Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Mel's Kitchen Cafe

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1-2 limes)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 pound chicken, cooked* and shredded , about 2-3 large chicken breast halves
8-10 medium flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce**
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup cream


Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken.Place ingredients into a Ziploc bag and let marinate for at least 1 hour, preferably 6-8 hours in refrigerator.
Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a greased 9X13 baking pan.
Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas.
Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with half and half, cream and leftover marinade.
Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.
Serves 6


Tips:
* For the chicken, I placed 6 large frozen chicken breast halves in a crock pot on low heat for about 4-5 hours. Salt and pepper generously. Add about 1 cup of water, chicken broth or green chili salsa. Shred when chicken is cooked. It is best to do this early in the day, or the day before you want to use the chicken in a recipe.
-**I made my own green enchilada sauce here's a link to the recipe.

Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce
A Bountiful Kitchen Blog

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1-16 oz jar Salsa Verde
12 oz tomatillos, chopped (about 1lb before husking)
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1-14 oz chicken or vegetable broth
Salt to taste

Saute chopped onion in olive oil in medium saucepan. Cook until onion is softened, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for another two minutes. Remove from heat.
Place all of the remaining ingredients in a blender, or use a hand immersion blender, and blend until smooth.
Use in recipes calling for green enchilada sauce.
Yield about 5-6 cups sauce.

Tips:
-Leftovers may be frozen.

Key Lime Mousse Pie

Ingredients

Crust:
2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
6 tablespoons fresh key lime juice
1 1/4 ounces (1 envelope) package unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
10 (1-ounce) squares white chocolate, chopped
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lime zest
1 1/2 ounces white chocolate, grated or shaved into curls, for garni

Directions

Crust:

Mix together the cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Set aside.

Filling:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the lime juice. Whisk in the gelatin and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat. Add 10 ounces of white chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow to cool.

Using an electric mixer, blend together the cream cheese, sugar and lime zest in a medium bowl, until smooth. Slowly beat in the cooled white chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture.

Using clean, dry beaters, beat the remaining 2-cups heavy cream in a small bowl, until it forms soft peaks. Fold it into the white chocolate mixture and pour into the pie crust. Cover and freeze overnight.

Remove from freezer and let thaw for about an hour, run a sharp knife around inside of springform pan to help loosen the pie. Release springform ring from the bottom of the pan and transfer the pie to a serving plate. Grate or curl the white chocolate over the top and garnish with candied lime peel. Cut into wedges with a knife that has been dipped into hot water and serve.

Thai Lime Coconut Soup

Thai Lime Coconut Soup

Serves 2

2 stalks lemongrass

2 T olive oil

1 C chopped onion

1 T fresh ginger, minced

2 red Thai chilies or red jalapenos, sliced into ultra thin rings

1 can chicken broth (2 cups)

1 C unsweetened coconut milk (2 cups)

4 kaffir lime leaves (or zest of 1 lime)

2 T fish sauce

2 T fresh lime juice

3 T cilantro leaves, chopped

1 t sugar

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin bite-sized strips or nuggets

Peel off the tough outer layers of the lemongrass and roughly mince the softer inners.

Heat oil in a large soup pot and add onion and ginger. Cook a couple minutes until the onion softens. Add chilis and lemongrass; stir a minute. Add broth and sake; simmer 5 minutes. Add cocnut milk, lime leaves (or zest) fish sauce, cilantro, lime juice and sugar; simmer 30 minutes.

Add chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.