Episode 7: Bubble Up Enchiladas, Loco Moco and Lemony Kale One Pot Pasta

This week we cooked...

What happens when Kate picks recipes based on their name? The Dinner Sisters cook up three dishes with unusual names: Enchilada Bubble-Up Casserole, Loco Moco and One Pot Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta. All three recipes live up to their names and more. Discover a new condiment, furikake, that can add a little something to rice, eggs and avocado toast. Sibling rivalry rears its head in the Smorgasbord when Kate and Betsy debate a family dish.

Enchilada Bubble Up Casserole: Budget Bytes

Bubble Up and enchiladas are an interesting take on a traditional casserole. Biscuits dough, shredded chicken, beans, enchilada sauce and cheese are baked up for a hearty version of enchiladas.

Tips:

• Baking time was much longer than expected. This plus the time for the dough to rise made for a significant time investment. Plan ahead for this and make sure to test the dough for doneness. A cake tester or paring knife works well for this.
• If you don’t want to make your own biscuit dough we think store-bought dough would do well.
• We also wonder if a shallower dish than called for might make for a quicker cooking time.

Loco Moco: Spoon, Fork, Bacon

This version of a Hawaiian comfort food has a lot going for it- steamy white rice, mushroom gravy, and a beef patty all topped with an egg and furikake seasoning. Bring your appetite- we’re not having a light meal.

Tips:

• Kate cut the fat for frying the beef patty and egg quite a bit and the dish didn’t suffer. Do not cut the fat in the gravy - it won’t thicken otherwise.
• Furikake seasoning is a Japanese condiment typically sprinkled on rice. Combining dried fish, sesame seeds, seaweed and other flavors, it adds an extra savory note. You can find it in the Asian- specifically Japanese- aisle of most grocery stores. Or take a trip to your local Asian store that carries Japanese ingredients. If all else fails, the internet is your friend. Furikake keeps for a long time in the cabinet- reach for it when you want to add a little something to eggs, rice or even salmon.

One- Pot Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Baby Kale:  Spoonful of Flavor

One pot meals have been trendy for awhile. Probably because you can get a great dinner together in one pot in, usually, a short time. This dish is a creamy, lemony pot of chicken, pasta and kale that comes together in about thirty minutes and only one dish to wash.

Tips:

• Start taste-testing the pasta about fifteen minutes in- you can avoid mushy noodles this way.
• Others who cooked this dish and commented on the blog recommended stirring halfway through. This helped distribute the sauce and cook the pasta and the chicken evenly.  

From the Smorgäsbȯrd:

Want to try the recipe the Dinner Sisters debated? Here's a Chicken Pasta Salad that is very close to the version they both ate growing up. Make it with grapes...or not.