the bottom so that it doesn't roll around on the baking sheet.  You can arrange these pretty close together, but of course you also want enough room for air to circulate around them.
6.  Once all  tortillas are rolled up and placed on the baking sheet, lightly spray with cooking spray and sprinkle kosher salt (or sea salt in my case) over the tops of them.
7.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the edges.  I only baked for 10 minutes or so and again, probably b/c of the corn,  and they were a bit crispier than I would have liked which is why I would lower the temp for next time.  Let me just say that Emily's picture is much prettier but hey - this is my first time making this.  I wonder if flour would crisp up as well. 

8.  As per the blog, these are GREAT for freezing!  Emily got this from Annie's Eats which was originally from Our Best Bites (I'm still learning all this blog stuff) and the note says:  "To freeze before baking, transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and chill the assembled taquitos 30-60 minutes.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag.  To bake from the freezer, simply add a few additional minutes to the original baking time, until the filling is warmed through. 
9.  Serve hot from the oven with extra salsa, hot sauce and sour cream.

Now onto the Mexican Rice.  Like I said, it was originally Paula Deen's recipe, but this one I INTENTIONALLY changed.

Mexican Rice - See the original ingredients in the link, and below is what I used

Edit note - next time I will half this recipe for our family of 3 - it made a LOT and we are not the best at eating rice leftovers.  But man was it good.  I'm trying to figure out a way to repurpose it :)

2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups yellow rice with saffron flavoring
1 and 1/2 cups fresh pico de gallo
3 ounces of diced green chilies)
2 cups water
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 can Black beans (drained)
1 can canned Corn with Peppers (drained)
2 tbsp Crema

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the rice, onion, peppers (or in my case pico de gallo) and garlic (nix that).  The recipe said to cook until the rice is browned and the veggies are tender, but in my case, after about 5 minutes, I opted to add in the other ingredients for fear the rice would not soften.  I then stirred in the water, chili powder and salt and also added in some black beans and corn with peppers (would've added tomatoes but it was already in the pico de gallo) and brought to a boil.  Oh...I also added about 2 tbsp of my new discovery Crema.  :)  I reduced the heat and simmered, covered, until the rice was tender, about 15 minutes.

What I loved about the meal was that it was Mexican, but tasted much lighter than your average Mexican meal.  DEFINITELY lighter than eating Mexican out, but I really didn't miss the cheese!  The flavors in both dishes were bold and flavorful, adding spice without being spicy.  I did add in a small side salad so we could get our greens with the leftover black beans and corn and my favorite new dressing!

Here is my plate with a smidge of sour cream & a touch of the YUMMY cilantro paste on the flauta. 

 Love it that the hubby went back for a nice portion of seconds!  Ole!  Me gusta la comida Mexican!!!